Round 1 Report 2008

Pro / Fac Mod Class

Numbers were down after a number of drivers were unable to get their cars ready in time, and Chris Impey’s strong practice day on Saturday ended in a major failure that prevented him from qualifying. However, Steve Whittaker and John Bradshaw ripped up the track with some superb qualifying runs, including the fastest side-by-side pairing of Japanese cars in the UK.

An 8.0625 from Steve against an 8.3148 from John at identical 165.80 mph - Fantastic stuff. The bad news was that despite being top qualifier, Steve’s gearbox was wrecked in his last qualifying run, meaning the car was already on the trailer before the finals.

Pro / Fac Mod Class Final

John was out there on his own, but it didn’t stop him from going for a banzai run on the last of the day- he went wobbly at the top, but bravely stayed with it to record a new personal best of 8.2922 – the fastest Skyline in the UK.

Pro Class / Fac Mod Class Elimination Tree:

John Bradshaw – HKS Drag Series Rd 1 winner, PRO class.

Street Class

A full field of 8 made the Street Class a tough nut to crack, and although the expected 9-second runs were not forthcoming, James Willday made an unexpected trip to the top of the qualifying table as Johnny McKeon and Kevin Huntley experienced three troubled qualifying sessions. Steve Mann and George Wong failed to get their number 1 cars to the track, so languished at the bottom of the table with lower-powered cars than intended.

Street Class Round 1

James Willday easily dispatched George Wong, and Mark Mosley was struggling with his set up to find himself beaten by Kevin Huntley. Johnny McKeon was gifted the win when Steve Mann redlit himself out of the competition, and Ian Worrell’s superior reaction times saved him from a beating from Malcolm Thomas, who ran a slightly better ET, but almost half a second behind at the finish line.

Street Class Semi Finals

Despite a nice reaction time, James Willday was just beaten to the line by a charging Kevin Huntley, who’s higher terminal speed told the story of the catch-up.

Johnny McKeon’s times were still not as hot as he was hoping for, but a 10.8 was enough to dispatch Ian Worrel, who could only manage a 11.5, both cars travelling at similar speeds across the line.

Street Class Finals

Johnny McKeon met Kevin Huntley in the finals for a race that everyone knew could be close. Neither Johnny or Kevin had had an easy day, both fighting problems that held them back from hitting 9’s. In the end, no one could have predicted it would be THIS close!

As the lights went green, Johnny was off the line 0.072 of a second before Kevin, and believe it or not, this was what it took to beat the charging Envy Performance Supra- Kevin flew across the finish line just 0.013 of a second BEHIND Johnny McKeon! It simply could not have been a closer race, and the silence just before the timing boards lit up was deafening. What a heart-stopper of a race!

Johnny McKeon – HKS Drag Series Rd 1 winner, Street Class

FWD Class

With about half the class suffering with breakages and late-builds, it was left to CPL Racing’s top drivers and the determined Ian Page to battle it out for the FWD win. Qualifying saw an incredible 140mph from Guy Chamberlain, and superb 10.7s from both Guy and Scott, and the scene was already set for the two rivals.

FWD Class Semi Finals

Into eliminations, and although Ian Page massively upped his game when it counted, it wasn’t enough to defeat the 2007 champion in round 1, when Scott recorded yet another 10.7 to take the win.

Guy Chamberlain took on Neil Knight in the semis, and Neil was relying on Guy messing things up to find a victory, but Guy had no intention of letting that happen- his 11.126 with a low mph put him over a second ahead at the finish line.

FWD Class Finals

Into the finals, and this was the pairing everyone was waiting for- the two quickest Civics in the UK on the line together… it was going to come down to the best driver, and boy was it close! Scott’s fractionally better reaction time put him slightly ahead, but Guys massive terminal speed showed that he had done a great job of reeling Scott in, passing him right on the finish line. What a race!

Guy Chamberlain – HKS Drag Series Rd 1 winner, FWD class.

2008 Round 1 Points:

The season standings table is on the main 2008 Points page.