2003 Allstar Nationals
Sunday (qualifying)
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
21:10
Today's pictures have now been posted; they are available from the Event Index page.
That's the end of our coverage for today, tune back tomorrow and we'll bring you all the news from eliminations.
19:45
Here are the top qualifiers in each class at the end of qualifying:
Fuel Funny Car:
1. John Spuffard 5.383/271.08
2. Lex Joon 6.029/184.43
3. Gordon Smith 9.715/95.74
4. Gary Page 10.693/90.91
Top Methanol:
1. Doug Bond 6.564/173.08
2. Steph Milam 6.864/207.37
3. Doug Ripley 7.952/136.36
Top Fuel Bike:
1. Steve Woollatt 6.478/215.31
2. Chris Hannam 7.239/161.29
3. Steve Carey 9.665/106.89
Super Modified: 1. Graham Ellis 7.616/181.45, 2. Danny Cockerill 7.784/181.45
Super Pro ET: 1. Al Golding +0.009 8.999/148.03, 2. Barry Giles +0.023 7.673/171.10
Pro ET: 1. Chris Johnson +0.000 9.500/142.41, 2. Steve Richards +0.005 11.995/110.84
Sportsman ET: 1. Graham Fairhead +0.019 15.719/81.82, 2. Nick South +0.025 14.125/97.83
Super Comp: 1. Brian Pateman 8.907/154.11, 2. Martin Curbishley 8.953/152.03
Super Gas: 1. Frank Mason 9.900/141.96, 2. Tim Adam 9.902/145.16
Super Street: 1. Ian Brown 10.905/120.00, 2. Cliff Puddle 10.910/100.00
Junior Dragster: 1. Holly Mitchell 0.515, 2. Nick Mugridge 0.523
Custom Car Street Eliminator: 1. Steve Pateman 8.561/169.81, 2. Jeff Meads 8.723/159.01
Outlaw Anglia: 1. Paul Hensher 8.750/160.14, 2. Pete Ashworth 9.226/145.63
Wild Bunch: 1. Tom Coe +0.004 11.404/112.50, 2. Alec Coe +0.009 10.549/112.78
Funny Bike: 1. Neil Midgley 7.007/192.31, 2. Dave Holland 7.117/184.43
Pro Stock Bike: 1. Dave Beck 7.570/171.76, 2. Richard Gipp 7.723/173.08
Super Street Bike: 1. Graham Dance 8.296/177.87, 2. Dave Bailey 8.330/170.45
Comp Bike: 1. Klaus Sarembe 8.171/166.05, 2. Andy Newcombe 8.392/161.87
9.90 Bike: 1. Richard Sawatzki 9.926/133.14, 2. Shaun Jones 9.982/133.93
10.90 Bike: 1. Iain Jack 10.962/126.05, 2. Andy Burfitt 11.003/128.94
Supertwin Fuel: 1. Jerry Collier 8.938/137.20, 2. Chris Stebbings 9.526/126.76
Supertwin Gas: 1. George Laycock 9.769/133.14, 2. Dave Hirst 10.460/123.63
Supertwin Modified: 1. TJ O'Brien 9.895/138.46, 2. Les Harris 10.525/130.06
Supertwin Street: 1. Mark Earrey 10.298/131.96, 2. Ian Tomsett 10.776/124.65
Junior Drag Bike: 1. Harry Steadman +0.019 13.519/46.54, 2. Jake Carruthers +0.024 13.524/46.34
We are currently working on today's pictures, stay tuned.
18:00
Doug Ripley and Steph Milam contested the last qualifying session of Top Methanol, Doug was looking for his first full pass on the Whipple charger and hopefully a six, but clocked a 7.952/136.36 which qualifies him third. Steph Milam pedalled and recorded 7.697 at a big 212.26.
Steve Woollatt did it again in the last round of Top Fuel Bike qualifying, a fine 6.486/213.27 and not an inch off going straight as an arrow. Chris Hannam ran 7.368/185.95 and Steve Carey clocked his quickest this weekend of 9.665/106.89.
Jim Seward took the second Fuel Altered match race from Mickey Moore, despite not lighting the tyres in the burnout he hooked up and went with a 7.023/164.73 - from our position at trackside it looked as if Jim was off the gas early. Mickey had a cylinder out again and the car left very lazily, recording 9.755/153.06.
The second round of Fuel FC qualifying was contested by all four cars. Gary Page and Gordon Smith paired up first, Gordon pulled a great burnout but then could not get out of reverse and had to shut off. Gary hit very bad tyre shake off the line, in fact it was impossible to tell the shape of the tyre, and he idled through to a 10.693/90.91. The next pair was Lex Joon and John Spuffard, great burnouts from both cars and two strong launches. A small flash of flame under MPM Oil Avenger suddenly turned into a huge fireball at about 1100 feet which was bad enough to burn at least one of the chutes off in the shutdown area. Lex got the car stopped as the FAST team drew up alongside, Lex is A-OK but we understand that the car is in a bad state. Meanwhile Spuff in the other lane powered to a 5.409/272.73, the speed is a new National record so congratulations to the Showtime team on setting a new best on their first two runs with the new body.
We're now getting together today's pictures and all of the top qualifiers so stay tuned and we'll be back very soon.
16:00
Al Golding took over the lead in Super Pro ET, 0.009 over dial-in with an 8.999/148.03, Barry Giles now number two with yesterday's 0.053-over run. Dave Gibbons' first full pass in the Alien altered was a fine 8.510/152.54. Ian Brown and Cliff Puddle have maintained their leads in Super Street with yesterday's 10.905 and 10.901 respectively.
Frank Mason can't be beaten to #1 in Super Gas with yesterday's 9.900/141.96, and Tim Adam's 9.902/145.16 of yesterday was also a hard one to beat, so he stays second. Only one of this session's qualifying passes was not in the 9.9s, which says a lot about the strength of Super Gas in the UK!
Alec Coe now leads Wild Bunch qualifying 0.009 over his dial-in with a 10.549/112.78. Gareth Kent took over second place 0.047 over his dial-in, we weren't quite quick enough to get the time and speed on that one.
Jerry Collier has backed up his previous RD400 record of 9.141 by going too quickly! He now leads Supertwin Fuel with no less than an 8.938/137.20, from Chris Stebbings' earlier 9.526.
Back to four wheels, and Super Comp is still led by Brian Pateman's 8.907, with Martin Curbishley still second at 8.953.
The last session of Super Modified qualifying was contested by all five racers, Graham Ellis qent quicker still at 7.616/181.45 to hold his lead, Danny Cockerill got everything together to take second with a 7.784/181.45, Steve Rawlings took third with a new PB of 7.925/120.45, Andy Hone took a little off his time at 7.935/167.29 for fourth, and Paul Brooks rounded off with a PB of 8.388/164.85.
We are now going into eliminations in some classes as well as continuing qualifying so stay tuned and we'll be back in an hour or two with the final standings in all classes.
14:25
Steve Woollatt blew away his personal bests in Top Fuel Bike qualifying with a fine 6.478/215.31. No short-shifting this time round - straight as you like and you could tell it was a good'un. In the other lane, Chris Hannam was off the throttle early and clocked 8.019/170.45. Steve Carey put in another checkout pass, not on the throttle for very long and clocking 11.604/71.09.
Steph Milam and Doug Ripley paired up for Top Methanol qualifying, Steph lost a blower belt at about three-quarter track and recorded 6.922/158.45 whilst Doug drifted towards the centre line and was off the throttle very early, 9.634/84.27, so it's as-you-were in Top Methanol qualifying.
Next up was the first Fuel Altered match race between Jim Seward and Mickey Moore. Jim was out of the hole first whilst Mickey appeared to have cylinders out and maybe had a misfire. Jim is 1-0 up at 7.200/148.03 to Mickey's 9.563/160.71.
The first round of Fuel Funny Car qualifying saw a spectacular pass from John Spuffard in the newly-bodied Showtime FC, 5.383/271.08. Crew Chief Bob Jarrett told us that he had made some changes to the tune-up to stop cylinders going out. Spuff's run wasn't straight so there is more to come. In the other lane, Gary Page was off the throttle very quickly in the Mag American FC, clocking 10.713/81.57. Gordon Smith was off the throttle by sixty feet and then stabbed it again briefly at 330 feet, running 9.715/95.74. Lex Joon was sidelined with a clutch problem in this session but will be out on track later on.
Roger Goring's first run of the day in the Firestorm FC was a 6.705/239.36.
In Pro Stock Bike, Richard Gipp wasted what looked like an improvement on yesterday's 7.7 by leaving before the Tree ran. Dave Beck still leads with yesterday's 7.480 from Richard Gipp. In Funny Bike we had improvements from Tim Blakemore who clocked 7.360/165.44 and Mike Chislett at 7.402/181.45, but Midgo's 7.007 of yesterday still leads.
Paul Hensher improved to an 8.750/160.04 to consolidate his Outlaw Anglia lead. Pete Ashworth's 9.226 of yesterday is still good for second place. Jeff Meads switched on the gas to take second place in Custom Car Street Eliminator with an 8.723/159.01, with a pedal, and John Hales took over third with a 9.011/163.64; Steve Pateman's 8.561 of yesterday still leads. Steve 'Splinter' Nash ran another short pass, three-quarter track this time, and clocked a 9.307 with the newly twin-turbo'd Cougar.
Comp Bike stays as-you-were at the top with Klaus Sarembe's 8.171/166.05 first, from Andy Newcombe's 8.392/161.87. Supertwin Street also remains as-was with Mark Earrey's 10.298 leading from Ian Thomsett at 10.776. TJ O'Brien has run his first nine of the weekend at the top of Supertwin Modified at 9.895/138.46 from Les Harris at 10.525/130.06.
We are now into Super Pro ET qualifying and we have just seen save of the day from Steve Johnson in his Motor Mouse dragster; the car started to weave at about three-quarter track and then spun - not rolled, spun - round twice. Steve was clocked at 116 mph through the finish line, spinning round. We have no idea how, but Steve kept the car upright and was getting out as the FAST team arrived.
Stay tuned and we will bring you more from qualifying as soon as it happens.
12:30
Jerry Collier still leads Supertwin Fuel with his RD400 sporting the blue bottle this weekend, and we would say that he has pretty much blown away the world record for an RD with a pass of 9.141/139.75. He has the rest of this weekend to back it up, as we think he went a little too quick to back up yesterday's run. Chris Stebbings is second in STF at 9.526 and Turbo is third at 9.808.
Nick Payne put in a very competent 9.91 in his blown-alcohol Super Comp in his first pass this morning. Brian Pateman still leads at 8.907.
Graham Ellis stepped right up in this morning's Super Modified qualifying session with a 7.625/180.00 to take the lead. Danny Cockerill put in an 8.787/177.87 to get himself into the field, again the car appeared to bog off the line but the shifter didn't come off in his hand this time. Paul Brooks improved to a 9.14, whilst Steve Rawlings clocked an 8.028 so his 8.001 from yesterday is now good for third.
That was the end of the second qualifying cycle, so we're now into the third.
Richard Sawatzki still leads 9.90 Bike with yesterday's 9.926, but Shaun Jones is now second at 9.982/133.93 and Julian Harris is third at 10.059 also at 133.93. It's as-was in 10.90 Bike with Iain Jack's 10.962/126.05 still leading.
Junior Drag Bike qualifying was exciting with Jake Carruthers taking over the lead 0.024 over dial-in at 13.524/46.34 only for Harry Steadman to take it away with the very next pass, 0.019 over dial-in at 13.519/46.54. If you were tuned in yesterday you will remember that we didn't have Junior Dragster qualifying to hand, the standings at the end of yesterday were Holly Mitchell 0.515, Nick Mugridge 0.523 and Tom Watts 0.528, and that's the way it has stayed after this morning's first session.
Sportsman ET is now led by Graham Fairhead 0.019 over dial-in at 15.719/81.82, and Nick South has taken over second place 0.025 over dial-in at 14.125/97.83. Linda Platt's 0.033-over of yesterday is now good for third place. Chris Johnson has taken the lead in Pro ET with his return to the track in his MG Rover, a perfect 9.500/142.41 on a 9.50 dial-in. Steve Richards' 0.005 and Kev Taylor's 0.009 from yesterday are now second and third.
Super Street Bike remains as-was for the top two with Graham Dance at number one on 8.296 and Dave Bailey second on 8.330, but Karl Larcombe has taken over third with an 8.416/171.76.
Stay tuned for more news from the third qualifying cycle.
10:45
Good morning and welcome again from Shakespeare County Raceway. It's one of those muggy, humid sort of mornings, overcast but already 22.6 C trackside, 71% humidity and 30.06 inches of air pressure. We're here to bring you all the news from day two of qualifying in association with American Car Imports.
The Webster Race Engineering/MPM Oil webcam is online and broadcasting a picture every two minutes.
We have some Hellos this morning, firstly a big Good Morning to David and Kelli Butheros in Andover, Kansas, whom Ian Lee tells us are tuned in from the USA. Hope you are enjoying the coverage guys. Hello also to Steve and Jacky Young and Bob and Anni Valder who have written in to say hi.
We had a quick turn around the pits this morning to see who was out of bed early, here's what we found out.
Jet FC pilot Roger Goring was pleased to have put in his first full quarter mile pass since his last visit here, but he was a little disappointed with the terminal speed of 240.64. "It was a full-bore pass, I drove it out the back door, and it felt very fast indeed", he said. "It was a great run but when I read the ticket it took the edge off it a bit. My half-track speed was 180, though, where I would have expected maybe 190". Roger is scheduled for two passes today.
Super Pro ET racer Paul Davis and his team are happy with their weekend so far. "We ran our first eight-second pass on British soil", he said. "We have run an eight before but that was at Drachten last year. So we're really pleased with that!".
Super Mod racer Danny Cockerill had a simple explanation for his unusually slow pass yesterday. "It was only going to be a half pass anyway but the shifter stalk broke. We've fixed that, so now we'll do what we need to win the Championship."
Top Methanol FC racer Steph Milam was very pleased with her "Nice little run" of 6.8 yesterday. "It was an all high-gear pass!", she said. "I left the line and shifted - I've been told not to do it again!". Steph said that Lex Joon told her that her pass sounded like a Fuel car - no shifts.
Funny Bike racer Sarah Jane Head has changed her nitrous jets after finding that the gas was not making its way through. "We spoke to Cheeky in America last night", she said. "We've blown through the nitrous lines. I need to get into the sevens this weekend because we want to step up at the European Finals."
Pro ET racer Martin Anderson has changed his C6 for a 'glide and so is getting as much information as he can this weekend. "On my first run yesterday a microswitch played up so I got nothing out of that run", he said. "I want to get in a couple of runs and hopefully get a high ten."
Fellow Pro ET racer Steve Wells said that his clutch gave up in top gear yesterday. "I think I've fixed it", he said.
Super Street Bike racer Rachel Pattison said that her two eight-second passes yesterday were run without nitrous. "I just have to keep the front end down", she said, "it just lifts a little at about three hundred feet. When I put the nitrous in I might have a problem!".
As we made out way back to Race Control we took a look at the new body on the Showtime Fuel FC. The ex-John Force Racing Mustang really looks the part and has a very tidy paint job applied by CC Racing. I asked driver John Spuffard if the body was difficult to fit on the chassis. "Not really", he said. "Had we had to do it at a race I would have said that we would have done it in two hours - maybe one hour if we had to". This is the team's first outing with the new body and as downforce is an integral part of the FC combination it will be interesting to see what effect it has on the performance.
Qualifying is now underway so stay tuned and we'll bring you the news at the end of today's first cycle, including Fuel FC and Top Methanol's first runs out.