Santa Pod Raceway |
I only had one possible day this weekend to visit the National Finals and I decided to go on Saturday 2nd October as the weather seemed to hold greater potential. I have always enjoyed this meeting and this year was to be no exception. A positive bonanza of Sportsman categories were present at the meeting and there was also the opportunity to catch up with Dave Wilson, normally seen in the ACI Racing TMD, upgrading his Top Methanol Dragster licence to Top Fuel. He was driving one of Knut Söderquist's dragsters and in fact, it was the dragster campaigned by Smax Smith during the FIA Top Fuel tour this year. The body panels had undergone a swift change of colour to a fairly vivid orange which at least, seems a little more appealing to the eye than when it was a particularly vile red at one time. All in all, it was an interesting day. We had some good racing and some smelly nitro activity as well, not only from the Top Fuel dragster of Dave Wilson, but also the top fuel bikes of Ian King and Antonio Ferretti and the Nitro Harley of Ian Turburville. Sadly, rain interrupted proceedings mid afternoon and for a while, it really pelted it down. After seeing one or two drenched notables, such as an amusingly, but seriously saturated Jon Webster, the rain cleared up and the track crew got stuck in to dry it all up. As time dragged on, however, Race Director Darren Prentice wisely called time on activities as the light began to go and air conditions began to be a problem.
Here are a few of the sights which caught my attention on Saturday. I am still getting used to a new camera/lense combination, but I make no apology for the multi-shot sequences that took my fancy - no names Mr. Splinter in his crazy Cougar! Please enjoy the category and enjoy the show. Thanks, as always, to eurodragster for detailed event information and just being an irreplaceable 'fountain of knowledge'. Please come back to www.topnitro.co.uk soon!
