Qualifying. Round two of the championship was soon upon us and it was time for the first of three trips to Warwickshire and Shakespeare County Raceway. Owing to the heavy damage count at the Thunderball and the imminent completion of a few cars, it was a somewhat depleted field at the Power Nationals. Of those sustaining considerable damage to both engine and chequebook, a mammoth effort was made by both Tim Garlick's and Andy Hone's teams to get their machines race ready once more. Many late nights and considerable help from their respective teams and sponsors saw the Cortina and Scorpio back on the track with a full compliment of con-rods! As mentioned earlier, only a slim field was present which meant only 5 spots were up for grabs, but with the ever important qualifying points on the table nobody was going to be holding back. This was nowhere more evident than in the first pairing of the initial qualifying session when Tim Garlick paired up with Andy Kirk. Despite it being the first lap on the rebuilt Rover lump Tim and the team loaded the little Cortina for bare and recorded a stunning 7.79 @ 173. This gave the REHM team a new personal best, the £50 PB bonus from Obsession Motorsports and the provisional top spot...straight off the trailer! In the other lane Andy Kirk was again flexing his reaction time muscles, and with three small bungalows hanging off the clutch levers the Camaro carded an improved 8.29 @ 167, although clutch slip was all still too apparent. The two Kevs, Perkins and Taylor were next up, with Paul Brooks and Crew Chief Glen Walker on hand assisting the CRAP Conversions team who were trying to erradicate a fuel pressure problem on the Capri. After the obligutary monster burnout, Kiwi Kev wretsled the Mk 1 to an 8.74 to creep closer to his personal best. On the otherside of the track the Oldsmobile recorded an 7.83 @ 177 in it's usual clinical style...no fuss, no drama, just quick! Rounding out the first session was Andy Hone and the Gleeson Wright Security backed Scorpio. With Matt Wright on hand at the side of the track to watch his spare block in action, Fred got the Chevy lump settled in with an 8.20 @ 162. Heading up the second session were again Tim Garlick and Andy Kirk, with both hoping to capitalise on the earlier passes. All did not go according to plan however as Tim's earlier lap had caused his engine to overheat and damage some piston rings, meaning he was shut-down on the line with a fluid leak. This left Rat Fink on its own and yet more weight on the clutch as the team tried in vain to get it to lock up. After a very soft launch Andy shut the Camaro off as the concrete clutch discs decided they were having none of it. A free-wheeling 9.16 was the result as well as a lot of head scratching for the PSI sponsored Kirk Motorsport team. Having no such problems was Kev Perkins, who took full advantage of the mineshaft like atmospheric conditions and sticky track to rip off an awesome 7.58 coupled with a booming 180 MPH terminal speed. Finding another hundreth of a second was Andy Hone, the F&M Racing Ford carding and 8.19, while Kev Taylor was unable to improve. Final qualifying positions were as follows: .
Andy Hone was the recipient of the Obsession Motorsports qualifying bonus, his name being drawn out of the hat. Eliminations Round 1 The first pair of round one was to be the only side by side action and saw Andy Hone against Andy Kirk. Owing to yet another example of the outstanding sportsmanship within the Super Mod ranks, Graham Ellis and Kev Perkins in particular, the Kirk Motorsport team were able to obtain and install some softer clutch discs on Saturday night in preperation for the rematch of last years Allstar Nationals final. The Gleeson Wright team had also stepped up on the combination and just like the Allstars final, a stunning race ensued. The Camaro again got the slight advantage away from the line and for the first time in '05 kept on going. Birthday boy Fred and the Scorpio were right alongside until about 1000ft when Rat Fink finally figured out what its clutch was for and pulled away for a narrow victory...8.01 to 8.04. Next up was Kev Perkins on a bye, earned by virtue of his number one qualifying slot. The Cutlass used this pass to great effect and carded a 7.63 to officially back-up the previous 7.58 as a class record under the current regulations. The next race should've matched up Tim Garlick and Kev Taylor, however the qualifying damage sustained by Tim Garlick was too much to resolve and the REHM team returned to Essex so they could asses the Rover mill. So a bye-run it was and the fuel sytem gremlins cropped up again for the CRAP Conversions team. Try as he might, Kev could wring no more than a frustrating 8.86 from the menacing Capri. Another bye was waiting for the team in the next round however, so a further opportunity presented itself to try and iron out the bugs. Round 2 Unfortunately, that was all she wrote as far as the event was concerned. About 5 minutes before the cars were due to hit the strip the heavens opened and the meeting had to be curtailed. With Kev Perkins hoping to extend his points lead, Andy Kirk relishing the newly presented opportunity to head off in to the 7 second zone and Kev Taylor wanting to get to the bottom of his engine problems, frustration was not the word!! Well, that's racing as they say! Next up for the Super Mod circus is the Big Bang at Santa Pod and with the promise of a good track waiting for them, all the drivers can't wait to hit the strip. Although Kev Perkins has extended his lead at the top and Andy Kirk has further solidified the number 2 spot, there's still a long way to go yet and it's still anybodys game. Stay tuned........... |
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