2008 Open Sport Nationals
Sunday (qualifying)
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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 19:25 We have now posted today's pictures, which you can view via the Event Index. Tune back tomorrow and we'll bring you all the news from eliminations. We start at 9:30. 16:45 It's raining quite hard and we've now been called off for the day. Stay tuned and we'll have today's pictures for you in an hour or two. 16:40 Nostalgia Fuel Altered qualifying session 3 (left lane first): Joe Bond 15.443/50.58 bye 1.069 to sixty feet for Joe, a pedal at about 100 feet, then off the throttle. It started to rain just after Joe cleared the top end, and is still raining quite heavily now. Stay tuned. 16:30 Top Fuel Bike qualifying session 4 (left lane first): Steve Woollatt 6.518/218.64, Steve Carey 10.686/95.17, Rene van den Berg 12.291/81.26 bye, Ian Turburville 10.535/144.83 bye A big Hello to Ivana van den Berg who is tuned in to see how dad Rene is getting on. A straight run for Steve W, not quite enough to get the speed record but he's still got tomorrow for that. 1.150 to sixty feet and 4.295/175.71 at half track. Steve C's bike went to the right again but this time he had the guardrail in front of him and not the centre line so he backed off. Turbo's bike did not start to run against Rene so Rene took the bye, his bike made a move to the right off the line and he backed off at about 100 feet and idled through. Turbo next up with the start-up problem sorted, looked to hit shake at the hit, Mister Spokehead headed for the centre line and Turbo got off the throttle. Qualifying after this session:
Trackside conditions are 19.5 C, 65% humidity and 29.65 inches of air, track temperature is 25.5 C. Next up is the NFAA. 16:20 Wild Bunch qualifying top five after session 4:
Mark Richardson took over the lead and Terry Clifford came into the top five in #5 spot. VW Pro qualifying after session 3:
An improvement for Phil but in the other lane James took over the lead. Super Street qualifying top five after session 4:
Simon Cooper into #3 spot in the second pairing of the session. A 0.001 reaction from Harrison, you just know he's going to do it soon! Chris Kenny came into the top five at #5 in the last-but-one pairing, only to be bumped down by Leigh Morris in the last pairing of the session. Super Comp qualifying after session 3:
Frank Mason picked up one thousandth and stayed in #2. 15:45 The track crew are hard at work cleaning a long oildown from a Super Street Bike. Stay tuned for more, and in the meantime you can catch up with Simon's latest pit notes, which he has just posted and which you can view via the Event Index. 15:05 B&H Automotive Street Eliminator qualifying top five after session 4:
Another improvment for Jerry but no change in placing. Two pairings later Jeff bumped Jerry down a spot, coming in at #5. An improvement for Jon but he stayed in #3 spot. In the next pairing Steve P improved big time but stayed in #2 spot. Trackside conditions are 20.6 C, 58% humidity and 29.65 inches of air, track temperature is 29.6 C. 15:00 Supertwin Gas qualifying top five after session 4:
An improvement for Chris to consolidate his #1 spot, same story for Les in #3. Comp Bike qualifying top five after session 4:
No change to the top five in this session. 14:50 Sportsman ET qualifying top five after session 4:
Laurie into #1 spot. Having broken the motor of Henry The Wasp, Ian Petrie is now running in a street car, this pass 17.414 on a 17.50 dial-in. Tethys made his first run of the weekend after problems with his Capri, 13.874 on a 13.75 dial-in. Super Gas qualifying top five after session 4:
An improvement for Steve but he stayed in place. 14:35 Pro Stock Bike qualifying after session 4:
An improvement for Jerry but he stayed in place. Funny Bike qualifying after session 4:
An improvement for Tim but he stayed in place. Dave certainly getting back into the swing of things with a big improvement. 14:20 Outlaw Anglia qualifying top five after session 4:
Richard into #2 spot in the first pairing of the session. An improvement for Simon Barlow with the chute out way before the finish line so plenty more to come there, no change in position at that point. A nice pass for Dave Sidaway, 9.859 which I think is a PB or close to it, well done Dave! Super Pro ET qualifying top five after session 4:
No changes to the top five in this session. Good to see Eurodragster.com News sponsor Pete Walters back out on the track, his first outing since destroying the dragster's engine earlier this season, a 10.534 checkout pass. VW Alternate Engine qualifying after session 3:
14:00 Super Street Bike qualifying top five after session 4:
Another improvment for Richard consolidated his #1 spot at that point. In the last-but-one pairing Ven found his form again and blasted into #1 spot. Trackside conditions are 20.5 C, 59% humidity and 29.65 inches of air, track temperature 29.3 C. 13:55 Pro ET qualifying top five after session 4:
No changes to the top five in this session. Supertwin ET qualifying top five after session 4:
A change to the top three as Aaron took over the lead, John into #2 with we think a new Personal Best - well done John! - and Joe into #3 spot. Outlaw Flat Four qualifying top five after session 4:
No changes to the top five in this session. 13:30 Nostalgia Fuel Altered qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Tony Betts 8.121/147.81 bye, Joe Bond 7.302/183.43, Dave Grabham 7.348/187.61, Paul Wratten 7.567/131.25, Nick Davies 7.861/167.89 A nice first pass for Tony, an obviously-gentle set-up. A couple of cylinders out on the left side as he left the line, 1.304 to sixty feet and the spraying cylinders looked to clear by about 200 feet. Tony feathered the throttle after half track. A classic altered match-up between Joe and Dave, Dave's car wheels-up and heading for the centre line at the hit, barely missing the 330 foot reflector at the same time as Joe's altered started to move to the right, great driving jobs from both drivers kept them in their own lanes, Dave's altered moving left and right and making a violent move to the left at about 1000 feet, 0.092 in it at the finish line. A nice paired burnout for Paul and Nick, I am convinced that Nick stayed on it until he got to the last photographer along the guardrail. A superb race then, Nick wheels-up, the front end came down and then shot up again at about 300 feet, a pedal and the front end came down but Havoc wasn't going to go straight for anything. A much more straight pass for Paul, 1.033 to sixty feet and 2.852/153.06 at half track, nothing visibly wrong but Paul shut off at about 1000 feet and put the chutes out. Trackside conditions are 20.4 C, 62% humidity and 29.62 inches of air, track temperature is 32.5 C. 13:00 9.50 Bike qualifying top five after session 4:
Wayne into #1 spot in the first pairing of the session, in the other lane Jon up into #3 spot. A couple of pairings later Richard Sawatzki improved but stayed in place. The top six qualifiers are in the 9.5s. Next up is the NFAA. 13:00 Top Fuel Bike qualifying session 3 (left lane first): Ian Turburville 9.847/159.95, Steve Woollatt shut off, Steve Carey no time, Rene van den Berg 7,834/167.85 Steve W shut off on the start line after the Tree had run. Word came from race officials that Steve's throttle cable snapped robbing him of the chance to back up yesterday's 228.74 for a new UK record but he has another day and a half to attend to that. A straight run for Turbo with nothing visibly wrong but he shut off just after half track. Steve C's bike left the line and immediately started to move right, Steve shut off but he couldn't avoid the 330 foot reflector and Steve crossed lanes well behind Rene. A nice straight pass for Rene, cylinders out at the top end again. Qualifying after this session:
12:40 VW Sportsman qualifying top five after session 4:
No changes to the top five in this session. Next up is Top Fuel Bike. 12:35 Junior Drag Bike qualifying after session 4:
Jorden up into #3, an improvement for Brett but he stayed in #5 spot. Junior Dragster qualifying top five after session 4:
Matthew up from #4 to #1 in the fourth pairing of the session. In the next pairing Joe took over the lead, getting very close to the Eurodragster.com/Speedflow Perfect Light Award. 12:30 Super Comp qualifying after session 3:
Improvements for all three but no changes in placings. That's the end of qualifying cycle 3, straight on into cycle 4. 12:15 Supertwin Gas qualifying top five after session 3:
An improvement for Ric but staying in #4 spot at that point. 12:10 Super Gas qualifying top five after session 3:
Jon Morton up into #2 spot in the third pairing of the session. In the next pairing, Conrad Stanley took over the lead. Mark White improved but stayed in fourth. Comp Bike qualifying top five after session 3:
Nick Holland into #3 spot in the second pairing of the session. Next up, could Ivan Birch back up his speed record? The answer was yes, an improved ET to consolidate the #1 spot and the 185.87 backed up by yesterday's 184.36, well done Ivan! A very consistent pass from Roland, two thousandths quicker than yesterday's best and staying in #4 spot. In the last pairing of the session Dave Peters came into the top five at #2 spot with a great pass. Bob Brooks' final licencing pass on the new Yellow Metal bike was a 9.011/156.73. Trackside conditions are 18.7 C, 70% humidity and 29.62 inches of air, track temperature is 24.6 C. 11:55 Super Street qualifying top five after session 3:
No changes to the top five in this session. Wild Bunch qualifying top five after session 3:
No changes to the top five in this session. VW Pro qualifying after session 3:
No changes in this session. 11:45 Here we go then, starting today with the tail end of yesterday's Sportsman ET qualifier then a few more classes to finish qualifying cycle 3. Trackside conditions at the start of qualifying were 18.45 C, 71% humidity and 29.62 inches of air, track temperature 23.1 C. Sportsman ET qualifying top five after session 3:
Geoff Cowley took over the lead, Steve Unsworth into third. Chevy Llewellyn into the top five at #5 at the tail end of the session. B&H Automotive Street Eliminator qualifying top five after session 3:
An improvement for Jerry, blackstriping his lane too so there's more left in the Capri yet, staying in #5 at that point. Same story for Jon, an improvement but staying in #3 at that point. Into the sevens again for Splinter to consolidate his #1 spot. 9:30 Good morning and welcome from Shakespeare County Raceway. It's day two of qualifying and we're here to bring you all the news in association with American Car Imports. The Webster Race Engineering/MPM Oil webcam is on-line and posting a picture every sixty seconds. We had some rain overnight and the track was quite wet first thing, but the sun came out about three quarters of an hour ago and the track is drying very quickly indeed so I don't think it will be long before we get going. Trackside conditions are 16.8 C, 86% humidity and 29.62 inches of air. Track temperature on the start line is 19.4 C. Stay tuned and as soon as we get going we'll bring you all the latest. Reports and pictures ©Eurodragster.com |