Super Series Fallnationals
Saturday (qualifying)

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21:00

Today's pictures are now ready to view. You can get to them via the event index.

Unfortunately we are not able to bring you the current qualifying standings tonight, we will find out what we can for the morning update.

That is all for today, tune back in the morning when we have a 10:00 start scheduled rather than the usual Sunday 11:00. We'll take a turn around the pits and report back in the morning.

Don't forget that you can also find a few words and some pictures from today's action at www.uk1320.com.

17:45

Let's take you through some of today's Sportsman highlights. The Super Street racers seem to have a particular problem with their index today, several of them have been breaking out and not all by small amounts! Mark O'Halloran took the lead with a 10.903 in the final session.

Paul Hensher has the lead in Outlaw Anglia with an 8.781/155.71. CCSE racer Jeff Meads is also running in Outlaw Anglia, clocking times in the 9.3s. Brian Huxley has an unassailable lead in Pro ET, clocking 10.900 on a 10.90 dial-in, good work Team Banana! Tim Adam put in a great 9.907/147.06 in Super Gas; not having such a good time in Super Gas was Dave Townsend who had quite a sizeable fire in his Mustang, during the burnout. The fire wouldn't quit, coming back time and again despite the efforts of the FAST crew who were there before Dave had got off the throttle. From the lack of oil on the track it seemed that a broken fuel line may have been the problem. We hear that the whole Super Gas entry is now clustered around Dave's car helping him to sort it out. Rich Gilbertson recorded 9.913 in Super Gas trim, to our ears it sounded as if he didn't have a throttle stop and he was feathering the throttle at the top end - seat-of-the-pants job. Zane Llewellyn made it look easy in Super Comp clocking 8.951.

The second session of Super Street Bike saw Tony Clark take the lead with a fine 8.379. Graham Dance at 8.586/167.91, Karl Larcombe at 8.638/167.51, Dave Bailey at 8.731, and Richard Stubbins at 8.983 are in the chasing group.

Jerry Collier looked to have the Comp Bike lead sewn up with a fine 8.2, that is until Klaus Brinkmann put in two 8.07 passes in today's session. Andy Newcombe put in a fine 8.373 on the Riceburner.

Mick Cheley only needs to qualify #1 in Super Pro ET to clinch the Super Series Championship; an 8.64 on an 8.60 dial-in is going to help! Ian Tubb also got close with an 8.54 on 8.50. Pat Talbot's return to racing was spoilt by a battery which split during a burnout which did look very shaky from trackside.

Nick Pepper leads Pro Stock Bike with a brace of 7.5-second runs, the second a 7.590/176.47. Martin Bishop blew away his personal best with a pass of 7.667/175.78, whilst Chris Hope's second pass netted him a 7.643/170.45. Also on two wheels, Tim Blakemore had problems on his first pass on his Funny Bike, but sorted it out and got back on-form with a superb 7.263/173.75. Ken Cooper clocked a fine 7.472/175.78 one week after his accident at Hockenheim, a good performance. Mike Chislett clocked a 7.532/175.78 which looked quicker, and Neil Midgley a 7.765/170.45.

Steve Pateman has the whole weekend to back up a new Custom Car Street Eliminator speed record of 173 mph. He also leads qualifying with an 8.639/169.81. Steve Neimantas put in an 8.7-second pass earlier to bust his personal best, an 8.85/158.45 was the result of his second pass. John Sleath is also in the eights at 8.89. In the second session we saw Ian Hook's return to competition, a gentle 12.110 checking that there were no nast surprises.

Danny Cockerill leads Super Modified with a 7.72, following it up with a 7.743/177.57 in the second session. Graham Ellis got very close to another seven at 8.009/171.10. Ian Marshall recorded 8.459/161.29, whilst Rob Smallworth went way out of shape and got off it in his second pass. Tim Garlick didn't get a time in his second outing.

Stay tuned and we'll bring you the qualifying standings soon.

17:30

Fuel Funny Car qualifying session one

John Spuffard 6.020/188.28, Gordon Smith 8.372/104.17

The Showtime Fuel FC left the line like a rocket, then started to drift out of the groove before pulling left at about 900 feet, getting off the throttle rather than thump the timing gear. Gordon hit shake and then seriously black-tracked between 200 and 300 feet, getting off it at about half-track.

Top Fuel Bike qualifying session two

In today's first qualifying session, Steve Woollatt had a belt break after the burnout. In the second session, both Ian King and Steve pulled excellent burnouts, Steve past sixty feet. Ian then shut off and pushed back whilst Steve put in a magnificent 6.730/200.69 for first qualifying spot.

Fuel Altered match race

Wendy Baker 8.157/182.19 def. Jim Seward 11.497/68.60

Before the race, Wendy told Jim "I'll wait for you at the finish line". Great burnouts by both cars and then dry hops up to the line. Wendy's car launched launguidly but then really picked up after half-track, visibly accelerating hard. Jim had said before the run that he only planned a short pass, but no-one knew whether or not it was psychology!

Stay tuned and we will bring you some of today's sportsman highlights and then the qualifying standings.

16:30

MSA Top Methanol qualifying session one

Rob Turner 5.614/247.25

Rob drove through tyre shake to record a new personal best and blow the track record away.

Lyndsay Deuchar 6.629/207.37

The engine didn't go up on the revs before launching, no obvious probems although the car got very close to the guardrail at the top end.

Dennis Wratten 7.454/185.55

A nice long burnout from Dennis then a good straight run, I believe a new PB for Dennis. He also earned his licence with this pass.

Doug Ripley 7.820/175.78, Steph Milam 8.091/174.42

Doug's crew were very happy with this pass, Steph's car sounding a little laboured but the crew didn't seem too worried.

Doug Wilson shut off after returning from the burnout, the engine was leaking oil. "As I was backing up I looked down on the track and I asked myself whether the trail of oil was getting narrower or wider, it was getting wider so I shut it off".

We're just stopped for cleanup of Dave's oildown, the Fuel Altereds and two Fuel FCs are in the pairing lanes. Tune back later for news of those and the Sportsman highlights.

12:30

Good afternoon from a very sunny and warm Shakespeare County Raceway. We have a huge field of cars and bikes in the pits, the track is in pristine condition, and we're already into the first cycle of Sportsman qualifying. We're here to bring you all the news in association with American Car Imports.

Your reporter got caught out by an early start this morning, the racers all knew about it but yours truly was wandering around the pits when qualifying started so notes from the first session may be a bit thin on the ground.

Super Series organisers Terry and Tina Gibbs asked us to pass on their thanks to everyone who helped to bring the track and facility up to spec since Wednesday. The track and pits were covered in mud and this weekend's event was on the verge of cancellation, but a typical pitch-in titanic effort by a number of track officials, marshals and racers turned it around. Good job, guys.

The first person we encountered in the pits was Knut Soderquist, owner of the Carbon By Design Top Fueller which is to be driven by Susanne Callin this weekend. "We've taken off three kilos and added four!", he said. "There is now a six-shooter Pro Mag retard on the car. They're quite new to Top Fuel but you can do anything you like with them. We're putting in a new crank today - that's the big news! Other than that we are just sorting out small things, and giving the car a total service".

John Parkinson and the Every Penny Super Pro ET are making a welcome return to Shakespeare County Raceway after two years - "since we destroyed the last engine", he said. "We now have the engine from Wendy Baker's police Funny Car. We tried it at the Mini weekend and ran 7.53 at 180 mph - if we go quicker than 7.50 we'll be illegal for Super Pro but that will make a good target for the weekend. If it runs well we will do all the SFI stuff and next year we will also go and play with the Supercharged Outlaws. We would really like to run Comp Eliminator but we can't put 800 pounds on it - you are not allowed to carry that much weight". The team have Paul Stubbings working with them this weekend as a fuel system consultant.

Another returning racer in Super Pro ET is Pat Talbot, who broke the engine of the E-Manumit dragster around this time last year. "It looks just the same except that it's now got a red knob on it" said Stephen Talbot referring to the new scoop. "The engine is destined to have nitrous but right now it is as it was last year", said pat. "ICE did an excellent job of delivering the engine, thanks to Rob Loaring and Nick Davies for doing an excellent job at short notice". The engine was dyno'd at Kenny Coleman's EDA workshop but Stephen tells us that he has not actually seen the engine running yet. Talbot Racing also have two new crew members, Jason and Mike, Jason is the new engine expert and was last seen working on the jigsaw which is the rear wing support.

The Moore brothers have swapped roles this weeked in their Shaken Not Stirred Super Pro Herald, Dave is driving the car. "W're still working on the clutch, nitrous and carb", said Roger Moore. "It's a different ball game with this clutch, but we hope to get some good times out of it."

Gary Malin is back racing at SCR for the first time since his spill in the Outlaw Anglia earlier this year. he is now in the ex-Steve Davies dragster and is looking for seat time this weekend. "I just want to get it down the track", said Gary. "We have new slicks and fronts, and fattened the carbs", he added. "This is the engine out of the Pop, I will build a new engine for next year".

Top Methanol FC racer Doug Ripley and his team finished putting the engine together on Thursday after replacement valve springs turned up from the USA. "This will be my first time down the track with the new rev counter and shift liight", said Doug. The FC ran as an altered at the Summer Nationals at Santa Pod a while back, but although Doug enjoyed it he made the decision to go back to TMFC. "I thought Super Pro might be cheaper", he said, "but you don't get enough time between rounds. I enjoyed the altered but Funny Car is where it's at. The plan is to get into the sixes and then to work from there". Doug is very grateful to his crew for all of their hard work. "If it wasn't for them then this package wouldn't be there", he said.

In the next TMFC pit along, Steph and Dave Milam's She Devil FC has a freshened blower and a new clutch. "It's all the same apart from that", said Dave. "We're going to try to run 6.5 to improve upon where we were last time we were here". Dave said that the team badly need a sponsor. "We've been doing it on our own money for three years".

Tuning consultant Charlie Draper said that the Wratten Brothers' TMFC has a crucial new piece of kit. "The car has a wheelie bar now, so we can launch in first gear!", he said. Dennis Wratten and the team are eagerly looking forward to a full pass.

Charlie's brother Jim was in the next pit along, helping Greek racer Filipp "I won't write my other name because it is very long" in his ex-Spencer Tramm Sierra, which he is running in Pro ET. Filipp holds the Greek open class record with a 9.5/156, and this is the first time that he has run in the UK. We'll keep an eye on Filipp's progress over the weekend.

Funny Bike racer Tim Blakemore thinks that he has traced the cause of his electronics problems this season. "It was the second stage controller", said Tim. "I hope it's back working now so that I can get back to where it was. My personal best is 7.14 but I have been runing 7.3s all year. I've got my work cut out this weekend, the field is really good. It's an enjoyable class to race in because we all get on so well."

Fellow Funny Bike racer Stu Chamberlain and the Predator team had a rush to get the bike ready in time. "As usual there was a last-minute rush to get it together - we've only had eight weeks!", he said. The team have had to repair cracks in the cylinder head since the last race. "We've taken top speed at the last few events but we've never gone a round!", said Stu. "Nine out of ten times it's my fault though!". Stu said that there is plenty more power to come from the bike but that the team are taking their time and learning it.

Shaun Branch and the Special Branch team were working to four o'clock this morning after damaging crank cases and various other parts on his European tour. "It cost us a lot of money and a full night's sleep!", said Shaun. "Europe was brilliant", he said. "I have a lot of people to thank for their help - Dave Wilson and his team, Rob Turner and his team, Ken Cooper, Chris Hall, Paul Knapp, Jimmy the clutch man, Graham Woodward, Chris Franklin, Zane Llewellyn, Tim Adam, and the biggest thanks to my dad for seven sleepless nights before we left. Hopefully we'll have an early night tonight!"

Pro Stock Bike racer Ian Burns is having his first competitive outing this season, but it's one of the last on this bike. "I've just finished a new chassis for next season", he said. "It'll be lighter and hopefully quicker". Ian has some engine work to do, too. "Shaun Branch has my crank but he says that it is no good", he said. "The cylinder head is with Roger Upperton awaiting parts. But it's nice to be back and to come out to play this weekend. I'd like to run an 8.0 or maybe a seven - we'll see what we can do".

Pro ET racer Malcolm Motler has also been thrashing this week. "I drained the oil last weekend and found pieces of metal", he said. "We took it all apart and found nothing. It took several late nights to take it apart and put it back together again - we have come here for a rest!".

The second cycle of qualifying is now starting so stay tuned and we will be back later with the news. Wendy Baker has just rounded off the first session with a gentle pass in The Mob Fuel Altered, looked like clutch problems to me. Stay tuned.