2011 Auto Trader Easter Thunderball
Run What You Brung


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Good evening and welcome to our report of today's pre-Easter Thunderball Run What You Brung at Santa Pod Raceway, brought to you in association with Alamo Rent-A-Car.

Firstly we must thank everyone who sent feedback about the The Webster Race Engineering/Nimbus Motorsport webcam using new server facilities supplied by Doyousee.me. Just about everyone raved about the quality of the picture provided by the new HD webcam but a number of correspondents asked if the volume of the audio could be increased. We shall try to attend to our end of this on tomorrow's broadcast, and please check out the small Settings button at the bottom right of the webcam window which includes the facility to increase the volume. A few correspondents asked about streaming the commentary; there are no commentators at RWYBs or Peak Performance Days, so we are providing trackside audio this weekend. The plan for next week's race is to pipe in the Nitro FM audio stream, which includes commentary.

On to today's RWYB which took place in very pleasant, warm, spring weather. The track was good enough to provide a number of Personal Bests during the day and there was no real downtime save for very brief stops to tow broken vehicles off the track. A small number of racers were present although we suspect that there were more than we recognised: the mounts of some of the bike participants at Santa Pod today looked very much like 8.50 Bikes but were not carrying race numbers. Apologies in advance to anyone who is missed out in the below.

First racer out onto the track today was Pro ET's Paul Brown. Paul opened his account with an early shut-off 9.875/99.61 and followed that up with a 9.179/142.56. Paul ran a number of 9.1s then took the rear wing off the car. Without the wing the dragster ran a best of 9.053/144.39 but again a number of runs were in the 9.1s; your reporter is predicting a 9.11 dial-in at the start of qualifying next week.

John Hackney of Santa Pod's timing crew made several passes on his Supertwin ET bike, hoping that the clutch would behave better than it did on his last outing. Hackers' first two runs were within a thousandth of each other at 9.665/143.01 then 9.664/142.47. The best of John's many runs was a 9.5974/143.06. Also on the Supertwin front Tara Reeve was licencing on her Supertwin ET bike. Tara recently became a senior ACU Scrutineer and the only female engine capacity checker in drag racing. Tara got progressively quicker all morning, starting off in the sixteens and ultimately recording a best of 14.345/87.36 and gaining her licence.

Sportsman ET new girl Sarah Styles made a number of passes in her Unicorn Racing Camaro. Sarah's first run of the day was a 13.201/104.68 followed by a 13.104/101.93 with a tight -0.008 red. All of Sarah's passes were in the lower half of the thirteens.

Back on two wheels and it was great to see Italian Super Street Bike racer Luca Carbonera back at Santa Pod. Luca opened his day with an 8.716/162.47 then went quicker and quicker with runs of 8.618/167.90, 8.580/169.82, and a best of 8.432/168.53. Nigel Barker got his Busa back from servicing yesterday and ran this afternoon. His first pass with everything turned down was 9.188/161.37 followed by 8.311/164.88 and then into the sevens at 7.906/177.10 so he'll be a happy shopper. Chris Reed was doing double duty overseeing daughter Stacey's Junior Dragster as well as riding his own Super Street Bike. Bois opened with a 10.684/141.28 then a 18.452/72.64, both obviously troubled runs. Bois discovered that part of his boost pipe had come adrift, opening a two-inch hole in the pipe. Hole plugged, Bois blasted a 8.264/174.39 to end his day. Fellow Super Street Biker Paul Hambidge pushed back on his first attempt but clocked 8.999/151.61 on his first run down the track followed by a couple of low nines and then an early shut off thirteen.

Staying on two wheels, it was good to see Ed Smiley back out on track now in 8.50 Bike. The first couple of runs were troubled with a cut-out off the line and then a very early shut-off fifteen-second pass but then things picked up with identical ETs on the next two passes 9.454/141.14 and 9.454/140.30. Nick Daniels was a welcome returnee in a very well put together Comp Bike. Nick had a couple of instances of burning out but then not making the start line but it came together in the mid-afternoon with an 11.292/118.37 which after a year's hard work must have felt just great with a lot more yet to come.

The aforementioned Stacey Reed was running in the Deadly Nightshade Junior Dragster previously campaigned by Rhiannon Bellenie. Stacey started her day with a 0.150 Reaction Time and 11.120/100.53 then 0.130 RT and 10.701/58.65 which was her best run of the day. Returning Super Modified racer Nigel Payne is running here at Santa Pod tomorrow but today he and wife Sarah were overseeing son Jordan's licencing passes in Santa Pod Raceway's Junior Stock Dragster. Jordan's first pass was a 16.103/38.21 with a pretty close -0.013 red, the next a 16.026/37.64 and then the JD was taken into the start line garage for a service. A 16.086/35.07 was Jordan's best pass after the service. Thomas Cook-Abbott who is the son of Mark the doctor on Santa Pod's medical team, made several passes today. His opener was a 15.662/38.57 and his best a 15.080/40.87 with three RTs in the 0.0s to boot. We got our first look at Brad Jackson's Junior Dragster in its new Lucas Oil colours and as you can see from today's Photo Gallery it is a real looker. Brad's dad Wayne said that the intention was to make a serious tilt at the Championship this season. The intention today was to run consistently and Brad ran a string of 8.0s, opening the day with an 8.094/81.52 with an RT we won't mention and the best an 8.023/82.11. Brad's RTs settled into the 0.0s by the end of the day. Fellow Junior Dragster racer Joe Kellett was seeing just how quick the Drummin' Man dragster would go, producing performances which would have resulted in instant expulsion from the event had we been under permit, but we weren't so no quibbling; Joe started his day with a 7.720/83.94 with a 0.024 RT and cut loose to a best of 7.619/84.41.

Paul Marston was also in index-busting mood in the PiranaZ Super Comp dragster. An initial 9.120/100.53 with a 0.077 RT was followed by the motor dying after the burnout on the next run. Paul shouted something after the engine died, a shout of frustration was audible through his crash helmet; it wasn't clear what he said although it was pretty obviously not a shout of bad temper nor was there any language - as you should all know, Paul is not that kind of guy. Problem solved, Paul blasted the Super Comp index somewhat with a pass of 8.246/161.35. It was good to see Mick Howling back on the start line with the PMR team after having to sit out the majority of 2010 due to work commitments.

Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator racer Stuart Williams was another to get his money's worth with a number of runs in his Toyota Supra. The first pass was a checkout and a number of other passes resulted in shake or screaming tyres for the first hundred or so yards. Stuart made a number of low ten second passes the best of which was 10.076/147.68.

We got our first look at Simon Gough's new Pro ET entry, a very pretty Chevrolet Bel Air named Red Hot. Simon started his day with an 11.521/118.67 then went quicker with an 11.446/117.29. Former Junior Dragster and Sportsman ET racer Matthew Seamarks was making checkout passes in his 100E, experiencing gear selection problems and then shutting off after the burnout on his last outing. Super Gas racer and Eurodragster.com decal sponsor Paul Foote had a couple of goes at making a pass in his pick-up but was shut off for fluid leaks on both occasions.

Outlaw Flat Four racer Dave Dinning had a wobbly moment on the launch on his only run of the day when the Beetle took a step to the left at the hit and almost paid a trackside visit to our fearless pit reporter and photographer Kirstie. Kirstie stood her ground and got the shot and Dave idled it to an 18.186/46.85.

Today's pictures can be viewed via the Event Index page. Tune back tomorrow and we'll bring you the news from the Peak Performance Day.


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