Pro Mod racer Roger Moore ran a new PB of 6.7696/206.04 in the second session. Before the pass he said "We had a hairy launch on the first pass and went towards the wall. The track is terrific, sticky but getting softer in the heat."

Pro Mod racer Jean Dulamon is experimenting with the clutch and launch settings. "We put in a clutch which is six mill thicker and are trying a two-step tomorrow."

Pro Mod racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Graham Ellis said "We are trying new Leanders clutch levers but missed on the tune-up - not enough clutch. It went down the track so the hard work paid off." Graham was confident that Superbird, the other team car, will be at the track later this weekend, although a huge amount is having to be achieved in a short space of time.

Pro Mod racer Steve Hall is starting his licensing which meant a burnout in the second session. "We would like to do a half pass", he said earlier, "But we have had to do a lot of work - eight pistons, rods and liners to change before this run." The engine is quite old school but should produce 6.4s - Keith Black block Dart heads. Steve said "The car had run as an Outlaw Pro Mod in the old AMS (pre-ADRL) series and has been updated with Andy Robinson advising. My crew is Steve Large (crew chief and engineer), Neil Fetter and Keith Gilkerson - we have been together for thirty years and last raced in the class in 2001 with an ex-Dave Pollen Mustang with nitrous. "This is a totally different ball game", remarked Steve.

Pro Mod racer Andy Wright has for 2011 taken over the hot seat of the '38 Ford of Bert Englefield. Andy was crew chief in BA racing for 22 years and tested the car last year. This is a full season for him and ran a best of 7.27. "I need one more pass as I have to run two below 7.4 and one above 180mph for my license." The car is the same mechanically as last year with less weight. Sponsorship comes from Andy's cousin Wright Engineering.

Top Fuel Dragster racer Shelley Pearson's car failed to start in the first session after an air bottle leaked. "That's racing", she remarked. "I am pleased with the car - it had updates done by Jon Webster and the team spent the last couple of weekends working really hard to finish it off. I hope to run in the Main Event but am still looking for financial support.

Top Fuel Dragster racer Risto Poutiainen is driving the Hadman car damaged in the incident at Alastaro last year. "It feels rigid and straight and the measurements worked out perfectly. There is a lot of new staff on the car. I am looking for the championship this year and want to run a lot more than seven passes on the car."

Top Fuel Dragster racer Jari Halinen's car has also received an update. He said "I thank my team working so hard over the winter. The car is better than ever. We are doing some passes in the shootout here and will go to Hungary with Risto to do demo runs at the event at Kunmadaras."

Top Fuel Dragster racer Urs Erbacher's crew chief Robin Grice said the team is concentrating on the European season this year and will visit the US at the end of the year if funds allow. "The car shook hard off the line in the first session and we would have liked the weather cooller. It's hard to know whether to back it down or give it more as it was lazy off the line. This is our old Murf McKinney chassis with a new front end. We used our newer Hadman car in Abu Dhabu at Jas Marina in matches against Hot Rod Fuller and it is a softer car and reacts to every small thing in the track. But we won the final and had less parts attrition.

Fuel Funny Car racer Gordon Smith is supported by FGR Sales, run by the Phelps family who owned and ran Santa Pod from its inception 45 years ago until 1990. Jason Phelps said "We are helping Gary Page and the Chaos team to get him down the track. They have a new crew and we are overseeing some of what they do. With Gordon, we are providing support in making improvements to the car and are also building a new car which is 60% complete and will debut at the Main Event." Gordon is leading the Pro Fuel Shootout after two rounds with a 5.43 and 6.09 on a 5.35 index.

Top Fuel Dragster racer Anita Mäkelä is friends with Gordon Smith off the track but competitors on the track. She said "We have planned to run full passes each time but in the first round the car started drifting towards the centre line out of the groove and I lost the throttle linkage at the same time. We are not planning to run half passes as that is a different game plan and we are in competition." Anita has a considerable parts store after doing a "once in a lifetime" deal with Snake racing, including ten sets of heads. "Being quick depends on the skills of the crew rather than the amount of parts we have."

Nostaligia Funny Car racer Wendy Baker said her last meeting at the Flame and Thunder show was a scary ride. "When we pulled round I couldn't see out of the car properly with the visor. I then saw the wall and pulled the chutes then the paramedics came up to us as we had a fire and I hadn't seen it." We haven't changed much but have some band new clutch plates which is a bit of a luxury." A 6.95/195 ensued for Wendy's first run of the year.

Wild Bunch racer Chris Hartnell has a new engine block . Partner and Wild Bunch co-ordinator Claire Meaddows said "The old one had worn out and was bad on the leakdown and compression check. We got talking to Richard Walters and located a 400cu in near Huddersfield. We had it machined in Yorkshire by Andy Mapes and put our existing internals in it and it works fine. It is 55lbs lighter but we are in tuning mode and want to run an eight this weekend. We have got close with a 9.005. Thanks to Conrad Stanley for lending us 15lb of lead which we have used to prevent the wheelie bar unloading.

Wild Bunch racer Adam Price has made a big jump in performance. "Last year our best run was 10.6, with a new engine we have run a 9.39. The next step is to change the rear gear as the car is reaching maximum revs too early. We hope eventually to run a mid-eight." Adam is supported in sponsorship by Paul's Place which also sponsors Eurodragster.com news.

Wild Bunch racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Peter Yates is driving the car at MSA races this year as Darryl and Sarah Howells take a few weekends off. He said "We got down to a 9.2 and are trying some new stuff, which we can afford to with so many runs." Unfortunately on his last pass today, a half shaft broke putting Ramraider on the trailer for the remainder of the weekend.

Wild Bunch racer Mark Coulsell has a new car built by Roy Wilding with the colour scheme reflected in the team's attire. He said "The only parts carried over from the old car are the tyres, wheels, gearbox and axle. The new engine is a 383cu in SBC with Dart Pro 1 heads and tunnel ram injection by Good Vibrations.

Top Methanol Funny Car racer Steph Milam was pleased with a 6.39 in the first session after a drama with piston rings. "We had new internals and found when we got to the track the new rings didn't fit the bore as they should have. So I had to go home to get some old spare rings that did fit and ended up knocking on the son of my hairdesser's door at 8pm to get the last one which we had given to him as a souvenir!" Steph lifted at 1000ft on the 6.39 as the car was shaking and moving around. In the second session I had a malfunction with the throttle cable and the engine stayed at 6000rpm all the way down the track.

Top Methanol Dragster racer Dave Wilson and son David were joking with Dave Milam after an inter-team communication issue resulted in Steph firing up a tad early to allow the injected nitro car time to complete its routine. "We got confused with three Daves on the startline but ended up having time to sit and wait", joked Grumpy. On both runs the Silverline Tools car blazed the tyres. "The Top Fuel cars are allowed clutch management systems but the Top Methanol cars aren't so we have to discover the point below which it doesn't work. We tried to finesse the combination over the winter. I went to Gainesville to get some parts but didn't work with Bill Reichert over there. We try to work things out ourselves after getting the initial tuneup from him. Today we have taken a lot of power out of it as we are working with less track than ideal."

Top Fuel Bike racer Steve Woollatt ran a great 6.36 in the first session, shutting off at 1000ft. "We know we are qualified and made a major step change for the second session. We have new moving parts in the PBR Puma engine and changed the fuel system over the winter.

Steve Woollatt wanted to give a big Thank You to Psycle Workz who have helped in the off-season development of his combination.

Jet Funny Car racer Martin Hill is probably the world's most travelled Jet Car racer after recent runs in the Middle East. "We went to Jas Marina and had a good reception from the crowds. They had never seen a jet car run before and seemed to love it. Everyone was courteous and hospitable." Recent testing with the new Fireforce 4 resulted in a brush with the wall and superficial damage. "We have found the cause and the chassis has gone into the shop for some modifications. The new car will be out at the Main Event."

Rocket bike racer Eric Teboul ran a 5.31/244 on the rocket bike and later relaxed, signing photos for the fans.

Super Comp race Steve Wells had to rebuild the gearbox during the day after the third gear broke. Steve said "We had two new clutch discs over the winter which should have been identical to the old ones which we had had for five years but in reality gripped a lot better and resulted in the car bouncing around and unloading on the wheelie bars."

Pro ET racer Nic Williams' Ford Falcon has the stance of a traditional Gasser and the front end looks nice and light.

Super Street Bike racer Thomas Granica has a new frame by Rick Stubbings and McIntosh swing arm and new BTC sensors to try to get in the 7.5 second zone. He said "We were struggling yesterday and unhappy with a 7.9 after two missed shifts. The bike has a lot of potential but we were trying to hunt out the gremlin; the gearbox is ok and we changed the ram for the air shifter.

Comp Bike racer Phil Leamon suffered a nitrous burp and a foot on fire yesterday. He said "On my last pass when the clutch came in the engine stalled and backfired which caused the nitrous burp. It blew my no.1 and 2 carbs off. The track was more grippy than we thought but we just about had the biggest cheer of the day. We remounted the carbs and the fuel and air lines and softened the clutch." Phil is qualified no.9 with an 8.500.

Top Fuel Bike racer Kev Charman (pictured left) is riding Rene van den Berg's machine for the year in the ACU and UK UEM rounds. Kev said "The biggest difference from a Funny Bike is the extra weight - it's a big lump to run. The other thing is it keeps pulling all the way down the track. There is no shift light so I am judging my gear changes by ear." Kev scored a superb early shut-off 6.87 on his initial pass in testing but suffered gearbox issues on subsequent attempts. "The gearbox is a bit tired and we are rolling the sprags so we may replace it before the Main Event."

8.50 Bike racer Dave Batcheler qualified no.1 at two demo events for the new class last year."We ran a best of 8.46 last year so we are in the ball park, but have only been able to tun a 8.96 so far when the nitrous ran out." The bike runs a Suzuki Bandit 1216cc engine with a 'draw through' turbo (where air is mixed with the Max Nos fuel before it goes through compressor rather than after) and standard Bandit gearbox. The frame was backended by Stuart Crane.

Top Fuel Dragster racer Urs Erbacher was warming the engine in front of a crowd eager to get their first intake of nitro fumes before running his first pass of the event. There are five Top Fuel Dragsters and a sole fuel Funny Car in attendance racing in a Cannonball style format.

Super Pro ET Ian Powell (pictured with wife and crew chief Theresa) has travelled 320 miles from Redruth,Cornwall with his neat dragster. He said "This is my fifth year in the sport. I ran a Toyota Hi Lux pickup with my blown SBC at rwybs and got into the nines. I wanted to go quicker and found this dragster on Racingjunk.com as a rolling chassis with 'Glide and rear axle. I bought it from the owner based in Alabama and built it two years ago and ran it in rwybs last year. Andy Robinson has tagged the chassis to 6.3s." The engine is a 383cu in with Weiand street blower and two 750cfm Holley carbs on C12 fuel. "I ran a best of 8.4 last year and got my license this morning with an 8.9."

JDS Pro and Super Pro ET racer John Bradshaw ran an outstanding 6.77 this morning to achieve his main objective since bringing the Project Zed car out last year. Before the pass he said "Yesterday was our first run since September and was a 7.59 on five cylinders. We did a lot of work overnight and our fingers are crossed. Our best last year was 7.3 and we took three engines to New York to dyno them at Peformance Motorsports' facility (video of the dyno pull is on Youtube). We will concentrate on this car this year but the Skyline is not for sale - I am too emotionally attached to it having developed it over so many years." John has a busy year including running the car at the NitrolympX as well as the two UK championship rounds. Sponsorship and support comes from Abbey Motorsport, Performance Motorsport, AET Turbo's, Motul, Sanyo Uk, Nissan UK and Gizzmo.

Super Pro ET racer Craig Owen is driving the Flavell Welding funny car this weekend as owner Mark Flavell is attending his sister's wedding. Craig said "The first time in the car for me was at the Isle of Man last year and, including passes at York Raceway I have ten runs under my belt. We had dramas with a gearbox issue yesterday. On my first run I thought the car was in first gear but when I went for the transbrake it hopped back. On the second run the gearbox caused a staging problem. Then we pulled a head stud when we took the heads off for routine maintenance. So we worked until 12:30am rebuilding the gearbox and repairing the head studs." The payback was a 7.458 albeit on a 7.87 dial-in. "Steve, Mal and the lads have done it all before and my only problem was shutting off at the gantry rather than the finish line."

Super Mod racer Rob Smallworth is looking to reduce the 60ft times the '55 Chevy is making by changing the rear end setup. "We are in the 1.22 area whereas the others are running 1.0s", he said. The car went on a diet over winter and is 30lb lighter. My crew chief Baz is spending time helping on the Superbird Pro Mod and doing a stainless steel exhaust for Richard Billings so this car has taken a bit of a back seat. But we will run the Super Mod championship - I love the class and there were about fourteen teams showing interest at the AGM.

Super Mod racer Nigel Payne (pictured centre)ran a 7.47 yesterday and 7.54 and 7.45 this morning which delighted the team. Nigel is getting advice from NHRA and IHRA Pro Stock and ADRL racer Matt Hartford who saw the car at Autosport International and suggested changing the rear setup. "We had tyre shake at the National Finals which cracked the brakes and broke the axle so we made new four link brackets and put new shocks on them. It shook horribly at the test weekend and we sent the videos to Matt, who gave us more advice and it's never run smoother. Thanks to Dave Powell of Total Seal distributors Performance Unlimited who introduced us to Matt." Nigel and Eurodragster.com are supported by Nimbus Performance, whose boss Steve Clark is helping this event. Also on the team are Kyle, who is web master for the new Super Mod web site and drag racing historian Chris Dossett.

Super Comp racer Martin Curbishley is racing his Vette sponsored by Kick Energy Drinks. He said "We want to get back to Super Mod eventually but have not got a lot of track time and opted for a simpler setup, a 468cu in engine from John Sleath with single carb. Thanks also to John Sleath for helping us out after a problem with the rear axle last weekend."

Super Comp racer Peter Creswell has been no.1 qualifier since the first session and hopes this will be his year. "We fitted a new pair of tyres that may have affected the times. Over the winter we have just done general maintenance as the car was running so well at the end of the season."

Super Comp and Pro ET racer Paul Brown is sponsored by his employer Dunsterhouse garden buildings. Paul said "I mentioned it to management and came to an agreement with them a couple of weeks ago. They then made the arrangements for the vinyl wrap to be fitted to the car which leaves just enough space for the Pro ET sponsors. I hope to be hosting Dunsterhouse at the track later in the year." The additional sponsorship enables Paul to run all rounds of the UK championship. The other change to the car is a silencer for Pro ET. Testing of decibels will be in place by the Main Event. "In Pro ET I broke out by one thousandth yesterday. For Super Comp we take the rear wing off and remove the alternator belt which should give a bit more power. In the heat we ran a 9.05 so will be well placed when it cools down.

Super Comp and Pro ET racer Paul Marston is the sole driver for the team at this event, with three vehicles. "We are down to two vehicles in competition as Grumpy's Dodge suffered a prop shaft failure which is not fixable at the track. So we put the Insanity Vega in Pro ET and got into second place on our second run, very pleasing as we only ran it once last year. We changed the engine, convertor, tyres, wheels and brakes on the dragster and it will run in the sevens, but we have backed it off do Super Comp with it at this event."

Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator racer David Murdoch has had a new paint job, again in purple by a friend in Scotland. The car also has a new torque convertor from Neil Chance. "We did four events last year and the car is working well with a best of 8.89. We haven't used the nitrous yet but will definitely do so at the Main Event where the class will be running in force." The team are pictured doing routine valve lash maintenance.

ACU Bike scrutineer Tara Reeve is the only qualified female scrutineer in UK drag racing. She said "I earned the Tech Official and Drag Clubman credentials, which need to be updated every three years by attending a day seminar and undergoing a test at the end." The qualification enables Tara to scrutineer bikes at all UK drag racing events including UEM and Bulldog Bash. As well as the seminar, Tara was trained by Chief Scrutineer Steve Johnson and ACU scrutineer Les Harris.