Super Series 4
Monday (eliminations)

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We are still experiencing problems with dead phone lines here at Shakespeare County Raceway, so today's report is again abbreviated. We plan to post a morning report and then another report at the end of the day. Stay tuned!

Results

A dream return to Fuel Funny Car competition for Norm Wilding as he defeated Gordon Smith in a final which saw Gordon go up in smoke, go sideways and ultimately punt both top end reflectors in his attempt to win. John Spuffard is British Fuel FC Champion even though he was a shock exit in round one of competition today. Congratulations to the Showtime team. Here is how eliminations went:

Round 1

Gordon Smith 7.659/108.96 bye
Norm Wilding 6.509/216.35 def. John Spuffard 7.287/126.05

Final: Norm Wilding 6.287/221.67 def. Gordon Smith 6.649/171.10

Third/fourth run-off: John Spuffard 5.591/277.78 was unopposed

MSA Top Methanol

Doug Bond took the win and second place in the MSA British Top Methanol Championship. As stated earlier, Rob Turner took the MSA Championship but suffered engine damage and did not appear after round one, and Dave Wilson did not appear in the final after putting a rod out.

Round 1

Rob Turner 5.898/231.96 bye
Doug Bond 10.406/74.14 bye
Dave Wilson 8.286/114.21 def. Steph Milam 8.917/162.45
Lyndsay Deuchar 5.907/213.27 def. Doug Ripley 7.808/162.45

Semi-finals

Doug Bond 9.136/97.83, Rob Turner no show
Dave Wilson 5.905/204.55 def. Lyndsay Deuchar no time recorded

Final: Doug Bond staged

Top Fuel Bike

Subject to ratification Ian King is ACU Top Fuel Bike Champion, although Steve Woollatt won the elimination with a 6.738/200.89 after Ian broke a primary drive belt on the burnout.

Results in all other classes:

Super Pro ET: Steve Green staged, was unopposed
Pro ET: Rick McCann (10.99) 11.026/107.66 def. Tig Napier (10.72) 10.935/126.05
Sportsman ET: John Parker (14.85) 15.224/88.41 def. Stephen Lee (15.30) broke
Super Comp: Phil Bennett 8.930/133.14 def. Martin Moore 9.145/144.23
Super Gas: Tim Adam 9.951/146.58 def. Martin Curbishley 9.941/138.46
Super Street: Anne Peck 10.940/119.05 def. Neil Grant 11.001/121.95 redlight
Junior Dragster: Joe Bond (15.10) 15.008/41.63 def. Tom Watts (15.80) 15.636/38.27
Custom Car Street Eliminator: John Sleath 9.482/154.64 def. Barry George 9.961/142.86
Super Modified: Danny Cockerill 8.040/173.08 def. Nigel Payne 8.542/159.01
Wild Bunch: Mark Coulsell (10.80) 10.984/116.28 def. Chris Hartnell (9.35) 9.319/124.65 breakout
Outlaw Anglia: Rob Stone 9.738/135.14 def. Cliff Griffin 10.868/119.68
Super Street Rover: Steve Law 12.429/105.88 def. Paul Brackley 12.426/108.70

Pro Stock Bike: Dave Beck 7.563/175.10 def. Chris Hope 7.617/173.08
Funny Bike: Mike Chislett 9.648/91.84 def. Tim Blakemore broke
Super Street Bike: Graham Dance 8.438/164.84 def. Tony Clark 8.909/167.91
Comp Bike: Helen Curran 8.033/163.04 def. Lee Baxendale 8.602/148.03
9.90 Bike: Paul Watson 9.942/134.33 def. Pete Cameron 9.877/140.62
10.90 Bike: Steve Templeman 11.144/125.35 def. Darren Winnard 10.842/123.63 breakout
Supertwin Fuel: John Williamson 8.807/157.52 def. George Laycock 10.705/121.62
Supertwin Gas: Jerry Collier 9.715/132.74 def. Nick Daniels 10.926/117.19
Supertwin Modified: Dave Bartz 10.501/132.74 def. Lyn Mason-Roe 10.921/134.73
Supertwin Street: Dave Jones 10.913/120.97 def. Les Harris 10.881/125.00

Pictures from all three days of this race will be posted either later on tonight or during tomorrow.

That's the end of our coverage of Super Series 4, apologies for the lack of detailed updates but this was due to reasons beyond our control and those of the facility. Hopefully you will have enjoyed what we have been able to post.

Thanks for their help this weekend to: Wayne, Simon and Ozzy of the tech crew; Richard Warburton; all the APIRA officials; Bruno, Sophie and the FAST team; APIRA Press Officer Jerry Cookson; Terry and Tina Gibbs; track announcer John Price; Dave Alexander; Spencer Tramm; and Ivan Sansom. Again a special thanks to Stephen Talbot for going out of his way to try to help us find a way out of the phone line problems.

Eurodragster's next live coverage will be from the Run What You Brung prior to the FIA European Finals; our next live coverage from Shakespeare County Raceway will be from Super Series 5 on 22nd-23rd September.

10:30

The final qualifying standings in Fuel Funny Car are as follows:

1. John Spuffard 5.664/254.24, 2. Gordon Smith 5.872/227.27, 3. Smax Smith 6.392/165.44, 4. Norm Wilding 6.772/172.41

The final qualifying standings in MSA Top Methanol are as follows:

1. Rob Turner 5.771/245.90, 2. Dave Wilson 5.869/238.10, 3. Lyndsay Deuchar 6.516/163.64, 4. Doug Bond 6.646/203.62, 5. Darryl Bradford 7.450/124.31, 6. Doug Ripley 8.203/144.23, 7. Steph Milam 8.741/152.03

Congratulations to Rob Turner whose qualifying spot has secured him the 2001 MSA British Top Methanol Championship.

Here are the top two qualifiers in each class:

Super Pro ET (own dial-in): 1. Mick Cheley +0.035 (8.915/153.58), 2. Steve Green +0.045 (8.905/155.17)
Pro ET (own dial-in): 1. Jack Brewster +0.003 (11.493/120.10), 2. Jon Rathbone +0.006 (10.306/135.54)
Sportsman ET (own dial-in): 1. Phil Cowdrey +0.019 (18.019/70.87), 2. Chevy Llewellyn +0.028 (14.028/100.22)
Super Comp (8.90): 1. Phil Bennett 8.930/133.53, 2. John McIntyre 8.958/142.41
Super Gas (9.90): 1. Ritchi Smith 9.902/134.33, 2. Tim Adam 9.910/141.51
Super Street (10.90): 1. Neil Grant 10.909/122.28, 2. Anne Peck 10.912/123.29
Junior Dragster (Reaction Time): 1. Phill Cook 0.559 (8.433/76.27), 2. Joe Bond 0.574 (15.291/40.98)
Custom Car Street Eliminator (after cruise): 1. Jeff Meads 9.060/156.25, 2. John Sleath 9.468/154.64
Super Modified: 1. Danny Cockerill 8.137/172.41, 2. Nigel Payne 8.413/160.71
Super Street Rover (11.00): 1. Paul Brackley 11.191/120.97, 2. Steve Law 11.244/116.88
Outlaw Anglia: 1. Rob Stone 9.650/136.36, 2. Cliff Griffin 10.698/122.62
Wild Bunch (own dial-in): 1. Chris Hartnell +0.001 (9.351/133.14), 2. Colin Aldred +0.012 (10.912/133.14)

Top Fuel Bike: 1. Steve Woollatt 6.785/200.89, 2. Ian King 6.926/197.37
Pro Stock Bike: 1. Dave Beck 7.572/175.78, 2. Nick Pepper 7.728/169.17
Funny Bike: 1. Tim Blakemore 7.289/159.57, 2. Ken Cooper 7.315/178.57
Comp Bike: 1. Helen Curran 7.988/164.84, 2. Andy Newcombe 8.049/165.44
Super Street Bike: 1. Graham Dance 8.219/176.47, 2. Tony Clark 8.493/172.41
9.90 Bike: 1. Paul Valentine 9.920/136.36, 2. Pete Cameron 9.962/144.23
10.90 Bike: 1. Lewis Honey 10.911/124.31, 2. Ady Reade 10.914/120.97
Supertwin Fuel: 1. John Williamson 8.748/153.06, 2. Dave Witts 10.214/138.46
Supertwin Gas: 1. Jerry Collier 9.745/131.20, 2. John Floyd 9.975/127.48
Supertwin Modified: 1. Dave Bartz 10.546/134.33, 2. Lyn Mason-Roe 10.732/135.54
Supertwin Street: 1. John O'Sullivan 10.920/122.62, 2. Les Harris 11.030/126.76

10:00

Good morning and welcome again from Shakespeare County Raceway on another beautiful day. There is not a cloud in the sky, a gentle breeze is blowing, and we're all set for a great day's racing.

A huge shout of appreciation goes to the APIRA tech crew and race officials who worked long into the night to sort out the timing computer and manually work out the qualifying and ladders. If we tell you that the early birds went to bed at two in the morning, you'll get an idea of just how hard they were working.

Also a huge Thank You from Tog and Sharkman to Stephen Talbot, who took time out on a very busy day to try to get us connected via a mobile phone. It was ultimately a fruitless quest due to shortcomings with our laptops but Stephen tried everything he could and we are very grateful to him, especially since he had a very sick dragster back in the pits.

If you've seen yesterday's report you will have read about Smax Smith's horrifying double fireball at the end of yesterday. Smax was quite OK, we went to visit his pit last night to make sure for ourselves and to get his inside view.

"It was on a stormer", said Smax. "We were trying real hard. I ran 200 at half-track and I was on a 5.7. I had no warning, it just blew. Suddenly there was just the biggest wall of fire I've ever seen. A lot of fire came in. I've never seen anything like it! I couldn't see anything for a while, and then when I could see where I was the first thing I saw was the guardrail coming towards me. I was trying to get it stopped then there was another huge bang - the fire caught the fumes from the fuel tank vent and blew the fuel tank wide open. It was real John Force stuff, you try to get stopped and get out as quick as you can!"

As we mentioned yesterday, the FAST crew were there in moments and Smax is very grateful to them. "They were there so fast, thanks very much to them. After I had got out of the car and they had put the fire out I wanted to go back to check something on the car but one of them yelled at me GET IN THE AMBULANCE!"

Smax thinks that the explosion happened after the engine dropped a cylinder, then leaned out enough to burn through a ring which then detonated fumes in the crank case. The clutch also locked up and exploded which Smax thinks was an effect rather than a cause. The titanium clutch can ballooned which gives you an idea of the force of the explosion but it did its job and kept all the bits in the proper place.

"The damage is horrendous", said Smax. "We face a huge bill now. The block needs a liner bore but it is salvageable, but we have lost just about everything else. If anyone wants to help us out then please come and talk to me".

Racing starts very shortly, because of the phone line problems we won't be back until the end of today so come back at about 5:30-6:00 and we should have today's results for you.