2003 SPRC Summernationals
Sunday (eliminations)

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18:15

Today's pictures have now been posted; you can view them via the Event Index page.

That's the end of our coverage of the SPRC Summernationals, an excellent race weekend with a lot to remember.

For all of their help this weekend we would like to thank Race Director Darren Prentice; Chief Marshal Steve Horn; Martin Wallis, Lisa Billinton and John Hackney of Santa Pod's timing crew; Chief Starter Ian Marshall and the start line crew; Chief Fire Marshal Bob Day and the safety crew; track announcers John Price and Graham Beckwith; Dave Alexander; Paula Marshall; Kathy Taylor; Carol Ismail; Lee Child; David Anniwell; Kjell Pettersson; David Lloyd-Jones; Spencer Tramm; Jon Crawford; Pat and Stephen Talbot; Peter Lane; and of course to all of the racers for giving us quotes and action to write about and photograph.

Eurodragster's next Event Coverage will be from the Allstar Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway in August although we will be helping out our buddies at Svensk Dragracing with their coverage of the Veidec Nitro Festival at Mantorp Park on 24th-27th July - if they need that kind of hindrance. Our next Event Coverage from Santa Pod Raceway will be from the pre-FIA European Finals Test Day at the end of August.

Eurodragster's Event Coverage is brought to you in association with American Car Imports.

17:15

Congratulations to Neil Midgley who reset his own recently-set record in Funny Bike with a 6.831 in the final.

Here are the final results in all classes:

MSA Top Methanol: Dave Wilson 5.684/248.90 def. Rob Turner 5.687/244.75
Super Modified: Danny Cockerill 7.552/184.62 def. Steve Rawlings 8.075/167.78
Super Pro ET: Mark Flavell (7.82) 7.857/173.25 def. Ian Bishop (7.95) 7.924/163.19 breakout
Pro ET: Lee Huxley (10.92) 10.916/115.62 def. Rick McCann (10.76) 10.736/130.02 lesser breakout
Sportsman ET: Kev Slyfield (12.06) 12.076/116.14 def. Nick South (14.10) 14.119/98.85
Super Comp: Malcolm Francis 8.942/148.54 def. Brian Pateman 8.998/153.52
Super Gas: Tim Adam 9.880/147.61 def. Frank Mason 9.825/141.78 lesser breakout
Super Street: Conrad Stanley 10.859/134.43 def. Dave Cherrett 10.799/101.74 lesser breakout
Junior Dragster: Tom Watts (11.00) 10.992/57.29 def. Nick Mugridge (8.90) 8.877/68.63 lesser breakout
Custom Car Street Eliminator: Steve Pateman 8.688/169.73 def. Jon Webster 8.911/168.42
VW Pro: Russ Fellows (11.50) 11.752/98.42 def. Paul Woodhead (11.19) 13.366/72.91
VW Sportsman: Rob Bowler (13.00) 12.924/90.44 def. Dan Buzzo (19.00) 18.858/69.69 lesser breakout
VW Alternate Engine: Matt Attwood (13.90) 14.219/94.52 def. Gin Marone (14.00) 14.087/95.79

Pro Stock Bike: Richard Gipp 7.565/174.81 def. Martin Bishop 7.746/171.76
Funny Bike: Neil Midgley 6.831/189.83 def. Mike Chislett 7.430/182.73
Comp Bike: Klaus Sarembe 8.071/162.91 def. Phil Leamon 8.359/159.21
Super Street Bike: Tony Clark 8.819/171.15 def. Steve Venables 9.844/162.94
9.90 Bike: Steve Coombs 9.915/133.81 def. Fred Furlong 9.871/133.16 breakout
10.90 Bike: Andy Burfitt 11.134/100.10 def. Richard Beck 11.144/133.02
Supertwin Fuel: Dave Witts 10.096/137.83 def. Chris Stebbings 13.660/54.33
Supertwin Gas: George Laycock 9.666/136.81 def. Andy Smith 10.362/124.16
Supertwin Modified: Simon Hodgson 9.801/144.87 def. TJ O'Brien 10.825/126.43
Supertwin Street: Mark Earrey 10.080/134.84 def. Dave Jones 13.519/60.35

Stay tuned as we are now working on today's pictures.

16:15

Sportsman ET round 3 winners: Kev Slyfield 12.111/108.05 (def. George Greves), Nick South 14.118/98.63 (def. Al Platt)

Junior Dragster round 3 winners: Nick Mugridge 8.896/72.16 (def. Ricky Emms), Tom Watts 11.008/57.97 (def. Ross Norris)

Pro ET round 4 winners: Lee Huxley 10.959/120.12 (def. Dave Ward), Rick McCann 10.789/129.01 bye

9.90 Bike round 4 winners: Fred Furlong 9.952/130.48 (def. Paul Stewart), Steve Coombs 9.899/135.74 bye

10.90 Bike round 3 winners: Richard Beck 11.017/114.87 (def. Dave Burfitt), Andy Burfitt 10.789/125.14 bye

Supertwin Gas round 2 winners: George Laycock 9.705/133.34 bye, Andy Smoth 10.185/125.28 (def. Ric Naylor)

Supertwin Street round 3 winners: Mark Earrey 10.117/134.21 (def. Ian Radanke), Dave Jones 11.618/109.44 bye

Super Street round 3 winners: Dave Cherrett 10.907/99.75 (def. Bob Doignie), Conrad Stanley 10.894/134.17 (def. Bob Lees)

Super Comp round 3 winners: Brian Pateman 8.952/153.95 bye, Malcolm Francis 9.002/140.45 (def. Tim Adam)

15:40

Funny Bike round 2: Neil Midgley 6.877/189.96 def. Dave Holland 7.225/176.45, Mike Chislett 7.546/170.58 (Steve French no show). Neil Midgley backs up yesterdays's 6.877 with a 6.877 for an ACU record, subject to ratification.

Custom Car Street Eliminator round 3: Steve Pateman 8.689/169.23 def. Andy Frost 8.945/159.03, Jon Webster 8.759/167.76

Comp Bike round 2: Phil Leamon 8.533/156.83 def. Jerry Collier 10.863/74.42, Klaus Sarembe staged (bye)

Pro Stock Bike round 2: Richard Gipp 7.609/174.11 bye, Martin Bishop 7.774/173.99 def. Paul Watson 8.760/132.16

Super Comp round 2 winners: Tim Adam 8.924/138.57 (def. Martin Curbishley), Brian Pateman 9.141/142.52 (def. Sarah Day), Malcolm Francis 9.169/147.07 bye

Super Street Bike round 3: Steve Venables 8.536/170.48 def. Dave Bailey 8.701/162.81, Tony Clark 8.622/165.56 def. Rachel Pattison 9.941/141.45

VW Pro round 3 winners: Paul Woodhead 11.291/100.79 (def. Justin Aldred), Russ Fellows 12.086/113.69 bye

VW Sportsman round 3 winners: Rob Bowler staged (bye), Dan Buzzo 19.230/68.47 (def. Simon Cooper)

Super Gas round 3 winners: Frank Mason 9.944/139.98 bye, Tim Adam 9.930/146.99 (def. Martin Curbishley)

15:15

9.90 Bike round 3 winners: Fred Furlong 10.099/132.15 (def. Paul Valentine), Steve Coombs 9.924/133.74 (def. Martin Walker), Paul Stewart 10.025/143.27 bye

10.90 Bike round 2 winners: Richard Beck 11.332/130.77 bye, Andy Burfitt 11.137/101.64 (def. Steve Knapp), Dave Burfitt 10.986/123.86 (def. Ilse Lambert)

Super Modified round 2: Steve Rawlings 8.091/167.43 bye, Danny Cockerill 7.610/183.71 def. Graham Ellis 7.510/184.26. Danny strapped a huge holeshot on Graham, Graham's quickest and fastest-ever Super Mod pass was of no avail.

Supertwin Street round 2 winners: Mark Earrey 10.267/133.75 (def. Chris Mott), Dave Jones 11.116/120.63 (def. Brian Udall), Ian Radanke 11.141/127.95 (def. Peter Harrison)

VW Sportsman round 3 winners: Simon Cooper 13.436/92.78 (def. Ed Kellas), Dan Buzzo 19.058/68.43 (def. Christos Kouzaris, Rob Bowler 13.129/88.45 (def. Simon Longman)

Pro ET round 3 winners: Dave Ward 10.517/117.56 (def. Malcolm Motler), Lee Huxley 10.954/119.25 (def. Steve Wells), Rick McCann 10.704/128.74 (def. Jon Evans)

Super Pro ET round 3 winners: Mark Flavell 7.867/173.43 (def. Ian Tubb), Ian Bishop 8.020/158.60 (def. Trev Capewell)

VW Alternate Engine round 1 winners: Gin Marrone 14.506/94.47 (def. Andy Raw), Matt Attwood 14.149/98.32 (def. Ian Sewell)

14:45

MSA Top Methanol final: Dave Wilson 5.684/248.90 def. Rob Turner 5.687/244.75. Less than two hundredths difference off the start line and 0.020 between the cars at the finish line, superb runs from both cars. Dave Wilson takes the lead in the MSA Championship.

Super Street round 2 winners: Bob Lees 10.929/127.85 (bye), Bob Doignie 11.253/90.27 (def. Mark Watkins), Conrad Stanley 10.934/134.26 (def. Mark O'Halloran), Dave Cherrett 10.973/97.70 (def. Brian Huxley)

VW Pro Round 2 winners: Paul Woodhead 11.829/94.09 (def. Paul Bate), Justin Aldred 12.750/104.09 (bye), Russ Fellows 11.755/108.53 (def. Jason Aldred)

Sportsman ET round 2 winners: Kev Slyfield 12.145/105.60 (def. Nick Griffin), George Greves 13.844/98.87 bye, Al Platt 13.033/107.29 (def. Richard Hillier), Nick South 14.153/98.46 (def. Ian Turnbull)

Junior Dragster round 2 winners: Ricky Emms 7.904/79.40 (def. Colin Morrice), Nick Mugridge 8.945/71.83 (def. Joe Bond), Tom Watts 11.090/58.14 (def. Holley Glassup), Ross Norris 14.978/41.00 bye

Super Gas round 2 winners: Tim Adam 10.033/127.19 (def. Dave Day), Martin Curbishley 9.925/131.24 (def. Pete Creswell), Frank Mason 9.959/135.64 (def. Conrad Stanley)

14:30

Pro ET round 2 winners: Dave Ward 10.453/125.04, Malcolm Motler 11.026/118.97, Lee Huxley 10.932/114.84, Steve Wells 10.072/129.40, Rick McCann 10.719/119.30, Jon Evans 10.081/125.03

VW Sportsman round two winners: Simon Cooper 13.271/105.46, Rob Bowler 13.089/87.76, Christos Kouzaris 17.341/73.89, Simon Longman 16.294/72.85, Dan Buzzo 19.132/68.05, Ed Kellas 16.621/80.08

Super Pro ET round two winners: Mark Flavell 7.850/192.96, Ian Tubb 8.702/119.82, Trev Capewell 8.156/159.82, Ian Bishop 8.099/146.39

Supertwin Gas round 1: George Laycock 9.781/133.08 def. Don Irvine 11.818/117.37, Andy Smith 10.456/122.01 def. Barrie Gregory 11.740/102.87, Ric Naylor 10.657/122.78 def. Nick Daniels NTR

Supertwin Modified round 1: Simon Hodgson 10.105/138.27 def. Les Harris 10.270/130.93, TJ O'Brien 9.861/139.06 def. Dave Bartz 10.209/139.32

Super Street Bike round 2: Rachel Pattison 9.092/149.62 (Paul Wing no show), Steve Venables 8.656/168.84 def. Pete Bellenie 8.840/163.81, Dave Bailey 8.454/168.83 def. Matt Nixon 8.557/156.52, Tony Clark 8.340/170.67 def. Grant Perrin 9.155/158.67

Custom Car Street Eliminator round 2: Jon Webster 8.881/166.59 def. Ron Haslett 12.806/104.97, Andy Frost 8.887.158.26 def. Allen Curtis 10.478/131.28, Steve Pateman 8.664/171.23 def. Al Simms 9.490/143.50

13:50

Super Gas round one winners: Conrad Stanley 9.977/129.90 (def. Ashley Bell), Tim Adam 9.908/136.89 (def. Peter Lane), Dave Day 9.850/146.15 bye, Martin Curbishley 10.058/130.64 (def. John Everitt), Pete Creswell 9.950/143.97 (def. Will Furniss), Frank Mason 9.948/135.01 (def. Malcolm Francis)

Ritchi Smith came out to run in his new Super Gasser, the ex-Northern Hustler, a very nice-looking car indeed. The car appeared to suffer a small engine fire on starting, but quick thinking by both Ritchi and the start line fire crew had extinguishers on the case in moments. Ashley Bell has also débuted his ex-Mingay Monza this weekend carrying the colours of sponsor Gleeson Wright Security.

Sportsman ET round one winners: Richard Hillier (def. Craig Wright), Al Platt bye, Kev Slyfield (def. Rick Denny), George Greves (def. Paul Bishop), Ian Turnbull (def. Jon Turner), Nick Griffin (def. Mark Anderson), Nick South (def. Nick Gay)

VW Pro round one winners: Russ Fellows 11.662/103.12 (def. Scotty Evison), Jason Aldred 12.463/106.67 (def. Ian Dale), Paul Woodhead 11.316/117.57 (Paul Jackson no show), Justin Aldred 13.008/103.92 (def. Neil Davies), Paul Bate 120.65/108.37 bye

Super Modified round 1: Graham Ellis 7.553/183.50 def. Andy Hone 7.996/166.11, Steve Rawlings 8.012/168.58 def. Paul Brooks 10.281/142.31, Danny Cockerill 7.701/180.37 bye. Nice work by Graham Ellis, the quickest and fastest-ever Super Mod run under any set of rules.

Junior Dragster round one winners: Holley Glassup 8.582/75.67, Joe Bond 9.284/63.21, Ricky Emms 7.927/79.35, Tom Watts 11.081/58.78, Nick Mugridge 9.364/51.96, Ross Norris 15.693/36.76, Colin Morrice 9.199/69.41

Supertwin Fuel round one: Dave Witts 10.396/105.36 def. Ian Turburville broke, Chris Stebbings 9.632/130.05 (John Williamson no show)

9.90 Bike round two winners: Paul Stewart 9.961/132.41 (def. Paul Hambidge), Steve Coombs 10.049/126.37 (def. Lee Baxter), Paul Valentine 10.075/136.26 (def. Stuart Crane), Martin Walker 11.072/121.59 (def. Julian Harris), Fred Furlong 9.850/130.81 (def. Steve Ashby)

Pro Stock Bike round 1: Richard Gipp 7.630/171.44 def. Len Paget 9.945/131.44, Martin Bishop 7.758/171.11 def. Ray Debben 8.452/158.53, Paul Watson 8.240/164.58 def. Martin Newbury 8.048/169.54

Comp Bike round 1: Jerry Collier 8.445/156.07 def. Paul Newman 8.843/153.46, Phil Leamon 8.561/155.13 def. Vaughan Foster 9.427/141.72, Klaus Sarembe 8.615/156.04 def. Sandra Chaplain 11.349/131.49

Funny Bike round 1: Steve French 7.546/158.66 def. Tim Blakemore 8.171/149.83, Dave Holland 7.311/174.07 def. Stu Chamberlain 7.539/173.26, Neil Midgley 7.014/182.26 def. Sarah Jane Head 8.172/142.68, Mike Chislett 7.884/163.59 def. Paul Knapp 8.286/156.42

Right now it's 22.8 C on the start line, 33% humidity, 29.80 inches of air. Come back soon for more of today's action.

12:30

Winners in round one of 10.90 Bike were: Steve Knapp 10.933/118.44 (def. Phil Pratt), Dave Burfitt 11.913/122.16 bye, Richard Beck 11.040/109.10 (def. John Hackney), Andy Burfitt 11.066/118.15 (def. Paul Coombs), Ilse Lambert 11.073/117.92 (def. Shaun Spiers)

Winners in round one of Supertwin Street were: Mark Earrey 10.169/133.57 bye, Ian Radanke 11.200/128.99 (def. Alec Widden), Chris Mott 11.178/119.80 (def. Richard Cawthorn), Dave Jones 11.153/122.68 (def. Ian Tomsett), Brian Udall 11.901/113.70 (Tom Boutle broke), Pete Harrison 12.361/108.31 (def. Alan Murray)

Round one winners in Custom Car Street Eliminator were: Ron Haslett 13.116/104.20 (def. Tony Russell), Jon Webster 8.927/166.94 (def. Moose Hollingworth), Allen Curtis 9.932/139.23 (def. Phil Toppin), Al Simms 9.441/143.76 (def. Jerry Charles), Andy Frost 8.929/162.96 (def. Mark Bracking), Steve Pateman 8.549/169.92 bye

11:40

Congratulations to Pro ET racer Gino Bernadine who has won �75 of Eurodragster's money with a 0.500 reaction time in the first round of eliminations. Gino won his race, too!

In round one of MSA Top Methanol, Rob Turner ran a storming 5.586/238.84 bye, which Dave Wilson answered with a 5.636/245.45. Rob's qualifying pass of 5.613 yesterday backs up this run so Rob has a new Championship record right now.

Winners in round one of Super Street Bike were Grant Perrin 9.278/155.38 (def. Ivan Birch), Rachel Pattison 9.051/149.67 (def. Jamie Sneddon), Paul Wing (Karl Larcombe broke), Dave Bailey 8.421/168.71 (def. Adam Lancaster), Pete Bellenie 8.641/166.48 (def. Tony Roberts), Steve Venables 8.600/167.83 (def. Chris Reed), Tony Clark 8.404/173.64 (def. Kev Charman), Matt Nixon staged.

Right now we're on a hold for oil. Stay tuned and we'll be back with more news as soon as we get going again.

11:00

The final round of Super Modified qualifying was contested by all five cars and went as follows. Graham Ellis 10.439/90.13, Steve Rawlings 7.960/169.51, Andy Hone 7.576/NSR, Danny Cockerill 7.704/179.60, Paul Brooks 10.295/141.96. Congratulations to Steve Rawlings on his first seven; Andy Hone's finish line timer was tripped by litter or other debris.

Stay tuned and we'll bring you more action from today's eliminations.

10:00

Good morning and welcome from Santa Pod Raceway. It's a beautiful summer morning and we're here to bring you the action in association with American Car Imports.

The Webster Race Engineering/MPM Oil webcam is on-line and broadcasting a shot every two minutes.

We have a few of the traditional raceday greetings before we get going. First up is a big Happy Birthday to Kim Reymond's mother Annelise who is 80 this weekend, Happy Birthday also to Kim's son who is 20 today. We hope that you are having a great weekend. A big Hello to Ed O'Connell and Kathy Hileman, our US correspondents who are hopefully enjoying the same sort of weather as we have this morning. Hello also to Andy Marrs of SPR's timing crew who is under the thumb at home spending time with his family today, and so is not here to be told that as of today he has been inducted as an honorary Eurodragster Staff Member together with SPR's Chief Marshal Steve Horn. Finally a big hello to Super Street Bike racer Graham Dance who is also tuned in from home. Stay tuned, G, as we have some big news in a few paragraphs' time.

If our readers would like to join today's tribute to Super Gas racer Rob Long, a minute's silence is to be held at 11:55.

Let's take you through what we found out in the pits last night and again this morning.

One of the shocks of the weekend is that Super Street Bike #2 qualifier Karl Larcombe is out. The Krazy Kat bike pushed a gasket, the head has a crack and a head stud has stripped. As we were talking to Bob of the Krazy Kat team, #1 qualifier Matt Nixon passed us on his pit bike with a huge grin on his face and kicking his legs in the air, which we think we can understand.

Funny Bike #1 qualifier Neil Midgley told us that his 6.8-second pass came from a tiny bit more nitrous. "A tiny bit - not a lot!", he stressed. "We have a whole box full of jets yet!", added team member H. "The computer says that the bike will go quicker but I don't think I'll do that today", said Neil. Pro Stock Bike racer Chris Hope was with Neil and told us that he finished building his motor last night and had brought it to the track to put into Richard Gipp's van for the trip to Finland. "We're leaving on Tuesday", said Chris.

Top Methanol FC racer Steph Milam is finished for the weekend. The She Devil TMFC has damaged two valves. "We almost dropped one valve and lost a seat in the other", said Steph. "I ran a personal best and that happened!". Steph said that the FC was really moving towards the top end on yesterday's pass and puts it down to a new clutch setting. "We rang America and took advice", she said. "I didn't lift quickly enough at the finish line and when the chutes came out my head really went forward!".

Top Methanol number one qualifier Dave Wilson said that his qualifying pass yesterday in the American Car Imports dragster was as smooth and easy as it looked. "There was a little shake so I shifted early", he said, "but without a computer I don't know where that was! There is no damage, everything is clean and dry". Dave has a bye this morning as does Rob Turner now that Steph Milam is out. It will be interesting to see if there are any tactics in the first round.

Super Modified racer Andy Hone and his crew chief Mick found the source of what they described as "The popping and banging" from the Gleeson Wright Security-backed Scorpio. "We found some speckle on the spark plugs", said Mick. "It's amazing how much difference it makes when you clean the spark plugs". "It's been running too fat", said Andy, "we think we have been giving it too much fuel".

Fellow Super Mod racer Steve Rawlings was ecstatic after wiping out his personal best more than once yesterday. "I had Rob Loaring and Nick Davies with me at the last race, and we started out by trying to duplicate the runs we made when they were with us", said Steve. "It was then a continuation of the development work we were doing. It's very fat at the moment, we haven't started to take fuel out yet. The only problem is that is was this event last year when I did the engine, so we were a bit worried yesterday morning! It was a very enjoyable day though!"

Paul Brooks is probably the most grateful man on the facility this weekend since the Super Mod racers have been allocated one more qualifying session this morning. Paul spent yesterday trying to trace the source of an oil pressure problem. "When I ran at Shakespeare County Raceway, the oil pressure dropped after I shut off", he said. "I turned it over at home, the oil pressure was fine. I started it up and there was no pressure. We went through it, bled it, nothing worked. Eventually yesterday we pulled the sump and we found a paper towel in there. We took it out and now the oil pressure is fine!"

In the Super Modified pits we met Terry Gibbs, erstwhile organiser of the Super Series events at Shakespeare County Raceway. You may know that Terry had major surgery some while back but he is just about recovered now, and was even talking about returning to the driving seat of the family's Obsession Camaro which is currently at Jon Hogarth's shop being prepared for Super Mod. "The chassis is being painted, the body is ready to mount, the engine will be ready next week", said Terry. "I don't know if we will be out racing this year, if the car is ready before the European Finals then we may run Super Pro ET there and Super Mod at the National Finals."

Super Street racer Pete Thompson told us yesterday that he actually drives his yellow Capri on the street. "I haven't actually taken the exhausts off it yet!", he said at the time. We further understand that the car actually has a stereo system on board, since Pete treated his colleagues to a blast of Wham yesterday. We weren't actually there so we had to rely on a mole for this information, but your secret is safe with us Angie.

Custom Car Street Eliminator racer Andy Frost asked us to say congratulations to crew member Steve Potter who became a grandfather yesterday ."At his young age!", said Andy. If you were tuned in yesterday you will recall that Andy has a new nitrous system on board the Red Victor Vauxhall; he told us that this morning he is applying the proverbial big stick to the second stage.

Eliminations are now underway, stay tuned and we will start to bring you the news from Santa Pod.