Super Pro ET racer Mark Flavell, pictured right with the team, qualified no.17 with a 7.46 on a 7.40 dial-in and lost to Dave Evans in round one despite running a 7.500 on 7.49 dial-in. He said "I would like to run the car quicker but at the moment we have very little maintenance to do."

Super Pro ET racer Steve Saunders with wife Babs also suffered a first round loss, to Rod Harrison, despite running 8.58 on an 8.55 dial-in.

Super Pro ET racer Ian Hanson qualified 13 with a 7.17 on a 7.15 dial and went one round. The car is Pro Mod legal but detuned for consistency and reliability.

Super Pro ET racer Vince Gibbs won the Eurodragster.com/Gold RV Perfect ET Award to qualify no.1 and went one round before fouling out against Steve Johnson. He said "This morning we had a misfire at high revs which meant we weren't making the shift points and sticking in low gear."

Top Methanol Dragster racer Tethys improved again to a 5.52/260 which made him no.1 qualifier. He said "Thanks to Dave, it made sense to step up. It felt fine and I am getting more used to it."

Top Methanol Funny Car racer Gareth Ellis ran a 6.063/234 to qualify sixth. Earlier he had spun round reversing from the burnout . He said "When I backed up, after I forgot to engage first gear, the steering wheel flipped out of my hand. Fortunately I saved it. It was a rookie mistake, but I am pleased with the weekend. I am short shifting from first to second which is slowing the times."

Top Methanol Funny Car racer Adam Flamholc said "I am pleased I got down the track ok on all four runs, but felt there was more in the car as I was short shifting and possibly driving it too much like a Pro Mod leaving in second. The track is really good and the weather has helped." He is qualified no.3 with a best of 5.67.

Top Methanol Funny Car racer Jürgen Nagel said "We had tyre shake and I had to lift but still ran a 5.95. I am happy we are consistent but need to go quicker to be competitive this year."

Top Methanol Funny Car racer racer Jonnie Lindberg has had quite a time preparing for this event with a two car team. He said "My brother Johan's car was only just finished in time and a clutch bearing broker just before going out for his pass so we were lucky to get a time on the boards. In the last fortnight I have had a maximum of two hours' sleep every night." Jonnie's car, formerly owned by Frank Manzo performed well to go no.2 with 5.60. On the fourth qualifier Jonnie's car's wheelie bar contacted the ground causing the car to slow a couple of tenths to 5.81.

Pro Mod racer Norbert Schneider is getting more confident with the Lucas Oils sponsored car. "We have only run the car at the practice session which was rained off. I am better on the launch now and are used to launching on a line-lok with a two-step, clutch and Lenco. We have been spending 10-12 hours a day on both cars and comparing them. My team includes Frank Rümer who runs Super Pro ET in Germany.

Pro Mod racer Steve Hall said after session four's 6.97/206 "This is the best run we have had. It feels good but a bit skitterish and we still need to tune it. We hope to be at Hockenheim and Tierp in August."

Pro Mod racer Kev Slyfield said after the car left early "The problem is the electrical control box, we repaired the body damage but not all of the problems inside. We will have to run without the box which means that setup will be more guess work. We spent a lot of hours repairing the damage from Easter - we did the repairs in my workshop by making a mould and making fibreglass parts.

Pro Mod racer and Eurodragster.com blogger Andy Frost had thought that his fourth pass was a disappointing one. "It wasn't good enough and shook - we don't have enough time to test." Andy's mood lightened considerably when the team arrived to tell him he had run a 6.50/226.

Pro Mod racer Wayne Nicholson ran back-to-back personal bests of 6.50 and 6.45 to go no.6 in the qualifying standings. He said "It felt quick and the track is good."

Pro Mod racer Michael Gullqvist was no.2 with a 5.94/239. The team looked relaxed and confident although they suffered tyre shake in the heat of the afternoon. He said "We had no data from the previous run and couldn't get off the start line."

Pro Mod racer Marc Meihuizen also had tyre shake in the final session. But he had been delighted to run a 5.91 earlier. He said "The 5.91 was not perfect and had a little bit of shake. We're not unhappy. Most drivers seem to be having problems in this session but we now have good data. We have been searching for the last three years to run that quick and the reason we shook on this last pass was that we are trying for a 5.8."

Pro Mod racer Bruno Bader went against the trend by having shake in the morning and running a 6.12 in the afternoon which was two hundredths less than his best time of the weekend. He finished qualifying fourth in the knowledge that perhaps his car is still more consistent than most in the field.

Pro Stock racer Mats Jacobsson was frustrated not to have run quicker than 6.97. He said "On the last run the shift knob broke which was Murphy's Law. We are using our third engine. The first engine which is more powerful is in the trailer, but if we use that we will have to sort the gearing and clutch. It is the best track I have driven on but we can't use our Tierp data due to the different conditions."

Pro Stock racer Micke Callin had a frustrating day with clutch woes. He said "I guess we went through the clutch and can only hope that we don't have to change it and can tighten it instead. Our engine is ok but against Jimmy and Thomas we don't have so much power." Micke is qualified fourth a mere thousandth behind Michael Malmgren.

Pro Stock racers Jimmy Ålund (pictured right) and Thomas Lindström have been trading records so far. Jimmy said "I was hoping to back the speed record up for the 211 I ran this morning but that will have to happen tomorrow. Thanks to Jason Line and all the engine building group at KB racing for their support." Thomas who has run 6.6 passes in all four sessions wanted to run a 6.5 but said the heat in the track in the afternoon was preventing it.

Top Methanol Dragster racer Tethys improved to a 5.73 in today's first session as car owner Dave Wilson (pictured strapping his driver into the car) stepped up the tuning of the A/Fuel Dragster. See below for details of what happened on Tethys's second pass yesterday.

Pro Stock racer Magnus Petersson was delighted to run a 6.75 PB in his GTO. He said "It's my first event racing at Santa Pod and I was really pleased with a 0.966 60ft time." Mangnus's previous best at Tierp recently was 6.83 and he plans to race the whole series.

Pro Stock racer Thomas Lindström achieved new Pro Stock ET and speed records on Saturday (the ET bettered by Jimmy Ålund on Sunday). He said "It was time to take Jimmy down. A 6.5 is definitely possible and we have made big improvements and started well. Over the winter we did a lot of work on the car, moving weight about and we have found our settings for Tierp will work just as well here. Whilst the grip at Tierp may be better, it can be hard to drive on a track like that and the air is better here. There is so much horsepower now, it is hard to get it to the track." Thomas uses Alan Johnson engines and he thanks Ernryd Cars for their support.

Pro Stock racer Michael Malmgren is back with a fresh Bob Ingles engine and MBE heads after work over the winter. He wants to improve on his no.4 finish last year and qualified no.3 with a 6.71, a thousandth of a second ahead of Micke Callin.

Pro Mod racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Graham Ellis is joined by ADRL/XDRL tuner Tripp Flowers. Tripp said "I specialise in tuning turbo cars and tune Danny Lowry's for ADRL. There is a lot of computer work and I use Big Stuff 3 ECUs, MSD ignition and Racepak software. I love it here, it is very energetic and there is an amazing fan base. I definitely want to come back later in the season. The international field shows it doesn't matter where you are from, you can be a successful racer. I am helping fine tuning Graham's car, we will chip away and solve the issues.

Pro Mod racers Norbert Kuno (pictured left) and Norbert Schneider are teamed up racing for Eurodragster.com sponsors Lucas Oil. Norbert Kuno said "We want to step up, will go to all the races with both cars, make practice runs and go quick and safe. Norbert Schneider's car is set up to run 6.5/6.6 and will step up when he is familiar with it. My Avenger 2 can run in the 6.0s and we will move forward in performance with that too."

Pro Mod racer Jean Dulamon was frustrated with the continuing nitrous explosions. He said "I will try to run with only two stages of nitrous rather than three to get a pass in." The result, a 7.64 placed him on the bump spot precariously.

Pro Mod racer David Vegter suffered tyre shake yesterday but improved to a 6.59 in this morning's session. He said "The first run was sluggish but ok and on the second I got out of the groove and lifted. The track can hold a lot but the groove is quite narrow at the moment."

Pro Mod racer Mats Eriksson suffered from tyre shake in all runs so far. He said "We know what the problem is and need to find out how to fix it. We have a new setup to test but want to fix the problems first so we are a little lost. The track is good so we need to solve the car problems ourselves - we had the same problems at Tierp a fortnight ago. It's great to be back here again and thanks to those that support us."

Pro Mod racer Andy Robinson prepares for this morning's pass with daughter Stefani in attendance. Yesterday there was a blower pop on the first session which damaged the cylinder heads but Andy's team (including new members) rose to the challenge and completed the rebuild with only 15 minutes to spare before the second session. However the tyre shake is still present although Andy is trying to drive through it as much as possible.

Super Pro ET racer Rick Cooke is accompanied by back-up girl Sharon Saxton. Rick is enjoying his return and is delighted with a new transmission and convertor from Andy Frost. He said "We are chasing consistency. The only problem we had is the rear light falling off after the chute hit it.

Pro Mod racer Michael Gullqvist said "We found the track is good already. It is smooth and consistent and therefore easier to handle. It changes every run and you have to keep up with it." Michael improved on his 6.00 to a 5.94 this morning, but Marc Meihuizen found even more leaving Michael no.2 after the morning session.

Top Fuel Dragster racer Jari Halinen's team had a rebuild job on yesterday after engine damage. Jari said "We had to change the rods, the crank and other internals. Mike Domagala is here helping us on the tuning." Jari recorded a best of 5.48 yesterday and suffered shake this morning.

Top Fuel Dragster racer Antti Horto said "In the first session the car wouldn't start due to a problem with the mags, though not a big one. The second pass was ok from the start but there was shake and tyre smoke from half track." This morning the team stepped up to a 4.28, shutting off just before the finish.

Fuel Funny Car racer Kevin Kent suffered a problem with the injector which meant the blower and pistons needed rebuilding. Partner and Top Fuel Dragster racer Shelley Pearson said "We were working to 3am. I hope to drive the car after the end of the Championship, it is so different from the dragster so I will start with a burnout and launch to 330ft."

Fuel Funny Car racer Leif Helander said "I shut off after the burnout thinking something was wrong but it turned out that nothing was amiss. We are running the car so as to advertise it is for sale and then I can retire!." Leif ran 5.71/203 this morning to qualify no.3.

Pro Mod racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Graham Ellis continued to have problems with the launch control and subsequent handling down the track. US turbo expert Tripp Flowers is on site to advise.

Pro Mod racer Mats Wicktor had problems on his first run with tyre shake shaking an HT lead loose. Eurodragster.com sponsor Trevor Langfield of Wizards of NOS said "We softened it up for the second run but it was running so rich it nosed over at the top end. Although Mats kept on it to get a good time in, there was no damage." The car is no.7 in the standings after two sessions.

Pro Mod racer Steve Hall's new Chevy '55 Bel Air is a work of art out of the workshop of Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy Robinson Racecars. We understand the car was only delivered on Thursday and has lots of innovations. On the 'show' side, the painted dashboard is a neat touch. Steve has said he plans to contest in Europe this season.

Top Methanol Funny Car racer Steph Milam is running new Brad Anderson 'Fat' cylinder heads for methanol cars to try to run the elusive five. Crew Chief Dave Milam said "It was our best ever 60ft time and we thought it would be a great time but it went lean at 900ft and banged the blower. There is minor body damage around the burst panel but it is repairable here. The engine is tight so we will have to disassemble it to find the extent of damage."

Top Fuel Dragster racer Risto Poutiainen (pictured right with car owner and tuner Rune Fjeld) show the concern about getting the car dialled into the new track surface. Risto said "It is going to be good but we need to find a baseline tuneup. The track being new is the challenge."

Top Fuel Dragster racer Thomas Nataas is tuned by Carsten and Per Andersen (pictured left and right). They said "We are still tuning for the old track and need track time to get a tuneup suitable for the improved surface. So far we have suffered tyre shake and it is due to having a not aggressive enough setup. There is no damage from the two runs today."

Top Fuel Dragster racer Mikael Kagered is delighted to be back after missing the European Finals. He said "It was the first race I have missed since we started coming here in 1989. We have a lot of new things on the car and a new engine which we will use tomorrow." The car did suffer shake and smoke but the team are happy they are heading in the right direction.

Top Fuel Dragster racer Anita Mäkelä was joined by Crew Chief Sami Lehtimaki and US Tuner Donnie Bender. Anita said "It is good to make progress. The track is a big question but the passes were nice and clean." Donnie said "The track will take a bit of getting used to. We can use the old data somewhat but it will take time. By the end of the weekend we will be ok and hopefully we will be in the 4.0 range."

Top Fuel Dragster racer Stig Neergaard had to overcome problems in the warmup but seemed to handle the new track. After a quarter pass, he made a relatively clean pass to go no.1. He said "I didn't feel the cylinder go out and it was a good pass. I am tuning the clutch this weekend for the first time in several years as my son Kenni is training at a CNC machine company which means he can't attend. But he will be back on the clutch later this year."

Top Methanol Dragster racer Paul Ingar Udtian had a blower burst panel go on his first run and then went straight and true to a 5.57/252 pass. He said "All is fine and we are hoping to get a lead in the points. Our plans at the moment are to race in Tierp in August and at the Finals - Hockenheim is a 'maybe' currently.

Top Methanol Dragster racer Tethys experienced a high and a low, with a superb 5.90/260 on only his second full pass in the Dave Wilson Racing A/Fueler. In the second session, however, a brake pad disintegrated on the burnout. He said "I knew the brakes weren't working and came off the gas. But I didn't want to stop on the track and feathered the throttle. The engine was off by half track but it had momentum not under power and although I tried to scrub off speed it was not enough and I went off the end at low speed. There was a bit of mud in the exhaust and the belly pan but we cleaned it out and, with new brake pads, we will be good to go."

Fuel Funny Car racer Gordon Smith ran a 5.65/207 in the first session to go 2nd in qualifying by the end of Saturday. He said "The barrel valve fell apart on the run so the engine shut itself off - if it had kept running it would have been 5.3-5.4. There is no damage fortunately so we are doing a routine rebuild and will step it up for tomorrow."

Fuel Funny Car racer John Spuffard said after a disappointing Easter, "We are progressing but not as fast as we would like. What we've got on the car is good so it should go quick. The competition is great, that's what it is all about really." John's sole pass was a clean launch and then shake and smoke to a 7.22.

Fuel Funny Car racer Jason Phelps's car is resplendent in new livery with Marshall Amplification providing support. After a 5.62/252 pass to go first by the end of Saturday, he said "We won't be happy until we know we haven't hurt anything, it was starting to drop cylinders and shake but I stayed with it. I'm really enjoying it and the track is sweet, the best it's been since I licensed. If we do well this weekend we will be up for Hockenheim."

Super Pro ET racer Jayne Kay is running consistent mid sevens after an engine rebuild following the Springspeed Nationals. Father and Crew Chief Gary Kay said "We borrowed a lifter and the dimension was slightly wrong which caused others to smash. So we have all new lifters and cam. It is set up slightly differently. We are not going to step up massively but it would be great to run 190mph so we are tuning the timing for that."

Pro Mod racer Jimmy Ålund ran a 6.625/208.95 to go number one. Jimmy ran Europe's first 6.5s Pro Stock time a fortnight ago at Tierp with a 6.59. Wheelspin in the first session prevented Jimmy setting a record, which were Thomas Lindström's by the end of Saturday's two sessions.