Webster Race Engineering Test Day
Santa Pod Raceway, 24th April 2004
The latest updates are at the top of the page. Click on your Browser's Refresh key to be sure of seeing the latest news.
Click here to go back to the event index
18:45
We are now done for the day here at Santa Pod and it's been another great session. Just about everyone here today has got their money's worth with a large number of runs and we're sure that everyone is going home happy. Let's take you through this afternoon's action.
Jeff Thurston must have set a new record for the number of passes made by anyone at a WRE Test Day, putting in no less than six passes in this session in his very nice Mustang. Jeff was getting progressively quicker and his crew seemed very happy with the outcome; 12.176/101.07, 11.435/113.67, 11.900/110.07, 11.739/114.97, 10.893/128.65 and 10.617/131.97. Ray Comer also made the most of the afternoon, clocking 11.821/115.90, 11.734/116.37, 11.815/116.07 and 11.816/113.87 in his Camaro.
Pro ET racer Dave Ward didn't make it into the nines in the Rampage Pro ET FC, but he made a number of consistent passes recording 10.211/128.84, 10.179/128.89, 10.191/129.03, 10.193/129.30 and 10.256/128.60. A new name to me, Roy Walker in a very nice Cortina clocked a quickest of 14.611/75.86 but seemed to suffer fuel problems at about half track on all of his several passes. Keith Ridley is quickly getting the hang of his new Escort with steadily more confident runs of 11.622, 11.144/120.64, 10.798/124.34 and his last run of the day a 10.630/125.67.
On two wheels, we got the first look at Tim Blakemore's new Kawasaki Funny Bike and a very nice piece of kit it is. As one expects from Tim and his team the bike is a thoroughly professional job. Tim seemed to be having problems getting the right gear off the line, but he put in runs of 11.891 and then 9.658/116.84 getting a feel for the new bike. Carl Gray pulled a huge wheelie on his SSB on his first run of the afternoon, clocking a thirteen-second ET on that pass, but then started to creep up on it again with runs of 9.311/172.32, 8.853/175.60, and 8.810/176.41 - that bike certainly has some top end speed.
Brad O'Connor made five passes on his SSB this afternoon, a 9.525/157.37, 8.911/158.48, 8.934/157.36, 9.708/153.57, and 9.319/157.31. Steve Venables' new SSB got progressively quicker at 9.295/155.75, 9.403/153.04, 9.228/161.81 and 9.110/155.30, and no wheelies at 200 feet this afternoon! Dave Peters ran 11.514/82.01, 12.679/71.79, 9.566/117.24 and 10.176/130.00 on his Funny Bike, whilst Jamie Sneddon clocked 9.523/141.00, 9.487/141.57, 9.569/140.23 and 9.508/140.33 on his 9.90 Bike.
Back to four wheels and CCSE racer Steve Nash appeared to us to be sandbagging in his Wild Cat Cougar, taking it easy at the top end on each pass. We asked Rob Loaring of our home and news page sponsor ICE Automotive but he assured us that Steve was not doing it deliberately. Either way, Splinter clocked 9.411/134.20, 9.266/150.11 (this with a one-second pedal of the throttle and blackstriping all the way), 9.219/160.63, 8.971/164.90 with a wheelie off the start line, and 9.076/164.74. Fellow CCSE racer Colin Lazenby is looking good with runs of 8.814/167.90 and 8.614/174.30. Craig Gibbs is getting a handle on the new Obsession Super Mod with runs of 9.417/145.15 and 9.292/145.64.
Nev Mottershead is getting quicker and quicker in the Toyota Supra as he gets used to the car and the power is increased. This afternoon he clocked 11.727/112.20, 11.671/112.50, 10.991/117.80, 10.539/124.20 and 10.178/128.20. Terri Lee also went quicker on each run, recording 10.873/129.61, 10.814/130.40 and 10.737/130.80 in the Blown It Escort van. Frank Mason clocked 10.063/135.96 in his Super Gasser then got oh so close at 9.899/135.87, finishing with a very naughty 9.747/137.47 but Crew Chief and partner Maureen looked very pleased!
Martin Taylor's new VW Pro Beetle clocked 17.668/102.28 and then 12.793/105.81 to the delight of his crew. Al Golding told us that he was running without gas today, which really showed on the start line as the Grounds For Divorce car didn't pull the wheelies we've come to expect. Al ran 9.971/138.03 and then a 9.298/152.11 which featured a serious bog off the line but then the car took off like a scalded cat.
Malcolm Francis told us that the reason he was driving Lee Darby's Beetle FC was that Lee has had problems with the car bouncing off the line and that he was not sure whether the car or the driver was to blame, so he wanted to put another driver in it to see what happened. Malcolm couldn't get second gear on his pass this afternoon although the car sounded very strong in first.
Ian Caseley was here with the Roadzombie II Jet Dragster today but had a problem keeping the jet lit. He did put in an impressive smoke and flame show this morning - trust your reporter to be standing in the wrong place to get a picture of that. When we last spoke to Ian he sounded pretty sure that the Roadzombie team had found the reason for the problem.
We have now posted today's pictures, they are available from the Event Index page.
That's the end of our Webster Race Engineering Test Day coverage; thanks for tuning in. Your reporter and photographer today was Tog of Eurodragster.com. For help today we would like to thank Steve Horn, Darren Prentice, Ian Marshall, Nigel Anniwell, Kjell Petterson, Jon Webster, and all of SPR's start line and safety crew.
Eurodragster's next event coverage will be from next week's Excitement Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway, our next event coverage from Santa Pod Raceway will be the Speedfreaks Ball in two weekends' time.
Today's Event Coverage has been brought to you in association with American Car Imports.
14:00
Good afternoon and welcome from Santa Pod Raceway on a beautiful spring day. The weather is just perfect for testing and we're here to bring you all the action in association with American Car Imports.
The Webster Race Engineering/MPM Oil webcam is on-line and broadcasting a picture every two minutes. You may have noticed that we've moved the webcam to a different position today, it's just for a change and it will be in the usual place for race events.
We have a large number of racers here and several of them have already had their money's worth having put in several runs. Whilst we're on lunch break let's take you through all of this morning's action.
Ray Comer has been getting progressively quicker in his Camaro which is carrying a Street Racer number. After runs of 13.223/102.74, 13.124/103.23, and 13.095/102.93 he put the gas on and promptly blasted his PB with runs of 11.868/115.44 and an 11.767 whose speed we missed. Terri Lee is back in her Pro ET blown Escort van and put in a launch, a half-pass of 11.633/115.90 and an early shut-off 10.995/126.87. The van sounds very strong indeed and Terry and Ian must be very happy with their return so far.
Keith Ridley has had his first couple of runs out in his Escort fresh from Webster Race Engineering, so far he has put in a launch and then a gentle 11.714/112.77. Perry Antoniou, Tony Baker and some of the Fireforce guys are here to provide moral support. Custom Car Street Eliminator racer Colin Lazenby has clocked a gentle 11.433/84.87 and an early shut-off 9.593/108.70. Colin has suffered a couple of mild nitrous burps but no damage done. Fellow CCSE racer Steve Nash had all four wheels of the track and then what was effectively a rolling burnout on his first run, then made a 10.167/120.90 half-pass just before lunch.
If you have checked out Eurodragster News today, you will have read that Pro ET racer Dave Ward and the Rampage team are headed for the nines, a checkout pass this morning of 10.992/110.84 was followed by a 10.207/128.66 and it appeared that Dave took that one gently too so it could happen this afternoon. On two wheels, Jamie Sneddon has put in passes of 9.638/138.91, 9.995/124.94 and 9.791/140.57 on his bike which is actually carrying a 10.90 Bike number.
Regular Test and Tune attendee Jeff Thurston is another racer getting his money's worth with no less than five runs so far in his Mustang: 11633/111.67. 11.559/113.35, 11.719/112.40, 11.490/113.69 and 12.097/105.10. Another first time out is VW Pro racer Martin Taylor's Beetle, a very nice-looking car indeed. Martin has put in passes of 14.005/101.35 and 13.567/102.51.
One of the stories of the day so far has been Carl Gray on his Super Street Bike. Carl has put in two passes so far, an 8.675 at a huge 177.65, and an 8.492 at an even more huge 179.50. Paul Watson of Dynospeed Development was a very happy bunny after both runs. Just before lunch Carl pulled a wheelie off the line and the reservoir for his shifter fell of the bike as he came down. Steve Venables is testing his new SSB - new bike, same habit as Steve has had the front wheel up at 200 feet on both runs so far; 9.708/151.55 and 9.280/160.79. Fellow SSB racer Brad O'Connor is testing new bits and pieces and has put in easy runs of 9.290/156.26 and 10.348/153.47, whilst Funny Bike racer Dave Peters has made test passes of 11.278/97.56 and 10.400/138.40.
Back on four wheels, Nev Mottershead is trying for size the Toyota Supra which we have previously seen driven by Will Furniss. Nev has so far put in a launch and an easy twelve-second pass. Fellow Super Gas racer Frank Mason clocked 10.099/134.70 and 10.068/135.13. Craig Gibbs has had a couple of outings in his Super Mod, a 10.723/85.55 half-pass followed by an ealy shut-off 9.457/139.01. Fellow Super Mod racer Tim Garlick has some new wheelie bars on his Cortina, I suspect he'd rather not have them! Tim launched very hard from the line but his gearbox broke at about sixty feet.
Super Pro ET racer Gary Malin's one pass so far today has been a 7.754/153.55 which sounded like a very slightly early shut-off. Fellow Super Pro racer Al Golding has a nice new paintjob on his car, his single pass so far a 9.898/138.04. Another interesting story is Super Comp/Super Gas racer Malcolm Francis piloting Lee Darby's Tarmac Teaser VW Alternate Engine Funny Car; we don't know the story behind that but as soon as we do, we'll let you know. Malcolm's first pass was a 9.368.
The afternoon session has now started, tune back later on and we'll bring you all the action.