2008 Springspeed Festival
Monday (eliminations)


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21:00

We have now posted today's pictures, which you can view via the Event Index page. We will add captions very shortly...it's been a long weekend, and we are a long way from home, and we're all shagged out, so we're going to go home and get some rest and then add the captions.

18:50

9.50 Bike eliminations round 3 winners: Richard Sawatzki 9.854/131.53, Shaun Spiers 9.604/141.63

Junior Dragster eliminations round 3 winners: Jayne Kay (8.10) 8.023/81.37, Zak Johnson (9.25) 9.251/70.87

We are way over curfew so that's all for this race. A big Well Done to the track crew, race officials and racers for getting us this far. We are now working on today's pictures, stay tuned.

18:45

Supertwin ET eliminations round 2 winners: Barrie Gregory 11.795/92.76, John Hackney 9.965/123.67, Pete Harrison (12.00) 12.358/105.96 bye

VW Sportsman eliminations round 2 winners: Spencer Tramm (16.33) 15.731/88.60, Adrian Wigley 17.123/84.68, Polly Naylor (17.80) 18.791/71.20

Wild Bunch eliminations round 2 winners: Ed Yates (9.23) 9.307/142.05 bye, Chris Hartnell (9.20) 9.378/140.32, Mark Richardson (9.60) 9.599/132.08

Outlaw Flat Four eliminations round 2 winners: Jim Smith 33.010/21.55, James Wotton 11.414/122.27 bye

18:35

Super Pro ET eliminations round 2 winners: Barry Giles (7.55) 7.643/159.92, Nigel Turner (8.65) 8.616/152.91 bye, 8.939/151.42

Super Street eliminations round 2 winners: Chris Kenny 10.931/120.05, Dave Cherrett 10.729/96.94 bye, Mark Watkins 10.939/126.83

18:30

Super Gas eliminations round 2 winners: Frank Mason 9.937/145.49 bye, Jon Morton 9.855/146.72

Congratulations to Conrad Stanley who won the Eurodragster.com/Gold RV Perfect ET Award with a 9.900 in his race with Jon Morton. Hopefully went some way towards making up for the red light!

Supertwin Gas eliminations round 2 winners: Andy Smith 9.494/136.77, Chris Mott 9.554/143.20

18:25

Super Street Bike eliminations round 2 winners: Graham Balchin 7.727/175.09, Graham Dance 8.220/173.93, Steve Venables 8.203/182.96, Scott Baldwin 7.866/181.42

18:15

Junior Dragster eliminations round 2 winners: Jayne Kay (8.05) 8.175/80.55, Vicky Molden (8.00) 8.028/78.95, Anna Stanley (8.35) 8.403/78.53, Zak Johnson (9.25) 9.292/70.53

Pro ET eliminations round 3 winners: Lee Huxley (10.64) 10.800/106.83, Dan Page (11.39) 11.398/111.61, John Atkinson (9.00) 9.022/139.78

Pro Stock Bike eliminations round 2: Dave Beck DQ (bye), Len Paget 7.526/177.00

Len Paget on a bye in the final after Becky's crew committed a blue line violation in his semi-final.

Jerry Collier followed up with a superb 8.062/158.97 observed run on his Pro Stock Bike.

Sportsman ET eliminations round 2 winners: Geoff Cowley (15.15) 15.152/91.87 bye, Ralph Young (12.95) 13.254/95.68, Ian Jackson (13.36) 13.689/100.19

B&H Automotive Street Eliminator eliminations round 2 winners: Steve Nash 8.650/179.62, Jason Weir 9.224/151.22, Jon Webster 8.402/171.93

17:55

Outlaw Anglia eliminations round 2 winners: Paul Hensher 8.595/158.70, Simon Barlow 9.633/118.00

Simon Barlow's chute came out at about 900 feet and then the Orange Pop started to get out of shape, swerved left and then turned hard right into the field by the shutdown area and disappeared out of sight behind the scoreboards. Word quickly came back from the top end that the Pop stayed upright and that Simon is quite OK, "Only his pride damaged". As I type Simon is still in the car and being towed back to the pits.

17:45

Funny Bike eliminations round 2 winners: Kev Charman 7.461/174.49, Chris Hall 7.191/184.84

9.50 Bike eliminations round 2 winners: Shaun Spiers 9.592/132.38, Martin Walker 9.676/143.19, Andy Haley 9.725/128.37, Richard Sawatzki 9.663/141.13 bye

Comp Bike eliminations round 2 winners: Stuart Crane staged (bye), Phil Leamon 8.360/154.52

17:30

Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Jim Usher 20.456/52.92, John Wright 8.852/99.88, Paul Wratten 6.700/203.03, Joe Bond no time, Dave Grabham 8.906/125.15 bye, Björn Martensson 13.388/65.09 bye

John under instruction to launch and stay on it to about 300 feet and it was a tremendous pass, he was really on one. 1.020 to sixty feet, arrow straight, and off the throttle as instructed. Jim was off the throttle before sixty feet. Joe blipped the throttle through the burnout water and the engine stopped. Paul pulled a 300-foot burnout and then running right up the centre line and a new NFAA blown-alcohol altered record, well done Paul! A classic out-of-shape altered run for dave, heading for the centre line and pedalling a couple of times. Last up was Björn with his first run in The Dog AA/Fuel Altered, and what an evil-sounding car that is! Under the eye of fellow Fuel racer Patrik Pers a superb burnout, no reverse so the team pushed him back. 1.084 to sixty feet and a great début, well done Björn!

17:15

Wild Bunch eliminations round 1 winners: Chris Hartnell (9.20) 9.389/130.50, Ed Yates (9.23) 9.453/127.39, Phil Sweeney (8.60) 8.655/128.56, Mark Richardson (9.60) 9.911/118.22, Darren Law (9.54) 10.396/139.08 bye

VW Sportsman eliminations round 1 winners: Polly Naylor (17.80) 17.804/74.78, Adrian Wigley (16.90) 17.287/67.57, Craig Allen (15.00) 15.106/85.22, Martin Ayton (14.80) 15.159/93.37 bye (Jacob Bailey no show), Spencer Tramm (16.33) 16.356/82.14

16:50

Top Fuel Bike eliminations round 1

Steve Carey 7.500/188.43 bye

Languid launch for Steve, getting close to the centreline at the top end.

Steve Woollatt 6.494/218.80 def. Ian Turburville 7.509/155.61

A fine pair of straight and hard runs, big speed for Steve and we think a PB or close to it for Turbo.

Ian Carruthers followed eliminations with an observed run on Dave Newbery's Top Fuel Bike. A great burnout and then 1.064 to sixty feet, engine tried to zing at about 200 feet and Rush got off the throttle.

16:45

Super Street eliminations round 1 winners: Mark Watkins 10.985/127.95, Simon Cooper 11.015/116.76, Paul Spiers 11.613/83.99, Dave Cherrett 10.916/91.03, Chris Kennt 11.430/117.77

Supertwin ET eliminations round 1 winners: Dave Shorthouse (13.00) 13.442/103.49, John Hackney (9.90) 10.345/114.54, Aaron Sparks 12.841/103.08, Pete Harrison (12.00) 12.156/109.33, Simon Clamp (11.60) 11.772/113.16

Supertwin Gas eliminations round 1 winners: Dave Jones 10.505/132.64, Les Harris 10.419/127.21, Chris Mott 9.436/141.27, Andy Smith 9.506/136.39 bye (Neil Steadman no show)

Trackside conditions are 21.4 C, 54% humidity and 1020 Mb of air, track temperature is 27.2 C.

16:25

Super Street Bike eliminations round 1 winners: Ian Cotton 8.236/182.08, Scott Baldwin 8.004/185.25, Graham Balchin 7.686/188.43, Mark Watkins 7.985/184.50, Graham Dance 8.065/174.63 bye (Dave Smith no show), Steve Venables 7.919/192.45 bye, Ade Lockley 8.150/169.19, Garry Bowe 8.335/167.49

16:15

Super Modified eliminations round 1 winners: Tim Garlick 7.813/173.33 bye (Tim Mugridge no show), Nigel Payne 7.721/178.95 bye

Super Pro ET eliminations round 1 winners: Nigel Turner (8.45) 8.801/149.41, Dave Ward (8.75) 8.827/151.14, Rick Cooke (8.26) 8.240/156.82 bye (Bob Doyle no show), Barry Giles (7.55) 7.676/148.44

16:05

Pro ET eliminations round 2 winners: Jerry Smith (10.10) 10.343/133.52, Lee Huxley (10.60) 10.704/124.74, Ian Brown (10.82) 10.933/120.68 bye, John Atkinson (9.00) 9.331/125.45, Martin Green (10.20) 10.212/130.64, Dan Page (11.36) 11.438/115.55

B&H Automotive Street Eliminator eliminations round 1 winners: Jon Webster 8.527/168.37, Ray Comer 9.697/143.78, Jason Weir 9.414/149.84, Jeff Meads 9.817/143.77, Steve Nash 8.571/182.33 bye

15:45

Super Gas eliminations round 1 winners: Frank Mason 9.991/145.49, Conrad Stanley 9.966/144.37, Jon Morton 9.966/146.74

Pro Stock Bike eliminations round 1 winners: Dave Beck 7.450/176.81, Len Paget 7.560/169.93, Ray Debben 7.896/65.89 bye (Martin Bishop no show)

Sportsman ET eliminations round 1 winners: Geoff Cowley (15.20) 15.158/91.12, Brian Huxley (15.32) 15.414/82.65, Ralph Young (12.94) 12.959/106.41, Ian Jackson (13.36) 13.838/90.63, Steve Unsworth (13.99) 14.898/85.73

Trackside conditions are 21.3 C, 65% humidity and 1021 Mb of air, track temperature is 28.2 C.

15:20

Outlaw Anglia eliminations round 1 winners: Paul Hensher staged (bye), Rob Stone 9.464/139.13 bye (Cliff Griffin no show), Dave Sidaway 10.314/130.71, Simon Barlow 10.174/132.96

Outlaw Flat Four eliminations round 1 winners: James Wotton 12.108/117.84, Dave Dinning 12.280/107.30, Jim Smith 11.867/90.60

15:10

Junior Drag Bike eliminations round 1 winners: Scott Collier (10.20) 10.376/62.85, Giselle Moor (12.20) 12.424/51.96 bye (Joe Dear no show)

Junior Dragster eliminations round 1 winners: Jayne Kay (8.02) 8.113/80.79, Matthew Seamarks (7.90) 7.960/82.42, Vicky Molden (7.95) 8.017/81.08, Zak Johnson (9.25) 9.304/70.20, Scott Hauser (7.97) 8.019/81.52, Anna Stanley (8.30) 8.410/77.72, Lottie Watts (10.29) 10.366/58.67, Joe Kellett 9.032/71.20

15:05

Funny Bike eliminations round 1 winners: Stu Chamberlain 7.475/186.21, Chris Hall 7.266/189.13, Tim Blakemore 7.522/168.14 bye, Kev Charman 7.622/172.47

Comp Bike eliminations round 1 winners: Phil Leamon 9.328/149.39, Stu Crane 8.417/160.29, Fiona Moor 10.044/149.34 bye (Alan Young no show)

Trackside conditions are 20.1 C, 79% humidity and 1021 Mb of air, track temperature is 29.1 C.

15:00

Pro ET eliminations round 1 winners: Lee Huxley (10.56) 10.663/125.21 bye (Steve Hudson no show), Martin Green (10.20) 10.246/131.00, Dan Page (11.30) 11.378/115.74, Jerry Smith (9.95) 10.133/134.02 bye (Billy Gane broke), Mick Howling (9.75) 9.816/128.86, John Atkinson (9.00) 8.954/152.92, Paul Baynton (10.97) 11.042/121.74, Ian Brown (10.74) 10.827/120.42 bye (Neil Hunter no show), Paul Marston (9.50) 9.635/118.56, Alan Williamson (11.57) 11.738/113.83, Dave Cherrett (10.20) 10.355/118.31

Drama for Carla Pittau in her race with John Atkinson as Heaven and Hell As Well spun at the finish line, the car pirouetting a couple of times in a cloud of tyre smoke and tagging the guardrail very lightly. Word quickly came back that Carla is A-OK and the car is only slightly damaged.

14:30

Here we go then! Three decimals on the results today as we're working off the scoreboards for speed.

9.50 Bike eliminations round 1 winners: Shaun Spiers 9.655/142.79 bye, Wayne Saunders 9.577/137.73, Andy Haley 10.012/116.69, Richard Sawatzki 10.308/100.08, Richard Hann 9.654/144.22 (Mark Winder no show) bye, Martin Walker 10.283/142.83 bye (Carl Atkinson no show), Dave Hall 9.272/153.04 bye (Chris Jones no show)

Trackside conditions are 19.7 C, 81% humidity and 1021 Mb of air, track temperature is 29.7 C.

13:50

The sun is out, the track is dry, we'll be calling racers into the lanes very shortly. Trackside conditions are 19.0 C, 88% humidity and 1021 Mb of air, track temperature on the start line is 26.2 C. Stay tuned.

12:05

The rain has stopped and the track crew are out doing their thing. Trackside conditions right now are 16.0 C, 93% humidity and 1021 Mb of air.

In the meantime, Ivan Birch has asked us to tell Sam and Joe "You should be revising". We'll take the Fifth on that one since we're not going to tell anyone not to read our coverage...

10:15

Good morning and welcome from Shakespeare County Raceway. It's day three of the Springspeed Festival 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 posting a picture every sixty seconds; you can get to the webcam via the Event Index page.

The traditional Raceday Good Morning to our US correspondents Ed O'Connell and Kathy Hileman who are tuned in from Rye, NH. It's not a Public Holiday in the USA but what difference does that make, eh Ed? Hope you are having a good day.

Alas, and as you have probably seen from the webcam, it's raining again this morning. The rain came in at about 05:00 and it is still coming down quite hard. The forecast yesterday was for today to be OK, shows you how much those idiots know doesn't it, the forecast right now is for the rain to die out within a couple of hours. Stay tuned and as soon as there is any news we will let you know.


Reports and pictures ©Eurodragster.com