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Super Comp racer Mari Udtian is in number one position after three out of four qualifying sessions with a 8.9173. Her dragster has been running in Scandinavian racing for over 15 years.	Nitro Funny Car racer Jason Phelps (pictured right with Mark Hawkins) ran in the second session yesterday but had problems starting the engine in the third session today. He said 'We are still testing and learning the car and moving forwards. We are using a new MSD Power Grid ignition controller system and are the only funny car to be using this here'. The car has a resplendent wrap in Gladiator livery harking back to the 1970s, designed by Jason. The aim is to make a full pass in the final session.
Nitro Funny Car racer Kevin Chapman (pictured left with team member Malc Short) qualified second with a 5.387 over 1000ft. He said 'We checked the car in detail over the winter months and ordered new parts and upgrades which will arrive during the course of the season. The run was great until a sensor signalled something and shut the engine off. In the second session we had a staging issue as the clutch didn't come in as it should. He was bulbed for not staging in the required time in session two but the run looked quicker. Kevin was in number one qualifying position after a 4.718/193 pass in the final session.	Nitro Funny Car racer Kevin Kent is in number one position after three sessions, running a best of 5.222 despite a move to the left in session one which Kevin did a great job of driving out of. He said 'The first pass was entertaining and looked worse from the spectator view than from where I was strapped in. In session two we had an engine issue in the warm up and had to change engines, but arrived in the pairing lanes five minutes too late. The track can take the power and we have the same team with Bodie and Nicky crewing and Dan on the clutch'.
Lucas Oil Junior Dragster racers Matthew Dowdy (pictured left) and Kai Cooper show the height comparison between the tallest (6'2") and shortest (3'4") in the class, although both have an equal chance of winning, with only 0.012 between them in qualifying. Kai in his debut meeting qualified eighth after leading the qualifying in session three. Kai who is the half brother of Aaron Fensome runs the Half Scale car formerly campaigned by Matthew with a stock engine. The previous OCS paint job has been retained with Fenny Racing logo added.	Matthew Dowdy uses an exhaust silencer on his new-in-2018 Half Scale car which are now mandatory for JM and JMA cars both of which run on alcohol. Matthew explained that a new clip and adaptor bracket were required to mount the silencer, the latter of which needed to be welded to the exhaust pipe, thanks go to Hauser Race Cars for carrying out this work.
VW Sportsman racer Zaykk Benoit, pictured with girlfriend and fellow racer Natalie Woods, is in his first race in his Audi TT which runs at the quicker end of the class bracket, going 13.17 yesterday. He said 'I bought a TT shell and stripped it including the engine and the wiring loom. I put in a 20v 1.8 litre Audi engine and plan to run every race'. Zaykk credits engine mapping work from EST; the car's John Player Special colours are balanced by a 'Smoking Kills' number plate.	Secret Worx Comp Eliminator racer Jordan Payne swapped out the torque converter for one with a higher stall speed to have a quicker launch and attempt a 7.7s pass. 'Unfortunately we ran out of time and didn't put more fuel in the tank. Although my reaction time was a great 0.014, the fuel remaining went to the rear of the tank and I shut the engine down as it didn't sound right'. Jordan recorded the Gs on launch, a peak of 3G and during the run, which averaged 2.2G.
Secret Worx Comp Eliminator racer Dave Smith has acquired the Firebird previously campaigned by Neil Hunter. He said 'It has the same running gear as when Neil drove it, I used to race the Plumb Crazy Challenger in Pro ET and sold it to fund this. My firm, Powerflow Exhausts of Alcester which makes custom exhausts and exhaust manifolds and does remapping is the main sponsor. If any customer mentions Eurodragster, they can be eligible for a 10% discount. Thanks also to Intergalactic Custom Shop and Vinyl Revolution wrapping for their support'.	Modurstang Pro ET racer Elaine Hancock has moved up to the class from her Sportsman ET Civic (still for sale) and is quick to credit Dave Smith for making the move possible. 'I bought the Full Tilt altered from John Dalrymple as I wanted to go quicker and Dave suggested we joined forces and helped me refurbish the car'. The car has the same 383ci SBC with single carb and PG transmission. Elaine called the transbrake launches 'amazing' and has run a 11.04 'but I need to work on my RTs'. Elaine thanks Dave for lessons in driving the altered and plans to run the whole season. Powerflow Exhausts sponsor the car and there is also signeage from Elaine's firm Figures 4 Figures, which does bookkeeping and management accounts out of a Bristol base'.
Secret Worx Comp Eliminator racer Robin Orthodoxou was back in the sixes in this morning's session and praised the track which is 'smooth and I just needed to adjust shift points to cope with a couple of small bumps'. The problem before this morning has been the gearbox, which is a Liberty 5 speed that is air shifted. Sometimes it shifts when I don't expect it and goes from third to fifth. It's our only area of trouble and I hope we have sorted it'. There is a new Spitzer carbon fibre scoop which Robin was worried would block his vision 'but it's not as bad as I thought it would be'.	Pro Modified racer Michel Tooren said 'We have a lot of bugs to work out of the car. We have a new Fueltech ignition and still need to connect it to the Racepak so I don't have a shift light at the moment. We spent time getting the two step and the fuel system to work and look forward to getting computer data. The minimum weight has been reduced from 2650 to 2600lb and we have replaced the nose and doors with carbon fibre and ground brackets to los 100lbs, which gives us scope to add weight for tuning. We will hopefully get down the track next time'.
Pro Modified racer Wayne Nicholson suffered an incident yesterday when the car nosed into the wall on his burnout in session two. He said 'We had done a lot of work over the winter with a rebuilt engine and new components. We will be back at the Main Event as we can repair the fibreglass front in-house and get the front section of the chassis welded locally'. Wayne is celebrating 30 years in drag racing and said 'Where did that time go?'	Pro Modified racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Jon Webster said that he has made mechanical changes over the winter to respond to a reduction of maximum turbo boost from 45 to 36 psi. 'We had to rethink the engine combination as the 429ci engine wasn't large enough to compensate for the reduced boost so we installed a longer stroke crank to enlargen the capacity to 488ci and increased the compression ratio by having new rods. A pushrod problem experienced last year had been solved by late summer'. The figures show improvement from 6.8 in 2018 (on 22lbs boost) to a 6.50 today on 24lbs. 'We would be competitive using 36lbs boost but it's not that simple as we need to have safe ignition particularly with our higher compression'.
Pro Modified racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Chris Isaacs, also running a turbo setup, explained that the 36psi boost limit is managed by a mandatory controller which allows the team to input a boost curve to match the available traction, but prevents the boost exceeding the maximum 36psi. 'We have to get the controller to sync with the track however it is proving not to react the same as the old setup, and the car is not 60 footingas the boost is coming in more slowly than we wanted. The good thing is there are more boost sensors. We are using our own data to program the controller, whereas some teams use information derived from US teams. We did a big pedal in our 6.59 pass this morning as there was not enough boost low down and the car started skating around'.	Pro Modified racer Bert Englefield ran a 6.34 in session two and a 6.69 in session four and finished in fourth place. He said 'Thanks to Darren Mayer or DMPE for sponsorship and for a new special blower which is set back and has a hat a couple of inches forward from what most have. This should make more power'. Driving this year will be shared between Bert, Andy Wright and Andy Wright Jnr. Andy Jnr ran at the Mopars last year but not in competition. He now has an international licence and we will run the car at the Doorslammers'. Thanks also go to LA Racing Parts for fuel sponsorship and King Race Bearings.
Pro Modified racer Jean Dulamon suffered issues with the MSD Power Grid 7 system which is designed to control ignition and link to data collection. He said 'Also the input shaft came off and the bracket of the gear shifter broke which meant I couldn't shift. We installed a new gearbox and rear end for this event, before putting in a new 908ci Reher Morrison engine for the Main Event'. Without a qualifying run in the four sessions, he sadly isn't qualified for eliminations.	Pro Modified racer Bobby Wallace is in the team's Mustang this weekend while the Willys undergoes changes to reduce its weight. He said 'We have solved the problems with the larger engine in the Willys, but only got it back from the US last Friday. So we will race at the Doorslammers and Main Event with the Willys and the Mustang will be our number two car and for Annir to drive. The track is superb, we underestimated it in Q2 but are pleased to have a new PB speed of 228.94mph'. His ET of 6.244 placed him in number three after the end of qualifying.
Banks Nightclub Top Fuel Bike racer Steve Woollatt ran a new PB ET of 6.062/212 in session three. He said 'The track is really good. We are adjusting the fuel system to the weather conditions which are consistent so far this weekend. The adjusted altitude is 500 feet which is great. The bike also ran a new PB and speed to the eighth and I shut off after 5.6 seconds'. When asked about the bike's ET potential, Steve replied 'Don't mention the F word - slowly slowly catchy monkey!'	Banks Nightclub Top Fuel Bike racer Nick Milburn, not in competition, has nevertheless brought his ex-Eric Teboul bike to prepare for racing later in the season. He said 'I bought it from Finland and have been working on it for two years. The frame and engine are the same as before (Puma with Vortex blower) but I have added twin MSD 44 magnetos and changed the transmission from direct drive to an Owens two speed gearbox, and I have made a new primary drive. It has been a total rebuild'.
Banks Nightclub Top Fuel Bike racer Allan Davies ran a best of 7.02 in qualifying, the bike getting quicker all the time. He said 'I have installed new chain guards as the chain had moved around and fouled the old one. I also have a EM box which controls the gears and in future will also control the fuel system. I am making lots of new bits for the engine. In terms of performance, I am eating away at the ET and mph'.	Competition Bike racer Louis Davies has a new bike for him this year, based on a ex Nick Daniels frame with an engine from Dad Allan's Comp Bike but detuned, with small jets and making 220hp on nitrous. Even so, the bike ran a best of 7.60 yesterday which was the engine's second best time ever. It was arrow straight, and Louis is keen to put in bigger jets.