Pancake Power 4-Gear Eliminators
With both the NHRA and Nostalgia 4-Gear running together, this was going to be slightly different to our usual 4-Gear fare.
With eleven cars, the ladder wasn't as straightforward as the other classes, top qualifier Iain sitting out
Round One. That did mean we'd start with the sixth and seventh qualifiers, Pete and Sue...
This was close, the winning margin of 0.078 seconds not quite doing justice to how close it was - Sue just falling away at the end to give Pete the win. Their ETs were 0.859 and 0.924 - a little slower than their qualifying times.
Rebecca dispatched Clive with relative ease, the modern Pro Stocker rather tight compared to the free-flowing Mustang Funny Car. The gap was 0.497 and the ETs 0.819 and 1.314.
Bill made swift work of Jerome, the Vega winning by 0.378 seconds. Their ETs were 0.876 and 1.236.
The first round slaughter continued with Nico beating Ken by 0.407 seconds. The Vega clocking a rapid 0.779 and Ken's 'Cuda managing a 1.169.
The fifth and final race was closer - Kev starting well, but then fading badly to give Andy the win by 0.294 seconds. Their ETs were 0.864 and 1.166.
Round Two
With the field whittled down to six, the races should - in theory - be getting closer...
Iain joined the knock-out rounds and set a blistering pace that was simply too much for Pete. The two Funny Cars were separated by 0.174 seconds at the line - their ETs 0.715 and 0.881.
Rebecca and Bill meet again - and this was a close race until Bill's Vega failed to kick on in the final stages. The Bounty Huntress Mustang finished strongly to win by 0.133 seconds - the ETs 0.842 and 0.984.
The winner of this third race would go straight to the final round. Nico started well and never looked in danger from Andy's Auto Club Funny Car - the winning margin 0.091 seconds and the ETs 0.774 to 0.845.
Semi Final
Just one semi, to determine who'd meet Nico in the final...
Another fabulous run by Iain's NAPA Funny Car put paid to Rebecca's challenge. The Mustang managed 0.809, but Iain's 0.712 was enough for a big 0.112 semi-final win.
That gives us our two fastest qualifiers in the 4-Gear final...