Super Pro ET racer Ian Powell (pictured with wife and crew chief Theresa) has a new teflon rotor 6/71 supercharger supplied by The Blower Shop. He said yesterday evening "We are pleased with it and it looks great as it came fully polished. The block was cracked after last season so we had to purchase, machine and fit a new one over the winter. The old one is for sale but when repaired could be used without coolant. The setup is still relatively maintenance free and I will be doing every championship round this year."

Super Pro ET racer Dave Catton, pictured with crew Gary Malin and Suzy Rowlands had a close race against Vince Gibbs. Dave said "Vince came past so early in the run I thought he might have red-lit and after he slowed at the top end I was still wondering whether I had won. I was looking for my crew as the doubts had set in so I was delighted to learn that I had won. The car's performance was perplexing because it refused to run a seven whatever we did, despite hooking up well."

Super Pro ET racer John Atkinson (pictured right) and son Tom are contesting the Championship as a team this year. Tom said "I will be licensing at the Classic Ford Show on 26th May and will race at the Main Event. We will then take it as it comes and Dad will be racing at the Euro Finals." The engine has had new Total Seal rings, Jesel rocker gears and new bearings after the old ones lasted four years. John said "We dodged a bullet on the engine front as we found two broken valve springs when we took it apart." In round one, John was tree'd by Peter Walters and lost by a margin of three hundredths.

Wild Bunch racer Alan Loten has returned to racing after a break of 27 years, in the same car he drove between 1980 and 1985. "I decided to come back last year but it is a steep learning curve. This car, Paranoia, was the third car I built with my old partner Brian Thomas. I stopped racing to bring up my family and Brian then sold the car to Martin Holgate. I saw it at the track and after Martin offered it to me my wife said 'If you want to do it again, why not?' It's fantastic being back in the sport. The faces may be different but the same sort of people are in the sport as before, they still bend over backwards to help. Yesterday was my first run on a fully prepped track - previously we only used grip juice on the tyres after the burnout. The car is still a Jaguar engine but Martin replaced the old Torqueflite trans with a Liberty five speed. The nitrous system we used in the old days was basic and now it's computer controlled but we are learning all that." Problems this weekend included fuel solenoids sticking open and a misfire in the burnout which was followed by the car going hard right on the launch. But Alan is looking forward to running at other Wild Bunch events and to racing former 1970s rivals Dorset Horn and Stripteaser.

Super Pro ET racer Vince Gibbs achieved a 0.006 RT in his first round race against Dave Catton. "The car left the line quick and we have made a step forward this meeting. We are trying to gradually get more top end power and it is responding to that but still a little rich. A couple of cylinders were out which slowed us at the end. We don't want to lean it out too much but just enough to do consistent mid sevens."

Super Mod racers Andy "Fred" Hone (pictured right) and Peter Thompson had a close encounter when Peter's Chevelle crossed the centre line at half track. He said "I tried to hold it but I didn't want to fight it too much and lose control. I went over by choice and knew that I wasn't going to hit the timing beams." Fred said "I didn't see Peter as I was ahead a little by that point."

Funny Bike racer Maarten Zijlstra is back after serious engine damage at Easter. "I had to rebuild the engine totally and one piston was badly damaged. I had some spare heads from last year and a spare piston which I machined to match. Although I qualified second I'm not too happy with the performance and wanted more. I will be racing the whole ACU championship with the other Dutch bike racers as we can share the bus and travel costs."

Funny Bike racer Kars van den Belt who is sharing facilities with Maarten, ran a 9.4 on his last run but the gearbox was damaged. He said "It's my first year with this bike with a Suzuki 1570GS engine. I am learning the class on this bike but am building a quicker Honda engined bike running on methanol with a GT35 turbo. Funny Bike is a great class as the rules are so open."

Prospective Top Fuel Bike racer Roy Dijkstra came into the sport crewing for Pro Mod racer Robert Koper and after racing a street bike he is looking forward to a big step up by acquiring Rene van den Berg's Top Fuel Bike. He said "I will license when Rene's new bike is race ready, probably at the Euro Finals. Rene also has an option to use his old bike as a spare."

Super Street Bike racer Graham Dance was pleased to improve every time he ran with a best of 7.8s. He said "The class is incredibly close and the first three are covered by a tiny amount. The class atmosphere is great and we were ready for the conditions. We have altered the setup by raising the front and shortening the wheelbase for better weight transfer. We also took power out with boost control and ignition timing. On the last pass Len Paget and I decided to put more clutch in and I think we could have run a 7.6 if we had another chance. Thanks to Vic for helping crew for me."

Pro ET racer Bob Lees was delighted with his first ever nine. He said "We ran a string of 10.0s and then improved by a whole tenth in one go with a footbrake launch."

Super Street racer Leigh Morris, pictured left with crewman and brother Kevin, had to replace a head gasket yesterday. He said "It's quite a complex job as we had to remove the chain drive from the camshaft and timing belt. Replacing the valve train afterwards had to be spot on. It's the first time we have had to replace a head gasket in two years so it has done well. We've been racing this car in the UK and around Europe for 20 years now. I built it to sell it and am still racing it."

Super Pro ET and Pro ET racer Paul Brown had a good race, qualifying no.1 in Pro ET and going through the first round in both classes. He said "I also ran a personal best of 8.84 despite a bounce after launching. I will be racing Super Comp and Pro ET at SPR and Super Pro here at Shakey. I am having to judge my times carefully on Pro ET as the car is wanting to run eights now." A susoected gearbox problem was traced to a loose alternator belt to the team's relief. The picture is of Paul's trophy for no.1 Pro ET qualifier, made by Cool Engineered Art.

Super Pro ET racer Joe Stevens' engine bay was previously the boot of the originally rear engined Sunbeam Stiletto but now houses a twin turbo'd Big Block Chevy, an incredible piece of engineering.