2008 Springspeed Festival
Saturday (qualifying)


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20:10

Today's pictures have now been posted, you can view them via the Event Index page. Many thanks to Dave Dick for contributing pictures of Kev Slyfield's mishap and to Grace Roaf for helping to select the pictures in today's gallery.

The track opens at 10:30 tomorrow morning, tune back then and we'll bring you all the news.

17:15

The track dried, we had Pro ET session 3 and then went into the Pro Modified demonstration. In the PM demo session Kev Slyfield's Willys got out of shape in the burnout and punted the Christmas Tree about 200 feet down the track before hitting the guardrail. Kev is quite OK, the Willys doesn't look too bad from here.

This has however put an end to qualifying for today since there is a lot of work to do on the Tree and the track.

As is our policy in such situations we have stopped the webcam. It will be switched back on when the track has been cleared.

Pro ET qualifying top five after session 3:

  1. Ian Brown +0.01673 10.7367/121.98
  2. Paul Baynton +0.0210 10.9710/123.42
  3. Martin Green +0.0212 10.2212/132.17
  4. John Atkinson +0.0242 9.0242/132.74
  5. Liz Malcolm +0.0340 10.9740/120.03

Improvements for Ian and Liz but the top five stayed in place.

We are now working on today's pictures and Simon is working on another set of pit notes. Stay tuned.

15:55

VW Sportsman qualifying top five after session 3:

  1. Chris Bray +0.0392 15.8392/86.93
  2. Craig Allen +0.0609 15.2009/83.66
  3. Martin Ayton +0.0750 14.8750/93.76
  4. Helen Williams +0.0941 19.2941/69.59
  5. Polly Naylor +0.1273 17.9273/75.76

Chris takes over the lead, Polly improves but stays in #5.

Sportsman ET qualifying top five after session 3:

  1. Geoff Cowley +0.0096 15.3096/91.50
  2. Ian Jackson +0.0762 13.4362/101.37
  3. Kev Long +0.0811 15.4811/90.70
  4. Tethys +0.0953 14.0553/98.44
  5. Steve Unsworth +0.1077 14.2377/96.85

Geoff stays #1, Ian into #2 and Kev into #3.

Junior Dragster qualifying top five after session 3:

  1. Vicky Molden 0.0030
  2. Scott Hauser 0.0082
  3. Zak Johnson 0.0167
  4. Harry Elliott 0.0185
  5. Joe Kellett 0.0228

Vicky took over the lead in the last but one pairing.

Junior Drag Bike qualifying after session 3:

  1. Scott Collier +0.0145 10.3145/64.66
  2. Joe Dear +0.0993 12.5993/50.06
  3. Giselle Moor +0.4457 13.8457/45.18
  4. Jorden Bissell +0.7564 13.7064/38.96

Scott takes over the lead and Joe goes right-side and into #2.

15:35

9.50 Bike qualifying top five after session 2:

  1. Shaun Spiers 9.5525/146.39
  2. Richard Sawatzki 9.5933/135.43
  3. Richard Hann 9.6307/146.41
  4. Andy Haley 9.6617/141.75
  5. Wayne Saunders 9.6785/147.97

Shaun takes over the lead and Richard S moves up. An improvement from Wayne puts him #5.

Supertwin ET qualifying top five after session 2:

  1. Pete Harrison +0.1065 10.1065/112.62
  2. John Hackney +0.1360 10.0360/140.55
  3. Barrie Gregory +0.1397 11.0397/124.50
  4. Dave Shorthouse +0.2193 13.2193/104.29
  5. Bev Riley +0.2666 13.1666/92.63

Pete into the lead and Barrie into the top five.

Supertwin Gas qualifying top five after session 2:

  1. Chris Mott 9.3978/142.98
  2. Andy Smith 9.4449/137.94
  3. Les Harris 9.8306/137.09
  4. Dave Jones 10.0541/134.84
  5. Don Irvine 10.9028/119.55

A great pass by Motty to take the lead, improvements for Andy, Dave and Don.

Straight on to cycle 3, stay tuned.

15:20

B&H Automotive Street Eliminator qualifying top five after session 2:

  1. Steve Nash 7.7759/186.09
  2. Jon Webster 8.4543/170.15
  3. Ray Comer 9.7432/143.03
  4. Jason Weir 9.8658/146.02
  5. Jeff Meads 10.0145/149.11

Ray into the top five. Splinter consolidates his lead and does the first half of a class ET record, well done Splinter!

15:15

Funny Bike qualifying after session 2:

  1. Tim Blakemore 8.1018/160.11
  2. Stu Chamberlain 8.1119/172.34
  3. Kev Charman 8.2247/174.91
  4. Chris Hall 8.3013/160.13
  5. Steve French 10.4798/87.25

Stu Chamberlain did an impressive riding job after his bike tried to throw him off. Stu calmly feathered the throttle and got back on the gas, going all the way through. Tim Blakemore took over the lead even with a hesitant run so there is a lot more left.

Super Modified qualifying after session 2:

  1. Nigel Payne 7.6603/180.74
  2. Tim Garlick 7.6991/176.69
  3. Tim Mugridge 8.5847/166.03

Super Modified rookie Tim posts a very nice first pass.

Trackside conditions are 19.9 C, 48% humidity and 1017 Mb of air, track temperature is 30.8 C.

14:50

Super Pro ET qualifying top five after session 2:

  1. Jack Brewster +0.0017 8.5917/159.17
  2. Dave Ward +0.0115 8.7615/153.00
  3. Rick Cooke +0.0122 8.2622/158.46
  4. Simon Rowland +0.02768 8.1276/168.51
  5. Kerry Rolfe +0.0357 7.5357/168.11

Jack a squeak from the Eurodragster.com/Gold RV Perfect ET Award in taking over the lead, and Dave into #2. Improvements for Rick, Simon and Kerry.

Pro Stock Bike qualifying after session 2:

  1. Dave Beck 7.4637/177.60
  2. Len Paget 7.5653/174.33
  3. Martin Bishop 7.7264/148.81
  4. Ray Debben 7.9523/169.52
  5. Richard Gipp 9.9742/96.75

Dave Beck and Len Paget into #1 and #2 side-by-side on their first runs of the weekend. Martin Bishop briefly led but ended up #3. Jerry Collier made his first PSB run to about 330 feet.

14:30

Supertwin Fuel qualifying after session 2:

  1. Wendy Clutterbuck 8.9783/133.49
  2. Martin Wildash 14.7538/74.83

Super Street qualifying top five after session 2:

  1. Dave Cherrett 10.9018/95.28
  2. Harrison Brown 10.9279/104.27
  3. Martyn Sanger 10.9510/100.82
  4. Leigh Morris 10.9548/120.84
  5. Simon Cooper 10.8618/118.09

Martyn Sanger into #2 spot in the second pairing of the session, in the next pairing Harrison Brown took over #2 spot, this on top of a 0.002 reaction in the last session - and let's not forget this is his rookie season.

Super Gas qualifying after session 2:

  1. Frank Mason 9.9043/146.43
  2. Conrad Stanley 9.9183/154.80
  3. Jon Morton 9.9448/145.65
  4. Jon Evans 9.9736/145.72
  5. Mick Howling 10.0044/134.61

Conrad into #1 spot and Jon into #3 the first pairing, in the next pairing Frank took over the lead.

Simon has posted today's first set of pit notes, which you can view via the Event Index page.

Trackside conditions are 19.1 C, 50% humidity and 1017 Mb of air, track temperature 29.2 C.

14:10

Comp Bike qualifying after session 2:

  1. Ivan Birch 8.7617/143.83
  2. Alan Young 9.1066/156.02
  3. Phil Leamon 9.3803/147.10
  4. Stuart Crane 9.5476/102.50
  5. Phil Crossley 9.7689/128.90

A tweak for Ivan consolidates his #1 spot, Phil into the #3 spot, and an improvement for Phil.

Wild Bunch qualifying top five after session 2:

  1. Darren Law +0.0149 9.5549/142.52
  2. Pete Yates +0.0333 9.2633/144.85
  3. Mark Richardson +0.3530 9.9530/132.40
  4. Chris Hartnell +0.3549 9.6549/141.74
  5. Phil Sweeney +0.5402 9.3402/136.37

Eurodragster.com News sponsor Pete into #2 spot and Mark into the top five in his new ride.

Top Fuel Bike qualifying session 1 (left lane first):

Steve Woollatt 8.4337/131.62 bye, Steve Carey 7.1757/200.20 bye, Ian Turburville 25.0194/24.51 bye, Rene Van Den Berg shut off bye

Steve W's slick up in smoke at the hit again, Steve feathered the throttle and stayed with it to about 1000 feet. A great baseline for Steve C, the straightest run I think I've seen Steve make and into #1 spot. Turbo was off the throttle very quickly and shut off. Rene pulled a nice burnout but looked to have a cylinder constantly out and was shut off after pushing back to the line.

Qualifying after this session:

  1. Steve Carey 7.1757/200.20
  2. Ian Turburville 8.4082/155.41
  3. Steve Woollatt 8.4337/131.62

13:50

Super Street Bike qualifying top five after session 2:

  1. Steve Venables 7.5398/190.86
  2. Graham Balchin 7.8012/191.91
  3. Scott Baldwin 7.8405/179.49
  4. Dave Smith 7.8552/186.51
  5. Mark Watkins 8.0763/182.04

Graham into #2, Scott into #3 and Mark into the top 5.

13:45

Super Comp qualifying after session 2:

  1. Dave Catton 8.9694/155.45
  2. Frank Mason 8.9950/149.52

Outlaw Anglia qualifying top five after session 2:

  1. Paul Hensher 9.2506/155.40
  2. Rob Stone 9.4751/140.44
  3. Simon Barlow 9.5145/144.87
  4. Dave Sidaway 10.2415/131.72
  5. Chris Kenny 10.9312/120.55

Paul Hensher takes over the lead even with an out-of-shape and pedalled pass!

Trackside conditions are 19.1 C, 50% humidity and 1017 Mb of air, track temperature 28.2 C

13:35

Pro ET qualifying top five after session 2:

  1. Ian Brown +0.0190 10.7190/122.21
  2. Paul Baynton +0.0210 10.9710/123.42
  3. Martin Green +0.0212 1202212/132.17
  4. John Atkinson +0.0242 9.0242/132.74
  5. Liz Malcolm +0.03515 10.9751/119.88

The top five changes out of recognition from session 1, Ian taking over the lead.

VW Sportsman qualifying top five after session 2:

  1. Craig Allen +0.0609 15.2009/83.66
  2. Martin Ayton +0.0750 14.8750/93.76
  3. Helen Williams +0.0941 19.2941/69.59
  4. Chris Bray +0.2182 16.0183/85.88
  5. Polly Naylor +0.4622 18.2622/74.77

Craig takes over the lead and Martin up into #2.

Outlaw Flat Four qualifying top five after session 2:

  1. Bernie Newbury 10.2190/130.76
  2. Pete Englezos 10.7757/127.18
  3. James Wootton 11.1784/129.77
  4. Jim Smith 11.6841/104.40
  5. Pete Shattock 12.1361/107.50

Bernie takes over the lead and Jim into the top five.

13:15

Sportsman ET qualifying top five after session 2:

  1. Geoff Cowley +0.0096 15.3096/91.50
  2. Tethys +0.0954 14.1954/96.50
  3. Steve Unsworth +0.1077 14.2377/96.85
  4. Kev Long +0.1618 15.4618/91.21
  5. Don Brittain +0.5949 14.1949/101.54

Don Brittain into the top five.

Trackside conditions are 19.0 C, 50% humidity and 1017 Mb of air, track temperature 28.9 C.

13:00

Junior Drag Bike qualifying after session 2:

  1. Giselle Moor +0.4457 13.8457/45.18
  2. Jorden Bissell +0.7564 13.7064/38.96
  3. Scott Collier +1.0749 11.0749/63.65
  4. Joe Dear -0.7853 12.7147/50.11

Jorden up into second and Joe gets a time on the board.

Junior Dragster qualifying top five after session 2:

  1. Scott Hauser 0.0082
  2. Vicky Molden 0.0115
  3. Zak Johnson 0.0167
  4. Harry Elliott 0.0185
  5. Joe Kellett 0.0228

Scott took over the lead in the last pairing of the session.

12:50

Pro Modified demonstration:

Wayne Nicholson 9.634/144.45 def. Kev Slyfield 10.819/78.06

The words "A pedalfest ensued" sums this one up very succinctly!

12:45

Supertwin ET qualifying top five after session 1:

  1. John Hackney +0.1360 10.0360/140.55
  2. Dave Shorthouse +0.2193 13.2193/104.29
  3. Aaron Sparks +1.2364 15.2364/70.02
  4. Bev Riley +1.5421 14.4421/80.34
  5. Steve Partridge -0.0091 11.4908/120.76

Same story as 9.50 Bike in this class, six bikes in all broke out in this session.

Supertwin Gas qualifying top five after session 1:

  1. Andy Smith 9.4612/139.13
  2. Les Harris 9.8306/137.09
  3. Dave Jones 10.8299/115.82
  4. Chris Mott 11.1010/123.50
  5. Ric Naylor 11.2678/118.47

Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association qualifying session 1 (left lane first):

Clayton Round no time bye, Nick Davies shut off, Dennis Wratten 6.7763/205.70, Neil Townson 10.0253/102.53, Dave Grabham 7.4277/174.43 bye, Joe Bond 11.4499/58.87 bye

Big burnouts for both Clayton and Nick, Nick shut off after the burnout and was pushed to the side of the track. Clayton went to take the bye but rolled the beams, then hammered it anyway, the Rebel T going out of shape and up on three wheels at one point. A huge burnout for Dennis and a great pass, running down the centreline but staying with it and getting very close indeed to the BBFA class records. I'm guessing a checkout pass for Neil, on and off the throttle. Pete Radcliffe leaned out his motor as soon as he started to move from the pairing lanes. A great pass for Dave Grabham, judging by the crew reaction a PB, well done Dave! Checkout pass for Joe Bond, head-rattling shake just off the line and a couple of pedals.

12:15

9.50 Bike qualifying top five after session 1:

  1. Richard Hann 9.6307/146.41
  2. Andy Haley 9.6617/141.75
  3. Richard Sawatzki 9.7543/144.05
  4. Dave Hall 10.4366/96.76
  5. Augy Harrison 11.1972/148.16

No less than six riders broke out including Chris Jones with a very naughty 8.5915!

12:10

B&H Automotive Street Eliminator qualifying top five after session 1:

  1. Steve Nash 7.9271/185.83
  2. Jon Webster 8.4543/170.15
  3. Jeff Meads 10.0145/149.11
  4. Jason Weir 10.1188/142.37
  5. Ian Hook 10.4111/132.88

12:00

Funny Bike qualifying after session 1:

  1. Stu Chamberlain 8.1119/172.34
  2. Chris Hall 8.3013/160.13
  3. Tim Blakemore 11.2805/122.96
  4. Kev Charman 11.8426/133.84
  5. Ken Cooper 12.0199/62.88

Pro Stock Bike qualifying after session 1:

  1. Ray Debben 7.9593/163.38
  2. Richard Gipp 9.9742/96.75

Super Modified qualifying after session 1:

  1. Nigel Payne 7.6603/180.74
  2. Tim Garlick 7.6991/176.69

Trackside conditions are 18.7 C, 49% humidity and 1018 Mb of air.

11:50

Supertwin Fuel qualifying after session 1:

  1. Martin Wildash 14.7538/74.83

Super Pro ET qualifying top five after session 1:

  1. Rick Cooke +0.0208 8.2708/157.88
  2. Simon Rowland +0.0471 8.1471/167.31
  3. Kerry Rolfe +0.0767 7.5767/165.73
  4. Ashley Bell +0.0872 8.7872/147.00
  5. Bob Doyle +0.3214 9.2214/146.63

11:30

Super Street qualifying top five after session 1:

  1. Dave Cherrett 10.9018/95.28
  2. Leigh Morris 10.9548/120.84
  3. Simon Cooper 10.8618/118.09
  4. John Grant 10.8269/137.27
  5. Harrison Brown 10.7685/116.97

Top Fuel Bike qualifying after session 1:

  1. Ian Turburville 8.4082/155.41
  2. Steve Woollatt 17.4173/67.77

Steve Woollatt up in smoke at the hit and idled through. Strong launch for Turbo rattling race control but the engine appeared to be hesitating a little towards the top end. Rene Van Den Berg fired up his motor and shut down twice.

11:10

Super Gas qualifying after session 1:

  1. Jon Morton 9.9448/145.65
  2. Mick Howling 10.0044/134.61
  3. Paul Marston 10.1328/145.70
  4. Conrad Stanley 9.8784/155.48
  5. Jon Evans 9.8230/145.83

11:05

Comp Bike qualifying after session 1:

  1. Ivan Birch 8.7702/152.69
  2. Alan Young 9.1066/156.02
  3. Stuart Crane 9.5606/118.46
  4. Phil Crossley 9.8574/130.60
  5. Fiona Moor 11.3918/151.63

A nice first run out for Ivan Birch on his newly-imported bike.

Wild Bunch qualifying top five after session 1:

  1. Darren Law +0.0149 9.5549/142.52
  2. Chris Hartnell +0.3549 9.6549/141.74
  3. Phil Sweeney +0.5402 9.3402/136.37
  4. Keith Crampton +1.4869 15.4869/76.02
  5. Pete Yates -0.0427 9.3872/142.61

10:55

Outlaw Flat Four qualifying top five after session 1:

  1. Pete Englezos 10.7757/127.18
  2. James Wootton 11.2553/124.17
  3. Bernie Newbury 11.3525/115.52
  4. Pete Shattock 12.3047/105.16
  5. Dave Dinning 12.4979/107.42

Outlaw Anglia qualifying top five after session 1:

  1. Simon Barlow 9.5145/144.87
  2. Rob Stone 9.6375/138.03
  3. Dave Sidaway 10.4632/131.06
  4. Chris Kenny 10.9312/120.55
  5. Barry Woodford 12.0026/111.16

Super Street Bike qualifying top five after session 1:

  1. Steve Venables 7.5398/190.86
  2. Dave Smith 7.8552/186.51
  3. Scott Baldwin 7.9578/183.58
  4. Gary Bowe 8.1957/172.73
  5. Graham Balchin 8.2308/179.21

10:35

Pro ET qualifying top five after session 1:

  1. Lee Huxley +0.0475 10.5475/125.82
  2. Mick Howling +0.0502 9.5702/134.93
  3. Neil Hunter +0.0815 9.7815/138.10
  4. Dan Page +0.1093 11.4693/116.00
  5. Liz Malcolm +0.1476 11.0476/119.75

VW Sportsman qualifying top five after session 1:

  1. Helen Williams +0.0941 19.2941/69.59
  2. Chris Bray +0.2182 16.0183/85.88
  3. Polly Naylor +0.4622 18.2622/74.77
  4. Adrian Wigley +0.4782 17.2782/82.22
  5. Spencer Tramm +0.5502 16.8302/86.32

Super Comp qualifying after session 1:

  1. Dave Catton 8.9694/155.45
  2. Frank Mason 10.1087/143.68

Trackside conditions are 16.1 C, 58% humidity and 1018 Mb of air.

10:10

Sportsman ET qualifying top five after session 1:

  1. Geoff Cowley +0.0096 15.3096/91.50
  2. Tethys +0.0954 14.1954/96.50
  3. Steve Unsworth +0.1077 14.2377/96.85
  4. Kev Long +0.1618 15.4618/91.21
  5. Ian Jackson +0.5949 14.0949/94.41

10:05

Junior Drag Bike qualifying after session 1:

  1. Giselle Moor +0.4457 13.8457/45.18
  2. Scott Collier +1.0749 11.0749/63.65
  3. Jorden Bissell -0.5163 13.0233/47.07

Junior Dragster qualifying top five after session 1:

  1. Vicky Molden 0.0115
  2. Zak Johnson 0.0167
  3. Harry Elliott 0.0185
  4. Joe Kellett 0.0228
  5. Scott Hauser 0.0321

8:30

Good morning and welcome from Shakespeare County Raceway. It's day one of the Springspeed Festival 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 is posting a picture every sixty seconds; you can get to the webcam via the Event Index page.

It's a pleasant morning here at SCR with hazy sunshine and a light breeze. Trackside conditions are currently 13.1 C, 62% humidity and 1018 Mb of air, track temperature on the start line is 14.1 C.

Qualifying is due to start at 10:00, stay tuned and as soon as the track opens we'll be here with all the news.


Reports and pictures ©Eurodragster.com