Pro Stock Bike racers Len Paget and Mark Bishop after their qualifying runs this morning. Len ran 7.38 said "That was an awesome pass. I guess I'm still employed." Martin said "The bike drifted to the centre and I had to lift". His time was a 7.82.

Pro Stock Bike racer Ulf Ögge (nearest camera) was delighted with the first half of a new ET record at 7.14. "That felt good. I have some new things on the bike but have had problems with the electronics, so my crew have been working hard to fix them. I knew I was onto something good as I had a 1.09 60ft time.

Super Twin Bike racer Martijn de Haas is here on one of these bikes for the first time. "The bike is awesome and really wild to ride. On that run the tyre spun and shook. I used to run a funny bike but this is completely different to ride. I bought the bike from Tony Riggiero in the US who ran 6.9 with it and have only made four runs on it."

Super Twin Bike racer Lorenz Stauble said "I had to back off as I had problems with wheelspin and the bike went to the right. I have to check the computer to see what was wrong but the wheelspin did not help." Lorenz is keeping in touch with team leader Urs Erbacher in Switzerland every evening. Lo is wanting to do all rounds of the UEM championship this year.

Super Twin Bike racer Svein Olav Rolfstad went no.1 in the morning session with a 6.80/192. "This is my quickest on the new bike. It's too bad we have no data from this run as I forgot to put the data logger on. I shifted too early.The new bike has turned out well and we are taking it quite easy."

Matti Vahasaari ran a 8.2762/168.50 and his earlier time on the bike previously run by Svein Olav Rolfstad's 2008 bike. "The bike went to the right and tried to lean on it and push with my leg to get it back in the groove. I ground down the sole of my boot in doing so."

Super Twin Bike racer Per Bengtsson said "We have had lots of small problems. It is the first time since 1999 that we haven't got crewman Jan on the team and are missing him. We had no time on the first run which was a shame. The bike has been running ok but we are disappointed that it didn't run a six. We are trying a softer clutch setup but it was much too soft in the second session yesterday."

Top Fuel Bike racer Ian King said "We made some changes overnight after a pulley bearing came loose and the shaft seized. We are trying different things on the bike. It is a rolling test bed for Puma Engineering to develop new parts which we want to prove before we can sell them to our customers round the world."

Top Fuel Bike racer Otto Knebl ran a new personal best of 8.1950/160.77 yesterday but slowed to 8.52 this morning. "The bike is running well and we have a new body on it this year. I am planning to race in Hungary and maybe Hockenheim. It is good to have a race closer to home in the Czech Republic."

Top Fuel Bike racer Steve Woolatt was wearing a Phil Baimbridge Racing tee shirt under his leathers after running a 6.4671/204.99. "The run was smooth but I see that the blower belt has frayed. The bike nosed over at the far end which slowed down the speed."

Top Fuel Bike racer Peter Svensson suffered more mechanical woes that will be difficult to mend. "I lost the chain right at the finish line. I am relieved it didn't get around my legs. As it was it broke the wheelie bars. The bike shook very hard down the track, I lifted and then went for it again and then the chain went and it overreved. This is worse damage than our first run (when the valve train was damaged). On our best pass (6.22) we backed it off and the run was smooth and undramatic."

Pro Stock racer Harald Sturhan improved to a 7.2684/192.94 and later to a 7.1391/193.81. "We have support from Allen Johnson in the US who runs a Cheysler Hemi as well and we speak to him between meetings. The problem that has kept us from running quick is the clutch. We will go well when we have sorted that."

Pro Stock racer Jan Palmqvist ran a new best of 6.7990/203.22. He said "We have suffered a lot of problems this weekend and changed engines twice. The run felt good, the engine is running a little hot but it went down the track fine. I was late to shift into fifth and I hope that has not caused a problem."

Pro Stock racer Richard Sundblom slowed to a 6.9552/196.20 following an earlier 6.78. "We are slowly getting there and I feel we ran a good time for this side of the track. No other class is as close to the performance level in the US as Pro Stock which makes me proud because it means we are the best in getting the latest data and parts from the US racers."

Pro Stock racers Jimmy Ålund and Tommy Leindahl celebrate Europe's first run below 6.7, a 6.6940/206.84. "we knew we were onto something but this is awesome. We have new European ET and speed records backed up by our earlier runs which is fantastic."

Top Fuel racer Linda Thun Tønseth's first pass of the event was a 5.32/223 early shut-off. I'm delighted this is my quickest ever, I've been wanting so long for this to happen. I thought the tyres were going to shake but I drove through it and it didn't happen in the end. I was so long with my foot on the clutch earlier I got cramp in my leg." Linda's car has a new back half and stronger front end from Eurodragster.com sponsors Webster Race Engineering.

Top Fuel racer Risto Poutiainen ran a 4.8396/307.27 to equal his PB. He was excited after the run and said "The fat lady hasn't sung yet! I had shake mid-track but drove through it."There was a small oil fire which the fire crew put out; Risto did not appear for the final round of qualifying so we are guessing he had some engine damage after the run.

Top Fuel racer Stig Neergard's engine lifted a blower on his 7.4110/110.93 effort this morning. "I don't know what happened to cause that, but there was no oil. We will need to take it apart to see what the problem was." He was able to return in the final session but still had problems getting down the track and also suffered a blue line violation.

Top Fuel racer Lex Joon ran his third decent pass of the weekend of 4.8332/282.29 after revealing to us in the blog that he was going to detune the engine rather than adjust the clutch to get better traction. This seemed to work. "We took a lot of power out of it but it dropped cylinders. The car was spinning the tyres in the second half of the track and there probably needs to be more rubber after the eighth, which you can only get from running fuel cars. I think all the rain we have had over the last couple of years may have washed it away."

Top Fuel racer Anita Makela suffered traction problems like most of the Top Fuel field, going up in smoke. "My guys are ready and I know the car is in the area where it can perform well but we need more full passes to get the data and the experience for the team. At least the engine is in one piece."

Top Methanol Funny Car Racer Dan Larsen ran a 6.04/240.18. "We suffered ignition problems and replaced the points and we have also changed the fuel system. The car is going down the track well but it will only run its potential when we solve the ignitin problems."

Top Methanol Funny Car Racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Ulf Leanders ran better on each pass today, a 5.87/244.86 followed by 5.74/250.29 in the last session to become no.1 qualifier. On the morning pass he said "The driver was at fault there. I short-shifted in both gear shifts which slowed the ET a little. There is no shake which running our stiffer clutch helps." Three European Pro Stock teams run the Leanders clutch and one improved their performance by a tenth immediately which is a huge advance in Pro Stock. Cars running the clutch can go for three runs without changing main bearings, more evidence that it is a major technical advance.

Top Methanol Funny Car Racer Steph Milam has changed gear ratios in her Lenco and it has had an immediate positive effect on the car's performance. "We now can get it to launch properly and it is running great 60ft times. We now need to improve the times and speeds. This is the best pass by far with the new setup." A 6.53 in the morning was followed by a 6.28/209 in the final session putting her in seventh and against Danny Bellio in the first round.

Top Methanol Funny Car Racer Leif Andreasson raced in five events in the US this year even before the European season got under way. "I am pleased we have our old crew chief Frank back but we have been having ignition problems which started in the US. Our experience in the US has helped us in tuning the car but conditions are different here."

Top Methanol Dragster racer Derek Flynn ran two troubled 5.7s passes with cylinders out and by the end of the day was on the outside looking in. "The mag trigger fell off on yesterday's second pass which is why we shut off on the line. We should have done better early on."

Top Methanol Dragster racer Esko Raisvuo ran a 5.74 in the morning and a 5.71 in the afternoon to also be a spectator on race day. But as each run was a personal best he was not too disappointed. "Our objective this weekend is the Finnish record and we are close. We needed to go quicker to qualify but for our first meeting after so long out we are happy."

Top Methanol Dragster racer Dave Wilson stepped up in a big way to run the first half of a new European record at 5.3792/263.50 and quicker still later, only to be pipped by Timo Habermann in the final session. "All last year we were smoking the tyres. We made some changes to ensure we didn't do that but then we couldn't get down the track quickly enough. So we have put more power back in it. The car will go faster if the engine is ok after the run."

Top Methanol Dragster racers Timo and Dennis Habermann both improved in the final session. Timo was quite disappointed with a 5.48 in the morning session but delighted with a 5.3516/259.00 in the final session, which is the quickest TMD run outside the US. Dennis ran a 5.4510/260.92 in the final session. Dennis said after the third session where the car hit timing blocks "We had bad tyre shake because of surplus power."

Pro Mod racer Wayne Nicholson said "We fattened the tuneup up to be on the safe side after the damage we suffered before the Easter Thunderball." The run was a 7.0718/199.67 which was good for no.15 in the field.

Pro Mod racer Mats Eriksson was a victim of renewed tyre shake problems with a warming track. "The car shook the tyres hard in mid-track. I also had problems with the gearbox, it gave up drive after shifting into third. The car was good off the starting line. We have a spare box and hope to run better with that." His final pass of 6.2086/201.60 put him in the field at no.7.

Pro Mod racer Micke Gullqvist had an engine problem in the last few hundred feet with a cloud of smoke at the finish line but still qualified fourth with 6.1762/215.94. "The engine stopped pulling before the finish line but the car's performance off the start line improved greatly." He didn't appear in the fourth session so we are guessing a thrash is taking place.

Pro Mod racer Ray White is having a troubled racing weekend, a 7.8478/142.89 in this morning's session putting him 19th out of 20. "It was a wild ride and there is a lot of oil in the car, both engine and gearbox oil. Some of it got on the tyres and the car got very loose. My heart was in my mouth for a little while but was always in control. The team including Danny Cockerill, Adrian Spencer and Rob Smallworth have been working hard. We put in a new fuel system and clutch for this event." Ray's new carbon fibre body for the Zephyr shed 220lb compared with the old one. "The car is now 2755lb on the scales compared with a class minimum of 2700lb."

Pro Mod racer Graham Ellis has had difficulty in going quicker than 6.5. The 6.5767/221.11 was his best and good for 13th place. "I drove it all the way up track and it is the fastest run I have ever made. We are in touch with Karl Speiring at the track and have a datalogger that we use to diagnose the problems."

Pro Mod racer Urban Johansson was also suffering slower than usual times from a lack of power. "We can't understand the cause of the lack of power, but it is getting worse and worse". In the final qualifying pass he improved to 6.3757/223.64 which put him 10th in the field.

Pro Mod racer Terje Hakonsen had a 6.3731/209.06 run in the morning session. "It was a good ride, controlled and overall we are satisfied. We do want to run a 20 though.

Pro Mod racer Bruno Bader has made big leaps forward at this event, running a 6.20 this morning after a 6.12 yesterday. "We have the same parts before and are getting them to work together better and we have done work on the airflow of the car as well." His run also won the Exhaust-Coatings.de 2008 Pro Mod Challenge semi final.

Pro Mod racer Roger Johansson was delighted with a 6.25 for a new quickest nitrous Pro Mod pass in Europe. "We have put in more clutch and changed the rear end ratio. I missed the shift between second and third so there is more to come."

Pro Mod racer Mark Meihuizen was defeated by Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy Robinson in the other Exhaust-Coatings.de 2008 Pro Mod Challenge semi final. Mark was overall delighted with the performance of his new car. Andy said "The track is probably too hot at 113 degrees, a lot of the cars are shaking. I got back on it because it was a race and ran 6.28. The shift light stayed on in top gear but I don't think there was any problem."

Pro Mod racer Kristian Nystrom had a problem with a broken four link bracket. "Thanks to Danny Cockerill and Ray White for supplying a replacement Mark Williams bracket", he said. "The old bracket broke after severe tyre shake. On this run it still shook but it was not a bad. We now know where we are with the car and close to being able to use full throttle." In the last session he qualified 14th with a 6.7906/200.44.

Pro Mod racer Kev Slyfield said the throttle cable came off his run with the Willys sedan. The car is still difficult handling down the track but the team made sure they had a great time today which is Kev's 50th birthday, Happy Birthday Kev!

To get to the far end we were kindly given a lift by Super Comp racer Mark Fairhurst's crew Tink. "We had three 8.9s runs this event. The team is supported by Computer Services Shop in nearby Kettering and the team's web site is www.fairhurstracing.co.uk

The Top End Fire Crew were kind enough to let us spend time with them while they were looking after the safety of racers. Pictured from left to right are Stuart Driscoll, Chris Smith, Angie Daly and Karl Cooper.