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16:30

That's our coverage finished from Melbourne Raceway for this weekend, thanks for looking in. We'll post Tog's gallery later and publish results in tomorrow's news update.

Ian Merryweather was the winner of the Duck All Prep Competition yesterday but went out in the first round today against Mark Todd. "The stage lights were flickering and then the lights went down and Mark got a good run, there was 5 or 6 feet in it but I was put on the trailer. This is a new car altogether, after the 2019 Hot Rod Drags where I ran a PB of 7.90/170 I decided a longer wheelbase was the way to go, the old chassis was 102" with a high crank point. The car was designed after the Bad Habit fuel altered from the late sixties in the US which was the first to run a six, however my old chassis had come from Freddie's Revenge. During 2021 I welded a chrome moly chassis with 110" wheelbase with the help of Phil Wall, which I want to be tagged to 6.0s. The original body from the old car dropped on to the new chassis well. The new chassis handles like a dream, we tested here at the first event in May and came third. It still spins the rear tyres down the track but doesn't make any sudden moves. Apart from the front axle the running gear is different, there is a 392ci iron block Hemi which I got after the previous one broke in Malta where we went in 2018. Andy Mapes machined it and I run it at 10psi boost which should run a 7.90 consistently. I'll be running the car at Dragstalgia, the Mopars, Hot Rod Drags and at the October meeting here.	David Geary runs this neat 2.3ltr Beetle and ran a best of 8.35/86 today.
Chris Green built his new drag kart over the winter and wanted to get the weight low with a Hayabusa engine powering it. "The chassis is chrome moly which I built with Junior Dragster rear wheels and tyres, but I could not get traction so have put hill climb wheels and Avon tyres make it more stable although the 60fts are slower. My best times are 7.1s at 103mph with hill climb tyres and 6.9 with Junior dragster tyres so I will be tuning the pressures to get quicker. The engine is standard with a stock ECU, nitrous which I am using for the first time today, Hayabusa gearbox and a silencer to placate the neighbours. I am thinking about running with the Renegade Go Karts in August."	Emily Glover and dad Dave Glover have had their Gen 3 Camaro for seven years and spent the first two years restoring it to a 'safe condition' as the rust bug had bit. Uniquely in the UK, the car has a 522ci Cadillac engine with forged pistons and rods, billet crank and a 1000cfm carb by QuikFuel. The team has five engines in all and Emily has built a 472ci Cadillac. "The engine produces 650 lb/ft of torque and almost 900hp, plus we have a 100hp nitrous shot." The car weighs around 2.2tons so it needs lots of power, the chassis is stock and gearbox a CK Performance TH400 with convertor". The car has run 10s at Santa Pod and its bests here are 7.51 (no nitrous) from Emily and 7.76 from Dave (with nitrous).
Damian Halliwell is here for the first time in 25 years when he ran an Anglia. His current car is a Street Eliminator Chevy Biscayne which was built as a race car when he bought it. "I have owned the car for 14 years and have rebuilt it and put in a new TH400 Edge Transmissions gearbox which has helped the performance greatly. The engine is a Shafiroff 540ci BBC with Dart block and heads, naturally aspirated which was built by EDA. The rear end was fitted by Andy Robinson."	Paul Grainger runs the Lagonda Garage in Billingham and is a long time racer at Melbourne and its predecessor York Raceway. "I love the place, there is a great atmosphere, my first event was in 1984 on a motorbike. I built the Anglia in 2009 and then rebuilt it with a new chassis after my son Kasey Dixon-Grainger was killed in an accident in 2011, I wanted to come back and race safely in his left lane. "The car has run a best of 8.72/156 here and similar times at Santa Pod and Shakespeare County. It now has Kasey's engine which is a 496ci BBC with tunnel ram and twin carbs, the gearbox is either Powerglide or TH400 depending how I feel."
Martin Rawlinson bought his Dodge Challenger in December 2020 and it reached UK shores in March 2021, he first brought it to the drag strip in May 2021 with the National Street Car Club. "I will be running it with Outlaw Street at VW Action, I started using street tyres but have now changed to 305/45/17 drag radials and have a 100hp plate nitrous kit on the engine. There are no other power adders and currently the ECU is stock, you have to get the PCM unlocked and then get a tuner to put a map on it, and the transmission chip can also be mapped which should help on the 8 speed gearbox. It's the only lime green Challenger in the country and my best here is 7.26/99."	Russ Pursley has a Dutton Phaeton which he has owned for 26 years. He said "I brought it from a friend and it had a small block Chevy in it when I bought it, the front suspension was Triumph Herald but I upgraded the brakes to Ford Cosworth ones. The engine is a Shafiroff 434ci Big Dawg with a QuikFuel 950cfm carburettor, Powerglide gearbox with a Neal Chance convertor and 9" Ford axle installed by Geof Hauser." Russ has been running for 22 years with the NSCC, he started at York and was then encouraged by Cath and Tig Napier to sign up. The group has been run by Sean Wilson for many years and in the last three years Russ has also appeared with Outlaw Street. His best is 8.74/153 which could put him the car in contention with several classes. "It would cost me a lot of money to run a whole championship, the chassis needs more bars to get an 8.50 tag, but I have bought a parachute and will install that."

15:30

Good afternoon and welcome to Sunday's coverage from Melbourne Raceway. The conditions are dry with a crosswind of around 23mph, temperatures 21C. Today has been qualifying and eliminations, including Sunday's Duck All Prep contest which was won by Mark Todd who recovered from ignition coil problems experienced yesterday.

Thanks to Martyn Greathead for supplying timing data. Best times for today are at this link.You can see all the times recorded yesterday at this link, Duck All Prep times at this link and ET Qualifying Times at this link.

Come back later and see our pit notes from today.

A big Hello to all Eurodragsterholics who are tuned in, especially to Kieran who is supplying a gallery from The Fast Show Reloaded.