Qualifying. It was a case of 'the usual suspects' for round 7 of the championship as just 3 cars made the annual August Bank holiday trip to Warwickshire. Still, with these being the top three in the points chase they gave it their all to uphold the interest in the class and put on a show. Session 1 With a suprisingly stout number of fans in attendance, the first qualifying session on Saturday morning saw Andy Kirk and Kev Perkins out first. With the Oldsmobile fresh from a victory at Hockenheim it was business as usual for Kev Perkins as he set the tone for the weekend, a 7.675 @ 179.83 the result. In the other lane the Kirk Motorsport crew loaded up the Camaro with a low 7.8 tune, but once again Rat Fink™ found the startline at Shakey to be tough going. With a lot of tyre spin the '67 got to the other end with a respectable 8.020 @ 170.51. Rounding out the trio was Andy Hone and the big Gleeson Wright backed Ford. Also following on the momentum gained at the HockenheimRing, the F&M Racing squad extracted a 7.888 @ 172.41 from the 461ci lump. Session 2 Not many highlights in this session as the temperature began to rise.One such highlight did occur when Kev Perkins opened out session two however, this time on a solo. Although there was no improvement ET wise, the Cutlass did card an 178.59 MPH top end charge which was good enough to back up a new speed record. With a lot of head scratching going on in Andy Kirk's camp, they decided to try adding some weight to the rear of the Camaro in an attempt to get it to hook up. The extra 50lb on board certainly transformed the way the car reacted but a severe look at the wall left the car wanting some suspension attention. Session 3 Again no betterment for the Super Mods in session 3. The Olds with a low .70, the Scorpio a low .90 and the Camaro caught in a whole world of wheel spin!! Session 4 Sunday morning arrived with two more attempts for the cars to prepare for eliminations. First on the strip were Kev Perkins and Andy Hone. Kev and Rob had got the car well sorted in the .60's by now and another 7.68 was netted. Andy Hone was also looking comfortable at this stage, and the Scorpio racked up a 7.91. After a phone call to Andy Robinson Race Cars on Saturday evening, Rat Fink™ came to the line sporting a whole new four-link setup. Despite leaving some big black stripes well down the track, the adjustment paid dividends and the Chevy was at last in to the sevens at SCR with a 7.901 @ 170.44. Session 5 Mr Perkins and the Ellis Racing team were again unable to improve on their earlier 7.675, but did charge to 180.53 MPH to again reset the speed record. The final pairing of qualifying saw an awesome side-by-side match up. With Fred, Mick and the F&M gang having made some tweaks and the Kirk Motorsport machine packing a little more pre-load, the two cars put on a great show. Fred improved to a 7.875 @ 172.30, as Andy Kirk leapfrogged him into second spot with a 7.862 and a personal best 175.38 MPH. Final qualifying positions were as follows: .
Andy Kirk was drawn out of the hat by SMRA track rep, Barbara Kirk to receive the £50 qualifying bonus from Obsession Motorsports. Andy Hone was also drawn out to receive the un-picked award rolling over from the Bug Jam. Eliminations Round 1 Kev Perkins' number one spot rewarded him with a bye run, which was used to great effect. A 7.643 @ 180.03 lit up the scoreboard and ensured the Cutlass was the odds on favourite once more. This left numbers 2 & 3 to do battle for a spot in the final. Two big burnouts preceded what was surely to be a tight battle between them. Alas it was not to be, as a nitrous malfunction and resultant 9.16 for the Granada allowed Andy Kirk to cross the line first with a 7.905 @ 174.63. Final With the Super Mod final taking place behind the final Pro Modified demo of the event, the teams gave it their all to put on a show representative of the class. The result was a pair of carefully choreographed, side-by-side 100ft. burnouts from Kev and Andy that really caught the eye of the crowd. Despite getting the advantage at the tree and blackstriping his way to a 7.853 @ 174, Andy Kirk had no answer for Kev's 7.631. With one race left remaining, the top three are pretty much decided now. But there are still top five positions up for grabs at the National Finals as hopefully a better turnout will be in attendance in October. Congratulations to Ellis Racing for capturing the Ultimate Power championship and for another convincing performance. However, Andy Kirk, Andy Hone and the rest of the teams are doing there upmost to close the gap...... |
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