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Birmingham's NEC again hosted the Motorsport industry's annual trade show in mid-January 2007. Drag racing interest was there to be found on the Press and Trade days, and on the public days Santa Pod Raceway did the usual excellent job of promoting the sport with the added bonus of the unveiling of Top Fuel Dragster racer Andy Carter's new main sponsor. We made our traditional visit to Autosport International in association with American Car Imports.

Andy Carter's unveiling took place at midday on Saturday and when the covers came off the car was sporting the name of Lucas Oil after two years of work and negotiations between Andy, Forrest Lucas in the USA, and Les Downey of Lucas Oil UK. You can read the official press release on today's Eurodragster.com News. We also visited Andy Carter's workshop the week before Autosport International to get a sneak peek at the car and to ask Andy about his new deal, and you can check out our interview and workshop pictures by clicking here.

We found plenty of people to talk to during our two days at Autosport International, to keep things simple for your reporter these interviews are in the order they took place:

Les Downey of Lucas Oil UK told us a little about the company on Friday morning. "Forrest Lucas in the USA is the main man", said Les. "He started Lucas Oil eighteen or nineteen years ago, and he is one of those people who when he does something does it properly. I started running Lucas Oil UK and Europe four or five years ago - I like the set-up of the company and I knew that it was a good name, once you're in with Lucas you never have to worry. We have had a growth rate of more than forty per cent each year, and each year we add new product. We might look to widen our sponsorship: we already sponsor Malcolm Francis, Dave Wilson and Bert Englefield, but Andy is lucky because Forrest's heart is in the dragsters. His love for drag racing is second to none and he wants Lucas everywhere."

Jet Funny Car and soon to be Jet Bike pilot Martin Hill told us that he has been quite busy recently. Whilst waiting for his bike to return from exhibition in Germany, Martin has been spotted in Scotland helping on road maintenance and also working on his new Jet Funny Car which has been under construction at Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy Robinson Race Cars. "The new car will be a duplicate of Fireforce 3 only with the yellow body", said Martin. "The engine and set-up will be the same". Stay tuned for more about Martin's new Jet FC. Martin expressed himself pleased but surprised to read that he was appearing at the drag race in Vienna in July. "I found out the same way as you did - on their web site!", he said.

Drag racing sponsor Nimbus Motorsport had two stands at the Show, and we spoke to Steve Clark and Nigel Payne (also a Super Modified racer) in Autosport Engineering on Friday. Steve has quite a pedigree in drag racing having attended Santa Pod Raceway to see the US Commando team in 1966 before starting racing himself in 1972 culminating in Top Fuel with the Frontline team and then building and tuning Barry Sheavills' engines to three Top Alcohol Championships and the first five-second Top Alcohol pass at Santa Pod Raceway. "I have been in engineering since I left college", said Steve. "I worked for McLaren's engine workshop and eventually got involved with a company selling American products in 1990 to 1991. At Nimbus Motorsport I sell products which work - we can't afford for them not to. As well as drag racing we supply all forms of motorsport on four or two wheels and on water. Drag racing is a market which works well for us. We support the Showtime Fuel Funny Car team and we supported Roel Koedam from day one."

As well as running a successful and, certainly to drag racers, generous company - he said that it is difficult to keep track of all the racers supported by Nimbus Motorsport - Steve works on Nigel Payne's Super Modified 'Vette which he also sponsors. "It was nice to get involved with Nigel", said Steve. "I was used to turning up with the oil and then driving off". "Now he turns up, unloads the race car, puts up the awning and then takes it all down again - he is the perfect sponsor!", said Nigel.

Nigel Payne himself was overjoyed having just clinched a deal with Team West-Tech as we spoke to him. "Team West-Tech are putting my car in a wind tunnel", he said. "That's very exciting and it all helps to catch up on the Nitrous guys rather than going out first round. The Nitrous guys are maxed out anyway, so we will catch them up! Super Modified is going to be a good class this year, a lot of racers who have taken a year out will be coming back."

Another recipient of support from Nimbus Motorsport is Pro Stock Bike racer Chris Hope, who we will hopefully see back out on the track this year. "The bike is there and ready to go", said Chris. "I have sold one engine to a racer in Australia, and the other engine has been modified. I might do a bit of testing but if I race this year then I will be looking to run in the European Championship - I've been there and done that with the ACU. We went to Finland last year and worked with Anders Larsson, we enjoyed that very much and if we don't race this year then we may well work with Anders again. If we do race then I'll be inclined to run in Europe because of the atmosphere and the experience - the journey is part of it. But we should be ready for testing by Easter and then see where we go from there."

Nigel Hoskison of Eurodragster.com sponsor Allegheny Technologies Ltd said that the company had had a busy couple of days at Autosport, ably assisted in their promotional efforts by the Showtime Fuel FC whose appearance was credited to Tony Tobias and Andy King at Race Car Engineering. "I've had a lot to do both with our titanium activities and telling customers that we will be introducing nickel alloys and high-strength stainless steel", said Nigel. "A lot of motorsport exhaust systems are made of nickel alloy and we have some parts on the Showtime Fuel Funny Car. One way to convince people that this stuff works is to take them to the races and see that I am so confident in the product that I put my friend Spuff behind it. We are looking forward to increasing our involvement in drag racing this year, for example Martin Hill has a ballistic grade titanium in between himself and the jet engine in his new Funny Car."

Sister company ATI Stellram is getting involved in drag racing in 2007. "Nigel's passion for drag racing impressed us", said John Bannister of ATI Stellram. "Within ATI we have a strong synergy between the groups, so it makes sense for us to show our whole profile from metals to cutting. We also have a common customer base. Stellram's niche is to machine difficult materials for defence and motorsport and we see our involvement in drag racing as a vehicle to launch our new range of carbides onto the marketplace."

Legendary Fuel Altered racer Ron Hope said that he had been talking to Santa Pod Raceway about bringing the Rat Trap and other AAFAs over to run in 2007 or 2008. Meanwhile the Rat Trap team are preparing to test in March and are then out on the road. "Last year we ran twelve events in the USA and four in Canada", he said. "We are going to change our web site shortly and we will be posting some in-car footage."

Randy Graves of œrlikon Balzers Coating was visiting from the USA and told us about his company's products which are used on both sides of the Atlantic. "Our coatings offer friction, heat and wear reduction", said Randy. "That is beneficial to horsepower gain - anywhere where there is usually a lot of friction gives you a large gain. If you can gain another 100 rpm sooner it makes a big difference and that is obviously important for drag racing. We coat valvetrain components and gear components. A small percentage on each component soon adds up, resulting in more reliability and lower costs. Another area is head studs - heads are pulled and put back on after every run. The coating is typically two to three microns thick, with a little more on gears and ring and pinions. Right now there is a lot of interest in coating pistons. I think the benefit will be in the ring groove and we coat rings too. Our customers include John Force and engine builder Steve Schmidt who tried a coated crank and reported thirty runs without trouble."

On this side of the Atlantic, œrlikon Balzers Coatings are used on the Showtime Fuel FC. "We are trying to develop new areas", said driver John Spuffard. "The difference in the coated parts is visible. You can get two bolts and feel the difference when you tighten the nuts - the coated bolts feel as if they are already lubricated. Quite a lot of products are coated on our car and the results are really good. We use airguns and so parts get tough treatment but they don't burr."

Whilst we had hold of John Spuffard we asked him about Fuel Funny Car in 2007. "The future is looking very positive", said Spuff. "There are potentially five or six Funny Cars running this year. As you know we've bought a new car. We're looking forward to the challenge and we're off to Las Vegas next week to attend the Pro test at the invitation of John Force Racing. Then I'm going on to Yorba Linda to check over our new car before it's shipped. The involvement we have with John Force Racing is exciting for us and to be asked to join them at an event is a dream come true.

"Our sponsors of 2006 are following through and they have stepped up to the plate. We've got an outstanding crew who are looking forward to having a new toy to play with - Bob and I really appreciate their hard work and loyalty.

"We are definitely booked for Easter, the Main Event and European Finals, the Nitrolympx at Hockenheim and the Flame and Thunder Show, and we are also looking at testing this year. There may be some other dates too."

Winged Aviation, who also sponsor the Showtime Fuel FC, are specialist tube suppliers for roll cages. "We supply T45, 4130, 15CDV6 and 25CRMO4 which covers every roll cage design for every form of motorsport", said Phil Matts. "We deal with governing bodies and designers - we work with Nigel at Allegheny Technologies for example, and I deal with Andy Robinson and through my work with him I know that drag racing safety is far superior". Phil explained that the company became involved in drag racing after one of their MDs went to an event and was "blown away". "When I went I thought I was going to have a heart attack!", said Phil. "It's a form of motorsport which you can't appreciate until you've seen it."

Geof Hauser and Ray Eldred of Hauser Race Cars were in attendance again selling the very popular Grip Tyre Softener. "This year we have had a lot of people come back and say they've used it, so we haven't had to spend much time convincing sceptics", said Geof. "We've had enquiries from Australia, Thailand, places we never thought of."

Geof said that HRC, who have a lot going on at present, are desperately seeking a fabricator. "We need someone who knows what's required and can work without supervision", said Geof. "It's all bespoke work". If you are interested in working at HRC then you can find contact details on the company's web site at www.hauserracing.com.

We encountered Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy Robinson at the Brown and Miller Racing Solutions stand, where his record-holding blown-alcohol Pro Mod engine was on display. I asked Andy if he had done anything to the 6.1-second Stude in the off-season. "The engine was pulled out of the car last Sunday, Luke polished it on Tuesday, and I brought it up here on Wednesday!", he said. Top Methanol Dragster racer Dave Wilson, asked the same question, replied "I've done even less than Andy!". Andy Robinson Race Cars have produced some very smart new mouse mats showing the Stude as a candidate on the vehicle selection screen of a computer game - check out Friday's gallery to see what we mean.

Santa Pod Raceway's stand opened on Saturday and featured one of its regular line-ups, this time Martin Hill's Fireforce 3 Jet FC, the Showtime Fuel FC, Andy Carter's Top Fuel Dragster, Santa Pod's own Supertwin and Junior Dragster, the Reaction Time simulator, and merchandise trailer. The 2006 European Championships DVD was playing on constant loop and the TV screen was never without a viewing crowd. The new range of calendars and flyers was also on offer, goodie bags were handed out all day and Nitro the Dragon was on hand for the kids. Santa Pod's display was very busy all of Saturday; Martin Hill and Andy Carter and his team were on their feet all day meeting and greeting fans, as were Santa Pod's hard-working staff who were there long before the show opened and were still there long after it closed.

On Saturday we had our annual in-depth chat with FIA Eurpean Championship Promoter and Santa Pod Raceway CEO Keith Bartlett. Keith had a lot to tell us about the European Championships and about developments at Santa Pod Raceway, and we will publish his comments in a stand-alone interview on Monday's news update.

On the VP Racing Fuels stand we spoke to Regional Manager Jim Kelly who handles the eastern side of the USA and the whole of Europe, and who organised the company's sponsorship deal with Eurodragster.com. VP Racing Fuels are launching two new fuels for rallying this weekend. "We do a significant amount of business in Europe", said Jim. "Our products are proven to make more power than others. We have a diversified business and strong dealers. The cost of fuel has been coming down recently because the price of crude is dropping". VP Racing Fuels' SV05 is the spec fuel for Pro Stock in the USA and Europe, but Jim said that the compliment is double-edged. "It's nice being the spec fuel for some series, but we are locked out of other series so there are two sides to it", he said.

Steve Wood of Motorshack said that the company will again be providing trackside service in 2007 and that Motorshack's support of Shakespeare County Raceway will continue this season. Steve added that Motorshack will also be supporting any racer wishing to do comparative dyno tests against other fuels and that interested parties should get in touch.

Joe Pando of MSD Ignition said that this was the company's first time at Autosport International but that the response had been so good that MSD had already decided to come back next year. "It's been a great experience", he said. "We have already signed a number of distributors. We are training dealers this week and then we go home on Wednesday. We will use our dealers here as our eyes and ears and we'll definitely be making more trips here". MSD have attended the Veidec Festival at Mantorp Park and Joe said that the plan was to bring a service trailer to European events as they do in the USA. "MSD is based on drag racing", he said. "Mantorp was a reconnaissance to see the market. We feel that drag racing is big in Europe and that it can get bigger. In another two years we'll have more market share although it's already pretty large". MSD are deeply involved with Swedish Top Methanol FC racer Leif Andréasson and Joe said that Leif knows how to show his gratitude. "Leif is a likeable guy and he is very good in front of the camera", he said. "He comes to the USA with his truck and trailer and he always ends his trip by coming to MSD. You can't help but support a guy like that". In the future Joe said that he envisaged working closely with the FIA in the same way that MSD already works with NHRA. "We work hand in hand with NHRA", he said. "We've developed relationships with sanctioning bodies and we work closely with them on safety, such as the rev limiters in NHRA. We'd like to work any safety related matters with the FIA even though the rev limiters are not necessary in FIA."