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22:00

Hakan Nilsson said after his successful full licensing run, "In our previous runs we never got to the point where the clutch locked up after two or three seconds. When it did, the car accelerated really hard and was really thrilling. I had a slight hassle with the startline routine and need to remember to get off the clutch in pre-stage. With the pressure of getting licensed, there was more stress than normal at that stage of the run. On the run, there was shake after 60 feet but, unlike the previous times, it was just slight and I drove through it. I'm glad we got a few runs in, as we have managed to sort out our problems and it gave me some seat time. I just need to concentrate on my starting line procedure and reaction times."

Ian Hanson (Super Pro ET) was delighted with a 7.6 from his new '53 Corvette. "We did our observed runs yesterday and ran twice today. The first run felt straight and I had to correct just a little on the second run." The car, which was built from a Tim McAmis chassis and body kit, is legal for Pro Mod but currently has Ian's blown small block Chevy and Powerglide combination from his Altered. "There is more to come", he said, "As we are running low boost and not stressing the motor." The spectacular red-plus-Stars-and-Stripes paint job was applied by crew member Paul Dalloway of Graf-X Custom Paint (www.graf-x.co.uk)." Thanks also go to crew Colin Hanson, Roy Wilding, Steve Bull and Ian's son Richard and wife Pauline for their support. Ian hopes to buy a Pro Modified motor and trans and move up a class for 2007.

17:30

We're now into our second round of sportsman qualifying. Paul Ingar Udtian was no.1 qualifier after the first round. We talked to him and crewman Tormod. "The car is performing well but we think we have been lucky to get the no. 1 spot. We have tried a few new things, a new Dominator carb and a spacer on the intake manifold. The motor is the same big block Chevy of 468ci. We have never used a throttle stop. This is our second race of the season; we ran at the Islanders Speed Weekend last weekend, which is the first round of the NDRS championship and won the race." In a highly successful racing career, Paul has won two NDRS championships and has finished in the top ten in Super Comp for the last eleven years. This is the team's fourth visit to Santa Pod, the first having been at the 2004 Easter Thunderball, which they won.

Notable amongst Sportsman racers are the three Dutch entries sharing the same pit area. The Pro ET Plymouth Roadrunner owned and built by Marck "Overkill" Harteveld is recently built, being a full-bodied car with a monster 636ci Hemi motor by Indy Legend. The engine has twin Dominator carbs and produces 1120bhp, enough to produce low nines with the relatively heavy body configuration. "It took us three years to build and ran a 9.9 at Drachten last year. Unfortunately we broke some pushrods on that run." The car, resplendent in green, runs a Torqueflite 727 trans. Support comes from www.autoschadeharteveld.nl and Autostyling (www.eco.nl).

Sharing the same pit area is Wouter van Leersum's early Chevy Nova, which was formerly owned by Robert Joosten and has run a 9.1 best. This car, which runs in Super Gas and Super Comp, is for sale and has a blown big block Chevy of 461ci with Newchange convertor, Powerglide transmission and Ford 9" rear. Sponsorship comes from www.ramenblinderen.nl, a company producing two way glass.owned by a crewman on the team. The third car is the Super Street Chevy Bel Air "Big Berta" of Ful Lievaart.

Mark Flavell was pushed back to the pits in the first session after suffering electrical problems. An appeal for a Supermag 3 or above was broadcast. If anyone has one and is attending today or tomorrow, you know who to get in touch with!

One of the smartest Pro ET cars is Neil Hunter's 7 Year Itch Capri. The changes Neil has made over the winter include a new front spoiler and side skirts from an Orion, and a new rear deck constructed by Neil. The distinctive paint job is by Darren Hill. The car's mechanicals remain basically the same - 446ci Chrysler motor, 727 torqueflite, 9" Ford rear. There have been modifications to the single 850cfm carb, and exhaust, though. Without a transbrake, Neil has run a best of 10.47 but expects to improve on this as he ran a 10.48 into the strong headwind earlier. Support comes from www.thesignguys.co.uk.

John Atkinson (Pro ET) said that he is dialling in his new Toyo tyres, which were tried for the first time at the American Car World Nationals recently. His first run produced a 9.60 on a 9.25 dial-in and John will lower the air pressure on his next run. A number of teams have switched to Toyo tyres following their generous sponsorship deal which pays to semi final losers as well as winners and runners up.

Ashley Bell (Super Pro ET AC Cobra) was experiencing problems with brakes, but later succeeded in sorting them. The car, which runs a small block Chevy motor and single 850 carb, also sports three rubber ducks attached to the roll cage. When I asked Ashley the background to this, he admitted "I have run them on my cars since 1987, besides which they enjoy the rain!"

Nev Mottershead is running Super Comp in the Toyota Supra, with a new motor, bought from Swedish Comp Eliminator standout Torben Stenstrom, who is present this weekend to help Nev dial it into its new home. Nev ran 8.81 on what was supposed to be a half pass. "I made an easy pass at the Peak Performance meeting", said Nev "but the rain prevented me running a half pass then. So I agreed with my team that I could take it further if it felt good, and it was so nice, I couldn't let go. We are not using a throttle stop as I want to run in Comp Eliminator when we tour Holland, Sweden, Norway and Germany in the summer."

Torben Stenstrom said that his Anglia 105E, which won Comp Eliminator here in 2004, has been rebuilt by Bertans Racecars with an extended wheelbase of 105" and a new Bob Panella 358ci motor. The old combination ran as fast as 7.90.

Ronald Jutting has got the Spirit of Westphalia new model VW Beetle Spyder Funny Car down to 8.34, which we believe is a PB. The car has the 4 cylinder Boxter motor behind the driver and Ronald, who has owned a number of VW based race cars, built the car with close support from VW, who gave Ronald a complete car from which to make a racecar. The carbon fibre and kevlar composite body was designed and built in Germany using the VW wind tunnel at Wolfsburg. The rolling 112" wheelbase chassis and body weigh only 666lb.

Giles & Hartley who were no.1 qualifiers after the first session, missed the second session replacing some oil seals on a precautionary basis.

In the bike pits, we spotted some mouthwatering combinations that leave us in great anticipation for the FIM/UEM session tomorrow. Rickard Gustafsson from Sweden (RG Engineering) has an ex-Cory Hogan Funny Bike that has run 6.4s in the US. Also we met Anders Jakobsson who is making his first visit to SPR in his first year in Pro Stock Bike racing, having run Harley Drags classes for several years. The bike is a Connie Cowen frame with an up-to-the-minute Vance & Hines Suzuki motor. The bike's potential was shown on its third-ever run which netted a 7.48, the first time Anders has ridden on the wheelie bar.

Tim Blakemore said that he has recently replumbed the fuel system on his Kawasaki Funny Bike. The bike also has a new body and new paintwork and a new ZX12 motor. Tim said "We first will be looking to find the settings we had for our previous performance and will then work on it further." Tim's frame was built by Webster Race Engineering.

Ray White's licensing run ended with a blown clutch. Ray said "I shifted into third and the revs just stayed the same. We will have a better clutch tune on the next run to enable me to go for the full pass for the license."

12:00

Good morning and welcome to Sportsman qualifying day at the Main Event. As I type this the track is being dried and I have taken my first stroll around the pits. The most noticeable thing is that despite three hundred entries, there is plenty of space thanks to the new tarmac laid down over the recent years, more of which was added in the last week.

Spencer Tramm's VW Corrado is being driven by Chris Isaacs in Super Gas this weekend, as Spencer is busy marshalling Pro Modified and Pro Stock cars. The Corrado has been fitted with a throttle stop which Chris will be dialling in for the 9.900 index. Spencer has got close to 9.900 in the past even without a throttle stop and the new item will see the Perfect Time award under even greater challenge. Even so, the Corrado is expected to still run terminal speeds in the 140s, fast for Super Gas. Chris will be busy as he will also be racing his Standard Vanguard in Super Comp this weekend.

Steve Green has returned with the John Woolfe Racing/AMPAR sponsored Cortina Mk I. The roll cage, originally built by Jon Webster, has been upgraded to 6.00 standard. The motor is 6 litre and based on a Rover V8 with Wild Cat heads, crank and block. THis meeting, Steve will be running injected alcohol, but without nitrous. Steve, who works for ICE Automotive building race cars said that in this configuration, the motor has been putting out 586 horsepower. This power gets transmitted via a Liberty 4-speed clutchless manually shifted transmission and a 9" Ford rear axle to Alumastar Wheels and Hoosier tyres. Performance-wise, Steve hopes for an eight without gas this meeting, but the gas will be switched on for the next event. The best time for the car is 8.3/163.

Chris "Cannon" Hannam is present at the meeting but is helping Neil Midgley in TF Bike rather than running his new bike that he ran successfully to a debut time of 7.35 at the Easter Thunderball. "We had six successful runs at the Thunderball but at the start of May ran a Straightliners event, ran three times and broke two gearboxes and damaged an engine case after having gone the wrong way with the clutch. We have been machining two billet crankcases and modified some output shafts for the gearbox to make things more bullet proof." When asked about his plans, he said, "I've plenty of irons in the fire and love the smell of nitro!". Cannon would like to run a six on the new bike and as the 7.35 came with being off the throttle for half a second, that can't be long.

Craig Gibbs said that the Obsession Racing Camaro has had the benefit of a rebuilt torque convertor and trans from Jeff Bull. "We have been running about three tenths off what we had expected and traced the problem to the trans, so hopefully our times will improve from the 8.1s at the Thunderball." Tina Gibbs mentioned also that there is a plan to run a Super Modified demonstration race at the Nitrolympix at Hockenheim this August and a good number of the regular class entrants have signed up for this. Tina is also involved in organising the European Doorslammers event at Santa Pod on 8th July.