SPRC Summernationals
Santa Pod Raceway, 24th-25th June 2017



Sunday


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Latest update 16:50


On Sunday at 10:30am track officials and marshals gathered on the start line for a minute's silence for Ben 'Panda' Butler, Santa Pod Raceway startline marshal, who passed away on Thursday. Ben had helped the SPR safety crew for many years and will be greatly missed by his family, colleagues and the racing family.


ET Bike racer Craig Boulton qualified no.2 with a 9.605 on a 9.60 on his nitro fuelled Nourish historic bike. He won in round one of eliminations before the rains came.


Super Street Bike racer Steve Venables qualified no.4 with a 7.238/198 and improved to 7.187 in round one to defeat Charly Anasagasti from he Netherlands.


Super Street Bike racer Franklyn Borg from Malta is being tuned by Simon Giordmaina. He qualified sixth with a 7.292/199 and improved to a 7.182/199 in round one to defeat Stephen Mead.


Super Street Bike racer Rudolfo Maduro from Holland runs a Suzuki GSXR1000, and ran a best of 7.278/191 to qualify fifth, remarkable for a a 998cc engine. In round one he red lit away a 7.322/190 against Alex Hope's slower 7.537/195.56.


Super Street Bike racer Dave Smith made a welcome return to racing having been advising on tuning with other teams since 2013.. He ran a 7.763 to qualify 14th in a sixteen bike field and lost in round one with a early-lifting 7.86 to Rick Stubbins' 7.21.


ET Bike racer Jasmine Cordelle is using the same bike as in Junior Drag Bike, but with a larger but stock 750cc Suzuki engine, good for a 11.2s best at 115mph.


Pro Mod racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy Robinson suffered cracked headers in his first round pass of 6.636. Crewman Nick Chandler (pictured left with Martin Dunks and Jim Chandler) said 'We increased the rear wing Gurney flap to 3/4 inch to improve downforce down the track and taken five degrees out of the ignition to soften it at the hit, and Luke is working on the clutch as well'. Andy is against the slower, but more consistent, Marco Maurischat in the semi final.


Pro Mod racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Marco Maurischat has run consistent 6.3s and defeated Jean Dulamon with a 6.306 in round one. He said 'I don't know if the track can hold any more, I will try to step up a little but don't know how much by.'


Pro Mod racer Mick Payne was pleased to have qualified for the eight car field and then have his first round opponent, Marck Hateveld, withdraw with mechanical problems. 'We are fortunate as we race on a small budget and this makes up for some previous disappointments. I tried the transbrake on the launch but it hit a bit too hard and broke the wheelie bars. My crew chief Steve Large has repaired them and we have serviced the car. My semi final opponent Kev Slyfield came to ask for his pushrod back that he lent me yesterday!'


Nostalgia Super Stock racer Clive Dandridge runs this immaculate Mustang and qualified fifth with a 14.353 on a 14.23 dial.


Comp Eliminator racer Robin Orthodoxou's team wrap their slicks in clingfilm as the tyre softening compound is not allowed in the class. The team were unable to make eliminations because of a broken starter motor and flywheel at the end of qualifying. The team's best run was a 7.067/187.


Comp Eliminator racer Guido Uhlir has a new Opel Manta series A for this season, the chassis produced by Jon Webster and the engine a Steve Schmidt 635cu in with Holley EFI. Crew member Manuel 'Manny' Voetzke said 'It has a short wheelbase so we are still working on the handling. It reacts well with a best RT of 0.0035 and our best time to date is 7.92'.


Super Gas racer Cas van de Mosselaar and Arnold Hol from the Netherlands qualified 6th and 9th with 9.933 and 10.004 respectively. Both went out in round one, leaving them with more time to relax, but overall with fewer runs than they would have liked.


Super Gas and Super Comp racer Stuart Doignie qualified no.1 in Super Gas with a perfect 9.9000 and no.4 in Super Comp. He was also through to round three of Super Gas and round two of Super Comp.


Super Comp racer Dave Day qualified seventh with a 8.967 and went out to Leah Kellett's outstanding 8.906 with a 0.026 Rt in round one. He said 'It was an awesome race, but I'm happy that Elliott is better after suffering concussion in May. We are hoping to have Elliott who is aged 12, in our blown SBC-engined T-bucket as soon as he reaches 16, and it has been really enjoyable building it with him'.


Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator racer Andy Bond has shaken all the bugs out of his Ugly Sister Chevy 210. He qualified no.3 running 7.94, 7.89 and 7.84 and went 7.86 in round one to defeat Nick Hale. Andy said 'The car is going strong and straight. There is more in it and we are making our way forward steadily, learning about every bit of it. We have a tough second round against Mark Todd and will do a little bit of tweaking and see how we get on'. Alongside Andy is crewman Dave modelling the team's new crew shirts.


Pro ET racer Will Clark qualified no.3 with a 10.325 on a 10.32. He went out in round one to Leigh Morris.


Sportsman ET racer Andy Dibley qualified no.1 with a 13.851 on a 13.85. In round one however the car moved only a few inches and then came to a halt, a broken throttle cable being the culprit. The class is betting on a huge entry at Bug Jam where Eurodragster.com is its sponsor.


VW Sportsman racer John Mills runs this 1950s LHD Beetle. It has a turbo engine installed recently but had clutch problems and replaced it overnight and was back in competition today.


VW Pro racer Ian Dale has owned his Strip Burner Beetle for 20 years and replaced the VW engine with a Subaru unit seven years ago. It now has a turbo and charge cooler, a Subaru clutch and flywheel. He doesn't know the output as the car has never been on a dyno, but it is good for a best of 11.8. He qualified seventh with a 12.500 on 12.10 and went out to James Gould in round one.


VW Sportsman racer Frances Herbert runs a Golf VR6 prepared by dad Paul. He said 'It's a great way to go low cost racing, the engine is stock and the car is stripped out and runs 14s'. The paint job leaves us in no doubt this is a female racer's car.

VW


ET Bike racer Bradley Head, who has been crewing for Billy Everitt, made his racing debut by bringing a Suzuki Hayabusa to the track. He said 'The bike is stock and still ran a 11.8/131 in testing and I've a few mods lined up. I'm on a learning curve as I've never ridden a motorbike on the street'. Bradley said the Alien altered had a broken engine after the Main Event and will be back on track at the end of this yearir start of 2018.


Nostalgia Funny Car racer Tim Garlick had a transmission rebuild to do after the front drum of the Lenco disintegrated. The team were fettling a spare and hope to be out towards the end of the day.


Top Fuel Bike racer Steve Woollatt ran a early shut off 6.531/189 to qualify first, but there are only two bikes qualified. Steve said 'We are just testing new clutch parts, on the second run the primary belt broke and the revs went up briefly but there was no damage'.


Super Street Bike racer Alex Hope is in between EDRS Pro meetings at Tierp and Alastaro where he is racing Pro Stock Bike. He said 'I haven't been on my Super Street Bike since Hungary. The Super Street Bike is a smoother launch but the power comes on more strongly with the turbo at the top end'. He is qualified 12th with a 7.62/192. The elimination will be for 16 bikes.


Pro Mod racer Kev Slyfield suffered handling problems in the first two sessions and then went 6.507/222 to qualify no.5. He said 'The track is tricky, the startline is fine but we are getting into shake after 60ft'. On the final run Kev drove through shake and pedaled after 330ft. In round one he improved to a 6.17/225 to defeat Bobby Wallace.


Pro Mod racer Andy Wright has been driving the car today, but it was his son Andrew at the controls yesterday. Andrew said 'It was a great experience, I did a launch and got to 330ft on the second pass. I'm planning on getting my license and then see what happens'.


Pro Mod racer Marck Harteveld was no.1 qualifier with a 6.179/231 in session three. He had previously run a 6.412/216, but going the long way round, his chute hitting the far timing reflector, but as it was not the car contacting the reflector, the run was allowed to stand. This morning in warming up the engine was unable to gain oil pressure and so is out of the event. He said 'We checked the oil pump which was ok and then borrowed another pump from Andy Robinson which gave pressure for a second then dropped to nil. We will fix the problem and be back at the Mopars'.


Pro Mod racer Jean Dulamon got to the track only to discover that his Racepak computer was still back home near Biarritz. A call to son Davy and a flight later, Davy appeared at Santa Pod with the missing data recording device. 'I was pleased with a 6.717/216 and there is more to come', he said.


Pro Mod racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Marco Maurischat ran 6.357, 6.272 and 6.318 for the most consistent performance of all. He said 'We could go quicker but we want to be consistent so I am happy with the results'. He is qualified third. On Sunday he went 6.306/228 in round one to defeat Jean Dulamon and 6.256/226 in the semi.


Pro Mod racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy Robinson was first in the first session with 6.185/237 and suffered bad shake in the second session and had to lift. In round one of eliminations he defeated Andy Wright with a wayward 6.635.185, but in the semi final pulled a red against Marco Maurischat.


Nostalgia Funny Car racer Tony Betts is getting a great handle on the car and ran 6.775/208 and 6.555/215. He said 'We have kept touch with Richard Hartman who came over from the US to help us at Easter but now the tuning is being done by my crew chief Kev Miller. It's great to have two cars run alongside each other'. He ran a 6.589/208 this morning.


Nostalgia Funny Car racer Tim Garlick ran two good looking trouble-free passes, 6.463/179 and 6.188/230. Today's passes are scheduled at 10:40 and 17:00 depending on weather and conditions.


Super Street Bike racer Chris Reed is testing an autobox for shifting between first and second gear. He said 'Roger Upperton supplied it and it's really good and smooth. I am bedding in a new engine which isn't pulling as it should so will have to look at that'.


ET Bike racer Joe Elliott won the Eurodragster.com/Gold RV of £50 by running 9.050 on a 9.05 dial in. Joes now runs a BMW 1000RR and over the last ten years has raced in Supertwin ET, Supertwin Gas, 9.50 Bike, 8.50 Bike as well as ET Bike.


Super Street Bike racer Graham Dance was delighted to be running quick once again on his Suzuki TL1000R after problems over the last few events. 'A 7.45 means I can now think about entering for the NitrOlympX which I have missed the last two years. The side wind got a bit gusty in the second half of the track though'. Graham improved to a 7.33/198 in round two for a PB speed. He is accompanied by wife Victoria, as well as sons Bryn and Ziggy and crewman André.


Top Fuel Dragster racer Jndia Erbacher was a welcome visitor, carrying out three test passes on Saturday with another one or two planned for today. She said 'I am working towards getting my license passes completed and have to do a 4.2s pass at over 270mph. But on my first one we had a problem with the parachutes on the line which we sorted and then the safety shutoff operated in error on the start. In the second pass I had tyre shake which I tried to drive through and the car started drifting and went left at the eighth mile so I lifted'. On the third pass, Jndia was able to keep on the throttle for longer and go 255mph at the eighth but the 4.273 time was at 229mph, slower than required to complete her license. This morning she went 4.094/272.83 and her license was complete in fine style.


Nostalgia Funny Car racer Rob Elsom was working on his car at the track at Easter and entered for this event. With John Wright present to advise Rob's crew, the team fired the car up for the first time. 'The engine went unexpectedly lean during the fireup so we had to go through it to find the cause. I have a great bunch of guys and they dug deep'. The second fireup sounded great and we are hopeful of seeing the car's track debut today.


Pro Mod racer Bobby Wallace ran 6.314/214 in session one to go fourth and then went 6.775/172 in the second session, driving through shake. After shutting off on that pass he found some rings in the gearbox had burnt and in taking out and repairing the Lenco unit, ran out of time for the third session. The team seemed happy and confident nevertheless.


Pro Mod racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy Robinson is happy the car is running reliably and without major problems. The key issue the teams have faced is a track without other Pro classes putting down rubber and consequently less grippy after 60ft.


VW Pro racer James Gould is part of Team Mulisha, made up of three members of 3 Regiment Army Air Corps with Sam Chisholm-Brown and Daniel Pigott. Class points leader James's car has a VW R32 engine with nitrous, V5 gearbox, Wavetrack LSD and planned VEMS ECU. His PB is 12.08/112.


VW Pro racer Dave Bridge ran a 12.678 on a 12.45 dial in to go fifth in qualifying.


VW Pro racer Ed Keech went to no.1 in qualifying, a mere 0.003 off his 12.40 dial in for the VR6 Golf.



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