CC Medical Services Junior Drag Bike racer Jack Wildeman's machine has been built by Jerry Collier. Jerry said "The bikes look a little like a scaled down Pro Stock bike and are based on a scaled down Yamaha RD350. Junior Drag Bike is a very affordable class with a new machine costing £3500 compared to £10,000 or upwards for a new junior dragster, and are now governed by ACU regulations. As well as seven entered here, there are another three or four teams joing later in the year."

CC Medical Services Junior Drag Bike racer Jasmine Cordelle's bike is also built by Jerry Collier and currently has a 50cc scooter engine. When Jasmine is 11 years old she is permitted to race with a 125cc engine; however the 50cc engine is good for her second meeting.

CC Medical Services Junior Drag Bike racer Brett Cordelle runs a bike built from scratch by Dad Phil Cordelle. Phil said "Last year the engine was a Honda 125cc and this year we have upgraded to a two-stroke Suzuki out of a motor cross bike which has an output of 30hp. This is good for eighth mile times of 9.3/72mph. The bike is modelled on a Top Fuel Bike and has had to be stretched this year as Brett is a tall fourteen year old." Phil owns a 9.50 bike and Ceri Visick's old Pro Stock machine which he is rebuilding for 8.50 Bike.

Shakespeare County Raceway is hosting a Tractor pulling event on the weekend of 12-13 June. Running alongside the run what ya brung event on the strip, there will be a British Tractor Pulling Association points round on Saturday and tractor pulling demos on Sunday. The BTPA have put in a lot of effort to prepare the surface. More details are at Midland Tractor Pullers web site.

Pro Stock bike racer Dave Beck, who has been unwell recently ran a single pass to get in the field and will rest tomorrow. "I will take the safe way and the bike is set soft and is running straight. I will put more into it when I feel fitter - at the moment ten minutes of effort feels like ten hours."

Comp Bike racer Stuart Crane has a new bike which he built the frame and wheelie bars for. The engine is from Roger Upperton and is a 1640cc Suzuki with Vortex heads and nitrous. The objective is to run a low seven and the best to date is a 7.7 only on observed runs. Stuart said "Roger Upperton will be coming tomorrow to help us step up and lower our times.

Comp Bike racer Phil Crossley also has a new bike, a self built frame based on a Suzuki GSX with altered back half and steering angle. "We really wanted a bigger rear tyre. We got the body from Eurodragster.com's swap meet which we have repaired and we will be going to paint." Phil is hoping for a seven this year from the 1500cc nitrous.

Super Street Bike racer Richard Hann is on a learning curve with a new Motec ECU. He said "We are still setting it up at this meeting." Richard's bike has the usual Super Street bike equipment - dry sump, slider clutch, turbo. "I ran a best of 8.3 but when I increased the boost I just got more wheelspin so there is a setting up job to do."

Pro ET racer Rick McCann is still awaiting delivery of a new Super Stock engine currently sitting in a delivery warehouse in Glendale, Arizona. "It was delayed by a couple of weeks thanks to the air traffic ban caused by the volcanic ash - we hope to have it in by the Summernationals,", said Carla Pittau. "Since Easter we have put a lower numerical ring and pinion gear to get to the top end before going on the limiter. We want to reach 7700 as we cross the finish line." In changing the gear, Rick and Carla found five cracks on the teeth of the old part. "We don't think it could have survived another launch.

Pro ET racer Carla Pittau is awaiting a rear brake upgrade with aluminium calipers. "This will enable me to hold the car on the line better with the transbrake". The team will be taking Rick's blue '84 Camaro to Mantorp Park and are hoping for a good ferry service to take them most of the way.

Pro ET racer Tig Napier (wife Cath Napier in photo)has had new front suspension and rear shocks over the winter with new slicks. "We will be going for a big burnout", Cath said. "We also had the engine refreshed over the winter with new valve springs, stem seals and colletts." Tig does his own work on the engine with help from Ralph and Eric from Northern Speed Engineering who did porting on the heads.

NFAA racer Bob Glassup (left, pictured with son and NFAA championship co-ordinator Matt) was reflecting on the Easter Thunderball. "We started with seven cars and ended with only two able to run the final. Gary Page had his crash in Chaos which will need a new chassis, Joe Bond had a rod go which severely damaged his engine. Jon Best also had a destroyed engine and Tony Betts had a steering problem which put him into the barrier at the top end. We had a problem with a dry cell baterry which meant we couldn't get the reverser to work once in four runs. This weekend, Joe Bond and Tony Betts have worked their socks off to come back and Neil Townson is with us." In the first sessions, Bob's reverser problems reappeared leaving the team scratching their heads.

Wild Bunch racer Adam Price suffered engine damage with a broken cam, a snapped valve, scored piston and bent pushrod at the Easter Thunderball. In addition, Adam's father Dexter was stranded in the Dominican Republic with the recent flight ban ("It was absolute hell, but I found the way to run my team"). To the rescue has come Paul Bristow of Paul's Place. Adam said "Paul has rebuilt our engine and got it running as it should be. Paul's brilliant - this is his first step into drag racing and it's a great addition to the team to have someone so mechanically knowledgable.

Outlaw Anglia racer Barry Woodford last raced at a MSA race meeting in 2008 having taken a year out for business. "I've raced two years in Outlaw Anglia but had this car for over sixteen years. It has a 327cu in engine which I stroked to 383cu in three years ago. There is an 850cfm double pumper Holley carb and nitrous system." The transmission is a 350 Turbo Hydro, the roll cage is by Roy Wilding with paint by Bodykraft. Best time is 10.97/123 and team help comes from racer Alan Williamson and son David Woodford.

NFAA racer Jon Best (right, pictured with Tony de Luca from Ashley Bell's team) suffered a broken crank at the Easter Thunderball. "It kicked out two rods and a piston was stuck at the bottom end of the bore with the wrist pin found in the sump. We have now got a hemi engine that we used to run and has been owned by Tony Betts for a while. We called him to ask if it was spare and had a knock on the door two hours later - it was Tony and the Hemi! We would have been lost without him and thanks to all the others in the class that have given us their support." Work around ancilliaries includes sending the magneto to MSD in the US to have the rotation changed from right to left. Jon's next appearance in the Felstead, Bets and Lotasabeera Topolino will be at North Weald this Sunday for a fire-up and then at the Summernationals when we will see the Hemi in action in the car for the first time.

Super Pro ET racer Ashley Bell is hoping he has a better weekend after going out in round one at the Thunderball "It was well out of shape in second gear on the cold track but we hope we will be able to blow them all away and stand at least a chance against the juniors!" A touch of philosophy appears on the AC Cobra's rear panel.

Super Pro ET racers S&K Racing are resplendent in their new team shirts of which rival team member Phil Hartley said "They're a bit bright!" The team missed the Easter Thunderball as they were waiting for new engine parts including a crank, harmonic balancer, rods, and rings. The team said the old crank was "bought from Noah who had used it to power the Ark" (actually bought from Clive Mechaell in 1992) and finally cried enough at the Euro Finals. The team shot is dedicated to photo journalist Andy Willsheer who is unable to attend this weekend.

Super Street racer Rob Stanley is sharing his new Vega with mum Linda, wife of Conrad Stanley. Team manager Trevor Graves said "The Vega was bought as a rolling chassis from Matthew Seamarks and updated. We added a lazy big block Chevy engine and two speed 'glide and throttle stop. The best the car has run is 10.7." The three car, four driver team is completed by Anna's Junior Dragster and Conrad's Super Gas. Trevor is hoping to arrange a group of eight Super Gas cars to run at Hockenheim in August.

Junior Dragster racer Joe Kellett waited in the pairing lanes with his team before qualifying commenced. Junior dragster has five new competitors this year and Joe as a seasoned member of the class is winning trophies and running in the higher points positions.

Super Gas racer Jon Evans is having a good start to the season, winning the first race of the year. "We didn't do much to the car over the winter and were really pleased with the win at the first event of the year as we have never been in first place in the Super Gas standings. We had a problem with the electric shift activation which didn't work and was down to component failure. So we moved from a MSD Window Switch to a more basic and reliable RPM Activator to get the shift working at the right rpm.