Round 3 Report 2007

HKS Drag Series Round 3 - Rotorstock / 12th August 2007

Rotorstock came to Santa Pod Raceway for the first time in August 2007, and it played host to a jaw-dropping round of the HKS Drag Series. This round was unique in that the top cars from the Rotorstock Run What Ya Brung competition on Saturday were invited into the drag series.

HKS FWD Class

HKS FWD Class Qualifying
The front wheel drive class was once again dominated by the Honda Civics, but Ian Page’s lone Nissan 100 showed that old-skool jap metal could battle with the best of them. Qualifying saw Guy Chamberlain leading the field with the only 10 second pass in the pack, and current class leader Paul Jones unfortunately suffering some sort of mechanical problem, despite putting in a qualifying pass with a very strong terminal speed.

HKS FWD Class Eliminations
On the face of it, Guy’s excellent qualifying time should have seen him on an easy run to the finals, paired up against a broken Paul Jones in round one, and a bye run in round two, but his bonnet popped open while on a solo run, smashing his windscreen and sending him into the wall. Neither guy or the car were badly damaged, but it meant that there would be no winner’s trophy for Mr Chamberlain.

On the other half of the eliminations ladder it was all to play for. Scott Whitelaw easily dispatched Peter Cattell in round one, and Westleigh King was defeated in a very close race with Ian Page. Round two saw Scott run almost a second quicker than Ian Page to guarantee his place in the final against a broken Guy Chamberlain.

In a bid to gain points as a finalist, Guy staged his smashed-up Civic against Scott Whitelaw, but Scott was in a one man race, and he took home the trophy. Scott’s car was consistent, quick, reliable and a worthy winner.

HKS FWD Class Elimination Tree:

FWD11 +0.6751 11.1708 110.06 FWD14 Broke / Abort		FWD11 Broke / Abort Bye
Bye Bye
FWD12 +0.3409 11.1369 124.71 FWD17 +0.3781 12.6327 108.73		FWD12 +0.701 11.591 123.67 FWD13 +0.404 12.561 111.67
FWD16 +0.5099 12.5991 106.67 FWD13 0.1639 12.5621 113.07
FWD11 Broke / Abort FWD12 +0.3409 11.1369 124.71		PRO12 Winner - Scott Whitelaw

HKS Street Class

HKS Street Class Qualifying
The HKS Drag Series Street class was one of the most varied of all classes, and pretty much any type of quick, tuneable jap car was represented in the qualifying field. The class was swollen by competitors seeded in from the Rotorstock Run What Ya Brung and Jonny Goodwin in his RX7 and Ian Worrall in his MR2 were thrown in at the deep end. Adrian Smith topped the qualifying ladder in the distinctive Fensport Toyota Celica, followed by Johnny McKeon in his vicious Nissan Skyline. James Willday in his RX7 was close behind in third place. Down the bottom of the table Steve Mann was suffering from problems and only made one slow pass in qualifying. Mick Begley’s Super Lemon was out with clutch problems, and Nick Evans snapped his gearshifter off on the way up to the Pod, so both failed to qualify, despite making it to the track.

HKS Street Class Eliminations
In round one, Adrian Smith’s position at the top of the qualifying ladder saw him up against Steve Mann who was still having problems with his Skyline, so Adrian went on to an easy win, despite only hitting 12’s himself. Robert McKeon went up against Simon Holms, but Simon smashed his gearbox to pieces, leaving Robert to an uncontested but quick 10.8. Ian Worrall beat Johnny McKeon by almost a second in his first round, and James Willday smashed Johnny Goodwin with a stunning 10.5.

Round two was tight between Robert McKeon and Adrian Smith, but Adrian’s times were falling again and Robert was unable to repeat his 10-second performance: a low MPH suggesting he was off the power at the end of the run, allowing Adrian the win. Ian Worral ran fractionally faster than James Willday in round two, but James’ superior reaction times saved the day for him, and he crossed the line ahead of his competitor! Great drag racing!

The finals came round and it was two proven mid-10 second runners going head to head. The atmosphere was tense as James WIllday and Adrian Smith pulled into stage. However, as the lights went green, James’ car lurched and bogged down allowing Adrian to go for a balls-out 10.7.

Adrian’s skill as a car tuner allowed him to build a car that didn’t need a spanner on it all weekend, and his skills as a drag racer saw him run quickly all day in a car that exemplifies the Street class. Both finalists were genuine street cars capable of phenomenal performance whist maintaining reliability and cornering performance. The Street class is all set to be the one to watch for close racing with real-world mega-power cars!

HKS Street Class Elimination Tree:

STR12 +0.4867 12.1044 111.88 STR32 +0.8240 14.5911 99.51		STR12 +0.570 11.018 132.78 STR23 +0.490 11.701 101.17
STR23 +1.0071 10.8307 128.60 STR24 Broke / Abort
STR17 +0.9018 12.1992 107.89 STR31 +0.6981 11.6607 117.56		STR31 +0.638 11.679 119.11 STR13 +0.606 11.710 125.39
STR13 +0.6280 10.5880 128.93 STR30 +0.4810 12.0471 121.21
FWD12 +0.677 10.726 138.91 FWD13 +0.382 20.979 73.30		PRO12 Winner - Adrian Smith

HKS PRO Class

HKS PRO Class Qualifying
The excitement for the Pro class was building even before the big day, when practice sessions on Saturday saw times tumbling and some incredible numbers popping up on the timing boards. In the event, John Bradshaw’s Skyline GTS shocked everyone with an 8.5 second pass that hurled him to the top of the qualifying table. Steve Whittaker ran an 8.6 in his Supra, creeping closer to the car’s full potential with every run. At the other end of the table, Clive Seddon ran his car to its first 9 at Santa Pod, and Steve Guirey struggled with the set up of his car and could only manage a 10. Simon Norris suffered transmission problems on his first run, and failed to qualify.

HKS PRO Class Eliminations
The first major upset happened when John Bradshaw failed to make it to the startline for the first round of eliminations. This gave Steve Guirey an easy run to the final despite his poor qualifying performance. John later announced that he had a broken bearing that would have risked the car if he had run, so he decided to reluctantly pull out of eliminations. Steve’s solo run had a low MPH suggesting problems for him too.

Clive Seddon knew he’d have a tough time in round one up against Steve Whittaker, and sure enough, Steve ran another 8.5 to take the win against Clive’s 10. The result was almost inevitable with Steve’s drag-focused set up.

The result wasn’t so predictable in the last of the round one eliminators. Dee Ireland and Leon Green were the ultimate on-track rivals. Both running mk4 Supras, and both aiming for the 8’s Dee was yet to actually achieve that magic number, despite running a long string of 9.0’s. Leon was running at absolutely 100% to hit those 8’s so it was all to play for. In the end, it was the most exciting race of the whole year, with both drivers running 8’s. Dee was slightly quicker, and his reaction times helped widen the gap further, but it was still just the most thrilling pairing of the event. Dee went on to the next round, and Leon was able to take his driving gloves off for the rest of the day.

In round two, Steve Guirey got that lucky bye-run and all he had to do was stage the car to get through to the finals. Steve admitted at this stage that his car was permanently unable to race, but by staging he was able to pick up points for making it to the finals.

Dee Ireland went up against Steve Whittaker, and it was all set once again for an incredibly exciting 8-second Supra vs Supra pairing that saw the fastest side-by-side jap race ever in the UK! Dee ran his new personal best, an astonishing 8.6, but Steve had similar ideas, also running his personal best of 8.2! The crowd were left breathless, and despite Dee’s amazing run and superb reaction times, he failed to beat Steve’s lightning performance.

In comparison to that, the final was almost an anticlimax. We already knew that the Subaru wouldn’t make a full run, but the crowd anticipated another great run from Steve Whittaker, and they weren’t disappointed with an 8.6 at a quite unbelievable 172.58mph!

The Pro class has finally blossomed into the very top flight of pure drag cars, with at least 5 cars able to run the serious numbers required to be competitive, and on the whole staying reliable too. Steve Guirey’s 2-times finalist position has also allowed him to compete in the points tables, so it’s going to be the most eagerly anticipated of all drag racing meetings that is due to take place at the JapShow Finale in October.

HKS Pro Class Elimination Tree:

PRO21 No show PRO20 +3.5529 13.1952 68.17		PRO20 Broke / Abort Bye
Bye Bye
PRO12 +1.0507 8.5392 163.03 PRO25 +0.3499 10.2671 145.67		PRO12 +0.240 8.207 169.89 PRO15 +0.144 8.672 159.05
PRO14 +0.3689 8.9640 155.22 PRO15 +0.1877 8.7863 158.36
PRO20 Broke / Abort PRO12 +1.066 8.687 172.58		PRO12 Winner - Steve Whittaker

Round 3 Points:

The season standings table is on the main 2007 Points page.