2003 Allstar Nationals
Monday (eliminations)
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21:00
Today's pictures have now been posted; you can view them via the Event Index page.
That's the end of our coverage of the Allstar Nationals, thanks for tuning in. For their help this weekend we would like to thank Ozzy, Simon and Wayne of the Tech Crew; Race Director Richard Warburton; all the APIRA race officials; the FAST team; Scott Talbot and the start line crew; Lee and Emma Child; track announcers Jerry Cookson and Barry Bohannon; Wendy Talbot; Dave Alexander; Jim Broome; Roger Gorringe; Tracy in the media centre; Darren Prentice; Jon Cross; Lex Joon and Gerda Dijkstra; and of course to all the racers for giving us so much to write about and quote. A personal Thank You from Tog to everyone who congratulated him on the Super Gas drive, and to those who offered him a set in their car please be aware that he took you seriously.
Eurodragster's next Event Coverage will be the pre-FIA European Finals testing at Santa Pod Raceway on Saturday-Sunday 30th-31st August, which is the start of our build-up to the FIA European Finals. Our next Event Coverage from Shakespeare County Raceway will be the Doorslammer Internationals in late September.
This weekend's Event Coverage has been brought to you in association with American Car Imports.
18:30
The event was rounded off by the final match race between Jim Seward and Mickey Moore in their Fuel Altereds, Jim taking the win and back in the sixes at 6.935/173.75 to Mickey's 9.616/166.67, and then the last car down the track was Roger Goring in the Firestorm FC, a fine 6.451 at 241.94 again.
Here are the final results in all classes:
Fuel Funny Car: John Spuffard 5.641/190.68 def. Gordon Smith 16.364/64.94
Top Methanol: Steph Milam 6.308/219.57, Doug Bond broke
Super Modified: Graham Ellis 7.511/182.93 def. Andy Hone 7.861/173.08
Super Pro ET: Barry Giles (7.70) 7.709/169.81 def. Al Golding (8.94) 8.955/149.01 red light
Pro ET: Bob Doyle (10.35) 10.372/131.58 def. Lee Huxley (10.90) 10.824/120.64 breakout
Sportsman ET: Mark Anderson (13.02) 13.132/102.27 def. Matt Attwood (13.85) 13.800/94.74 breakout
Super Comp: Tim Adam 9.013/145.63 def. Phil Bennett 9.031/141.96
Super Gas: Peter Lane 9.942/140.19 def. Martin Curbishley 9.895/141.96 breakout
Super Street: Mike Bentley 10.917/130.43, Bob Lees broke
Junior Dragster: Collin Morrice (9.30) 9.293/67.57 def. Joe Bond (9.50) 9.437/67.16 red light
Custom Car Street Eliminator: Ian Hook 9.276/151.01 def. Andy Frost 18.918/64.66
Outlaw Anglia: Paul Hensher 8.849/153.06 def. Pete Ashworth 9.025/145.16
Wild Bunch: Gareth Kent (12.42) 12.524/102.51 def. Tom Coe (11.40) 11.313/113.35 breakout
Top Fuel Bike: Steve Woollatt 7.105/177.17 was unopposed
Funny Bike: Neil Midgley 12.470/46.06 def. Dave Holland 7.309/180.00 red light
Pro Stock Bike: Dave Beck 7.536/171.76 def. Richard Gipp 7.689/169.81
Comp Bike: Phil Leamon 8.550/154.11 def. Paul Newman 10.836/127.12
Super Street Bike: Dave Bailey 8.334/169.17 def. Graham Dance 8.421/173.08
9.90 Bike: Wayne Hobbs 9.854/145.16 def. Richard Sawatzki 9.831/127.12 on lesser breakout
10.90 Bike: David Warren 11.925/97.61 def. Paul Coombs 11.984/117.80
Supertwin Fuel: Chris Stebbings 10.960/83.49, Jerry Collier broke
Supertwin Gas: George Laycock 9.819/131.58 def. Ric Naylor 10.412/121.29
Supertwin Modified: TJ O'Brien 9.941/134.73 def. Dave Bartz 11.527/110.84
Supertwin Street: Mark Earrey 10.431/129.68 def. Ian Tomsett 11.055/123.63
Junior Drag Bike: Jennifer Hurcomb (10.00) 13.135/43.90 def. Jake Carruthers (13.00) 16.388/41.32
We are now working on today's pictures, stay tuned.
18:15
Fuel Funny Car final
John Spuffard 5.641/190.69 def. Gordon Smith 16.364/64.94
Gordon's tyres went up in smoke at the hit again and Spuff was long-gone. Spuff was off the throttle
at about a thousand feet and there was a huge cloud of smoke. The track crew were cleaning up aluminium
pieces and oil from the shutdown area.
Championship co-ordinator Jim Broome kindly calculated the latest points standings for us which are:
Top Methanol final
Steph Milam 6.603/219.57, Doug Bond broke
This one was over after the burnouts as Doug's engine blew a burst panel. Steph took a bye for the win
with a tremendous pass wiping out her personal bests.
Steve Woollatt took a bye for the Top Fuel Bike final, off the throttle not long after half track and recording 7.105/177.17.
Stay tuned and we will bring you the final results in all classes very soon.
16:00
Funny Bike round 2 winners: Neil Midgley 6.989/182.93, Dave Holland 7.341/172.41
Comp Bike round 2 winners: Paul Newman 10.759/119.36, Phil Leamon 8.742/151.01
Super Pro ET round 3 winners: Al Golding (8.94) 8.956/148.51, Barry Giles (7.55) 7.718/171.76 bye
Super Modified round 2 winners: Graham Ellis 15.242/76.92 bye, Andy Hone 115.684/89.29 bye
Pro ET round 4 winners: Bob Doyle (10.32) 10.320/129.68, Lee Huxley (10.90) 11.052/118.11 bye
Junior Dragster round 3 bye: Colin Morrice (9.30) 9.382/65.31, Joe Bond (9.50) 9.547/66.18 bye
Super Comp round 3 winners: Phil Bennett 14.351/48.08, Tim Adam 9.011/147.06
Supertwin Gas round 2 winners: George Laycock 9.740/130.81, Rick Naylor 10.446/125.35
Sportsman ET round 4 winners: Mark Anderson (12.98) 13.135/101.58, Matt Attwood (13.85) 14.101/96.98 bye
10.90 Bike round 2 winners: Paul Coombs 11.170/120.00, David Warren 10.973/116.58 bye
Wild Bunch round 4 winners: Tom Coe (11.40) 11.441, Gareth Kent (12.42) staged bye
Super Street round 3 winners: Mike Bentley 11.170/109.49, Bob Lees 11.017/118.73
9.90 Bike round 3 winners: Richard Sawatzki 10.199/115.09, Wayne Hobbs 10.068/124.65
Supertwin Street round 3 winners: Mark Earrey 10.347/129.68, Ian Tomsett 11.356/121.95 bye
Junior Drag Bike round 2 winners: Jake Carruthers (13.00) 16.728/40.32 bye, Jennifer Hurcomb (10.00) 10.853/64.10
Stay tuned for the final results.
15:30
Jim Seward took the latest round of the Fuel Altered match race with a 10.466/72.82 half pass, Mickey Moore got the jump off the line but Jim was past him by the Tree and even though Jim was off the throttle early Mickey couldn't catch him.
The match race was followed by a 6.555/241.94 by Roger Goring in the Firestorm Jet FC.
Super Street round 2 winners: Cliff Griffin 11.001, Mike Bentley 11.021, Bob Lees 11.141, Dave Cherrett 11.127
Custom Car Street Eliminator round 3 winners: Ian Hook 9.169/155.17, Andy Frost 16.579/73.53 bye We thought that Steve Nash was sandbagging - he took out Steve Pateman with an 8.495 in the second round, although Steve Pateman did have the consolation of setting a new CCSE ET record of 8.441. No sign of Splinter in this round though so Andy Frost had a bye. Ian Jackson had a moment in the Silver Fox Racing 'Vette this morning, changing lanes after a water hose sprayed fluid under the tyres. Ian held onto the 'Vette and he and the car are quite OK.
Sportsman ET round 3 winners: Rich Davies (12.25) 12.283/94.94, Matt Attwood (13.85) 13.999/84.75, Mark Anderson (12.98) 13.077/101.35
Supertwin Street round 2 winners: Ian Tomsett 11.032/121.62, Chris Mott 11.141/120.97, Mark Earrey 10.388/129.31 bye
Super Street Bike round 3 winners: Dave Bailey 8.426/167.29, 8.447/169.17
Outlaw Anglia round 2 winners: Pete Ashworth 9.034/145.63, Paul Hensher 9.186/151.01
Super Gas round 2 winners: Martin Curbishley 9.997/142.86, Peter Lane 9.937/139.75
Supertwin Fuel round 2 winners: Jerry Collier 8.890/138.89 (world record ET), Chris Stebbings 9.550/137.20
Supertwin Modified round 1 winners: Dave Bartz 10.345/125.35, TJ O'Brien 9.774/135.54 bye
Pro Stock Bike round 2 winners: Dave Beck 7.458/171.76, Richard Gipp 7.561/170.45
14:30
The first round of Top Fuel Bike turned out to be contested by one bike. Steve Woollatt was on a bye anyway so he was trying out some changes to the fuel system, clocking 6.587/207.37. Chris Hannam and Steve Carey then paired up, Steve was shut off before the burnout for a fluid leak and then Cannon was shut off on the way back from his burnout. Neil Midgley told us that one of Cannon's brakes had broken. Where this leaves Steve Woollatt with regard to the final round this afternoon we don't yet know, but what is certain subject to the usual caveats is that Steve is 2003 ACU Top Fuel Bike Champion.
MSA Top Methanol round one
Doug Bond 9.827/81.97 bye
Steph Milam 7.883/218.45 def. Doug Ripley staged
The Shell Oils dragster left the line very gently and Doug Bond was not on the throttle for very long,
saving parts for the final. Steph Milam effectively took a bye after Doug Ripley didn't pull a
burnout and then just staged, Crew Chief Cliff
Gould kindly stepped over to tell us that the CC Racing team burnt a clutch pack yesterday
afternoon so Doug was staging for points.
British Nitro FC Championship round one
Gordon Smith 12.943/81.82
John Spuffard 5.862/177.87 def. Gary Page 6.607/153.06
Gordon Smith's tyres went up in smoke on the hit, and he idled through for his place in the final round.
Spuff was off on a good one again, the car glued to the track and going straight, but he was off the throttle
at about nine hundred feet. Meanwhile Gary Page was giving it all he could but the MAG American car suddenly
disappeared in a huge cloud of smoke at the finish line, having dropped oil from half-track onwards, the
track crew were also picking up pieces from the track. The safety crews chased Gary down but he was
quite OK, no word yet on the state of the FC.
We're in clean-up at the moment, stay tuned and we'll start to feed through this afternoon's Sportsman results as soon as we get going again.
10:30
Good morning and welcome again from Shakespeare County Raceway. It's race day and we'll be bringing you all the highlights in association with American Car Imports.
The Webster Race Engineering/MPM Oil webcam is already on-line and broadcasting a picture every two minutes.
A big raceday Good Morning to Eurodragster's US correspondents Ed O'Connell and Kathy Hileman who are tuned in from Rye, NH. Also in domestic news, we are pleased to announce that Eurodragster has two more honorary staff members, welcome on board to Darren Prentice and Spencer Tramm who have both been unending sources of help and support since Eurodragster started back in 1998.
Congratulations also to Super Comp and Super Gas racer Tim Adam who won the Eurodragster Perfect Light award with a 0.400 in Super Gas qualifying yesterday morning. Tim is fifty pounds richer today. Thumbs up also to Pro ET racer Wayne Hiscock who pulled a perfect light in eliminations yesterday afternoon, but a couple of hours too late to take the money.
When we finished last night we stepped round to Fuel FC racer Lex Joon's pit to see how he was faring after his fireball yesterday afternoon. Lex was fine and in very good spirits, unfortunately the same can't be said for the MPM Oil-sponsored FC which is looking very sorry for itself with a badly burned and in places warped body - even the fire windows are melted, the chassis although in one piece is scorched and not one piece of wiring is left on it. The block has two large holes...in fact, you name it, it is damaged. The good news, though, is that apart from minor burns to his hands Lex is just fine.
"We are not going to make the European Finals", said Lex's partner and Team Manager Gerda Dijkstra, whose feelings yesterday afternoon we can only imagine. "We don't have any spares and we don't have much money so we will probably take next year out as well to put everything back together and then come back in 2005". Gerda told us that the most frightening part of the experience for her was trying to radio Lex and getting no response, since the wiring had burned through. "I was calling 'Lex...Lex...Lex' and he didn't call back, and then you start to think bad things."
Lex talked us through the run from his viewpoint, and a more scary account of a Funny Car fire you'll never hear. "It wasn't going to be a full pass", he said. "I lifted at about a thousand feet and it had felt OK up to then, very smooth, no problems at all. After I lifted I reached up for the chutes but I didn't want to pull them until after the finish so that I got a good ET. Then I saw flames and I thought to myself that's not logical, because everything felt good up to then. When I saw the flames I pulled the chutes and then reached for the fuel pumps and then the engine blew. The chutes burned off, which I realised and so I hit the brakes hard. A tyre blew and I got sideways, and I couldn't see where I was going. My air supply was on but I started to smell fumes so I held my breath. It took me a little time to get out of the car, there were smoke and flames all around me. I got out of the hatch and rolled over the back of the car, the fire crew were there already but at first they couldn't see me because of the smoke, but then they got me and threw me to the ground to spray me down."
"We want to thank the safety teams and the medical team for all of their help yesterday", said Gerda. "They did a great job. And so many fans came to see us to make sure that Lex was OK, some were donating money, their support means a lot to us and we are very grateful indeed. We will be back."
This morning we met Super Pro ET racer Steve Johnson, who also had a top end moment yesterday when his dragster spun through two complete revolutions in qualifying. Steve's experience showed as he kept the car upright although he was very modest about his contribution. "It was fifty per cent skill and fifty per cent luck", said Steve. "I was off the groove, I pulled it back and it just went instantaneously. The trace shows that the engine revs went up from seven to eight thousand. I was sat there waiting for it to go over, the steering wheel was pulled out of my hand in the second spin so I was just a passenger after that". Both rear wheels and one of the front wheels have suffered damage, a rose joint was pulled out and the chassis has split at the front. "I should be at the European Finals if I can borrow some wheels off someone", said Steve.
Top Fuel Bike new boy Steve Carey said that he is enjoying himself very much this weekend. This is Steve's first time down the track on the ex-Roald Dogge Purple Princess although he pulled a couple of burnouts at the Speedfreaks Ball. "I started racing in the mid-1980s", said Steve. "I last raced in the late eighties with a Triumph which didn't handle very well but I have kept my licence current every year. I saw the Purple Princess for sale of Roald's web site, so I went over to Holland to see it and decided to buy it. I bought it as it looks now, I've left it as it is as a tribute to the work Roald did on it". Steve ran into the nines yesterday, taking it sensibly and learning how to handle the bike which he said is considerably different from a wobbly Triumph. "If I remember to change gear today I might go quicker!", he said. Steve is very grateful to his sponsors Rossett's Commercials of Eastbourne, Bikes of Brighton, Eastbourne Sign Works, and Paul Brinley, and to his crew John Bewick, Graham Banfield, Paul Webster, Perry Reeves and Team Nurse Annette.
Eliminations are now underway, the plan for today's coverage is to bring you the first rounds onwards of Fuel FC, Top Methanol and Top Fuel Bike and then to pick up all classes from the quarter- and semi-finals this afternoon. So tune back in a couple of hours and we'll let you know how things go.