Summernationals
Sunday (eliminations)

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16:30

We're all done here at Santa Pod Raceway, it's been a great weekend for the Sportsman racers and we've enjoyed every minute of it. Your reporters and photographers this weekend have been Tog and Sharkman of Eurodragster.com.

Thanks for their help this weekend to Race Director Darren Prentice; Chief Marshal Steve Horn; Lisa Smart and John Hackney of Santa Pod's timing crew; Chief Starter Ian Marshall and his crew; Chief Fire Marshal Bob Day and his crew; track announcers John Price and Graham Beckwith; Lee Child; SPR track manager Kjell Petterson; Roger Gorringe; Paula Marshall; and of course to all of the racers for giving us quotes and action to write about and photograph.

Eurodragster's next event coverage will be from the Goodwood Festival of Speed; our next coverage from Santa Pod Raceway will be the FIA European Finals in September.

This weekend's coverage was brought to you in association with www.americancarimports.com.

16:20

Andy Robinson put in one more demo pass in his Pro Mod, clocking 6.694/201.65. The Stude recorded a 172 mph half-track speed.

Here are the final results in all classes:

Super Modified: Danny Cockerill 7.761/176.04 def. Jon Hogarth 8.125/162.76
Super Pro ET: Steve Johnson (7.65) 7.786/154.90 def. Barry Giles (7.80) 7.954/161.28
Pro ET: Steve Dunn (10.20) 10.216/129.27 def. Keith Herbert (11.80) 11.774/112.36 red light
Sportsman ET: George Greves (13.40) 13.547/99.90 def. Mark Anderson (13.75) 13.686/98.48 breakout
Super Comp: Martin Curbishley 9.013/143.28 def. Brian Pateman 9.032/141.21
Super Gas: Dave Day 9.908/135.39 def. Dave Townsend 9.995/138.73
Super Street: Conrad Stanley 11.129/101.43 def. Dave Cherrett 11.303/111.12
Junior Dragster: Joe Bond (9.75) 9.718/65.66 def. Ricky Emms (8.90) 9.207/67.83 red light
Custom Car Street Eliminator: Steve Pateman 8.736/166.92 def. Steve Neimantas 8.943/157.01
VW Pro: Russ Fellows (11.80) 11.792/114.58 def. Scotty Evison (12.59) red light, broke
VW Sportsman: Neil Davies (17.00) 17.009/72.69 def. Cath Bishop (16.55) 16.743/73.47

Funny Bike: Mike Chislett 7.577/167.01 def. Paul Knapp 7.510/171.37
Pro Stock Bike: Nick Pepper 7.693/169.92 def. Chris Hope broke
Comp Bike: Klaus Brinkmann 8.087/157.07 was unopposed (Jerry Collier broke)
Super Street Bike: Mark Fisher 8.794/158.11 def. Graham Dance 11.573/70.97
9.90 Bike: Steve ingham 10.061/130.70 def. Paul Morris 10.077/131.41
10.90 Bike: Lewis Honey 10.951/113.85 def. Sandra Chaplain 10.686/124.75 breakout
Supertwin Modified: Dave Bartz 10.260/132.81 def. TJ O'Brien 10.931/126.06
Supertwin Street: Mark Earrey 11.027/127.41 def. Les Harris 11.121/122.42
Supertwin Gas: Ric Davies 9.941/125.81 def. Sefton Whitlock 10.184/121.38

Today's pictures are now available from the event update index.

15:30

Supertwin Fuel

Jamie Millership 7.855/166.68

Super Modified semi final

Danny Cockerill 7.816/174.58 def. Rob Smallworth 8.262/150.81 red light
Jon Hogarth 8.138/163.89 bye

Custom Car Street Eliminator semi final

Steve Neimantas 9.128/156.34 def. Sue Jackson 9.182/158.50
Steve Pateman 8.706/167.26 bye

Junior Dragster semi final

Ricky Emms (8.90) 9.096/68.55 def. Tom Watts (11.63) 11.801/52.42
Joe Bond (9.60) 9.800/65.54 def. Adam Gleadow (9.50) 9.503/67.48 red light

VW Sportsman semi final

Neil Davies (17.00) 17.073/71.56 def. Natasha Garcia (19.70) 19.902/62.59
Cath Bishop (16.55) 16.987/71.91 bye

Sportsman ET semi final

Mark Anderson (13.75) 13.838/98.48 def. Simon Chalkly (12.78) 12.999/112.43
George Greves (13.40) 13.811/92.94 bye

15:15

Super Street semi final

Dave Cherrett 11.119/98.96 def. Bob Doignie 12.004/113.41
Conrad Stanley 11.014/126.70 bye

Super Comp semi final

Brian Pateman 9.230/140.66 def. Paul Knight 10.464/118.30
Martin Curbishley 9.001/143.77 def. Shaun Lathan 9.241/146.29

Super Street Bike semi final

Graham Dance 8.743/161.79 def. Matt Nixon 9.916/148.06
Mark Fisher 8.818/159.11, Dave Bailey no show

14:40

Dennis Wratten put in another pass in his TMFC in Super Pro ET, running 7.453/180.61. The car disappears in a cloud of smoke after every pass, a scary sight but we understand that it's only oil on the headers.

Funny Bike round 2

Mike Chislett 7.627/170.77, Shaun Branch no show (broken crank)
Paul Knapp 7.611/162.07 def. Dave Holland 7.816/156.50

Super Gas round 2

Dave Townsend 9.970/133.79 def. Pete Creswell 10.062/139.46
Dave Day 9.925/123.31 def. Martin Curbishley 9.887/141.40 breakout

Comp Bike round 2

Klaus Brinkmann 8.015/157.93 def. Klaus Sarembe 8.765/152.12
Jerry Collier 8.496/150.47 def. Phil Leamon 9.062/148.87

Pro Stock Bike round 2

Chris Hope 8.070/141.45 def. Martin Bishop broke (chain)
Nick Pepper 7.699/170.40 def. Helen Curran 8.053/157.17

Supertwin Street semi-final

Les Harris 11.211/123.08 def. Paul Coombs 11.929/106.21
Mark Earrey 11.179/123.08 bye

13:55

Custom Car Street Eliminator round 3

Steve Pateman 8.783/166.87 def. Jeff Meads 9.245/150.77
Sue Jackson 9.471/157.80 df. John Sleath 9.432/151.35
Steve Neimantas 8.981 bye

Supertwin Gas round 2

Ric Davies 10.475/124.40 def. Nick Daniels 11.255
Sefton Whitlock 10.196/121.78 def. Dave Hirst 10.615/118.44

Supertwin Modified round 1

Dave Bartz 10.378/126.47, Tim Boutle no show
TJ O'Brien 10.597/126.31 def. Nigel Mason 10.931/129.05

13:40

Martin Hill put in a demo pass of 6.10/255.42 in the Fireforce 2 Jet FC, and Andy Robinson has also just made a demo pass of 6.730/200.96 in his Studebaker Pro Mod.

Super Modified round 2

Danny Cockerill 7.83/174.99 def. Andy Hone 8.01/168.08
Rob Smallworth 7.92/171.76 bye
Jon Hogarth 8.03/165.86 def. Graham Ellis 8.05/171.06

Super Street Bike round 2

Graham Dance 8.590/167.81 def. Bradley O'Connor 9.213/160.51
Dave Bailey 9.131/149.29 def. Pete Cameron 9.656/139.38
Matt Nixon 9.235/154.06 def. Paul Newman 9.775/142.06
Mark Fisher 8.818/159.36 def. Pete Bellenie 12.079/61.93

12:50

Custom Car Street Eliminator round 2

Steve Neimantas 9.026/156.93 def. Allen Curtis 10.063/137.58 red light
John Sleath 9.582/149.38 bye
Sue Jackson 9.523/159.54 def. Jon Webster 10.006/143.35
Jeff Meads 9.314/147.98 def. Andy Frost 9.629/148.46 red light
Steve Pateman 8.683/167.67 def. John Ricketts 10.546/113.48

12:30

Super Gas round 1

Dave Townsend 9.968/136.61 def. Peter Lane 9.963/140.66 (win margin 0.029 seconds)
Pete Creswell 10.124/130.98 def. Shaun Lathan 10.063/141.87
Dave Day 10.015/128.73 def. 10.069/133.97
Martin Curbishley 9.925/141.65 def. Frank Mason 9.991/138.32

Funny Bike round 1

Mike Chislett staged, Neil Diggens no show
Shaun Branch 7.673/169.32 def. Stu Chamberlain 8.851
Dave Holland 7.498/168.17 def. Tim Blakemore 11.276/67.57
Paul Knapp 7.499/156.45 def. Neil Midgley 10.837/74.20 red light

Comp Bike round 1

Klaus Brinkmann 8.225/156.01 def. Carl Needhan broke
Klaus Sarembe 8.625/153.64 def. Andy Newcombe 9.615/137.86
Jerry Collier 8.336/154.83 def. Chris Hannam 8.914/154.40
Phil Leamon 8.813/152.00 def. Sarah Jane Head 12.658/53.43

Pro Stock Bike round 1

Chris Hope 22.393/26.87 bye
Martin Bishop 8.095/153.84 def. Al Cook 8.006/165.10
Nick Pepper 7.750/171.86, Len Paget no show
Helen Curran 7.794/165.30 def. Ray Debben 8.417/154.49

Supertwin Fuel

Jamie Millership 8.194/169.32 bye

Supertwin Gas round 1

Ric Davies 9.752/129.10 def. Don Irvine 11.738/111.95
Nick Daniels 11.182/115.93 def. Ric Naylor 11.540/120.07
Sefton Whitlock 10.123/122.38 def. Barrie Gregory 11.535/110.11
Dave Hirst 10.572/118.91 def. Mick Bubb 11.109/115.42

Super Comp round 1

Martin Curbishley 9.019/147.40 bye
Shaun Lathan 9.181/147.39, George Chiarella no show
Brian Pateman 8.941/151.72 def. Zane Llewellyn 9.024/150.06 red light
Paul Knight 10.721/138.18 def. Sarah Day 11.466/99.41 red light

11:45

We had a great match-up in round one of Super Pro as Andy Robinson in his Pro Mod took on Doug Ripley in his blown-alcohol altered. Doug took the win with a pedalled 7.52/177.45 on a 7.50 dial-in to Andy's redlit and tyre-shaken 9.63. Dennis Wratten put in another pass in the TMFC at the end of the Super Pro session netting a nice straight 7.60/179.75. The car is launching in second gear as it has no wheelie bar so add a first gear to that pass and it would have been even quicker.

Super Modified round 1

Danny Cockerill 7.79/176.33 bye
Andy Hone 8.07/167.79, Steve Rawlings broke
Rob Smallworth 8.29/169.92 def. Tim Garlick 8.90/148.54
Jon Hogarth 7.97/168.21 def. Nigel Payne 8.62/158.43
Graham Ellis 8.01/171.98 def. Paula Marshall 8.50/160.48

10:15

Good morning from Santa Pod Raceway on race day of the SPRC Summernationals. Racing is just getting underway and we're here to bring you the news in association with American Car Imports.

A special good morning to Steve Young and all the guys tuned in at the NSRA Nostalgia Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway, we hope that you are having as good a weekend as we are here. And, as usual, a big Hello to our US correspondents and falling-tree dodgers Ed O'Connell and Kathy Hileman in New Hampshire.

We had a turn around the pits last night and again this morning and found a number of racers to speak to, here's what we found out.

In the Super Mod pits, the ever-cheerful Steve Rawlings was able to see the funny side of putting a rod out of his engine. "It's carnage corner here!", he said. "I got back to the pits and Nigel Payne's crew were waiting like vultures to nick my gearbox! Fred (Andy Hone - Ed) was hovering, too, he was asking where my Nitrous bottle was!". Steve said that he was very happy that that car had run what it had so far this year. He was also kind enough not to blame the Eurodragster stickers which he had put on his Toyota shortly before the rod popped out.

Andy Hone was another Super Mod racer to record a PB yesterday. "Your stickers did the trick!", he said. "We sat down and made a rear end adjustment, it's just a case of making small improvements all along. We've done the big improvement bit before and we did two engines in two races! This is the kindest that Santa Pod has ever been to us."

Next door in the Super Mod pit, Jon Hogarth was pleased to b heading in the right direction after running another seven yesterday. "We want to start worrying Danny Cockerill!", he said. Tuner Jeff Bull thinks that there is a lot more to come. "It's got a mediocre Nitrous tune-up and we're launching on 50%", he said. "I try to make Jon launch on 100% but he won't!".

Super Street racer Bob Lees told us that his Mustang's third member is smashed. If you werer tuned in yesterday you will remember that the rear end broke and dumped oil and shrapnel on the start line. "I heard a bang and shut it off", he said. "The track locater is snapped or we could have fixed it". Bob is off to Scandinavia in a few weeks and he told us that Andy Robinson has come to the rescue. "Andy has a pinion housing and third member for me", said Bob.

Super Pro ET racer Paul Davies is back on the track in the ex-Johnny Mac altered after crashing the dragster at the Main Event. "The launch is more fun than in the dragster!", he said. Paul had a wild moment yesterday when the front wheels started to wobble as the car slowed down. The team are off to Drachten in a couple of weeks' time and are very much looking forward to it. "Explosion, the organisers, have been brilliant", said crew member Nigel.

Funny Bike racer Dave Holland had a thrash last night after splitting the cases on the bottom end of his bike. Dave drove all the way to his home in Sussex to get spares, drove back, and was last seen in his pit at half past eleven last night with Ken Cooper putting everything back together on the Titanium International-sponsored machine.

Also in the wars was Super Street Bike racer Graham Dance who destroyed a gearbox yesterday. He spent last night building a gearbox from scratch as he didn't have a spare. At midnight Graham had the gearbox in a working condition and got some much-needed rest to put the motor back together this morning. Fellow Super Street Bike racer and number one qualifier Tony Clark is at this moment up in race control providing colour commentary for SSB after breaking a crank yesterday.

All of the Custom Car Street Eliminator racers made it through the cruise last night. Allen Curtis who made it into the nines yesterday told us that his new engine didn't even need the fan to cool it down on the cruise. "The nine yesterday felt fast but it's difficult to tell", he added. Fellow CCSE racer Andy Oliver found a nail in one of his brand-new tyres when he returned to the pits after his first qualifier yesterday. "We went into Rushden and had it repaired", he said.

Andy Robinson said that the trick with Pro Mods is all in the clutch. "They have the power, you just have to work out the clutch", he said. Andy was very pleased with the 1.05 sixty-foot on yesterday's 6.64 pass. "I ran a 1.05 on my first test run", he said, "and it came back yesterday!".

Whilst in the pits we met Tony Betts who told us that his Fuel FC was nearly ready to go and that he would definitely be at the next round of the British Nitro FC Championship at Shakespeare County Raceway in August. Tony's CCSE Sierra will be getting an outing at North Weals next week.

Tune back soon and we'll bring you news from eliminations. We'll be following as many classes as we can and will bring you highlights in the others. off", he said.


Reports and pictures ©Eurodragster.com