|
The European Finals is the biggest drag racing event on the calendar this side of the Pond and attracts large crowds over the four days of qualifying and racing, this year running from the 9th to the 13th September. The superb racing surface often provides the quickest times of the year for Street Eliminator - 2009 saw John Sleath set a new benchmark of 7.68 seconds, a number that would be bettered in 2010!
The 14 car field included the aforementioned John Sleath in his first outing of the year and the second showing of reigning SE champion, Colin Lazenby. Ian Hook’s fantastic start to the season meant that he could take over Lazenby’s crown at this event by matching the elimination rounds with his only remaining challenger, Brian Payne. Perhaps most impressive was the return of Richard Billings less than two months after his crash at Bug Jam in the ex-Steve Kellet Mustang fitted with the twin-turbo SBC and Glide from the now defunct ‘Vette.
Despite the rain six qualifying sessions for Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator were run. A lot happened in those sessions and they got off to an amazing start with Sleath producing a stunning 7.73 from his twin-turbo BBC-powered Audi, a number that wasn’t bettered by anyone over the next three days.
Initially in second and third places, Hook and Payne swapped positions but were overtaken by a slow-starting Lazenby who finally took the number two position with a 7.84. After the final session Payne had pushed Hook back down to fourth with an 8.23 to the championship leader’s 8.29.
Alex McIntosh’s PB of 8.47 would have earned him fifth but for the fact that it was below his chassis tag! 2011 will see the car tagged to 7.50 but for now he had to settle for seventh with an 8.55.
In front of him were Jeff Meads (8.51) and Jon Webster with an 8.48 PB from the MG coupe. “Ricer” Stuart Williams was celebrating as his own 9.66 PB made his the fastest stock block Supra in the UK.
Meanwhile Mark Todd had got into the eights, his Pontiac producing an 8.83 PB for tenth place in its swansong event (he’ll debut his full-tube twin-turbo BBC-powered GTO in 2011).
But it wasn’t all good news. In the fifth session the Toyota engine in Mats Andersson’s Opel let go in a big way, the car spinning on the oil and hitting the wall with both ends. Fortunately Andersson walked away completely uninjured and the damage to the car proved to be minor, the Swede ex-pat vowing to be back next year with an upgraded motor.
The Cruise at this event saw no casualties but did have some drama when three of the SE racers got caught up in a huge Police and Revenue services operation in the local town of Wellingborough. The rest of the entrants waited patiently at the hot whilst the legalities of the three who had been “pulled” (along with many other randomly stopped drivers) were checked by the authorities. In an endorsement of the street legal status of the class all three were sent on their way without tickets after around 30 minutes and were greeted with a round of applause on their return to the rest of the cruise.
With the excitement of the Cruise behind them it was time for the racers to turn their attention to eliminations.
In an all turbo affair Webster despatched Todd but the latter was smiling having further improved to an 8.81 ET.
The Mustang of McIntosh and the Firebird of Houston put on a hell of a show, despite a very slow reaction from the Scot his 8.39 PB meant he crossed the line three feet in front of the silver Ford.
However, like McIntosh, his car is only tagged to 8.50 meaning he was eliminated. Along with Webster and McIntosh, Hook, Payne, Meads, Sleath and Lazenby also progressed.
The first race of round 2 paired Meads’ hot rod with the sleek Mustang of Payne – and what a race it was.
Payne pulled a superb .02 light but Meads was only 3/100ths slower and by the 330 foot mark the bright yellow Ford was in the lead.
The black Mustang was still behind at 1,000 feet (by 3/100 only) but the top end turbo induced charge paid dividends as Payne passed Meads in the last 200 feet to take the win by 3/100 with an 8.2196 to 8.2146. Despite losing Meads enjoyed the race and was happy with the ET, a PB for the Essex-based racer. Hook’s opponent Webster was out due to head gasket failure so Hook progressed to the semi on a bye.
As number one qualifier Sleath also had a free pass to the semis but nailed his colours to the mast with a 7.80 at an astounding 191.4 mph PB and new class record. Not to be outdone Lazenby blew away McIntosh with his own PB (and another potential class record) 7.66.
Hook and the FB team were still suffering handling problems and this showed in the semi final as the ’34 lifted the front then turned sharp left, balancing on the right hand rear wheel for a short while before the Cheltenham driver brought it back into line.
Meanwhile Sleath moved relentlessly to the final with a 7.91. Almost everyone at the track was watching Lazenby to see if he could secure a new class record – the exception were the FB Racing team who knew a win for the 2009 champion would see Payne on the trailer and the 2010 championship in their possession. And neither group were disappointed. Despite a .005 light Payne was behind by 60-feet as Lazenby stormed up the track, 800+ inches of Sonny Leonard power plant pushing the big ’56 Chevy to victory and a new class record of 7.6522.
This is also claimed as world record’s for Mickey Thompson Sportsman Pro Tyres and for any street-driven pump gas car. There were double celebrations on the start line with Team ’56 celebrating the record ET whilst the FB Racing crew were celebrating their second SE championship.
But there was still a final to run and anticipation was high – the ET record holder versus the MPH record holder. After a big burnout from Sleath and the usual MASSIVE burnout from Lazenby (it’s a good job he can reverse quickly!) both moved into stage. But Sleath slipped and went deep lighting up the red on the launch. Ironically Lazenby also went early (but not as early as his opponent) and then spun the tyres making the 7.94 ET all the more impressive. Sleath produced a 7.84 but, of course, the cherry meant it counted for nothing.
And that was the end of this year’s visit by Street Eliminator to the European Finals. What an event! The bad news of an accident was followed with two world records, three UK records, 6 personal best ETs and a championship win. Street legal drag racing doesn’t get much better than that!
Pictures are taken from the 2010 Street Eliminator DVD ‘Hardcore Street’ available now from www.quartermilehigh.com
|
