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We started on Saturday morning with with FIM and FIM/UEM European Championship promoter and Trakbak Racing CEO Keith Bartlett who gave us his traditional State of the Union interview.

"Santa Pod Raceway had a disastrous year in 2008", said Keith. "Trakbak Racing have had their worst two years in twelve years because of the weather. It has set us back eighteen months in our developments. The conclusion is that the racers and public won't see such quick development, but in the current climate borrowing would be suicidal.

"I've never known a summer with so much rain in my forty years in racing. As a racer it was frustrating to sit in the rain, as the owner of a company one of whose main operations depends upon the weather it's not just frustrating but hurts the pocket big time. That said, I've never been as optimistic in the last ten years as I am now about 2009. Put quite simply, success is always born of failure and bust is always followed by boom. No doubt in the next twelve to eighteen months the situation will become harder and more severe, however new opportunities always arise in all spheres which wouldn't be there in a buoyant market. In my role as CEO I am now opening doors in various markets predominantly in drag racing but also in other spheres.

"Within drag racing I am working closely upon and developing projects which have been in the drawing board for two or three years, such as tracks in the Middle East and Europe. After several years' slog we are making progress with new tracks looking to hold rounds of both the FIA and UEM series. In 2009 we will be taking the UEM Championship to Hungary in August, the week after Hockenheim. We anticipate and are hopeful that with some construction and investment we will see both Championships in Hungary. Many are aware of our involvement with a new facility in Italy. After two and a half years we are still within the planning process which seems to take forever in Italy although in recent weeks there seems to be a clearer direction towards final consent in the Spring. Once we have received the final building regulations we are hopeful that construction will start this year.

"Another major project is a new series named Environmental Sports Car which we are hopeful will be launched in 2010. It is primarily a manufacturer-based series to showcase the next generation of environmentally friendly and green sports cars which manufacturers are either already producing or are designing for production within the next four years. Over the past year we have received a huge response from the motor industry including government, motoring organisations, manufacturers and specialist car constructors. Briefly, the series will run on both circuits and drag strips and will campaign as support at FIA GT and European Drag Racing rounds. There will also be a professional driver/celebrity road challenge country to country or city centre to city centre as an added element at each round in each country. It will be supported by a special TV series.

"An interesting spin-off for drag racing is that I see a huge potential for both Pro Stock and Pro Stock Bike to develop albeit with both major and minor changes to the cars and bikes and their construction regulations.

"The bottom line to all of this is that if motorsport doesn't look to the future and the huge environmental changes in the next couple of years and make the change in direction required, then government and legislation will make the changes for us. One obvious area is fuels and carbon emissions. Personally I am convinced that over the next few years motorsport will have to run clean and green fuels such as ethanol and second generation bio-diesel (bio-waste). Hybrid cars are the thing of the future and I am certain that the future of motoring will be electric cars, and motorsport will have to sign up to it. Already there are electric cars in production, such as the Lightning and the Tesla, which look like supercars and can run in excess of 175 mph. In the near future this will become the norm and not the exception.

"The concept of the Environmental Sports Car series is to show that future generations of cars and bikes can be environmentally friendly and meet regulations and yet perform on the track as they can today.

"I remain optimistic for Santa Pod this year and I am hopeful that the weather can't repeat itself in the same way on the same weekends for a third year running. The Santa Pod Raceway management and I are as always looking to improve the quality of the show, raise the level of entertainment, and to give as much value as possible to the public and to our loyal race fans. The 2009 calendar is even busier than 2008, if that is possible! We don't have a single free weekend before the second week of November.

"I would like to thank our sponsors for their continuing support and for renewing contracts in 2009 which we all know will be a difficult year. I feel sure that we will be able to repay the faith shown by our sponsors by the shows and events we will present to both sponsors and public in 2009.

"This year will be difficult for the FIA and UEM Championships. Budgets may be cut, teams may drop out, but I am also aware of new teams stepping up. As always in drag racing teams and drivers end careers to be replaced by young blood full of enthusiasm to reach the top. In tough economic times old stars may fade away but it's certain that new stars will be born."

Diane Simons of Eurodragster.com News sponsor Grandstand Motorsports said that they have aready received some bookings for their organised trip to the Gatornationals at Gainesville and that the company are keen to expand their drag racing trips. "Our new catalogue will be available at the end of January", said Diane. "We currently offer trips to Gainesville, Mantorp Park, Hockenheim, Las Vegas and Pomona. Hockenheim is a very popular race with fans and our trip is priced at £599 plus tickets. This includes flights, transfers, hotel, and transport to and from the track each day". Diane mentioned that a Readers' Offer may soon be available for Eurodragster.com readers, stay tuned for details.

Fuel tuner Eddie Corr stopped by to tell us that he is planning to remain with Rune Fjeld Motorsport in 2009. There are a couple of parties interested in driving the car which Jari Halinen drove and Eddie tuned in 2008.

Swedish Top Fuel Dragster racer Micke Kågered is ready to go. "We could race this weekend if we wanted!", he said. Lars-Göran Eriksson has backhalved the car and has done a very good job. He only had two weeks to do the work because we were between shows, so he had to work really hard.

"I have come to the show to meet a couple of sponsors and to get some inspiration. Not everything is set, a couple of sponsors have yet to sign. Last year was our best year yet and especially the last couple of races were good. We also did a lot off track, it was our busiest year, and this year will be the same."

Micke thinks that the sport in Europe will benefit from Urs Erbacher, Leif Andréasson and Andy Carter racing in the USA. "If they have the luck then they can do something", he said. "Andréasson has done a really good job, it's not easy or cheap do he must have really good sponsors! It would be difficult for me to run in the USA because we have so many sponsor appearances".

I asked Micke if he had ever thought of having a Show Dragster. "We were going to do that", he said, "but then we changed our minds and we are keeping this one. The car went really well in the last two races. We have found the problem and the car's working now. We can win races, and that's why I want to start today!"

Dan Welberry told us that Eurodragster.com sponsor 3t Creative will be marketing Brian Taylor's forthcoming book Crazy Horses for Haynes Publishing. "The book will be available at the Carter Motorsport pit at the FIA Main Event", said Dan. "We will run the event from our large hospitality area. We plan a monster signing session with Andy, Dennis Priddle, Nobby Hills, Barry Sheavills and a Who's Who of British drag racing. This weekend 3t Creative have won an award for Best Stand for Haynes' stand in the Pistonheads Show."

Santa Pod Raceway's General Manager David Lloyd-Jones brought us up to date with the work going on at Santa Pod. "The replacement Medical Centre will be ready for the Easter Thunderball", he said. "It is in the same place as the Centre which burned down. Building should be complete by the end of January and then Human Touch will equip the Centre. We promised Amos Meekins a new scrutineering bay a long time ago and that too will be up by Easter. It will be indoors and have much better facilities. Jamie Sneddon has been a lot of help with the building work.

"We are also resurfacing a short stretch of the shutdown area to remove the dip in the right hand lane just after the finish line. The bike races particularly have noticed it and told us about it. We are also resurfacing the first exit. Both will be finished in time for Easter."