Super Series 5
Saturday (qualifying)

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19:45

Today's pictures have now been posted, you can get to them from the raceday update index.

That's the end of day one of Super Series 5, thnaks for your company today. Tune back tomorrow for what promises to be an exciting day's racing.

19:15

It's been a great, hard-fought day's qualifying. Here are the top two in each class:

Super Pro ET (own dial-in): 1. Steve Green (8.73) 8.752/155.71, 2. Jon Webster (7.71) 7.790/173.08
Pro ET (own dial-in): 1. Rob Faulkner (10.14) 10.142/130.43, 2. Jon Evans (10.33) 10.335/129.31
Sportsman ET (own dial-in): 1. Gerald Cookson (12.10) 12.121/110.84, 2. Paul Webster (12.00) 12.037/117.80
Super Comp (8.90): 1. Tim Adam 8.909/149.50, 2. Alex Nicol 8.930/150.50
Super Gas (9.90): 1. Tim Adam 9.900/146.58, 2. Nick Davies 9.900/142.86
Super Street (10.90): 1. Lee Huxley 10.908/121.62, 2. Mike Bentley 10.919/129.68
Outlaw Anglia: 1. Bob Hancox 9.379/143.77, 2. Rob Stone 9.831/136.36
Super Street Rover (11.00): 1. Steve Law 11.095/119.68, 2. Steve Good 11.199/115.26
Junior Dragster (Reaction Time): 1. Katie Gibbs 0.514, 2. Stephen Warren 0.532
Wild Bunch (own dial-in): 1. Tony Smith (12.30) 12.308/10.84, 2. Wendy Baker (10.00) 10.013/135.95

Pro Stock Bike: 1. Dave Beck 7.580/176.47, 2. Chris Hope 7.694/171.76
Funny Bike: 1. Chris Hall 7.870/175.10, 2. Shaun Branch 7.932/168.54
Super Street Bike: 1. Tony Clark 8.141/176.47, 2. Graham Dance 8.299/167.91
Comp Bike: 1. Helen Curran 8.412/154.11, 2. Tim Whetton 8.910/157.89
9.90 Bike: 1. Geof Connor 9.910/125.70, 2. Andy Haley 9.924/133.93
10.90 Bike: 1. Paul Valentine 10.928/124.31, 2. Sandra Chaplain 10.929/125.35
Supertwin Fuel: 1. Ben Beneke 7.870/177.17, 2. John Williamson 8.654/154.11
Supertwin Gas: 1. Jerry Collier 9.812/133.14, 2. Ric Davis 10.011/128.57
Supertwin Modified: 1. Dave Bartz 10.688/128.21, 2. Wayne Larsen 10.796/117.49
Supertwin Street: 1. Steve Piper 10.672/125.35, 2. Les Harris 10.800/123.97

We are working on today's pictures, stay tuned.

18:10

Another great pass from Mark Newby in the Split Second jet car, 7.920/198.24. Colin Fallows tells us that they are testing a new afterburner, and he was not sure that the engine wouldn't stall. But it sounded great to me and the afterburner hit very hard with a shrieking noise.

Come back shortly for the qualifying news.

17:10

A very hairy moment for Super Street Bike racer James Curnick a little earlier as his bike went vertical about two hundred feet out, James was left with no choice but to let go of the bike which hit him on the way down. James was taken to the medical centre for a check-up and is OK; he was just up here in race control and is limping a little but is in good spirits. His bike is in a bit of a state but it can be fixed and the most important thing is that James is in one piece. Look forward to seeing you back on track, James.

Dave Beck is the class of the field this weekend in Pro Stock Bike, following up his earlier 7.59 with a 7.585/176 and a 7.580.

Nick Davies is certainly getting to grips with Jon Webster's roadster as he ran a perfect 9.900 in the last session of Super Gas qualifying. Not good enough for first place since you will remember that Tim Adam ran the same time earlier on today, but Nick won't be worried because it means that if the ladder works out then he will meet his buddy Tim in the final tomorrow.

We spoke to Eurodragster Perfect Light winner Dave Billadeau and the good news is that he will be back in competition tomorrow. The breakage was to a universal joint and when we visited Dave in the pits he was effecting repairs.

Qualifying is drawing to a close now, stay tuned for the standings.

14:10

We just had our first run from Mark Newby in the Split Second jet car. A good flame and smoke show from Mark - it shouldn't be forgotten that this is a land speed car rather than a pure dragster - and then a great build-up of power to a deafening volume until he let the brakes off, clocking 7.985/198.24 on what we understand was a checkout pass.

In other highlights, Bob Hancox recorded a new Personal Best of 9.379/143.76 in his Outlaw Anglia; and Ben Beneke with a more orthodox run this time clocked 7.870/177.17 on what looked like an easy, effortless pass on his Supertwin Fuel bike.

Some drama in the pits for our good friends at Talbot Racing as the E-Manumit.com Super Pro ET dragster broke a starter motor. One return trip to Hauser Race Cars later, the car is ready to qualify this afternoon.

We're now on a lunch break; stay tuned and we'll be back with the news from the afternoon qualifying sessions.

13:30

Drama in Super Street Bike as Karl Larcombe ran a new Personal Best and took number one qualifying spot from Graham Dance with an 8.574/164, but then he drifted onto the grass at the top end. A great riding job kept Karl on the bike and upright and back onto the track. Karl is quite OK.

Karl's #1 spot lasted a few minutes as Tony Clark ran an astounding 8.141/176.47, which will be a new ACU record if he can back it up. Tony will have to run 8.222 or quicker to back up the time, or the 8.141 would back up a time of 8.060. A speed of 174.72 will back up the speed, or the 176.47 would back up a speed of up to 178.23.

Fellow Team Cooperised racer Helen Curran has just put in a new Personal Best of 8.458/155.17 on Paul Rose's Comp Bike, there is more to come from that bike too. So a good day for Team Cooperised!

The Split Second jet car is in the fire-up road; stay tuned for details of its run.

12:15

Congratulations to Dave Billadeau who has won Eurodragster's Perfect Light award by clocking a 0.500 Reaction Time in Super Street qualifying. Commiserations are, however, also due since Dave broke off the line. He tells us that the broken part sould be covered by the £70 prize.

Qualifying has been fast and furious, highlights have been Tim Adam clocking a perfect 9.900 in Super Gas, Dave Beck recording an off-the-trailer 7.592 in Pro Stock Bike, and Katie Gibbs, Jack Hewitt and Phill Cook all getting within a couple of hundredths of the 8.90 JM index but not breaking out - excellent practice even in Reaction Time-led qualifying.

Ben Beneke had an interesting qualifying pass on his Supertwin Fuel Bike. When the lights ran he moved out of stage and then sat waiting whilst the guy in the other lane cleared the top end, then nailed the throttle to record 15.169 at 171.96 mph. Nothing was obviously wrong so theories abound about what was going on there, we'll try to find out for you.

Stay tuned and we'll be back with more highlights.

10:00

Good morning and welcome from Shakespeare County Raceway on a sunny and warm morning, it's the Super Series final round and we're here to cover it for you in association with our good friends at E-Manumit.com and High Performance Heaven.

One of the this track's nicknames is "Shakey" and it certainly lived up to that name at half past five this morning when we had an earth tremor, of all things. It couldn't have been a Fuel car because of the curfew, so it must have been the real thing.

A special good morning to Dave Day's father Bill - 72 years old and just got on the Net. Welcome to the wacky world of Eurodragster, Bill, hope you like what you see.

Making a welcome return to racing is Super Comp racer Zane Llewellyn who suffered major engine damage on his Summer tour in Scandinavia. A rod let go and wreaked havoc inside the block. "The last sspares arrived at 11:00 yesterday morning", said Zane. "I spent yesterday building the engine and finally got to fire it up at 9:30 last night. The oil pressure was a bit low so I'll have to find out why that is, but it sounded good. Everything from the hads down is new, apart from the sump - I bashed that back into shape!". Zane has also put the old body panels back on the dragster since he thinks that the new panels may be implicated in the several red lights he pulled in Scandinavia, having a stiffening effect upon the car.

Nick Davies is double-entered in Jon Webster's roadster this weekend, running Super Comp as well as Super Gas. "It's my last race of the season", said Nick, "I've thoroughly enjoyed the switch to Super Gas so I thought I'd enter both and double my chances, since Super Gas is so competitive that there is no guarantee that you get through the first round". When Nick announced his rental of Jon's roadster, he said that he was interested to find out if those who said that you can never go back to a slower car were correct. "It may be true for some, but not for me", he said. Nick wouldn't be drawn on his future plans. "As for next year - you'll have to wait and see", he said.

9.90 Bike racer Steve Ashby is hoping for a better race weekend than his last outing, at the European Finals. "Everything went wrong which could go wrong", he said. "My car broke down, I had a fel explosion in my trailer, that burnt my arm, I was stung by a wasp, and the Nitrous packed up on the bike, not once but twice."

Supertwin Fuel racer Ben Beneke is at his final race in the UK. "I'm emigrating at the end of the year, I'm off to race Australians!" he said. Ben will be running his Supertwin in Top Bike, which is an amalgamation of a number of different classes including Fuel Harleys. "It seems to be a good scene down there", said Ben. The official reason for Ben's emigration is his marriage to his Antipodean fiancee, but he also has an unofficial reason. "I'm fed up with the weather over here. In Australia they record track temperatures in the thirties at night - I can live with that!".

Our regular readers will know that Super Pro ET racer Martyn Jones commutes back and forth from Amsterdam for races in the UK; he is joined this weekend by Funny Bike racer Stephen French who has flown in from Berlin and will be flying back after the race. That's dedication.

It's a big weekend for Junior Dragsters. The raffle which has been running all season is to be drawn tomorrow, somewhere out there is a lucky kid who will win a turn-key JD operation. Also the UK National Championship in Junior Dragster should be sewn up in the next hour or so: Paul Lindley-Allen will be Champion when he puts in a qualifying run. Congratulations, Paul. The Super Series JB Championship is a lot closer. "Any one of four could win it this weekend", said Paul, those four being Phill Cook, Paul, Joe Bond and Katie Gibbs.

Fellow Junior Dragster racer Ricky Emms has three aims this weekend. "I want to qualify better, go through some more rounds of racing, and eliminate the red lights", he said. Ricky is working on his staging and reaction times, since qualifying is reckoned on RTs: his Dad has threatened to stop his pocket money if he doesn't qualify well!

Qualifying is now well underway, tune back later and we'll bring you all the highlights.