2007 Easter Thunderball
Sunday (qualifying and eliminations)
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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 23:30 Today's pictures are now posted, you can view them via the Event Index page. We're off to bed now, tune back in the morning for all the news from eliminations. For you nightbirds we're leaving the webcam running all night again...not that there's much to see right now! 20:20 Wild Bunch final qualifying:
An improvement for Darryl but he stays in place. That's all the track action for today, stay tuned for Roger's pictures. 20:15 VW Pro final qualifying:
Improvements for Glynn and Neil but they stay in place. VW Alternate Engine final qualifying:
No changes in this final session. VW Sportsman qualifying final top five:
No changes in this final session 20:10 Super Street qualifying final top five:
No change to the top five in this final session. 20:05 Super Modified qualifying final top five:
Another improvement for Andy Hone moved him up into #3 spot. Craig Gibbs also improved and got back into the top five at #5. 20:00 Junior Dragster eliminations round 1 winners: Annalieze Gibb (12.80) 13.1730/46.38, Becky Evans (8.03) 8.0731/80.47, Noah Stutz (9.08) 9.7740/69.97, Anna Stanley (9.00) 9.0231/69.75, Rosie Hunt (10.90) 10.9880/56.09, Peter Walters (8.53) 8.5568/74.77, Nick Mugridge (7.90) 8.0819/72.10, Joe Kellett (8.90) 9.0109/71.32, Dan Giles (8.70) 8.8161/72.32 19:50 Super Comp eliminations round 1 winners: Chris Johnson 8.9521/144.67, Chris Isaacs 8.9342/144.20, Brian Pateman 8.9422/155.20, Paul Knight 8.9418/155.17, Shaun Lathan 9.0212/143.75, Belinda Bull 8.9500/157.36, Jon Morton 8.9681/140.57, Pete Cresswell 8.9651/147.07, Dave Day 8.9279/135.10 19:40 Street Eliminator eliminations round 1 winners: Steve Pateman 8.8771/159.56, Andy Frost 8.1169/175.09 bye, Wilf Stacey 9.0100/151.03, Jerry Charles 8.8368/168.56, Jeff Meads 8.8258/155.61, Al Simms 8.7387/158.01, Jon Webster 9.1657/160.30 bye, Colin Lazenby 8.1521/178.51 bye, Steve Nash 8.9139/177.09 bye 19:30 Martin Hill followed Super Gas with a 6.2481/263.07 in the Fireforce 3 Jet FC. 9.50 Bike eliminations round 1 winners: Andy Burfitt 9.7831/128.95, Gregg Skett 9.7361/144.17, Dave Burfitt 20.969/86.73, Jason Macan 9.6418/128.19, Chris Jones 9.5480/130.73, Ed Smiley, 9.7888/127.82, Fred Furlong 9.8951/140.14, Julian Harris 10.0299/129.32, Shaun Spiers 9.7062/133.78, Phil Pratt 9.5807/138.97, Steve Ashby 9.7439/141.11, Andy Haley 9.7909/119.32, Mike Powell 10.1039/125.32, Richard Sawatzki 9.5892/144.14 bye, Paul Coombs 10.2102/131.54 bye 19:10 Super Gas eliminations round 1 winners: Tim Adam 10.0050/142.31, Mark White 9.9128/135.91 bye, Steve Dunn 9.9168/141.14, Frank Mason 9.8981/131.60, Bob Doyle 9.8522/136.70 bye, Malcolm Francis 9.9030/160.07, Stuart Morrice 10.0830/146.00, Pete Cresswell 10.0402/124.59, Jon Morton 10.0291/141.46, Dave Day 9.9351/146.56 Trackside conditions are 59.9 F, 53% humidity and 29.83 inches of air; track temperature is 60.4 F 19:00 Super Pro ET eliminations round 1 winners: Ian Tubb (7.58) 7.6050/175.71, Spencer Tramm (8.64) 8.6452/154.62, Barry Giles (7.62) 7.6830/156.32, Nigel Turner (8.42) 8.4943/146.62, Paula Atkin (8.39) 8.3907/162.45, Mark Pointer (7.56) 9.6540/102.50 bye, Martyn Jones (7.72) 7.7709/160.79, Nick Spence (8.15) 8.1970/162.40 bye, Tethys (8.23) 8.2701/149.45, Dave Ward (8.99) 9.4811/143.64, Ashley Bell (8.64) 8.8887/139.46, Steve Green (8.68) 8.7588/146.58 A perfect run for Paula Atkin, well done Paula! 18:45 Pro ET eliminations round 1 winners: Charlie Chivers (10.60) 10.7121/109.18, Dan Page (11.44) 11.5230/115.14, Mick Howling (9.70) 9.8411/123.55, Brian Huxley (10.57) 10.7469/123.55, Steve Bolton (9.68) 9.7312/132.33, Keith Herbert (11.37) 11.4530/114.76, Jerry Smith (9.88) 9.8778/135.97, Mike Lacey (9.98) 10.4499/111.11, Paul Baynton (11.10) 11.1761/121.66, Vic Amato (9.92) bye, Rick McCann (10.26) 10.2673/130.35, Nigel Green (11.74) 18.1121/89.98, Marius Blackburn 10.0563/115.07 18:30 Comp Eliminator final qualifying:
Jonas Dantanus improved still further to consolidate his #1 spot. Pro Stock Bike final qualifying:
No changes to the top five in this session. Funny Bike final qualifying top five:
Steve French took over the lead from his friend Chris Hall in the first pairing. In the next pairing Stu Chamberlain improved but held position. Comp Bike final qualifying top five:
No changes to the top five in this session. Trackside conditions are 63.3 F, 46% humidity and 29.85 inches of air; track temperature is 66.1 F. 18:15 Super Street qualifying top five after session 7:
No changes to the top five in this session. Wild Bunch qualifying top five after session 7:
Chris Hartnell improved but stayed in #5 spot. 18:05 Roger Goring followed Patrik Pers with a 6.930 in the Firestorm Jet FC. Roger rolled the beams very slightly before nailing the throttle and then shut off at about 1000 feet. Junior Dragster qualifying final top five:
No changes to the top five in this final session. 17:50 Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association qualifying session 4 (left lane first): Tony Betts 11.1410/78.27 bye, Bob Glassup 7.4661/184.39, Clayton Round 6.9460/190.66 Tony Betts' tyres didn't light in the burnout, on the green the Venom altered left the line with one cylinder out quickly joined by other dead pipes and Tony got off the throttle at about half track. A great paired burnout by Bob and Clayton, as soon as the Rebel T altered left the line you could tell he was on a good one, 1.0181 to sixty feet, 4.4159/156.80 to half track. Bob's altered hesitated a moment off the line but the rest of the run looked just fine. Next up was Patrik Pers in the Speedghost Fuel FC. A gentle burnout and then 1.7778 to sixty feet, heading left all the way down the track, narrowly missing the eighth-mile reflectors (3.8837/213.22) then punting the 1000 foot marker into earth orbit, wrenching the car back into the lane and off the throttle. 6.3879/158.30 at the stripe. 17:35 MSA Pro Modified qualifying session 4 (left lane first): Ray White 7.9030/135.52 bye, Gordon Appleton 6.3947/219.62, Bert Englefield 7.6338/128.99, Andy Robinson 9.3691/84.60, Robert Joosten 6.3541/225.91, Kev Slyfield 9.3428/137.30 A nice burnout by Ray and the reverser worked! A very nice-looking pass, 4.8702/154.62 to half track and off the throttle at about 800 feet. A very straight pass too. A colossal burnout from Bert before his match-up with Gordon. Gordon laid down an absolute stormer, 1.0260 to sixty feet, 4.1459/172.46 at half track, slightly long way round but the team will be ecstatic at the return to form. Bert was on a pretty good pass himself, 1.0600 to sixty feet but the car started to move around towards half track and then made a violent move to the right so Bert backed off. Andy tried to drive through appalling tyre shake, from here the whole car went blurry. I'm guessing that Andy's vision wasn't all it could be since he drove full throttle through the 330-foot reflector and then got off the pedal. Meanwhile Robert laid down another storming pass, 1.0712 to sixty feet, 4.1663/177.64 to half track and this run counts as the first MSA Pro Mod ET and speed record, backed up by Robert's current #1 qualifying times. Another nice run for Kev Slyfield, looking very much at home in the new Willys. Qualifying standings after this session:
17:15 Top Fuel Bike qualifying session 4 (left lane first): Steve Carey 7.0432/185.83 bye, Lorenz Staüble 6.9679/164.20, Harry Van Schie 9.8429/93.17 No fishtailing for the Purple Princess on this run, Steve C's run looked quicker than the ET which came up but he was blackstriping the length of the track. A strong-looking pass for Lorenz, a fishtail at half track but then the bike started to drift to the left so he shut off. Harry shut off at half track. Qualifying standings after this session:
Trackside conditions are 66.0 F, 44% humidity and 29.85 inches of air; track temperature is 82.1 F. 17:10 Top Methanol qualifying session 4 (left lane first): Derek Flynn 9.1119/113.06 bye (observed run), Freddy Fagerström 6.0883/226.88 bye, Steve Turner 6.1817/218.39, Dave Wilson 5.5133/255.40 Derek has no reverse so he made a short burnout and was pushed back to the line by his crew. The engine sounded a little laboured in the second half of the track. Freddy only pulled a 200-foot burnout this time but rolled down to half-track. One of Freddy's team wasn't happy about something, shaking his head to Horst of Erbacher Racing as Freddy pulled into stage but a nice pass to begin with, 0.9970 to sixty feet and then crossing the centre line and heading straigt for the eighth-mile reflectors, how he drove back into his own lane and missed them I will never know. A brief pedal and then back on the gas but only just missed the finish line reflectors. A great match-up between Steve and Dave, Steve looking like a seasoned pro in the Turner Motorsport dragster. Grumpy away first 0.2089 to 0.5061, 0.9341 sixty foot for Grumpy to Steve's 1.0819, Grumpy got to the eighth in 3.6091/208.31 to Steve's 4.0878/189.27. We won't be seeing Steph Milam again this weekend, as the damage from this morning's top end bang was substantial. Qualifying standings after this session:
16:55 Real Steel Street Eliminator qualifying final top five:
Jeff Meads moved into the top five in this session, #5 at that point. Splinter's new Cougar dropped an eighth of a mile of oil during the burnout so we had a clean-up, this after Splinter drove into his Crew Chief just before his burnout. Ron Haslett went back into the nines, 9.8690. Jason Weir getting closer and closer to the eights, 9.1639 in this session. 16:00 9.50 Bike qualifying final top five:
No changes to the top five in this final session. 15:50 Super Street Bike qualifying final top five:
Jamie Sneddon improved but stayed in #4 spot at that point. 15:45 Super Gas qualifying final top five:
Bob Doyle moved into the top five in this final session, #4 at that point. 15:35 Sportsman ET qualifying final top five:
Geoff Cowley into the top five in this last session. 15:30 VW Pro qualifying after session 7:
No changes in this session. VW Alternate Engine qualifying after session 7:
No changes in this session. VW Sportsman qualifying top five after session 7:
Polly Naylor came back into the top five in this session. 15:25 Super Modified qualifying top five after session 7:
An improvement for Tim Garlick but he stayed in place. In the next pairing Andy Hone moved up to #5. Trackside conditions are 66.7 F, 41% humidity and 29.88 inches of air; track temperature is 85.5 F. 15:00 An Exhibition session followed the Pro Fuel Shootout. First up was Martin Hill with a 6.3953/256.92 in the Fireforce 3 Jet FC. Eric Teboul was next with his Rocket Bike. A tremendous run, 5.9231/205.27. Eric clocked 3.8368/205.70 at half track. And that was another checkout pass! 14:45 Pro Fuel Shootout round 2 (left lane first): Siw Nystad 8.4712/83.52, Urs Erbacher 4.8127/310.49, John Spuffard 6.2358/151.51, Thomas Nataas 5.6377/173.76, Lex Joon 5.0687/207.55, Leif Helander 5.8537/202.84, Håkan Fällström 6.4719/167.21 bye (observed run), Patrik Pers did not start bye (observed run) Top Fuel v Top Fuel for the first pairing. Urs away first 0.1762 to 0.2087 and a better sixty foot time 0.8797 to 0.8901. Siw's tyres shook as the front end came back down and she was off the throttle by 330 feet. Urs blackstriped the length of his lane, slight shake, the car moved around the lane a little but a new Shootout ET and speed record. 0.1661 reaction for Thomas to Spuff's 0.4790, Thomas' sixty foot time 0.8909 to Spuff's 0.9379. Spuff drove through shake and shut off just past half track, Thomas was blackstriping his lane and got off the throttle at about 900 feet. 0.2141 reaction for Leif to Lex's 0.3901, 0.861 to sixty feet for Lex to Leif's 1.0169, Lex got to half track at 3.2100/252.63 with a haze of yellow around the MPM dragster and he got off the throttle at about 900 feet. Leif was staged pointing to the right of his lane, the FC was heading to the right all the way down and hit the wall at about 1000 feet. Leif is quite OK, no word yet on the state of the Starkotter FC. Håkan got to sixty feet in 1.1148, half track at 4.0799/205.60 and he hit the second eighth-mile reflector, pulled it back into his lane and got off the throttle just past half track. Patrik's engine did not want to stay lit so the team went back to the pits. Aggregates against index after this round are as follow:
Trackside conditions are 67.3 F, 41% humidity and 29.91 inches of air; track temperature is 86.5 F. 14:15 Super Comp qualifying final top five:
No changes to the top five in this session. Next up is round 2 of the Pro Fuel Shootout. 13:55 Super Pro ET qualifying final top five:
Pat Talbot moved into the top five at #2, one ten thousandth behind Steve Green. Mark Pointer's van gave us another fright as it turned hard left at the hit and crossed lanes just past the Tree. Same story in a different direction for John Everitt in the next pairing, a hard right at the hit, John calmly pulled it straight and stayed with it. Trackside conditions are 66.0 F, 42% humidity and 29.91 inches of air; track temperature is 86.2 F 13:40 Pro ET qualifying final top five:
Brian Huxley improved but stayed in #4 spot. Carla Pittau and Rick McCann have done another one of their moonlight dashes home to change engines and got back in time to break out in this session, well done guys! 13:30 Pro Stock Bike qualifying after session 5:
An improvement for Richard Gipp but he stayed in place. Funny Bike qualifying after session 6:
Midgo pulled what amounted to a rolling burnout on his new bike, he stayed with the throttle until half track at which point we could hardly see the bike for smoke. Comp Bike qualifying top five after session 6:
Dave Peters in at #3 in the first pairing with a much improved pass. 13:15 Real Steel Street Eliminator qualifying top five after session 7:
Another PB for Jason Weir, 9.3790, nice one Jason! Splinter laid down a storming burnout in his new Cougar, carrying on how he left off with the last car, into the top five with an 8.7 and that was with two lengthy pedals! 9.0820 for Alex McIntosh in the other lane. Jerry turned up the wick still further, into #2. Steve Pateman improved but stayed in #3 spot. Colin pulled a big twisting wheelie off the line and drove through shake, the Chevy seemed to want to turn right all the way down the track but Colin had hold of it. Andy Frost took #1 spot in the last run of the session and he's right on Colin's speed record. 12:55 Roger Goring followed MSA Pro Modified with a 6.2949/252.88 in the Firestorm Jet Funny Car. The FC is now sporting Hanna Motorsport decals as Roger has done a development deal with the US Jet team - more about that later. 12:50 MSA Pro Modified qualifying session 3 (left lane first): Ray White no time bye, Bert Englefield 9.5479/92.41, Gordon Appleton 6.8937/171.21, Robert Joosten 6.4880/221.54, Andy Robinson 11.5501/81.77, Kev Slyfield 9.1248/139.34 bye (observed run) A very brief burnout by Ray and would you believe he couldn't get reverse again, if it wasn't for bad luck then I don't think Ray would have any. A nice match-up to begin with for Bert and Gordon, Bert drove through shake but then his Coupe made a move to the right and he got off the throttle, Gordon stayed on it to about 1000 feet, no sign of the shake which has plagued Gordon recently. Andy hit shake off the line, he pedalled and tried again but soon got off the throttle, Robert was long gone with a nice-looking pass on the left side of his lane. A good-looking pass for Kev, 1.2240 to sixty feet, 5.6989/118.12 to half track. Qualifying standings after this session:
Trackside conditions are 66.2 F, 45% humidity and 29.91 inches of air, track temperature is 77.5 F. 12:40 A nice burnout by Patrik Pers, just as he backed across the start line there was a flash of flame from underneath the body but everything else looked and sounded OK. After a few seconds Patrik was signalled to shut off and there was a patch of fluid on the track as he was pushed back. Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association qualifying session 3 (left lane first): Joe Bond 7.7531/169.20, Dave Grabham 8.9439/156.82, Clayton Round 8.2510/102.93, Frank Bennett left before lights, Jim Usher 6.781/206.43 bye, Bob Glassup 7.2729/185.91 bye Joe drove through a bounce off the start line and stayed with it through slight shake, a nice straight pass from Dave. A two hundred-foot burnout for Clayton, although Frank wasn't far behind him. Frank left before the lights ran, Clayton went with him, 1.0078 to sixty feet and getting very close indeed to the centre line, then there was a cloud of smoke from the right bank of headers and Clayton moved over to the left side of the lane - whether he slid or was saving the racing line wasn't clear from here but oil was found in his lane. Jim first up after the clean-up and a great pass for Jim. 1.1232 to sixty feet, 4.3711/171.72 to half track, the car started to move around a little and Jim pedalled briefly, then got back on it, the engine started to smoke and there was a big puff as the 'chutes opened and the car moved over to the centre of the track. Another personal best ET, well done Jim! Whilst the track was checked Tony Betts towed back to the pits. Bob Glassup took the final bye and it was a nice-looking pass, a brief pedal off the line and then the long way round but yesterday's problems behind the Xtreme team. 11:50 Top Fuel Bike qualifying session 3 (left lane first): Ian Turburville 7.9280/177.31 bye, Harry Van Schie 8.6743/132.22, Steve Carey 7.3531/182.87, Steve Woollatt 6.4922/206.34, Lorenz Staüble 7.2779/142.00 A nice straight run for Turbo, the straightest and easiest-looking run I've seen Mister Spokehead make. Theer was a lot of smoke from the bike in the shutdown area but nothing untoward on the track so hopefully nothing wrong with the bike. A nice run by Harry moved him one place up the standings, Steve C's bike launched well but then fishtailed and the engine sounded a little rough in the eighth-mile traps, Steve stayed with it to the finish line. A nice straight run for Steve W, in the other lane Lorenz rode out a real fishtail and then shut off as the bike approached the centre line. Qualifying standings after this session:
Trackside conditions are 64.6 F, 46% humidity and 29.91 inches of air; track temperature is 71.8 F. Next up is a Fuel FC licencing pass by Patrik Pers. 11:40 Top Methanol qualifying session 3 (left lane first): Derek Flynn no time bye (observed run), Dave Wilson 5.5768/250.22, Steph Milam 6.1239/235.84, Freddy Fagerström 6.2118/214.59, Steve Turner 6.5999/203.81 Trackside conditions at the start of Top Methanol were 62.8 F, 45% humidity, 29.91 inches of air; track temperature was 61.3 F. Derek was scheduled for his final observed run, the full pass, but couldn't get reverse after the burnout so had to drive through. Again a brief burnout from Steph. A stormer from Grumpy, no sign of shake and straight as you like, not quite as quick as yesterday but the class of the field so far. Steph sat on the line for a moment and then nailed it: a tremendous pass, no shake at all and straight down the middle of her lane. Right on the finish line there was a cloud of smoke and the blower relief panel flew high into the air. A new Personal best ET, well done Steph! Another 300-foot burnout by Freddy, then maybe backing up a little too fast as the car started to turn left and right but he had hold of it. Freddy away first 0.1299 to 0.2019, 0.9830 at sixty feet, driving through shake at about eighty feet, the car quickly started to move about its lane but Freddy being Freddy stayed with it. A gentle launch for Steve, 1.0623 to sixty feet, slight shake past the Tree and then off the throttle at about 900 feet maybe because Freddy's FC was dancing around just to his front left. Qualifying standings after this session:
11:00 Wild Bunch qualifying top five after session 6:
No changes to the top five in this session. Comp Eliminator qualifying after session 6:
Jonas Dantanus now into Comp Eliminator and he took over the lead with a very nice-looking pass. 10:55 Super Street qualifying top five after session 6:
Neil Grant pulled a 0.0000 reaction in this session. In the next pairing Leigh Morris moved up to #2. In the last pairing of the session Mark Watkins moved into #3. 10:50 Junior Dragster qualifying top five after session 7:
Zak Johnson managed to pull another 0.0030 in this session equalling his existing qualifier. 10:35 9.50 Bike qualifying top five after session 7:
Richard Hann took over the lead in the fourth pairing. Track temperature is 63.7 F. 10:30 Super Street Bike qualifying top five after session 7:
In the first pairing Nigel Barker pulled a huge wheelie at about 80 feet and believe me we all felt it when the bike came down. Graham Balchin laid down an absolute stormer to take #1 spot away from Dave Smith, in the next pairing Dave took the #1 spot back off him and that 7.4251 is already backed up, well done Dave! 10:20 Håkan Fällström's first observed run in the Pennzoil-backed Fuel FC looked very promising. 1.1289 to sixty feet, 2.8540 to 330 feet and off the throttle at that point, running very close to the guardrail. 4.6218/119.07 at half, track, chutes out in the second half and 9.7171/66.17 at the stripe. Håkan looked very comfortable in the car. A bit of work will be necessary on the FC's body since the raised roll cage is currently sticking out through the roof. 10:15 Super Gas qualifying top five after session 6:
Mick Howling moved into the top five in this session, in at #3 at that point. Next up is a Fuel FC licencing pass by Håkan Fällström. 10:05 Sportsman ET qualifying top five after session 7:
No changes to the top five in this session. 10:00 Super Modified qualifying top five after session 6:
Craig Gibbs back into the sevens but stayed in #5 at that point. 9:50 VW Pro qualifying after session 6:
Glynn Morgan took over the lead in this session. VW Alternate Engine qualifying after session 6:
No changes in this session. VW Sportsman qualifying top five after session 6:
Jacob Bailey took over the lead in this session. Trackside conditions are 68.4 F, 42% humidity and 29.91 inches of air, track temperature is 54.7 F. 9:45 Super Comp qualifying top five after session 7:
No changes to the top five in this session. The top fourteen qualifiers are in the 8.9s. 9:30 Super Pro ET qualifying top five after session 7:
Spencer Tramm into the top five, in at #2 at that point. A couple of pairings later Ashley Bell got back on the horse in the best possible way by moving into the top five at #4. 9:15 Pro ET qualifying top five after session 7:
No changes to the top five in this session. Trackside conditions at the start of this session were 51.3 F, 66% humidity and 29.91 inches of air. Track temperature 48.0 F. 8:25 Good morning, Happy Easter and welcome from Santa Pod Raceway for our coverage of day three of the Autotrader Easter Thunderball in association with American Car Imports. The Webster Race Engineering/MPM Oil webcam is on-line and broadcasting a picture every sixty seconds. You can access the webcam via the Event Index page. The webcam has now been running for some forty five hours without a break. Another beautiful morning here at The Pod, hardly a cloud in the sky and the slightest of breezes. Right now the weather station remote sensor isn't talking to the base station but we'll sort that very shortly. The plan for today is for a morning and early afternoon's qualifying and then Sportsman eliminations commence at 16:45. The Pro sessions are at 11:00, 14:00 and 16:00 with round two of the Pro Fuel Shootout in the 14:00 session. Qualifying starts with Pro ET session 7 at 9:00, stay tuned and we'll bring you all the news then. Reports and pictures ©Eurodragster.com |