2009 Springspeed Nationals
Sunday
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The latest updates are at the top of the page. Click on your Browser's Refresh key to be sure of seeing the latest news. Click here to go back to the event index 21:45 We have now posted today's pictures. Again it's a caption-free gallery although some of the shots have mouse-over captions. You can check out the pictures from the Event Index page; if you don't see the updated page the click on your Browser's Refresh button. Simon has also posted today's last set of pit notes which again you can view via the Event Index page. 19:25 Roger and Simon are still working on the pictures and pit notes respectively but in the meantime we have just been supplied with tomorrow's provisional running order. You can check out tomorrow's order on the Event Index page; if you don't see the link to the running order then click on your Browser's Refresh button. 17:55 Top Fuel Bike qualifying session 5 (left lane first): Steve Woollatt 6.601/204.50 bye, Rene van den Berg 6.964/200.61 bye Ian Turburville out for the weekend as mentioned in Simon's pit notes. Looks like Steve and the Dealer team's work on clutch and Rene van den Berg's chain (again see the pit notes) did the trick as Steve laid down a stormer of a pass, blackstriping a lot of the lane. A nice run for Rene too, blackstriping his lane but towards the end it sounded as if...well, if the motor had a rev limiter it would sound as if it were on the limiter. Qualifying after this session:
Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Joe Bond 7.239/195.25, Bob Glassup 18.080/31.44, Paul Wratten 9.394/91.73 bye, John Wright 10.125/88.72 bye Tony Betts' motor hydraulicked in the last session, all the rods reportedly broken and laying in the pan and various other maladies, so we won't be seeing him again this weekend. Joe blipped the throttle just as the lights ran and the Topo moved forward just enough to go into deep stage, on the green everyone's attention went to Bob as the Xtreme altered headed right and sideswiped the guardrail, Bob pedalled and pulled it away and hit the throttle again - can't have been much of an impact first time - only to head right and swipe the rail again, pedal and pull it away again and only then did it occur to Bob that maybe he ought to shut off. Driven like a true Fuel Altered pilot Bob! Retrieval and a check of the guardrail and it was Paul Wratten's turn - only for the blower belt to break as the motor was cranked over. A team member sprinted back to pits and John Wright was pulled forward. Paul's crew guy returned equipped with a blower belt slung around his neck, looking like the image of the Frenchman with a string of onions riding a bike...which was quite some trick because he didn't leave here on a bike! Just to add to the fun, John's battery pack had died and so the starter wouldn't work. So off went Chaos' team van to the pits and Chaos was pushed out of the way so that Paul could run. Another superb burnout from Paul - that guy must be the Burnout King of the NFAA - then 0.98 to sixty feet, sounded like a short shift for plainly visible shake, and then at about 400 feet unburnt fuel came from the headers and Paul shut off - it was almost as if the replacement blower belt had broken. Battery pack replaced, John took his bye. 1.034 to sixty feet and then at about 100 feet the tyres started to spin and the altered turned hard left and went up on two wheels. John got off the throttle and pulled the car straight and just barely missed the guardrail, a great job to save the altered. That's all the on-track action for today. With qualifying finished we must say a huge Thank You to Simon Day of APIRA's Tech Crew who has kept us supplied with qualifying sheets for two days solid when he had quite enough to do anyway. Stay tuned as Simon is collecting more pit notes and Roger is collating today's pictures. 17:10 Simon has posted the latest set of pit notes, which you can view via the Event Index page. Super Pro ET qualifying top five after session 6:
An improvement for John Everitt in the first pairing but he stayed in place. Three pairings later Barry Giles took over the lead. Outlaw Anglia qualifying after session 6:
No changes to the standings in this session. Super Modified qualifying after session 5:
Craig Gibbs up to #4 in the first pairing. 16:55 Super Comp qualifying top five after session 6:
Brian Pateman into #1 spot in the first pairing of the session. Improvements for Paul Marston and Frank Mason but both stayed in place. 8.50 Bike qualifying top five after session 6:
No changes to the top five in this session. Supertwin Gas qualifying top five after session 6:
Strictly this is session 5 after the earlier session was cancelled following Ray Debben's accident. No changes to the top five. Outlaw Flat Four qualifying after session 6:
Joe appeared to miss a gear, still an improved ET but no change in position. 16:45 Supertwin ET qualifying top five after session 6:
John Hackney into #2 in the first pairing of the session. Pro Stock Bike qualifying after session 6:
An improvement for Paul King but the bike didn't sound happy and he stayed in #4. VW Sportsman qualifying top five after session 6:
Luke Stevenson took over #1 spot. Super Street qualifying top five after session 6:
No changes to the top five. Trackside conditions are 17.1 C, 33% humidity and 30.21 inches of air, track temperature 22.7 C. 16:30 9.50 Bike qualifying top five after session 6:
No changes to the top five. Sportsman ET qualifying top five after session 6:
Geoff Cowley into the top five at #4 in the last but one pairing of the session. Junior Dragster qualifying top five after session 6:
No changes to the top five in this session. The top nine qualifiers are separated by 0.064. Junior Drag Bike qualifying top five after session 6:
No changes in this sesson. 16:10 Wild Bunch qualifying top five after session 6:
No changes to the top five in this session. Super Street Bike qualifying top five after session 6:
An improvement for Scott Baldwin but he stayed in place. For our friends on 200mph G was alas #9 qualifier. 15:55 B&H Automotive/LA Racing Parts Street Eliminator qualifying after session 6:
No changes to the top five in this session. Pro ET qualifying top five after session 6:
No changes to the top five in this session. The top fifteen are separated by 0.090 Comp Bike qualifying top five after session 6:
Funny Bike qualifying after session 6:
Tim Blakemore up to #2 and an improvement for Kev but not enough to prevent being pushed down to #3. Super Gas qualifying after session 6:
No changes to the top five in this session. 15:30 Super Modified qualifying after session 5:
A great session this. Timmy G up to #4 spot in the first pairing. All good news for the Tims in this round as we are pretty sure that Tim Mugridge's pass, which put him into #3, was a Personal Best ET. Well done Tim! That's qualifying session 5 finished, on to qualifying session 6. 15:25 Outlaw Anglia qualifying after session 5:
No changes to the standings in this session. 15:25 Outlaw Flat Four qualifying after session 5:
An improvement for Dave but he stayed in #4. Problems off the line for Joe Gallagher but that's his first run of the weekend and he at least has a time on the board. Super Pro ET qualifying top five after session 5:
Eurodragster.com sponsor Peter Walters obviously found whatever was ailing the Canon Reloaded dragster as he came into the top five at #2 in the first pairing of the session. I think a PB too for Peter, well done! Trackside conditions are 15.9 C, 34% humidity and 30.27 inches of air, track temperature is 24.3 C. 15:15 8.50 Bike qualifying top five after session 5:
No changes to the top five in this session. Top Fuel Bike qualifying session 4 (left lane first): Steve Woollatt 7.834/125.58 bye, Rene van den Berg 8.282/111.03 bye 1.122 to sixty feet for Steve, feathering the throttle at about 200 feet and then again at about 500 feet before shutting off in the second half. Rene looked to be on a stormer, 1.136 to sixty feet and front wheel high in the air, a feather of the throttle as the bike headed for the guardrail and eventually Rene got off the throttle and pulled it back to the middle of the lane. Qualifying after this session:
14:45 Super Street qualifying top five after session 5:
No changes to the top five in this session. Super Comp qualifying top five after session 5:
A tiny improvement for Frank Mason but he stayed in #4. Pro Stock Bike qualifying after session 5:
No changes to the top five in this session. Ray Debben crossed lanes at the finish line, taking out the quarter mile reflector, the bike continued to the right in the shutdown area, into the grass at the side of the shutdown area and then Ray came off the bike. The safety crews were on the move before Ray had stopped sliding. Ray is quite OK, walked to the ambulance and is getting a routine checkout in the medical centre. 14:25 Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Tony Betts 8.747/94.17, Joe Bond 7.363/189.92, Bob Glassup 7.229/191.25, Paul Wratten 7.929/118.04, John Wright 8.379/106.90 bye 150-foot burnout from Tony although the tyres took a while to get smoking. Joe away first but Tony was overhauling him then it sounded like Tony pedalled then there was smoke and a thump from Venom 2, bits and pieces found in the lane, maybe a blower burst plate. Meanwhile Joe's altered started to move left and right getting very squirrelly in the last couple of hundred feet but Joe stayed with it. Clean-up in Tony's lane. On the restart a 200-foot burnout from Paul, looked like Burnout of the Round to us. Paul left Bob absolutely for dead on the line and drove through shake, the altered started to move around its lane and Paul shut off. When Bob got going it was a very nice-looking pass, no sign of shake and straight, I think the best run so far on the new motor. 1.0 to sixty feet for John and a straight pass, shut off at half track with no visible problem so I guess checking out. 13:55 Supertwin ET qualifying top five after session 5:
No changes to the top five in this session. VW Sportsman qualifying top five after session 5:
Abi Tether back into the top five at #2. 13:45 Junior Drag Bike qualifying top five after session 5:
Scott Collier into #1 spot in the last but one pairing. Sportsman ET qualifying top five after session 5:
No change to the top five in this session. Junior Dragster qualifying top five after session 5:
Rosie Hunt up to #3 in the fourth pairing of the session. Next pairing and Clare Giles came into the top five at #5. 13:30 Trackside conditions at the start of Super Street Bike were 16.5 C, 35% humidity and 30.21 inches of air, track temperature was 26.6 C. Super Street Bike qualifying top five after session 5:
An improvement for Scott Baldwin but he stayed in fourth. Two pairings later Garry Bowe moved into the top five at #5, then next up was Rich Stubbins who improved to consolidate #1...but that lasted all of one pairing as Steve Venables took over the lead in the final pair having told us he'd had the bike apart overnight and calmed it all down a bit. 9.50 Bike qualifying top five after session 5:
A perfect run from Jake Mechaell to put him into #1 spot in the first pairing, well done Jake! Jeanette and Jon Webster asked us to say a big Hello to daughter Shelby who will be tuning in during her lunch break. 12:25 Super Gas qualifying top five after session 5:
An improvement for Frank Mason in the first pairing but he stayed in #5. Two pairings later Frank was bumped down a spot as Mark White came in at #3. Wild Bunch qualifying top five after session 5:
Eurodragster.com sponsor Ed Yates into #1 in the final pairing of the session. We're on hold for oil in the second eighth, stay tuned. 12:15 Comp Bike qualifying top five after session 5:
Ivan Birch into #1 in the first pairing of the session. Fiona Moor took a spill in the shutdown area after her qualifying pass but the safety crew were there in seconds and word quickly came back that Fiona is quite OK. Funny Bike qualifying after session 5:
Chris Hall back into the sixes to consolidate his #1 spot. 11:50 B&H Automotive/LA Racing Parts Street Eliminator qualifying after session 5:
An improvement for Jeff Meads in the first pairing but he stayed in #2. We're down to three as Mark Todd has broken. Pro ET qualifying top five after session 5:
Nigel Green into #2 spot in mid-session. Big break-out for newly-licenced Joe Williams, 9.841 on a 10.01 dial-in, Joe you are a bad man but I bet you're grinning ear to ear. The top fourteen qualifiers are separated by 0.099 seconds. 11:35 Supertwin Fuel qualifying after session 3:
An improvement for Shawn and still the only STF racer to get a time. Top Fuel Bike qualifying session 4 (left lane first): Steve Woollatt 15.103/55.86 bye, Rene van den Berg 6.907/201.90, Ian Turburville 20.433/34.75 Steve's rear tyre shook very hard about fifty feet out and he shut off. Lazy burnout for Rene and the usual languid burnout for Turbo, some slight hesitation off the line for Rene's bike but then straight and true, Turbo's motor sounded laboured and then there was a flash of flame from Mister Spokehead about 300 feet out. Qualifying after this session:
11:25 Super Pro ET qualifying top five after session 4:
Ashley Bell into the top five at #2. A great 7.049/190.64 from Mark Flavell in the Steel River Hot Rod, on a 7.06 dial-in but we're not sure that Mark will be worried about the break-out, what a superb run! Super Modified qualifying after session 4:
A great pass from Andy Hone to take #1 spot in the first pairing. What could former #1 Nigel Payne do? Go one better and take #1 back, set another new speed record, and set a new ET record backed up by yesterday's best run. Well done Nigel! Supertwin Gas qualifying top five after session 4:
Brian Udall into the top five at #5 in the second pairing of the session. 11:10 Outlaw Flat Four qualifying after session 4:
Dave Dinning up to #2 in the first pairing, then Bernie Newbury came straight back at him in the second run and took it back. Outlaw Anglia qualifying after session 4:
A huge burnout from Cliff Griffin and then a big improvement although he stayed in second place. Richard Colby responded by taling another tenth off his #1 spot. 10:25 Good morning and welcome from Shakespeare County Raceway for our coverage of the 2009 Springspeed Nationals in association with American Car Imports. The Webster Race Engineering/Lex Joon Racing USA Tour 2009 webcam is on-line and is posting a picture every sixty seconds. It's another nice day here at SCR. Trackside conditions are 15.8 C, 37% humidity and 30.27 inches of air. At 10:30 we will be holding a tribute to the late Paul Rose on the start line and then we are due to start qualifying at 11:00 with session 4 of Outlaw Flat Four. Stay tuned and when the wheels start turning we'll be back. Reports and pictures ©Eurodragster.com |