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Performance and modified car fans blew away the winter cobwebs in dramatic style at the first ever Fast Show at Santa Pod Raceway. This one-day Run What Ya Brung competition was very eagerly anticipated, and streams of cars were arriving from very early on Sunday morning from all over the UK and Europe. The furthest-travelled racer had come all the way from Cyprus just to compete at this event! It's a real shame he was a bit slow.. The track action kicked off at 9.30 am, and good times were being set right from the word go. All types of vehicles were seen on the strip, from modified monsters through to rare exotica and historic vehicles.
The new manufacturer-based competition classes took a bit of getting used to, but they provided us with winners driving very special vehicles:
Won by Barry Alambriti (A270) with a time of 13.525. Barry's BMW M3 is fitted with an awesome 3.2 litre engine, but was more or less standard in every way! Barry was delighted and surprised to have won the class, and would love to get back on the strip soon: this was his first go at drag racing!
Won by Russel Barratt (B101) in a Peugeot 205 1.9 litre M16 GTI, adapted with 45mm throttle bodies. Russel's winning time was 15.360 in a very close class.
Danny Kirk (CH93) took the win in the very popular class C with his awesome Ford Sierra 4x4. Danny upset a few Skyline drivers (and fellow Ford drivers) on the day with his best time of 11.815.
Garry Passingham (DH86) once again ripped up the track in his GT-ART Nissan Skyline. Gary was always going to be a contender with this car after his performance at the Japanese Performance Show, but was up against tough competition from other Skylines, Imprezas, and other high performance Jap kit. Gary 's best time was 11.236, so was clearly losing grip on the cold track- we've seen this car hit mid tens before. The poor Micra boys didn't stand a chance. Gary also won class H, making him the fastest 4x4 car of the day.
This class was populated with some top-notch Renault 5's, and a handful of other models, but Michael Spencer (E205) took the win in his 250bhp 5 turbo. Michael arrived with his club, the RTOC, who enjoyed fighting it out amongst themselves all day.
Steve Dymond (FH165) stormed the track with his Vauxhall Calibre turbo 4x4, and clocked a best time of 13.540. We didn't see many lotuses enter this class, but the competition between the Vauxhall boys was fierce.
After initially entering the Ford class (silly boy!), Lee Bithell (G143) went on to win this highly competitive class with his Mk1 Golf G60. The car comes with a supercharged engine as standard, but Lee has modified the car with an astonishing intercooler arrangement, roll-cage and NOS, and ran a best time of 14.577. Not at all bad for a front wheel drive car that is also very well presented.
Class I contained some fascinating machines, and none more so than Webster Engineering's stunning 1956 Chevrolet. This car was fitted with an 11-litre supercharged V8 engine, and drank a fat dose of NOS too! The car is fully street legal, and runs a two-speed automatic gearbox. The first time this car went out, it was nearly road-kill, since the Nitrous kicked the rear wheels well out of shape and pointed the car at the wall at 100 mph! However, with Wayne Saunders (I147) at the wheel, the car was skilfully brought back into line after a terrifying trip sideways with two-wheels off the track. Later that day, brave Wayne had another crack and clocked a best time of 9.286 at over 150 mph. This run also secured him the best overall ET and Terminal Speed for a road-legal car. Impressive stuff.
This class was won by Julian Cox (DH151) in his lowered Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6. This car is tuned up with a twin-plate clutch, ported cylinder head, and hybrid turbo. Julian's reaction time was 0.516 seconds, only 0.116 seconds away from being perfect.
No prizes for this class, but it was great to see the Fireforce 2 jet funnycar out on the track running incredible 5-second passes, Super Pro dragsters being tested, and much more besides including Vauxhall-powered Westfields and a V8 powered drag-BMW.
An amazing line up of vehicles, both old and new were present and highlights included a 1930's Bugatti, a 1960's E-type Jaguar, an '80's Lamborghini, the biggest collection of Subarus ever seen, awesome Skylines, gorgeous TVRs, Nobles, super-cool Escort Mexicos, super-fast Sierra Cosworths, and a whole load of rare versions of all types of make and model.
It was disappointing to see two Saxos and a Lancia Delta drop their guts onto the track in the afternoon, especially since they were such well-presented cars. Good luck to the owners in getting them back on track. A special mention to Fensport, who managed to get a new-shape Corolla into the 11s (well done lads), and to Vauxhall UK who brought alone one of the new Vauxhall Monaros to see what it could do. This car clearly has a lot of power, and it was great to see it out on the track.
A massive "thanks" goes out to everyone who took part in the competition- you put on a great show. Also, massive "thanks" go out to Motech, who have provided us with some great prizes for the winners of the RWYB competition. Off track, Motech put up their huge mobile store, and displayed a mouth-watering array of high-quality tuning and styling goods. Other traders seemed to be doing a brisk trade in a variety of products and services, and there was plenty to see on the Fuel records stand too.. Cheeky!
In the main bar, there were some trouser-tenting pole-dances by our resident bit of eye candy, and Mad Mark Peters brought the house down with his hilarious brand of foul-mouthed and shockingly un-PC comedy. Thanks to everyone who attended the event.
Thanks to www.tracksideimages.uk.com for some of the photos on this page. |
