Webster Race Engineering Test Day
Santa Pod Raceway, 16th April 2003
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23:15
Today's pictures are now posted, you can get to them from the event index.
17:30
Apologies to anyone who had problems with the webcam in the last hour or so. We fixed the problem as soon as we were aware of it and hopefully you didn't miss too much.
We had one of the highlights of the day in the last session as Tony Clark fired a warning shot to his fellow SSB racers with a splendid 8.38/170.51 on his last pass this afternoon. Also in this last session Pat Talbot took away Low ET of the day from Tim Blakemore, Pat putting in her first full pass on nitrous and blowing away her personal best time and speed with a 7.27/181.33.
John Hales got back into the eights with a pass of 8.96/162.31 whilst fellow CCSE racer Sue Jackson got very close at 9.09/155.90 and 9.04/158.36. Colin Lazenby turned the wick up with passes of 9.62/143.61, 9.45/141.37 and 9.73/139.19.
Tim Blakemore's last passes were a 7.98/169.31 and 7.63/169.71, and also on two wheels Martin Walker clocked 10.52/134.01. Paul Watson put in his first pass on his Pro Stock Bike and recorded 9.91/138.64.
Let's take you through all of the other runs from the final session:
Will Furniss 9.69/140.49, 9.71/140.77
Malcolm Francis 8.97/147.82, 9.03/147.21, 9.77/142.81
Martin Curbishley 9.54/149.42, 8.98/151.42, 8.96/151.96
Paul Duxbury 13.89/1100.33
Peter Lane 10.26/131.97
Tim Adam 9.94/147.33
Jeff Rainbird 17.18/70.20
Laurie Bamford 10.99/127.73, 10.89/127.77
Bob Doyle 10.41/133.23
Rick McCann 11.51/120.90, 10.86/126.13
Anne Peck 9.68/138.01
We have a very large number of pictures of today's action, so we are going to go back to base before we post those - tune back in a few hours and they will be available from the Event Index.
We're now done for the day here at Santa Pod. Thanks very much for tuning in, we hope that you have enjoyed our coverage. Thanks for their help today to:
Thanks for their help today to Darren Prentice, Steve Horn, the top end safety crew, Trevor Barker, Andrew Willcox and the start line crew, and a big Thank You to Jon Webster for inviting us along to cover the event.
Eurodragster's next event coverage will be from this weekend's Easter Thunderball back here at Santa Pod Raceway, we look forward to seeing you then.
Today's coverage has been brought to you in association with American Car Imports.
16:00
When we left you an hour ago, Tim Blakemore was about to run on his Funny Bike. Tim put in a straight pass of 7.56/169.61, it looked as if he was taking it easy too. Tony Clark put the gas on his SSB and clocked a fine 8.54/168.79, quite gentle off the line so probably a little more there.
Martin Curbishley ran his best ever time of 8.58/154.57 on his last pass, previously to that he had matched up against Tim Adam in a roadster v roadster run, 0.44 to 0.44 reaction times, Martin got out of it early whilst Tim recorded 8.82/157.36. Tim came back later in and clocked 8.89/150.89 with a 0.42 reaction time. Malcolm Francis was also quite close to the index with an 8.88/148.35 in his Camaro.
Pat Talbot's second pass with nitrous was a planned half-pass, a 1.052 sixty foot time and 4.614/149.67 at half-track. Stephen tells us that this is four miles per hour faster than Pat has ever been at half-track - and this was on a shut-off. Steve Pateman feathered the throttle at the top end on his last pass, 8.77/168.56, were you sandbagging Steve? John Hales' latest pass was 9.11/163.38.
We have quite a collection of vehicles in the pairing lanes now so let's give you the rest of the last session before I get behind! Bob Doyle 10.36/133.18, Rick McCann 11.23/130.19, Martin Lewis 15.91/85.03, Steve Dunn 10.10/133.44, Laurie Bamford 10.54/128.89.
We're not sure we'll be seeing Andy Carter in his Top Fueller today, Andy and the team have had problems with the clutch. Through our binoculars we can still see a lot of activity in the pit, though, so stay tuned and we'll let you know what happens.
Still a nice day on the start line, 74.8 F, 29% humidity, air pressure 30.21.
15:00
Pete Bellenie is the latest Super Street Bike racer into the eights today with an 8.80/168.18, the bike left the line very gently so there must be a lot more to come there. Lucy Thorn has also stepped up some on the Pro Stock Bike, a very straight 8.92/156.00 and a lot harder off the line this time around. Kev Charman is running very consistently on his SSB, an 8.96/159.60 followed by an 8.92/160.92. Al Cook has had a turn on the Pro Stock Bike now owned by Paul Watson and clocked 8.55/157.88.
Apologies to Martin Walker for taking so long to find his name on today's entry sheets, Martin is on what must be a 9.90 Bike judging by the runs he has put in today: 10.64/132.38, 10.31/132.71,10.48/129.45, 10.13/133.09, and 10.30/131.98.
On four wheels Colin Lazenby hot-lapped his Chevy, spinning off the line on his first pass at 10.31/140.37 and coming straight back round again, spinning a little less this time, and clocking 10.02/143.49. Fellow CCSE racer Steve Pateman put in a run of 8.78/168.20 by way of response. John Hales had a few problems earlier but has just clocked 9.03/164.02 - looks like that's sorted. Sue Jackson was the next CCSE racer on the track, running 9.10/154.28.
Bob Doyle has taken more time off his PB, his latest pass a 10.20/134.07 whilst Steve Dunn clocked 10.12/133.64 on his first post-lunch pass followed by a 10.11/133.16. Pat Talbot's first run with nitrous was a planned 60 foot and Pat did just that, a 1.091 sixty-foot and Stephen and Rob Loaring shook hands. Peter Lane is close to that 9.90 with passes of 9.86/142.40 and 9.96/138.98 whilst Malcolm Francis was even closer to the money with an 8.91/148.20 in Super Comp trim. Stuart Peck went a little ways under the SG index at 9.64/138.42 - Anne has now taken over the seat - and Martin Curbishley did a similar thing to the SC index with an 8.74/153.21. Rick McCann's latest pass in his and Carla's Pro ET Camaro was another arrow-straight 10.47/131.06.
Sportsman ET racers Martin Lewis and Jeff Rainbird have run 15.55/76.01 and 18.67/77.48 respectively in this session.
Stay tuned as Tim Blakemore is lined up behind race control on his Funny Bike.
13:45
Johnny Hall is done for the day after torching a head in the blown slingshot. Johnny expressed himself very pleased with his day, though, and had a very high opinion of the track - this is the first time that he has run his car here. If you saw the webcam shot at lunchtime of Johnny's car slewed round by the Tree surrounded by people then don't worry, it was a photo session and not a "happening". Johnny and his team are to be featured in a big piece for Grimsby's evening paper tomorrow.
Just before the break, Kev Charman ran another eight on his SSB, 8.96/159.60 whilst Chris Reed clocked 9.80/141.63. Peter Lane rounded off with a 9.86/142.40 in his Super Gasser.
13:00
It's really warming up now, 77.4 F, 32% humidity and 30.21 inches of mercury.
Pro ET racer Bob Doyle is a happy man after taking four tenths off his PB with a run of 10.41/131.32 off the trailer, that's a good way to start the season I'd say. Fellow Pro ET racer Steve Dunn clocked 10.08/133.70 on his first pass of the day and he and Jon Evans will be pleased with that pass given all of the new parts on the car. Other first passes of the day were 9.78/143.22 for Peter Lane's Super Gasser, and 10.67/126.37 for Laurie Bamford. Just as we went to post this update, Steve Pateman put in his first pass of the day, an 8.84/168.02.
Pat Talbot's first full pass of the day netted her a 7.77/174.67 still without the blue bottle - you have to ask yourself just how quick the dragster is going to go when the nitrous is added. We should find out shortly! Martin Curbishley ran a 9.30/105.41 which was shut off at about 900 feet, and fellow roadster racer Tim Adam clocked 9.77/149.08 and 9.83/148.70 in Super Gas trim. Will Furniss took another easy pass in his Super Gasser running 10.26/105.25 with a 0.45 RT. Malcolm Francis put in an 8.83/147.89 again in Super Comp trim.
Paul Duxbury pulled a 0.51 reaction time on his pass of 13.48/101.98, whilst fellow Sportsman ET racer Martin Lewis ran 16.36/83.42 on his last pass, and Jeff Manni got Fuel-standard tyre shake on an 11.54/118.68. Rick McCann's second pass of the day was a 10.53/130.66, whilst Stuart Peck clocked a very straight 9.62/135.74 on his latest pass, the front wheels getting a lot of sky off the line. Johnny Hall backed off early on his latest pass, a 9.34/114.22 which was as straight as you like - maybe it felt weird going in a straight line.
On two wheels we've had the first look at Tim Blakemore's Funny Bike in its new colours, very nice it looks too, and an easy-looking 7.58/158.87 matched the looks. Chris Reed is going quicker yet, 9.25/142.85, whilst Lucy Thorn took a nice easy outing on Paul Rose's Pro Stock Bike, 10.44/144.17 first time out.
We're just going into the lunch break, tune back in an hour or so for more news.
12:00
Things have really taken off here now with the cars and bikes coming thick and fast. Let's take you through the first hour and a half's action.
Pat Talbot has put in two passes in the E-Manumit dragster. As well as very nice new paint the car is now sporting a blue bottle and associated plumbing although none of that is being used this morning: the plan is for Pat to get her hand back in and then turn on the bottle this afternoon under the eye of Rob Loaring of our Home/News Page sponsors ICE Automotive. Pat's first run was to sixty feet, a gentle 1.155, and the second run was a solid 8.10/126.97 half pass.
Johnny "Mental" Hall decided to go for a banzai pass first time out in his blown Rover slingshot and hauled the mail right the way through the quarter, clocking 8.78/147.64 on a far from straight pass so there is more in the tank. Tim Adam clocked a 0.48 RT and an early shut off 10.093/115.55 in his roadster, Tis is the hot-lap meister so doubtless he will be back in very short order. John Hales' CCSE Chevy left the line very gently and then picked up its skirts and ran, John clocked 9.40/158.68 on what we think was a checkout pass since he has changed the set-up after breaking inlet manifolds.
Will Furniss ran 10.89/114.35 on his first pass in his Toyota Super Gasser, looked like a checkout pass to us, no obvious problems. Malcolm Francis clocked an 8.97/148.22 with his Camaro in Super Comp trim whilst Rick McCann recorded 10.72/127.47 in his Pro ET Camaro. Sportsman ET racer Martin Lewis has put in two passes, on the first he appeared to have gearbox problems but quickly returned to record a 15.73/84.91. Jeff Rainbird also hit gearbox problems by the look of it, an aborted first pass followed by an 18.73/56.29. Paul Duxbury recorded runs of 13.254/102.45 and 13.19/102.79 whilst Jeff Manni pulled the front wheels up on his pass of 11.960/118.96.
On four wheels, Kev Charman ran what we think is his first eight-second pass on his Super Street Bike, 8.94/159.26, nice one Kev! The other SSB racers appear to be starting out with normally-aspirated passes, Tony Clark staying in first gear on his first pass and then clocking 9.41/147.15, and Pete Bellenie running 10.015/140.51 and 9.61/141.79. Chris Reed has recorded 10.992/90.60 and 9.85/138.41.
The weather station is reading 73.2 F and 37% humidity on the start line, air pressure 30.21.
Stay tuned!
10:30
Good morning and welcome from Santa Pod Raceway on what has to be the most beautiful day of the year so far. Sunny, warm, not a cloud in the sky, the track would hold a jumbo jet down and the pits are very busy. We're here to bring you all the action in association with American Car Imports.
The Webster Race Engineering/Dragrace Drachten webcam is already on-line, you can reach that via the Event Index.
Right now our weather station is giving start line conditions as 67.6 F and rising, humidity 43% and falling, and air pressure at 30.18 inches of mercury.
A couple of hellos this morning, firstly to our US correspondents Ed O'Connell and Kathy Hileman who are tuned in from New Hampshire; a big Hello and Happy Wedding Anniversary from Martin Curbishley to Ruth who "can't be here because she is at home minding the whippets"; and a Happy Birthday to British Nitro FC Championship co-ordinator Jim Broome. Hope you're all having great dayd.
From our vantage point in Race Control we can see Andy Carter's Top Fuel Dragster, the Super Street Bikes of Pete Bellenie, Tony Clark, Kev Charman and Chris Reed, John Hales, Steve Pateman, Sue Jackson and Colin Lazenby's Custom Car Street Eliminator cars, Paul Marston's Insanity Vega pick-up, Pat Talbot's Super Pro ET dragster, Jeff Rainbird, Martin Lewis and Paul Duxbury's Sportsman ET cars, Bob Doyle's Pro ET Datsun, Peter Lane's Super Gasser, Anne and Stuart Peck's Super Gas/Street Camaro, Martin Curbishley and Malcolm Francis' Super Comp/Gas cars, Tim Blakemore's Funny Bike, Laurie Bamford's Pro ET Nova, Steve Dunn and Jon Evans' Tokyo Toy Pro ET Toyota, Johnny Hall's Supercharged Outlaw slingshot, Will Furniss' Super Gasser, Tim Adam's Super Comp/Gas roadster - and that's just what we can see from here. It's shaping up into a great day.
Stay tuned because the track is now open and the action is about to get underway.