Super Pro ET racer Vince Gibbs' Firebird suffered a broken crankshaft after the third run on Thursday, possibly as a result of the broken blower belt in the first session. Team member Simon said "We stripped the engine and Vince went back to our Middlesex base to get the spare then we had it machined in Irchester yesterday and we put the engine back together by 1am." The team didn't have time to fire the engine up and had to be towed down the fire-up road.

A big Thank You to the Kellett family for giving your Photo Editor Roger and Pit Reporter Simon a lift to the far end. Joe Kellett is running Junior Dragster and qualified no. 8 with a 0.0242 reaction.

Super Pro ET and Super Comp racer Norbert Schneider made eight passes in the Corrado on Thursday. "That's 80 runs this year. We ran both these classes at Drachten and had fun." Norbert's effort this morning was an oh-so-close 8.899 breakout.

Pro Stock Bike racer Richard Gipp is making his return after suffering a top end spill at the Thunderball. He said "This was my first run since the accident and good to get into the sevens (7.99) but I still have aches and pains and am barely holding on. This will be my only run this event and I will do more exercise to improve my upper body strength and race at the National Finals and Extreme Bike weekend."

Pro Stock Bike racer Martin Newbury needed to run better than 7.79 but the bike wouldn't go the distance and he didn't make it into the eight bike field.

Pro Stock Bike racer Martin Bishop ended up at no.6 running mid 7.4s, his best ever performance. After session 3 he said "On that pass I went from third to fifth gear. But I'm pleased with my performance over the event. My new PB of 7.44 was shut off at 6.7s."

Pro Stock Bike racer Fredrik Fredlund said after session 3 "We spun the tyre in first gear and drifted right but still ran a 7.27 which is close to my best of 7.23.

Pro Stock Bike racers Ulf Ogge and Anders Abrahamsson had the quickest PSB race in Europe, a 7.13 for Ulf which is the first half of a new European ET record backed up by his earlier pass. "That felt my quickest run", said Ulf.

Pro Stock Bike racer Anders Abrahamsson ran a 7.14 on the quickest PSB race in Europe. He said "I have had great help from Roger Lyren of Motospeed and Paul Watson. I have run PBs in every session so far. Thanks to my mechanic Mats Ekstrom who is tuned in from Sweden and is doing tremendous work at home advising us. We want to put in one setup that will see us through the rest of the event at this level."

Super Twin racer Roel Koedam said "The bike is working well. But I don't think our 6.87 ET this time counted as Svein Olaf (Rolfstad) took out the light and visited our lane. Svein Olaf left early. Vincent Pels said "We ran quicker yesterday so we will take that as our best run."

Super Twin racer Chris Hannam said "The Super Twin is different to the four cylinder fuel bikes. My bike was owned by Rob van Geffen and Gerard Willemse is helping us with the billet engine. The class is awesome and there is great camaraderie. On this pass I lost a cylinder. The bike is leaving the line well and our 60ft and 330ft times are coming down but the transition after 330ft is difficult. I rode through a wobble, the bike pulled again but nosed over in the second half."

Super Twin racer Samu Kemppainen said after running 7.86, "The bike dropped a cylinder off the line. We put a little bit more fuel in it than yesterday but will now have to take it out." The last session produced a 7.15 placing Samu in seventh in the ladder.

Super Twin racer Job Heezen was struggling with traction woes and ran a 8.88 in the third session, his best to we canthat point. "The clutch won't work properly and we can't figure it out yet. We made a full pass so we will look at the data and see. The bike is good up to the 60ft point and then starts shaking. We will have to look at the timers on the clutch." Happily for him, he improved to a 6.85/206 on the team Zodiac bike in the final session to qualify fourth.

Super Twin racers Per Bengtsson and Lorenz Stauble had a great side by side battle, with a 6.76 for Per and 6.68 for Lo. Per said "I was in front in the first eighth and then the engine got too rich and Lorenz drove past me at half track."

Top Fuel Bike racer and 2009 Champion Ian King said "On that pass a cylinder dropped a little bit. I have a camera on my helmet to record the run - so much happens on a run it is sometimes hard to remember every detail and this reminds you. The run feels in slow motion anyway, quite a strange sensation." Ian remarked earlier when being interviewed by track announcer Darryl Bradford that he wants to join the four people in the Top Fuel Bike world that have run fives. "Larry McBride and Corry Hogan both use Puma engines so it would be good to run as quick as my customers." Ian said this is the largest gathering of nitro-fuelled bikes anywhere in the world.

Top Fuel Bike racer Steve Carey is on the bump spot with a 7.09. "The bike is running really straight this event but on this session I had a moment on the start line and left before the tree was activated." The result was no time but he remained on the ladder after missing the final session.

Top Fuel Bike racer Steve Woollatt has been a picture of consistency this weekend with a pair of 6.5s yesterday and a pair of 6.4s today, all at better than 210mph. Although he is off the pace of the quickest bikes here by half a second, he has won this event in the past and will be a man to watch in eliminations.

Top Fuel Bike racer Eric Teboul ended up a disappointed non-qualifier after a succession of problems. "I think we can run a 5.9 but the bike needs to hold together. This time a blower belt broke. I have one more opportunity." He could not make the call for the last session.

Top Fuel Bike racer Rickard Gustafsson is also incredibly consistent with a succession of 6.4s and 6.5s. However the weather conditions are favouring the more powerful nitro bikes and Rickard will need to have lightning reflexes to make up the performance disadvantage. What we have tomorrow is potentially very special.

Pro Stock racer Jimmy Ålund was delighted when the 6.65 in session 3 backed up a 6.649 from yesterday's first session for a new European record. One factor in Jimmy's stellar performance is engine wizard Mats Appelgren who joined the team in 2008 and has a long history in the tuning business.

Pro Stock racer Magnus Hansson was on the outside looking in with a 6.99 best. He said "We are using our spare engine this weekend after hurting our best Reher Morrison unit at Hockenheim. The spare just doesn't have the power." Magnus is from Northen Sweden and the cost of travel is higher for his team than other Swedish teams and so he is looking to gain a partner in racing or sponsor to run hard in 2010.

Pro Stock racer Jonas Dantanus was quite pleased in spite of using his spare engine this weekend. "Our no.1 engine is on the way to the US for work on it. We ran well but are rolling out of stage on full throttle and are just happy to qualify."

Pro Stock racer Tommy Leindahl suffered shake off the startline "I had to pedal it in second gear and couldl only run a 7.05/200". In the last session he had a bit of a ride into the eighth mile blocks but is safely in the ladder with a 6.82 from yesterday.

Pro Stock racer Jan Palmqvist has had consistency, if not the edge in performance, running 6.7s in the morning sessions and 6.8s in the afternoon qualifying. He said "The car is coming down hard on the wheelie bars but we are happy with the performance.

Pro Stock racer Michael Malmgren said "The left lane is tough for our car but it works well in the right lane. We ran a PB of 6.73 yesterday but are working on the tuneup to go quicker still."

Pro Stock racer Richard Sundblom ran a PB of 6.71 in the third session this morning. "We are pleased we have the speed record at 207.04mph but have a small issue with the car's handling. We have enough power but the car is drifting off line."

Top Fuel racer Stig Neergaard has been down the track in 4.7s both days. "We are happy with both lanes. John Smith has done a great job tuning our cars this year and we are looking forward to being able to run two cars with him as part of the team in 2010."

Top Fuel racer Andy Carter appeared on BBC Breakfast this morning as part of a promotional piece for this event. "I ran a 4.78/310 but think we did the engine. I pedalled down the course but it nosed over at the end and think it is damaged."

Top Fuel racer Joran Persåker also suffered damage on his run which was a 5.36/205 but with drama as the engine went bang just after half track, the chute coming out and getting close to the guardrail in the shutdown area.

Top Fuel racer Jon Webster ran a 5.37/195 this morning. "We had an oil leak from the rocker cover", he said. "It was a bit loose and shook a bit, I pedalled and then the car got close to the centre line. We are making progress; we have a new data logger on the car and are monitoring up to 30 channels of data. We had issues with the setup at Easter test and the Main Event but are making small steps. Thanks to Persåker speed ship and Kawasaki for sponsoring me, and to EPS Texaport for the Motech data logger." The optimism proved well founded as Jon's net run was an excellent 4.82 for a new PB and no.3 qualifying position.

Top Fuel racer Micke Kagered has suffered traction problems on every pass this weekend and ended in position no.7. On the third session the tyre shake was enough to snap the blower belt at 330ft and abort the pass at about the same point as both yesterday. He missed the last session as the team worked to solve the traction issues before coming up against Stig in round one tomorrow.

Running in the Thrill Ride two seater this morning was sponsor director John Livesey of Beovax Computer Services. "Beovax sponsors Nick Good and we are entertaining fifty guests this weekend. Nick thought it would be good if I went in the two seater to get closer to the action. You can't anticipate the ride, it is like being in a giant catapult."

Top Methanol Funny Car racer Jarmo Kuutniemi improved to the 6.0s today which put him in fourth place in the ladder. Yesterday was a tale of shake and pedalling and today he was getting down the track but shake was putting the car off line down the course, two tenths off its best.

Top Methanol Funny Car racer Dan Larsen ran a best for his new Dodge Stratus of 5.80/241. He said "Why wasn't it a 5.79? We cannot complain as we are getting down the track well." Dan said the clouds of smoke from the finish lin was an oil leak from the heads which did not result in damage to the engine.

Top Methanol Funny Car racer Ulf Leanders made adjustments that could have put the car into the 5.5s. "We were skating around the track with tyre shake and could only run a 5.81/245. That should have been better." Ulf is no.1 qualifier and will clinch the championship tomorrow if he wins one round.

Top Methanol Dragster racer Esko Rausvio is the non-qualifier in a field of cars any of which could, on paper, have easily qualified. "This is my second run with bad luck. Yesterday the cam drive broke and cracked other pieces which went into the oil pan. All the valves hit the pistons and pushrods bent and rockers were damaged, but the block and crank are ok. The car is shaking too much off the start line."

Top Methanol Dragster racer Dennis Habermann has also been a victim of the dreaded tyre shake on the sticky surface. "I had to pedal in the first and third session. The axle was damaged in the first session which we had to replace thus missing the second session. In the final session Dennis was using transmission parts borrowed from brother Timo in an effort to resolve the problem but could only manage a 5.69 leaving him in no.10 position.

Congratulations to Top Methanol Dragster racer Timo Habermann, pictured with Dennis, who clinched the championship by qualifying ahead of Dave Wilson, his main rival. In running 5.331, Timo has also become the quickest Whipple blower car on the planet, a tribute to the team who earlier in the season had felt the overdrive ratios in the rules were placing them at a disadvantage to the cars using PSI superchargers.

Top Methanol Dragster racer Dave Wilson ran a storming 5.35/279 yesterday afternoon, but today suffered a recurrence of smoke at the hit. "The problem is too much power with a fresh track", he said. "These cars are feast or famine with the lock-up clutch and we can only test the settings on the track."

Pro Modified racer Henri Joosten could only manage a ten second pass yesterday and after his third session time of 6.64 was disallowed for a fuel issue, had to run better than 7.59 which he did with a 7.418. "We had all sorts of problem including fire out of the hood scoop after 60 ft but are happy with the 60ft time," he said.

Pro Mod racer Joran Persåker, doubling with Top Fuel, improved his PB in the turbo Trans Am to 6.850/188. "I like running both Top Fuel and Pro Mod better than running either of those classes", he said enthusiastically.

Pro Mod racer Kev Slyfield made the breakthrough that everyone was hoping for by running a 6.8113/207.21 in session three. "The car went strong and straight. There was tyre shake in first and second like every time, but I drove through it and am really happy."

Pro Mod racer Mats Eriksson backed up his historic 5.98 pass with a 6.04 this morning and a 6.02 this afternoon. "We are really pleased and I am so proud of my team", he said in a later interview in front of the packed crowd. "We think we could improve to a 5.97 as there is too much wheelspin from the start line and a little tyre shake." He said he would run the race for the championship a round at a time.

Pro Mod racer Norbert Kuno was the sole non-qualifier from cars that started. "For my car the conditions have been tricky. I think we may have been going the wrong way on clutch and suspension settings and the changes we made have not been giving us the required effect." The final run of the day was again shake off the line and a pedal.

Pro Mod racer Roger Moore got back into the sixes on his second attempt with a new engine. "The car is still fairly new as we have not made many passes", he said. "At Easter we broke the block, rods, flywheel and have been waiting most of the year for replacement parts. The new engine is larger which means we have had to get new clutch settings to get the car down the track. We have a data logger and thanks to Roger Johansson for his advice and help. Pro Mod is a game of attrition. We were drifting and the front of the car was coming up. The ignition was cutting out on the shift which was the rev limiter."

Pro Mod racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Marco Maurischat said "We tried for a 6.28 or 6.29. Our performance this year with our car has been like a dream, we have qualified for every race and run a best of 6.36 in our first full season. We have had very few bad passes and are safe with the tune-up, although we have had to get the block welded. This run felt quick but sometimes you can't tell." The team did a great dead-pan job of breaking the news that Marco had run a great 6.1921/227.77.

Pro Mod racer Graham Ellis said "We've been fighting everything, the engine, clutch, trans, driver. Every run has had a problem. Now I can't hold it on the chip and we're rolling through the beam. We have had no real damage but niggly things like the fuel pump which we have borrowed a replacement for from David Vegter. The starter motor is also dying and we have tyre shake." The hard work of the team paid off in the final session with a 6.24.

Pro Mod racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy Robinson got through to the final of the Exhaust Coating.de Pro Mod Challenge. "That is good for us as there is good prize money. The car was drifting slightly to the left but is running fine.

Pro Mod racer Patrik Wikström said "We have had a bit of oil come out of the bottom end of the engine. We are still testing the new supercharger and hope to start marketing it before next season once we have finished satisfactory testing."

Pro Mod racer Bruno Bader ran a 6.14 this morning and this afternoon beat a red-lighting Andy Robinson with another 6.14 to win �2,000 prize money in the Exhaust Coating.de Pro Mod Challenge. "We had a great race with Roger Johansson and were side by side until he hit shake."

Fuel Funny Car racer Gordon Smith ran a PB by almost two tenths, a 5.21/278.9. He said "We made lots of changes to the car to make our new Mustang body fit. The car is going down the track really smoothly and the engine is working fine. It's as smooth as a baby!" Thanks go to sponsor FGR Motorsports of which Jason Phelps is on the team.

NFAA racer Jim Usher was happy to get down the track. "We ran a 7.4 which is not a PB but great after the problems we have had getting the car to run. And we beat Chaos too!"

NFAA racer Dave Grabham said after a 7.16 "We ran better than yesterday when the car took a wander round the track. I guess it got too cold in the afternoon." It was a side-by side run with Bob Glassup who ran a 7.12 and said "We are creeping up on the new combination but are trying to keep the front on the ground with 40lb ballast and leaving at low revs; so many wheelstands did damage the chassis and we want to race."

NFAA racer Jon Best ran a 7.00/200 in the morning session at the cost of a blower belt which punched a large dent into the fuel tank. "We got over by the wall through the lights and I had it on full lock but it didn't make a difference under power." Jon had a bit of an oil bath on the run too.