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Comp Eliminator racer Rene Ehrismann from Switzerland ran a 7.484 on a 7.68 B/NA to go no.4 after two of five planned sessions today.	Comp Eliminator racer Chris Isaacs suffered an oil fitting coming loose with consequent oil spraying in the car on his first pass, a half-boost 7.259/197 that placed him seventh. Co-owner Spencer Tramm said 'We are here for the first time this season to get some runs in before competing in MSA Pro Mod next season. So we are on the concrete track for the first time, and with our engine rebuilt by Jeff Bull after damage at the National Finals last year, where the car's wheelie bars and rear axle also got damaged'. Chris and Spencer thank their crew which for this weekend includes Rene and Andrea Kloss, and George and Rachel Georgiou who have previously crewed for Spencer and Chris. They also thank Jed, Ray and Andrea who have crewed for the last four years and Vince, who also crews for Norbert Kuno this weekend.
Comp Eliminator racer Belinda Bull of Eurodragster.com sponsors Jeff Bull Racing ran a 7.575/177 on a 7.45 index to go sixth after two sessions. The class have five planned sessions today, with another four over the next two days and then four rounds of eliminations on Sunday, a lot of track time.	Super Gas racer Tim Moore is at his last meeting in competition and he is selling his immaculate Chevy Nova and retiring from racing. We will still be seeing him crew for Bob Glassup though. He said 'The Nova is original steel apart from the bonnet, boot and bumpers which are fibreglass. The engine is a Jeff Bull 540ci BBC and the car was raced in Florida where it gained an event win, and we have its complete racing history which, like all the data will be supplied with the car'. Tim will be pleased to hear from any interested racers.
Super Comp racer Terry Clifford, usually a Wild Bunch competitor, is in this class for the first time after a successful outing at Dragstalgia. 'The car has been running better and better on the concrete track here and we've set new PBs for 60ft (1.28), eighth mile (5.64) and quarter mile ET and speed (8.89/153), all this year. We ran a string of 8.9s at Dragstalgia. So we thought we would go Super Comp for this event'. The new times have been obtained after a number of adjustments for tyre pressure (now 5.5psi), wheelie bar settings and launch revs on the Ford engine. Terry is crewed by wife Ruth and on his third pass, a 8.9094, without throttle stop, was enough for no.1 at that point.	Pro Mod racer Mick Payne is here for the first time this year, and crewman Steve Large said the car now has a rebuilt engine following damage at last year's National Finals, and other modifications including a clutch replacing the previous converter, and a new oil breathing system which now exits on the rear deck rather than to a catch can in the engine bay. He said 'We'll see how the car settles in to the new track, and hope we will head in the right direction'.
Pro Mod racer Mats Eriksson is at his second event with the band-new Green Goblin which he debuted at the recent Summit Racing Equipment Scandinavian Internationals. He said 'We took the chassis off the jig only a week before the race to weld the floor and it seemed that nothing fitted because the clearances were so tight. Finishing it that week was a struggle, but it ran well from the start. After an initial launch to help tune the four link, it ran better and better. The best run was a 6.12 in E1 where the eighth mile was near my PB and the ET would have been around 5.99, except the blower belt broke as I shifted into third. There was no shift light on the 6.12 run either'. Special features include an innovative offset wheelie bar (to compensate for torque steer), a Bruno Lenco converter transmission for the first time and the near-unique Crown Victoria body, off the same moulds as the previous version, lowered by 1 1/2inches with a front splitter. Ray Hill has again been commissioned to do the graphics job on the new car, something Mats admits he won't see until it is finished.	Super Gas racer Brett Featherstone, who formerly raced in outlaw Anglia, has returned to the sport after a layoff of several years. His comment on his first pass in his Chevy Nova was 'When the throttle stop came on I took my foot of the gas, thinking there was something wrong!' He imported the car this year and Nick Garrett helped with work on the cage and other tubes to make the car 8.50 legal. The car was first bought to the Summernationals and Brett completed licensing last Sunday with a 9.54. He said 'Next year I hope to run the full championship and thanks to my partner and crew Debbie and crewmen Chris Ellis, and Gary Campion who helps with Simon Gough'.
Super Gas racer Simon Gough ran eight times yesterday in testing with success. He said 'We tried loads of new stuff to keep us out in front [he is leading the championship by 110 points from Stuart Doignie]. It's been a long layoff of over two months and they are hard people to beat. We are making slow but sure progress and are tuning tha chassis and adjusting the launch to make sure we're consistent, even when the air and track temperatures change a lot as they did yesterday. We're learning a lot'.	Super Comp racer Martin Curbishley is joined by new crew chief Lisa Farmer, crewman Jay O'Dell and Steve Lunn of sponsors Fix Auto. Lisa said 'Lizz Charman got me into racing I have worked on all the PMR team cars and mainly this dragster.' Martin added 'The track is good for the car, and I was pleased to go to the semis at the Main Event. Many thanks to Stuart Cameron of Fix Auto for his support'. Martin's best pass so far is 9.694/134 which places him ninth - with two runs tomorrow to get the car down to the 8.90 index.
Pro ET racer Gilles Perruchoud was in Super Gas at the Main Event, but improvements in times to 9.6s at Hockenheim prompted a change in class. He said 'I previously had a '71 Chevy Nova but bought this '32 Ford three window two years ago. It was built in the UK in the 1980s by Jim Fairburn'. The car now has FBI (French Burn Impact) decals, the name of the club he's in which owns five race cars. The engine is a 434cu in Scott Shahiroff SBC with Holley Dominator and a, as yet unused, 200hp nitrous system. Gilles is joined by crew member Jerome Dormoy	Pro ET racer Will Clark was triumphant at the NitrOlympX when he won the Pro ET class in his second year at the race, one of six UK racers to win. 'We entered into the Drag Race Union series (formerly Pro Et Dragracing Europe) which has a championship for Pro ET and Super Pro ET races at ten tracks in eight countries. It was �100 to enter and there is a prize pot of �10,000, we are in fourth which pays �1,000, after only running three events. Racing in Europe is a great way to meet a fantastic bunch of people, and Clastres in France is only a couple of hours' tow from Calais'. Will and Dad Andrew Clark say their Hayabusa-engined dragster is easy on maintenance with only a breather needing changing and a change of oil and check of the clutch needed annually.
Pro ET racer Rhiannon Bellenie is out of the event with oil leak problems and a burned valve. 'The engine is leaking oil at the top but the leakdown test did not reveal any problems. To avoid further damage, the car is going in the trailer and we will be chilling out for the rest of the weekend'.	Pro ET racer Chris Newsam has owned the ex-Chris Johnson MG Rover ZS for the last five years. He said 'I did a RWYB and Top Sportsman about three years ago but this is my first MSA event. The chassis received a 8.50 tag without the need for much work, it was originally built by Jon Webster'. The engine is a Jeff Bull 468ci BBC on methanol with iron heads and a Dedenbear Powerglide as transmission. Plans are to run Pro ET with a dial in at the lower end of the nines.
Pro ET racer and Eurodragster.com Perfect Light award sponsor Tig Napier on his second pass had a massive wheelstand and when the car came back down to ground it caused damage, and an aborted run. He said 'The car's bump stops have both broken, which are replaceable, but the sump has been dented which can't be replaced here and we don't want to oil the track. I reacted quick but it went up instantly and came down hard. The first run was a 9.64 on a 9.71 dial with a small wheelie and that was a surprise. But it had never wheelied like that before'.	Randy Ditzel of Half Scale Dragsters is visiting the UK for the first time with wife Judy. He's regarded generally as the pioneer of Junior Drag Racing, as he was the first to build cars in quantity and instrumental in persuading NHRA VP Graham Light to adopt the class in 1992. He said 'We built 200 cars a year for 15 years, now we make about a hundred as there is a thriving market for used cars, but still a demand for more specialised new cars, particularly those for larger children, both in height and width'. Randy realised from the start the positives about Junior Dragster racing for the upbringing of kids. The NHRA responded with specialised Junior events from the start. 'There was a national junior event at Indy which had over 1000 cars but it was becoming unmanageable so it was split into East and West Divisions, with the East being at Bristol in recent years'. And what about SPR and racing in the UK? 'Santa Pod's a nice facility and has good track staff who understand junior racing. There are some very nice cars, the setup is the same as US cars. Generally cars have got lighter over the years. It's nice to have junior fields at big meetings, in the US there are mainly exhibition runs at National Events, but we are starting to see juniors racing at NHRA divisional races with the children of adult racers. Some of them see their children winning at least as important as their own racing careers, Antron Brown has all his three kids racing in juniors. We've also seen junior racers such as Shawn Langdon and Leah Pritchett go on to win in the Pro ranks, and are now seeing the next generation of racers from our original customers order new cars'. Randy and Judy have family involvement in the business with one daughter and husband working in the Half Scale business and their own sons both racing, and the younger daughter having raced in Juniors as well.