[woodcote]

Still waiting for Clive and Iain's cars... The post office strike was officially called off last Friday, but it sounds like nothing got moved or delivered here in Brighton until today. Our postie reckoned any parcel backlog will be delivered before the weekend.

Fingers-crossed they'll be delivered tomorrow - and I'll get the racing finished before my trip to Goodwood Revival on Friday. Otherwise, we may need to hang on until the weekend. That's no problem for me - I'd rather have a full complement of entries.

[935 fan]

Not the news I was hoping for - mine should have been delivered on Thursday   
A pity that the Royal Mail doesn't have a Delay Repay scheme... 
Hopefully both boxes will be delivered soon.  Iain

[Mazda]

This is so frustrating as it seems we pay for first class postage and get a third class service 

[woodcote]

Both the missing parcels arrived this afternoon

What I'm planning to do will be something like this...

• Tuesday evening: presentation and shake down
  
• Wednesday evening and through Thursday: qualification + elimination rounds for each of the classes.
  

If need be, there's the weekend for any unfinished business. I'll prioritise the pancake cars Wednesday & Thursday, with the possibility of Street Stock on Saturday night.

As for the postal delays, it's definitely worth claiming compensation: https://www.royalmail.com/retail-compens...licy-delay

[woodcote]

Welcome to event #18 at the Rock County Eighth Mile. There are 51 cars across the five classes - plus two pairs for some match-racing - giving us a total of 55 cars representing 17 racers.

Let me introduce them to you...

From Salzburg in Austria, Nico has sent a full set of cars, plus an independent-front-axle 3-Gear to match-race Kev...

   

It's great to have Ken back on the start line - and he has sent a T-Jet, 4-Gear and Magnatraction from Toronto, Canada...

   

Kev has sent a couple of new cars to join the pancake fun - they are all the way from Burnley, Lancashire...

   

Bill has sent a familiar crew over from South Carolina - plus some more of his fabulous flame stencils for the return boxes...

   

Now for some local entrants - firstly, Jane and Jeremy's Street Stock cars are ready to go...

   

Jerome has a whole line-up picture to himself this time, adding a Top Fueler and a new Funny Car...

   

Pete also has a new Top Fuel dragster and will be running the DHL Funny Car...

   

Sue will race the Ramchargers Funny Car in the 4-Gear class - and her Street Stock Audi TT joins Pat's Veyron, plus an Audi R8 each for Anna and Mary...

   

Staying local, Rebecca has a familiar line-up of cars for all five classes...

   

The same for me - nothing new this time, with the Crown Vic back for a second run in Street Stock...

   

Iain's cars took almost a week to get down the A23 from London - there are a couple of new ones in there, plus a cute 'skinny-tyred' Chevy T-Jet to match race Clive...

   

There was also a long journey for Clive's cars from Norfolk, but they got here in the end! Many thanks to Clive for sending some goodies for the return boxes too...

   

Finally, to make Street Stock up to a perfect sixteen, Rose will be racing this cool black Alfa...

   

It's always great fun to open all the boxes, recognising plenty of familiar cars and having the excitement of a few new ones. I'll give all of them a run this evening to check the strip and the cars are ready to race. Tomorrow, we'll see how the first few classes fare and - hopefully - wrap things up on Thursday.

[woodcote]

Pancake Power T-Jet & Top Fuel Qualifying

   

I'll be running the T-Jets and Top Fuelers this evening - and they have just qualified...

   

That was a very close session! Congrats to Iain on finishing Top Qualifier...

   

The Top Fuel qualifying table looks rather different...

   

From last to first, Clive is Top Qualifier!

   

The T-Jets will go first this evening - expect some elimination racing action around 7.45pm, with the Top Fuel dragsters following by nine.

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Pancake Power T-Jet Eliminators

Once the pancake motors were nicely warmed up, Round One began with top qualifier Iain facing Clive's surprisingly slow Dodge...

   

Again, Clive's car was reticent off the line and Iain's Stardust van was long gone. The winning margin was 0.319, Iain clocking 0.739 to Clive's 0.986.

   

Next up, Ken vs Kev - and two cars separated by a mere 0.008 of a second in qualifying. The race was sensational - Kev bossing the first half of the strip, but then Ken coming back strong at the end... Both cars had identical ETs of 0.765 seconds, but Ken crossed the line 0.001 ahead!

   

After that stunning race, it was second vs sixth and Andy duly dispatched Bill's Torino by 0.039 - although it was neck-and-neck until the T-Bolt stretched its legs in the final foot or so. It wasn't the fastest of races - Andy's ET 0.754 and Bill's 0.796.

   

The last of the first round races was even slower - Nico relieved that his 0.794 run was matched by a uncharacteristically poor run by Rebecca's Dodge. The margin of victory was 0.104 seconds.

T-Jet Semi-Finals

First to go were Iain and Ken...

   

The Charger got an absolutely superb start - and just about hung on for a big upset. The gap at the finish line was a slim 0.013 seconds - the ETs 0.749 for Iain and 0.739 for Ken.

   

The battle to face Ken in the final saw Nico's Vega burst into life and execute a near-perfect run from start to finish. An ET of 0.713 was enough for a 0.067 win, Andy's T-Bolt clocking 0.767.

That would give us third vs fourth qualifier in our Pancake Power T-Jet final...

[woodcote]

Pancake Power T-Jet Final

After a close qualifying session and some great elimination races, this was the line up for the T-Jet final...

   

And this is what happened (you may need to view direct on YouTube)...



With the Charger's usual great getaway, it was neck-and-neck early on...

   

But then the Vega blasted away...

   

To win by 0.056 of a second...

   

It was a fabulous performance by Nico's T-Jet when it mattered - those semi-final and final runs were sensational! Congrats to Nico, who wins the first medal of the Pancake Power event...

   

I've collected all the data from the T-Jet qualifiers and elimination rounds, so you can study your car's form in detail...

       

Coming soon are the Top Fuel dragsters.

[woodcote]

Pancake Power NHRA Top Fuel Eliminators

The sacrificial first vs last bout started Round One...

   

Clive's dragster was on great form - but Nico's was horribly tight. Despite loosening some screws, a long warm-up and finally a drop of Voodoo (other brands of comm drops are available...) the Mav TV top fueler was simply awful in qualifying. Sadly, it was no better in the race. Clive won by 0.483 - the ETs 0.703 and 1.195.

   

Fourth vs fifth - Iain vs Andy - was a great race. Iain got the early lead and hung on - the FRAM dragster's usual late surge not enough this time. The margin was 0.028 and the ETs 0.787 and 0.800.

   

Jerome's Top Fuel debut was over in Round One - Bill winning this bout by 0.176 seconds. With a 0.857 ET, there's definitely room for smoothing out that 4-Gear, but Bill's run of 0.688 was simply outstanding.

   

Pete's new dragster is a good one. Third in qualifying was followed by a decent recovery against Rebecca's fast-starting Geico machine, giving a 0.028 second win and a spot in Round Two. The ETs were 0.783 and 0.818.

Top Fuel Semi-Finals

Two dragsters had dominated qualifying - they were odds-on to make the final, weren't they?

   

Clive had no problems against Iain - a 0.095 win with the ETs 0.695 and 0.801.

   

Could Pete challenge Bill? Another very useful run of 0.771 was good, but nowhere near enough. Bill's 0.687 was super-smooth and gave him a 0.102 win margin.

The final is next...

[woodcote]

Pancake Power NHRA Top Fuel Final

Two dominant dragsters on the start line...

   

And it was all over in less than a second (again, you may need to watch the video direct on YouTube)...



It was very, very close - Clive was away quickest, Bill then having a mighty opening phase...

   

... and Clive finished strongly...

   

That lunge for the line wasn't quite enough, the gap timed at 0.010 of a second...

   

A cracking final to end the first evening of racing - huge congrats to Bill on his Top Fuel win!

   

Again, I managed to collate all the Top Fuel data - just be aware that I've attributed Nico's runs to 'Ken'...

       

There's two more pancake classes tomorrow, plus some match-racing. Expect the first action mid-to-late afternoon. I'm still undecided whether Street Stock will run tomorrow or will be postponed to Saturday evening. I'll let you know...