SPR. Peak Performance Test Day. A large number of competitors turned up at this event which was run just a week before the first official race of the year. Making waves on his Super Street bike was Steve Venables who was looking to be the first into the sevens. He began by running an 8.033/175.91 and, after a couple more runs, put in an historic 7.918/186.83. He improved on this with his next run, a 7.787/188.41. Danny Cockerill put in his first pass in his new '57 Chevy Pro Mod, a 9.379/92.19 half pass after tyre shake and a pedal. his second run saw a similar shake and pedal effort, but with a quicker time of 7.392/206.34. His third run saw less shake and resulted in a 7.067/202.59 with a safe stop after his chute failed to open. The Money Hungry '68 Camaro was back at Santa Pod, this time in the hands of Mick Smith. His first pass was an easy 15.391/81.79 followed by an equally gentle 14.929/90.39. Malcolm Francis ran an 8.096/171.17 in his Pontiac Grand Am, new best numbers for the car. He betterd this with an 8.022/170.35. Steve Wells put in a couple of passes in his Super Gas Pop pick-up. The second saw him disappear in a cloud of smoke at the top end as fluid leaked from the car and he tagged the guardrail. The car was badly damaged and it looked like he would be out of action for the coming season. Johnny Hall had problems with his Nostalgia Fuel Slingshot when a rocker arm broke on his only run. John Floyd put in a super-quick 9.277/138.91 on his Supertwin Gas bike, thought to be the quickest STG pass ever, and Dave Warren ran a competant 9.228/152.11 on his first ever pass on the Krazy Kat Super Street Bike. He followed this up with a 9.058/159.45. Ian Caseley put in some runs in his Roadzombie II Jet Dragster. After a few issues he ran an 8.012/199.17 followed by new personal bests of 7.222s and 230.73mph. Unfortunately a tyre failed after the finish line causing some suspension and wheel damage. Martin Hill put in some runs with a best of 5.965/220.56 in the Fireforce 3 Jet Funny Car. Making runs in Junior Dragster were Kane and rookies Jones Harry Gibson and Matthew Rayner. Scott Hauser ran what was possibly the quickest JD run in Europe with a 7.612/84.72, well under the permitted 7.90 index.

Eurodragster Live Updates  (Including APIRA Test & Tune held on the same weekend)

SPR. The Easter Thunderball/Pro Fuel Shootout. The format for the Pro Fuel Shootout for this year changed slightly to an index system, 5.00s for the Dragsters and 5.35s for the Funny Cars. As before three runs for each competitor were then aggregated to find the driver closest to their combined index. The Funny Cars retained a 0.35s start line advantage. Andy Carter took the lead after the first round of qualifying with a an early shut-off 5.583/173.77 after driving through tyre shake. Thomas Nataas moved into the top spot in the second session with a 5.316/198.22 on a red light run which saw the car shed it's blower belt at half track, the first racer to pull a red in the history of the Shootout. In the other lane the only Funny Car contender, Gordon Smith, appeared to lose the left hand cylinders as the car launched, the car turned left, Smith pedalled, and the engine expired in a flash of flame with a holed block. Andy Carter and Jon Webster paired up, Carter hit tyre shake and pedalled before shutting off early, whilst Webster put in a great run and clocked his first four, a 4.979/290.81. The final qualifing session saw Carter on a strong pass before the car moved sharply towards the centre line. Carter shut off and coasted to a 5.642/180.74. Smith was unable to improve with the new engine leaving oil on the track. Lex Joon, getting to grips with a new car for the season, battled with tyre shake and finished at number five. Webster and Nataas paired up with Webster on a promising run before the blower belt let go. Nataas confirmed his place in the final with Carter with a 5.040/257.70. The final was a close run affair with Nataas getting a tiny advantage on reaction time, a quicker 5.047/274.62 from Carter wasn't enough to beat a 5.054/283.14 from Thomas. Top Methanol saw Dave Wilson take the number one spot in the third and final session with a 5.667/243.38. In the other lane Steph Milam, making her first appearance for a couple of years, ran a new personal best speed of 230.56mph on a 6.431s pass. She qualified fourth. Also setting new PB's was Doug Ripley with a 6.592/196.54, and Trev Capewell with a 6.206/229.32. Rob Turner made the number two spot with a 5.893/238.34. In the first round of eliminations Turner took a win over Doug Ripley with a 5.600/249.98 to a 6.444/200.90, a new personal best for Ripley. Trev Capewell,  staged his Funny Car angled towards the centre line. Narrowly avoiding crossing the line as he launched the car then headed towards the guardrail but he kept his boot down and shut off just before the stripe, recording a winning 6.346/210.48 to Milam's tyre shaking 8.415/119.94. Lindsay Deuchar recorded a new personal best of 5.779/219.44 in his race against Wilson, but suffered engine damage in the process. Wilson took the win with a 5.594/254.56. In eliminations Wilson ran a 5.521/253.19 on his bye, while Turner defeated Capewell with a 5.582/251.76, a new Championship record, backed up by his earlier runs, to a 6.228/229.39. In the final Wilson took the win, and regained the record, with a 5.500/248.48 to a 5.541/251.43 from Turner. Pro Mod had three entries and saw Danny Cockerill run his first six on a test pass, a 6.740/208.15. This did not count towards qualifying as it did not take place during a qualifying session. In the final session on Sunday he made up for this with a 6.644/212.21, new personal bests and number one qualifier. Roger Johansson was number two with a 6.802/209.23, and newly-licenced Jogen Karlsson ran 7.067/196.44 to make number three. In the final session on Monday Karlsson moved up to number two with a 6.666/207.47 despite Johansson improving to a 6.696/210.26. A bye in the first round of eliminations saw Cockerill take it anything but easy, re-setting his personal best again with a 6.661/211.05. The race between Johansson and Karlsson saw Karlsson leave before the lights ran, causing Johansson to follow, but as the lights had begun the sequence by then he took the win with a 6.759/206.71 with a -0.021 red light. In the final Cockerill's luck ran out as he launched and the engine stuttered before he shut off. In the other lane Johansson ran low ET of the weekend, a 6.533/193.96, to take the win. Six cars turned up for the first running of the newly-formed National Fuel Altered Association. Mickey Moore and Bob Glassup were the first competitors to take to the track. Moore ran 7.335/199.13 in The Mob to an early shut-off 10.953/121.99 from Glassup. In their next match-up on Sunday Glassup's car turned hard right at the hit as Moore wrestled his Altered to his first 200mph run, a 7.300/200.05. Glassup got straightened up and recorded a 9.455/178.53 before sliding into the field at the top end when his chute failed. Moore improved his PB speed on his next outing with a 7.207/201.01 and then further still with  a new personal best speed of 210.42mph on a solo 7.127s pass. Super Pro ET saw an early qualifying lead for Nigel Turner in his first competition session after gaining his licence the previous weekend. He had finished rebuilding his engine the night before the meeting. He remained at number two by the end of qualifying. Vince Gibbs made it to the number one spot but it was number five qualifier Ian Tubb who took the final win with a 7.591/175.12 over an 8.028/162.68 from Pat Talbot. Super Gas saw the first competative outing for Belinda Bull, she stood at number four after the first round of qualifying but was pushed out of the top five after session two. In the final session she broke out with a 9.751/153.57. Number one qualifier was Lee Pike at 9.905/134.80 and Tim Adam took the number two spot with a 9.911/143.74. Spencer Tramm took the final win. Street Eliminator saw Steve Nash set the first half of a new class ET record on a bye run in the first round of eliminations, an 8.116/173.84. John Sleath ran 179.27mph on an 8.409s pass for the first half of a new speed record. In the semi-finals he blew his chances of backing it up by leaving too early. The final was an 8.425/173.67 win for Colin Lazenby over an 8.535/176.41 from Sleath. The first round of VW Pro qualifying saw a new personal best for Jonathan Grigg of 12.935/105.66. He went on to better this with a 12.699/105.92 in the second session and a 12.641/106.36 in the third before taking the final win with a 12.841/104.88 over a red-lighting 12.093/109.77 from Neil Davies. After two sessions of Top Fuel Bike Ian King was at number one with his only pass of 6.511/200.73. He failed to improve on this in the final session, but maintained the top spot. With a bye in the first round he ran a strong 6.724/200.90 while Steve Woolatt beat Steve Carey with a 6.88/198.29 to a 7.344/179.94 but subsequently withdrew from competition with concerns about the health of his engine. King took the final win with a solo 6.482/209.29. Super Street Bike qualifying saw a new personal best for Dave Warren which put him at number four after the first round. Jamie Sneddon took the early lead with the first half of a new ACU ET record at 8.006/182.06. He backed this up with an 8.071 in the next session, but Steve Venables (who was also running in Funny Bike) took the lead with a 7.991/190.67, the first seven second SSB run in competition. Sneddon also made it into the sevens in the third session on Sunday with a 7.939/184.44, putting him at the top of the qualifiers, but not for long. Venables then clicked off a 7.925/193.20 to regain the lead and reset both ends of the class record. Brad O'Connor became the third rider to break into the sevens in the second round of eliminations with a 7.925/186.60. Warren ran another new PB of 8.500s but lost to an 8.020/180.01 from Sneddon. In the semis Venables ran a 7.761/182.13.This was too quick to be backed up by his earlier runs and Sneddon regained the official record with a 7.898/180.92. In the final Venables took the win, backed up his earlier 193.20mph and set a new class record of 7.742s in his defeat of an 8.617/141.94 from Sneddon. Funny Bike qualifying saw Dave Holland at the top spot after the third session with his first six second pass, a 6.926/177.13. In the final session he improved on this with a 6.903/185.93 to consolidate his top spot. Chris Hall finished second with a 7.155/182.22. Steve Venables qulaified at number five, taking his Super Street Bike quicker still with a 7.841/184.58. Chris Hall was the eventual winner. With only three competitors on site for 10.50 Bike the class was not run, and the three joined the ranks of 9.50 Bike. The final was a family affair with Steve Coombs beating Paul Coombs 9.679/138.36 to 9.638/136.41. Martin Hill's first pass of the weekend in the Fireforce 3 Jet Funny Car set a new fastest recorded speed in Europe for Jets with 288.86mph at 5.937s. On Sunday he went one better and clocked a 5.793 at a huge 336.10mph, the fastest jet car pass in the world. His next run was a little calmer after a talking to from the Race Director, 5.948/227.44. On the Monday he put in a 6.043/246.05. Eric Teboul put in some runs on his Rocket Bike, Sunday saw a 5.993/190.64 and on Monday he ran a 5.867/188.41.

Class Winners

Eurodragster Live Updates

SCR. Power Nationals. Saturdays start was delayed while the track was dried, and there was an interruption during the first session of qualifying for The Wild Bunch when a plane landed in the shutdown area. Chris Hartnell waited patiently then went on to run his first eight and first 150mph run in the Backdraft slingshot, 8.885/150.03. This was a breakout but Chris was understandably unconcerned. Dave Ward ran 9.618s in the Rampage Funny Car, another personal best, but, also a breakout. Most classes made it through the second round of eliminations on Sunday before the rain came back and put an end to the weekends proceedings. The new Wright Racing Top Fuel Dragster was present with driver Darryl Bradford, but never got to the start line. Last minute issues kept the car in the pits on Saturday. Sunday saw the team make it to the pairing lanes but the rain sent them back. Super Modified saw Tim Garlick take an early lead in qualifying with a 7.798/173.01 in the first session, but Kev Perkins ran the first half of new ET and speed records with 7.586s and 180.85mph to take the number one spot in the final session. He backed up the time for a new ET record with a 7.631/176.74 in his first round win. Street Eliminator saw a number of breakages in qualifying for the four-car field, and by the end of the day only Number one qualifier Colin Lazenby remained intact and able to participate in the cruise. In his solo run for the final win he ran 9.084/180.03. The speed was a new personal best but he was unable to back it up for a new record as this was the final round. Outlaw Anglia saw Mark Pointer take number one qualifying spot with a personal best of 8.337/156.37 on his first run in the class, and maintain his place by the start of eliminations. In the first round of eliminations he took the Eurodragster/Speedflow perfect light award with a 0.000 reaction time on a bye run. Top Fuel Bike saw Steve Woolatt go home early with mechanical problems and without qualifying leaving Steve Carey to take the win with a 10.983/76.19 bye run. Pro Stock Bike qualifying saw Ray Debben run a new personal best in the first session, an 8.031/170.46 to put him in second place behind Dave Beck with 7.556/169.72. These were the final qualifying places for the pair. No elimination rounds were run. In Comp Bike Gary Jones left it until the final session to run a new personal best and take the number one spot from T J O'Brien with a 7.725/171.06. O'Brien ran a best of 8.141/157.69. Super Street Bike qualifying saw another competitor break into the seven second zone, the first to do so at Shakespeare County, this time it was Mark Fisher who finished as number one qualifier with a 7.974/181.08. Having run well at Santa Pod some of the teams were having issues dialing into the SCR track, but Steve Venables took a second round win with an 8.016/190.16 for a new track speed record. Andy Smith ran a new class ET record of 9.470/138.06 on his first qualifying run in Supertwin Gas. He backed this up with another 9.470 later for a new NAST record. Roger Goring ran a 6.523/193.22 in the Firestorm Jet Funny Car, followed by 6.347/253.52, a new personal best speed on Saturday. On Sunday he put in a 6.668/180.04, shutting off early due to a top end crosswind.

Eurodragster Live Updates