2008 Auto Trader Easter Thunderball
Saturday (qualifying)


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Latest posting: 17:00

Paul Marston explained that the Hoosier Tyres on his team's cars are not recommended for use on tracks less than ten degrees celsius. The track temperature on Friday rose above ten degrees for about an hour and the inevitable tyre spin was the result. "It's disappointing as we have a full roster of drivers and Dave Catton is making his debut in the dragster this weekend."

Picture above are Steve James (right), owner of Formula Tanker Rentals and Simon Rowland (left), driver of the E-Hell Racing dragsters. Simon was qualified second in Super Pro ET and fifth in Pro ET. Formula Tanker Rentals owns a fleet of 350 tankers for fuel, chemicals and food based in Ellesmere Port. Steve said "I got to know Simon from his auto repair business about 15 years ago and visited Santa Pod with him and got hooked on the sport. I've invested in the team to give the company a higher profile and a corporate hospitality opportunity for my customers, who may in turn be potential sponsors. The team has expanded to twelve members and over time, we might look to expanding into Europe."

Crunch is wearing the latest headgear, an injector hat for Martyn Jones's under-construction dragster. Syd said "The current car dates from 1986 and I want to run a five in Super Pro before I hang my helmet up. The new car is being built by Kevin Cerusale of Race Car Chassis Services and is 270 inches wheelbase. The engine will be a TFX with a PSI screw blower. We will debut it when it is ready and will run the existing car in the meantime."

This is Colin Lazenby's shattered transmission tail end, following an off-and-on the throttle launch. "I stamped on the throttle after it hooked up and the power was too much. It sheared the Mark Williams pinion and smashed the tailpiece of the Rossler trans. Steve Nash's team had a spare trans in Southend and Andy Robinson a third member in Hampshire. So we despatched two teams to do the five hour round trips. Luke dressed the pionion and tested the prop shaft at ARRC. By 12:30am they were back at the track and Garry, Wilf Stacey and I changed the tail piece. The moral of this story is that drag racing is full of great people and thanks to the Team '56 crew, Wilf Stacey, Splinter and Mick Franklin."

Mats Eriksson (pictured with sons L-G, left and Ludwig, right) is planning to run the Green Goblin Pro Mod with a fresh engine. "The car has a new Brad Anderson engine with stage 6 heads and Kobelco K-11 blower and CBD injector hat. We plan to test a Leanders clutch after a few events; I had a look at it and it is made out of excellent materials - the aluminium is made in Sweden and the ring on the flywheel for the starter is made out of Swedish steel which is forged locally. We want to run a six-teen this year." Mats talked about the discrepancies continuing in Pro Mod rules. "Its hard to keep a level playing field and perhaps it's time to introduce specific rules for things such as rear end ratios and turbos for Europe, where the Pro Mod racing is the best in the world."

The Havoc altered is back in NFAA competition. Owners Nick Davies and Rob Loaring of Eurodragster.com home and news page sponsors ICE Automotive said, "We want to take back our ET record which is held by Dennis Wratten at 6.81. We are considering running nitro and a new engine to cope with the load. For next year we will be bringing out a Nostalgia Funny Car which will have a '73 Vega body."



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