Qualifying. The new season has arrived and the Thunderball was once again round one of the Super Modified championship. With the traditional engine tech procedure successfully performed by all the teams on Friday evening, Saturday morning provided the majority of the teams to get there first passes of '05 under their belts. Pacing the field early on was Tim Garlick, the car looking great in it's new Rehm colours. Testing the weekend before proved fruitful as he recorded a 7.916 @ 169 early on. Also of note in the first session was an 8.007 @ 168 from Andy Hone, the Scorpio also having a new paint scheme adorning it's flanks. The order after round one of qualifying saw Tim on the top spot, followed by Andy Hone, an 8.62 from Paul Brooks, 8.94 from Rob Smallworth and rounding the field Kev Taylor with a no gas 9.87 The second session saw the remaining cars in attendance hit the track. Rounding out the new paint jobs was Graham Ellis' Oldsmobile, looking stunning in it's new SID applied design. As he was on standby over the course of the weekend owing to imminent fatherhood, Graham once again handed the hot seat over to Kev Perkins and the car proceeded to carry on where it left off last year and thundered to a 7.677 @ 177.27 to take the top spot. Previously to Kev's run, Tim Garlick had hoped to capitalise on his earlier pass but the Rover mill had other ideas and unfortunately Tim succumed to severe mechanical woes. Next out was Andy Kirk in the Rat Fink Camaro. Andy and the team were putting their first pass in with the new Lenco setup and a tentative 8.95 was the result. Graig Gibbs and the Obsession Camaro were absent from the first session owing to a ignition timing problem, but got it sorted and recorded a strong 8.317 @ 158. Rounding out the second round was Paul Brooks who stepped up to record a great 7.996 @ 172.54. With the weather ending the action early on Sunday, the third session proved to be the days only opportunity for the Super Mods to hit the strip. The first pairing saw some dramatic action as Andy Hone and Craig Gibbs paired up. Instantly after the launch Craig's Awesome '69 suffered a huge nitrous burp, while in the other lane Andy was going for the ride of his life! Post run checks show that the potent big block under the hood of the new look Scorpio had suffered con rod failure, this in turn dumped a few quarts of oil under the slicks and pitched the car towardsa the wall. Some outstanding driving kept the big Ford away from the wall and saw Andy awarded by the SMRA for his efforts! After the resultant clean up, Kev Taylor got the clean Capri sorted on an 8.88 along side Paul Brooks who put in another solid lap of 8.00 in the well prepped Out-A-Time machine. Rob Smallworth and the gorgeous '55 recorded a speedy 8.51 while Steve Rawlings was getting down the track for the first time, notching up a 8.07 in the stealth Supra. Rounding out qualifying was Andy Kirk who added a little more bite to the new clutch and headed in the right direction with a very soft 8.63. Final qualifying positions were as follows: .
Eliminations Round 1 The first pairing on Monday saw Craig Gibbs up against Steve Rawlings, the startline advantage going to the Camaro but it again suffered nitrous woes allowing Steve to run his quickest ET of the event with a 7.96. Next up were Paul Brooks and Andy Kirk. The Rat Fink Camaro got away first but Paul soon reduced the defecit, however around 500ft. Paul unfortunately became another engine damage casualty when a rocker shaft seized and caused a nasty hydraulic induced motor failure. Meanwhile, with a little more weight on the clutch Andy advanced with an improved 8.30. Kev Perkins unleashed a marauding 7.72 in the slippery Cutlass on a solo pass, and Kev Taylor went through on a bye as Tim Garlick had headed home. The final pass of round one went to Rob Smallworth who should have been taking on Andy Hone, but due to the damage incurred to the Scorpio Rob's gorgeous Bel Air just staged for the points. Round 2 Opening up round two were Andy Kirk and Rob Smallworth. Andy again got the jump away from the start line and eased up to an 8.35 as Rob fell foul of the dreaded "Easter engine damage curse" and coasted to a 12.34. It was the battle of the late models next as Kev Perkins took on Steve Rawlings, a supreme 0.084 light ands 7.67 from the Olds was enough to take care of the Toyota's hard charging (169 mph) 8.19 ticket. Kev Taylor again found himself on a bye in the CRAP Conversions Capri, the menacing mark 1 laying down a 9.15. Semi-Finals The first of the semi's had the two Kev's, Perkins and Taylor against one another. A two tenth's advantage on the tree was all the Ellis Racing team needed as Kev stormed through to the final on a consistent 7.721 as the early Ford carded a 9.153. On the other side of the ladder it was Andy Kirk's turn for a bye and the team's suspension tweak payed off as the '67 Chevy gained a tenth and notched up an 8.20. FInal The first final round of '05 pitted Andy Kirk and Kev Perkings agaist each other. Andy gave it his best shot and got away first but the Camaro refused to play ball and hit heavy tyre shake around the 60ft. clocks, and despite being pedalled the Kirk Motorsport devise could only muster an 8.28. Meanwhile, Kev picked up the fhe front wheels and sped to a 7.77 to take home all the marbles. After an incredibly eventful meeting, anything can happen in the next round as the Super Mods head for Warwickshire and Shakespeare County Raceway. Congratulations to Kev, Rob, Graham and the whole Ellis Racing team and here's hoping that all those suffering damage can make a speedy return to the 1320. |
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