Top Fuel Dragster racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Urs Erbacher ran an early shutdown 5.793/184.90 run to go sixth. He said 'It was my mistake, I pedalled when I didn't need to, the car was on one and I wanted a full pass. I don't even know why I lifted'. The team's focus apart from getting Urs down the track is on initial licensing passes for daughter Jndia who will do a launch tonight and then run before or at the night show tomorrow. Urs said 'Jndia has had experience in A/Fuel in the US with Anthony Dicero'.

Top Fuel Dragster racer Duncan Micallef ran 4.744/281.24 to go third. He said 'It was difficult in the first three races because we had a clutch problem. Once we learned what that was the car performed better. The first run was good but the track temerature hurt us all in TF. I lifted early as we were testing new settings and I didn't any damage. It will be quicker on the second run.

Top Fuel Dragster racer Liam Jones, packing the parachute with the aid of Heide Stanley, had a blower belt break at about the eighth and went 4.877/263kph to go fourth. He said 'The blower belt tends to be a weak point, but everything else is fine, so I'm happy.

Top Fuel Dragster racer, pictured with clutch expert and fellow Top Fuel Dragster racer Birgitte Bremnes, said 'It's too hot compared to Alastaro and that makes things difficult for tuning. Fortunately have Jimmy Walsh here to help us tune and I am looking forward to the next run'.

Top Fuel Dragster racer Micke Kågered's performance also suffered from the heat. Crewman Rob Inglis said 'There was not enough power so it shook the tyre and we will need to turn up the power on the next pass. After the last couple of years, it has been difficult for the teams to find suitable settings for the track and weather. Things looked good yesterday but conditions are changing daily and we are all doing a good job considering the temperatures'. Rob reported track temperatures of 125dgrees fahrenheit.

Top Fuel Dragster racer Stig Neergaard was pleased with the performance of his car at Alastaro. 'There we set the quickest time in all four qualifying sessions. The only problem came in the semi final when we put more fuel in it and it dropped a hole and we ended up losing by eight humdredths of a second. The weather here is draining the power out of the engines, even when I ran at Las Vegas it was not this hot. We will give it more fuel and ignition because of the bad air'. Some were reporting adjusted altitude of 4000ft above sea level. Currently there are 12 points between leade Micke, Anita and Stig, which is less than one round of racing.

Top Methanol Funny Car racer Jürgen Nagel said 'We measured the temperature in the car which was 120degrees fahrenheit without the engine running. So with the lack of other cars this year we are testing our new PSI blower. In the first run we overpowered the track. The track has been prepared perfectly however the heat has made it a little slippery for our tune-up so we will have to bring the power down. We will reduce the clutch weights and starting rpm and keep the engine combination the same to ensure consistency'. The field has reduced due to a variety of factors, Johan Lindberg having an imminent race in the US, Danny Bellio with part of his operation for sale.

Top Methanol Funny Car racer Leif Andreasson had repaired his car before the Alataro event, less than four weeks after a devastating crash when Micke Larsson crossed the centre line. Leif said 'We got repaired thanks to our sponsor support for costs of �60,000 and my team working really hard. We had to build up a new car from scratch. The guys were waiting outside UPS whenever a delivery was due'. Leif's 2009 Charger body has been brought back into use on the repaired chassis and the whole engine needed rebuilding. Regarding next year, Leif is guarded about his plans.

Top Methanol Dragster racers Timo and Dennis Habermann was pleased with a 5.42 on the well-prepared track. He said 'I pedalled after a little shake but it wasn't bad. Dennis also pedalled but after smoking the tyres and after another pedal down the track the burst panel went as the engine had leaned out'. On the next qualifying session it will be Timo vs Dennis. 'We don't keep a tally of our race results against each other as we race as a team and everyone does their best.'

Top Methanol Dragster racer Jonny Lagg ran a 5.55, however he shut off after 4.2s so it could have been a much quicker run.

Supercharged Outlaws racer Ingo Eckert is aided by Kirsten Krause who is a team member of Peter Schöfer Racing and still wears his PSR crew shirt at this event. He said 'Peter was really looking forward to the 30th anniversary NitrOlympX as it is also the 30th anniversary of Peter driving a dragster. He has some health issues which mean he won't racing at least for the rest of this year. I couldn't miss this race and Ingo asked if I could join his team, which I'm really enjoying as I have no special duties and so can chat to the fans more'. Ingo is looking for his first six in over two years in his ex-Per Svedberg car.

Pro Modified racer Jean Dulamon nudged into the wall on his first qualifying run, but the team got the duck tape out to repair the carbon fibre front end. He said 'This is the fifth time I have damaged the front, fortunately the chassis is undamaged. The handling problem which led to was from new Tim McAmis electrically adjustable shocks where we put more weight on the front and none on the rear, which was obviously not the best settings to use'. Jean's duck tape was also applied to his hand which got cut handling the splintered carbon fibre.

Jean Dulamon showed us a machine he has developed for grinding clutch plates, which he is considering selling to other racers.

Pro Modified racer Mats Eriksson was pleased to go into no.1 in the first session with a 6.22. 'Now we have a problem adjusting the car. The track surface looks really good however the weather has caused us some problems which is not so good. The 6.22 is something to build on. My main focus is the FIA championship (Mats leading at the halfway point) and we will definitely be racing at Tierp and SPR, any other races we will only consider if there are no problems.

Super Pro ET racer Barry Giles was pleased at running well despite the weather. 'We even ran quicker than the first run in hotter conditions which we weren't expecting'. There is only one Super Pro ET qualifier tomorrow and on Sunday there could be five rounds of racing. Team member Frank said 'We have managed five rounds of racing in the past and use some tricks to keep the car cool between rounds, for instance pouring water on transmission casings. Every few degrees saved makes a difference'.

Super Pro ET racer Sebastien Lajoux of Team Toxic mentioned that the team's two seater with its distinctive livery, is used to carry passengers in France but not in other countries where it races with just the driver. The team is sponsored by AMP, an American parts company in France which is the main organiser of Italy's biggest drag race, the Hills Race which is being run at Rivanazzano Dragway near Pavia in September.

Pro Stock bike racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Martin Newbury's wife Cindy was keeping cool by immersing her feet in water. Martin was pleased with a 7.503/282 to go fifth as the bike is still being developed. 'My run was about half a mile in length and the shift light had fallen off and the bike didn't get into sixth gear. However the gearbox problem we had at the last race we ran at (the Main Event) had gone after we rebuilt it and we were surprised it was ok. We have taken more clutch out of it as it was moving around the track. And our new crew member Andy has his birthday on Sunday so it's already a great weekend.

Top Fuel Bike racer Antoine Coupiac from Boulogne, France made his initial run on his brand new bike today. The bike was built by the ex-Pro Stock Bike racer's team and looks promising.

Junior Dragster racer Caitlin Wilson expressed on her dial-in board what a lot of people were saying today.

Top Fuel Dragster racer Noah Stutz is attending but not racing. He said 'We are planning to run at Las Vegas and Pomona and maybe Charlotte. It is great to be here again and see Jndia do her first passes in the car.

Pro ET racer Glenn Pallant had to improvise a sun shade in the morning's baking heat, expected to rise to 36 degrees. There are quite a few UK racers on the entry list, three in Pro ET qualifying 16th, 17th and 18th. Glenn ran a 10.233/190kph (non-nitrous) on a 10.00 dial to go 16th.

Pro ET racer Bernd Kaltenbach has run this superb '64 Plymouth Belvedere for five years, but is now looking to sell it and buy a slingshot dragster from the UK. His time of 10.858 on a 10.65 dial placed him 14th out of 45 competitors after session one. The car has a 440cu in Mopar engine stroked to 500cu in and the car is street legal.

Pro ET racer Elodie Dubois is driving her uncle Patrick's rear engined dragster, with a new 584cu in engine. Elodie has graduated from Junior Dragster and this is her second race in her new drive. She recorded a 9.738/244kph on her initial run.

Pro ET racer Bob Molden was here helping Billy Gane last year and decided to bring the Peugeot 205 to compete in this year's race. In session one he ran 10.054/195kph to go 18th. He said "The journey here was no trouble, we just had a slight detour".

Pro ET racer Jon Turner is also over for the first time in his 512cu in Plymouth 'Cuda. He went 10.064/216kph on a 9.82 dial-in to qualify 17th.

Pro ET racer Daniel Vetterl has this Topolino altered which is called 'Fast Forward'. This is a new car with chassis from the UK and SBC with Ederle injection and Powerglide power train. Best time so far is 9.37 at Beychene.

Super Pro ET racer Alex Halter from Czech Republic runs a '70 Plymouth Roadrunner and went 8.564/282kph to go 17th. There is a strong UK entry in Super Pro with Roy Walker in 2nd, Billy Gane in 3rd, Barry Giles in 5th and Bob Hawkins in 22nd after session one. Best wishes to Simon and Sharon Gough after Simon had to withdraw with wife Sharon having a throat infection.

Super Pro ET racer Claude Knopf also from Czech Republic has a '84 Camaro with a 565cu in engine. He went 8.136 on 8.15 dial in in session one.

Super Pro ET racer Eric Angeloni from France has a Neil & Parks '89 dragster with 704cu in engine. His 7.597 on 7.55 dial in placed him sixth in the first session.

Super Pro ET racer Lajoux Sebastien from France runs a '02 Worthy rail with 781cu in engine under the name Team Toxic. His 7.946/300kph on a 7.00 dial in was good for 24th.

Super Pro ET racer Jutta Winter, in a '34 Ford five window altered, has a chassis previously owned and raced by Herb Andrews who sent his best wishes to Jutta and to take care of his old equipment. Jutta ran a 8.644 on 8.44 dial in to show us Herb's equipment is working fine.

Super Pro ET racer Sylvain Nowak of France is listed as having an Altered, although we would rather say it's a shorty dragster. A 9.075 on an 8.90 shows Sylvain got the dial in pretty accurate.

Super Pro ET racer Billy Gane went 8.427/261 on an 8.40 dial in the first session to go third in a field of 36. The sportsman fields are large and have many countries represented.

Super Pro ET racer Patrick Dubois, who has encouraged his family and other French racers into the sport, has a new car imported from California and built by American Race Cars. His engine is a Steve Schmidt with nitrous fitted. Running with the nitrous off, he recorded a 7.179 on 7.20 dial in. The name 'Offwood' by the driver's cockpit is not the previous owner, but (according to Patrick) based on the English translation of 'Du bois'.

Super Pro ET racer Maurin Gilles has a Tom Yancer '01 dragster with 555 cu in and he ran 8.206/268 on an 8.60 dial-in. The Super Pro cars have two more planned qualifying sessions before the top 32 run on Sunday, which should make the day a nice challenge for the quicker cars.

Super Pro ET racer Florian Uebel from Germany runs a '98 Mustang which he imported from Finland. With 620cu in , he went 8.364/263kph on a 8.40 dial in. His main sponsor is Custom Wolf hand made bikes.

Super Gas racer Sylvie Lavaud from France has a gleaming paint job on her 'Lady Marmalade' Beetle with a 2500cc engine.

Super Comp racer Heinz Peter Ammerer from Austria has a car originally built in 1996 with 427cu in power. More details about his race team are here.

Supercharged Outlaws racer Karlheinz Kleider, who ran a string of six second runs at SPR earlier in the year, has both his current Thunderbird funny car and the Dodge Avenger he is building for next season on display. Karlheinz was on top of the class times with a 6.802/326.21kph in the first session.

Super Gas racer René Kloss has a new-to-him '86 Camaro which he ran at the Test & Tune last weekend. Assisted by brother-in-law Tony Morris, René quickly got the car close to the 9.90 index. Depending on finances, we may be seeing the Camaro at SPR at the Euro Finals.

Jet funny car racer Jeff Boutonnet has his Flashover Jet FC on display. Regular visitors to NitrOlympx will realise that not all cars on display run, however we live in hope...In the background is Donald Pottier's Fire King which is in a stable of five jet vehicles he owns. More details on Donald's racing is at www.duckteam.fr

Donald Pottier's jet bike No Fear sums up nicely the qualifications needed to ride it. Power comes from a General Electric J85.

Also from France is Mathieu Boissel's oddly-named Anachronisme III is run by Drag Mob Productions. He plans to run in the night show on Saturday but will not be timed (usually due to licensing restrictions). Unofficially he has run 375kph with the three wheeler.

Happy Birthday to Supercharged Outlaws racer Lee Gallimore who celebrated by recording 7.707/281.02kph in the first session. Supercharged Outlaws are running as an exhibition this weekend and so are aiming to score the best ET. Lee's time placed him third.

We won't be seeing the Nitro Funny Cars running at this year's event however this example was on display in the pits to remind us.

Supercharged Outlaws racer Andy Hadfield went 7.854/278 in session one to go fifth. He also enjoyed idling down the F1 pit lane, blipping the throttle of his blown T bucket at any deserving passers by.