2005 FIA European Finals
Peak Performance Day


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19:30

Today's pictures have now been posted, you can view them via the Event Index page.

We'll be back here at Santa Pod tomorrow for the Run What You Brung. See you then!

18:10

Sandra Chaplain closed the day with an 8.890/152.50 on the Think Pink Comp Bike.

Ray Comer at 9.115/149.61 (and another wheelie!), Anthony Wilkins 11.027/122.67, Lance Richards 9.724/140.22 and Carl Atkinson 9.891/143.27 were the final batch of runs for this afternoon.

Sharkman is now working on today's pictures; stay tuned.

17:50

John Parkinson aborted his second run of the day, which was scheduled for a full-pass licencing shot, after the car got out of shape at half track and headed for the guardrail. John clocked 9.897/78.97 at the stripe.

The beautiful red Ford Pop named "Risky Trip" which we mentioned earlier belongs to Matt Eley. It was built by Chris Isaacs which explains the build quality. Matt has been running low twelves all day and his latest pass was a 12.147/111.38.

Craig Gibbs got closer to the sevens with his latest pass, a very straight and hard 8.065/163.63.

The latest batch of runs this afternoon are as follow: Lance Richards 9.755/140.56; Graham Allen 9.960/132.73; Martin Moore 9.295/142.92.

The track is open until 18:00, stay tuned.

17:35

Frank Bennett's first run of the day in the Bennett Racing alcohol altered was an 8.767/100.88 half pass, a nice wheels-up launch and 5.038/135.93 at the eighth.

Let's catch up on all of the runs since our last update: Ray Comer 9.200/148.47 and 9.428/148.42; Jack Brewster 9.484/144.18; Anthony Wilkins 11.408/114.77; Matthew Seamarks 10.672/60.71 and 10.713/60.71; Graham Allen 10.199/129.33 and 9.949/131.97; John Tebenham 8.172/161.83; Nick Griffin 11.574/114.79; Mark O'Halloran 9.878/139.00; Paul Spiers 10.800/122.86; Carla Pittau 10.468/130.82; Dave Evans 11.105/84.88; Martin Moore 11.779/114.54; Andy Williams 9.225/158.03; Lance Richards 9.749/140.21.

Graham Allen's 10.199 pass was his first with the transbrake, the car obligingly pulled a big but controlled wheelie, nice one Graham!

Congratulations to Stuart Morrice who earned his race licence with a superb 9.039/149.86 in the Morrice Boys Camaro. Stuart followed it up with a tremendous 8.962/149.98.

carl Atkinson 10.013/142.52 and 9.887/142.47; Sandra Chaplain 9.917/152.88; Dave Burfitt 10.033/143.71.

17:25

Another tremendous pass from Freddy Fagerström, the customary long burnout and then a storming 6.286/221.71, driving through shake and wandering about the lane. Nice one Freddy!

Roger Johansson was next, 1.041 to sixty feet and off the throttle at half track after driving through shake, 4.225/166.62 at half track and 7.346/121.31 at the stripe.

Stay tuned and we will bring you the rest of this afternoon's stats.

16:25

Let's take you through the latest set of runs in the afternoon session:

Ray Comer 9.247/147.46; Dave Bailey 14.705/47.71 (1.207 to sixty feet) - word came through on the track radio that Dave has damaged his gearbox; Phil Pratt 9.696/139.35 and 9.661/139.78; Carl Atkinson 9.799/142.28 and 10.071/140.24; Dave Burfitt a PB of 9.456/146.11 and 10.011/146.12.

Matthew Seamarks 0.134 reaction, 10.634/61.15; for mer Junior Dragsrer racer Stuart Morrice was next up with an observed run in the Morrice Boys Super Gasser, 1.310 to sixty feet. Stuart followed it up with a 9.992/96.59 half pass.

John Tebenham 9.941/95.95 - JT got out of shape and backed off past half track; Mike Lacey 10.296/131.60; Carla Pittau 10.460/129.70; Dave Evans 9.983/132.37; Andy Williams 8.212/159.61; Martin Moore 11.779/114.84; Mark O'Halloran 9.879/137.14; Nick Griffin 11.910/113.90; Paul Spiers 10.769/123.37; Graham Allen 10.147/129.32.

John Parkinson is scheduled to make his full pass for TMD licencing later today, he opened his account with a very competent burnour then a 10.551/64.56 half pass, 5.177/110.82 at half track.

Roger Johansson's second run of the day looked like a planned half-pass for the MSS Pro Mod, 4.243/174.23 at half track and 7.007/145.11 at the stripe, not a straight pass so there is more in there.

Craig Gibbs followed Roger Johansson in the Obsession Pro Mod, a very straight and consistent 8.191/162.58 with the tiniest bit of shake off the line.

Craig Evett is driving the Santa Pod Raceway Junior Dragster today, Craig's best pass so far has been a 16.976/35.27 with a 0.164 RT.

Finally for this update, Sandra Chaplain's first run of the day was an 8.913/144.42.

Robert Koper is out of competition next week having broken a piston, rod, camshaft and damaged the crankshaft in his Pro Mod.

15:05

The ambulance has returned and we're off and running again. The good news is that Jörgen Karlsson may well be released from hospital today, we'll bring you more as and when we get it.

Freddy Fagerström was first up this afternoon. A 100-foot burnout then on the green a 0.069 RT, 1.049 to sixty feet, and a personal best 6.346/220.52, well done Freddy!

13:25

Mike Lacey spun the tyres on his latest pass, backing off early to clock 12.820/69.55. Andy Williams evidently doesn't fancy Super Comp numbers today as his second pass of the day was an 8.333/160.65. Mark O;Halloran was next up in his Super Gasser, 9.700/139.66.

Dave Burfitt clocked 10.109/135.96 on his latest pass.

Martin Moore then put in his first run of the day in his Super Comp Chevette, a long time since I last sawe this car, 11.794/111.32 with a lot of smoke in the shutdown area. Carla Pittau was next up, 0.051 RT and 10.301/131.21.

Steve Johnson was next up in his Super Pro ET dragster, nice burnout to fifty feet or so and then 0.046 RT and 7.423/177.10, the car not going perfectly straight so more to come there.

Graham Allen and Anthony Wilkins matched up, 10.175/129.21 for Graham and 11.707/113.33 for Anthony.

Then we went into a trio of Pro Mods, first up was Roger Johansson in his Mustang. A great burnout to sixty feet and then 1.040 to sixty feet, then bad shake and off the throttle at 70 feet or so, 9.946/83.30.

Team-mate Jörgen Karlsson was next up, the start line area disappeared into a huge cloud of smoke from a superb burnout. On the green the tyres hit instant shake which vibrated Race Control, as the car went down the track there was some smoke and then flame from one side of the engine. We thought Jörgen had had his bell rung pretty hard as he almost took out the 1000-foot reflector, there was a small cloud of black smoke and as the car went through the finish line the whole front end of the car erupted in a huge fireball. Jörgen got stopped then got himself out as the fire took hold of the car.

Word from the top end was that Jörgen has burns to his face where the flame had got through his helmet visor, but appears OK otherwise. He has been taken to hospital to be checked out.

Next up is Freddy Fagerström, stay tuned.

12:25

Dave Evans clocked 9.871/134.00 in the Coco Connection, smoke from the car at the top end which was down to a small oil leak on to the exhaust. Nick Griffin in the other lane clocked 11.534/115.73.

The next run by the Risky Trip Pop was a 12.153/109.80.

Paula Atkin was the next race car up, a superb twisty launch and on the throttle all the way, 8.793/141.14.

Robert Koper's first run of the day was a 7.920/125.99, with a backfire in the back half of the track, in the other lane Lance Richards clocked 9.657/140.99 going the long way round.

Matt Seamarks made his first pass of the day, -0.082 reaction and 10.759/60.63 a the stripe.

Paul Spiers was next up in his Super Street Camaro, 11.071/122.68 followed by Graham Allen in his Super Gasser, 10.275/129.22. We then went to two wheels, Carl Atkinson first up with a 9.859/143.35 followed by John Floyd finding all of his gears this time, 9.195/139.66.

12:00

Ray Comer pulled a very nice wheelie in his Street Eliminator Camaro, a good hard run and we think a PB, 9.186/147.60. Mike Lacey was next in line with a 10.299/131.22.

John Floyd's first pass of the day was a 9.433/138.36, a slight hesitation at the top of first gear.

Craig Gibbs' first run of the day in the Obsession Super Mod was an 8.195/161.22, a nice-looking pass for Craig and his first-ever pass on Mickey Thompsons.

11:40

Two of the Paul Marston Racing stable are here today, I don't know who is driving which but the first run in Grumpy's Dodge was 9.800/135.11 and Insanity was 10.990/124.59.

Next up were 9.50 Bike racers Carl Atkinson and Dave Burfitt going head-to-head, Carl clocked 9.911/142.61 to Dave's 9.845/136.72.

Andy Williams' first run of the day in the Wild Child Super Comp dragster was a very naughty 8.201/159.02...we did say Super Comp, Andy!

Steve Johnson didn't light the tyres in the burnout in his Super Pro ET dragster but hooked up nicely off the line and clocked 7.435/177.84. Nick Griffin was next up with an 11.608/115.07 with a 0.029 reaction time.

11:00

Today's first passes were:

Dave Burfitt 10.088/135.23 and 10.012/135.53; Nick Griffin 11.721/113.56; Mike Lacey 10.310/131.96 and 10.209/132.39.

Dave Bailey's engine cut out a few feet off the start line on his first run.

Lance Richards and Jack Brewster matched up in their Pro ET cars, Lance got there first 9.739/141.03 to Jack's smoky 10.469/137.24. Next up was the Pop "Risky Trip", no driver name (sorry), a very straight pass 12.515/107.15.

John Tebenham's first run of the day was an 8.619/135.10 and in the next pairing Mark O'Halloran clocked 9.676/139.81 in his Super Gasser. Anthony Wilkins folowed mark with an 11.352/115.37 in the Rat Poison Chevy.

10:00

Good morning and welcome from Santa Pod Raceway. It's the first day of the pre-FIA European Finals test weekend and we're here to bring you all the news in association with American Car Imports.

The Webster Race Engineering/MPM Oil webcam is on-line and is broadcasting a picture every two minutes.

Our FIA European Finals week coverage is dedicated to the memory of Dennis Stone, who died in July.

It's overcast right now but not cold, but it's the sort of cloud which is going to burn off as soon as the sun gets high.

We have a number of racers here today, from my vantage point in Race Control I've spotted John Parkinson (Top Methanol Dragster), Robert Koper (Pro Mod), Mike Lacey (Pro ET), Carla Pittau and Rick McCann (Pro ET), Dave Bailey (Pro Mod Bike), John Floyd (Supertwin Gas), Matt Seamarks (Junior Dragster), Nick Griffin (Pro ET) Dave Burfitt (9.50 Bike), Ian Bishop (Pro Mod), Paula Atkin (Super Pro ET), Paul Spiers (Super Street), Lance Richards (Pro ET), Jack Brewster (Pro ET), Frank Bennett (Alcohol altered), John Tebenham (Super Pro ET), Mark O'Halloran (Super Gas), Andy Williams (Super Comp), Craig Gibbs (Super Modified) and Sandra Chaplain (Comp Bike) - and that's just the racers I can see from here. We also have Roger Johansson, Jörgen Karlsson and Freddy Fagerström here with their Pro Mods although how many of those are running today is another question.

Stay tuned and we'll bring you the news as soon as the track opens.


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