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18:40

Today's pictures have now been posted and are available via the Event Index. Again it is a caption-free gallery but there are some mouseover captions. If you don't see the updated thumbnails on the gallery page then click on your Browser's Refresh button.

That's the end of our pre-FIA Main Event Test Weekend coverage, which was brought to you in association with American Car Imports. Thanks for tuning in. We'll be back on Thursday with updates from the Pro Peak Performance Day.

17:30

Per Håkon Troa was next up for his next licencing pass. A 200-foot burnout then rolled the beams bringing up the revs before staging but he had the presence of mind to stop and the crew pushed him back. 1.1287 to sixty feet, driving through shake and a feather of the throttle as the car drifted to the right then off the throttle at the 594 foot marker, 4.488/140.28 to half track. The FC then drifted to the right taking out the 990 foot reflector but Per Håkon pulled it back before the finish line, 8.139/110.41.

Last run of the day for Jacob Kopasz in his Junior Modified Dragster was 0.2413 RT and off the throttle at 330 feet, 12.009/44.12 at the eighth.

Garry Bowe closed his account for today with a 8.393/133.75 on the Home Brewed Super Street Bike including a feather of the throttle for a wheelie.

Last to run today was Dave Townsend in his Super Pro ET Mustang, 8.527/153.71.

We're now working on today's pictures, stay tuned for those.

16:40

Jacob Kopasz finally got to put in his delayed run in his Junior Dragster, 0.1317 RT and again feathered the throttle after launch, 11.802/53.03. Another brief rain delay then Robin Orthodoxou made his second pass of the day. A brief pedal for bounce and shake and then shut off in the second half, 8.097/123.21. Mark Bailey and Gary Gooding next to pair up, 10.010/136.82 for Mark and 10.423/116.45 for Gary again with a long wait on the start line building things up.

16:40

Another very competent performance from Fred Hanssen on his second Top Methanol Dragster licencing pass. A finely-judged burnout and then 0.948 to sixty feet, driving through shake and then off the throttle at about 330 feet, 2.495. Chutes out on the stripe and 6.897/151.06.

Making his first run for a number of years was Dave Townsend whose Mustang we last saw on fire after a burnout at Shakespeare County Raceway. The car is now carrying Super Pro ET numbers and Dave ran an effortless-looking 8.649/154.68. Regular test day attendee Gino Bernadine's first run of the day with hisu Pro ET Escort was a troubled-looking 15.156/83.44. Finally on four wheels Gary Gooding put in a 10.249/131.42 with his HKS Factory Modified RX7.

Dave Holland had just made his burnout before the last significant rain. We were expecting a new bike from Dave but this was his Funny Bike and he took up right where he left off when we last saw him in competition, 7.071/182.14 with audible feathering of the throttle in the second half. Garry Bowe and Richard Hann followed on with their Super Street Bikes, 8.377/129.37 for Garry with an early shut-off as the bike wanted to cross lanes, 7.977/182.71 for Richard. Mick Templeman next up for the SSBs, 8.139/175.70 and a drift across lanes in the shutdown area. All OK though.

16:30

We've not seen Pro ET racer Mark Bailey for a while and his first pass of the day in the very pretty Barracuda was a 9.934/133.64. Junior Dragster racer Jacob Kopasz was all set to go into stage and we stopped again for spots of rain.

Fred Hanssen is lined up and ready in his Top Methanol Dragster, as soon as these spots in the air go away.

16:15

One rain delay and drying job later Dan Larsen put in his third pass in his new TMFC. Another very well-controlled burnout, this car certainly seems to like burning out, and then drama: just as Dan went to bring the revs up and stage, it started to rain lightly. Starter Steve Warner leaned in as close as he dared to try to signal Dan to shut off. Dan pretty obviously didn't see him and so the timing crew hit the Panic button on the system to bring up flashing reds on the Tree. Steve was still trying to signal Dan to shut off but I guess Dan seeing a flash of light hit the throttle, giving Steve an earful of blown-alcohol motor at full chat and blowing the cap off Steve's head and somewhere into the next county. The FC got to about fifty feet out the the tyres started to shake and the Stratus started to move to the right, getting close to the guardrail and Dan shut off. No times for that run of course.

Shortly afterwards Dan came down to the start line to see Steve - to check he still had his head on, that kind of thing - it was all smiles and even though we weren't privy to the conversation Steve pretty obviously told Dan "Don't worry about it".

We're now on hold again for spots of rain.

14:45

Josh Saunders was first on the last update and he leads off this update with his second run of the day. 0.009 RT and 7.894/81.35. Jacob Kopasz made his first run of the day in the Hyperactive Junior Dragster formerly owned by Jayne Kay. With veteran JD racer Matthew Seamarks keeping an eye on things Jacob clocked 0.3251 RT and then off the throttle at the Tree, I am guessing an observed launch, and then feathering the throttle to an 11.779/57.65.

Super Gas racer Jon Giles was in the pairing lanes when the rain started. His first run of the day was a 10.161/134.38 but from here it sounded as if the car never changed gear. Stuart Morrice next up, the question was whether the Camaro would be in Super Comp or Super Gas trim...8.607/152.12 into a stiff headwind. Regular test day entertainer Robin Orthodoxou was next around the corner. A nice burnout but then the motor cut out at the hit. Robin came back about fifteen minutes later, a nice burnout and then very bouncy off the line and shut off at about 400 feet, 9.683/86.19.

Per Håkon Troa followed with his second observed run which was scheduled for a half pass. 1.008 to sixty feet and then shake at about 100 feet and Per Håkon got off the throttle at about 250 feet, 11.663/56.81. Hans Olav Olstad next up; we noticed one very neat piece of aero work on his Supertwin's front fairings which we'll leave you to spot in the pictures but which was obviously a result of his work in his home-built wind tunnel. And a fine pass for Hans Olav, 1.163 to sixty feet, 4.520/172.39 at the eighth and 6.837/192.23 at the big end. From here it looked as if the front wheel didn't come down at all for the length of the quarter mile.

14:05

Josh Saunders is a regular attendee at test days here at Santa Pod and his current UK Junior Dragster National Championship lead would tend to show you what happens when you make the most of testing. Josh's first run of the day started with a -0.0234 red, 7.8674/81.85 at the eighth.

Steve Wood and Richard Hann were in the bleach box with their Super Street Bikes just as the rain started so they were the first bikes out after the restart. 0.1946 RT and 8.802/168.44 for Steve, 10.4375/164.19 for Richard after his motor stuttered off the line. Next up was Mick Templeman, 8.111/175.71. Garry Bowe and Scott Baldwin followed in what was turning into an SSB qualifying session, 7.984/179.19 for Garry and 7.8722/184.94 for Scott despite a big wheelie and 0.003 between them, Scott there first. Graham Dance next, 8.409/158.44, from here it looked a little like G's bike gave up accelerating in the second half. Dave Smith and Paul Hambidge closed out the SSB session, 8.115/180.62 for Dave and 8.233/171.61 for Paul with a bit of a squirrelly launch which got Paul's attention.

Jeff Meads and Gary Gooding followed on four wheels, 10.443/148.04 for Jeff and 10.5872/127.25 for Garry who sat on the line for an age, I guess winding up the turbo before launching.

10:00

First racer to appear was Super Street Bike racer Graham Dance, engine builder Len Paget overseeing things on the line. A good baseline pass of 8.413, 205.09 mph came up as the terminal speed but I am guessing that good as G has been that wasn't quite right. Not unconnected with SSB, Junior Dragster racer Rhiannon Bellenie was next, dad and SSB racer Pete in attendance. 0.206 RT and 10.919/59.54 at the eighth. Rhiannon's second pass of the day was 0.101 Rt and 10.685/60.04.

B&H Automotive/LA Racing Parts Street Eliminator racer Jeff Meads followed, the tyres spinning up off the line and Jeff had to pedal to get it back, the Pop made a move to the left but Jeff stayed with it to half track and then got off it, 11.240/90.13. HKS Factory Modified racer Gary Gooding was next around the corner, pretty obviously a checkout pass for the RX7 with a very gentle launch, 11.199/128.08.

8:45

Good morning from Santa Pod Raceway for our coverage of today's Peak Performance Day brought to you in association with American Car Imports.

The Webster Race Engineering/Lex Joon Racing USA Tour 2009 webcam is on-line and posting a picture every sixty seconds.

So far a good day at Santa Pod, it's cloudy but dry and the sun is breaking through on a regular basis. Today's entry list has about thirty racers including no less than seven Super Street Bikes and various Sportsmen; there is also a VW event going on within the PPD and there is a large number of Bugs and other VWs in their own area in the pits. On the Pro side Fred Hanssen and Per Håkon Troa are planning to continue their licencing and, although not on the entry list we have seen, we would imagine that Hans Olav Olstad will again be taking the chance to test.

A big Hello to our US correspondents Ed O'Connell and Kathy Hileman who are tuned in from Rye NH in between writing and scrutinising lists, collecting pizza ingredients for smuggling into the UK, and getting their shots. See you soon guys. Hello, too, to Colin and Grace Roaf and also to Gittli Koller whom we are going to wind up by not posting details of any of the Top Methanol runs. Only joking Gittli.

The track is scheduled to open at 9:30; stay tuned and we will bring you the news as soon as things start to move.