2003 Excitement Nationals
Sunday (qualifying)
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21:20
Today's pictures are now posted, you can view them from the Event Index page.
That's all for today, time for a chicken curry and rice (no pizza wagon). Tune back in the morning and we'll bring you all the news from eliminations.
20:15 Final qualifying
MSA Top Methanol:
1. Dave Wilson 5.762/245.90
2. Doug Bond 6.719/207.37
3. Doug Ripley 8.838/156.79
4. Steph Milam 10.716/89.82
5. Rob Turner 13.068/51.84
The top two qualifiers in all other car classes are as follow.
Pro Modified: 1. John Ellis 10.982/81.52, 2. Gordon Appleton 14.099/57.69
Super Modified: 1. Danny Cockerill 8.414/169.81, 2. Andy Hone 8.532/154.64
Super Pro ET (dial-in): 1. Nick Stephenson +0.000 8.700/160.14, 2. Mick Cheley +0.051 8.651/159.01
Pro ET (dial-in): 1. Lee Huxley +0.014 10.964/120.00, 2. Jon Evans +0.036 10.086/133.93
Sportsman ET (dial-in): 1. Martin Lewis +0.024 17.324/78.67, 2. Nick South +0.129 13.929/100.90
Super Comp (8.90): 1. Malcolm Francis 8.910/150.00, 2. Martin Curbishley 8.945/154.11
Super Gas (9.90): 1. Conrad Stanley 9.913/137.61, 2. Tim Adam 9.918/149.01
Super Street (10.90): 1. Leigh Morris 10.911/121.62, 2. Mark Watkins 10.940/127.12
Junior Dragster (reaction time): 1. Joe Bond 0.522, 2. Nick Mugridge 0.560
Custom Car Street Eliminator (pending Cruise): 1. Jon Webster 8.585/168.54, 2. 8.922/171.10
Outlaw Anglia: 1. Paul Hensher 8.898/153.06, 2. Pete Ashworth 9.686/127.12
Wild Bunch (own dial-in): 1. Alex Coe +0.019 10.519/115.38, 2. Chris Hartnell +0.059 9.559/138.89
European Top Gas Bike:
1. Job Heezen 8.146/140.19
2. Cord Albers 8.629/152.03
3. Axel Seifert 8.665/152.03
4. Gerd Caspari 9.423/149.01
5. Harry van Schie 9.668/135.95
6. Michael Merse 10.340/135.95
7. Carsten Hormann 11.907/122.28
8. Andy Ludwig 12.251/99.56
The top two qualifiers in all other bike classes are as follow.
Top Fuel Bike: Steve Woollatt 7.136/189.08
Funny Bike: Dave Holland 7.131/182.19, 2. Stu Chamberlain 7.400/177.17
Pro Stock Bike: 1. Richard Gipp 7.930/163. 64, 2. Martin Newbury 7.977/167.91
Super Street Bike: 1. Karl Larcombe 8.421/171.10, 2. Tony Clark 8.433/173.75
Comp Bike: 1. Jerry Collier 8.314/160.71, 2. Klaus Sarembe 8.646/147.06
9.90 Bike: 1. Fred Furlong 9.920/140.19, 2. Carl Gray 10.060/140.19
10.90 Bike: 1. David Warren 10.910/106.13, 2. Dave Burfitt 10.913/118.73
Supertwin Fuel: 1. Chris Stebbings 10.021/138.46, 2. Dave Witts 10.652/117.80
Supertwin Gas: 1. George Laycock 9.715/136.36, 2. Andy Smith 9.991/129.31
Supertwin Street: 1. Mark Earrey 10.662/134.33, 2. Dave Jones 11.036/120.97
Supertwin Modified: 1. TJ O'Brien 9.959/141.96, 2. Simon Hodgson 10.719/133.14
Junior Drag Bike (reaction time): 1. Dan Baldwin 0.936, 2. Jennifer Hurcomb 1.115
Stay tuned for today's pictures.
18:15
Top Methanol qualifying session 2
Doug Ripley 14.341/39.59, Steph Milam 11.248/107.40
Doug took a couple of goes at this one, losing fire on the way back from the burnout and then coming back at the end of the session. Steph hit shake off the line and backed out of it as she drifted towards the centreline. Doug also hit shake not far off the line and got out of it.
Dave Wilson 5.762/245.90, Doug Bond 6.719/207.37
Very nice burnouts from both cars, on the green Dave catapulted off the line and drove through shake, arrow straight and a huge speed. A nice pass from Doug too, clean and the new parts looking to bed in nicely.
Rob Turner and the Netcall team face a thrash after the brackets holding on the rear axle broke. They should be back for eliminations tomorrow.
ACU Top Fuel Bike qualifying session 3
Steve Woolatt 7.136/189.08
The bike sounded very strong again, no obvious sign of tyre spin.
Roger Goring rounded off the day with a strong 6.724/213.27 in the Firestorm FC, on the throttle to 1100 feet.
The second round of European Top Gas qualifying went as follows: Harry van Schie 9.668/135.95, Cord Albers 8.629/152.03, Job Heezen 8.391/161.87, Michael Merse 10.340/135.95, Axel Seifert 8.825/149.50, Gerd Caspari 9.423/149.01, Andy Ludwig 14.838/85.71. Carsten Hormann was twice shut off on the line for a fluid leak.
Dave Holland took over the lead in Funny Bike with a PB of 7.131/182.19. Also running another PBB was Stu Chamberlain with an excellent 7.400/177.17. Shaun Branch clocked 7.615/179.28 and Neil Midgley hit shake and got off the throttle for a nine-second pass.
In Supertwin Modified, TJ O'Brien looks to be on a new record with a pass of 9.959/141.96 - we will have to check this out with co-ordinator Sue Beneke but we think it's a new best. Les Harris and Dave Bartz were both in the tens at 10.79 and 10.91 respectively.
Malcolm Francis took over the Super Comp lead with a superb 8.910, Tim Adam at 8.968 and Martin Curbishley at 8.975 were both on the numbers.
Some nice passes in Outlaw Anglia with Paul Hensher clocking 9.013/152.54, Pete Ashworth 9.686/127.12 and Cliff Griffin 9.983/132.74 - Cliff's crew were very pleased indeed when the time came up.
In the second round of Super Mod qualifying we had the first outing for Paul Brooks' Sierra. A sixty-foot squirt followed by a 300 feet or so pass, 12.998 on his first observed runs. Danny Cockerill took the lead at 8.414/169.81, followed by Andy Hone at 8.532/154.64, Steve Rawlings on a nitrous-free pass at 9.717/142.41 and Ian Marshall at 11.811/139.22.
The second round of Pro Mod qualifying saw some high drama with John Ellis not able to light up the tyres in the burnout first time out, then running a very strong pass but not recording a time. Gordon Appleton followed up with a run in his new Camaro, and to say that he ran a half mile would not be an exaggeration. The car was all over the lane, with more than one hard turn. Gordon kept hold of it but couldn't miss the timing reflectors, his experience keeping the car upright.
In Pro Stock Bike, rookie Paul Watson ran his first seven at 7.982/166.67, whilst in the other lane Lucy Thorn took a spill at the top end after an 8.891/154. teh sefaty teams were with Lucy immediately. Lucy was taken to the medical centre but we understand that she is OK. Ray Debben clocked 8.390/154.11, Richard Gipp 8.440/162.45, Martin Newbury 8.568/152.54, Martin Bishop 9.451, and Chris Hope broke off the line.
John Williamson ran 11.958/116.88 in Supertwin Fuel qualifying, Dave Witts in the other lane recorded 10.652/117.80 despite a belt coming off the bike at 330 feet. Chris Stebbings ran a very straight 10.021/138.46.
We asked Darryl Bradford for his take on the Top Fuel match race earlier. "I did my usual routine of putting my visor down and putting the pump on, and when I looked up the lights had run", he said. "I did think of nailing it anyway but I though I might get in trouble!".
Gordon Appleton said that his wild ride earlier on was as bad from the inside as it looked from the outside. "I guess I should have got off it", he said. "I had been sitting in the car for seven hours waiting to have a go!". Gordon is looking forward to pulling his chutes since he has some new gas-fired chutes to try out.
We are now working on final qualifying and today's pictures - stay tuned.
15:05
Tony Clark looked to have taken the Super Street Bike lead away in this session with an 8.433/173.75 only for Karl Larcobe to step up to the plate right behind him and take it away with an 8.421/171.10. Jerry Collier maintained his lead in Comp Bike with an 8.314 which was a stormer although his crew didn't look too impressed.
Looking somewhat more impressed was Nick Stephenson's Crew Chief Vince Shaw after Nick clocked 8.700 on an 8.70 dial-in to take the lead in Super Pro ET.
Stay tuned and we'll be back with more soon.
14:40
British Nitro FC qualifying round 1
Gordon Smith 8.889/100.45, John Spuffard NTR
Very nice burnouts by both cars, on the green Spuff's engine popped and the relief plate flew into the air, meanwhile Gordon left like a locomotive but hit shake at 200 feet and the car turned right, dinging the guardrail very gently. Showtime Crew Chief Bob Jarrett was quoted on the PA as saying that there was minor if any damage to the car.
Top Fuel Dragster match race 1
Smax Smith 6.874/127.84 def. Darryl Bradford NTR
A strange one, this. Not much smoke from Smax on the burnout, a nice burnout from Darryl. Smax sat in pre-stage for a while, then Darryl rushed forward. Smax pulled into full stage. The lights ran and Smax left very hard, off the throttle before half-track. Meanwhile a red light was on in Darryl's lane. Darryl leaned out the engine off the line and the car rolled to a halt by half track. What your reporter didn't see through his camera was that Darryl had been bulbed as Smax was in stage and on both fuel pumps.
ACU Top Fuel Bike qualifying round 2
Steve Woollatt 7.188/187.50
A nice solid pass from Steve, no sign of a spinning tyre on this one and the engine sounded very strong indeed.
Roger Goring followed up the Fuel session with a 6.899/191.49 in the Firestorm Jet FC. A very nice flame show, after the flame show the engine stepped up and sounded positively evil. Roger was on the throttle to 900 feet. When we came back up to race control we found the weather station reading a trackside temperature of 91.3 F and a humidity of 29%!
We are about half way through the second cycle of qualifying. Chris Hartnell returned to form in his Wild Bunch slingshot, 9.55 on a 9.50 dial-in and a huge wheelie off the start line. Fellow WB racer Tony Smith clocked a PB of 12.04.
Junior Drag Bike qualifying is done on reaction times which we weren't scribbling, but there were some impressive runs with Jennifer Hurcomb clocking 10.945/68.81, Dan Baldwin 15.954/48.34, Andy Irvine 12.234/54.81 and Jake Carruthers 14.561/50.79.
Mark Earrey clocked 10.666/132.74 in Supertwin Street, whilst on four wheels Leigh Morris leads Super Street with a 10.911 from Martin Green at 10.954. Pro ET is led by Malcolm Motler with a 10.89 on a 10.85 dial-in. Super Gas saw a tranche of 9.9s with Tim Adam clocking 9.938, Dave Townsend 9.967, Malcolm Francis 9.976, and Conrad Stanley 9.913.
Super Street Bike is next up, stay tuned.
11:40
ACU Top Fuel Bike qualifying session 1
Steve Woollatt 9.142/155.71
A nice strong burnout for Steve and a nice launch, the rear tyre spun at about a hundred feet and Steve feathered the throttle, gradually getting back on towards the end of the track.
11:30
Top Methanol qualifying session 1
Doug Bond 10.344/73.77, Dave Wilson 7.645/119.05
Dave Wilson hit shake at about a hundred feet but stayed with it, the car got very close indeed to the centerline then one side dug in and the car turned hard right. Dave's long experience came to the fore as he pulled the car straight and kept it in his lane and off the rail. Doug in the left hand lane probably saw Dave coming and got off the throttle, cruising through.
Steph Milam 10.716/89.82, Doug Ripley 8.838/156.79
Steph hit shake off the line, pedalled, hit shake and went a little out of shape so she got off the throttle. A straight run from Doug, no obvious problems.
Rob Turner 13.068/51.84
Rob launched very strongly but then hit shake at about a hundred feet, so bad that from Race Control you couldn't tell what shape the tyres were. The car twitched and suddenly there was a breaking noise and the revs shot up. Rob cruised through, I wouldn't be surprised if the team had some repairs to make.
Stay tuned.
11:00
Good morning and welcome from Shakespeare County Raceway on a glorious summer morning. Hardly a cloud in the sky, you can see the track warming up, and we're all set to bring you all the news in association with American Car Imports.
The Webster Race Engineering/Dragrace Drachten webcam is on-line, you can view that via the Event Index page.
The weather station is currently reading 66.4 F, 50% humidity and 29.85 inches of air pressure.
A big Hello to Rob Inglis of the CBD team who is tuned in this weekend. Hope you are enjoying the coverage Rob. Hello also to APIRA Press Officer Jerry Cookson who is unwell - get well soon.
When we left you last night, we were off for dinner and a walk round the pits. The first racer we met was Super Street Bike racer Rachel Pattison who got seriously crossed-up off the start line on her qualifier yesterday. A superb job from Rat kept her on the bike and after straightening up she got back on the throttle clocking 10.6 at a huge 149 mph. "The nitrous was set to come in after three seconds", she said, "I think I got off the throttle at 2.99 seconds!".
Winner of the Thrash Of The Weekend so far has to be Pro ET racer Andy Williams who has changed engines overnight. Up here from Race Control we noticed pieces coming out of the exhaust during Andy's burnout yesterday morning and it turned out to be a piston destructing. "I felt the engine stop during the burnout", said Andy. "When we got back to the pits we looked and found the problem". Team member Paul had a 460 which he had bought off Lee Child so there was a mad dash back to base to bring it back to the track, and it arrived at three o'clock this morning and the rebuild started. "It's an unknown quantity", said Andy, "let's see if we can get down the track."
Also facing a thrash was Supertwin Gas racer Nick Daniels who broke a gearbox whilst warming up his bike in the pits yesterday. "I was going through the gears and it went click...second...click... second...click", said Shaggy. "Then it went sixth...fifth...fourth...third...second...click. We were ready for the second session but then it rained."
Top Fuel Dragster racer Darryl Bradford said that everything was "hunky dory" in the Wildside Inc pit. "I'm looking forward to running here", he said. Darryl will be wearing a HANS device this weekend, as far as we know the first racer to try the head and neck support over here in the UK. "I'm getting used to it", said Darryl. "You can feel how good it is, but right now I can't get my helmet off without help and it's quite a long way for the crew to tow down here - in fact I will be taking a flask and sandwiches with me today!".
Next door in the Carbon By Design pit, legendary stand-up comedian and car owner Knut Soderquist told us that after a long day yesterday he discovered a new way of getting into a sleeping bag. He would not be drawn any further but we understand that two bare feet sticking out of the head end of a sleeping bag was not a pretty sight. The team spent yesterday giving the Purple Loans-backed Top Fueller a post-Thunderball service before Smax Smith and Darryl Bradford match up for the first time this afternoon.
Roger Goring had an appointment with the scrutineer when the Firestorm Jet FC team got here yesterday. Jet cars are now in the White Book and subject to SFI tagging as from this season, but Roger only heard about it on Tuesday. The car passed tech with flying colours yesterday and the chassis is now sporting a tag. "We keep up with the NHRA specs anyway", said Roger. The team have done some work on the flame show since testing at York last week and Roger will be toasting marshmallows later on.
Pro ET racer Tig Napier is set for a repeat performance of yesterday's spectacular burnout which entirely fogged the start line for several seconds. "It's a new pair of slicks", said Tig's wife Cath. "They recommended a big burnout from new so that's what we did!". Tig is driving with a broken thumb on one hand this weekend.
Super Street Bike racer Tony Clark didn't think he would be here this weekend after breaking just about everything except the gearbox and head in qualifying at the Thunderball. "It was a mad rush to get here", said Tony. "We finished the bike yesterday morning. I wouldn't have got here without help from Ken Cooper - big time - Paul Rose, Dave and Shaun Branch, and Steve Venables. It just goes to show how everyone pulls together, all of your competitors want you out there. I thought I was out for the season."
As you may have seen in yesterday's pictures, Super Mod racer Andy Hone pulled a huge wheelie off the line in the Gleeson Wright Security-sponsored Ford yesterday. "We hade some adjustments to the rear end at the Thunderball, and we added more gas yesterday. And that's what happened! It blew the cobwebs out."
Wild Bunch racer Dick Sharp got close to his personal best yesterday with a 9.60 in the Dorset Horn altered. "We've been playing with the chassis and we do something different every run", said Bunt Willcox. "We are looking for 9.3s. Some of these Wild Bunch racers will ease off if they're winning but we won't! We don't care about breaking out!". Bunt said that the Dorset Horn team are celebrating their thirtieth year in racing this season - and the car is still running with the same crank it had all those years ago.
Qualifying got off to an unfortunate start when in the very second pairing of the day Custom Car Street Eliminator racer Sue Jackson got out of shape, crossed lanes and hit the guardrail head on. The safety crew were there just about as soon as the car stopped. Sue is just fine apart from a bitten tongue, the 'Vette doesn't look too bad considering.
Stay tuned and we'll bring you the news from Top Methanol qualifying very shortly.