2005 Easter Thunderball
Monday (eliminations)
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20:45
Today's pictures are now posted, you can access them via the event index page.
That's the end of our Easter Thunderball coverage, thanks very much for tuning in and we hope that you enjoyed it. Your reporters this weekend have been Tog, Christer Abrahamson and Simon Groves, all pictures were by Sharkman.
Thanks for their help and hospitality this weekend to Race Director Darren Prentice; Steve Horn, Martin Wallis, John Hackney and Sharon Norris of Santa Pod's timing crew; Chief Starter Ian Marshall and Santa Pod Raceway's track and safety crews; Paula Marshall, Carol Ismail and Kathy Taylor; track announcers John Price, Graham Beckwith and Paul Venners; David Anniwell; Sue Morris in the SPR Press Centre; Kev Metcalfe; Kjell Pettersson; Caroline Day; David Lloyd-Jones; Heather Bond; Nev and Libby Mottershead; Pat and Stephen Talbot; Lex Joon and Gerda Dikjstra; Shelby Webster; Richard Gipp; the American Car Imports Racing TMD team; the Dealer Top Fuel Bike team; the Coffee Wagon and the Acorn Hog Roast; Matthew Seamarks; and Kelly Ingall. Thanks also to all of the racers for giving us so much to write about.
Our next event coverage will be from the Webster Race Engineering Test Day here at Santa Pod Raceway on Saturday 9th April.
This weekend's event coverage has been brought to you in association with American Car Imports.
18:35
Easter Thunderball final results
Pro Fuel Shootout: Thomas Nataas 5.054/283.14 def. Andy Carter 5.047/274.62
Top Methanol: Dave Wilson 5.500/248.48 def. Rob Turner 5.541/251.43
Pro Modified: Roger Johansson 6.533/193.96 def. Danny Cockerill 19.589/37.79
Super Modified: Kev Perkins 7.776/177.10 def. Andy Kirk 8.289/162.40
Street Eliminator: Colin Lazenby 8.425/173.67 def. John Sleath 8.535/176.41
Super Pro ET: Ian Tubb (7.53) 7.591/175.12 def. Pat Talbot (7.97) 8.028/162.68 redlight
Pro ET: John Atkinson (9.22) 9.294/132.38 def. John Morris (10.75) 10.923/119.96
Sportsman ET: Martin Lewis (15.80) 16.379/81.53 def. Rick Denny (13.43) 13.358/99.11 redlight
Super Comp: Brian Pateman 8.960/152.65 def. Martin Curbishley 8.954/151.10 redlight
Super Gas: Spencer Tramm 9.947/118.79 def. Conrad Stanley 9.891/128.66 breakout
Super Street: John Grant 11.092/114.11 def. Dave Cherrett 11.240/111.32
Junior Dragster: Ross Norris (8.74) 8.825/74.24 def. Collin Morrice (9.33) 9.327/69.56 breakout
VW Pro: Jonathan Grigg (12.70) 12.841/104.88 def. Neil Davies (12.40) 12.093/109.77 redlight
VW Sportsman: Chris Bray (16.10) 16.181/83.31 def. Paul Herbert (13.31) 15.280/83.76 breakout
VW Alternate Engine: Matt Attwood (13.65) 13.840/97.19 def. Spencer Tramm (9.90) 10.054/113.14
Congratulations to Spencer Tramm on winning the 20th Anniversary Super Gas Shootout, which was held over from last year's UK National Finals. Also of note was Colin Lazenby's 0.001 Reaction Time in the Street Eliminator final.
Top Fuel Bike: Ian King 6.482/209.29 bye, Steve Woollatt no show
Pro Stock Bike: Dave Beck 7.380/167.90 def. Richard Gipp 7.820/166.66
Funny Bike: Chris Hall 7.194/179.46 def. Neil Midgley no time (broke on run)
Comp Bike: Gary Jones 8.232/168.54 def. TJ O'Brien 8.905/105.87
Super Street Bike: Steve Venables 7.742/193.16 def. Jamie Sneddon 8.617/141.94
9.50 Bike: Steve Coombs 9.679/138.36 def. Paul Coombs 9.638/136.41
Congratulations to Steve Venables on setting a new ACU Super Street Bike ET record (subject to official ratification) of 7.742 in the SSB final, and on backing up yesterday's 193.20.
We are now working on today's pictures, stay tuned!
17:15
Street Eliminator eliminations semi-final winners: John Sleath 8.718/175.70, Colin Lazenby 8.684/169.18
Steve Nash threw away his chance to back up his record by leaving before the lights ran. Jerry Charles followed up with a 9.605/145.62 test run.
Super Gas eliminations semi-final winners: Spencer Tramm 9.936/120.95, Conrad Stanley 10.067/118.68
Super Street eliminations semi-final winners: Dave Cherrett 10.941/100.84, John Grant 10.937/131.22
Super Comp eliminations semi-final winners: Martin Curbishley 8.917/151.98, Brian Pateman 8.856/153.95 bye
Junior Dragster eliminations semi-final winners: Collin Morrice (9.35) 9.362/69.02, Ross Norris (8.77) 8.742/74.26 bye
9.50 Bike eliminations semi-final winners: Paul Coombs 9.598/137.72, Steve Coombs staged bye
It's a brother v brother all-Hyena final in 9.50 Bike.
Pro ET eliminations semi-final winners: John Morris (10.80) 10.826/120.99 bye, John Atkinson (9.22) 9.419/121.32
Sportsman ET eliminations semi-final winners: Rick Denny (13.40) 13.491/95.11, Martin Lewis (15.40) 16.451/82.71
17:00
Martin Hill followed the Top Fuel Bike final with a great 6.043/246.05 in the Fireforce 2 Jet FC. "Now I'm going to go and tell him off for not being fast enough", said Race Director Darren Prentice.
Comp Bike eliminations semi-final winners: TJ O'Brien 8.460/158.88, Gary Jones 7.918/153.00 bye
Funny Bike eliminations semi-final winners: Neil Midgley staged (bye, Steve Venables no show), Chris Hall staged (bye, Paul Knapp broke)
Jim Seward put in his first NFAA pass of the weekend, and his first pass since 2003. A nice burnout, heading for the Tree, then dry hops to the line. As the altered hopped forward one of the drogue chutes came out and Jim had to shut off.
16:45
Top Fuel Bike final:
Ian King 6.482/209.29 bye, Steve Woollatt no show
As mentioned in Simon's pit notes below, Steve elected to sit this one out so that he could check his engine.
Ian pulled a nice burnout and then a tremendous pass, hardly any correction necessary as the bike went
very straight.
16:20
Top Methanol final:
Dave Wilson 5.500/248.48 def. Rob Turner 5.541/251.43
Rob Turner set a new Championship record of 5.582 seconds in the last round, backed up by previous passes.
Grumpy went quicker but was outside the 1% range. A very ling burnout by Grumpy, Rob less so and both back
at the line at the same time. No such problems this time, Rob away first and with the better incrementals to
half track (by a thousandth) but then Grumpy pulled ahead and looked to be off it a touch early, taking the
win by 0.028 seconds. Grumpy takes the Championship ET record.
Pro Modified final:
Roger Johansson 6.533/193.96 def. Danny Cockerill 19.589/37.79
Both Roger and Danny pulled huge burnouts. A big burndown before staging, Danny went in first, on the green
Danny pulled a 0.012 RT but then there was a horrible stuttering noise from his engine and he was off the throttle - hope
it's nothing serious. Roger took Low ET of the weekend with a superb, straight pass but then there was a big
cloud of smoke at the finish line, when it cleared Roger was stopped and is A-OK, but oil was found on the
track.
We're on hold for clean-up, stay tuned.
16:10
Pro Fuel Shootout final:
Thomas Nataas 5.054/283.14 def. Andy Carter 5.047/274.62
Andy's B & Q car hesitated very slightly on starting. Another short burnout from Thomas but it didn't harm
him last time. Thomas got a slight jump off the start line, 0.119 to 0.130, Andy's car lifting the
front end and twisting, at half track it was 3.410/243.20
for Thomas to 3.413/243.03 for Andy, Thomas' car was moving around at the finish but he stayed ahead,
0.004 seconds between them at the finish line, just over nineteen
inches.
After the Shootout final, Jon Webster (left lane) and Lex Joon paired up for test runs, Jon put in a tremendous straight pass, 5.026/296.62 to Lex's redlight and early shut off 8.606/94.74.
16:05
Simon has paid one last visit to the pits for today, here's what he found out:
Dave Wilson said his semi-final bye run was the most trouble free so far this meeting. However with the sun out the track is now warmer and many of the tuning parameters have changed. Dave said that the car is less heavy on tyres than at the Euro Finals.
The Turners have no problems going into the final with Dave - which should be a close race.
Jim Seward will shortly be running a checkout pass with the Harry The Spider altered, having had a troubled weekend in preparing the car for running.
Steve Woollatt shut off early on his previous 6-second pass, and has withdrawn from competition. "We are happy with the way the new clutch has worked but I am unhappy to run the motor with so many new parts without stripping it down."
Ian King also shut off at the top end after getting a little out of shape. The final will now be a bye run.
Spencer Tramm (Super Gas and VW Alternate Engine) has had problems with spark plug leads and stud gun. He expressed appreciation to Dave Wilson for helping him out with the latter. The car was also shaking on the line, but Spencer's driving has helped keep him in competition.
Rob Smallworth said the Super Mod attrition has been high this weekend with four cars going out through mechanical gremlins. Rob suffered blackened bearings, and knocked out the thrust on the rear main bearing. Andy Hone, Paul Brooks and Tim Garlick have also suffered varying degrees of motor damage.
Andy Williams has had a great weekend running a perfect 8.900000 in qualifying. Catching up with him in the pit shortly after his race with Chris Johnson, he was not sure who won, but Chris arrived shortly afterwards to confirm that Andy was through!
16:00
VW Alternate Engine eliminations semi-final winners: Spencer Tramm 10.184/101.55, Matt Attwood (13.90) 13.916/83.49
VW Pro eliminations semi-final winners: Neil Davies (12.40) 16.319/69.13, Jonathan Grigg (12.60) 12.831/104.22
VW Sportsman eliminations semi-final winners: Chris Bray (16.10) 18.121/59.49, Paul Herbert (19.31) 21.009/45.54 bye
Next up is the Pro Fuel Shootout final.
15:50
Pro Stock Bike eliminations semi-final winners: Dave Beck 7.433/166.61, Richard Gipp 7.896/164.74
Super Pro ET eliminations semi-final winners: Pat Talbot (7.97) 8.029/167.85, Ian Tubb (7.53) 7.544/177.94 bye (Steve Johnson no show)
Super Modified eliminations semi-final winners: Kev Perkins 7.721/178.01, Andy Kirk 8.204/162.39 bye
9.50 Bike eliminations round 3 winners: Geoff Connor 9.544/145.13, Steve Coombs 9.673/136.38, Paul Coombs 9.564/136.79
Super Street Bike eliminations semi-final winners: Steve Venables 7.761/182.13, Jamie Sneddon 7.898/180.92
Jamie takes back the ACU ET record with a great run, a stellar performance by Steve Venables, but too quick for his earlier passes to back it up. What a final we're going to have!
15:35
VW Sportsman eliminations round 2 winners: Chris Bray (16.20) 16.614/67.99, Paul Herbert (15.31) 15.952/71.32, James Lake (13.60) 15.543/90.21 bye
Sportsman ET eliminations round 2 winners: Nicola La Grue (15.60) 15/662/90.00, Martin Lewis (15.40) 15.493/84.85, Billy Gane (13.50) 13.554/98.48, Rick Denny (13.40) 13.430/98.71 bye
Kev Metcalfe pointed out to us that Nicola La Grue is racing with two child seats in the back of her Honda Civic.
Pro ET eliminations round 3 winners: John Morris (10.75) 10.857/121.27, John Atkinson (9.20) 9.277/145.16, Keith Herbret (11.43) 11.432/111.60
Super Comp eliminations round 2 winners: Brian Pateman 9.027/141.84, Andy Williams 8.982/132.59, Martin Curbishley 8.933/149.19 bye
Junior Dragster eliminations round 3 winners: Collin Morrice (9.35) 9.391/67.37, Ross Norris (8.83) 8.795/73.78 bye (Kane Jones broke chain), Jennifer Gustafsson (12.85) 12.412/51.73 bye
15:10
VW Pro eliminations round 2 winners: Neil Davies (12.40) 13.898/74.85, Scott Cutler (12.99) 14.437/80.06, Jonathan Grigg (12.60) 16.625/69.12 bye, Paul Bate (10.80) 11.097/114.47 bye
Ian Dale lost an oil pipe whilst in stage, the eagle-eyed start line crew spotted it and shut Ian off, saving his engine. Good job guys!
15:00
Super Gas eliminations round 2 winners: Conrad Stanley 9.938/134.80, Spencer Tramm 10.004/115.89, Lee Pike 9.897/135.13, Chris Isaacs 9.939/117.80
Super Street eliminations round 2 winners: Dave Cherrett 11.024/92.40, John Grant 10.990/131.97, Nick Curtis 11.046/122.29 bye, Bob Lees 10.906/122.53
Simon has been to the pits again and here is his report:
Trev Capewell (Top Methanol) said whilst he was pleased with his first round pass, defeating the returning Steph Milam, he felt the ET could have been quicker. "We lined the car up crooked and when it launched it turned to the left. I was fighting it off the centre line. When I shifted into third gear, the blower belt broke which damaged a header." Repairs were being made for his next run against Rob Turner.
Dave Wilson said despite the excellent performance there were problems with "stupid little things". He has a bye into the final though….
Rob Turner's PR, Sarah Foster said that the team is planning to contest the FIA Championship this year and as many UK rounds as time permits. Sponsors are Silkolene, James Lister, NGK, and G Max Fuels. The new "cracked" paintjob was designed by team manager Carmel Turner and sprayed by none other than Crew Chief Steve Turner!
Clayton Round's weekend came to a premature end after finding leaking valve seats on the Alky Altered. However he expressed his delight at a NPB of 7.2. "It came after we rebuilt the motor having destroyed it early last season on our previous best of 7.6." Clayton thanks Ian Hansen from whom he borrowed a new mag and also his entire crew.
Thomas Nataas, whose Top Fueller is running like a bracket car, is looking forward to the final against Andy Carter, which is a re-run of the Euro Finals final round. Thomas said that the car's set-up had been left unchanged since last year, apart from the addition of new safety equipment.
Danny Cockerill is delighted with his string of 6.6s runs. The motor is an Alan Johnson 526ci built by Atchison Racing in Canada. "My grateful thanks go to Bob Atchison, who has been tuned into Eurodragster this weekend", said Danny. "Also I would like to thank my crew, Gareth, Dave and Ben without whom none of this weekend would have bee possible". Danny said he will be running the whole of the NDRS Pro Mod Championship.
Jorgen Karlsson (Pro Mod) has improved his PB from an 8 to 6.66 this meeting! "I completed my licensing runs this weekend, having previously run in a 10.5" tyre doorslammer class". The car was built by Niclas Andersson whilst he was racing in Pro Stock, and he didn't have the time to complete and run it. As a team-mate of Roger Johansson, Jorgen has been the luck recipient of Roger's 2003 championship-winning motor "which is a bit legendary in Pro Mod circles!" The motor is a Fulton, with triple stage nitrous. Jorgen stated that data from two cars will help Roger's team in what will undoubtedly be the most competitive NDRS Pro Mod championship yet.
Steve Venables (Super Street Bike) said his weekend has been "brilliant!" Steve is being helped by US Street Bike champion Barry Henson. Apart from the new fuel and ignition systems, the front forks and rear wheel have been moved back on the frame to aid handling.
David Warren (Super Street Bike) has in three passes taken 1.2s off his previous best. The Suzuki Katana ran an 8.50 on the same settings as his test run the previous weekend, which was has first racing experience on turbo or nitrous. Roger Yelland is the bike's owner, with additional support from David.
Dave Beck who is number one qualifier in Pro Stock Bike, expected the remainder of the field to be "closer to me than they are". He has a new 1640cc motor and the bike is now "close to US Pro Stock Bike specs". Dave's plans this year are to run five out of the six ACU rounds and the Prostar series in the US as a Pro Mod rider. Dave wishes to thank Roger Upperton with his assistance on cylinder head preparation.
14:50
Super Street Bike eliminations round 2 winners: Richard Beck 9.832/147.58 bye (Dave Smith no show), Brad O'Connor 7.925/186.60, Jamie Sneddon 8.020/180.01, Steve Venables 8.150/182.79 bye
Three bikes into the sevens and three of the Webster Race Engineering gold rings gone in one event! Well done Brad O'Connor! Congratulations also to Dave Warren who ran a new PB of 8.500 in this round, losing to Jamie.
14:35
Top Methanol eliminations round 2:
Dave Wilson 5.521/253.19 bye
What a great run from Grumpy, 0.935 to sixty feet, 3.622/207.34 at half track, straight as you like, no hint
of shake. With final lane choice at stake I guess Grumpy was not going to take it easy, and he always tells
us that you learn nothing from short squirts.
Rob Turner 5.582/251.76 def. Trev Capewell 6.228
Trev visibly got away first, 0.204 to 0.302, Rob started to pull him in and was past by 330 feet, going
straight and hard and taking the win. Meanwhile Trev was on a stormer, the straightest run he has ever made
and looking very good. Grumpy gets lane choice over Rob in the final.
Top Fuel Bike eliminations round 2:
Ian King 6.724/200.90 bye
A nice straight pass from Ian until half-track when the bike started to move left and he got off the
throttle for about a second, straightened the bike, then got back on it. So that was quite some run
with the feather of the throttle.
Steve Woollatt 6.886/198.29 def. Steve Carey 7.344/179.94
It was a long push back for Steve Carey's crew after his burnout, Steve Woollatt very patiently waited in pre-stage.
On the green Steve Woollatt was away first, the bike looking very good this time, more or less straight down the
middle of the lane. Steve Carey was right-of-centre of his lane and sounded as if he throttled the feather
slightly. Ian has lane choice in the final.
Pro Modified eliminations round 1:
Danny Cockerill 6.661/211.05 bye
Another run from Danny Cockerill, another personal best. Nice one Danny! The car went very straight,
very slight shake off the start which Danny drove through and no looking back.
Roger Johansson 6.759/206.71 def. Jörgen Karlsson no time recorded
Roger set some sort of speed record for backing up after his burnout. Both cars went up on the revs,
Jörgen went before the lights ran and Roger went with him, luckily the lights had run and
Roger just barely pulled a red, -0.021. Jörgen's car disappeared into a huge cloud of smoke at
the top end, Sharkman at trackside reported hearing the engine making an "I'm dying" grunt.
Luckily the track crew found nothing on the track. Danny gets lane choice in the final.
Next up was Eric Teboul on his Rocket Bike, what a great run! 5.867/188.41, Eric clocked 3.642/213.26 at half track.
14:15
Super Pro ET eliminations round 2 winners: Paul Davies (8.80) 9.242/142.37, Steve Johnson (7.34) 7.691/151.07, Ian Tubb (7.53) 7.531/176.42, Pat Talbot (7.98) 7.974/171.14 bye
Super Modified eliminations round 2 winners: Andy Kirk 8.356/163.74, Kev Perkins 7.676/177.13, Kev Taylor 9.153/143.30 bye
14:00
VW Alternate Engine eliminations round 1 winners: Matt Attwood (14.00) 14.194/83.18, Ian Huggan (17.00) 17.587/76.28, Joe Williams (14.90) 17.733/77.33, Spencer Tramm (9.90) 9.932/17.46 bye
Funny Bike eliminations round 1 winners: Neil Midgley 7.165/194.83, Steve Venables 8.305/181.48, Paul Knapp 7.348/169.69, Chris Hall 7.155/180.73
Comp Bike eliminations round 1 winners: TJ O'Brien 7.703/167.24, Gary Jones 8.173/160.63, Roland Chaplain 8.757/149.96 bye (Vaughan Foster no show)
9.50 Bike eliminations round 2 winners: Geoff Connor 9.756/116.22, Steve Soombs 9.918/137.69, Andy Bird bye 10.480/137.17, Paul Coombs 9.556/136.40, Steve Knapp 9.654/147.08, Fred Furlong 9.624/140.56 bye (Paul Hollway no show)
13:20
Only Mickey Moore turned out for the latest NFAA session but he didn't disappoint with a 150 foot burnout, dry hops, then a fine weaving 7.172 and smashing his personal best speed at a huge 210.42, well done Moo! There was a lot of smoke from the Mob at the finish line but no clean-up so hopefully that means all is OK.
Martin Hill followed up in the Fireforce 2 Jet FC, a very nice 5.920/251.38.
13:00
Pro Fuel Shootout qualifying session 3 (left lane first):
Andy Carter 5.642/180.74 bye
A nice run for Andy, 0.952 to sixty feet, 3.444/239.30 at half track, the car described an S as it went down the track,
then made a serious move for the centre line and Andy got off the throttle. Whatever happens in the other qualifying
passes, Andy is in the final.
Gordon Smith 10.286/81.98, Lex Joon 12.395/71.97
Lex in relaxed mood, giving us two thumbs-up before the MPM Oil car was fired up. Lex told us this morning that
he would go to between 330 feet and half-track depending upon how the car felt. Gordon, Dave Bryant and the
Shockwave team put in a spare engine after a con rod broke yesterday causing all sorts of mayhem. Sixty
foot burnouts from both cars, Gordon with the 0.35 head start pulled a 0.226 RT, Lex took half of that back
but hit shake almost immediately and got straight off the throttle. Gordon looked to be on a strong pass
but then there was smoke from the FC, Gordon pedalled and got back on it, there was the unmistakeable
yellow haze around the car and Gordon got off the throttle. Oil was found in Gordon's lane.
Jon Webster 5.396/197.62, Thomas Nataas 5.040/257.70
A very short burnout from Thomas, on the green Jon was away first 0.113 to 0.191. Thomas had the
quicker sixty foot at 0.898 to Jon's 0.912. At half track it was 3.405/235.66 for Jon,
3.361/243.22 for Thomas, Jon lost the blower belt at about 1000 feet, Thomas got off the throttle
at about 1200 feet after the car made a move. Congratulations to Thomas on being #1 qualifier, he
goes into the final against Andy Carter.
The final qualifying standings in the Pro Fuel Shootout are:
Thomas v Andy in the final, and Lex mentioned earlier on that he would like to make another pass this afternoon if the Race Director is happy.
Simon has been out for another trip to the pits and here's what he found out.
Jet FC pilot Martin Hill said that on the 336.10 mph run, the new World Record for non-rocket powered cars, he clicked the car off at the finish line. Stopping the car from that speed is an important consideration and the Chevrolet Lumina has a new chute from the US firm Chute Metal. "The air conditions were great but to back the speed up I will need to run at a non-permit event." The speed limit for Monday has been set at 280 mph after the Race Director "had a little word" with Martin yesterday.
Jon Webster said the set-up on his Top Fuel Dragster for his 4.97 run is almost unchanged from that which ran a 5.05 at the Euro Finals last year. "We've just made adjustment to a couple of small issues", said Jon. "On our Saturday run, we had no oil pressure due to a faulty oil feed line. We're delighted with our first four, and are looking to repeat today."
Ian King said he has changed his motor from a four valve to a two valve setup. "The advantage is to enable us to run thicker valve stems, as exhaust valves had a tendency to melt with the 4 valve setup, giving problems with sealing. We've also put in part of a combined clutch and engine management system from Automan in the US, which is being used by a lot of the fuel teams (car and bike).
Top Fuel Bike racer Steve Woollatt has changed several components in his combination over the winter and is looking for a baseline combination. On top of this, Steve has lost a starter motor and the other one is "not well". Steve, winner of Top Fuel Bike at the Euro Finals last year, is looking for backing to enable him to run more of the UEM/FIM series.
Super Mod racer Andy Kirk said that his '67 Camaro has a new four speed Lenco transmission to replace the Powerglide setup from last year. He suffered clutch slippage on Saturday but added weight to it yesterday, as well as taking fuel out of the motor.
We caught up with two racers missing from the entry list. John Spuffard (Fuel Funny Car) was forced to withdraw after a sponsor pulled out with only three weeks to go. "The team are all raring to go!", he said. John added later that there are companies interested and that he hopes that the Showtime team will appear at the FIA Main Event.
Pro ET and Super Street racer Ian Brown is taking a year or so out to develop a new (for him) '67 Camaro that was acquired from Gordon Appleton and will soon be in Andy Robinson's shop for refurbishment. Ian plans to run it in one of the Super classes with a chassis tagged to 7.50.
12:20
After the clean-up from Lindsay Deuchar's oildown we had the final qualifying session of Top Fuel Bike. Steve Woollatt went first, the bike sounding very crisp, as Steve pulled forward to stage he was signalled to shut off. It transpired that the top end ambulance had been called to an emergency in the pits. Steve went back to the pits. Next up were Ian King (left lane) and Steve Carey, very strong burnouts from both bikes. On the green Steve was away first 0.259 to 0.286 and put in a great, straight pass, 7.156/183.63, and into second place. Ian was clocking some great incrementals but towards the top end the bike was drifting and he got off the throttle. The final qualifying standings in Top Fuel Bike are:
Next up was an additional qualifying session for Pro Modified, first out were Roger Johansson (left lane) and Jörgen Karlsson. Great burnouts, on the green both cars shot off the line and went straight and true, 6.696/210.26 for Roger and 6.666/207.47 for Jörgen, the student outqualifying the mentor! Danny Cockerill was next, the usual fine burnout and then a fine, straight run, the tyres turned once then driving through slight shake, 6.782/209.25.
The final qualifying standings in Pro Modified are:
When was the last time you saw Roger Johansson at the bottom of a Pro Mod qualifying list, and that with a 6.6?
11:50
Super Comp eliminations round 1 winners: Phil Bennett 8.947/136.39, Andy Williams 8.707/158.93 bye, Chris Johnson 9.043/149.42, Martin Curbishley 8.949/143.81, Brian Pateman 8.918/152.51
Top Methanol eliminations round 1:
Rob Turner 5.600/249.98 def. Doug Ripley 6.444/200.90
A great paired burnout before this race. On the green Rob was away first 0.182 to 0.273, straight as you like,
no sign of shake. Doug also went nice and straight, a new PB and the team are delighted.
Both teams very professionally turned out, too, very smart crew shirts and the vehicles immaculately
turned out.
Trev Capewell 6.346/210.48 def. Steph Milam 8.415/119.94
Steph was on her way back from her burnout before Trevor appeared under Race Control, Chief Starter Ian Marshall
having a quiet word with one of Trev's crew as he reversed. Trev staged pointing at the 330 foot reflector,
on the green he pulled a 0.222 to 0.491 holeshot on Steph. The Southern Rebel TMFC avoided the centre line by
an inch, Trev hauled the car away from the centre and then the car started heading towards the right
guardrail, but he stayed with it and then backed off just before the finish line. Steph drove through shake but then
got off it.
Dave Wilson 5.594/254.56 def. Lindsay Deuchar 5.799/219.44
This was a really great-looking race. Lindsay pulled a visible holeshot on Grumpy although they were only
0.02 apart, Lindsay's sixty foot was 0.943 to Grumpy's 0.954, but then Grumpy reeled Lindsay in just after
half track. Suddenly there was smoke from Lindsay's car towards the top end as Grumpy's car started to
drift left. Grumpy got there first by 0.184, Lindsay's car leaving oil from half track and down the
shutdown area. A new PB for Lindsay but it looks like he hurt it doing it. Grumpy gets a bye in the
next round.
11:30
Just for you, Ulf, the track temperature is 59 degrees! Trackside conditions are 9.1 C, 84% humidity and 29.85 inches of air. The sun is trying to break through.
Sportsman ET eliminations round 1 winners: Rick Denny (13.37) 13.492/98.01, Billy Gane (13.50) 13.657/99.13, Nicola La Grue (15.47) 16.267/89.10, Tanya Partridge (12.38) 12.399/108.20, Paul Bishop (15.80) 16.273/78.54, Martin Lewis (15.40) 15.370/86.03 bye
Junior Dragster eliminations round 2 winners: Collin Morrice (9.40) 9.373/70.18, Kane Jones (7.90) 7.990/74.11, Ross Norris (8.80) 8.867/73.89, Jennifer Gustafsson (12.85) 12.699/51.19, Tom Watts (10.96) 11.005/56.80
Street Eliminator eliminations round 1 winners: John Sleath 8.409/179.27, Colin Lazenby 8.785/175.16, Steve Nash 8.116/173.84 bye
Splinter's 8.116 will be a new Street Elimninator ET record if he backs it up with an 8.197 or quicker. John Sleath is on a terminal speed record of 179.27, he needs 177.48 to take it. Colin Lazenby pulled a great one hundred foot burnout before his race with Jerry Charles. The Pinnacle-sponsored team have new team shirts which look just great.
11:05
Pro ET eliminations round 2 winners: John Atkinson (9.20) 9.265/145.15, Jerry Denning (9.86) 9.844/133.11, Phil Toppin (11.45) 11.539/113.89, Keith Herbert (11.39) 11.451/114.24, John Morris (10.70) 10.751/122.24, Joe Stevens (10.16) 10.124/119.65
Super Street eliminations round 1 winners: Scoot McCarthy 11.132/121.22 bye (Nick Griffin no show), Nick Curtis 11.118/117.51, Dave Cherrett 10.961/97.34, Bob Lees 10.823/129.76 bye (Jonas Dantanus shut off for fluid leak), John Grant 10.859/131.53 (Mark Watkins no show), Paul Spiers 10.966/120.53, Dave Catton 10.606/125.59 bye (Leigh Morris shut off for fuel leak)
Simon has taken his first trip into the pits for today and here's what he found out:
9.50 Bike front-runner Fred Furlong said "We're getting used to the new index. The main change is to use more revs and to brake less at the end of the track (!), I haven't changed anything on the bike."
John Hackney who has changed from 10.50 to 9.50 along with the other two riders in the class has had to give up a potentially competitive position as his PB is only 10.13. "It's not going to happen unless there are more riders interested in 10.50."
Ollie Burn, crew chief for Mickey Moore, said "We are delighted with the performance of the car this event. We are putting more clutch in it and plan to run the maximum weight of 300 grams today. We want to run a six!". We've taken all the pistons out and replaced one, and will also put in new bearings. We burnt one exhaust valve after it got jammed against the spark plug."
I compared the rules for the NFAA with the current rules for Nostalgia Fuel in the US. Ollie said "In the US they are reducing capacity to 331cu in and have reduced the flow of the pumps from 19 to 14 gallons. Even so, the drivers are having to hold the brake for the whole run to avoid spinning the 12 in tyres and are getting to 10,500 revs at the top end." Mickey pulls 8,500 revs from his 446ci Donovan motor and the pump flow is 17.5 gallons, overdriven to 23 gallons. Nitro percentage is 85%, the maximum allowed for NFAA.
Ollie said that Mickey is hoping to run against Jim Seward later today.
Lex Joon said that his new ex-Baca Top Fuel Dragster "drives like a Cadillac!" Eddie Corr (who isn't able to attend this event) has been giving tuning advice over the phone. Lex plans to do two passes to 330 feet and half track, if all goes well.
Gordon Smith (Fuel Funny Car) said the damage to his motor yesterday was considerable. "It broke a rod and the block is in a sorry state. The blower and body are also damaged - the total cost to repair is £25,000 to £30,000." Gordon's team are assembling his replacement motor for today's action.
Gordon said that he would like to run the main events this year and hopes for a revival in the Funny Car championship, with Leif Helander planning to run and two or three cars in the building stage.
Mark Watkins (Super Street) also has a rebuild necessary after his incredible driving job with the car almost headed straight for the wall. "It will need a new block, pump and pistons. The new blower is making a lot of power though!"
Nick Curtis's Lawbreaker '57 Chevy (Super Street) has been pleasing spectators with its wild one wheel up launches. Nick said "The car has coil over shocks with a 4 link setup at the rear. We've tried to adjust it to avoid the right rear wheel going too far into the tub, but have reached the maximum adjustment possible. We'll leave it as it is as the crowd loves it!
Terri Lee's (Pro ET) weekend came to a premature end with a breakout and a gearbox problem. The team said "Andy Frost will be looking at it for us so that we can attend the next meeting."
Anthony Wilkins (Pro ET), whose first competitive event this is, is delighted. "I have run RWYBs for the last three years and thought I'd give the racing a try. I didn't think I would qualify and then got number one right up until the last minute! All I've done to the car (Rat Poison '55 Chevy) is check the oil and tyre pressures!"
10:50
Super Modified eliminations round 1 winners: Steve Rawlings 7.966/172.36, Andy Kirk 8.307/162.84, Kev Perkins 7.727/177.21 bye, Kev Taylor 9.104/147.05 bye (Tim Garlick no show), Rob Smallworth staged (Andy Hone no show)
Craig Gibbs had a spectacular nitrous burp as he left the line, he immediately sidelined the car and everything is A-OK. Paul Brooks had a flash of flame at half track, no word on what happened. Rob Smallworth appeared to stage using his starter motor to turn the engine!
Super Street Bike eliminations round 1 winners: Jamie Sneddon 8.051/181.50, Dave Smith 8.208/169.84, Brad O'Connor 8.080/178.56, Richard Beck 9.352/159.62 bye (Mark Fisher no show), Steve Venables 7.982/187.60, Graham Dance 8.293/177.66, David Warren 8.674/161.91 bye (Pete Bellenie no show)
10:30
Super Gas eliminations round 1 winners: Spencer Tramm 10.053/112.78, Jon Morton 9.874/141.56, Tim Adam 9.951/135.98 after re-run, Chris Isaacs 9.929/124.32, Brian Pateman 9.987/132.77, Conrad Stanley 9.968/122.27, Lee Pike 9.975/134.39, Olav Skjervo 10.074/121.64
Congratulations to Olav Skjervo who has won the Eurodragster.com/Speedflow Perfect Light Award with a 0.000 in this round of eliminations.
Super Pro ET eliminations round 1 winners: Pat Talbot (7.93) 8.077/167.20, Ian Tubb (7.53) 7.601/176.23, Paul Davies (8.80) 9.037/143.77 bye (Mark Flavell broke after burnout), John Everitt (7.92) 10.654/159.56 bye (Paul Marston no show), Martyn Jones (7.68) 7.871/169.94 bye (Nigel Turner no show), Derek Flynn (7.48) 23.163/42.77, Steve Johnson (7.40) 7.353/177.18 bye (Barry Giles no show)
9:45
Here we go! Trackside conditions are 7.9 C, 88% humidity, and 29.83 inches of air.
9.50 Bike eliminations round 1 winners: Fred Furlong 9.696/139.35, Paul Wing 10.046/130.20, Paul Coombs 9.857/136.30, Martin Walker 9.925/134.79, Phil Pratt 9.791/136.83, Steve Ashby 9.957/131.87, Andy Bird 9.976/127.58, Steve Knapp 9.860/143.76, Geoff Connor 10.265/119.99, Steve Coombs 9.728/136.73, Paul Hollway 11.492/93.72 bye
VW Pro eliminations round 1 winners: Jonathan Grigg (12.60) 12.110/99.81, Neil Davies (12.40) 12.552/95.98, Scott Cutler (12.99) took green (bye), Ian Dale (12.80) 13.396/101.85, Steve Roberts (12.80) 13.241/95.96
Scott Cutler appeared to break his gearbox as he left the line on his bye, his opponent Andy Kelly was a no-show.
VW Sportsman eliminations round 1 winners: James Lake (13.60) 14.232/98.45, Chris Bray (16.10) 16.252/73.05, Paul Herbert (15.31) 15.691/77.41, Natt Dolby (18.00) 19.197/63.64, Neil Ellis (17.80) 18.030/70.64 bye
9:00
Good morning and welcome from Santa Pod Raceway. It's eliminations day at the Easter Thunderball and we're here to bring you all the information in association with American Car Imports.
The Webster Race Engineering/MPM Oil webcam is on-line and broadcasting a picture every two minutes.
It was very misty early this morning but the veil is lifting as it burns off and we'll be into eliminations very shortly.
The traditional raceday Good Morning to our US correspondents Ed O'Connell and Kathy Hileman who are tuned in from New Hampshire, also on that side of the Pond are Tony and Lynn Morris who are watching from Florida. Hope you are enjoying the coverage, guys, and have a good day. Hello also to our good buddy Ulf Stadig who is looking in from Sweden - have you sorted out the track temperature gun yet, Ulf?
Before we start, let's bring you up to date on how our Scandinavian visitors fared in qualifying:
Olav Skjervo was #8 in Super Gas at 9.971/123.02, and Christer Uhlin #15 at 9.839/124.33
Elisabeth Bredal was #1 in Super Street at 10.920/123.28
Jenny Gustafsson was #2 in Junior Dragster with an RT of 0.037 seconds, and is through to round two after beating Joe Kellett in last night's first round.
Lex Joon came to visit us in Race Control last night to tell us how happy he is with the new MPM Oil Top Fuel Dragster. "It's an amazing car, it's completely different", he said. "It responds to everything you do and I feel completely comfortable. It went dead straight in the burnout, I hit the brake and it just stopped, it even felt different when I was being towed". Lex said that his problem on Saturday was down to a clutch pedal adjustment of less than one centimetre. "We are here to learn!", he said. What Lex learned on yesterday's pass was that everything worked perfectly. "It was hard to get off the burnout because it felt so good, and then it was hard to get off the throttle at sixty feet because that felt so good!", he said. "We were in touch with Eddie Corr all day telling him the conditions and he was telling us which ignition settings to use, the ignition settings are really all we are changing to tune the car. There is a point when you can't take any more power out and we couldn't take any more out! Eddie says that 4.7s should't be any problem at the Main Event and I think it feels like a 4.5 second car!"
Christer Gustafsson, longtime Crew Chief for Michael Malmgren's Pro Stock team, is here with his daughter Jennifer in Junior Dragster and his son-in-law Jonas Dantanus in Super Street. "It's an all-family thing this year", Christer told Christer Abrahamson, "and that's a good thing. You are giving all your time to your nearest and dearest and that feels really good. We are having a lot of fun together, add to that the fact that I am a grandfather now - that is why Jessica is at home."
Roger Johansson's Crew Chief Bengt Olsson told Christer that he had had an unusual experience whilst helping out Jörgen Karlsson's crew. Jörgen is running as the Molndal Speed Shop #2 car and he and his crew have been under the close supervision of Roger and his crew. "You do your job and it all seems very easy", said Bengt, "but when I tried to explain it to Jörgen's team I suddenly realised how difficult what we do is!"
Fuel FC racer Gordon Smith and the Shockwave team had a lot of work to do yesterday as the block was holed on yesterday's Pro Fuel Shootout qualifier. Gordon will be contesting this morning's qualifying session.
Street Eliminator new boy Pete Smith won't be racing today after blowing a head gasket in qualifying yesterday and then failing to complete the Cruise. "I thought it would be OK as long as I kept the temperature down but as soon as we left the track last night it started to heat up, so I came back", said Pete. "But I am pleased with the way things have gone so far and the car has had a great reception - people have been asking me for T-Shirts and key rings and I haven't got any!"
Super Pro ET racer Martyn Jones asked us to say Thank You to Kev Cerusale of Race Car Chassis Services for his great assistance in getting him back on the track. "It was literally the twenty pence part which broke", said Syd. "The roll pin which holds the pressure relief valve in the Powerglide pump had shattered hence no gears. We went down to Watford yesterday, picked up some pumps, and put it all back together by the end of yesterday". Kev Cerusale also helped out fellow Super Pro ET racer Steve Johnson who had a problem with his torque convertor.
Simon Groves is with us today so there will be more pit notes as the day goes on. In the meantime stay tuned and as soon as racing starts we will be right back with all the news.