The Cannonball
Saturday (qualifying)
The latest updates are at the top. Click on your Browser's Reload button periodically to be sure of picking up the latest news. Click here to go back to the race update index.
20:45
Today's pictures have now been posted. You can view them via the Raceday Update index. If you don't see the pictures then be sure to hit your browser's Refresh button.
We're off around the pits now to see what we can find out. Tune in again tomorrow and we'll let you know how things have developed overnight. Racing starts at 9:00 am - see you then!
19:40
With one session remaining in Fuel Funny Car and TMFC Cannonball, here are the standings in those two classes:
Fuel Funny Car (with one session remaining): 1. John Spuffard 5.339/259.12, 2. Allan Bates 6.647/188.16, 3. Gordon Smith 9.001/100.58
TMFC Cannonball (with one session remaining): 1. Dezsoe Krivan 6.142/226.23, 2. Lex Joon 6.188/219.60, 3. Urs Erbacher 6.199/230.89, 4. Urs Embacher 6.335.217.18
The final standings in MSA Top Methanol are as follows: 1. Rob Turner 5.895/238.85, 2. Lyndsay Deuchar 6.160/191.16, 3. Doug Bond 6.4256/208.54, 4. Wendy Baker 8.317/158.07, 5. Dave Wilson 10.827/69.11
The top two qualifiers in all other classes (final standings) are as follow:
Super Pro ET (own dial-in): 1. Martyn Jones +0.000 (7.680/170.89), 2. Paul Davies +0.013 (8.663/153.06)
Pro ET (own dial-in): 1. Al Golding +0.001 (9.151/147.77), 2. Bob Doyle +0.001 (10.981/126.47)
Sportsman ET (own dial-in): 1. Bob Main +0.023 (13.642/98.16), 2. Al Platt +0.026 (13.776/101.75)
Super Comp (8.90): 1. Brian Pateman 8.917/150.36, 2. Phil Bennett 8.959/133.51
Super Gas (9.90): 1. Peter Lane 9.906/141.18, 2. Rob Long 9.909/127.65
Super Street (10.90): 1. Bob Doignie 10.900/117.21, 2. Leigh Morris 10.906/122.28
Junior Dragster (reaction time): 1. Ricky Emms 0.510, 2. Tom Watts 0.511
Custom Car Street Eliminator: 1. Steve Pateman 8.605/167.46, 2. Jeff Meads 8.837/157.25
VW Pro (own dial-in): 1. Scotty Evison +0.093 (12.783/102.49), 2. Nigel Green +0.210 (11.510/112.03)
VW Sportsman (own dial-in): 1. Martin Ayton +0.021 (17.521/76.71), 2. Stephen Lee +0.079 (15.479/74.52)
Top Fuel Bike: 1. Brian Johnson 6.547/198.69, 2. Ian King 6.678/206.77, 3. Steve Woollatt 6.843/201.05
Funny Bike: 1. Chris Hannam 7.376/176.66, 2. Tim Blakemore 7.459/162.93
Pro Stock Bike: 1. Dave Beck 7.660/174.88, 2. Richard Gipp 8.071/161.77
Competition Bike: 1. Tim Whetton 9.215/148.34, 2. Dave Hughes 9.301/126.44
Super Street Bike: 1. Tony Clark 8.395/169.09, 2. Graham Dance 8.511/162.79
9.90 Bike: 1. Paul Watson 9.943/135.21, 2. Neil Curtis 9.943/146.53
10.90 Bike: 1. Lewis Honey 10.900/119.88, 2. Darren Winnard 10.901/126.89
Today's pictures will be ready soon, stay tuned.
19:10
We're now finished for the day here at the Cannonball. It's been a great afternoon's qualifying including a new European best ET for Fuel FC.
Track Manager Kjell Petterson has just informed us that there is to be one more session of qualifying for Fuel FC and TMFC Cannonball tomorrow morning at 10:00. Be here - you know it makes sense.
We'll get round to the qualifying standings in a moment but here's how the second sessions of Top Fuel Bike, MSA Top Methanol, TMFC Cannonball and Fuel FC went.
Top Fuel Bike: Brian Johnson 6.68/220.98, Steve Woollatt 7.26/196.84. A nice run from BJ, the bike really picked up from half-track onwards and BJ stayed on it all the way to the top end. Steve Woollatt headed for the guardrail off the start line so he got off the throttle briefly.
MSA Top Methanol: Doug Bond 6.52/192.24, Darryl Bradford 6.27/193.26, Rob Turner 5.87/240.97, Doug Ripley 16.74/51.41 observed run, Steph Milam 10.45/133.08 observed run.
Doug Bond and Darryl Bradford had a great side-by-side run. Darryl got out of the hole first, he really is getting good on the start line and this his rookie season. No visible problems for either racer, except for Doug whose parachutes didn't come out until half way down the shutdown area. Rob Turner's was a textbook pass, consolidating his position at the top of qualifying. Doug Ripley and Steph Milam were both off the throttle early.
TMFC Cannonball: Urs Erbacher 6.19/230.89, Urs Embacher 6.39/197.36, Lex Joon 7.94/116.71.
A superb pass from Urs Erbacher, a man on a mission. Urs Embacher made almost his entire pass a few yards from the left guardrail, a small puff of smoke at the top end but no word of any problem. Lex Joon's engine seemed to die off at half track.
Fuel FC: John Spuffard 5.33/259.12, Al Bates 6.64/188.16. You could tell that Spuff's run was something special, the car running straight and clean, Spuff got off the throttle a tad early so there is much more to come yet. Congratulations to the Showtime team. Alan Bates' pass was also straight and clean, no sign of any problems and his crew were very happy with the outcome.
Martin Hill rounded off the day with a great checkout pass of 6.01/257.35 in the Fireforce 2 Jet FC.
We're now going to type up the qualifying and work on today's pictures, so come back in about half an hour and we should have the numbers for you.
16:15
Barry Sheavills has had his match race against Matthew Mortlock in the Formula 1 car. The result was of course a foregone conclusion, Barry got there first but the tyres started to shake at sixty feet and then went up in smoke at 200 feet. Barry had no choice but to get off it, recording 7.54/102.77 to Matthew's 11.47/140.38.
We're currently down for a clear-up because unfortunately Custom Car Street Eliminator racer Ian Hook has had a top end crash in the FB Racing coupe. The engine let go in a big way just before the finish line, dumping oil under the rear tyres just as Ian went through the traps at 137.46 mph. The car disappeared into a cloud of smoke, the bonnet and other parts of the car appearing out of the cloud as the car ran down the left-hand guardrail. Ian was very quickly out of the car and is perfectly OK.
Stay tuned and we'll let you know how the rest of qualifying goes.
14:15
We've now had the first of today's rounds of qualifying in Fuel FC, TMFC, MSA Top Methanol and Top Fuel Bike. Here is how they went:
Fuel FC: John Spuffard 5.43/238.37, Gordon Smith 9.00/100.58, Al Bates 7.53/104.57, Smax Smith no time recorded.
Spuff and Gordon matched up in the first pairing. Both drivers put in strong burnouts and then on the green Spuff hooked up and was away, straight and true, off it at 1000 feet or so. Allan Bates also pulled a great burnout whilst Smax Smith didn't get the tyres lit. Smax was adjudged to take too long to stage and was bulbed, so didn't get a time. Al Bates left the line gently but ran straight and true to about half-track, no sign of the handling problems earlier this season.
So after one round of qualifying, Fuel FC stands as follows: 1. John Spuffard 5.43/238.37, 2. Al Bates 7.53/104.57, 3. Gordon Smith 9.00/100.58, Smax Smith DQ.
Top Methanol Funny Car: Lex Joon 6.18/219.06, Urs Embacher 6.33/217.18, Dezsoe Krivan 6.14/226.23, Urs Erbacher 6.61/204.68.
Lex Joon and Urs Embacher had a great race, Lex hit tyre shake past the tree and the car drifted slightly, but Lex stayed with it. Urs' run looked straight and true, no visible problems. Dezsoe Krivan and Urs Erbacher pulled their burnouts but were shut off for rain as they pulled into stage. The rain delay allowed their engines and clutches to cool, and both drivers pulled great burnouts again the second time around. On the green, Dezsoe was gone, a clean and straight pass whilst Urs hit bad tyre shake, drifted for the centre line, and had to pedal briefly. Sharkman at the top end says that he was surprised that Dezsoe's run wasn't a five, as it looked great from his vantage point.
So after round one of qualifying, TMFC stands as follows: 1. Dezsoe Krivan 6.14/226.23, 2. Lex Joon 6.18/219.06, 3. Urs Embacher 6.33/217.18, 4. Urs Erbacher 6.61/204.68
MSA Top Methanol: Doug Bond 6.42/208.54, Wendy Baker 8.31/158.07, Lyndsay Deuchar 6.16/191.16, Doug Ripley 13.45/56.67 observed run, Steph Milam 9.04/156.35 observed run.
Doug Bond's pass was clean and straight, maybe backed off just a little early. Wendy Baker didn't appear to have any problems on her pass, although the engine sounded as if it was labouring a little towards the top end. Lyndsay Deuchar's pass was straight as you like, Lyndsay ran to 1000 feet with the car looking and sounding very strong, and the crew were jubilant. Doug Ripley drifted towards the centreline and got off the throttle on his observed run, whilst Steph Milam left the line quite strongly but appeared to be feathering the throttle a little towards the top end.
So after two rounds of qualifying, MSA Top Methanol stands as follows: 1. Rob Turner 5.89/238.85, 2. Lyndsay Deuchar 6.16/191.16, 3. Doug Bond 6.42/208.54, 4. Wendy Baker 8.31/158.07, 5. Dave Wilson 10.82/69.11
Top Fuel Bike: Ian King 6.67/206.77, Steve Woollatt 6.84/201.05
Ian King's bike just hesitated off the line, a tiny amount of unburnt fuel out of one header, but then the bike hooked up and and was gone, a nice pass. Ian has a repaired cylinder head on the bike and the team looked very happy indeed with the solid pass. Steve Woollatt pulled the usual excellent burnout and then put in a straight pass with no visible problems.
So after two rounds of qualifying, Top Fuel Bike stands as follows: 1. Brian Johnson 6.54/198.69, 2. Ian King 6.67/206.77, 3. Steve Woollatt 6.84/201.05
The first couple of races have taken place between Matthew Mortlock in the Tyrrell F1 car and drag racers. The first was between Matthew and Sportsman ET racer Simon Chalkly, Matthew got there first 9.44/141.03 to Simon's 14.01/100.60. The second race was between Matthew and Tim Adam who had his roadster in Super Comp trim. Matthew had no chance against Tim who hooked up and shot down the track, getting off it at about 900 feet to record 9.36/114.09, whilst Matthew spun the tyres all the way down the track after driving through the burnout box on his way to the start line, the car twitching all the way down the track and recording 12.47/114.09.
We have the BBC's Top Gear team here this weekend, and Steve Berry on a street bike took on Al Cook on his Pro Stock Bike. Steve gave a good account of himself at 11.39/124.66 but Cooky was just too good, clocking 8.32/156.68.
We're now into the final cycle of Sportsman qualifying, and then another cycle of Fuel FC, TMFC Cannonball and MSA Top Methanol. We've also got the first round of the Celebrity Gumball, which is to be contested by eleven celebrities. We'll keep an eye on that too. Stay tuned!
12:30
We've just had a brief but heavy shower here, the track is warm though and is drying very quickly. When it dries, the Formula 1 car will be making its first pass, against Sportsman ET racer Simon Chalky, then we have Fuel FC, TMFC Cannonball and Top Methanol.
Custom Car Street Eliminator is one of the clases of the weekend with seventeen qualified, two in the eights, and six in the nines. Other highlights have been Chris Hannam ripping of a 7.376 on his Funny Bike, Al Golding taking the Pro ET lead from Steve Talbot - who was only 0.003 over his dial-in himself - with a run of 9.151 on a 9.15 dial-in. In 10.90 Bike Lewis Honey took over the lead from Darren Winnard with a 10.900 - taking the lead by one thousandth of a second. In Super Street, the entire field is in the 10.9s.
We were more than an hour ahead of schedule when the rain came, in fact race director Darren Prentice was talking about adding an eighth qualifying session for Sportsman classes. We'll have to see how that pans out after the track dries.
The top qualifiers at present are was follow:
Top Methanol: Rob Turner 5.895/238.85
Super Pro ET: Martyn Jones +0.000 7.680/170.89
Pro ET: Al Golding +0.001 9.151/147.77
Sportsman ET: Bob Main +0.023 13.643/98.16
Super Comp: Brian Pateman 8.917/150.36
Super Gas: Peter Lane 9.906/141.18
Super Street: Bob Doignie 10.901/107.18
Custom Car Street Eliminator: Steve Pateman 8.605/167.46
VW Pro: Scott Evison +0.093 12.783/102.49
VW Sportsman: Martin Ayton +0.021 17.521/76.71
Junior Dragster: Tom Watts 0.511 RT
Top Fuel Bike: Brian Johnson 6.547/198.69
Pro Stock Bike: Dave Beck 7.687/172.96
Funny Bike: Chris Hannam 7.376/176.66
Comp Bike: Dave Hughes 9.301/126.44
Super Street Bike: Tony Clark 8.395/160.09
9.90 Bike: Paul Watson 9.943/135.21
10.90 Bike: Lewis Honey 10.900/119.88
Stay tuned and as soon as qualifying gets going again we'll bring you all the news.
10:35
A great side-by-side pass in Custom Car Street Eliminator qualifying as Steve Pateman clocked 8.60 and Jeff Meads 8.82. The first side-by-side eights in CCSE, congratulations to both racers.
Second-generation 10.90 Bike racer David Warren is very quickly getting the idea, running in the 10.9s on the second day of his first ever race. David is 16;we think he must be one of the youngest, if not the youngest drag bike competitor in Europe, unless any of our readers know different (any takers?).
10:30
Good morning and welcome back from Santa Pod Raceway on a bright, sunny and warm morning. It's day two of the Cannonball and qualifying is already well underway. We had a nice long walk around the pits this morning basking in the sunshine, and here's what we found out.
Super Pro ET racer Martyn Jones wasn't accepting congratulations for his on-dial-in qualifier. "When you put in a perfect run, it's luck!", he said. "But with your experience you must be able to make an educated guess on your dial-in?", I asked. "No, it's mainly luck" he replied.
Team Nemesis had a thrash and a half last night after Dave Wilson hit appalling tyre shake on yesterday's qualifying pass. The output shaft was broken in half which takes some doing. "The engine revved to eleven thousand", said Dave. "We're having to replace rods, pistons, springs, it damaged my camshaft. Thats the best part of 3000 dollars which will make your headache worse!". When we passed the Nemesis pit this morning the engine was still apart but doubtless everything will be back together in time for today's first qualifier at 12:00.
Next door the Krypton team spent yesterday working on lots of little problems but are all set to run today. The latest addition to the infamous pit decoration is a set of lamps made of Budweiser cans. Today is crew chief Paul Stubbings' birthday, a happy birthday to Paul.
The Team Rat Rage pit was jumping last night with a birthday party, this time for Jean, wife of Super Gas racer Peter Lane who is returning to competition this weekend. Jean's birthday celebrations involved a whip and several balloons; Rat Rage drrivers Anne and Stuart Peck will be able to furnish details.
Top Methanol FC racer Lex Joon is racing in this weekend's TMFC invitational. The rear mounting of his new Camaro body has been changed because the downforce was squashing the rear end. The engine also has a new mag drive. "The previous mag drive wasn't what I wanted", said Lex. "We should get into the fives this weekend. We'll see if we can get a handle on it and then go on from there.
In the VW Pro pits, Lee Darby is celebrating after smashing his personal best out of sight with a 10-second pass. His previous best was 11.98. That's quite a spectacular way to bounce back from breaking flywheels at the last three races! Crew Chief Paul Jackson is already trying to persuade Lee to add more boost.
Fellow VW Pro racer Russ Fellowes had a nightmare trip to the track after his twin-spark ignition system broke half way here. He was trailered home, put the old ignition system back in, and then set out for the track again. We also hear that Kev Metcalfe has sold his "Golf Trolley" buggy to Pro ET team Cool Runnings, Laurie Craig is slated to be the driver.
Fuel FC racer Smax Smith had a hairy ride at the Press Day on Tuesday. "All eight were lit off the line, it sounded wicked!", said Smax. "Then an oil lane came off and I had my hands full - I was on full lock five times trying to keep it off the guardrail. I eventually got it stopped sideways. That's a crash, a broken throttle cable, a fire and a near crash on four consecutive runs."
Funny Bike racer Dave Holland is another racer with a thrash on his hands after smashing a piston on the Titanium International-sponsored bike in qualifying yesterday. "I had trouble in the burnout, the engine pulled down and misfired as I went into stage so I pulled back", said Dave. I restarted the bike, didn't do a burnout, when I went into stage the engine misfired again and the piston smashed. I got another piston from the Ken Cooper Spare Piston Benevolent Fund!". "At a price!" added crew member Martin.
Fellow Funny Bike racer Dave Knight is also having problems. "I've got a nitrous problem, the same one I've had all year", he said. "We'll get there in the end!".
Pro Stock Bike racer Martin Bishop's crew were ready and waiting in the pits. "Bishop's late again! Will he race today?" asked his crew chief. Fellow Pro Stock Bike racer Len Paget has his "big" engine in his Hayabusa. "I've made one run and torn it down, made a few mods - we're taking it one pass at a time", he said. "I'm going to make one pass this morning, take out the engine and check it over again, if it's OK then I will run in eliminations. If it's not OK then I won't run". Len is getting factory backing from Suzuki for which he is very grateful.
Funny Bike racer Steve French has tried to out-do his good friend Chris Hall in the "unusual nitrous bottle heater" stakes. As you will remember from Super Series 1, a teddy bear had to sacrifice its filling for Chris Hall's nitrous bottle blanket. Steve has made a new heater from "A filofax and some garden wire".
Top Fuel Dragster racer Barry Sheavills is scheduled to take on the Tyrrell Formula 1 car at 2:30 this afternoon. "I want to kick his butt", said Barry. "As long as I don't do anything embarrassing like go up in smoke or throw a belt!". Barry is after the 300 mph barrier today, and if he makes it he wants to put in another pass tomorrow to back it up.
Mark Hawkins, owner and crew chief of the North Herts Engineering Fuel FC, tells us that he and the team have done mainly routine maintenance on the FC after Allan Bates' guardrail-tagging pass at Super Series 1. "We've put in a new crank, but other than that it's the usual consumables, and some new clutch place. And headers! The first pass today will probably be a half-pass or 1000-foot pass. We put some new tyres on the car for Super Series 1 and we think that they may have caused the handling problems. It's enough to disconcert you if you are sitting in the seat!".
Fuel Funny Car, TMFC Cannonball and Top Methanol qualfying starts at 12:00 so come back at about 1:30 and we'll bring you the news, together with other highlights from qualifying.