Euro Finals Shootout
Santa Pod Raceway, 9th-12th September 2021

Euro Finals Shootout Test Day



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17:15

Jean Dulamon's second run, in the left lane this time, great run, with correction at half track to 1.0136 60ft, 4.0805/185.81 to half track and 6.1736/235.29 at the finishing line, well done Jean! Martin Curbishley followed with a 8.8898/150.06. Kieran Astley's next run with his turbo engine was 8.8109/121.72, still not spooling the turbo up before launch so more to come there. Alongside him Brian Huxley with a 9.6787/136.91. Then Mark Coulsell with 8.2489/160.14.

Junior Dragster racers Luke Mugridge 9.2082/73.31 vs McKenzie Love 8.4257/76.68. Mark Todd next in the Six Appeal Aston, full pass to 7.1680/204.16 with a slight puff of smoke on a gear change. Keith Bartlett followed in his Comet, launching at much higher revs to 1.5548 60ft and 11.6455/86.01 at the stripe. That's the end of today's on-track activities, look in later for our galleries which you can access via the event index.

17:00

Darryl Howells ran 8.8590/124.91 in his Super Comp slingshot. Keith Bartlett brought his Comet to the line with Jon Webster in attendance and another acclimitisation run for him the engine spooling up after the launch. The JD of Harley Coulsell ran 8.0613/78.95. Meg Talbot's next run on her Junior Drag Bike was 9.9530/66.08. Allan Schofield's dragster moved before the lights ran and Marc Huxley ran 10.1799/129.11. Amy Watkins ran 9.6071/139.81.

Will Clark ran 9.9491/133.61 alongside Dave Cherrett's 9.8753/130.60. Alan Morrison ran 8.6412/156.83 alongside Garry Bowe's 24s pass, hope the bike's engine is ok.

16:45

Andrew Garnett 11.6657/104.28 vs Dave Swift 13.2627/94.22, Dave Russell 8.8636/155.19 vs Marc Manning 9.5223/141.16, then Junior Dragster racers Daniel Weir 7.9948/79.37 vs Freddie Taylor 9.2835/69.73, Ellie Brown 8.2578/76.03 vs Luke Mugridge 8.6668/74.54.

Brad Head 9.7540/137.70 vs Steve Mead 7.3886/198.82, John McLean Jnr 8.2127/166.67 vs Mark Hope 7.2604/197.13, Matt Jones with a squirelly start to 10.7562/133.62. Andy Thetford with much encouragement from his team to floor the throttle on the burnout, then pushed back. Another idle down the track for Andy as he becomes acclimatised to his new car. Mason Griffiths ran a 9.3819/138.95 in his Pro ET dragster.

16:30

After a small amount of clean up, Jack Brewster came out in the left lane, the car made a move to the left at about 600ft and he ran 8.1880/141.12 (1.1316 60ft). Then John Tebenham brought his Corvette Pro Mod out, quite soft launch and move to the left but kept on it for 6.3920/222.31 (1.0551 to 60ft and 4.1785/174.86 to half track). Then Joe Kellett 7.7837/171.08 (+0.0054 RT) vs Paul Marston 8.4239/155.22. Dave Cherrett 9.9250/130.56 vs John Bean 10.0291/132.16

16:15

Junior Dragster racers Harley Coulsell 8.0865/79.23 vs Ada Cassisi 12.4997/49.59, Phil Toppin 8.7773/151.58, Bob Molden 9.7358/133.66 vs Martin Curbishley 8.7820/152.18, Andrew Garnett 11.0937/116.51 in his Tesla Type S.

Jake Cooper 12.3284/51.44 vs Kai Cooper 9.1969, Hollie King 11.4619/54.75, Lorcan Parnell did a burnout but the bike lost fire and was pushed back. Paul Adams 9.1824/146.16. On the second attempt Lorcan Parnell had a great launch, the bike was straight down the right lane - then a cloud of smoke from half track which got worse as the bike progressed. 7.1777/160.84 and 1.0799 to 60ft for Lorcan with 4.4672/160.84 to half track, his 60ft being better than the 1.0874 he recorded on his PB time of 6.56 in 2018.

16:00

Ron Bartlett 8.3905/163.63 vs Kieran Astley lifted early to 9.0496/108.69 after a 1.2071 60ft. Amy Watkins, Pro ET points leader, 9.6637/139.81, Jake Mechaell, wheelie at 60ft but back on it to 7.2633/197.99, 1.2169 60ft and 4.8178/161.37 to the eighth, close to his 7.21 PB. John McLean Snr 8.2290/160.73 on his Comp Bike.

Will Clark ran 9.8646/134.08 followed by Mark Coulsell 8.2142/159.57 in his Super Pro slingshot.

15:45

Alan Morrison Jnr to 7.0231/209.87, followed by Ross Morrison, 8.4053/166.66, lifting during the run. Then Brad Head 9.4892/138.55 and Martin Hallett 9.5786/136.55 on their 9.50 Bikes. Next Michael Gooding with a wheelie at 60ft but back on it for 9.3023/144.29.

Junior Dragster racers Mackenzie Love 8.3469/77.86 vs Chevrolet Checkett 9.1900/70.26, Luke Mugridge 8.7187/73.79 vs Ellie Brown 8.3682/63.04, Damion Redshaw 9.3331/70.01 vs Harry Redshaw 8.5570/75.05, Freddie Taylor 9.4398/67.80 vs Daniel Weir 8.0773/78.56, Meg Talbot 13.0431/61.67.

Mark Todd to 60ft in 1.1593 and 10.3878/79.96 on a planned early lift. Brian Huxley 9.6678/136.47 vs Allan Schofield 8.9809/145.26. Daniel Giles 7.4690/177.12 alongside Dave Smith with the XKR, moved to the right at 330ft and pedalled to 8.7573/158.47.

15:30

Super Street Bike racer Alex Hope 7.4065/196.21 (1.3297 to 60ft), good baseline for him. ET Bikes Matt Jones 10.4009/134.80 vs Paul Adams 9.1199/146.20, Will Clark 9.9194/133.21 vs Paul Marston 8.4286/155.23 in their dragsters.

Pro Mod: Bruno Bader's second pass, left lane like the first, burnout then trouble selecting reverse so idled down the track. Wayne Nicholson's PM Vette with 'Yorkshire Grit' emblazoned on the rear wing, car went to left but Wayne kept on it for a great 6.3931/224.39, quickest of the day so far! 1.0172 to 60ft and 4.1814/176.24 to half track. Then first appearance at SPR for almost two years of Jean Dulamon from the south of France, with his 908ci nitrous Camaro, soft looking launch and a 6.6535/230.12, 1.1156 to 60ft and 4.5008/176.45 to half track and from the sound revs probably not reaching anywhere near their limit, a great start. Steve Venables then ran 6.9637/212.80 (1.2567 to 60ft), followed by Garry Bowe to 7.8451/196.24 (1.4057 to 60ft).

15:15

Mason Griffiths 9.3419/137.80, Tim Moore 9.3228/146.17 vs Bob Molden 9.7396/135.31, John Bean 10.0342/127.96 vs Ronnie Mercer 8.9008/147.62. Andy Thetford second checkout pass to 13.9139/108.69.

Juniors Hollie King 11.353/55.36, Kai Cooper 9.2151/70.89 vs Jake Cooper 12.8190/47.81. Alan Morrison 8.5917/156.94, John McLean Jnr's bike moved to the right and knocked the final four reflectors out of position, 9.494/111.53 but the usual caveats apply to times in this situation.

15:00

Al Smith to a great 6.6834/179.22, the engine misfiring slightly in the second half, 1.0442 to 60ft and 4.1318/167.81 to half track. Ian Brown, reversing back carefully and running 7.7586/178.52, alongside Joe Kellett 7.7522/172.36 MOV to Ian 0.0135. Steve Lloyd's third run in the Impala 11.1652/118.22. Kieran Astley (SUP42), now with a turbo with help from Mick and Emma Checkett, 12.1105/105.25 against Marc Manning 9.5208/140.75

14:45

More Junior Dragster runs, Hollie King (JDB) 11.3327/55.90, Ellie Brown 8.3304/66.02 alongside Freddie Taylor 9.3080/68.57, Daniel Weir 8.0182/79.37 alongside Harley Coulsell 8.0560/79.09, Harry Redshaw 8.5487/75.52 alongside Damion Redshaw 9.2760/70.60, Ada Cassisi 12.559/50.07.

Stephen Mead 10.6072/69.32 (early lift), Andy Clifford 9.7723/140.78 in Snake Eyes, MArtin Curbishley 9.0068/150.11, closer still to his 8.90 SC index. Mark Coulsell another great run, 8.1864/160.73, Daniel Giles 7.5098/175.68 with a 0.0018 RT.

14:30

Garry Bowe's first run on his Super Street Bike a 7.1679/177.81 (1.23 60ft), followed by Steve Venables who lifted early to 7.8969/154.80 (1.2638 60ft). Then Mathias Bohling, feet didn't seem to get on the pegs as planned and lifted to a 18s run (1.38 to 60ft). Matt Jones ET Bike went 11.1422/134.88. Mark Hope improved to 7.3283/193.78 (1.2988 60ft).

Marc Huxley 10.2885/128.65 alongside dad Brian Huxley 10.1959/110.28, 0.0093 MOV at the stripe! Phil Toppin 8.8347/151.55 alongside Dave Russell 8.9608/153.63, Darryl Howells 8.8316/134.02 alongside Steve Field 8.8478/128.09, Bob Doyle 8.8100/153.09 alongside new boy Andrew Garnett's Pro ET Tesla 11.1086/119.59, Dave Cherrett 9.9138/130.62.

14:15

It's just started raining as the first engines were fired up for the afternoon session.

Allan Schofield's Super Comp dragster first out after the track dried, 8.9545/145.67, Followed by Mackenzie Love's JMA which ran 8.6352/76.82 and Luke Mugridge JM 8.8528/72.99. Moving to bikes, John McLean Snr 8.6399/155.22, John McLean Jnr a slowing 11.1410/101.42. Paul Marston's dragster 8.5336/154.66, John Tebenham's Pop 9.1031/146.19.

Jack Brewster had his best run to date in his new Firebird, a 7.6742/183.53 with more to come, then Mark Todd with a backfire shortly into the run followed by a lifted throttle, 13.7427/68.08. Michael Gooding's ET Bike 9.3171/145.21 alongside Phil Pratt's 9.1760/148.14. Martin Hallett (9.50 Bike) 9.5950/135.64, alongside Brad Head's first sub 9.50 9.4752/139.92.

Then Wayne Nicholson, pedalling almost as soon as launching as the tyre shake kicked in, 1.1955 to 60ft and 11.3485/75.31 at the finish. Nick Davies's second run, the engine cut out after the burnout and Nick started it again without drama. Black lines and drift to left to 200ft when Nick lifted, 0.9905 to 60ft and 8.7410/99.66.

13:45

It's just started raining as the first engines were fired up for the afternoon session.

13:00

Martin Curbishley's next run 9.0613/150.07, going index hunting, James Forster 9.4328/141.12, Ron Bartlett 8.3759/163.04. Will Clark's next run, carefully getting the required launch rpm was 9.9623/131.78. Next Dave Smith running in Comp Eliminator in the A/Altered class (naturally aspirated). 8.8347/152.09 after a softer launch and only a slight wobble past 330ft. Steve Lloyd's second pass in the Impala was a very consistent 11.244/118.83. Dave Batcheler's 'Plumb Crazy' FB next, great to see him back after a gap of two years, Phil Crossley in attendance and 1.32 to 60ft, lifting before 330ft and stopping on track. Robin Orthodoxou next, slight drift to the right on the burnout, nice run, 7.1248/173.68 with 1.0694 to 60ft and very little shake, hi to brother Chris who is likely tuned in from Kazakhstan. Brian Huxley up next but was pushed back after the engine cut out.

12:45

The next batch of Junior Dragster runs: Freddie Taylor 9.2789/69.05 alongside Daniel Weir 8.2220/77.47, Jake Cooper 12.3626/51.61 alongside brother Kai 9.1953/70.72, Damion Redshaw 9.2908/70.23 alongside brother and points leader Harry Redshaw 8.5685/75.29.

Daniel Giles in the Giles & Hartley dragster had a 0.002 light and 7.4664/178.51 on his second run, followed by Marc Huxley 10.2536/128.32 alongside Bob Molden 9.7104/135.69.

More bike action with Ross Morrison 8.3253/167.93 running alongside Steve Mead 10.0605/100.29, both lifting, and then Mark Hope 8.1051/123.77 and Mathias Bohlin from Sweden, quickest SSB of the day so far 6.9572/208.02 (1.2272 to 60ft). Phil Pratt ran a 9.1229/147.58 on his ET Bike. Nigel Hale took his pickup to a 10.849/125.14. Joe Kellett's second pass in the ex Pryzbl car was 7.8674/147.68, followed by Mark Coulsell 8.1757/160.15, we think a new PB, well done Mark!

12:30

Alex Hope started his Super Street Bike but the engine cut out after a few seconds. Paul Marston's second pass was 8.7463/154.13. Pause for track prep. Then John Tebenham 9.1461/144.75 and Steve Venables 7.099/211.89 with 1.3034 to 60ft and 4.7576/165.39 to half track, great baseline, and straight as a dye. Jake Mechaell next, 7.2316/190.50 and 1.2476 to 60ft with 4.7076/158.46 to half track.

12:15

Harley Coulsell 8.0533/79.36, alongside Ada Cassisi 12.5226/49.85, Chevrolet Checkett (JM) 9.1458/70.37, Ellie Brown (JMA) 8.1107/77.19. Megan Talbot 10.4480/65.90, Luke Mugridge 8.6497/73.93, Matt Jones 10.5574/131.31, Bob Doyle 8.7491/153.08, Brian Huxley 9.6430/137.68, Ronnie Mercer 9.0886/143.41. Damian Halliwell 10.8742/123.04 alongside Pro ET points leader Amy Watkins 9.6977/139.45.

Lorcan Parnell 1.0888 to 60ft on Storm, 4.8074/113.67 to half track but bike going to the left again and shut off to 9.1347/96.85. Steve Lloyd in the SS/LA Impala, soft launch to 11.2239/118.36, the car now with a 327ci engine since Steve bought it. John Bean ran 10.0392/132.13 in his Mustang.

12:00

Dave Cherrett ran 9.8965/130.94 in Dark Revenger, turned down a bit after Doorslammers, alongside Marc Huxley to 10.1992/129.47 in Can Do 2 Reborn, Brad Head's second pass 9.5300/139.08 on his 9.50 Bike, the Alan Morrison 8.7412/155.27.

Arrow straight half pass for Bruno Bader, 0.9736 to 60ft and 3.9727/183.53 to the eighth, lifted at 1000ft, 6.4955/160.75 at the stripe. Followed by Al Smith, 1.0496 to 60ft, 4.1253/170.38 to half track and 6.9427/145.24 at the quarter, lifted early so more to come. John McLean Jnr ran 8.8228/146.21 on his Comp Bike GSX1100, alongside John McLean Snr 8.1311/162.50. Joe Kellett ran 8.7063/105.28 in his new dragster alongside Mason Griffiths' Pro ET dragster 9.3552 /138.59. Martin Curbishley's second pass was a full one, 9.0895/150.12 in the SC roadster.

11:45

SE racer Damian Halliwell went 10.9802/122.72 in his Chevy Biscayne, followed by Andy Clifford's SC slingshot which went 9.8894/143.92, the engine note popping on the line. Will Clark went 9.8797/133.25 in his Pro ET dragster alongside Paul Marston in the Banks Nightclub/PMR dragster 8.7228/153.67.

Next up was Pel Norman in the Shogun Capri, nice launch and 7.9932/161.87 on the board, his quickest since a best of 7.56/184 in 2019. Andy Thetford brought out his new Black Pearl '69 Camaro for a initial test pass, idling down the track to a 13.4/113, huge potential there. 8.7851/76.55 for Mackenzie Love in her JMA, Keith Bartlett on a familiarisation run in the Comet, Allan Schofield's second pass a 8.8885/147.16.

11:30

John Tebenham in the Crew Killer Pop ran 9.1127/145.67 alongside Bob Molden's Peugeot 205 9.7379/135.67. Then Nick Davies in the Pro Modified Firebird, staged to the left of his lane, 1.0631 to 60ft, drifted slightly left, 4.2471/144.72 to half track but off the throttle by then, 7.7192/115.98 at the stripe.

Kai Cooper back in his JM to 9.2816/70.03 alongside brother Jake 12.3711/51.44. Then Mark Hope brought out his Super Street Bike, engine zinged and tyre spun on launch, and he idled down the track to a 22s ticket, hopefully all ok engine wise. Michael Gooding ran 10.8220/144.82 on his ET Bike, then James Forster brought out his Pro ET Duster and ran 9.4466/140.75, nice consistent performance from this car over the season. Mark Todd in the Six Appeal Aston launched to 1.1724 then off the throttle by the eighth to 12.2574/67.07 alongside NIgel Hale in the postcode-on-wheels pickup 10.8585/126.15 full bore run for him. Next the Super Comp slingshots of Steve Field and Darryl Howells, 8.4836/157.39 and 8.9207/135.80 respectively.

11:15

Chevrolet Checkett's next run was 9.2026/69.70, alongside Ellie Brown (an addition to the entry list) running 8.1431/76.68. Hollie King's 11.2970/55.76 was her best of the day so far, then Harry Redshaw to 8.5859/75.14 alongside brother Damion who ran 9.4167/69.62, Happy Birthday to their dad Chris. Freddie Taylor ran 9.2639/69.29 in his JM dragster, and Daniel Weir ran 8.2509/77.21 in his JMA dragster.

A 10.0032/132.82 from Will Clark in his Pro ET junior comp dragster, a couple of tenths off his typical times, then Paul Hambidge's Kawasaki Comp Bike ran 9.0381/122.52, shutting off early. Luke Mugridge's second run in his JMA was 8.8746/71.57. Phil Pratt ran a 9.2649/147.11, Ron Bartlett a early shut off 9.9890/89.79 in his 105e Super Pro ET entry, and Tim Moore went 10.9294/122.40 in his immaculate '55 Chevy.

11:00

Daniel Giles in the Giles & Hartley Super Pro dragster ran 7.5192/177.73, the team leading the championship, followed by Brian Huxley in the Dark Horse Mustang going 9.6440/136.85 alongside Marc Manning's '34 Ford coupe which ran 9.4945/140.76. Ross Morrison's first run on his Super Street Bike was 8.1872/ 170.44, more to come there, and Bob Doyle then ran 8.7401/153.62. Matt Jones on his ET Bike Suzuki ran 11.0720/125.12. Then Martin Curbishley in his Brogie Roadster running in just Super Comp ran 11.1282/83.34, Martin off the throttle from half track. He commented earlier "It's been a few years since we painted it, we just polished it for this meeting". Looks like new to us, and Martin is well supported by Fix Automotive from Cornwall, an eight hour drive for him and his team. Keith Bartlett came to the line in his ex-Jon Webster Comet however the engine stopped and Jon and Dan Williams had a look after the car was pushed back and then drove back to the pits.

10:45

Junior Modified racer Chevrolet Checkett's first run was 9.2802/69.05. Then Phil Pratt, leader of ET Bike points by a huge margin, ran a 9.1361/144.74 pass. Then Brad Head came out on his 9.50 Bike Hayabusa to run 9.5285/138.67 getting close to the index after a good outing last time. Super Pro racer Phil Toppin ran 8.9490/150.11 in his Corvette, then Dave Russell a 8.9322/155.19 alongside Ronnie Mercer's 8.9340/147.16, Ronnie running consistently in the eights for the last couple of months.

10:25

We started at 10:00 with Allan Schofield's Super Comp dragster first on track running a 8.9425/145.70, Allan will also be racing in Pro ET. We then had Kai Cooper and Jake Cooper, Kai running a 9.3296/69.93 in his Junior Modified with a +0.0064 RT (no Perfect Light money available on Test Days Kai!) and Jake running a 12.3977/51.61 in his Junior Stock dragster.

Luke Mugridge ran a 8.8165/72.40 supported by brother Nick who is back after missing an event with Covid, albeit not with his junior comp dragster which sustained some damage at the Summer Nationals. Hollie King has made three runs on her Junior Drag Bike, 11.3588/56.11, 11.3076/56.11 and 11.3203/56.18, very consistent, dad Ollie giving Hollie instruction on riding which has helped her performance. We also saw ET bike racer Michael Gooding run 9.4639/145.23, 9.50 Bike racer Martin Hallett run 9.5413/140.27 and 8.50 Bike racer Alan Morrison run 9.0516/153.14.

09:20

Good morning and welcome to our coverage of the Euro Finals Shootout Test Day at Santa Pod Raceway. The skies are currently misty although we expect the mist to burn off, and temperatures are 18C forecast to rise to 24C. Britain has been having a heat wave over the past few days, let's hope that can extend into this weekend.

The plan for today is for vehicles that are entered to the Euro Finals Shootout to be testing, and we will report on the on track activity and, if time allows, obtain a few snippets from the pits. Action is due to commence at 09:30 and will continue through the day with a break for lunch.

A big Hello to Eurodragsterholics who are looking in. Greetings to our big fans Kai Plathan from Finland and supporters and sponsors Bob Roberts and Geoff Stilwell who will both be at the track during the weekend. If you can't make it to the track, and tickets are still available at santapodtickets.com, you will be able to follow the race action also via Nitro FM or through Santa Pod's live feed, although these will not be running at the test day today.

Santa Pod Raceway will also be welcoming a large group of students from UTC (University Technical College) Reading and Didcot who will be visiting today to get a close up view of the sport. The visit is organised by Dr Martin Thomas, Engineering Teacher at UTC Reading which last September hosted Grace Roaf for a well-received and detailed presentation on the sport and some of its engineering features.

We'll be reporting when action starts, so give us a look in during the day and you will see what's going on.


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