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16:45

You can see a list of today's best times so far by clicking here (pdf format).

Result of No Prep competition: Pel Norman (Shogun 73 Capri 632ci) 5.64/124 def. Pete Youhill (Pontiac Firebird 9.5l) 5.84/123.

Pete first away, Pel caught up and overtook him, Pel getting out of shape at the finish line but kept control.

3rd and 4th place run-off: Mark Flavell 5.10/149 def. Russ Pursley (DNS - broken differential)

Well controlled launch and straight and true to within four hundredths of Mark's 5.06 track record.

Russ Pursley has a 434ci SBC V8 powered Dutton Phaeton kit car with a Powerglide gearbox, his best time today was 8.37/83, although he has runs 8.74/142 at SPR. He is in the NSCC and will compete in the Duck All Prep Competition. The light Dutton made a 360 degree spin late Saturday afternoon without any visible damage however later the differential was found to be broken.	Mark Flavell ran a demo run today however went off the track to the right after making some careful burnouts and dry hops; he recovered and made another attempt to break his own track record in the 3rd/4th place runoff in the Duck All Prep competition.
The Spiderman Junior Drag Bike is Jack Taylor, his bike was built by dad Dave Taylor who has taken up bike fabrication and built several of the JDBs seen here today. The engine is a Gilera DNA and his best time toay a 13.02/48, very close to other JDBs here.	William Mountford's Junior Drag Bike was also built by Dave Taylor, William's bike has a Honda SH125 engine which takes the bike to 13.0s/49 times on the eighth. Other juniors with bikes by Dave are those of Amy Wolstenholme and Alfie Barraclough which have Gilera DNA engines and run similar times. Support for the bikes including parts donated comes from Dave Varey.
Bob Molden is celebrating his 30 years' anniversary in drag racing this year. Wife and crew chief Jeanette said "We've had the car tidied up to celebrate, engine refreshed and dyno'ed at EDA, six point harness installed, engine firewall and plate blue adonised, new fire extinguisher. Bob retired from his day job as an MOT inspector for buses last November, and we will be spending a week in our caravan at Skegness between this first event and the Festival of Power. You can contact the team at the track or via Altered Tees Apparel for anniversary t-shirts and hoodies.	Steve and Sara Unsworth are having their second racing weekend in a row. "We attended the Outlaw Street round 1 at SPR last weekend and I ran a PB of 9.65/142 with chutes out, which was great, and the shut down area at was smooth", said Sara. The Mustang has been supercharged for some time, but after the original unit went we got a full race Vortech cetrifugal unit which outputs 22 lb of boost. The car carries its front wheels on launch and the new relaid braking area at Melbourne Raceway is welcome as the car will get up to 100mph in the eighth.
Frank Mason, who won several championships in Super Gas and Super Comp before retiring from the sport, is here to catch up with latest events; he brought us up to date adn mentioned some of his favourite stories. Currently he has a 1961 Corvette 1st generation and a very rare '37 Hudson Terraplane. He said that he has two favourite memories of racing, one where he and Steve Neimantas were filmed for BBC Top Gear at York Dragway 1992 which you can see via Youtube, and Frank beat Jeremy Clarkson twice. "I had a twin turbo '69 Corvette and he had a GMC Syclone pickup which he was going to deliver to rally ace Pentti Airikkala, he had a bit of a tantrum because it was the quickest pickup in the world at the time." Frank's other memory as a driver was against Tony Morris who drove Paul Marston's Whoopass Monza. "There was a lot of trash talk on the internet and Tony came from Florida with a lot of experience. I had him at the finish line by 0.0004s or 1 1/2 inches and as we pulled off at the end the Lancaster and Spitfire came over as if to salute!"	Nostalgia Superstock racer Bob Main, who has travelled down from Edinburgh for testign, has had engine and chassis work done on his '70 Superbird. He said "I have a 440ci engine bored to 452ci with a 850cfm double pumper carb and Torqflite 727 gearbox with reverse shift pattern operated as manual. The car is street legal if I put treads on it as there is a full exhaust, and on the track is good for high 11s." Bob's first NSS race in 2022 will be the Springspeed Nationals at Santa Pod Raceway (an 800 mile round trip) and he is keen on the class. "We've just announced Melvin Weller of Axtra Transport as an additional sponsor for the class, I am also raising money by raffling a £50 note today with unlimited entries.

09:45

Good morning and welcome to our reporting from Melbourne Raceway at the 2022 Season Opener.

The weather is bright and crisp at Yorkshire's drag strip, with mostly sunny skies and temperature currently at 4C. Improvements to the facility are clear to see on our arrival: the entrance road completely relaid, new ashphalt between the pit area and the burnout box, new ashphalt extending the braking area to 500m, and a concrete base for a new clubhouse. The difference is immense and many congratulations to Trevor Duckworth and his team for getting the improvements done so effectively, and in time for the first event.

The plan for today is to get pit notes and photos by former editor Tog, with a link to the official results. We will update at various points during the day so come back for the latest information.

A big welcome to Eurodragsterholics everywhere, and a big Happy Birthday to Funny Car crew chief Dave Bryant, Pro Stock Bike racer Martin Newbury, Super Twin racer Svein Olav Rolfstad who reaches the landmark of 60 today and Netherlands Bike racer Ivana van den Berg, we hope you all have a great day. Welcome to all those who are tuned in, including long time supporter Bob Roberts, and perennial fans Kai Plathan from Finland with his faithful hound Otto.

Come back later to see what's occuring at the track.