9.50 racer Jake Mechaell is having a great season after winning Big Bang and qualifying no.1 here. "We are looking to take over the no.1 place in the points after this event", he said. 9.50 Bike is next up at the Summer Nationals.

Comp Bike racer Steve French said "The bike is designed to run in Funny Bike, which we will be at the Main Event, but we have been put in Comp Bike this weekend. I have a new chassis which is a copy of Chris Hall's, modified to take a Kawasaki 1500cc engine that has an off-the-shelf Vortex head and five speed Orient gearbox. We started with a safe setup on the engine and adjusted it to give more power. I have to get used to riding lower than my old bike - but this is a lot straighter and does not go towards the armco like the old one did." Steve is helped by Chris Hall and has the philosophy of engineering parts inexpensively rather than buying off the shelf where he can. Two examples are the slider clutch which Chris made from parts costing �50 rather than buying a ready made one for �1000, and (pictured) the method of warming the nitrous bottle. As well as going on the stove, there is a jacket of mouse mat material with electric elements to keep it at the right temperature - cost: Nil.

Super Street Bike racer Richard Hann was pleased with the result. "I am still setting up my Motec engine management system and we ran a 8.09 against a best of 7.9. Many thanks go to Brad O'Connor for his help with the setup."

Super Street Bike racer Dave Holland has had a troubled weekend but with a sucessful outcome. "On Saturday we had a mechanical failure when a valve head snapped off which damaged the head and pistons. My crew worked all night Sunday and when we tried firing it up this morning it wouldn't. Super Street was called to the pairing lanes and we weren't ready but then there was an oil-down. Ken Cooper came up with an idea which worked and although a plug cap wire was pulled out, we still got through the first round." Thanks also go to Brad O'Connor and Brian Jolley who worked all Sunday night on the bike.

Super Street Bike racer Chris Reed was relaxing as we walked by. "I have gone back to the Mickey Thompson tyre after using the Michelin. I am dialling in the MTC Gen II lockup clutch which is a learning experience. I should have it sorted by the Main Event." Chris was fifth qualified with a 7.89. His t-shirt bore the words "I'm as p*ssed as my nan's matress."

Super Twin ET racer Nick Holland is racing Dad Barry's Honda VTR after taking 2009 off. "I raced the bike for a couple of meetings in 2008. Since then we have changed gear ratios, taken a lot of weight off, done some cylinder head porting and put on a new swing arm. I am building a new Super Twin Fuel bike which will come out later in the season. My Dad should be back on this bike next year."

Super Twin ET racer Mike Nelthorpe has had his 267cc Aprila for ten years and has raced in Super Twin for the last four years. "I have taken 50kg weight off the bike by replacing bodywork with carbon fibre", said Mike, who makes carbon fibre parts as HQ Fibre Products away from the track. "I'm not using my nitrous system as last year it seemed to slow the bike rather than making it quicker. This year I will get some help in setting it up mid-season. My personal best is a 12.46 and I ran a 12.6 on Saturday which is good, but the bike is bogging on the startline and then spinning the wheel in second."

Super Twin Gas racer Dave Jones has changed back to a street tyre on his V-Rod for this season. "The slick was too unpredictable", he said. "A treaded tyre is sensible for me in the shutdown area as the slick can get into bouncing over the bumps. My best is 9.65 but I am now working on getting it to hook up properly off the start line and experimenting with launch rpm and wheelie bar height. On one pass it got really loose."

Wild Bunch racer Andrew Murphy has brought the new B-Sting Topolino out with a brand new 127 inch chassis built by the team, tagged to 7.50. The only parts from the original car is the 362cu in small block Chevy engine and the bodyshell; otherwise the car is all new and took 18 months to build. The Rochdale-based team took the car to York Raceway last August to get the bugs out and have already got to within a tenth of the old car's 10.2 best. Paul Croston, the original driver and team founder, is overseeing the reformed operation.

Super Pro ET racer Dave Ward has been known for his nostalgic Rampage Monza Funny Car. But over the winter came the opportunity to buy the beautiful Hauser-built dragster previously run by Nick Spence and Simon Rowland. "We had the engine rebuilt and this is our first race with it - it is completely different to drive from the Funny Car and goes much straighter." So far the best is 8.13; the car ran in the sevens with previous owners and Dave wants to get it running consistently before going for the quicker ETs. He mentioned the Funny Car will be for sale, ideal for a Nostalgia team, and details are at www.rampagefunnycar.co.uk.

Super Pro racer John Atkinson is delighted with the consistency of the Hauser-built Cortina Estate here. "We dialled 8.8 and ran 8.81, 8.801 and 8.800 to get the Eurodragster.com/Gold RV Perfect ET award. He said "Over the winter we had the usual valve spring check with new cam followers and lifters. We have no.2 on the car and will see what we can do this year."

Super Mod racer Andy "Fred" Hone is also quietly confident. "We ran a 7.4 at SPR and 7.45 here. We freshened the engine over the winter, putting in new rods, springs and brearings. We are playing with the clutch to get the launch right, but it's basically the same setup as the National Finals last year. Thanks go to my super crew Larry Ward, Alan McSweeney, Peter Thompson and special guest Paul Brooks." Paul mentioned he will be returning to Super Mod later in the year with a new chassis and engine for his Sierra.

Super Mod racer Rob Smallworth suffered a big nitrous explosion that you can see in yesterday's photo gallery. He said "We have had a few bangs over the years and over the winter we worked on the engine to try to eliminate them. After fifteen passes without any nitrous problems, this was out of the blue. On inspection we didn't find any cause. The hood was dented and the scoop damaged so we will be running without the scoop today."

Topspeed Street Eliminator racer Richard Billings has had a great event qualifying no.1 and running consistent and straight mid-eights. "People have exaggerated how difficult the car is to handle. It is light and the power means it will bite back when you abuse it. But I drive sports cars and if you drive this one like one it seems to behave itself." Richard is helped by Al Cook and there is special purpose with the car's sponsors this weekend. "We are promoting www.juscheckin.org which encourages men, particularly young men, to check for testicular and prostate cancer. Part of the profits from Richard's firm Monkey-spunk car cleaning products will go to the charity. There is a launch for Cancer Research this week including publicity at the start of the Gumball Rally." Richard asked us to send bike racer Richard Beck and his wife our thoughts at a difficult time.

Topspeed Street Eliminator racer Brian Payne brought his Webster Race Engineering-built Mustang to the Thunderball but suffered problems. Here all has gone well and Brian is "Over the moon. It's our first time at SCR and we are taking little steps. Thanks to Jon Webster, Peter Knight (engine) and Andy Frost (gearbox) for their support. Dave Rose of EPS (formerly at Motec) has been a great help with mapping the turbo engine. The only problem before this event was temperature issues on the cruises at the first two meetings. We then put a cowl in front of the radiator and the temperature has plummeted." The car will eventually be run on E85 fuel but uses standard unleaded at the moment. Brian is assisted by Outlaw Anglia racer and organiser Paul Wright.

Topspeed Street Eliminator racer Alex McIntosh said his Procharger-boosted Mustang is going quicker and quicker. "The problem is controlling the power off the line. We can tune the chassis but as the gearbox is a clutchless automatic, we cannot tune that. Using less rpm reduces the power but also hurts the boost down the track which slows the ET." Alex paid tribute to the work of the track crew in achieving three full rounds of qualifying on both Saturday and Sunday.

Pro ET racer Phil Toppin was a winner in round one of eliminations. "The engine is idling fast and is probably something with the carburettor but it is not hurting the actual run. It was a close race with Billy Gane who, like us, is a member of the Feltham Urban Car Club." Phil is being crewed by the Van With No Name team who are looking to return to racing at the Main Event with their blown engine rebuilt.

Pro ET racer Steve Hudson and wife Angela run this Model T and also came out on top against Nic Williams's '32 Coupe. Angela said "It was a close race, a double breakout, and Steve broke out by less. We're pleased the car is so consistent and haven't changed anything on it which seems to have worked for us."

Super Comp racer Steve Wells was spotted leaving the track before eliminations. "We had problems with fourth gear. We lost it on the first run, then got pushed back and it worked on the burnout. But when we got back to the pits we stripped the gearbox and found the gear had smashed and was totally mullered. Sadly as we run a Liberty box we couldn't get spares from other teams."

Wild Bunch racer Chris Hartnell has changed their tow vehicle to a suitably nostalgic '73 Winnebago camper acquired on Ebay. The imposing front has badges from early British drag racing clubs and Chris is looking at improving the somewhat soft handling with work on the steering and new air bags at the rear.