Virtually every car with a rear screen was inscribed with "Get Well Soon Paula" and we are sure that every one of our readers wish SPRC Secretary Paula Marsga speedy recovery.

Before racing started we welcomed visitors from France Philippe Berté and Pascal Thébault from Association Tropheé Dragster. Philippe is technical marshal for cars and Pascal works on photos and publicity.

Pro ET racer Gino Bernadine suffered traction problems on his first launch this morning, spinning the tyres and shutting off to save parts. He said "The engine spins up to 8600rpm very quickly so you need to get off the throttle to avoid damage." Gino's car has a turbo Ford Cosworth engine. On his second pass, Gino ran a perfect 9.310 his dial-in of 9.31 to go no.1 and take the Eurodragster.com/Gold RV Perfect ET Award.

Thanks to Pro ET crew chief Angie Hudson for providing refreshments for your pit reporter. Husband Steve said "We have had the car for four seasons now and it has been feeling sluggish so we have been building a new 383cu in SBC engine to go quicker." On the first run, Steve was shut down for a rocker cover gasket which was leaking oil at high revs. He said "We changed the gaskket, applied silicone and will try to get in the top half dozen." Steve is a championship contender being in third place in the National Championship and 140 points off the lead in the SPRC standings.

The Junior dragster field lined up for a spectacular photo this morning. Around thirty cars have been involved in the UK this year with new cars appearing at every meeting.

Sportsman ET racer Sean Armstrong is leading the standings in his first full season of racing in the 'Ark Royal' Chevy Monte Carlo. He said "The championship is tight between the teams. We made some alterations but are eight tenths off our dial-in. We are desperately looking for a petrol sponsor so that we can actually get to the track, let alone race. There is plenty of space available." Sean is driving a 600 mile round trip from Fishguard, Pembrokeshire, so we can only imagine his fuel bills.

Super Pro ET racer Scott Hauser with father and Eurodragster.com sponsor Geof is in this immaculate dragster built by Hauser Race Cars. Geof said "The chassis is a standard design with no revelations with a 509cu in BBC with low compression and single carb. It's not radical, just reliable as we don't want to be taking it apart every round." Geof has been able to get support from a large number of suppliers including Hughes who supplied a new torque converter at short notice to help the car's performance get into the 8.0s range. The car's appearance is down to the smart but inexpensive vinyl wrap from the US (which Geof is now agent for), and chrome headers. Hauser Race Cars has been busy with new builds recently and has a customer base that extends to the Continent.

Super Pro ET racer Roy Wilding of S&K Racing sends his best wishes to car owner Roger Sinclair's wife Kath, who is recovering from an operation. "We are thinking about Kath and wishing her a speedy recovery. We are looking after the car and fighting for the trophy. It's the first time in fifty years the car has been here without Roger, we've got a new motor starter, and, remember, the car's the star and the cheque's in the post!"

Super Pro ET racer Rod Harrison was ecstatic after a new PB of 6.92/196. He said "It's a fantastic feeling. I said earlier in the year will we get a new chassis or see what this one will do, after all it is tagged to 6.3 and runs really straight. We adjusted the supercharger pressure with a different bottom pulley and raised the boost from 15psi to 28psi. Thanks to my team Stuart, Richard and Karl (pictured) and my wife Kim. Karl wanted to have a tuneup that runs a six and now we have achieved that we will revert to the old settings to try to run sonsistently and win the race."

Super Pro ET racer John Atkinson, pictured with son Tom, suffered a water leak between the motor plate and the block when a problem occurred with the bolts in session one. "We took the motor plate out, resealed it and put the bolts back on and are ready to go. We made it in time for the second session. John is leading the championship and when we asked him about whether it is easier with just one other contender, he said "When I am in the car I forget whatever else is going on and just run my own race."

Super Pro ET racer Jack Brewster's car may look very similar to the previous edition of 'Just Mustard', but underneath the steel Firebird exterior is a brand new Andy Robinson-constructed chassis from Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy Robinson Race Cars. He said "The car is now tagged to 6.0s and I feel a lot more confident in it. It runs a lot straighter and We will continue to run it with the injected on alcohol Pontiac engine and then look to develop more power.

Top Fuel Bike racer Kev Charman was left looking for a new primary belt after one shredded on his second pass. Alex McIntosh was quick to supply one. Kev was the only six second runner in the six bike field at 6.71/202 after others suffered mainly traction-related problems. Team members Craig Boulton and Tony Harbour said "We have put in the new taller rear gear which should enable the bike to go 6.5/6.6, but we lost our time for testing last weekend.

Funny Bike racer Bob Brooks is back, riding Richard Gipp's Funny Bike in an eleven bike field thanks to prize money put up by Tim Blakemore Racing. He said "The crank broke on the Yellow Metal bike at Easter. We will have to make another over winter. So Richard has kindly lent me his nitrous Suzuki bike, which is similar to one I rode before. Richard's crew are looking after it, they are top men. We are just looking to get up the track safely."

Junior Funny Car racer Ivana van den Berg has this new machine built by FGR Motorsport. Car builder Jason Phelps said "This project came together gradually over eighteen months. We looked at other cars including those running in the US and thought how we could get them looking like a scaled down version of a Fuel Funny Car. So I took the dimensions from Shockwave and built a scaled down body. After that Rene van den Berg asked us to build a chassis for it so that Ivana could drive it. Then Eurol offered to fund the car and last week Santa Pod announced the new Junior Funny Car league for 2012 so we can now take orders."

The Eurol Junior Funny Car is not only a scale copy of Shockwave's (which Jason will be racing at the Flame & Thunder show), but also painted in the same livery. There is a working wheelie bar on the chassis and the plan during the weekend is to take weight off the front end to make it work on the launch. If you are interested in joining Santa Pod's Junior Funny Car league, the person to contact is Andy Richardson at the two seater dragster pit or at the usual contact address.

Funny Bike racer Thomas Joswig is visiting Santa Pod for the first time since 1998. He said "We qualified at Drachten but at each of the three races this year rain caused eliminations to be cancelled. At the last race we talked to Bob Brooks who mentioned the Funny Bike class being held here and we are glad we are here. We have upgraded the bike from a nitrous turbo setup to an electronic fuel injection with a turbo from Innovative Turbo Systems, now sadly out of business, but very similar to the one on Rickard Gustavsson's bike.

There was discussion in the Funny Bike pits about plans for 2011 which include a Funny Bike Cup and inclusion of some in the Top Fuel class based on performance.

Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator racer Brian Payne is running this Ford Zephyr which he has owned since 1985 instead of his turbo Mustang.

Junior Drag Bike racer Bobby Frazier, age 16, came into the class in 2011 after testing Scott Collier's bike last October. She said "Jerry built me this bike which I have raced this season and as I have to move up from Junior Drag Bike next year I can fit a 500cc Suzuki twin engine in it and race in Supertwin ET without the wheelie bars. The bike was built for this and although it is brilliant racing in Junior Drag Bike I am also looking forward to racing with the NAST."

Top Methanol dragster racer Lindsay Deuchar has a new car imported from the US using his previous engine with a new fuel system. "This is my first competitive run since 2005,"he said. "The block is a KB with Brad Andersen Stage 5 heads and PSI blower. With its old engine the car ran 5.4s in the US after being built in 2005." Lindsay is looking for at least two new crew members for next season. "This weekend is a test and tune for us to get down the track. So much is new, even the truck is new. Thanks to my crew and to Steve Turner who is advising us."

Pro Modified racer Nick Davies's son Callum was busy polishing the car. Nick made the performance leap the team had been working for with a 6.29/239 run at yesterday's test session. Nick said "We believe it is the fastest run ever by a UK built Pro Mod and we are aiming at the European speed record of 245mph. There is more to come - the current tyres have had over 30 runs on them. We are piling the power on the back half of the run. It has been promising this and I am thrilled for Graham that we have got here. We have spent time getting the fuel mapping and air to fuel ratio right and we just need to tune the suspension for the track."

Nostalgia Fuel Altered racer Gary Page's Chaos team came to the track last weekend for testing but did not get on the track due to rain. "So today will be a bit of a test session for us as all we were only able to do maintenance," he said. The car's crew includes owner Lawrie Gatehouse, Dave Bryant and former funny car racer Bill Sherratt.

Junior Dragster racer Laura Turburville is racing in the new Santa Pod Junior Modified Advanced dragster this weekend. She has also brought her newly-completed rear-engined Pro ET dragster. She said "I will be racing the car next Easter and am looking forward to moving up." Laura's old car was sold to newly licenced JD racer Callum Bradshaw.

Car builder Ian Turburville said "The engine is an Overkill Harley-Davidson based piece with mechanical fuel injection and a 300hp nitrous kit. With nitrous, it should produce around 600hp which will go through a Bentec slider clutch and direct drive. Expected ETs are high nines although we have yet to get it weighed so it is a bit of a guess." The car is in the same team colours as Turbo's slingshot (which unfortunately suffered a blown engine at the Hot Rod Drags - "at least we won the race").

Yesterday, on the day after Belle Wheeler's eighth birthday, she went down the track three times to attain her Junior Dragster license. Belle is running in the same Eurodragster.com sponsor Alamo colours as sister Paige.

Top Fuel licensee Laurie Bamford is making licensing runs this weekend with the objective of getting a full license. He said "It is great to have the opportunity to license with the car I have been crewing on for Rune Fjeld Motorsport. A big thankyou to Jon Webster and Peter Knight who first gave me the opportunity to work in a Top Fuel team." Laurie has been with the team for around eight years.

Top Fuel team owner and UK Hall of Fame member Rune Fjeld looked at the cockpit display in the car in the warm up. Earlier, UK tech inspector Mark Norton had briefed Laurie on the routine for a required exit from the car in eight seconds and being able to operate the parachutes, fuel shutoff, handbrake and remove the steering wheel blindfold.