Top Fuel Bike racer and 2012 UEM and provisional ACU champion Ian King had a head gasket pushed out on his second pass, a 6.15. He said "It is fixable but as there are only two bikes here there won't be eliminations. I am pleased to have won both championships, this is only the second time." Over the winter break, Ian will be displaying the bike at shows and doing maintenance for 2013. Work at Puma Engineering involves two new bikes and work for US customers.

Junior Drag Bike racer Brett Cordelle will be graduating to Supertwin ET next year with the same bike but a 500cc twin engine.

Comp Bike racer Bob Brooks had engine damage on his run. He said "It damaged the cylinder head, block and likely some pistons. That's the third event we have done damage at. In 2011 aa crank broke and it put a rod out of the case at the last meeting. We are trying to run a six so that we can compete in UEM Top Fuel Bike next year." Pictured (from left) are crew Christopher (Bob's nephew), Stig, Bob and Matt.

9.50 Bike racer Dave Hall qualified no.1 but will not be able to race tomorrow due to preparations for a holiday in Mexico. "I have had my bike since 1996 with the same engine. I will be back at Easter and perhaps we can carry the no.1 over to then." Dave is also involved with converting his former Modified ET Firebird to Pro ET specs but that could be longer-term.

Super Street Bike racer Dave Holland backed up a speed record of 204mph. He said "The record comes from the input of BTC on tuning with NLR backup and the cooler air conditions. Brad O'Connor has put a lot of hard work into the bike and it is still not at the end of its capability. We will keep pushing until we find somewhere where we can't get beyond. The amount of data we are getting is awesome - three camera views, multiple sensors, the tuning capability is epic.

Super Street Bike racer Peter Bellenie ran a seven on his latest bike, built three years ago and now running a new paint job. He said "It ran a 7.8 before but I have changed the swing arm and shock and was pleased to run a seven today without a lot of power. I will need to turn it up for the first round of racing but to run a PB is the main objective now." Steve is supported by crewman Joe Land ("best in the world"), Brad O'Connor for advice on electrics and his entire family who are on site, all wearing Bellenie Racing t-shirts.

Junior Drag Bikes all had pink ribbons attached in memory of Martin Bishop's granddaughter Lydia who died in a tragic accident. Our condolences to Martin and his family.

Comp Bike racer Jemma Venables and Super Street Bike racer Steve Venables both ran records today, Jemma a 188.22 speed record (7.76 ET) and Steve a 7.19 ET. Both marks need to be backed up. Steve said "This time is what we were aiming for and the development has worked well. I have changed my riding style and the position was odd at first but now feels natural. You feel part of the bike and grab it with your knees and tucj yourself in. The backup should be achievable with the weather conditions" Jemma said "I put more power in and it responded well. I will ride in Comp Bike next year and see how it goes. The conditions here are amazing." Jemma has her eyes on being the quickest female street based bike racer - a racer in the US has gone 7.6.

Super Street Bike racer Steve Wood ran a PB and best 60ft of 1.3. He attributed the improvement to the input of wife Sarah who has been researching optimal settings for the bike and mapping the boost controller.

Top Fuel Bike racer Rene van den Berg was on his old bike for the last time on a checkout pass before he hands it to Roy Dijkstra who will be licensing on it at the Extreme Bike Weekend for a 2013 competition debut.

Super Comp and Super Gas racer Brian Pateman won the National Super Comp championship before this event and is in no.3 position in Super Gas. In addition he has also won two APIRA championship trophies following a late entry to the Open Sports Nationals, Super Comp champion and runner up in Super Gas.

Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association racer Nick Davies has more spare parts to use as he heads towards his first championship with the class. Team owner Lawrie Gatehouse said "We have changed the rear from a 3.90 to 4.11 ratio to get a more aggressive launch and put a larger coil on to avoid the charge breaking down at the top end. The main expenditure is on engine parts - we have a complete spare and a third block with crank and rods." Nick's best today is a 7.14.216 after the car rolled the lights.

Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association racer Terri-Anne White has run three events this year after the birth of her daughter Emily Grace Phelps with partner Jason in January. "We did well in the Summernationals and I ran a PB of 7.0 then at Dragstalgia I smoked the tyres and also had tyre shake, which were new experiences for me. I am aiming to run my first six at this meeting and get runner up position in the championship." Her first run was another PB 7.090/203.

Super Pro ET racer John Everitt had a wild launch, with all four wheels in the air at one stage. He said "The new engine is 632cu in injected methanol, up from 555 cu in and it's the most powerful I have ever had and we need to quieten it down. We are changing the revs on the launch chip and shift chip and take ignition out." Wife Maxine joked the spectacular pass was a "pathetic effort." John and crewman Lee are seen chasing a small oil leak.

Super Pro ET racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Peter Walters said "Every pass recently was slower than the last one and we have decided to change the torque convertor. We hope we can be out for the next two qualifiers as we are aiming for no.3 in the championship." The replacement convertor required the rear end and entire gearbox to be removed as it is located at the front of the transmission.

Super Pro ET racer Steve Saunders is here with wife Babs, daughter Charlotte and son Gareth. He said "I thank Geof Hauser for his advice on chassis tuning. He watched a few of our passes and advised us to get different rear spring settings and it has transformed the car and ran two tenths quicker with a best of 8.58/158." Steve has also put a Trick Flow fuel injection system on the car. 2013 plans are to run the championship. Thanks to Babs for refreshment of your pit reporter.

Super Pro ET racer Martyn Jones ran an outstanding (but below the 6.00 class minimum) 5.86/233 in his dragster after an earlier aborted run went "left, right and left and then didn't respond to steering input". The 60ft was 0.98, firmly in TMD territory. He said "I know there is discussion on the rules but disagree with changes to accommodate one racer to their advantage which is morally wrong. I am happy to take the current rules and work within them."

Super Pro ET racer Vince Gibbs ran a 7.088 on 7.08 dial to go no.1 in the first session. He said "We knew we would run 7.0s this weekend because we went 7.12 at the Euro Finals and measuring the air this morning showed the corrected altitude to be 1300ft lower than the Euros. I thought I might have broken out. We have a plan to run five passes on one day which is always an issue at two day meetings. We will put in fresh oil at the start of the day and can turn the car round in 40 minutes."

VW Pro racer Ian Dale runs the Strip Burner Beetle with 2000cc. He said "We have done four events this year, Big Bang, Summer Nationals, Bug Jam and here. At the Summer Nationals we had clutch problems and it was destroyed at Bug Jam. So we have installed a new clutch and flywheel for this race. After getting rid of an air leak in a pipe, we hope to run high elevens." The car runs a near-stock Subaru Impreza engine with a charge cooler the main aftermarket part. In front of the engine is a special flywheel adaptor to the standard VW gearbox that Ian has used for ten years.

Super Pro ET racer Andy Raw is making his first outing since the NitrOlympX with several guest crew members, (from left) Nick Good, Andy, Karl Harrison and Charlie Draper. Karl said "The aim is to have Andy run a seven, but the car can be tricky as the wheelbase is only 110 inches. However the Roy Wilding chassis is good and tagged to 7.5s so we just need to make it happen." Nick said "Karl kindly helped us at the Euro Finals so it's good to have a chance to work with him on Andy's car." Andy said "The first run was a baseline and we just need to get the trans cooled in the turnaround time."

Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator Brian Payne is close to winning the championship. He said "We are in a better position than before the Euros but are not taking anything for granted and we know what we have to do. A lot depends on where we qualify, but it was great to see Richard Billings go quick. We don't have anything like the power he has and will have to try to keep up. All of us in the class are looking for more power and will be stepping up for 2013."

Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator racer Richard Billings was delighted to run the class's all-time best ET of 7.46 but this was tempered by the run being disqualified as his car is only tagged to 7.50. He said "The performance is down to Al Cook - we are The Scouser and The Country Boy (with reference to City Boy Ian Jackson who we understand is tuned in). Al did a lot of research and designed the engine package including turbo and torque convertor." The team are joined by Owen Developments Motorsports Director Mark Harrison who is a leading Motec engineer. Mark said "We are delighted with Richard's performance and Owen Developments are pleased to be sponsoring Street Eliminator, Pro Modified and Super Street Bike with Precision Turbos and Motec as Street Eliminator contingency sponsors." Richard also thanks A-Span as team sponsors and the class for their encouragement.

VW Pro racer Russ Fellows with crewman Paul Jackson (pictured right) shows his drive shaft snapped cleanly in two on his first launch. He said "We found Matt Attwood has the same part and he has stripped it out of his car and taken it out of competition to help us - what a generous gesture. We are trying to find a replacement as we will need to give it back to him tomorrow, but it's a Porsche aftermarket one and will be difficult to get hold of." Paul said the car has put out 780bhp on the dyno and, after the Skinne Brothers, is the quickest stock bodied VW in Europe.

VW Pro racer Martin Taylor has switched from his usual Outlaw Flat Four to VW Pro in order to race against Russ. He said "We want to run side-by-side nines, but on my last run the anti-lag control was on too long leading to excessive heat which cause the exhaust wrap to catch on fire." Martin has gone a best of 9.8 at 147mph but has struggled to run consistently clean passes.

VW Pro Nick Edwards has been in racing for only ten weeks after buying it from Matt Keane. He said "I have had no previous racing experience and started at VW Action three weeks ago with low boost to get me used to it. I ran a 10.74 on my fifth pass although the car has gone 9.4 with Matt driving it. It feels perfect and bracket racing enables you to go as quick as you feel comfortable with." The engine is a Type 25 2.1litre water boxer rated at 685hp on the dyno. Nick's wife Pauline added she has nicknamed the car Olive (we assume from its colour...)

Pro Modified racer and MSA Champion for 2012 Roger Moore said "It feels good to have achieved that after my fourth full year in the class. It is a relief, but I am sad Graham (Ellis) is not able to be here so that we could fight for the title on the track." He pointed out a fact that MSA Co-ordinator Robin Jackson came up with that he has run consecutive PB ETs and speeds at each event this year so far; no-one else in the class has done this at every event and so this is Roger's new objective.

Pro Modified racer Rick Garrett was delighted to have his license signed off with a 6.96/194. He said "The Powerglide transmission was shot at the Euro Finals but Kev Cerusale sorted it out for us and it is all new. I am well pleased to be licensed and thanks to my boys who tuned it so well - it ran completely straight on that pass." Rick's crew are family members Ryan, Daniel and Nick.

Pro ET licensee Laura Turburville was running in Eurodragster.com sponsor Ed Yates' Ramraider slingshot which has been sold to the Turburvilles. Ed said "Laura has only familiarised herself with the controls and sat in it while it was idling in the pits." She seemed calm before her initial pass which was a confident 9.96/142.