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The FIA European Finals is probably the highest profile drag race meeting in Europe so when the invitation came through earlier this year for B&H Automotive/LA Racing Parts Street Eliminator to participate as a guest class everyone involved was both proud and excited. And it proved to be one of the most exciting and memorable rounds for some time.
The performances seen in qualifying were truly memorable. During the three days of action we saw John Sleath and Colin Lazenby exchange stunningly quick ETs with Lazenby setting (probably) the lowest ET on Sportsman Pros anywhere in the world with a 7.708. But even this amazing feat was overshadowed by the quickest and fastest pass ever seen in Street Eliminator competition when Sleath, in his twin turbo Audi, flew down the strip and stopped the clocks at 7.68 seconds and 192mph for pole position. Other racers also made the most of the 10 qualifying sessions with Ian Hook clocking a PB of 8.16 in the ’34 (with a .000007 reaction time!), Jeff Meads running a PB 8.25 in his Anglia and Paul Houston with a transmission-breaking PB 8.76.
The cars left for the cruise via the strip driving past a very appreciative (and very large) crowd who cheered and applauded the nine remaining entrants as they made their way through the burn out boxes and onto the road. All nine cars made the cruise OK and received a warm welcome on their return.
Round one of eliminations produced more PBs. First Dave Murdoch with an 8.89 from the lovely looking Willys, then a 9.08 for Ron Haslett and finishing with Ian Hook’s 7.97 making the FB Racing ’34 Europe’s first 7-second street rod and the sixth SE car to get under that 8.0 barrier.
The quarter finals featured an amazingly close race as Lazenby used a holeshot to get past Alex McIntosh 9.22 to 9.16 and covering a lot of Northamptonshire on his way as the combination of new tyres and a HUGE amount of torque conspired to make this a challenging pass!! Sleath and Hook also progressed to the semi-finals were Sleath took a deserved bye (and ran another 7). Hook lined up against Lazenby but the latter was too keen, lighting the red bulb and eliminating himself from competition. Hook put some air under the front end of the ’34 and ran an 8.16 for the honour of meeting Sleath in the final. And it was another very good race with Hook taking a 5/100ths lead off the lights and stretching it to 2/10ths by 330 feet. Then the huge power of the Audi started to tell and Sleath began reeling in the black hot rod. By the eighth the German car had 10mph on the ’34 coupe then took and held the lead to win with a 7.94/190 to Hook’s 8.17/170.
A fantastic event, enjoyed by all and with real appreciation from the huge crowd for the superb show that the B&H Automotive/LA Racing Parts teams produced. The next (and final) meeting is the National Finals at Santa Pod on September 26th/27th.
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