Wild Bunch altered racers Adam Price (nearest) and Dick Sharp (furthest) with Sean Law's dragster between. Adam qualified no.2 with a +0.0082 9.20, Sean with a +0.1216 9.47 and Dick no.7 with a +0.7077 10.20.

Top Methanol Funny Car racer Gareth Ellis (pictured right) is being advised by the car's former owner Dan Larsen. Gareth said "It's hard work learning the controls as this is my first experience of a race car. It is a bit of a shock. I am learning and just getting the burnout and launch are taking a lot of my concentration. I want to come back and practice more before the Main Event and look forward to some members of Dan's team being here." Dan said "Gareth is doing well - he is driving the car straighter than I did!"

Pro Mod racer Graham Ellis's Superbird is even lower and meaner than before. Graham admitted the team are struggling to find a setup that works: "It's like being blindfolded and pinning a tail on a donkey. We have both overpowered and underpowered the track. We started low and tuned up too high and need to go for a middle path. The problem is a turbo car is not instant in responding and that means if you lift you have still got boost. We have made quite a few changes with a new front end, a smaller engine from I.C.E. and a new transmission. We can only turn it down so far by taking clutch and boost out and it is a bit hit and miss. We will be testing when the weather warms up to get a good setup.

Pro Mod racer Rick Garrett and crew Ryan, Daniel and Nick said he has had a couple of issues. He said "The engine was oiling the top end as we had a pushrod failure in the warmup. We went home to Epsom to get a replacement. We ran it soft and normally aspirated on the first run and will add a small amount of nitrous next to get up the qualifying ladder. The track is superb to drive on. Over the winter, we have a new clutch style can for our Powerglide transmission; we had to change the starter and flex plate to make it fit - it comes up to the joint of the flex plate which is safer and added only 10lbs in weight."

Pro Mod racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy Robinson's new car has many interesting features. Son and crew member Luke said "We want to prove the new features and they will take some development for the car to get to its full potential. We will concentrate on the MSA Championship to help get fully competitive." Shown is the adjustable ride height with spherical ball bearings, which can now be altered without changing the front strut. Luke continued "There are titanium bulkhead, propshaft tunnel, pedal, steering and shifter. At the rear there are bolt on four link plates which allow much finer adjustment than before. In the driving compartment there are shear plates rather than rails by the trans tunnel and an additional tube at the front of the cockpit which Andy devised with the advice of Murf McKinney." Luke said that ARRC now has carbon fibre and vacuum bagging technology to make parts for customers in-house. At the rear there are wheelie bar brackets which are slip jointed rather than welded and titanium parachute mounts. Andy said "The car is 200lb lighter than the Studebaker. I was less than half throttle on the pass and am very happy with the new track in these conditions."

Pro Mod racer Jean Dulamon suffered a nitrous explosion that launched his hood scoop yesterday and he left it off for today's passes. On the first there was a nitrous burp at the eighth and on the second the car was spitting flame out of the headers indicating the tuning problems may not have entirely disappeared.

NFAA racer Nick Davies suffered a broken rocker arm on his pass this afternoon only one second into the run. He said "If it had broken off entirely and the valve stuck open, there could have been a much bigger problem however all I had was a cylinder out one second into the run." Nick ran a 6.94 alongside Joe Bond's 6.84.

Super Pro ET racer Jayne Kaye had some highs and lows at the event. The high was winning the Eurodragster.com / Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award and a new PB speed of 188.98 to qualify third. The low was breaking out against a broken Steve Saunders. "The car has been consistent and I realised that I was a long way ahead of Steve, I got off the throttle and broke out by 0.01s. Thanks to my sponsors Wheel-whores.com who are kindly supporting me racing at Hockenheim in August."

8.50 Bike racer John McLean Jnr is new to the class this year after running several rywbs and Straightliners events. He said "The bike has had so many changes, with new engine, exhaust, chassis, wheels, ignition and fairing. This is the first time in competition and have struggled to run close to 8.50." John thanks Warpspeed Racing for help in fabricating his swing arm, exhaust and clutch cover.

8.0 racer Robert Field is in his fifth year in racing and his second with this bike, which has gone as quick as 8.32. He is quialified no.2 with 8.587. He said "I don't need to use all the boost and have modified the bike over the winter by losing 13 kilos of weight and reshaping the fuel tank to make it easier to ride. My thanks to Pete and Doug Hoy for their help. I would like to run a seven but I was runner-up in the championship last year and would like to go one better this year."

8.50 Bike racer Jake Mechaell had to rebuild an engine last night after a collar slipped off a valve retainer. He said "We spun the tyre off the line and the engine overreved. We worked to about 10pm. There is a fine line for tuning with the clutch and Motec engine management." Jake is qualified fifth with 8.821.

8.50 Bike racer Phil Pratt is qualified no.9 with 9.009. He said "We are managing to get off the line well. The bike has a small 20hp nitrous kit which will help get the numbers when it is dialled in." This is Phil's first full season in the class after making the change at last year's Extreme Bike Performance weekend.

Junior Drag Bike racer Scott Collier is running the same chassis which Jerry Collier took to a two-stroke world record of 8.88 over the quarter a few years back. Scott said "The bike is half the weight of the old one and I now have a 200cc engine rather than 125cc. The class is limited to 7.90 and 85mph and it has been difficult to keep the speed under the limit. After nine years, this will be my final season in Junior Drag Bike and will move to Supertwins next year with the same frame and a Yamaha 400RD engine."

Super Comp racer Julie Nataas is running an immaculate dragster purchased from US racer Drake Viscome's Vindicator Racing. Julie's father Top Fuel racer Thomas said "It ran 7.7s in the US but as Julie is 16 years old, she is only licensed to run as quick as 8.90. However the throttle stop didn't work as it should on the last run and it went 7.80. A throttle stop is new to me!" Thomas said thanks to Rune Fjeld for helping ship the car which he hopes will be able to do some rwybs before the Main Event and then Tierp in June

Top Fuel Dragster racer Risto Poutiainen said he has been busy playing golf in Spain and is now glad to get back to competition on four wheels. "Defending a championship is more difficult than challenging for one as they are all out to get the champion. We have the same car as last year with some improvements and new members on the team. RF Motorsport have bought two new chassis from Don Schumacher Racing and will build a new car during the season, possibly for me to drive at the Finals. We are also getting parts from DSR but I won't be using their canopy as the top speed we run doesn't justify it. The main question is who the competition is going to be. At the moment I'm not sure who is doing the whole season." You can read more about RF Motorsport at their live race report from PR man Folly.

Jet Funny Car and Super Comp racer Gerd Habermann is making his first appearance at SPR with his Dragon Hunter FC and his first racing outing here since 2001 when he won Competition Eliminator at the Euro Finals. He said "The crowd love the jet cars and it is great to be able to race side-by-side here for the first time in many years."

Comp Bike racer Phil Crossley has modified the seat on his machine and is in the process of a repaint, otherwise he has left it alone. "I ran three seven second passes at the end of last season so we made no changes, however at this meeting the engine is cutting out; I think there may be electrical gremlins."

Comp Bike racer Lizz McCarthy was delighted to run another PB, a 7.61/164mph to make her no.1 qualifier. She said "Yesterday was a disaster when a gasket flew out of the air shifter. Many thanks to Kev and the crew, I couldn't have done this without them." Is the track smoother than last year? "I didn't have time to think about that!" The main change on the bike is to have liners to replace the previous cylinder head gaskets.

Comp Bike racer Phil Leamon said "We are losing a couple of tenths on the launch and our target is to run 8.1 - we won't be able to catch Lizz. Some are trying too hard at the start but the track is excellent. The bike is the same as last year and only the intake trumpets, Dzus fasteners, plugs and HT leads are different." Phil (pictured left) is helped by crew Denis Bulford (at front) and Gary Shearman (at rear). Later in the season the team will be crewing for Wendy Baker's Nostalgia Funny Car at events around Europe.

Funny Bike racer Jiri Lukes has bought Otto Knebl's previous bike which he worked on as crew member. He said "This is my first year in competition. I did some track days and the Bulldog Bash last year and now I am living and working in London it will be good to run championship rounds. The bike has run low eights and I painted the bike and have two engines for it, both 1200cc nitrous Kawasakis running on C16 fuel. On the last burnout there was a bang and oil came out of the engine so I think there was a problem with a valve or piston. However our spare engine is still in the Czech Republic. Jiri is crewed by brother Honza (pictured right).

Junior Drag Bike will be a National Championship class from 2013 and all eight in attendance lined up for a group photo. Missing from the entry list is Alfie Udall who we wish a speedy recovery from flu. Thanks to Sharron and Jerry Collier for helping to organise the group photo. You can read more about Junior Drag Bikes from their Facebook page.

Wild Bunch racer Mark Coulsell races in the Ball Breaker dragster and has suitably nostalgic helmet, goggles and breathers. The car has a 383cu in SBC with top hat injection, two speed Powerglide and has run a best of 9.145/145mph.

Fuel Funny Car Kevin Kent is making his competition debut with the West Ten Motorsports Rune Fjeld Motorsport-tuned Mustang. He said "We are getting there and have been seeing what the others have been doing today. I am here for licensing, the full pass requirement is 5.70 at 250mph which is a big ask in these conditions. However the track is doing better than we thought with the limited rubber on it so far." Kevin is supported by his crew under crew chief Nicky, with Tony Pearson as tuning consultant, Chris and Tom on heads and Kevin and Ricky on the bottom end, with fiancee and Top Fuel racer Shelley Pearson supporting too. Kevin said "We have fired the car up and tested the fuel system. In a few weeks time we will be moving to Higham Ferrers to be closer to the track and car."

Top Methanol Dragster racer Birgitte Bremnes ran a superb 5.77 licensing pass in the Islanders car. She said "My dad Johnny raced in the NDRS in Finland and I started Junior Dragster racing there at the age of eight because the rules in Norway were a minimum age of ten. The car ran race fuel and went 85kph! When I was 18 I had an opportunity from Mona to run a borrowed Super Comp car and licenced but didn't race. I had been working on the bottom end of the Islanders TMD, and when Paul Ingar went Top Fuel in 2012 the team mentioned I could license in the TMD. I am so grateful to the team for preparing the car and bringing it over for me to run. A couple of the old Islanders crew are helping and only Konrad and Odd Rune are unable to be here. We had to build a new seat in the car and move the pedals to where Dave Wilson used to have them. The car went very straight on the full pass and I feel comfortable in it and relaxed even when Ian asked me to lower my visor." This may be Briggite's only appearance in the car for a while as she is taking business school exams.

The Islanders team are happy being at SPR and they first came in 2004 in the Super Comp dragster and won the race. Pictured are Crew Chief Thor Larsen, driver Paul Ingar Udtian and Paul's wife Mona. Paul said "Our plans for 2013 are not quite settled, we would like to run Top Fuel ourselves and have a car ready but it requires a lot of resources. We could run the TMD, which we have owned since 2007 and has been a good car for us."

Wild Bunch racer Dick Sharp is celebrating his fortieth anniversary in the sport and has a display of the seven generations of cars run in his career, all of them Pontiac-powered Austin A35s and all but the first painted yellow. Another display is what happened when things didn't go so well...