The curtain was raised on another season over the Easter weekend, as Santa Pod roared in to life once more and greeted the Super Mods with brilliant sunshine and a shiny new track for them to strut their stuff on, culminating in a fist-full of personal bests.

As per the norm at the first event of the year, there were plenty of new paint schemes, parts and equipment on display. As a testament to how the class has evolved over it's brief existence, it only took a few laps for the teams to get dialed in to the fresh surface and card times above and beyond the pace they were setting at the culmination of '06....it's going to be a great year!

With the pits full of untried and in some cases, unfinished race cars, only NIgel Payne showed for the first session, finding his feet with an off pace 18.67 @ 72 mph. For the second session, 2 more cars emerged from their winter slumber to get their first passes of the new year. Joining Nigel on the track this time was the freshly painted "Obsession" Camaro of Craig Gibbs. Resplendant in it's new retro-esque hues, the slammed '69 looked every bit the fitting tribute to Terry Gibbs, with the paint harking back to the days when Obsession raged war on the Super Gas ranks. Unfortunately for Craig and team, a problem surfaced before he could stage the car leaving NIgel for a solo. It was to be a return to form this time around for the "Sticky Situation" '62 'Vette, as Nigel chalked up a 7.947 @ 170mph to become the early pacesetter. Rounding out round 2 was Andy Kirk and the ©"Rat Fink" Camaro. After checking itself in to the Andy Robinson Race Cars branch of Weight Watchers, the pretty '67 emerged trimmed, toned and tightened ready for another season, as extensive shell modifcations were carried out to offset the addition of a funny car roll cage over the winter, rendering it somewhat lighter and more balanced than before. After also adding an anti-roll bar and new cylinder heads amongst other things, the Kirk Motorsport team were rewarded with a promising opening gambit of 7.814 @ 177mph.

Session 3 opened up with another car added to the mix, as Rob Smallworth's achingly gorgeous '55 Bel Air came out to play. After some intensive pre-season testing to bed in a new clutch setup, Rob and the rest of the team are looking for big things this year. Despite a somewhat relaxed launch, a first pass of 7.893 @ 177 was a good start. In the other lane, Andy Kirk was busy trying to add some flames to the freshly painted roof of the Kirk Motorsport Camaro. A bent pushrod and stuck exhaust valve caused the 509 to ignite it's carburettors giving Andy a nerve wracking 7.949 at only 159mph. Fortunately the flames extinguished themselves before he decided whether to hit the fire bottle or not. The next pairing saw Craig Gibbs and Nigel Payne hit the strip oncemore. This time the "Obsession" Camaro did exactly as she was told and delivered a straight-as-an-arrow 8.030 @ 169mph. In an impressive display of consistency, NIgel narrowly improved on his earlier lap with a 7.943 @ 177mph.

Saturday morning saw the first of 2 more sessions for the Super Mods, and first out was Tim Garlick and the Rehm Cortina. After reaching the pinnacle of it's performance capabilities, for 2007 Tim consigned the Wildcat Rover to the history books and with the help of ICE Automotive replaced it with a fire breathing small block Chevy. After sitting out Friday to rectify the cars anorexia, Tim and the gang were keen to stick a number on the board and see what the new lump was made of. They got exactly what they were looking for too, as the car clicked of an effortless 7.969 @ 167mph. Providing further proof that you don't need a clutch or nitrous-oxide to run in the 7 second zone was Nigel Payne, as the Corvette ran a 7.987 @ 170mph alongside Tim. Next out was a soloing Andy Kirk. With the damage repaired under the bonnet, © Rat Fink sped to an improved 7.690 @ 174, proving that 8 cylinders are always better than 7! Rounding out the session were Rob Smallworth and Paul Mander. Over the winter, Paul's small block Mopar equipped Arrow had received a new converter and shiney cylinder heads, so a checkout pass was the order of the day to ensure all was well inside the diminutive Plymouth, a no-nitrous 11.92 @ 109mph the result. Meanwhile, in the other lane, Rob was long gone, as the beautiful shoebox scorched it's way to a personal best 7.615 @ 177, nudging the car's best ever pass recorded using an unlimited camshaft and Pro-Shot solenoids! This was to remain low ET for the event.

Saturday's final session opened up with Andy Hone and the Gleeson Wright Scorpio. With the ex-Ellis racing clutch and Lenco sat between the frame rails, the rapid Ford was better equipped than ever for a fresh onslaught on the Super Mod title. To get to grips with the new trans, the 2004 champ decided on a no-gas pass and a 13.29 @ 118 was the result. In the other lane was Tim Garlick, who hit the small block with a slightly bigger stick and ran an improved 7.828 @ 167mph. Next pair out to traverse the track were Rob Smallworth and Nigel Payne. This time around the Bel Air missed it's previous form, although Rob still recorded a very stout 7.684 @ 174mph. Nigel again proved his consistency with a 7.967 @ 170mph. Rounding out the day were Andy Kirk and Paul Mander. With a slight tweak to the rear end of the Camaro, Andy and the team left the engine alone and were pleased to see a 7.673 @ 174 light up. Paul was again sans-gas, although he did improve the Arrow's ET to a 10.440 @ 132mph.

Sunday was the final day for qualifying, and all the teams were eager to start turning up the wick. The days opening session started with Nigel Payne on a solo pass in the Nimbus backed Corvette. With a couple of tweaks here and there, the car improved to an impressive 7.938 @ 170mph. Craig Gibbs and Andy Hone were next out and both cars managed a decent improvement. For Craig Gibbs it was a return to the 7 second zone for the Z/28, a decent 7.995 @ 168mph being a very positive step in the right direction for the Obsession Motorsport's team. On the opposite side of the strip the F&M gang had opened up the bottle on the 461ci Scorpio, and despite a premature shift into 2nd gear, the big Ford wound itself up to a personal best speed of 174.43mph coupled with an 8.120 ET proving that the Lenco swap was a good choice so far! Rob Smallworth and Andy Kirk emerged next, and greeted the fans with a pair of very pleasing burnouts. On the runs however, both cars struggled to find the traction present during the previous day's endevours and neither could improve, as a 7.748 and 7.734 were carded for Rob and Andy respectively. Last up this time around were Tim Garlick and Andy Chilton. If there were an SMRA outstanding acheivement award available, the AC Racing team would definately be clutching on to it now! After showing up to the track with what was effectively a motor and trans bolted in to a rolling chassis, the whole team performed tirelessly to complete car over the first 2 days. After burning plenty of midnight oil and not to mention caffeine, the revamped, and now Lenco equipped Rover 214 saw the strip for the first time. With the car simply brought to line to get a number on the board, the normally aspirated 540 cube machine strolled to an easy 10.18 @ 145mph. Alongside Andy was Tim, and it was clear that all was not well with the Cortina. On the green light, the car limped away from the line and promptly emitted a loud bang followed by an eery silence. After sidelining the car, Tim refired and idled off the track.

The next session began as the previous one had ended, with Tim Garlick keen to discover any other problems that may appear. Despite a strong 7.851, the 158mph speed signalled that there was definately something not right with the car. In the pits, a fried MSD was found to be the culprit and the Garlick team were in need of a replacement. Cue the ever present Paul Brooks, who just happened to have a brand new one waiting to be fitted to his rebuilt Sierra, and a trip up to Loughborough ensued for the pair! In the other lane was Paul Mander who was trying to rectify an niggling electrical fault before hitting the bottle (nitrous that is!). A 10.378 @ 134 was on the boards and the all clear was given to turn on the gas for the next lap. The 2 Andy's Hone and Kirk were up next with both men trying to step up on their earlier passes. The Kirk Motorsport team were again suffering with traction issues for the Camaro up to 60ft and a 7.706 @ 173mph was a bit of a disappointment for them. Meanwhile Andy Hone was settling in to life with a Lenco just fine, as a return to 7 second form put a smile on his face and a 7.969 @ 173mph on the board. Andy Chilton was next out, and a much improved solo pass of 9.097 @ 153mph was showing signs of potential. Nigel Payne and Craig Gibbs hit the strip next, and both cars were very evenly matched. Nigel 7.968 @ 169mph being a tad quicker than Craig's 7.9890 @ 168mph. Last out in this session was Rob Smallworth and the 55. The car's earlier performance again eluded the team, as they were frustrated to see a resulting 7.783 @ 171mph.

The final session of qualifying for the Super Mod brigade was to fall under the twilight, and gave everyone present an insight in to why the class is so popular! A seamless procession of huge burnouts and wheels-up launches, coupled with rapid ET's had the crowd errupting in applause. Andy Hone and Andy Chilton opened up the entertainment, with the Scorpio tearing off a 7.786 at another PB speed of 175mph. Andy Chilton had problems engaging ratios in the ex-Steve Rawlings transmission and could only record an 11.355 @ 141mph. Paul Mander and Andy Kirk were next up to the line, as the Camaro again stuttered from the line to a 7.706 @ 177mph, although the return of decent mph was a good sign for the ©Rat Fink machine. In the other lane, Paul Mander turned on the gas for the first time that meeting and proceded to scare himself half to death as he demolished his personal best with an 8.045 @ 170mph! Craig Gibbs and Nigel Payne again squared off in a qualifying battle in the final paring. The Obsession machine produced smiles aplenty for the Gibbs team, as the resulting 7.924 @ 170mph was just what they were after. Nigel's tremendous constistency evaded him this time however, as the 'Vette ran an 8.025 @ 168mph. The final pass was a solo lap for Rob Smallworth, and he was delighted to step back in the right direction with a 7.660 @ 175mph.

Final qualifying positions were as follows: