Summernationals
Saturday (qualifying)
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21:00 - Final qualifying standings
The final qualifying cycle was very enjoyable indeed and saw a lot of class leads changing hands. We went single lane for a while after Super Street racer Bob Lees' rear axle broke off the line, dumping all manner of nastiness over the track. The track crew beavered away and got the lane cleaned in time for the last few classes to run dual-lane. Earlier on the usually ultra-reliable S & K Racing Super Pro dragster dropped engine parts and oil at the top end, Chris Bradley and the team have already gone home. Jon Rathbone has damaged the gearbox of his VW Pro Beetle and is finished for the weekend.
There were a lot of highlights in the last session, let's take you through some of them. In Super Pro ET, Andy Robinson dialled in another 6.5 in his Pro Mod and then put in a stunning, straight 6.64/202.47. The car left the line as if it had been shot from a gun, 1.053 sixty-foot time and 168.72 at half-track.
Jon Hogarth was back into the sevens in his Super Mod 'Vette with a 7.92/169.06, Rob Smallworth was next into the sevens with a 7.90/174.68. In CCSE, John Ricketts clocked a personal best of 9.75 whilst John Hales started to turn the wick up at his first race with a 10.33.
On two wheels, Brad O'Connor ran an 8.699/158.36 on his Super Street Bike, we think that is a PB for Brad in Super Street Bike. Jerry Collier found the low eight-second form again on the two-stroke Comp Bike with a fine 8.31/159.73. Helen Curran went deeper into the eights with a 7.83/164.28, and Cooky repeated his seven-second form at 7.92. Star of this last session of PSB was however Chris Hope, who has had a lot of problems today but put them behind him with a 7.53 to take the top spot away from Nick Pepper. Funny Bike racer Stu Chamberlain clocked a huge 181 mph on the Predator Funny Bike, a quick look at today's sheets suggests that Stu is the second fastest racer on the facility today behind Andy Robinson.
Jamie Millership clocked a great 8.024/162.76 on the Southern Rock 2 Supertwin Fuel Bike, his crew jumping high in the air when the time and speed came up on the gantry. A different track makes no difference to Supertwin Gas, still a Jade Racing benefit with Ric Davies going even quicker in this session and Sefton Whitlock taking second place.
Martin Hill closed the day out with a 6.01/263.03 in the Fireforce 2 Jet FC.
The top two qualifiers at the end of qualifying are as follow:
Super Modified: 1. Danny Cockerill 7.703/177.37, 2. Rob Smallworth 7.900/174.68
Super Pro ET: 1. Martyn Jones +0.008 7.638/172.78, 2. Steve Johnson +0.015 7.555/175.12
Pro ET: 1. Marius Blackburn +0.001 9.801/135.84, 2. Bob Doyle +0.002 11.002/127.25
Sportsman ET: 1. Nick Griffin +0.001 12.861/106.27, 2. Mark Anderson +0.004 13.754/100.98
Super Comp: 1. Martin Curbishley 8.920/148.32, 2. Zane Llewellyn 8.923/150.57
Super Gas: 1. Dave Townsend 9.949/140.19, 2. Paul Hudson 9.966/135.76
Super Street: 1. Dave Cherrett 10.909/103.19, 2. Mike Bentley 10.931/133.39
Junior Dragster: 1. Adam Gleadow 0.504, 2. Ricky Emms 0.524
Custom Car Street Eliminator: 1. Steve Pateman 8.693/168.02, 2. John Sleath 8.934/160.14
VW Pro: 1. Russ Fellows +0.236 11.386/104.73, 2. Scotty Evison +0.262 12.262/107.04
VW Sportsman: 1. Stuart Hinds +0.014 16.334/81.51, 2. Martin Ayton +0.023 17.023/78.92
Funny Bike: 1. Mike Chislett 7.398/175.36, 2. Tim Blakemore 7.415/171.04
Pro Stock Bike: 1. Chris Hope 7.530/175.73, 2. Nick Pepper 7.600/174.18
Comp Bike: 1. Klaus Brinkmann 7.961/159.36, 2. Jerry Collier 8.311/159.73
Super Street Bike: 1. Tony Clark 8.273/174.96, 2. Karl Larcombe 8.499/166.61
9.90 Bike: 1. Paul Hambidge 9.907/136.31, 2. Jamie Sneddon 9.919/115.04
10.90 Bike: 1. Sandra Chaplain 10.919/125.24, 2. Martin Walker 10.928/123.34
Supertwin Fuel: Jamie Millership 8.024/162.76
Supertwin Gas: 1. Ric Davies 9.781/131.44, 2. Sefton Whitlock 10.065/127.78
Supertwin Modified: 1. Dave Bartz 10.046/136.08, 2. TJ O'Brien 10.539/127.13
Supertwin Street: 1. Les Harris 10.966/124.36, 2. Mark Earrey 11.007/128.79
Today's pictures have been posted, you can get to them from the event coverage index.
That's all for today, tune back tomorrow for more news from the SPRC Summernationals.
18:45 - Top qualifiers after third session
The third cycle of qualifying was fast and frenetic as you'd expect. One of the highlights was Mike Chislett blowing away his personal best and consolidating his Funny Bike lead at 7.39, of the eight bikes in FB seven are in the sevens. Another Pro Stock Bike racer into the sevens in this session, Al Cook with a nice straight pass and a 7.88. Seven seconds must be the target today since Klaus Brinkmann also achieved the feat, clocking 7.96 to consolidate his lead in Comp Bike. Klaus has half a second on the rest of the Comp Bike field right now. Dave Bartz is also consolidating his lead in Supertwin Modified with a 10.18.
In Super Modified Steve Rawlings has unfortunately rodded his engine - even the permanently-cheerful Steve may have trouble smiling about that one. The top three of nine qualifiers are in the sevens, Rob Smallworth and Graham Ellis joining Danny Cockerill.
In Super Pro, Dennis Wratten put in a 900 foot or so pass of 8.445/162.05 in the TMFC, a nice clean pass. We understand that Dennis will continue to run in the Super Pro sessions tomorrow. Andy Robinson was pushed back twice in his Pro Mod, the crew thinking it didn't sound right. Doug Ripley's popular blown-alcohol altered appeared in this session, putting in an 8.33 on what looked a very easy pass.
We've had a couple of new cars put in appearances this afternoon, Nick Kemp's pick-up in Super Pro and France's Chris Mazure in a very nice-looking Buick which is destined for Super Gas although Chris is running to the Super Street index today.
Martin Hill's first run today netted him a 6.09/257.94 in the Fireforce 2 Jet FC.
Let's take you through the #1 qualifiers after the third cycle of qualifying.
Super Pro ET (own dial-in): Steve Johnson +0.015 7.555/175.12
Pro ET (own dial-in): Bob Doyle +0.002 11.002/127.25
Sportsman ET (own dial-in): Nick Griffin +0.002 12.802/106.57
Super Comp (8.90): Zane Llewellyn 8.949/150.18
Super Gas (9.90): Paul Hudson 9.966/135.76
Super Street (10.90): Dave Cherrett 10.909/103.19
Junior Dragster (reaction time): Adam Gleadow 0.504
Super Modified: Danny Cockerill 7.703/177.37
Custom Car Street Eliminator: Steve Pateman 8.693/168.02
VW Pro (own dial-in): Russ Fellows +0.236 11.386/104.73
VW Sportsman (own dial-in): Martin Ayton +0.023 17.023/78.92
Funny Bike: Mike Chislett 7.398/175.36
Pro Stock Bike: Nick Pepper 7.600/174.18
Comp Bike: Klaus Brinkmann 7.961/159.36
Super Street Bike: Tony Clark 8.273/174.96
9.90 Bike: Paul Hambidge 9.907/136.31
10.90 Bike: Martin Walker 10.928/123.24
Supertwin Fuel: Jamie Millership 9.718/105.07
Supertwin Gas: Ric Davies 9.907/129.56
Supertwin Modified: Dave Bartz 10.188/130.90
Supertwin Street: Les Harris 10.966/124.36
The final qualifying cycle is now underway and some of the leads have changed again, so stay tuned and we'll bring you the news very soon.
15:45 - Top qualifiers after second session
Dennis Wratten put in his first pass in the TMFC in this session of Super Pro ET. As he promised the burnout was gentle, but the launch was far from that as the front end of the car leapt in the air, the body hitting the track when the car came down. Every time that Dennis hit the throttle the car jumped, eventually he got off it and idled through. Also in Super Pro ET Andy Robinson had trouble off the start line too, wicked tyre shake and the Studebaker Pro Mod drifting left. He had posted a 6.55 dial-in this time but it was not to be.
In Super Mod, the qualifying stepped right up in this session with the bottom qualifying spot now a very creditable 8.50 by Nigel Payne and Danny Cockerill out in the lead at 7.70. Tim Garlick has twice left before the lights ran, and Jon Hogarth broke on the burnout, so when that is sorted out we should have nine cars qualified. Paula Marshall went straight into the 8.4s on her return to the track, it's as if she was never away.
Congratulations to Allen Curtis who ran his first nine-second pass in CCSE with a 9.89/138.47. If you're going from the tens to the nines why bother with 9.9s was obviously Allen's view and we must say we agree with him. Jon Webster is also into the nines with his new Mustang with a 9.98 and a 9.94 in the second session.
Congratulations also to Helen Curran who has gone into the sevens in Pro Stock Bike with a 7.940/160.86.
A number of the class leads have changed hands and several of those which haven't have improved upon themselves, so let's take you through the top qualifiers after the second cycle.
Super Pro ET (own dial-in): Steve Johnson +0.015 7.555/175.12
Pro ET (own dial-in): Bob Doyle +0.002 11.002/127.25
Sportsman ET (own dial-in): Nick Griffin +0.002 12.802/106.57
Super Comp (8.90): Zane Llewellyn 8.949/150.18
Super Gas (9.90): Paul Hudson 9.966/135.76
Super Street (10.90): Dave Cherrett 10.909/103.19
Junior Dragster (reaction time): Adam Gleadow 0.504
Super Modified: Danny Cockerill 7.703/177.37
Custom Car Street Eliminator: Steve Pateman 8.693/168.02
VW Pro (own dial-in): Russ Fellows +0.236 11.386/104.73
VW Sportsman (own dial-in): Stuart Hinds +0.727 16.328/81.71
Funny Bike: Mike Chislett 7.503/175.74
Pro Stock Bike: Nick Pepper 7.600/174.18
Comp Bike: Klaus Brinkmann 8.042/158.58
Super Street Bike: Tony Clark 8.273/174.96
9.90 Bike: Jamie Sneddon 9.941/117.72
10.90 Bike: Steve Coombs 10.948/122.18
Supertwin Gas: Ric Davies 9.907/129.56
Supertwin Modified: Dave Bartz 10.396/135.23
Supertwin Street: Les Harris 10.966/124.36
We're now into cycle three - stay tuned!
12:45 - Top qualifiers after first session
Super Pro ET (own dial-in): Ian Bishop +0.018 7.918/167.12
Pro ET (own dial-in): Robin Shone +0.069 9.809/137.36
Sportsman ET (own dial-in): Nick Griffin +0.002 12.802/106.57
Super Comp (8.90): Martin Curbishley 9.042/146.68
Super Gas (9.90): Dave Day 10.022/145.73
Super Street (10.90): Dave Cherrett 10.909/103.19
Junior Dragster (reaction time): Ricky Emms 0.524
Super Modified: Danny Cockerill 7.703/177.37
Custom Car Street Eliminator: Steve Pateman 8.693/168.02
VW Pro (own dial-in): Russ Fellows +0.739 11.889/114.53
VW Sportsman (own dial-in): Neil Robinson +0.757 15.743/81.69
Funny Bike: Mike Chislett 7.503/175.74
Pro Stock Bike: Nick Pepper 7.706/171.61
Comp Bike: Klaus Brinkmann 8.360/125.13
Super Street Bike: Tony Clark 8.273/174.96
9.90 Bike: Jamie Sneddon 9.941/117.72
10.90 Bike: Steve Coombs 10.948/122.18
Supertwin Gas: Ric Davies 9.933/124.69
Supertwin Modified: Dave Bartz 10.396/135.23
Supertwin Street: Mark Earrey 11.131/126.60
We had a lot of breakouts in this first session as racers get used to the conditions, also a lot of tyre shake in Super Modified. Funny Bike saw a lot of aborted runs, whilst in Comp Bike Klaus Brinkmann's run would have been a lot quicker save that he got very close to the centre line and got off it at about 1100 feet. In Custom Car Street Eliminator we had a great paired burnout between Andys Frost and Oliver, it was just like Pro Mod! On that subject, Andy Robinson clocked 7.024/204.21 on a 6.49 dial-in on his first qualifying pass, Andy appeared to be off the throttle and have the chute out a little early.
10:45
Good morning and welcome from Santa Pod Raceway on day one of the Summernationals. It's a nice day, the track looks just great, the pits are heaving, and we're to bring you the news in association with American Car Imports.
We had a very quick walk around the pits this morning, there were a lot of very busy racers and feverish activity up at scrutineering. We were running a bit late so we only caught up with a few racers this morning but we'll remedy that tonight.
Making a very welcome return to Custom Car Street Eliminator is Colin Lazenby, whose rebuilt Chevy looks very nice indeed. "It's taken me two years to rebuild the car", said Colin. "I convinced myself that the car wasn't competitive. It's an all-new chassis with a Williams back end - I like to have something no-one else has got!".
Malcolm Motler, the latest recipient of our occasional Eurodragster.com Misquoted Racer award, told us that he enjoyed his close race against Brian Huxley at the Mid-Summer Nationals. "I really enjoyed it!", he said. "It was the closest race I've ever had. I was in front at 1000 feet but Brian won by six thousandths. So I'm going to get an extended front bumper!".
Another team making a welcome return to the track is the that of the Wratten family whose Top Methanol Funny car is running in Super Pro ET this weekend to get Dennis Wratten some more seat time. Tuner Charlie Draper told us that the team had a bit of a nightmare finding replacements for the lifters which were damaged on their last outing. "Lee Child found a set in California", he said. Dennis told us that he won't be repeating the huge burnout which he pulled last time out. "That was Charlie's fault", he said. "He wanted to see any problems in the burnout! You always get teething troubles, we would have preferred a cheaper one though! This weekend I've got to get used to the clutch...but I'm not looking forward to tyre shake."
Also in Super Pro ET, Steve Johnson is back after reparing engine damage at the Main Event. It turned out that the damage was worse than first thought, the block has been relined and Steve is taking it easy this weekend, running without Nitrous. Steve is reportedly gutted at not being able to run the gas because he was looking forward to going up against Andy Robinson who is running his Pro Mod in Super Pro.
Super Street Bike racer Karl Larcombe is looking for low eights this weekend after an unusual discovery by his crew. "Roger found parts of Steve Venables' engine in the turbo", he said.
The Wildside Inc Top Fuel Dragster is here, although not to run. The car is more or less bare and the team are putting it together under the cameras of a TV crew.
Qualifying is now well underway, stay tuned and we'll bring you the latest news very soon.