Top Fuel Bike racer Peter Svensson is no.1 after two sessions with a superb 6.22. "We are running the bike the same as last year with new wheelie bars and pistons", he said. On the first run the bike overpowered the track, going up in smoke after 60ft and causing valvetrain damage. The team thrashed to get the bike ready for the delayed second session and the result was straight and true.

Top Fuel Bike racer Steve Carey has made many changes over the winter and spring. "We have out extra strength in the frame and a new fuel tank and cover, wing and new paint job. Thanks to my team Paul Kennard, Bob Lovett and to Colin Wells for the paintwork." Support comes from Weruwise Windows & Doors.

Super Twin racer Tommy Möller is suffering from a surfeit of power and difficulty in calming the bike down to get the power down to the track. "We will take some power off by making changes to the fuel system. This is my second year with the bike and it has been a good bike to learn on. I want to build a bigger bike so I will be putting this one for sale."

NFAA racer Jim Usher was pleased with the launch and half pass but found some problems on his return to the pits. "The car broke the exhaust rocker on no.8 cylinder. A lash cap broke and a pushrod came through and damaged the rocker. We don't have a spare here and the rockers are different to those on Chaos. These rockers were new and only arrived on Thursday. The only other team I know that run the same as us is Roy Wilding. On the run, I had to lift as the air was pushing the visor up and couldn't see too well, then I got back on it and lifted again. The crew with Ollie Burn have worked so hard to get the car here and ready for the race and thanks go to them."

Pro Stock bike racer Ray Debben has managed to purchase and install new Kawasaki Green bodywork on his bike. "I managed to find a body kit for sale and with the help of my crew John Davies we fitted it and it almost went on first time." Ray didn't make the first session and the bike hesitated off the line in the second.

New in Super Twin is Matti Vahasaaari from Finland who is running Svein Olav Rolfstad's 2008 championship-winning machine. "I competed in Top Fuel Bike in Norway and Sweden for three races last year", he said. Svein has been helping me in setting the bike up; this is a much bigger machine than my old bike but not so different to ride." Help comes from team members Stulan, Jon and OddMagnar. More details on the team's web site www.madracing.no. After two sessions he was no.3 with a 7.283/169 and more to come.

Top Fuel Bike racer Ian 'Rush' Carruthers on Dave Newbury's bike is suffering new bike blues after limited testing last year due to the weather and mechanical damage. Dave said "We changed the crank, the rods, put in bigger pistons, a new head, new studs and a new camshaft. I fabricated all the equipment myself apart from the crank which is from Farndon and rods from BHP." The first run was a 60ft launch and on the second Rush couldn't hold the bike in his lane and recorded no time.

Top Methanol Funny Car racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Ulf Leanders' brother Jorgen said "We were not on the list as we have found sponsorship to be difficult this year. We decided with the help of some associate sponsords to run with what we have. We sold our old body and the new one didn't arrive in time. This one was formerly run by Martin Lindqvist when we had a two car team. Kjell Sjoblom then ran it and had an incident so Hans Kadi repaired it and paint it in a very short time. The new body will be on the car by Finland. The setup was totally different to what we run in 2008 but is close to working." The Leanders brothers clutch business is thriving and an increasing number of Pro Stock and Pro Mod teams are running the 6 1/8" and 11" devices separately. "The Pro Mod clutch is the same as our TMFC one but with two discs as opposed to three for us." The clutch was displayed at the PRI show in Orlando and three racers are using it and are all very happy with its performance.

Top Methanol Funny Car racer Dan Larsen is dialling in the new car. "We tested but now have ignition problems. The car feels overall softer going down the track but I have not really applied full power yet. It goes straight some of the time." So on the next run Dan pushed a little harder but the car hit the timing blocks along the track. Pictured is crew member Anders Storm who is modelling the tee shirts that the team will be selling at FIA Drag Racing events this season. You will notice that speakers have been installed in the steps leading up to the trailer.

Top Methanol racer Krister Johansson was not satisfied with the first run. "The car is too lean as the air is too god so the engine damaged one head and we will have to use one of our spare pair. To be certain of qualifying we need to get into the 5.4s and then look at our options." On the next pass he ran an excellent 5.4966/246.29 to go no.3. We noticed the air escape flap on the intake.

Top Methanol returnee Esko Raisvuo has had a break from racing of nine years. "My old PB was 6.57 and I have already improved it to 6.0", he said. "It was the people in the sport that got me back. I need to do this and realise now that racing is my life. I left the sport after a major burglary in which we lost a lot of equipment, blowers and Lencos. We saved hard and are comning back to make an impact." Esko bought the car from US racer Keith Stark and it runs nitro with an Fontana engine. "Nitro is the thing - the wallet won't Keith Stark and brother Greg are here to advise the team. Keith said "We are running 97% nitro here which is easier to tune than the 94% we have to run in the US. If the officials are smart, they won't change as there is good equality between the cars. The air is good for us too and we are sneaking up on it. We want to be sensible and not lose too many parts." Keith has now stopped racing himself. "I would do it all over again but I am fortunate enough to have a good with Hyster Fork Lift Trucks. It takes a tremendous amount of money to do 18-20 races in the US. I now watch my granddaughter Makayla race and she is in the Indiana dirt challenge and aims to get into Stock Car racing."

By the end of today both Timo and Dennis Habermann had run new personal bests, Timo a 5.4469/257.39 and Dennis a 5.5280/253.06. On Timo's first run he lifted the front wheels a metre and a half. "It did a 0.99 60ft time and on landing, unloaded the chassis and I was on and off the throttle three times. It gave me a bit of a headache." The team are joined for this event by crew member Shaun Ward who is taking a break from active service in Helmand Province, Afghanistan and displayed a Eurodragster.com sticker on his military vehicle. Shaun will return to Afghanistan shortly after the event and his next meeting will be the NitrolympX.

Gittli Koller of Peter Schofer's Top Methanol team was confident that Peter would be racing on Monday. "I can't see the bump spot being below 5.60 (Peter ran a 5.59 in the first session). "There are new parts on the car and will be able to run 5.4s if we need to. It is good to have so many Top Methanol Dragsters here and pleased the class is in such good health and thanks to the support from racers in the US."

Pro Stock racer and five times FIA Champions Jimmy Alund is on a new European record of 6.7514/205.03 if he can back it up. "We ran quicker and faster still in the test session and should be able to back it up. But the competition is getting better and better so we will have to work even harder this season."

Pro Mod racer Andy Robinson ran two superb passes for a new European ET record of 6.102. "On the first run the car moved around a little bit but was always controllable and I didn't lift. There was no shake and we just wanted to repeat. We have got a level of performance we want to be consistent with. I was also delighted with Marc Meihuizen's car which has got some features that we don't have on our eight year old car and is lower. Thanks to my team for their help."

Super Pro ET racer Martyn 'Syd' Jones suffered only a cut on his thumb from a scary top-end crash that severely damaged his new car called Small Fortune. "I have never hit anything before in a racecar and now this. It went straight-ish this time and was on the limiter by 1000ft which probably worsened the problem. The engine then lost its oil at the finish line and it turned 90 degrees right. I got on full lock but it hit the wall and then slid across the track, hit the other wall and turned over. It happened so quickly but I managed to cross my arms and I guess I closed my eyes. The car is in a sad shape and I don't know how much is recoverable but the burst panel came off properly. The oil lines are ok but we have not taken the engine apart to see what the problem was. We will have to disassemble the car to get it into the truck. The constructor Kevin Cerusale did a great job and all the welds held and the car did exactly what it should have done. I don't know how long it will take it to fix it. I still have the old car but that's not an option."

Pro Stock racer Harald Sturhan has brought his Mercedes CLK to Santa Pod for the first time after a two year build and testing in 2008. "I started in Super Gas and Super Comp and my team crewed for Jackie Hansen when he was racing. We tested last year and now we want to race. We are still finding the baseline. The car is all new and has a Dodge Hemi which we can run as Mercedes is part of the Daimler-Chrysler group." First pass was 7.668.

Pro Stock racer Jan Palmqvist races this Pontiac GTO which is supported by NBM Hydraulic, Rod n' Race Speed Shop and Statoil. The car was built by Jerry Haas and dedicated to the memory of Kevin Kirby Low Budget Racing.

Pro Mod racer Terje Hakonsen is running the FIA series for the first time this year. "I am running the same car which is now ten years old and we have made small changes to make it more competitive. I haven't been racing for so many years so am still on a learning curve. Our thanks go to sponsors Proff Partner who are paying for us to be able to run the full championship. The car is capable of very low sixes and in testing at Gardermoen two weeks ago I ran a 6.50 on a marginal track." Readers may remember how Terje beat low qualifier Andy Robinson in a close first round race at Mantorp a few years ago.

The Kendall Oil Pro Mod team of the Lindahl brothers have a different objective following their championship winning performance in 2008. "We are going for low ET and we want to be the first into the 6.0s and then the fives", said driver Markus. "Everything must be perfect", added crew chief Magnus. "The engine has been upgraded with a lot of low friction technology. The engine will rev much more freely and we are confident the car will be able to transfer the extra power to the track. We tested at Malmo and carded a 4.11 but the car drifted left on two other runs." The team have a lot of spare parts. "There is no pressure this year", they finished.

Pro Mod racer Patrik Wikström was delighted with a 6.12 in testing here on Thursday. "We hope to run at least as well today. Our clutch man arrived last night so the team is complete today. We will aim for five seconds and then see whether that is too much to go for." Patrik has for the first time a Brad Anderson engine, the latest Series 6 with a very special blower that Patrik designed himself. "We are very happy with the engine, the car did a 0.98 sixty foot pass and I feel it works better with the new engine. As well as that the air today is good for the blower cars."

Pro Mod racer Marc Meihuizen has this beautiful new '68 Firebird built by Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy Robinson Race Cars. The car was only finished on Tuesday before this event and will be making its maiden passes here today. As you might exepect the finish is immaculate and the team's trademark paint scheme looks great on the new vehicle. The car includes wired in stop lights and on its first run ist carded a 1.07 60 ft time before lifting. The second pass was 6.41/223 as straight as an arrow with much more to come.

Pro Mod racer Krystian Nystrom is running his newly acquired '57 Chevy which was run by Danny Cockerill in 2006-8. "We have put our Brad Anderson Series 5 engine from last year with a new M5 blower in, otherwise the car is as Danny ran it. The car was already so good and well constructed by Andy Robinson that we didn't need to do anything for me to drive it. We have included a new fuel system. We tested on Thursday and had big tyre shake at the hit on both runs, so we aim to reduce the power on the start line and bring it back smoothly down the track." Krystian has an unchanged team from 2008 and has bought a new Wilson double decker trailer to accomodate all the spare parts he will have for the European tour this year.

The Islanders team from Norway has expanded to three teams this season. Paul Ingar Udtian is driving the same blown methanol car that came fourth in last years' championship. The crew is also unchanged. Pictured from left to right are Odd Rune Olsen, Thor Larsen and Konrad Ree. The teams have created much media interest in Norway and there is a TV crew from Viasport covering the team's activities. The team said that a new track is being built at Trondheim to FIA standards and is scheduled for completion in 2012. "If we race there that will at last have a track we can call local." Paul Ingar's team have black and red shirts./font>

The youthful-looking team of Top Methanol Funny Car rookie Per Håkon Troa have bought the multi championship winning car formerly owned by Urs Erbacher and Fredrik Fagerstrom. Crew chief Raymond Kavli said "We have had problems and the engine blew last weekend. We have tried to keep the same settings and go for a full pass for Per to get his license. We were pleased with the half pass which was a 1.01 and a 4.04 at the eighth. The setup is all new to us as we have been in the sport for fifteen years in Super Comp and Top Sportsman." Their Top Sportsman dragster is also here but not in competition. Crew wear is black and blue.

The third member of the Islanders super-team is Fred Hanssen's Top Methanol Dragster bought from the US team of Main and Martinets where it was driven by Darvin Martinets to best times of 5.34/267. Four members of the Main and Martinets including Crew Chief Will Hanna, Howard Main, Danny Main and Joe Bicke. Fred made some outstanding passes in licensing and after the first qualifying session was sitting atop the field. "I ran in Super Comp and won at Hockenheim in 2008. Crew wear is black and white.

The Lucas Oil Top Fuel Team of Andy Carter have a huge promotional effort this weekend to fund Andy's planned visit to the US this autumn. The prize draw includes opportunity to win a trip to see Andy at an NHRA event, free entry to a 2010 FIA event. Full details can be found on www.andycarter.net. Pictured are Louise and Sarah who will tell fans here all about the prize draw.

Pro Stock Bike racer Len Paget thought it would be nice if we published a photo of wife Jill on the pit bike, so we were happy to oblige. Len said "There are new pieces on the bike, I don't run the same machine at any two races as I am always looking for improvements both mechanically and aerodynamically."

NFAA racer Dennis Wratten said that gearbox problems prevented a win for the Wrattens against victor Joe Bond at the Springspeed Nationals. "The gearbox had broken before the run and we had to start in second, then third didn't engage properly and when I got back on it the chassis unloaded." The problems have now been sorted so the team are expected to be back in the mid sixes.

Super Twin racer Svein Olav Rolfstad has a new bike this season. Testing at Gardermoen produced a best of 7.43/191mph. The bike has a Weekend frame lengthened by four inches from standard and OCR engine. Svein thanks Ingar Nettum, Pål Reinertsen, Hans Christian Nilsen, and Trond Høyberget without whose support Svein would not have been ready for the 2009 season.

UEM Super Twin racer Roman Sixta is running a Fast Cat nitro bike after several years of running a Honda in the European Top Gas championship.

Four time UEM Top Fuel Bike champion Ian King has a brand new paint scheme by Image Design Custom and the latest in Puma Engineering parts.