Reigning ‘King of Europe’ Andy Carter debuted a very impressive sponsorship deal with B&Q Power Tools as he aims to defend his FIA Top Fuel title. His search for a third win in the Easter shootout fell inches short at the final hurdle as the car threw the blower belt off just before the finish line on a losing 5.04 pass.

Running out of the Rune Fjeld stable, Thomas Nataas defeated his team mate Carter in the final, racking up his first event win since stepping up from Pro Mod in 2004 and avenging Carter’s victory over him in the final round of the Euro Finals last September.

TOP METHANOL

The British Top Methanol round produced some notable PBs for the UK funny cars, a number of whom are gradually progressing towards the numbers required for full European competition, although the long and skinny cars proved their dominance of the mixed bracket in the end.

The She-Devil car of Steph Milam made a welcome return to the track after a year out gathering funds for the shoestring budget the team runs on. With a much updated set up including an Avenger body for 2005, Steph and husband Dave were pleased with the low six second ETs run in qualifying, although their old bug bear tire-shake rattled Steph out of eliminations.