NAST News

Below are the most recent news and announcements of importance to the club.

July 20th, 2010

2010 Bulldog Bash - NAST Update 2

Any NAST member wishing to attend the bulldog bash to help out on the stand and do demo runs etc please get intouch ASAP with your full names, you will have to pay but you will get pit passes which will be on the service gate (the entrance we always use).

Regards, Leso

July 11th, 2010

2010 Bulldog Bash - NAST Update 1

NAST will have the tent HQ in the same place as last year, so we will need bikes on show, and NAST members to man it. Also, we are needed to do demo runs on Friday and Saturday.

Please let me know if you would like to attend. You will get passes, but you will have to pay.

We must support the bash, plus we all know its a top weekend.

More updates as soon as I get them.

Regards, Leso

July 8th, 2010

2010 Round 4 - Points Now Available

Hi folks!

Firstly, a very big thanks again to Andy Marrs and TSI Timers (Europe) for his help with the timing data.

The points for Round 4 are now available, and can be viewed here.

Regards, Chris + Yve

July 5th, 2010

2010 AGM Details

This year the AGM will be held on the 13TH November 2010 at The Prince of Wales Pub in Bedworth, Warwichshire. It's details are as follows:

THE PRINCE OF WALES PUB
BULKINGTON ROAD
BEDWORTH
WARWICKSHIRE
CV12 9DT
Telephone: 02476 316986

The pub will be closed for the length of the agm meeting then open up for everyone once meeting is over.

Parking is available overnight Saturday. Sunday breakfast is going to be available.

For more details either call Barrie Gregory or call The Prince of Wales and ask for Ian or Bex.

---

2010 Round 4 - Top-Gas Summary

Now if you want to do well in any of the 7 rounds ,this is the one to do it in with men that drive trucks very shinny trucks watching you with another Friday night set up but with no rushing around as signing on and scrutineering all done on the Saturday and with not a lot of racers there it was done at the pits .The pits were also used as a biker build off by soapy.

So Saturday morning arose and all stickered up and 7 of us in top gas ready for battle the qualifiers began and to my surprise I pumped out a 9.58 straight out the trailer and with all the others suffering with the heat and there slicks pulling there motors down I was 3rd and stayed there all day as the air got hotter the time got slower. Ric on the other hand who had, had problems all year testing new parts put his old motor in that run 9.3 last year at the truck show and ran a 9.3. The hat made it to the end but not with the numbers he wanted with not running 1st gear his 60ft times were lower than me nans tits. Motty had boost problems but not the boost problems that I thought he meant as I offered him my booster seat out my van.

With a early knock off at 3.00 we could enjoy the truck show pizza and Bex biscuits for me and a quiet sit down listening to Clampys relaxing tunes and the thought of me qualifying in 3rd place but that didn't last too long as another run was set for 9.00 am Sunday.

Early start with the 4th qualifier I ran well but Motty and les pulled one out the bag and now I was 5th with les in my 1st elimination would it be 3rd time lucky for me. I had the Buell blessed by the religious truckers which seemed to work as I had les with out doing any thing stupid. Ric nailed Robbie and soapy knocked the hat out so after the 1st elimination it was straight over to the hats caravan with all the luck he had had over the last two weeks I removed any thing sharp but didn't seem to work as he used one of his open caravan windows to cut his nose off.

With only 45mins cooling down it was the turn of the silver surfer and with him trying to spool his turbo up before fully staging which seemed to take for ever, well put it this way any longer I would of run out of mot .with the turbo off boost it was in the bag for the N.G.G.R. Ric nailed soapy so all the big boys were out now. With more time for a cool down it was slick n bars vs. street bike in the finals this was one of my goals and unlike the football mine was counted and with a no pressure final Ric took the win and we both got the big cheque and a shinny pot. So with a street bike getting into the finals has it changed any think not really but if a window cleaner turns up to your house to clean the windows with no ladders would he be able to do up and down, well any things possible.

MEERKAT GOLD AWARDS

• 1) Ric for not bogging
• 2) Motty for a full on surf
• 3) Les for his fetching red boots

Jo Elliot

2010 Round 4 - ET Summary

Supertwins Round 4, June 26th-27th, Santa Pod. Guests of the UK Truck Show

Hooray, four and a half days after getting home from round three and we're on the road to the Pod again, this time for the Truck Show. Which means that when we arrived we had to wait for a lad on a quad bike to lead us to our spot in the pits. Being now retired I'm a much more placid person, so was able to resist the temptation to nerf him into the Ladies toilet block round the back of the start area, and instead obediently followed to our assigned spot behind the main pit toilet block – more on this later in the report.

Only six entrants in ET this time, and by 8.30 in the evening five were present – Peter Harrison, Mike Nelthorpe, Turbo Tim Boutle, myself and, for the first time this year, Simon Clamp. By 9pm the number was down to four as Turbo headed off back to Brighton for a set of ignition keys for his bike. As it was Simon's first meeting this year, and bearing in mind how much rebuilding had gone in during the week to get some of the Top Gas boys back to the start line, I asked Simon to describe his winter maintenance and tuning schedule which turned out to be as follows:

• a) bike out of shed on Thursday, checked it would start
• b) replaced missing exhaust clamp bolt

That's ET, racing on a shoestring.

Saturday arrived hot and sunny and with a flurry of polishing amongst the truck boys. Turbo had arrived back with keys at about 2 am and was just settling down to breakfast when we found out why we had been pitted in that area, as the first of a series of honey carts arrived to pump out the tanks under the toilet block. Taking the piss is one thing but this was a bit more solid than that.

There was no mention of Supertwins racing in the official program but grapevine said that we would get a slot between 10.00 and 11.30, with probably two qualifiers in that time. The Top Gas boys began to wonder whether the clutches would manage it. With two rounds of qualifying completed Damian finally wanders into the pits giving us a full six ET entrants. It was a fairly laid back day, very hot. I tried to get into the Truck Show spirit, even managed to polish my helmet between a couple of the qualifier runs. Overall, the qualifying ended with Pete showing excellent (or annoying, depending on your viewpoint) consistency to take top spot, then me, Damian (on the strength of the one run he was in time for), Simon, Turbo Tim with a PB for the bike but breaking out in the process, and Mike. Yeah, that's fine, second qualifier will do me – then we heard we were getting a fourth qualifyer on Sunday morning, damn. The post-qualifying meeting was enlivened when Joe Elliot and myself were given an award apiece to honour our journalistic excellence in respect of these reports, each receiving a Les Harris Drag Racing Team hi-tech polishing cloth, and very useful it will be.

Sunday qualifying changed nothing as far as the order in ET was concerned. For the first round of eliminators, Turbo's crew, Lydia, turned out in white mechanics overalls, very Goodwood. This obviously had a beneficial effect on Tim as he ran his best reaction time of the weekend, tragically against me. My only consolation being that in breaking out I got a PB for 60 foot and ET. Mike went through when Damian pulled a red light with at least one amber still to go, and Simon red-lit allowing Peter into the final via a second round bye. In the second round both Tim and Mike broke out, with Tim going through to meet Peter in the final.

So, Peter was in the final for the fourth round of four, and took the win when Tim broke out.

Congratulations to Pete on what is now a massive haul of points in this year's ET championship.

And very finally (as this should have been in the Summer Nationals report but got lost in transmission), Bev's technical term of the event - with no Bev present for round three we turned to my teammate Mike Nelthorpe for inspiration – having watched him empty the contents of his carburettors over Sylvia's hands I indicated the large petrol stain on the tarmac and asked how it had got there. His reply, “it's Sylvia's fault”, must be considered a classic.

Hatless Dave, SET 66

June 30th, 2010

2010 Round 4 - Chairmans Summary

On one of are coffee stops on route to Santa Pod we packed next to a lovely hover craft fitted with a V Twin engine, ideal for rainy weekends at the track, I can hear it now Super Twins Hover crafts please make your way to the pairing lanes.

Well what a difference 5 days can make from over cast and very cold to blue skies and boiling hot, too hot maybe!!

Its good to have 2 race meetings back to back, unless, you have a broken bike as Andy (Soapy) Watson found out, how hard can it be to get a set of head gaskets for a TL (football really has got a lot to answer for!), to cut a long story short in the end Andy fitted them in the pits on Friday night. It was nice to see Simon Clamp back racing with us, and thank you for bringing your mobile disco which worked rather well on both nights.

Saturday

Signing on was at 8am shortly followed with scrutineering in our pits as it was only NAST racing, so an easy morning for Steve Johnson.

We had 3 qualifiers which worked well but there was no cool air but lots of grip for most of us, Motty had a wild run after finding a slick bit of track. Our last Saturday night site meeting, until August went very well, no tail lift so it was back to the tool box, it was nice to see Motty make the effort, and come dressed as the silver surfer (amazing what you can get from a charity shop) i was so impressed with the last 2 write ups, by Hatless Dave and Joe the Meercat, i had to give them an award, thanks to Anna to presenting the awards and for Dawn Watson taking the photos. All in all a very good meeting, come back Neil all is forgiven, beer o’clock followed.

Sunday

Sunday was another beautiful hot day and we were in the pairing lane at 9am for an extra qualifier, which was handy and the only decent run I did all weekend. The Meercat was on form taking me out in round 1 and the Silver Surfer in round 2, but the man of the match award must go to Ric Naylor for winning the final and halting the street bikes progress. SLICK AND BARS RULE!!!!! In the street ET final it was good to see Turbo Tim on his dust bin faired CX and well done to Pete Harrison for winning it. Good to see shamus running his fuel bike and well done for winning the £100 bet by doing a full pass.

As we were out of racing we spent some time wondering round taking some pictures of the beautiful trucks etc 1 even had a NAST number plate (see photo below ). A massive thank you to Carole Ismail and Emma Humphreys for the food and drinks in the VIP sweet, and Geoff Capps for the humour, all in all a top weekend thanks to the truck show promoters for having us, look forward to seeing you all again in August.

Regards, Leso

Shamus's site for the Fuel bike

Shamus's team now has a website for the Fuel bike! This new website is www.afbdragracing.co.uk

On the site are pictures, reports and videos, as well as links to track websites etc.

Nick, Shamus's Crew

June 26th, 2010

2010 Round 3 - Points Now Available

Hi folks!

Sorry to say I was out Thursday evening when the points arrived, and was tied up with work all day Friday, and a commitment to help some friends move house this morning.

I've just put the points up now, so hopefully they will be available for your viewing pleasure.

Good luck at Round 4 this weekend!

Regards, Scott :)

2010 Round 3 - Points Late

Here's the results from round 3, sorry it's a bit late with round 4 being this weekend. We'll take a printed copy to the track , so people can see where they are at!Thanks to Andy Marrs at TSI Timers for his help with the data.

Chris & Yvonne

Coming Sprint

There’s a new sprint been organised for pre 1985 bikes, by Straightliners and the Vintage bike club at East Kirkby in Lincolnshire.  Perhaps some of the twinners have some old skool sprinters they’d like to bring along.

Chris & Yvonne

June 24th, 2010

2010 Round 3 - Santa Pod Summer Nationals - Top-Gas Summary

At last we were at the Pod no offence to Shaky, the start to summer as well so a hot fun filled weekend ahead of us and with most of us all with a little white sticker off Les or Steve we were good to go. The Hat turned up late with his bike, tyre still warm from the last dyno-run. No sign of Jonesy! How long does it take to put a set of bars on?

Saturday morning and as normal we were right down the running order and the weather not quite summer yet and a strong side wind to look forward to. I lined up with Robbie Dobbie and at looking across at his penguin logo which made me feel even colder, but all that cold air and sticky back stuff I ran my PB a 9.56. Diferent story for The Hat the bike died after the burn out leaving just one N.G.G.R left to do the work. Les ran a PB as well but Soapy was off his normal pace, The Silver Surfer had swopped his surfboard for a jet ski and was on one all weekend. Ric was testing more new bits and after a full three runs and the qualifying list printed up it was beer o’clock. Time for some top-gas maintenance; so I did a check of my road tax and also the tyre depth.

The ladder was put up on the board and to my surprise I had Soapy so I slept well all night. Sunday morning came with no change to the weather conditions and with me and Soapy ready to do battle and to my surprise I took the win and another PB a 9.51 ET to a losing 9.56 ET but problems for Soapy he had so much oil in his air box we called BP to cap it. Motty beat the penguin, Les had a bye with a no show from Ric. Then in the semi-finals Leso and I; what could go wrong? Well I’ll tell you; my bike does not launch well in 2nd after doing a 2nd gear burn out but so tit head didn’t put it back in to 1st. Motty had a bye so it was a wheelie bar final between Les and Motty, and with Motty being on fire all weekend, he ran his PB. Les was running the numbers for his bike but the faster bike won.

MEERCAT GOLD AWARDS

• Dave the Hat for keeping his cool all weekend and not slitting his wrists
• Robbie Dobbie for just turning up and enjoying himself
• Motty for being on one all weekend

Regards, Jo Elliot

2010 Round 3 - Santa Pod Summer Nationals - ET Summary

The weather forecast had been unchanged almost all week; it was definitely going to be warm and probably sunny into the bargain. 2 miles from the Santa Pod entrance, the first rain hit the windscreen. It stopped just long enough to get the tent up, then started again as we queued for scrutineering. Then it got cold! So much for the inexact science of weather forecasting! During this period there was an embarrassing senior moment episode involving a forgotten license, a replacement one-event license and the discovery that the license was actually in the van all the time! Modesty prevents me from naming names.

On the subjects of modesty and scrutineering, may I request a few less comments about how tight my leathers are getting? Thanks, Tim.

Missing for this weekend was Bev Riley and the rest of the Stratstone Harley team. This was particularly noticeable at the traditional post-qualifying club meeting on Saturday evening, where Neil's absence may have been a major factor in the whole thing being done and dusted in 10 minutes flat – come back soon guys!

Sign-on saw eight entrants in the ET class – myself, Mike Nelthorpe, the Johns (Munday and Hackney) Damian Waterhouse, Tim Boutle, Peter Harrison and Nick Holland. After a cold night, Saturday started windy and cloudy. First qualifier saw Mike Nelthorpe running too rich, Nick Holland ditto, Peter breaking out by 1/100th second and Turbo Tim having problems with a binding rear brake. The 2nd round saw Mike with smaller jets in and running better, Turbo also getting up the strip quicker without the brakes on. Damian had a bad start, so no improvement on his round one position, Peter stayed inside his dial in to qualify and John M. improved on his first round. Nick Holland's beautiful, and evolving, Firestorm was playing up with missing sparks. John Hackney was wondering why his TL was a couple of 10ths off his last RWYB, but had qualified.

After the third round of qualifying the order was as follows:

• John Munday, Mike Nelthorpe, Hatless Dave, Damian Waterhouse, Peter Harrison
• John Hackney, Turbo Tim and Nick Holland

Sunday dawned a bit warmer, and eventually picked up and became a lovely day. Nick Holland had been unable to get his bike to play ball, in spite of a very long evening's spannering the night before, and would not make it to the start, hope the problem eventually turns out to be a simple fix. The first round saw Peter break out, but by less than John Munday, Mike Nelthorpe lost to John Hackney, but was pleased with a weekend of consistent times. Damian went through on a no-show, and I completed the foursome for the semi-final.

In the semis, I broke out in a vain attempt to catch Peter after he beat both my reaction and 60 foot times and Damian went out to John Hackney. So, Peter through to the final for the third time in three outings. But - - - - - he red lit and John Hackney ambled to a 10.73 to take the points on his first outing with us in 2010, congratulations.

Hatless Dave, SET 66

2010 Round 3 - Santa Pod Summer Nationals - Summary

First time this season NAST has been to pod, it was the summer nationals but on the Friday and Saturday night it was more like flame and thunder, it really wasn't very warm. Saturday the track was very good and well prepared 10mph side/tail winds and good cool air.

With these conditions allot of people ran PB's, I was very pleased with the way Tilly ran getting into the 9.4's was good, it was also very good to see Motty back on form with his 9.1 in the final to my 9.45, also nice to see the Robot back in action and winning his final.

Well done to Joe (the meercat) Elliott on his PB of 9.51, pity about lunching in 2nd gear but thanks anyway buddy. Mike Nelthorpe was also running well with last years 250cc top end back on. Pity about Ric Naylor and Dave the Hat with their engine problems, and Andy “soapy” Watson did a head gasket in.

The Saturday night site meeting went very well and only took around 10 minutes Neil and the Harley crew are sadly missed. Thanks to Nick Holland for lending me his tail lift to stand on, so much better then a tool box.

By midday Sunday the sun was shining, the meeting was running well ahead of time, with on real problems it was nice to run the finals in such nice weather conditions. All in all a top weekend well done to everybody who attended, see you all on Friday for the truck show.

Regards, Leso

June 17th, 2010

SuperTwins Top-Gas Scrapheap Challenge

The NAST Scrapheap Challenge episode will be shown on Sunday 11th July on Channel 4 at 5.30pm (1730). This should be good for a laugh.

There is a list of the up and coming episodes and their dates listed below. The NAST Scrapheap team will be competing in the Medieval Thrower (2) episode.

DATE	TIME	EPISODE
Sun 6th June	17:25	Chariots (2)
Sun 13th June	17:30	Stuck in the Mud (2)
Sun 20th June	17:30	Water Power (2)
Sun 27th June	17:30	Blow Football (2)
Sun 11th July	17:30	Medieval Thrower (2)
Sun 18th July	17:30	Monster Golf (2)
Sun 25th July	17:30	Super Surfboards (2)
Sun 1st  Aug	17:30	Mobile Mortars (2)
Sun 8th  Aug	17:30	Caber Tossing (2)
Sun 15th Aug	17:30	Semi Final
Sun 29th Aug	17:30	Final

 

See you all this weekend!

Regards, Leso

May 22nd, 2010

2010 Round 2 - ET Summary

Another Friday, another trek from the land that time forgot to Long Marston. Having checked the day before we knew that the entries would be available on the gate, but a good run through saw us at Shakespeare County long before the gate office opened. The pits looked like an empty supermarket car park, so the usual discussion ensued about where to park. Gradually over the next few hours the usual suspects arrived, and Friday night saw 5 ET racers on site. Turbo Tim Boutle has got two Turbo CX Hondas with him, one with a very 1960s dustbin fairing on it.

After a cold night, Saturday dawned sunny and with very little wind – bit of an improvement over two weeks earlier. Damian Waterhouse and Pete Harrison added to the ET field, and riders started to take advantage of the offer of free RWYB runs. Damian came back from his first with a misfire, but only when the bike was hot. First qualifying runs saw the start of the disastrous Saturday summed up so well in Les' summary – Fellow Team MaD racer Mike Nelthorpe got as far as the shut down area before the 2 stroke racers' nemesis (a short squeak followed by a long silence) heralded a piston seizure – well, two of them to be exact. Investigations are on-going. Damian got round the misfire by starting his run from cold, but picked up an oil weep from the clutch cover, I was looking somewhere else when the lights went to green and Bev Riley had a good run but broke out. Tim's Honda ran slow with mixture set-up woes. While all the drama was going on, Pete went to number one qualifier and John Munday crept closer to disaster with his reaction time – not below zero yet, but watch this space.

Qualifier round 2, only six now Mike has dropped out. Damian has replaced the clutch cover gasket, but breaks out. John goes to second qualifier, but was still concerned at how low his reaction times were. I got the closest to my dial-in for a long time, and took top qualifying spot – the crowd go wild! (in my dreams).

Qualifier round 3, John breaks out, but the time's a PB, Pete runs an 11.59, also a PB and a break-out. Tim runs a PB on the Turbo Honda, but unfortunately it's in one of the RWYB sessions, so doesn't count for qualifying. Nice to see Steve Moxley during the day, but he says that he only turns up for qualifying if the weather is due to be bad for race day, so waking up to rain at about 7 o'clock on race day was not entirely a surprise. What was surprising was that the day cleared up and then defied the forecasters by staying good all the way through to the scheduled close.

Round 1, I had a bye, Pete beat Bev who had gear change problems, John beat Tim who had improved the fueling on his bike sufficiently to break out and Damian took advantage of Mike Nelthorpe's no-show.

Round 2, Damian struggled to burn out, as the misfire got worse. However, John's fears about his reaction times proved well founded as he red-lit. Dawdling on the line meant that I only saw the back of Pete's Ducati up until the 1000 foot mark, where I passed him to record a stunning break out! Stunning in as much as it was a PB. Still a break out though, so for the second round running it was Pete Harrison and Damian Waterhouse in the final.

The final – and for the second time in a row, Pete beat Damian to take the points. No times, I'm afraid, 'cos they aren't on the Shakespeare County web site.

And finally, Bev's technical term of the event - "it's proper f*****, mate" is the technical description of a motorcycle that is going to result in a mortgage-sized repair bill.

Hatless Dave, SET 66

2010 Round 2 - Top Gas Summary

It was just a weekender but what a weekend the sun was out all weekend. Scruitineering was done on the Saturday morning no problems for me but Les had been picked up on a non wired oil plug I told him to look at the super twins web site under contacts for Steve he would put him on the right track.

With only one day at qualifying and just 3 cracks of the whip and after a long day of RWYB and qualifying runs it was close 4 bikes in the 9.8 I seemed to get better time on the RWYB runs as on the qualifying ones there were bike crashes happening right in front of my very eyes 1st rick decorating the 60ft with aluminium and Jonesy barrel rolled his V-Rod at the top end which put me on edge a bit.

Hat lost 1st gear so we ended gearing it up so he could launch in 2nd and he still qualified one up on me soapy ran a 9.3 so number 1. After 5 o’clock the track was closed and a lot of people had gathered around Damian’s bike and were saying things like, well with a lot of work he will be racing again, so I went over and pointed them in the direction of Jonesy's bike. Jonesy was a very lucky man and with lots of SuperTwiner's offering parts to rebuild his bike just shows the good spirit of the SuperTwins crowd. I offered to lend him my step ladders so he could put his handle bars back on.

Sunday came I sneaked a RWYB in the morning my fastest of the weekend my 1st elim was hat which I had to win as he had no gear box left but still did not stop him from running his quickest of the weekend but lost due to him being asleep on the lights .Les beat Robbie, Motty (the silver surfer) won the Jonsey no show, soapy had a bye.

In the semis I had Soapy, enough said. Motty took Les out as Les took the long way down. But the best race was Motty and Soapy a 9.53 to a 9.54 what a race and now I know why they call Soapy, because he always cleans up!!!

MEERCAT GOLD AWARDS

• Jonsey for still being alive
• Jo and Dave hat for my birthday cake
• Soapy’s 9.3 ET

Regards, Jo Elliot

2010 Round 2 - Serious Wheelspin

This is what happens when you get some serious wheelspin from a hard launch.

We've tried to string some of the photos Steve from Eclipse Photo's of the wheelspin occuring, into a short animation for you guys to look at.

Regards, Leso

The Animation of the Steps

The Separate Steps

May 20th, 2010

2010 Round 2 - Les Summary

It looked at first that the main problem would be the weather, with lots of rain coming our way! Fortunately we got lucky and experienced no rain!

However, there where problems; I think the f**k up fairy was on duty!

Mike Nelthorpe nipped up both pistons on his big bore 250. Dave ‘the hat’ broke 1st gear and later on did 6th gear as well. Ric Naylor had clutch problems and then the l/hand rear wheel adjuster failed resulting in the wheel turning right, the chain came off, and locked up the wheel.

Ric was lucky not to come off, unlike Dave Jones who had a big off in the shut down area. Dave walked away, top man, a true pro. The v rod can, and I am sure, will be rebuilt but in the mean while Dave will be back out on his 2.1 litre Harley. Looking forward to seeing it run Dave!

On a much lighter note, well done to the winners, Soapy Watson, on fire and running low 9 et’s, and winning the gas final, and no doubt looking for a hat trick at the Summer Nats, much the same for Pete Harrison in ET.

It was good to see Shamus, running his top fuel Harley, and at pod he is going to try 2nd gear!

It was strange for NAST to be the only bikes racing, but i think it worked so well, lots of runs at a nice pace.

Plus we could, and did, change the time we were going to run, what a bonus! Having a two way radio helped!

A big thank to all the staff, crew etc, at Shakey for a top weekend, as it worked really well! Special thanks go to Julie, top lady, and Tony, top man.

Another bonus was getting home at a sensible time and in day light!

See you all at the Summer Nats.

Regards, Leso

May 19th, 2010

Entry Forms for Rounds 3 & 4

Now is the tmie to start getting in your Entry Forms for Rounds 3 & 4, both of which are at Santa Pod.

You can download the forms from this page on the Santa Pod Racers Club website.

2010 Season - Round 2 Points Up

A much better weekend weather wise, although the damage rate, to both bikes and riders, was bloody high!

Here are the points for and after Round 2.

Thanks again to Wayne Schreier of APIRA for the timing data.

Chris & Yve ..

May 13th, 2010

Tickets for the Coming Round

The Tickets for this weekend are going to be on the gate.

May 10th, 2010

2010 Round 1 - ET Summary

Spring Nationals, Shakespeare County Raceway, May Bank Holiday

The first Supertwins meeting of 2010 and as we rolled into the pits on Friday afternoon there were our race numbers marking our individually assigned areas – fame at last. Mid evening saw six of the seven ET entries present and scrutineered – Bev Riley, Nick Holland, Pete Harrison, John Munday, Nick Holland, Mike Nelthorpe ans myself. Saturday morning saw sun gradually replace the overnight showers, and the arrival of the remaining ET racer as Damian Waterhouse turned up with a rapidly deflating rear tyre on his Transit and no wheel jack.

The track was dry by midday, and everyone got in 3 qualifying runs during the day. My first run resulted in a 10.999 on an 11 second dial in, and my day went downhill after that. Noticeable during the day was that the usual winding up by Joe Elliot has now transferred to the Gas class, and it's much more enjoyable as a result. By the end of the day Pete was leading qualifying from new(ish) guy Nick on a beautifully turned-out Firestorm. I was lying in last place.

At 7.00 pm Les started to speak at the Supertwins meeting and the first peal of thunder was heard (coincidence, I think). By 7.30 it was raining, and it stayed that way until around 7.00 am on Sunday. The day stayed mostly dry thereafter, but cold and with a cracking head wind blowing down the strip. In addition to the wind the track temperature was well down on the previous day with grip levels also down. By the end of Sunday, qualifying closed with the top two places unchanged from Saturday.

Monday dawned dry and blustery, still with a head wind and very cold. Racing started at about 10.45, or three quarters of an hour late, and the day proceeded as an uphill struggle against rain showers, hail showers, oil-downs (that'll be 8.50 Bike) and problems with the timing lights. Amazingly, due to sterling work by the Shakespeare County staff, they got through the whole event by about 6.30 pm. The first round saw Mike, Damian, Pete (on a bye as no. 1 qualifier) and myself through. In the semi finals, Damian put me out and Pete saw off Mike, the final playing out as Pete running 12.026 to an 11.90 dial-in, Damian running 11.991 against 11.40

Pete takes the top points for first ET win of 2010.

Thanks are due to those who crewed for us, Sylvia, Neil and Ian, with Jo and Barry standing in where needed.

And finally, Bev's technical term of the event - "all squiggly at the back" is the technical description for the feeling you get when the rear tyre spins up on changing into 2nd.

Dave Shorthose, SET66

May 8th, 2010

2010 Season - Round 1 Points Up

The points after the end of Round 1 are now available for review by all.

What's been going on?

Hi folks!

Well just a little update for you all, as things have been rather quiet on the SuperTwins website, and I really failed to communicate what's been going on.

In the past few months work load for me has gone through the roof!  For those of you that work for yourself, you know full well how busy things can get, and how at other times you can have no work at all. For those that work for someone else, sadly working in a small company or for yourself can involve far longer hours then just a 9-5 job, often from 7 in the morning until 10 at night, with a lot more to think about as well, but also comes with convenience and flexability at times as well, so things generally balance out well in the end.

However, that having been said, my business partner has also not been well in the past month or so, and I have tried to pick up on his workload as much as the work I have had already. Sadly a few days ago he suffered a stroke, and is currently in the hospital receiving care. With this having happened, the last thing I want his wife to be thinking about is doing the books for the company, so my workload will be going up a bit more in the weeks ahead.

These unfortunate things happen, and do have a habbit of getting in the way of other things we have planned, but hey ho we'll just deal with it and progress as best we can.

With all this going on, Les and I are still trying to return to having regular website nights again, but this has just gone to show what can happen when life gets in the way, which is exactly why we had all discussed the other aspects for the website's features and functionaliy and trying not to have it as one person alone's responsibility.

As a brief update to that, it has currently taken a few man weeks of time on the work already done, and whilst at some point in the not too distant I might be in a position to start rolling out new parts, they will be very limited in functionality at first.  We will gradually expand the websites capabilities as and when we have time to do so. This really does mean don't expect everything all at once, it will start with things like being able to submit your own news, and then grow over time to adding more content to the website.

All said and done, we are still on the case, it's just a lot more time consuming then perhaps some of the technology adverts on the TV seem to suggest. As a quick example, on one of my recently finished projects, the website aspect took roughly 140-150 person hours to build, which is approximately a full months working hours. As you can gather, this has to occur after the paid work that I have to do to earn my income, so hopefully you can see why it's taking a while. :)

Anyway, when things started to happen recently I should really have put a post up to just let people know what's going on, so please have my apologies that things instead got stalled.

Regards, Scott :)

2010 Round 1 - Les Summary

Well done to all that made it to round 1 in Fuel, Gas and ET for braving and surviving the weather conditions!

However, I feel that having three qualifying runs on Saturday and Sunday was a huge result for everybody that took part, and of course we got the meeting finished.

Well done to the winners and runners up, which was Andy 'Soapy' Watson in Top-Gas, Pete Harrison in ET with Damien as runner up.

Nice to see Shamus with his Fuel Bike who had problems with the fuel shut-off pin coming out when the bike was running, and shutting it down. Nice to see that it works though! This actually saved the bike from serious damage as the valves were kissing each other! Not good :S

Hard luck to Ric Naylor who blew a head gasket.

Well done boys and girls, and see you next weekend for Round 2! Let's hope the weather will be better.

Regards, Leso

2010 Round 1 - Top-Gas Summary

Round one its time again, after a long hard cold winter lots of swearing and money spent on making your machine to go from A to B that little bit quicker well it was time to find out for some us.

Motty, Les, hat, soapy and my good self had been modd’ing the most. Motty had only done a paint job and very nice too he is starting to look professional now he had also moved all his electrics about so should go straight on 1st run as no major changes, yeah right.

During qualifying on the new Guinness track black with a white top traction seemed to be good and no problems with the speed bump. Soapy had picked the wrong class and should have been in 9.50 bike and getting quicker with each run but might of been down to it getting lighter and lighter I have now introduce him to thread lock and things called spanners. Motty pulled one out the bag 9.3 which made him number 1 so it was a 1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 7th to the Zimmer Frame Gang.

The New Generation Gas Riders (NGGR) claimed 3rd and 5th but Jonesy, who was batting for both teams, was hooking his new micky T but running the loft ladder at the back had a few problems with finding his shift button that's down to age.

Sunday came and so did winter and 100mph head wind which did not help with times even with another 3 runs the same conditions persisted for the Monday, but with a bit of rain, hail, and snow which did not let us out till 3pm. I was the 1st to go with spinning up on Les and I had him on reaction, hat beet Jonesy, Soapy ran solo as Ric had broke and Motty had a by run. In the 2nd round Soapy beat Hat and Les won against Motty, and then in the finals Soapy beat Les so well done to every one in ET and Gas.

Lets all keep the numbers up this year!!

MEERCAT AWARDS

• None this time around

Regards, Jo Elliot

Are you ready Top Gas? We are!!!

Are you ready top gas we are. Well your thinking wheres the wheelie bars ang slicks well we thought we give you a chance see you at shakey!

Regards from The Hat and The Meerkat

Note from the Editor:
If you want to know more, go to Compare The Gas Bike.com isn't it Mr Meerkat? :)

Top-Gas Bike for Sale

MW Motorsport 2008 NAST mint award winning fuel chassis, now fitted with a Ducati 998 Testastretta engine to run in top gas for 2010.

Bike has been completely rebuilt with many new parts.

Engine

• Heads have been ported and flowed
• 52mm throttle bodies with single shower injectors (F1 technology!)
• 16M ECU with 748R chip for ignition map
• Adjustable fuel pressure regulator
• Power commander

Sintered lockup clutch and air shifter.

Digital dash with programmable shift lights.

Also included:

• Start battery trolley
• work shop and pit stands
• some special tools
• and spares

For more details phone Martin on 01795 475855

Is This The Ultimate SuperTwin!!!??? Gunbus

Take a look at this bike, it doesn't look that big, then scroll down and see it with a girl sitting on it. A big production motorcycle engine would be 140 cubic inches, this one is 410! That's 3364cc per piston...

I just want to ride it once!!!!!

The Gunbus 410 cubic inch (6728cc's) V-Twin motorcycle is complete. The monster engine placed in a motorcycle frame of comparable size looked impossible and many who saw the photos were skeptical of the bike ever being finished, but I guess Clemens F. Leonhardt is one of those persistent guys who ignores the naysayers and keeps at his work.

The fuel-injected, 45 degree 6728 cc/410 cubic inch V-Twin runs through a 3 speed transmission with reverse and actually looks pretty good in its finished state. In fact, everything looks good! It puts out 523 foot pounds of torque. Seat height is 31.5 inches and overall length is 136 inches. It is a little heavy at 1433 pounds so high speed corner carving might be an issue and there aren't any photos of the big bike on the road, so I guess we'll have to wait for the road test, that is if someone can actually road test this monster.

This is actually going to go into limited series production and a sidecar will be available as well, which might help with balance when waiting at a light.

I don't even want to think about a driveway tip over.

Message from New Zealand

Hi Guys,

A few pictures I thought you might find interesting.

Have a look at the name of the pub in the background - I was part of a small display run by Ulysses MCC (motto - Grow Old Disgracefully) in the middle of Morrinsville prior to the toy run.

V Twins - new and old Indians still being ridden.

Will be moving to our "new" place 20/21 March so may be "off-line" for a few days.

Looked a bit chilly at the Pod - nice blue sky, though.

The "Robot's" motor looks interesting - what bore is he using?

Regards, Don

March 22nd, 2010

2010 Season Starts - Round 1 & 2 Entry Forms Now Up!

Round 1 at Shakespeare County Raceway on the first Bank Holiday in May – entry forms should be at the racetrack by Friday April 9th

Round 2 also at Shakespeare County raceway is 2 weeks later and these forms should be at the racetrack by Friday April 23rd.

Both forms can be found at http://www.shakespearecountyraceway.co.uk/downloads.asp

You will need your ACU license – forms found at www.acu.org.uk and a Supertwins race number – you can renew your membership of NAST at the first race meeting but please check with me for your 2010 race number.

Regards, Yvonne Mott

February 15th, 2010

Euro Dragster Perpetual Award Winner Not Listed Last Time

When we previously posted about the Euro Dragster Perpetual Awards, we forgot to mention one other twinner that was up for an award, and ironically it was the only supertwinner to win an award. Isn't that just typical, hey?

• SPRC Award - The James Edgar Memorial Trophy for Outstanding Performance: RIC NAYLOR
  for Dave Beck (Pro Stock Bike)

Well done Ric! We're sorry we missed you in the previous listings!

Spill the Beans

Steve Moxley needs info on all NAST Drag Bikes and Racers.

Steve is putting together a write up for the Santa Pod Thunder Ball programme, all about NAST.

So boys and girls, whats new for 2010???? New bike/turbo/class change/big bore etc?

And this is all needed ASAP! It's been a cold hard winter, it wont be long before we are racing again, but in the meantime tell us what you've got going on.

Regards, Les Harris

New SET racer for 2010

Our very own slim has just got her first race bike, a very clean Kawsaki GPZ 250.

Slim will be racing in Street ET as SET284, and has already got plans for Kelly (her bike), ie air shifter, long arm, turbo, etc.

Addicted to drag racing, Slim has got the bug big time, and has already got her eye on Tilly 3.

Regards, Les Harris

SuperTwin's Down-Under

Hi Les and gang,

Just a quick update - now that I'm fully internetted again.

Made contact with the NZ Tech Inspector to get my bike checked out - he invited me to a sponsored meet at the Fram Autolite Dragway to have a play.

Managed 4 runs (could have had 6, but bike and me too hot) best 11.11@118.44

Guy with the rotary engined bike did an 8.92@141 on his fifth run on the bike!!!!! Check out the spec. sheet!

He bought us all a beer afterwards.

But the REALLY good thing about the day was that it was FREE !!!!!

I love this Kiwi hospitality !!!

All the best to everybody

Regards, Don

P.S. I need a new chain-guard and a new pair of gloves to meet NZ regs.

Race Rock Night Invite

Regards, Les Harris

Getting Ready for Top Gas

Just getting ready for Top Gas, no slicks or sissy sticks. Just thought you might like a quick peek:

Regards, Jo Elliot

EuroDragster SPRC/APIRA Perpetual Awards for the 2009 Season

Euro Dragster Perpetual Awards, in conjunction with SPRC and Apira to be awarded at the Dinner & Dance and trophy presentation on Saturday 6th February 2010.

This year we have quite a few NAST members who are up for awards:

• SPRC Award for Most Promising New Comer: ANDY WATSON, STG
• SPRC Award for Best Appearing Bike: MARTIN HOLGATE, STG
• SCR Award for Outstanding Achievement: NIGEL BATSFORD, SET
• SCR Award for Sportswomen of the Year: BEV BATSFORD, SET
• SPRC Award - The James Edgar Memorial Trophy for Outstanding Performance: LYN HARRIS, STG
  Lyn has been put forward for this award for all her hard work as not only as Crew Chief for Les Harris but Andy Watson as well.
• SPRC Award - The Paul Giddings Memorial Trophy: CHRIS MOTT, STG

To vote for these racers please go on EuroDragster.com - SPRC / APIRA Perpetual Awards for the 2009 season. Good luck to all of the above and well done.

Regards, Les Harris

Polharris Top Gas Drag Bike Update

Polharris is back home after being at HQ Fibre products to have its bodywork made.

All bodywork is being made of carbon fibre.

Starting at the sharp end, streamliner front mudguard, to help send air into the air-box.

TLR nose fairing leading to a big custom air box, one piece body work, rear wheel tub and under tray.

It looks like a pro stocker, I am so pleased with how its coming together, but there is still a load to do (and pay for).

A big thank you to Mike and Sylvia, whose work is second to none, plus they are a lovely couple and a pleasure to know.

So What's next?

Fit a rad, make and fit a fuel tank/pump, get it wired and fired up (cant wait to hear it running), lots of brackets etc.

You will be able to see this bike on the 27th of February 2010 at the boundary Public House at my big party. It's well worth a look as it is the only one in the world we are aware of!

After the party, its going back to GLS in Yorkshire.

I have taken some photos along the way, and hope you enjoy.

Regards, Les Harris