It's been barbecue weather, and what more fitting cover to your bbq than a model of a V8?.

Eurodragster.com sponsors MPM Oil Company were represented by (left to right) US Top Fuel tuner Kevin Poynter, Top Fuel racer and 2005 FIA Champion Lex Joon and Richard Stevens of MPM Oil UK. Watch out for an announcement about Lex's 2011 racing plans soon.

Pro Mod racer Nick Davies arrived in time for the final qualifying session and idled down the track. The styling of the hood is a clear sign that this is a turbo car. Congratulations to Nick, Rob Loaring of I.C.E., Kev Perkins and Rob Milward for a heroic effort to get the car ready in time.

Under the hood, the Superbird is totally different from any other Pro Mod car on the facility. The twin turbos are set low, just behind the front wheels, for maximum airflow.

The engine department of the Superbird driven by Nick Davies is a work of engineering art. All the work, including fabrication of the turbo piping and plenum and the headers, was carried out by I.C.E. Automotive based at Silverstone. Rob Milward said "All the systems are working so now we can get on to performance tuning>"

Pro Mod racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy Robinson suffered a blackened crank and pushrod damage on his pass yesterday afternoon. Andy said "Thank you to Graham Ellis and Danny Cockerill for the loan of spare parts which Luke went to collect yesterday evening. Thanks also to Danny's father who opened up the workshop to enable us to collect the parts. We were unhappy but things are looking better now."

Top Fuel Dragster racer Shelley Pearson was happy at the end of Saturday. "We're no.3 qualifier and will race Anita in the morning for the third and fourth place run-off. I have a new helmet from Impact and the visor started steaming up when I reversed back from the burnout and it got worse when I was in stage. I managed to stay on the throttle until the eighth and the 60ft time was good (0.8726)."

Top Fuel Dragster racer Urs Erbacher (pictured right) is joined by Super Pro ET racer Noah Stutz (third from left). Noah's father Rito is a sponsor of Urs through his company SCS IT and Noah spent three years in Junior Dragster before moving up to his new and immaculate car. Noah, who is about to graduate from school, said "I am pleased to get licensed and will run the car at Mantorp, Gardermoen, Hockenheim and the Finals here.

Urs said "It's good to be back here - there is such a great crowd. I enjoyed racing in Abu Dhabi which is a great facility and the people were so friendly. Lars-Goran Eriksson of ME Engineering has done a great job in updating my cars. I will be trying for a 4.7 time tomorow.

Super Pro ET racer Noah Stutz's car was built by John Parkes of Chrome-Worx based in Michigan. John said "We specialise in chroming parts and supplying chrome parts. We build high-spec show cars as well as race vehicles. Noah's car is based on an American Race Cars chassis and we assembled it and did powder coating and plating. This was my car and I am pleased to have made new friends in Europe."

Fuel Altered racer Gary Page ran Chaos's best-ever pass of 6.3116/221.10 this afternoon but in the later session problems hit when "the idle went bananas. We took it back to the pits and fired it up again and a con rod broke so it was the right decision not to run." A rebuild was taking place as we passed Gary Page's pit.

Funny Car racer Gordon Smith is qualified no.2 in the Pro Fuel Shootout and will be up against Urs Erbacher in the final. "We were not pleased with the last run as the blower may have gone away. The consistency has paid off and we will definitely be trying hard tomorrow. The car has been easy on parts and we are doing routine maintenance this evening. The new crew are coming together well too."

Top Methanol Funny Car racer Steph Milam is out of the event after a burst plate explosion resulted in damage to the bulkhead, front screen and air outlet. The explosion caused the newly mandated safety equipment to deploy (shutoff of ignition, fuel and deployment of parachute).Steph said "The car was on a mission and I couldn't hold it on the clutch. It shook in second and it seems to have rattled a lash cap loose and became lodged between the valve and the rocker. That caused a big bang with the blower and I then saw bits of the screen coming towards me. The new equipment is nice to have if there is a problem."

8.50 Bike racer Sandra Chaplain said "We missed the first two qualifying sessions with a brake issue and are qualified sixth at the end of the second day. It's nice to get the cobwebs out after the winter. We were in a rush in yesterday's last session and the clutch adjustment was off - the launch was like a kangaroo and there was a small fire from a gasket oil leak which found its way on to the exhaust. Sam's bike is a nitrous Suzuki built by hasband Roland.

8.50 Bike racers Bart van't Zelfde (pictured left) and Sebastien Grondhuis are over from the Netherlands and after six sessions were qualified tenth and first respectively. Bart said "I have been racing for five years mainly with Straightliners in the UK. My bike is a Hayabusa with turbo pushing out 300hp, Hays clutch and a home-made swing arm that is more easily adjustable than most." Bart re-set his PB with 8.83 this morning.
Sebastien has been racing for four years and has a Big CC turbo bolted on his Super Street-style Hayabusa and swing arm. He said "We would like to try to run a seven by changing boost settings."

Super Street Bike racer Graham Balchin is trying this one-of-a-kind clutch control system built with TF Bike legend Brian Johnson that guides the control arm engagement. Graham said "Others use springs and weights on their slider clutches but this is a mechanical device. Brian spent 150 hours over a mill lathe in his workshop. There were a few gremlins on Friday but I now have two decent runs as a baseline and we'll see where we go from here."

Super Street Bike racer Steve Venables said "This is my first time riding since last October. I've been busy at work so there has been little time to look at the bike or change anything. Also Barry Henson of Velocity Racing has changed direction into truck driving tuition and is more or less out of racing. A lot of people are stepping up but the big guns are struggling." In spite of this Steve ran a great 7.36/193 for no.1 spot this morning.

9.50 Bike racer Jemma Venables is no.9 with a 9.59. "I think the bike was losing a bit of power with the heat" she said. "We haven't changed much since last season but scored a 9.2 in testing last weekend."

Super Street Bike racer Pete Field ran an excellent 7.49/191 on Frank's bike to go no.2 yesterday and was no.4 after session six. "I've been in Straightliners and never ridden at an ACU event before. The bike is quite standard Super Street spec with a Hays clutch and necked at the front. We have found a crack in the exhaust manifold and will need to weld it."

Super Street Bike racer Richard Hann is finding grip a problem and carded a best of 7.88 here. "My PB is 7.81 and I would like to push that lower this meeting."

Super Street Bike racer Wayne Saunders, like others, is suffering a gear change issue. He said "We have checked the system and had a full set of gears on the last pass but short shifted. If we can't find the cause we may switch engines." This year Wayne is teamed with Dave Holland.

Super Street Bike racer Mark Wells has had a difficult weekend. "On the first pass two valves dropped which damaged the engine and turbo. Many thanks to Ian Cotton who lent me his turbo after his incident yesterday. We burnt the midnight oil and are ready to run this morning. the camaraderie in this class is amazing."

Super Street Bike racer Chris Reed wore a pink tutu (an Easter frock?) matching his bike to run as quick as 7.40, a new PB. He said "We altered the suspension and boost settings and have now changed them again - it could go faster or slower. We are still here to have fun!"

The pairing lanes were packed just prior to the sixth qualifying session which produced the first-ever all seven second sixteen bike field.

Pro Mod racer Wayne Nicholson has a new Brad Anderson Series VI hemi engine with a Kobelco set-back K11 blower which should put him in the low sixes. "We had to rebuild the convertor and check out our Bruno automatic transmission along with the usual engine maintenance. Wayne is joined by crew chief Dennis and crewmen Tony and Adam.

Pro Mod racer Steve Hall suffered a rod through the block on his first burn-out. Crew chief Steve Large (pictured) said "We will have to weld the block and get it machined. I can weld it but it will need to be machined elsewhere. We probably won't be able to do that before the Main Event so our next round will be the Summernationals." Steve Large ran a Mark 1 Zodiac in Street Eliminator as well as crewing for Steve Hall in his previous Pro Mod days.

Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association racer Terri-Anne White earned her license yesterday and was against Gary Page in Chaos in today's matchup. She said "I have worked with the team on the clutch for the last four years. Ollie (Burn) asked me would I like to drive it at SCR as a birthday present and that became my first license pass. I have no other racing experience and this is the first racing vehicle I have driven. But being around the car with the clutch and engine gives you more knowledge about how the car works. So I am approaching the race with nervous excitement rather than fear. We will be doing a limited season and will include Dragstalgia and Ladies that Launch and others as funds allow."

NFAA racer Dave Grabham was puzzled as to how his run yesterday resulted in a massive wheelie with all four off the ground, following which the chassis bent on landing (see above) and the car nosed into the wall. "We intended to do a burnout and launch and I didn't have a lot of revs. The wheelie bar must have failed and from that point I was just a passenger. I can only see the injector hat and can't see the front wheels, but as soon as I knew we were above the height the wheelie bars were set I lifted immediately. We don't know where we will go from here, I will just go home and take stock."

NFAA racer Joe Bond said "It's been a good weekend. My first run on Friday was a half pass to check the new parts out and it shook a lot. Yesterday, after a long wait, the pass was good but it moved around. Today the conditions are cooler which should help. The main changes are cosmetic. We lowered the body and changed the front end - mechanically, it's identical to last year." Joe ran a 6.78/191, going the long way round, this afternoon.

Super Mod racer Tim Mugridge has been suffering tyre shake blues. "On my last run yesterday I pedaled it and short shifted to a 8.06. My best this weekend is 7.76 but the car should run a 7.4. I have changed the nitrous system to a single stage fogger. We are allowed to run a single stage with an additional spray of pure nitrous into the plenum. We have new rods, rings and bearings. This head gasket (pictured) was damaged when there was insufficient fuel pressure and too much timing which resulted in a lean condition, but thankfully there was no other damage." The team has a new trailer acquired from McDonald Racing.

JDS Pro and Super Pro ET racer Leon Green ran a 7.23 personal best and is enjoying the event. "It's great to run in both JDS Pro and Super Pro ET and get a lot a track time and great atmosphere with the crowds. I am running the same engine this year but a bigger 95mm turbo is on it. It was specially made for the car by Bullseye Racing in the US. The block is stock and we are running strengthened crank and rods. Our goal is to run a six and it now seems to like less boost - I have kept it to 2 bar this meeting whereas last year it was 2.8bar."

Super Pro ET racer Dave Evans drives the gorgeous Doomsday Impala. He said "It was a three year build which I undertook with Andrew Bennett. I wanted something different and we are big Impala fans. The car is quite light thanks to a chrome moly tube chassis which has been tagged to 6.0s. We are just running the running gear from the CoCo Connection Camaro which is a Jeff Bull BBC and Andy Frost TH400. We were off power for the last four or five passes and found a damaged head gasket. On the next pass we did a monster wheelstand and we had to take bits of the track out of the front suspension."

Junior Dragster racer Billy Everitt (pictured with parents John and Maxine)is enjoying the class and Eurodragster.com sponsor Alamo Car Rentals' involvement. "All JD competitors got trophies for competing last year." Dad John's Alien altered had a total refresh of the engine over the winter and Al O'Connor rebuilt the gearbox. "After this routine maintenance we were able to run a 7.94 this morning which is great. I am still working on a Fuel Altered project and this will be for Billy when he graduates from JD in three years' time. Junior Dragster is character building, instils discipline and respect and helps personal development." One idea for a scheme that was mentioned is to start a league of schools that support Junior Dragsters.

Junior Dragster racer Laura Turburville has the qualities mentioned above by John Everitt and recently attended the auditions for the Junior Apprentice. "My confidentiality agreement with the BBC prevents me telling you how I did but it was a great day", she said. "I will be in Junior Dragster for the whole of the year and am looking forward to running my Overkill-engined dragster in Pro ET next year." Father Ian said his BBC-engined slingshot dragster will be ready in June and he plans to run the Crower-injected machine at Dragstalgia and at Wild Bunch events in 2011.

Pro ET racers Carla Pittau and Rick McCann admitted that the carburettor engines didn't like yesterday's heat and the team have struggled with performance in qualifying, Rick ending in 16th and Carla in 9th. Carla said "Over the winter of 2009-10 Jon Webster replaced the cage of Heaven & Hell and this improved the weight balance as well as losing 60lb. I have started to shift during the wheelie which helps carry the wheels for longer. We will be taking Rick's car to Tierp and Alastaro, storing it in Sweden between the meetings, as we loved the reception from the Stock/Super Stock Association last year." Happy Birthday greetings go to team member Colin Roaf.

Pro ET racer Tim Stanbury had a broken axle gear on Friday. "Many thanks to John Sleath who helped me replace the gear, if it wasn't for his help we would have been out of competition", he said. The new gear is a 4.11 ratio compared to the old 4.57 which has slowed the car slightly to a 9.70/140. Tim has installed Edelbrock race silencers which he believes are the most effective at reducing noise level.

Pro ET racer Deborah Laugher is delighted with the Plymouth Arrow bought from Paul Mander over the winter (Paul is serving in the armed forces in Afghanistan and is tuned into our coverage). "We have only done twelve runs and are down to a best of 9.02 on an unprepped track. We bought the car without its engine and we have transplanted the BBC and Dominator carb out of our Camaro and moved the pedals forward. Thanks to Nic Williams of OCS Paint for the paint job and lettering. I would love to get into the eights!"

Pro ET racer Steve Hudson switched to methanol as a fuel in the middle of last season. "We are running a Ron's Flying Toilet injected methanol system which is primed by a small petrol pump. We lost three tenths off our ETs immediately and its maintenance is simpler than petrol. It's also a cheaper fuel to buy." Personal best so far is 9.69. Steve thanked Andy Robinson for advice in sorting out a steering problem. "He pointed out a couple of splines needed adjusting", said Steve.

Pro ET racer Sam Young has taken his electric powered VW to new record times for such a car, running 9.51 yesterday. "We were hoping for a nine but didn't think we would run as low as that", he said. The big change is the loss of over 350kg weight by switching from lead acid to lithium batteries. The front end was lightened and Strange race components installed. The electric motors that power the car are placed between the driver and passenger feet are twin 9" long pieces that operate with a small two speed gearbox. The batteries that power it are 450 Lithium Cobalt Oxide cells (LiCo4) and there is a controller capable of an output of 680KW at 440 Volts. The charger for this is a Manzantia Micro PFC30. More details are at the team's web site at www.hvwc.co.uk. Pictured are team members Sam, Ollie, Paul and Ben.