 September 20th/21st |
 Anglo
American International. The Funny car eliminations included nine floppers
and a Fuel Altered, the largest FC field ever in Europe. Saturday qualifying
saw Dennis Priddle breaking in a
new '440ci steel' motor in his 'Mr Revell' slingshot to the tune of
a gentle 9.04. Ronnie Picardo in the 'Firefly' temporarily took number one
spot with a 7.60/207.04. In Funny Car Liam Churchill ran a new personal best
of 7.56/194.93 but broke a torsion bar in the process. Roland Pratt in the
'Hillbillies' Avenger ran 8.23/154.99.
Dave Stone was competing in FC in
the 'Tee Rat' Altered and clocked a 7.94/146.63. In Pro Comp
Gerry Andrews set the pace with
a 7.36/193.05 for number one spot. Martin Rowatt was at number two with an
8.78/161.81 and third was Pat Cuss with a 9.33/168.63. In Junior Altered
Tim Spencer borrowed the rear wheels and slicks from Bob Messents 'Stripteaser'
for his qualifying run in his Jag powered Mini '2-Ton-Car-Men'. The car crashed
into the guardrail at the top end and was written off. On two wheels the
crowd were treated to some great performances from the two visiting Americans
Danny Johnson and Tom 'TC' Christenson. Johnson was the first to put in a
pass on his 3500cc Harley, an 8.61/162.34. TC then followed on his double
Norton with a 9.02/144.51 which he was not happy with. A quick clutch
adjustment saw him come out again and run an 8.65/158.48. In Top Bike the
bump spot of 9.65 was an all-time low. Number one went to Keith Parnells
Triumph at 9.22 followed by Tony Weedon, also on a Triumph, at 9.33.
Henk Vink made number three at 9.43/152.21. Later in the evening a number
of cars took advantage of the new floodlighting which had now been RAC approved
for competition. These included Owen Hayward who went to the top of
the pile in Pro Fuel with a 6.54/221.24 in the 'Houndog 8' rail. The rest
of the Funny Cars also made their qualifying passes. First was
Allan Herridge in 'Stardust'
who ran a 6.77/210.97. Owen Hayward then took the 'Houndog 7' car to a new
European best for a Funny Car of 6.61/210.53. Dennis Priddle took his Donovan
powered Avenger to a 6.93/207.47 and American Leroy Chadderton took his Vega,
now owned by Santa Pod, to a 7.20/194.55. Phil Elson in the 'Sneaky
Gloworm' was the only other FC to run and put in a troubled 13.68. Sudays
eliminations saw Liam Churchill re-set his personal best in round one with
a 7.43/161.81 but lose out to Hayward. The semis saw Hayward leave Priddle
behind on the tree but the 'Houndogs' clutch went up in smoke at the three
quarter mark. Hayward crossed the line first with a slowing 6.99/155.04 while
a hard charge from Priddle saw an identical 6.99 with a 207.47mph terminal
speed. Chadderton defeated Herridge, who burnt a piston, with a 6.92/213.68.
The final saw the Houndog team borrow the clutch from Stardust while Priddle
stood by as first alternate. Both cars made their burnouts but Hayward had
problems selecting reverse. Then, to make matters worse, the motor died.
The crew pulled up in the pushcar, re-started the motor and pushed the car
back. Now there was a problem selecting a forward gear. Meanwhile Chadderton
in the Vega waited patiently as the motor got hotter and hotter. Eventually
Leroy was sent off on a solo and the motor lasted until the
three quarter mark before exploding in a ball of flame as it threw a rod
and split the motor in half. This caused the transmission to erratically
lock and unlock as the car skidded to a stop at the end of the shutdown area.
Chadderton emerged unscathed. This was the first time a UK crowd had
witnessed such a spectacle. In Pro Fuel Owen Hayward put a best ever 6.56/221.73
down in 'Houndog 8' but lost out to Priddles 6.69/211.42 in the semis.
Peter Crane took the other place
in the final with a 6.45/222.72 in 'Stormbringer' despite a valiant
7.05/217.89 from Picardo in "Firefly'. Picardo and Hayward came out again
to run off for third and fourth and Hayward clocked a 6.59/223.21, the fastest
terminal speed since Skiltons 224 a couple of years earlier. Picardo was
outclassed with a 7.31/184.84. The final saw Crane set low ET of the
meeting with a 6.37/222.72 defeat of Priddles 6.67/210.97. Senior Comp
went to Dave Page in 'Panic'.
His 9.17 in the best of three match race with Vic Hammonds 'Mr Big' was a
new class record. The American bikes had two match races and treated ther
crowds to side-by-side rolling burnouts. Round One went to Johnson with
a holeshot 8.52/164 to TCs 8.37/162. Round Two saw Johnson break an
engine sprocket and coast to an eleven second pass as Christenson hit 8.47/165.
With Johnson out John Hobbs stepped
in for Round Three and despite a holeshot his 9.15/159 was no match for
Christensons 8.37/153. Mick Warne had a best of three match race with South
Africas Mike Bramley, both riders using 1500cc Triumph machines. Warne took
all three, 9.53 to 9.62, 9.34 to 9.53 and 9.53 to 9.47. Warnes 9.34/151 was
a new personal best. Senior Bike went to the remarkable blown 250cc
Honda of Mick Hand. He ran his first ever nine second run earlier in the
day with a 9.75/142.05 and in the final his 10.37/140.45 was enough to defeat
a 10.71/137.55 from Dennis Normans 1656cc double Norton! For all class results
click here. (Updated from an
original entry by Bill
Dossett). |
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