FIA/FIM Main Event
Santa Pod Raceway, 25th-28th May 2018

Friday



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Super Pro ET racer Martyn Jones ran an early shut off 6.65/172 to go 28th of 37 after two sessions, and improved to 6.30/193 to go 28th after the third and final session of the day.

Super Pro ET racer Olli Petzold was German Super Pro ET champion in 2017. He has had the car since 2009 when he bought it in Bristol, Tennessee, and has run it at Drachten, Hockenheim and Beychene since then. He went 8.42/161 on a 8.40 dial to go 13th at the end of Friday's qualifying.


Super Pro ET racer Scott Crookston tried the nitrous for the first time yesterday in a match with Colin Millar and ran a 8.1s in his new Anglia, with chassis by Jed Guy and body from the same mould as the Flyin' Fyfer of Colin.

Super Pro ET racer Billy Everitt ran well from the first session after running at this race last year, and the 2017 Junior Dragster champion ran 8.16/166 on a 8.10 dial to go 21st after three sessions.


Super Pro ET racer Eric Angeloni is racing here for the first time since the 2002 Euro Finals, but he has raced on the continent regularly and was the winner of Super Pro ET at the NitrOlympX in 2015. Here, he ran a 8.93 on a 7.60 dial in which placed him 34th after three sessions. Three qualifying sessions are planned for tomorrow.

Super Comp racer Steve Field, usually a runner in the Wild Bunch is running in the 8.90 class for the second time. He was 13th after moving around in his lane and lifting.


Pro ET racer Til Schöninger ran a 9.90 on a 9.86 dial-in to go 23rd out of 39 qualifiers. His Honda Prelude is powered by a 434ci engine with Powerglide gearbox.

Super Street racer Nicole Parker is racing the family's new Nova for the first time at SPR after some test passes at Shakey last year. She said 'Mark Flavell built the car for a Northern racer and we bought it and then took it back to bare metal and had it repainted'. In session two she ran a 10.81 on the 10.90 index to go fourth. Dad John will run the car at some Pro ET rounds.


Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator racer Adam Charnley has moved up from Sportsman ET with his Chrysler Crossfire and he needed to go quicker than the 13.5s cutoff to qualify for the class. His attempt today was a 12.63/109, so he is qualified.

Pro ET racer Hans Niesner is making his debut at SPR after racing in Germany before. His Corvette with a 427ci engine and nitrous is 30th after two sessions with a 10.19 on a 10.00 dial in.


Super Pro ET racer Steve Johnson rebuilt the engine and had the supercharger refurbished over the winter, but suffered problems on his sole run in the Pro Peak Performance test yesterday. 'The car did a wheelie on its launch and unloaded the tyres. We are trying to back the car down and thanks to Dick Koster for his help'.

Super Pro ET racer Mark Flavell was delighted to run a 6.77/198.96 in the Funny Car. 'We have stepped the power up with new rods and more overdrive on the blower. I want to run 200mph then I might put the car up for sale for a tenner'. Mark sends his best wishes to team member Mal Rigg who is tuned in from home, as do we at Eurodragster.com.


Super Pro ET racer Mike Hollaar suffered a hole in his no.3 piston when a self locking nut on the distributor came off. 'It got into the engine and there was oil everywhere. We are out for the weekend and the no.8 piston has a crack in it as well so we don't want to risk further damage'. It's Mike's first SPR race after competing in Germany and Holland. The car has an interesting history, it was bought from Tony Hodel, a German Pro Mod racer in the mid 1990s, and it had been in a barn for ten years. 'I spent three years rebuilding it, getting the chassis upgraded from 8.5 to 7.5, a new gearbox and Racepak. The only thing we hadn't replaced was the piston'.

Super Pro ET racer Johan Oomen was 35th after missing the second session with a early shut-off 9.11/118 on a 6.7 dial. He said 'We are adjusting the suspension. Our engine has a lot of nitrous going through it and we need to get down the track properly'.


Super Pro ET racer Jens Konnecke came over for the Doorslammers and was runner up in the Big Bracket on Sunday. He said 'I teamed up with Rene Meierhofer who drove my car on Saturday and is crewing with Peter Wacker this weekend. I'm happy the car is running consistently. It was a Pro Mod in IHRA back in the day and ran sixes. It's double frame rail chassis is tagged to 6.0 and the engine is a Ohio Crank Big Block of 584ci with Quick Fuel Dominator style carb, naturally aspirated, and PG gearbox'.

Comp Eliminator racer Paula Atkin with husband Stan has converted her Mustang to turbos from nitrous. But during the winter Stan became ill with pneumonia and spent eight days in intensive care in February. 'We were planning to go to the US but had to postpone the trip to April. When we went, the trip was a success and we met with Fueltech, Proline and lots of friends. We learned about turbos and then sent the engine to Trevor and Stephen Hirst at Auto Services Doncaster for rebuilding. 'It's the same block but the capacity is reduced from 615ci to 498ci with a smaller stroke and bore. Stan did the turbo installation and we took advice from Australian racer Paul Mouhayet who ran a 5.58 last October in his similar Jerry Haas built Mustang. We duplicated his setup as much as we could down to the 14 degree angle the Precision turbos are mounted at which is optimal for low maintenance.


Paula Atkin continued 'Stan fabricated the manifolds and we also changed the compression ratio and valve seating on the existing heads. The fuel went from unleaded in UK Pro Mod to methanol and we are testing in Comp Eliminator this year to get familiarity with things like the bump box, and then plan to return to Pro Mod next year'.Paula's engine suffered an issue on a leakdown test so the heads have come off to be investigated. Special thanks go to Louise at Fueltech in the US and Steve and Val Green who Paula raced many years ago in the Rover V8 championship'.

Super Comp racer Ben Bridges' Camaro looks immaculate and came out in session two to run a 9.63/138 to go eighth.


Pro ET racer Jan Scheppers suffered a breakage of the tail shaft of his transmission which broke the U joint on the prop shaft. He said 'It was a wheels-up launch and must have put too much strain on the rear. But we're not finished for the event, we are getting Geof Hauser to rebuild the prop shaft and Andy Robinson to do a new tail shaft'. Help and advice also came from Dutch compatriots such as Pro Mod racer David Vegter.

Pro ET and Super Street racer Karen Stevens had a new wrap on her Vega, given as a surprise by Mike Lacey. Her best today was 11.700.


Pro ET racer Sean Law is driving the Wicked Lady dragster for the first time in two years after taking a year off for travelling in 2017. He said 'The car was last run at the Euro Finals and during the winter we had the gearbox rebuilt, so there have been a couple of teething problems. The main problem was the catch can became full of water and the overflow sprayed straight on the rear tyres on the run. Normally the car runs arrow straight but on the first run it slid all over the track'.

Pro ET racer Geoff Cowley had a problem with his no.3 piston hitting and flattening a spark plug. 'We found bits of metal in the oil. I thought it might have spun a bearing but thanks to Harrison Brown we checked the bearing and it was ok, we just changed the oil, and Harrison helped us adjust the spark plug. Thanks also to Ian and Harrison for helping me with the starter motor at the Doorslammers'.


Pro ET racer Harrison Brown is competing in that class for the first time. He ended the second session in fifth place with a 10.76 on 10.75. Harrison got to the semi finals of the Big Bracket in the Doorslammers last Saturday.

Junior Dragster racer Matthew Dowdy and dad Mark are joined by sponsor Mark Exley who is a HR Consultant. Matthew said 'Easter was cold and the car has picked up half a second here. The engine was built by Hauser racing and thanks to OCS for turning the paintwork round before the season started'. Mark commented 'It's good to support young people in drag racing, they are the future of the sport'.

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