2003 UK National Finals
Sunday (eliminations)
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21:00
Today's pictures are now posted; you can view them via the Event Index page.
That's the end of our coverage of the UK National Finals, and our last intensive Event Coverage of the season. The remaining two events on our 2003 coverage schedule will consist of Webster Race Engineering/MPM Oil webcam, end-day Photo Galleries, and results at the end of the event.
For all of their help this weekend we would like to thank Race Director Darren Prentice; Chief Marshal Steve Horn; Lisa Billinton, John Hackney and Martin Wallis 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; Lee Child; Roger Gorringe; Paula Marshall; Spencer Tramm; Simon Groves and Yvonne Tramm; Sue Beneke; Dave Alexander; Claire Meaddows; Paul Venners; David Anniwell; and Kjell Pettersson. Thanks also to Pat and Stephen Talbot; Caz Beckwith; and The Coffee Man. A personal thanks from Tog to Chris Hartnell and Claire Meaddows for the trophy, and from Tog and Sharkman to everyone who has bought a Eurodragster t-shirt.
This weekend's Event Coverage has been brought to you in association with American Car Imports.
19:45
Here is a provisional list of 2003 UK Champions. Please note that these are subject to ratification by the appropriate Championship Co-ordinator.
MSA Top Methanol: Dave Wilson
Pro Modified: Gordon Appleton
Super Modified: Team Steelcraft (Danny Cockerill and Kev Perkins)
Super Pro ET: Ian Bishop
Pro ET: Team Top Banana (Brian and Lee Huxley)
Sportsman ET: Kev Slyfield
Super Comp: Tim Adam
Super Gas: Tim Adam
Super Street: Mike Bentley
Junior Dragster: Collin Morrice
Custom Car Street Eliminator: Steve Pateman
Wild Bunch Series: Tom Coe
ACU Top Fuel Bike: Steve Woollatt
ACU Funny Bike: Neil Midgley
ACU Pro Stock Bike: Dave Beck
ACU Super Street Bike: Karl Larcombe
ACU Comp Bike: Phil Leamon
9.90 Bike: Fred Furlong
10.90 Bike: Andy Burfitt
NAST Supertwin Fuel: Chris Stebbings
NAST Supertwin Gas: George Laycock
NAST Supertwin Modified: TJ O'Brien
NAST Supertwin Street: Mark Earrey
We are now working on today's pictures, stay tuned.
19:15
Here are the final results in all classes:
Top Methanol: Dave Wilson 5.722/239.05 def. Steph Milam 10.444/82.87
Super Modified: Andy Hone 8.127/170.04 def. Steve Rawlings 7.937/169.90
Super Pro ET: George Chiarella (7.92) 7.933/165.41 def. Barry Giles (7.65) 7.719/169.70
Pro ET: Bob Doyle (10.37) 10.398/131.28 def. Rick McCann (10.74) 10.750/123.59
Sportsman ET: Nick South (14.01) 14.171/97.20 def. Andy Raw (12.80) 12.772/102.13
Super Comp: Malcolm Francis 8.931/133.40 def. Tim Adam 8.921/149.54
Super Gas: Frank Mason 9.997/127.57 def. Pete Creswell 10.141/138.26
Super Street: Dave Cherrett 10.957/102.34 def. Mike Bentley 10.892/126.65
Junior Dragster: Nick Mugridge (8.90) 8.964/70.70 def. Collin Morrice 9.008/72.39
Custom Car Street Eliminator: Jon Webster 8.174/177.50 def. Jeff Meads 8.581/161.13
Wild Bunch: Gareth Kent (12.40) 12.603/99.25 def. Alec Coe (10.57) 10.756/110.61
VW Pro: Justin Aldred (12.40) 12.607/106.86 def. Paul Bate (11.75) 11.837/111.34 red light
VW Sportsman: Christos Kouzaris (21.20) 22.494/46.03 def. Graham Fairhead (15.70) 16.397/65.05 red light
Funny Bike: Dave Holland 7.046/185.12 def. Mike Chislett 7.110/183.82
Pro Stock Bike: Dave Beck 7.445/176.28 def. Richard Gipp 7.526/175.11
Super Street Bike: Ivan Birch 8.476/164.46 def. Graham Dance 8.475/174.07
Comp Bike: Phil Leamon 8.406/156.52 def. Klaus Sarembe 8.551/120.12
9.90 Bike: Fred Furlong 10.015/125.54 def. Shaun Jones 9.993/136.65
10.90 Bike: Andy Burfitt 10.906/112.63 def. Phil Pratt 10.877/124.66 breakout
NAST Supertwin Fuel: Ian Turburville 9.351/143.22 was unopposed
NAST Supertwin Gas: George Laycock 9.639/132.39 def. Andy Smith 10.533/124.38
NAST Supertwin Modified: Simon Hodgson 9.957/143.94 def. Dave Bartz 10.253/135.92
NAST Supertwin Street: Mark Earrey 10.184/132.76 def. Chris Mott 11.108/124.28
Stay tuned and we will shortly bring you a provisional list of 2003 Champions.
18:00
Custom Car Street Eliminator eliminations Round 3 winners: Jeff Meads 8.542/160.40, Jon Webster 8.162/177.60 Jeff Meads' engine started to smoke in the shutdown area and is still smoking in the pits as I type - will he make the final?
Super Street eliminations Round 3 winners: Dave Cherrett 10.896/105.19 bye, Mike Bentley 11.025/121.14
Wild Bunch eliminations Round 3 winners: Alec Coe (10.50) 10.675/110.81, Gareth Kent (12.40) 12.879/98.29 bye
VW Pro Round 3 eliminations winners: Justin Aldred (12.40) 12.499/107.14, Paul Bate (11.75) 20.165/45.35 bye
Junior Dragster eliminations Round 3 winners: Collin Morrice (8.90) 8.901/72.41, Nick Mugridge (8.90) 8.979/71.19
Super Gas eliminations Round 3 winners: Pete Creswell 9.982/136.52, Frank Mason 9.978/138.82 bye
Sportsman ET eliminations Round 4 winners: Nick South (14.01) 14.092/97.79, Andy Raw (12.60) 12.903/108.27 bye
VW Sportsman eliminations Round 4 winners: Graham Fairhead (15.70) 15.682/78.94, Christos Kouzaris (21.20) 21.421/59.50 bye
Pro ET eliminations Round 4 winners: Bob Doyle (10.37) 10.371/131.66, Rick McCann (10.67) 10.734/127.88
We're down to finals in all classes, stay tuned for the final results.
17:45
9.90 Bike eliminations Round 3 winners: Fred Furlong 9.986/134.24, Shaun Jones 10.141/122.95
10.90 Bike eliminations Round 3 winners: Phil Pratt 10.980/120.12, Andy Burfitt 11.084/124.61
Supertwin Street eliminations Round 3 winners: Mark Earrey 10.269/132.30, Chris Mott 11.131/123.45 bye
Supertwin Gas eliminations Round 2 winners: George Laycock 9.642/133.66, Andy Smith 10.442/123.96
Super Pro ET Eliminations Round 3 winners: Barry Giles (7.65) 8.255/142.04 bye, George Chiarella 7.952/166.48
Super Comp Eliminations Round 2 winners: Malcolm Francis 9.134/131.84, Tim Adam 9.072/129.13
17:30
Supertwin Modified eliminations Round 1 winners: Dave Bartz 10.182/136.02, Simon Hodgson 10.417/129.13
Super Gas eliminations Round 2 winners: Pete Creswell 9.999/136.45, Stuart Doignie 9.963/130.14, Frank Mason 10.044/121.09
VW Pro eliminations Round 2 winners: Justin Aldred (12.40) 13.293/105.41, Jason Aldred (12.10) 12.124/106.52, Paul Bate (11.75) 11.788/115.46
Custom Car Street Eliminator eliminations Round 2 winners: Steve Pateman 8.429/169.13, Jeff Meads 8.793/159.64, Andy Frost 8.604/162.41, Jon Webster 8.288/176.54. Al Simms got into the eights with an 8.993/149.08 in his defeat by Jeff Meads. Jon Webster backed up yesterday's 177.51 for another speed record. Steve Pateman added to his other titles and records with a huge wheelie - one of those which starts low down and just gets bigger and bigger. Steve pedalled to get the front end down and then took the win.
Wild Bunch eliminations Round 2 winners: Tom Coe (11.35) 11.380/113.39, Alec Coe (10.50) 10.803/112.06, Tony Smith (12.00) 11.870/103.31
Junior Dragster eliminations Round 2 winners: Tom Watts (11.00) 11.317/57.37, Colin Morrice (8.92) 9.003/66.57, Scott Hauser (10.13) 10.188/62.83, Nick Mugridge (8.90) 9.113/64.66
Super Street eliminations Round 2 winners: Dave Cherrett 10.882/107.28, Leigh Morris 10.947/108.65, Mike Bentley 10.876/131.81
VW Sportsman eliminations Round 3 winners: Graham Fairhead (15.70) 15.763/83.15, Christos Kouzaris (21.20) 21.473/56.46, Simon Longman (15.60) 15.504/80.34
Sportsman ET eliminations Round 3 winners: Andy Raw (12.60) 12.784/101.56, Kev Slyfield (12.04) 12.067/114.87, Nick South (14.00) 14.024/99.37 bye
Pro ET eliminations Round 3 winners: Rick McCann (10.68) 10.697/127.41, Steve Dunn (10.05) 10.091/134.02, Bob Doyle (10.40) 10.374/131.45
Pro Stock Bike eliminations Round 2 winners: Dave Beck 7.468/177.16 bye, Richard Gipp 7.499/175.71
Funny Bike eliminations Round 2 winners: Dave Holland 7.140/182.07, Mike Chislett 7.116/182.83 bye
Comp Bike eliminations Round 2 winners: 8.444/155.45, Klaus Sarembe 8.527/163.00
Super Modified eliminations Round 2 winners: Andy Hone 8.023/170.27, Steve Rawlings 8.068/168.96 bye
Super Street Bike eliminations Round 3 winners: Graham Dance 10.770/106.64, Ivan Birch 8.554/165.11
16:30
Sportman ET eliminations Round 2 winners: Kev Slyfield (12.08) 12.053/114.68 bye, Nick Gay (15.80) 15.805/82.26, Nick South (14.00) 14.948/75.83, Andy Raw (12.60) 12.666/102.02, Matt Attwood (13.85) 14.065/87.65
VW Sportsman eliminations Round 2 winners: Graham Fairhead (15.70) 15.835/75.04, Christos Kouzaris (21.20) 21.648/58.70, Simon Longman (15.50) 15.673/71.23, Mike Geraghty (18.30) 18.206/69.73 bye, Neil Davies (15.84) 15.840/82.04
Super Comp eliminations Round 1 winners: Mike Payne 9.284/140.25 bye, Brian Pateman 8.930/153.19, Tim Adam 9.009/129.83, Malcolm Francis 8.913/138.87. Subject to ratification, Tim Adam is UK National Super Comp Champion.
Super Street Bike eliminations Round 2 winners: Ivan Birch 8.496/163.73, Graham Dance 8.179/178.63, Bradley O'Connor 8.624/179.15, Karl Larcombe 8.251/171.17. Subject to ratification, Karl Larcombe is ACU UK Super Street Bike Champion. Graham Dance backed up yesterday's 178.86 for a new ACU speed record, subject to ratification.
10.90 Bike eliminations Round 2 winners: Andy Burfitt 11.052/124.74, Phil Pratt 10.949/122.17, John Hackney 10.974/118.77
9.90 Bike eliminations Round 2 winners: TJ O'Brien 10.020/138.29, Martin Walker 10.399/131.60, Shaun Jones 10.062/120.80, Fred Furlong 10.169/112.96
Supertwin Street eliminations Round 2 winners: Chris Mott 11.029/123.87, Mark Earrey 10.195/132.63, Dave Jones 11.325/114.70. Mark Earrey is 2003 NAST Supertwin Street Champion subject to ratification.
Supertwin Fuel eliminations Round 1: Ian Turburville 9.429/146.07 bye. Chris Stebbings and Bernie Hepworth both broke, so Ian has taken the event title, but will be running again later on.
Pro ET eliminations Round 2 winners: Terry Wareham (11.62) 11.602/118.39, Bob Doyle (10.38) 10.436/131.66, Al Didwell (10.34) 10.369/128.89 bye, Chris Johnson (9.33) 10.263/97.07 bye, Rick McCann (10.80) 10.945/107.50, Steve Dunn (10.05) 10.073/129.27
Super Pro ET eliminations Round 2 winners: Barry Giles (7.65) 7.680/169.76, Ian Bishop (7.90) 13.123/91.02 bye, George Chiarella (7.90) 7.992/163.90. Pat Talbot clocked 6.956 to break out to George Chiarella but I don't think Talbot Racing were too worried about losing that race!
Top Methanol final: Dave Wilson 5.722/239.05 def. Steph Milam 10.444/82.87. This was a simple one, the winner of the race wins the Championship. Congratulations to the American Car Imports Racing team on their double FIA and MSA British Championships in 2003.
Tony Baker's second run of the day in the Fireforce Jet FC was a 7.076/228.04.
15:45
Wild Bunch eliminations Round 1 winners: Joe Stevens (10.48) 10.717/126.71 bye, Gareth Kent (12.40) 12.701/90.38, Tom Coe (11.35) 11.402/114.06 bye, Alec Coe (10.50) 10.693/107.20, Tony Smith (11.90) 12.285/108.68, Dennis Hawkins 9.510/140.99 bye
Tony Baker followed up the Wild Bunch with a 7.153/224.94 in the Fireforce Jet FC.
Super Street Eliminations Round 1 winners: Mike Bentley 10.938/127.88, Leigh Morris 10.868/115.96, Paul Marston 10.998/107.25, Dave Cherrett 14.791/77.83 bye, Ian Brown 10.877/121.63 bye. Mike Bentley's win in this round has, subject to ratification, won him the UK National Championship.
VW Pro eliminations Round 1 winners: Jason Aldred (11.99) 12.386/106.01 bye, Justin Aldred (12.30) 13.174/107.11 bye, Brett Lincoln (12.50) 12.507/103.74 bye, Russ Fellows (11.30) 11.342/108.84, Peter Englezos (11.90) 12.167/110.04, Paul Bate (11.75) 11.801/110.99
Pro Stock Bike eliminations Round 1 winners: Dave Beck 7.707/168.56, Martin Bishop 7.766/169.01, Richard Gipp 7.681/172.26, Chris Hope 7.524/169.21
Funny Bike eliminations Round 1 winners: Mike Chislett 7.067/183.78, Shaun Branch no time recorded (Neil Midgley changed lanes), Dave Holland 7.072/184.53, Sarah Jane Head 7.294/167.07
Comp Bike eliminations Round 1 winners: Paul Newman 9.292/143.24, Phil Leamon 8.511/156.92, Andy Newcombe 8.650/157.18, Klaus Sarembe 9.096/136.94. Vaughan Foster had a spill from his bike just after the finish line after his race against Paul Newman. Vaughan got straight to his feet, in fact he was up before the bike had finished rolling. The safety crews were on the spot instantly and probably gave Vaughan a ticking-off for standing up! Word quickly came back that Vaughan is quite OK.
Supertwin Gas eliminations Round 1 winners: Ric Naylor 10.741/121.32, Andy Smith 11.120/122.59, George Laycock 9.758/133.37. George Laycock is 2003 NAST Supertwin Gas Champion subject to ratification.
14:45
Pro ET eliminations Round 1 winners: Al Didwell (10.34) 10.605/120.73, Carl Burton (11.20) 11.291/117.66, Bob Doyle (10.38) 10.418/131.41, Paul Baynton (11.33) 11.563/117.03, Rick McCann (10.61) 18.809/128.11, Ian Brown (10.80) 10.827/114.62, Terry Wareham (11.62) 11.689/117.37, Chris Johnson (9.29) 9.328/145.16, Steve Wells (9.95) 9.938/129.54, Steve Dunn (10.05) 10.078/131.88, Gino Bernadine (9.48) 9.502/108.18
MSA Top Methanol qualifying session 3: Dave Wilson 5.617/250.58, Steph Milam 6.517/216.43
Custom Car Street Eliminator eliminations Round 1 winners: Jeff Meads 8.421/165.27, Ian Hook 9.366/139.06, Jon Webster 9.497/160.39, Andy Frost 8.588/162.95, Al Simms 9.199/148.73, Steve Pateman 8.179/170.66 bye, Ian Jackson 9.047/143.14, Allen Curtis 11.085/120.60. Jon Webster did an amazing save job on John Hales' Chevy after it turned hard right at about 350 feet. He got off the throttle, pulled it straight, got back on it and took the win.
Super Gas eliminations Round 1 winners: Peter Lane 10.064/123.04, Frank Mason 9.923/139.45, Pete Creswell 10.220/116.81, Tim Adam 9.932/139.47, Conrad Stanley 9.924/122.22, Stuart Doignie no time recorded bye. Subject to ratififcation, Tim Adam is UK National Champion.
Junior Dragster eliminations Round 1 winners: Holley Glassup (8.54) 8.674/74.41, Peter Walters (15.15) 15.375/38.72, Charlotte Watts (16.50) 16.619/36.92, Scott Hauser (10.13) 10.269/58.50, Tom Watts (11.10) 11.265/51.17, Nick Mugridge (8.90) 9.103/71.62, Johnny Walker (15.10) 15.236/37.89, Collin Morrice (8.92) 8.968/72.66 bye. Subject to ratification, Collin Morrice's win means that he is UK National Champion.
Super Pro ET eliminations Round 1 winners: Pat Talbot (6.99) 7.011/189.95, Ian Tubb (7.58) 7.684/163.82, Ian Bishop 8.011/148.59, George Chiarella 8.262/161.24, Barry Giles (7.60) 7.657/165.60 bye
Super Modified eliminations Round 1 winners: Steve Rawlings 7.871/171.38, Andy Hone 9.660/142.59 bye, Tim Garlick 8.279/165.87 bye
14:00
Sportsman ET eliminations Round 1 winners: Andy Raw (13.60) 12.598/105.19 bye, Kev Slyfield (12.00) 12.082/114.44, Rick Denny (14.00) 14.015/99.02, Jon Turner (13.90) 14.111/93.87, Paul Bishop (16.40) 16.573/74.42, Nick Gay (15.85) 15.887/84.20, Martin Lewis (15.65) 15.858/80.71, Stephen Phillips (14.75) 14.997/87.67, Matt Attwood (13.85) 14.385/73.74. Subject to ratification, Kev Slyfield's win in this round wins him the UK National Championship in his first year of racing.
VW Sportsman eliminations Round 1 winners: Graham Fairhead (15.60) 15.914/76.15, Christos Kouzaris (21.20) 21.424/55.73, Martin Ayton (15.00) 15.519/88.94, Simon Longman (15.70) 15.843/66.54, Kev Metcalfe (16.25) 16.267/67.88, Martin Charles (14.80) 15.218/75.50, Stuart Hinds (16.20) 16.487/82.89 bye, Neil Davies (15.90) 15.845/82.76 bye, Mike Geraghty (18.30) 18.774/63.85
10.90 Bike eliminations Round 1 winners: John Hackney 10.998/118.73, Andy Birfitt 11.090/124.10, Paul Coombs 10.621/111.62, Phil Pratt 11.035/110.17, Steve Knapp 10.942/107.04, Dave Warren 11.343/100.72 bye
9.90 Bike eliminations Round 1 winners: Shaun Jones 9.974/118.29, TJ O'Brien 11.993/74.03, Paul Stewart 10.012/124.22, Fred Furlong 10.045/120.10, Julian Harris 10.150/131.15, Richard Hann 10.586/131.78, Ilse Lambert 10.490/134.36. Martin Walker 10.002/135.39 bye. Subject to ratification, Fred Furlong's win in this round wins him the UK National Championship.
Super Street Bike eliminations Round 1 winners: Ivan Birch 8.889/161.80, Bradley O'Connor 8.646/174.00, Dave Bailey 9.161/164.09, Steve Venables 8.650/165.42, Graham Dance 8.270/172.42, Tony Clark 8.510/180.00, Adam Lancaster 8.756/165.04, Karl Larcombe 8.528/169.64
Supertwin Street eliminations Round 1 winners: Chris Mott 11.038/124.31, Dave Jones 11.257/119.43, Neil Dickson 11.313/118.48, Brian Udall 11.624/118.07, Iain Tomsett 11.215/120.44, Mark Earrey 10.259/130.78
Stay tuned.
9:00
Good morning and welcome from Santa Pod Raceway for the last day of the UK National Championships, we'll be bringing you all the on-track news in association with our friends at American Car Imports. Right now it's 10.2 C on the start line, 93% humidity, and 29.56 inches of air pressure.
The Webster Race Engineering/MPM Oil webcam is on-line and broadcasting a picture every two minutes.
Just before we start, a few Good Mornings, firstly to our US correspondents Ed O'Connell and Kathy Hileman in Rye, NH - hope you're having a good weekend, guys. Hello also to our good friend Gittli Koller who is tuned in from Germany, and to Martyn Jones - thanks for the E-Mail and have you really got nothing better to do...
If you were tuned in late last night you will have read that we were off to help Pat and Stephen Talbot celebrate their twenty third wedding anniversary. We had a very pleasant time in their trailer, congratulations to Pat and Stephen and here's to many more.
Eliminations commence at 9:30 and we are planning to bring you the winners in each round of eliminations for every class, so stay tuned and we'll be back soon with the first set of results.