2010 SPRC Summernationals
Sunday


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Latest update: 16:55

HKS and Pro ET racer Guy Chamberlain made history when he became the first front wheel racer in Europe to run a nine, a 9.91/149. Guy runs CPL Racing which sells parts and turbo kits for many four cylinder Honda cars - see www.cplracing.co.uk for more information.

Pro Mod racer Graham Ellis's team take a well-earned rest. They were working until 4am replacing various parts and installing the billet supercharger as a way to get back to the low sixes. In the end, a pair of sevens were enough to get past Wayne Nicholson and Andy Robinson but not Kev Slyfield, who ran a 6.5 for his first ever win.

Pro Mod racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy Robinson had run three 6.0s in qualifying and in a first round bye, but a sprag failure in the clutch saw him idle through against Graham Ellis.

Topspeed Automotive racer Brian Payne is running mid 8.3s and delighted. Crewman Paul Wright (who will be returning in his Outlaw Anglia at the Bulldog Bash and other lifestyle events) said "We want to make sure the car can repeat more than a couple of times. So the engine has stayed the same as it came off the dyno."

Topspeed Automotive racer Paul Houston has dipped into the mid-eights with an 8.66/174 best this weekend. Paul is from Edinburgh and the turbo setup makes the car look deceptively stock.

9.50 Bike racer Jake Mechaell (pictured with his son) has a bye into the final which will add to his points lead in the class. He said "The Quick Shifter I have which cuts the ignition to change gear without coming off the throttle failed, so I have been changing gear manually and am still running quicker than 9.5s. I have also had to replace the engine with one from Hills Salvage after spinning two main bearings at the rwyb before Big Bang. Fortunately that as a stock motor went 9.5 straight away."

Funny Bike racer Dave Bailey said "We had a bad start to the year with an engine meltdown at Easter which destroyed it. So we had to start from scratch with new settings as the old ones were no longer relevant. We started normally aspirated, then added 25hp worth of nitrous and got down to 7.2 against Steve French with no damage. So we are not far away from where we want to be and are looking forward to the remaining ACU rounds."

Funny Bike racer Kev Charman is running Davide Ricci's Team Whiterace bike and achieving good times. "We moved weight around to the side of the bike hoping to get it to go straighter and this has taken us from the nines to the sevens and we qualified third. I am limited to 175mph as the front disc brake is too small to go faster, but had a good race against Gary Jones." Kev will be attending the NitrolympX in August, as will several Super Street, Funny and Pro Stock bikes.

Funny Bike racer Lizz McCarthy gained her licence last weekend but suffered displaced valves on Friday's test day resulting in an overnight engine rebuild. Lizz is riding Kev Charman's old bike, sold to John Austin but loaned back while her new bike is being finished by John Hall at the Stanford Speed Shop for a debut next year. Lizz said "I have had phenomenal help in getting licensed and thanks to my all girl team Jemma (right), Sarah (left)and Lisa."

Pro Stock Bike racer Jerry Collier has a great-looking new paint job from Martin Curbishley with lettering to advertise his business Projoint. Jerry's company does fabrication, not just of racing bikes but also industrial compenents such as stainless steel handrails for boats, and restoration of metal parts.

Super Twin racer Chris Hannam has been testing at this event with mixed fortunes. "We came out on Friday, ran 7.8 but the fuel system was too rich and we had to change the clutch drive pulley. On Saturday morning we upped the nitro percentage but it went rich again and I broke a belt. On the second run we put the same setup that we used at the Euro Finals and left well. But at 330ft the porcelain centre blew out of the spark plug and there was a flash and bang which threw my feet off the pegs. I got back on it but that produced more fire. The bent rod is a result of that damage when it contacted the crank. This morning we got to the line, the revs went up by 100rpm and we found there was an ignition fault. One of the two magnetos had gone down dropping cylinders, causing detonation and another broken belt. We will be getting another MSD, Waterman fuel system and BDK valve."

Super Pro ET racer Steve Taylor won the class, his first win. "I made the finals at my first race in Easter 2009 but had a broken crank." Steve was ably helped to his victory by Karl Harrison of Team Stardust as the car ran without missing a beat, 7.29 on 7.16 dial, and 7.17 and 7.19 on a 7.14 dial.

outlaw Flat Four racer Dave Dinning ran a best of 10.47 this weekend. "My PB is 10.39 and we are setting a new engine up from EMS in the US. It is a full-on naturally aspirated piece and my Cogbox Gearbox has held up well. Thanks to my sponsor Wolfsburg Performance for their help in the engine setup." The Outlaw Flat Four have a series of twelve events including a road trip to Bitburg in Germany in September.

Topspeed Street Eliminator racer Ron Haslett ran his first eight and backed it up. Ron said "We are well pleased but it came at the cost of a melted piston which we will have a look at when we get home."

Topspeed Street Eliminator racer Ian Hook won the class in a close race with Brian Payne. "We had a lot of handling problems but at least kept all four wheels on the ground. We ended up as no.3 with 8.40, a long way off our best. We had lost our way but progressed by luck. We took power out to get it to handle better and ran 8.5 in round one. In the second round we were in the left hand lane, drifted to the centre and lifted to an 8.69. We are working on the suspension and will add more gas for the final as Brian is going quick. As Tog said we won ugly."

Top Methanol Funny Car racer Rob Turner came here for testing and has had a troubled time. "Yesterday we left in high gear and drove through the clutch. Today when we were warming the motor we filled a can of oil with a leak form the rear mains bearing. The heat from the clutch had damaged the seal on the main bearing and there was a lot of cleaning up of the engine to do. We got the car on 1 May and lost a day at the Main Event so we are up against it; the funny car is so different to run. We won't be at Alastaro but will be at Mantorp and Hockenheim."

NFAA racer Jon Best has a new Hemi in the Felstead, Best and Lotsabeera Topolino. "It feels lazy compared with the old Chevy but it gave me my best numbers to the eighth ever. I kept on it until oil came out of the spark plug holes at the eighth and couldn't see a thing, I couldn't even see the track workers when I pulled off the track. We have borrowed two pistons from Paul Stubbings and will need to work on the clutch as the car drove through it." Jon's team includes Bill Felstead (in background), Gareth Kent, Dave 'Fuzzy' McKenzie, Johnny Hall and Leo Andreas.

Super Pro ET racer Dave Catton is getting to know the class and trying to cut down on the red lights. "We reached the final at Shakey against Dave Ward and red lit. It's a great class to run in." At this event, Dave qualified no.2 and got his revenge on Dave Ward in round one of eliminations.

Pro Modified racer Wayne Nicholson crossed lanes on the burnout and came to a halt with the nose inches from the concrete wall. "It was a ridiculous burnout, far too much speed and agression", he said. "There was a chance I would have hit the wall and I was so relieved when I stopped short of it. I cleared my mind back to normal while reversing and then ran a new pb of 6.69. There is more in it than that but I want to run consistently. We didn't hurt anything. The ET has always been in the car but the reliability and conditions haven't been right." In round one Wayne came up short against Graham Ellis. Wayne is pictured with son Joe and Dennis Wotton.

NFAA racer Joe Bond, pictured with Dad Doug, also had a moment when he glanced off the concrete at 1000ft. "The car was moving about as they all were but I couldn't see the wall coming, I was too focused on keeping it straight and had to find out from the top end crew what happened. The paramedics checked me out and thanks to them and the safety crew for a great job. We bent the headers and also made contact with the wheel which we will examine in the warmup in high gear. We top and tailed the engine last night and should be back today."

Super Mod racer Belinda Bull, pictured with husband and Eurodragster.com sponsor Jeff Bull, ran three 7.44s in a row yesterday. Jeff said "It's like a bracket car but we want to squeeze it a little more today. The air makes a change to how naturally aspirated cars run. We can change the timing and carb jets at the track but basically it's the same tune-up from what we put in at the workshop. We do want to go quicker and will give it our best shot."

Pro ET racer Deborah Laugher's crew member Guy said the team are looking for a new trans and converter to help get the times more consistent. "We are just getting used to it and need to do more laps before we can win rounds."

Pro ET racer Gordon Northway has had a good event, qualifying no.2 and going rounds. "This was my first round win today and the car is performing where it needs to be. It's been a long time coming but the testing has paid off. Billy Gane may have robbed us of the no.1 qualifying position but with the round win I am chuffed for the MS Trust and how the team are raising awareness of multiple sclerosis."

Pro ET racer Bob Molden went one round and said "I am delighted with my first round win since the National Finals where we broke the rear axle. We have new tyres which have helped me back into the nines with a 9.94." In round two Bob lost out to Gordon Northway.

Sportsman ET racer Nigel Holland has done much work in raising awareness of sporting opportunities in drag racing for disabled people. This weekend he has invited the 26 Writing Group who specialise in making 26 second long documentaries to the track to follow Nigel's racing weekend. He said "They were so impressed with the sport and the open and friendly atmosphere in the pits that they have decided to film a full-length documentary and will be working on that at the Bug Jam also."

Super Pro ET racer Roy Wilding is having a good weekend, going rounds in the S&K dragster and running his second best ever ET in the car, a 7.95/170. "The engine is making lots of power so we want to take fuel out of it to go quicker still. But we won't do that today, you can't mess around with bracket racing. I had an exciting ride yesterday amd almost tagged the wall." Roy's new modern nostalgia slingshot dragster is nearing completion for a debut at the Hot Rod Drags in September with a blown Donovan engine.

Super Pro ET racer Bob Doyle went one round in eliminations, but it was a perfect run at 8.69. Bob said "It keeps getting quicker and every run is a PB; the air is very good, like it was at Easter. Tracy is calling the shots on the dial-in perfectly." In round two Bob red lit against fellow championship contender John Atkinson.

Youtube viewers may have seen a video of Tracy Doyle's "Basket Case". A gallery followed the wheeled basket's travels during the Main Event. Tracy said "I was worried that it would be lonely in the pits yesterday evening, and so took it to the Pro ET bands' gig."

Super Pro ET racer Rod Harrison, pictured with son Karl, is out of competition following damage yesterday. "We dialled a 7.45 and ran a 7.32 which put us 12th going into the last session. But on the burnout the blower belt broke and we found three bolts had broken off the camshaft drive after it seized. Six valves were bent. We have a pb of 7.27 and know we can go quicker but would prefer to run consistent 7.5s. The air is hard to compensate for with blown methanol. We will repair and be back at the next race with a reduced blower overdrive speed. Karl's funny car will be out with new cam and lifters later in the year. Thanks to Charlie Draper for his help with parts."

Super Street Bike racer Graham Dance has taken chunks out of his personal bests since bolting a turbo on at the Main Event. "I ran a 7.82 then, qualified here with a 7.71 and ran a 7.64 in round one of eliminations. I know it will go quicker because the 60ft on the last run was the worst of the weekend." Graham then found the crankcase had cracked, putting him out of the event. "This was an old case and the motor is for testing; I have a new one at home which we will use for the next race. I have more than achieved what I set out to do here though." The bike now has a Len Paget clutch, BTC Motec electronics and Mickey Thompson tyre.

Super Street Bike racer Graham Balchin said "I had handling problems with the bike drifting to the left. We checked the alignment and found a few errors that we fixed. The runs are difficult to judge and I wheelied in fourth gear. We have also changed tyres from Michelin to M/T and back to Michelin." The result of these were a pb 330ft time which should please clutch designer and Top Fuel Bike legend Brian Johnson who is tuned in from home.

Pro Stock Bike racer Len Paget had mechanical problems in qualifying but fixed these overnight and ran a 7.36 in round one. In a four bike field, he will come up against Eurodragster.com blogger Dave Beck in the final, who ran a 7.28.



Reports and pictures ©Eurodragster.com