The Easter Thunderball
Saturday (qualifying)

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19:00

Today's pictures are now available from the raceday update index. We're now off round the pits to see what we can find out. We'll see you again tomorrow morning, have a great evening.

18:45

And the bad news is that we've now got persistent rain here at Santa Pod, so Race Director Darren Prentice has called off the rest of today's qualifying. We've got another full day, five cycles, tomorrow so the loss is not as great as it would be at a two-day event.

Just before the rain came we had the first pass by Paul Martson's PT Bruiser, a sixty-foot squirt and looking good after an engine problem last night. Also we were very pleased to see Ken Cooper's partner Helen Curran put in a great pass of 8.763/150.33 on Paul Rose's Competition Bike, which would tend to confirm that Ken is A-OK.

At the moment, this is how the top two qualifiers stand in each class:

MSA Top Methanol: 1. Dave Wilson 6.123/215.62, 2. Doug Bond 7.377/141.04, 3. Rob Turner 7.425/151.17
Super Comp (8.90): 1. Phil Bennett 8.956/141.71, 2. Brian Pateman 9.068/147.38
Super Gas (9.90): 1. Dave Townsend 9.917/140.95, 2. Frank Mason 10.066/136.33
Super Street (10.90): 1. Stuart Peck 10.921/123.07, 2. Bob Doignie 10.965/114.72)
Super Pro ET (own dial-in): 1. Pat Talbot +0.073 (7.713/173.05), 2. Ashley Bell +0.130 (9.120/150.92)
Pro ET (own dial-in): 1. Jon Evans +0.003 (10.003/131.73), 2. Dave Ward +0.067 (10.467/123.86)
Sportsman ET (own dial-in): 1. Simon Chalkly +0.054 (13.734/99.73), 2. Gareth Mogford +0.061 (12.711/107.93)
VW Pro (own dial-in): 1. Russ Fellows +0.047 (11.947/117.83), 2. Keith Gadenne +0.179 (13.029/84.99)
VW Sportsman (own dial-in): 1. Neil Robinson +0.059 (15.359/75.79), 2. Cath Bishop +0.350 (16.850/71.96)
Custom Car Street Eliminator: 1. Jeff Meads 9.798/151.26, 2. Steve Pateman 9.920/151.90
Junior Dragster (reaction time): 1. Collin Morrice 0.519, 2. Phill Cook 0.543

Top Fuel Bike: 1. Ian King 9.306/93.20
Funny Bike: 1. Ken Cooper 7.309/163.73, 2. Dave Holland 7.906/163.23
Pro Stock Bike: 1. Chris Hope 7.608/172.08, 2. Dave Beck 7.784/161.37
Competition Bike: 1. Helen Curran 8.763/150.33, 2. David Hughes 9.176/154.06
Super Street Bike: 1. Tony Clark 8.861/166.06, 2. Mark Pointer 9.114/150.71
9.90 Bike: 1. Jamie Sneddon 10.128/116.00, 2. Paul Watson 10.147/135.28
10.90 Bike: 1. Darren Winnard 11.033/128.00, 2. Sandra Chaplain 11.161/128.25

17:30

We've just had the first round of Top Methanol qualifying. First up were Doug Bond and Rob Turner, Rob appearing round the tower as Doug pulled back from his burnout, but Rob and the team made a visible effort to catch up so as not to keep Doug waiting. Doug got the jump off the start line and both cars hit shake, Rob's was particularly bad. Both racers shut off early, Doug recording 7.37/141.04 to Rob's 7.48/151.17. Next was Steph Milam, Steph pulled a good burnout and then eased it away from the line before stopping the car straddling the centre line at about 900 feet, no indication of the problem. Last up was Dave Wilson who pulled his traditional long burnout, and on the green he was away. Your reporter was about fifty feet out and the rear tyres were visibly shaking as Dave came past, but he stayed on it to clock 6.12/215.62 and take top qualifying spot. An impressive performance on a cold track and into a very stiff and cold breeze.

Jeff Meads has taken the lead in Custom Car Street Eliminator with a great pass of 9.79 and what we think is a personal best speed at 151.26. It was by no means a straight pass but Jeff was not getting off it so there is more to come, as with Dave Wilson's TM performance it was all the more impressive given the conditions. Steve Pateman is into the nines and over 150 mph with his new engine, 9.92/151.90. Steve's Calibra leaves the line very gently and then the throttle stop comes off and he's gone. Steve Nash put in his first pass of the weekend, and his first pass with another ex-Pro Mod engine which has been a very well-kept secret, in this case a 600-inch motor. Splinter recorded 10.24/133.94 and there's plenty more to come.

Phil Bennett currently leads Super Comp with a run of 8.956/141.71 after the session interrupted by Martin Moore's ballet dance. Henri Joosten came to the line in Super Pro qualifying with a dial-in of 6.99 on the back of his Chevy, he was on one too with a straight and hard launch (1.198 to sixty feet) and then had a huge twitch at half-track.

Competition Bike is led by Dave Hughes at 9.176/154.06, with a second's lead over Sarah Jane Head on 10.156/142.42. In Pro Stock Bike qualifying, Martin Bishop got into a huge tankslapper off the start line, he kept the bike upright and only just went out of his own lane, amazing bike control. Dave Beck improved very slightly to 7.78/161.37 on his PSB, and Dave Holland also improved to 7.90/163.23 on his Funny Bike.

Pro ET is still led by Jon Evans but now at 10.003 on a 10.00 dial-in. Pat Talbot is currently leading Super Pro ET with a 7.71/173.05 on a 7.64 dial-in. Qualifying is still continuing apace, stay with us and we'll be back with all the latest news.

15:05

Jon Sleath still leads CCSE with a pass of 10.19/143.05. There was a lot of smoke as Jon went through the top end but the fire crew were straight there and the word came back that everything was OK, but just as I type Jon is trailering off the facility. Steve Pateman took it very easy off the line and clocked 10.34/143.22 in his newly 706-motored Calibra. Dale Reardon put in an observed run in his new Citroen Dyane, a very nice launch and off it at 330 feet. Sue Jackson was pushed back after the burnout in her '64 Vette.

Darren Winnard leads 10.90 Bike at 11.09, and Lewis Honey went after Ady Reade's earlier record, a hard right off the line and going even closer to the Tree, throwing in a wheelie for good measure.

Nigel Barker went straight to the number three spot in Super Street Bike with his first run of the weekend, 9.60, but was then pushed down to fourth by a superb pass from Tony Clark, taking over number one spot with a run of 8.86/166.06.

Super Street is led by Stuart Peck at 10.921, Bob Doignie not far behind at 10.965 on a much straighter run. Super Gas looked to be a straight fight between Frank Mason at 10.142 and Martin Curbishley at 10.149 until the last moment when Dave Townsend stepped in with a great pass of 9.917/140.95 in his Mustang. Shaun Lathan has an excellent new paintjob on his Calibra, it looks as if it is covered in grafitti and is worth a look next time you visit the pits.

The lead in Pro ET has been taken over by Jon Evans in the Tokyo Toy Toyota, 10.056 on a 10.00 dial-in.

Super Comp is currently led by Brian Pateman at 9.49, Martin Moore in the other lane broke an oil line off the start line and went for a pirouette at about 150 feet, doing a great job of keeping the car off the guardrail. We're currently stopped for a clean-up, but we're not far off. Stay tuned.

14:10

Ken Cooper is OK after parting company with his Pro Mod Bike at the top end. The bike was leaning over as it went through the finish line on a pass of 7.309/163 and Ken was obviously doing everything he could to keep it upright, but eventually he had no choice in the matter. The safety crew were there as soon as Ken stopped sliding, and the news very quickly came through that he was absolutely fine, just scratches and bruises. That's great to hear.

Dave Holland clocked a nice pass of 8.22/160.59 on his Funny Bike, looking very nice in its new blue and white paint. Dave is currently second in FB behind Ken Cooper who obviously won't be racing again this weekend. Chris Hannam was in the other lane to Ken but didn't make it to the top end after having engine problems, and Shaun Branch lost a chain from his Funny Bike near the top end.

We had a great match-up in Pro Stock Bike qualifying as Chris Hope and Dave Beck ran side-by-side. Chris got there first at 7.60/172.08 to Dave's 7.79/168.17, and Dave took the long way round.

Pro ET racer Al Didwell trailered his Capri off the facility a short while ago, although we understand that he will be back.

Paul Venners tells us that Lee Darby now has Paul Jackson's dragster engine in his VW Pro Beetle. Lee shot up the track and clocked 13.41/107.78 and there is obviously more to come. Russ Fellowes took a wild ride in his VW Pro Beetle and was hard on the brakes towards the finish line, word quickly came back from Sharkman at the top end that Russ had suffered a flat tyre. Neil Robinson leads VW Sportsman with a pass of 15.669 on a dial-in of 15.20.

Stay tuned and we'll bring you more qualifying news.

11:30

The honour of the first launch of the 2001 UK Championship season went to Colin Morrice in his Junior Stock Dragster who recorded a great reaction time of 0.519 in the first qualifying pairing. He currently leads JD qualifying.

We're well into Sportsman qualifying here at Santa Pod. A lot of racers have sat out this first cycle, with two days of qualifying and five complete cycles on each day they have plenty of time to get out on the strip. One of the highlights so far this morning was Jon Sleath's qualifier in Custom Car Street Eliminator, he black-striped to half track and recorded 10.74 at a huge 149.38 - considering all the wheelspin one wonders what the terminal speed would have been.

Scotty Evison had a scary moment in his VW Pro Beetle, going through the top end with a small fire at the back of the engine. "That's the first fire I've ever seen in a VW!" said track announcer Paul Venners. Paul's brother once owned this car so he keeps a particular eye on it.

Ady Reade also had us worried in 10.90 Bike as he made a close approach to the Christmas Tree. Jamie Sneddon leads 9.90 Bike so he obviously doesn't have too much of an issue with last night's little problem in the pits.

Paul Carter leads Super Street Bike at 9.35/155.43. The number one spot in SSB changed hands three times in as many runs with Graham Dance at 9.85 taking the lead to begin with, followed by his good friend Mark Pointer at 9.57 and then Paul Carter.

Julian Davison leads Super Street with a great pass of 10.98/112.28, this was a superb seat-of-the-pants job as Julian was was on and off the throttle all the way down the track. Bob Doignie had a hairy ride in his Flying Doctor Pop, suddenly veering towards the centre line towards half track, but he eased off and got it straighted out.

Simon Farmer leads Pro ET at 9.784 on a 9.55 dial-in. In the other lane Al Golding managed the feat of pulling a huge wheelie whilst suffering tyre shake, still recording 9.535.

Only Pat Talbot came out in the first session of Super Pro ET, running 7.91 on an 8.00 dial-in. Stephen and the crew looked very pleased with the run and of course Pat leads Super Pro qualifying at present.

We've just had a brief and light rain delay but the jet drier is plying its trade, so stay tuned and we'll be back with more Thunderball qualifying news.

09:30

Good morning and welcome from Santa Pod Raceway for a chilly start to the 2001 UK National Drag Racing Championship. The track crew are putting on the finishing touches, and we're almost ready to go.

A special hello to Jeremy Tooley who we know is tuned in, thanks very much for the E-Mail the other day and we hope that you enjoy the weekend's coverage.

A big thumbs-up to the guys who resurfaced the approach road here at SPR. A number of racers have made appreciative comments and we're sure that this year's spectators will be equally grateful.

Since we got here yesterday we have had a good trawl around the pits and here's what we've found.

The first team we encountered were our good friends at Talbot Racing, Pat Talbot now back in the Super Pro dragster after last year's enforced lay-off. Stephen and crew Robin fired the car up just as we arrived, and Pat was clearly very happy to be back in the seat. "That's better!" she said after the engine was shut off. "That sounded good and Mopar-y" added Stephen with a grin.

Right next to the Talbots in the Super Pro pits is Holland's Henri Joosten, who is having to run his Pro Mod in Super Pro this weekend in the absence of any competition. He was not quite sure what dial-in to set, and rejected your reporter's suggestion of 6.30. "My personal best is 7.25", said Henri, "and I hope to run 7.0 this weekend. The 7.25 is the Dutch doorslammer record so if I run any quicker then I set a new record. Andy Robinson has put in a new rear axle and worked on the four-link so I have to test those". Henri seems a little worried about the prospect of waiting for slower competition to get their head start. "I might go to sleep waiting!" he said, adding that he would likely put the car on the limiter when the first amber lit. There is also the matter of a six-second pass. "I would like to run the first six by a Dutch doorslammer", said Henri. "We've had a bottle of champagne unopened in the van for two years while we've been waiting to run the six!". The team have been hard at work on the car in Holland, working at least five nights a week for the last three weeks. "Their wives and mine are getting very angry!" said Henri.

Super Pro ET racer Fay Fischer is celebrating the acquisition of yet another licence, in this case for a 500cc motorcycle. "I got fed up with not being able to leave home after three o'clock in the afternoon because of the traffic", said Fay, "so I passed my test and went straight out and bought a 600cc Yamaha. No, I'm not going to enter 9.90 Bike!". The Speedflow dragster is in exactly the same state as it was after its last race in 2000. "We put it in the garage at the end of last season and it was still there when we went to look for it", said Fay. "It's so good that we didn't need to do anything to it!". Fay has a TV crew from BBC Choice accompanying her on Sunday; Fay will be carrying a mini camera around with her including one strapped to her helmet on passes.

A major embarrassment for your mechanically-ignorant reporter during a visit to Steph Milam's TMFC pit. The engine was being turned over, and your reporter took two steps back to avoid the header blast before noticing that neither the plug leads nor, indeed, Steph were in the car. To quote Tom Good, "That wasn't me - that was someone who goes around doing impressions of me".

Next door in the two-car Nemesis TMD pit, a row of pot plants lined the edge of the pit of the number two car, the Krypton dragster which is to be driven by Wendy Baker. "They are there to wind up Dave", said Linda Wilson about her husband who drives the Nemesis car. "He hasn't noticed them yet". Stay tuned for Dave's reaction when he does notice them. The Nemesis team have two new crew members, Ricky and Fred. Fred is from the USA and until he came to the UK he drive a Firebird in Pro ET, recording best times in the elevens.

The Canto Consultancy TMD team have the added bonus of Jon Wright helping them out this weekend. Jon has a long and distinguished career tuning cars of all types and was pleased to step in. "Jon knows his way around a motor so we borrowed him!" said driver Darryl Bradford. "It's great to have him here, he has years of experience behind him". Better known as a trackside photographer, Darryl is very much looking forward to his debut in a TMD. He licenced in Smax Smith's dragster last summer, and now it's for real. "There's nowhere I'd rather be", he said. "I'm going to take it step by step, probably start with a 330 foot or half pass and then see how it goes".

9.90 Bike racer Jamie Sneddon is nursing a badly cut face this morning after falling over in the pits last night. We hear that the imprint of Jamie's face is still clearly visible in the gravel. The issue, of course, is whether he will be able to get his helmet over his face. We'll keep an eye out for him in 9.90 qualifying.

Top Fuel Dragster pilot Barry Sheavills is over the moon having secured a major new sponsor. The car is now carrying the colours of Tetrosyl Car Lube Motor Oil, and very nice it looks too, now that it's part of the Triple R racing team. "It's a huge company", said Barry. "They are famous for making T-Cut, Triple Wax and Carplan products - a market leader in car care. They will be here making a TV advertisement this weekend, so anyone who comes along to the track could end up on telly! The advert will be on both terrestrial and satellite TV for at least three months - it can only be good for Santa Pod Raceway and drag racing in general."

Barry has been preparing for the start of the season with a visit to a health farm - at last week's RWYB he wanted us to note that he was drinking caffeine-free Diet Coke. "The trip didn't do me a lot of good except for damage to my wallet!", he commented.

Fellow Top Fuel Dragster racer Andy Carter has also been preparing for the season by training twice a week with Spurs football club. "I've lost a stone in weight - I'm as fit as I've ever been!", said Andy. "Having a 21-year-old wife helps too!". When we visited their pit, Andy and the team were hard at work on the stripped-down car, redirecting cables and double-checking everything. Andy told us that crew chief Eddie Corr would be calling the shots this weekend whilst team owner Rune Fjeld oversaw the two-car operation.

Pro ET racers Carla Pitau and Rick McCann gave fitted new Goodyear tyres to their Heaven and Hell Camaro. "They're 9-inch Eagles - more serious, which means more expensive!" said Rick, whose turn it is to drive this weekend. "As you noticed at the RWYB last week, the car was moving around a bit. These tyres are radial and have stiffer sidewalls, so the car should stay in a straight line. And these tyres should last longer". The car was previously shod with Micky Thompson tyres; "Everyone told us that MTs were no good", said Rick, "but when I checked out the Stock results in National Dragster, all the winners were on MTs!".

Bob Hancox is making his traditional Easter visit to Santa Pod in his Outlaw Anglia, running this weekend in Pro ET. Bob is fresh from bringing the house down at last weekend's Doncaster Show, where he put on what was by all accounts a burnout and a half. "There were all these boy racers doing one-wheel burnouts", said Bob, "and then I did my burnout and did I do a burnout! The crowd went mental! The Show organiser supplied us with tyres and I'll do anything for free tyres!". Bob told us that he is here this weekend as much to set the car up as anything else. "At the end of last season I ran a 9.3 having only just stuck a new carb on", he said. "I've just about finished replacing everything after my crash at Shakespeare County Raceway. When I crashed, the gearbox broke in half. It'll be nice to get into the eights after that!".

Drawing many admiring glances in the Custom Car Street Eliminator pit is Sue Jackson's new 'Vette, a very nice piece of work. This is the car's first time out of the garage and one or two teething problems have surfaced. "The fuel pump leaks", said Sue's husband Ian, who runs the CCSE competition. "It's new out of the box and it leaks. Sue hasn't had a chance to drive it yet, but it shouldn't be too much longer". The Vette's engine features heads reworked by ICE Automotive, whose Rob Loaring was full of praise for Ian Jackson. "We did the heads, but Ian wanted to put the engine together himself. And he has done a very good job of it, all credit to him", said Rob.

In the next CCSE pit is Barry George whose Sierra pick-up sounds significantly stronger than it did last year. Rob Loaring wouldn't be drawn on any changes made to the engine so we have only the evidence of our ears to go on but believe us, something has been done to that car.

Pro ET racer Colin Aldred told us that we were right in our comments about his Classy Chassis slingshot going out of shape at last week's RWYB. "It moved a lot", he said. "It never gets as loose as that, it was weird. We're going to play with the tyre pressures a bit to see if it straightens out". Colin has Chris Johnson's crew chief Paul Somerville working with him this year, as Chris is sitting the season out.

We've just heard that Dave Wilson has now noticed the pot plants through the middle of the Nemesis pit, and that he approves. "I always said we need a few hanging baskets" was his reported reaction.

Just as I went to post this update, announcer John Price has just arrived on his very welcome return to Santa Pod, joining up with his partner in crime Graham Beckwith.

Qualifying will be starting soon; stay tuned and we'll let you know what's occurring.