Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator racer Mark Todd is racing his beautiful Pontiac GTO with crew Chris and Dave Evans. Mark said "I raced in the Street Racer championship which I won in 2008. I then moved up to Street Eliminator in 2009 with the same Firebird with a target to run an eight and achieved this at the 2010 Euro finals. By this stage I was running near the chassis tag and maxing out the combination. I wondered what car to build and wanted to stick with Pontiac. There was a black Belvedere which I admired and thought that body style would be suitable for Street Eliminator as I could move ballast around easily and make it stable. Then a GTO built by Nick Cavey in the early nineties for Pro Mod came available. It was a full tube car with a log book and I bought it and took it to Jon Webster to get it rebuilt. I was blown away when I first saw it.

Mark Todd continued "The car has a brand new tube chassis and the body is a copy of the original steel one which I still have. As an engineer I picked up ideas from issues I had experienced with the Firebird, then Jon Webster interpreted them and was on the money every time. The engine is a aluminiium Donovan big block with twin 88mm turbos which produces 2000hp. I have never had it at full throttle yet. So far my best ET in it is 8.7 and my best speed 173mph from yesterday, but it will be much quicker when it hooks up. The class record is a 7.6/192 by John Sleath but that needs a real driving job down the track. Yesterday the car got agressive after I pedaled it a few times and we could see on the data that the shock wave caused ignition in the inlet manifold and the boost went 7psi more than it should which caused a violent run that knocked my confidence. We turned the power down and that gave us a smooth baseline. I am running Mickey Thompson Drag Radials but will try Hoosiers in the future.

Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator racer and marine engineer Stuart Williams was racing in the Jap Series Pro class at Easter when disaster struck and the car rolled, crossing the finish line backwards on its roof. He said "I got into a tank slapper on a run with slicks but not adjusting the suspension geometry for them and a burnout that was not enough to heat the tyres. The tyres lit up at about 330ft after shifting and I kept my foot in longer because Leon Green was alongside me and I didn't hear the engine revs rising. The tyre unloaded and the massive inertia effect caused the car to go 45 degrees to the wall and then crossed the centre line at a 90 degrees angle, I was very lucky not to have hit the wall. Perhaps the car's name Carmasupra had something to do with it - good karma. I got some whiplash which lasted until I got here this weekend and with the adrenaline it has gone. I now have a Hans device rather than a neck brace."

Stuart Williams who is based in Teignmouth, South Devon, said his rebuilt was funded almost entirely by donations of parts from the Toyota Supra Owners Club. "The parts I required were all stock Supra parts. All I had to buy was a bonnet catch for �40. Many thanks to my crew chief Les Mitchell who worked with me to 4am some mornings to get the car finished. With some electrical gremlins and the weather I only made one run yesterday but it was a 9.8/157 and it felt really smooth and all the inhibitions disappeared. I have actually rolled over twelve times in powerboat racing as well as motorsports and have got into a drill if it happens. I switched the nitrous off as it was on its roof and after the low oil pressure warning came on the ECU switched the engine off within half a second, saving it. Thanks to my tuner Ryan Griffiths who owns 2bartuning and to the safety devices. The only work I had to do on the engine is an oil change. One worrying moment was the windscreen upside down sparking and starting to ignite gearbox fluid coming out of the breather. I got out of the car very quickly and have modified the gearbox breather so that it works upside down." Stuart's progress over the last four years can be seen on Youtube.

Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator racer Brian Payne is sponsored by handcleaner distributor Swipewipes. Brian said "We have increased the turbos to 76mm Precision items from 70mm last year and my crew chief Paul Wright has made the mapping changes. Externally the new turbos are the same size but have bigger impellers. We have made a few runs and are getting closer but have not made a full pass yet with the new setup. We are hoping to get it sorted by the Main Event which is an important race for the class and we want to be running low eights consistently then. The setup is definitely easier to tune for varying conditions.

Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator racer Ian Hook is much trimmer this season thanks to cycling in the Cotswolds over the close season. He said "I will be cycling in the Alps over the Summer - we can take the cable car up and then come back down the side of the mountain." Ian is doing rolling burnouts for the first time this weekend which are going dead straight. "We freshened the engine and otherwise it's the same as last year", he said. "We have kept the nitrous switched off for this event and are trying Hoosier tyres but will change back for the Main Event. We have taken wing out, added weight, lowered tyre pressures and it is still spinning the tyres down the track. The engine produces a lot of torque even without nitrous."

Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator racer Jeff Meads didn't get a run in this morning after the first gear whined yesterday and then he found the gear would not engage. He said "When I pushed the transbrake button it wanted to go into reverse and I think the gearbox might need a new band and may have to come out of the car.We have had a small misfire and are fighting for grip so it is all happening at the same time. Ian Hook has offered to help with gearbox parts as mine are still at home and we need a drip tray if we take the box out." After the massive wheelie last season Jeff had to get the chassis front replaced with a new sump and alternator; class rules dictate no wheelie bars...

VW Pro racer Sam Young, pictured with brother and crew chief Ollie, crewman Ben and Stefani Robinson, said the car is 30kg lighter with carbon fibre front body and rear wings from Dale Edwards (DRE) based in Oxford. There are also new motors. Ben said "At Easter the commutator bar became detatched and smashed the bushes on one run going down the track. There were plenty of sparks going down the track. We got new parts from the US and all new motors were installed before the Big Bang." Ollie added "They need a dozen runs to get up to speed." Ben continued "There were problems with the lithium cobalt batteries and some failed and we have had to send off to Singapore for replacements." The car has a new battery management system designed by Ollie and about 20% of power has been taken out to avoid wheelspin. In terms of air, the car runs better in hot air than cool - the opposite of conventional piston engines.

VW Pro racer Paul Jordan also races in the Euro Sports Compact series at SPR. His VW Scirocco is four wheel drive and has a Garrett GT35 turbo on the modified 2.1 litre engine. The power goes to a 6-speed Audi TT gearbox and Haldex 4WD setup. Best times are 9.76/148mph and sponsorship comes from The Rocket Centre, Rockets Car Repairs, A D Edmundson Bespoke ECU Tuning.

Outlaw Anglia racer Colin Millar has a 385 mile door to door journey from Leslie in Fife, Scotland, to come drag racing and has been twice in the last fortnight - this event and the rained-off Big Bang. "It's a bit hard on fuel", he said, "But they are all nice people and we have a lot of fun. My PB is 7.84/169 from my nitrous BBC engine with a plate nitrous system under the carb. The great performance is partly due to the light weight of the car, just 950kg with a fibreglass body and ARRC chrome moly chassis. I bought the car from Pete Ashworth who had it in Malta and had Jon Webster baseline it and we rebuilt the engine and gearbox and installed a Nigel Chance new torque convertor. I have logos from my company DPS Electrical on the car and I work as an electrical contractor at big industrial plants and power stations. Street Eliminator racer Gerry Treit is also from Fife and i have known him since we were 15."

Top Fuel Bike racer Rene van den Berg's new Top Fuel bike is in the back of the trailer for daughter Ivana's Junior Funny Car and Rene kindly gave us the opportunity to have a look at it.

Rene's Top Fuel Bike has a Puma engine tuned by Jan Smit and will be 102" wheelbase. The frame was constructed by Webster Race Engineering. We will see the bike in action later in the year.