Round 4 Report 2011 - Marangoni Ultimate Street Car

FWD Street Qualifying

Qualifying

James Hodson was the only competitor to clock a 10-second run in qualifying, but right behind him were the four 11-second runners of Paul Bargate, Andy Nicholls, Lee Ross and Glenn Robson. Right behind them, in the low-12’s, was Ben Dagleish and Chris Green.

FWD Street Quarter Finals

James Hodson’s top qualifying spot earned him a bye-run in round 1, but he still put in a strong 11-second run to whisk him through to the next round.

Lee Ross and Glenn Robson were both broke, meaning that no car would be put forward to challenge James in the next round either!

Paul Bargate and Chris Green had a great race together, when Chris got off the startline 0.01 of a second earlier but Paul got to the finish line 0.1 second earlier. A real nail-biter of a race!

Andy Nicholls was sadly also broke for his race against Ben Dagleish, and so Ben cruised through to the next round unopposed.

FWD Street Semi Finals

Because of Lee Ross and Glenn Robson’s no-shows at the last round, James Hodson was gifted another bye run, where he blasted down the strip with a 10.8. Everything is set for the final!

Paul Bargate missed his chance in the finals when he came up against Ben Dalgleish and threw it all away with a 12.9 second run. Meanwhile, in the other lane, Ben’s Corsa performed flawlessly to make yet another convincing 12.0 second run.

FWD Street Finals

This should have been straightforward for James Hodson. His VW Golf is capable of running well over a second quicker than Ben Dagleish’s, but James’ car is pushed to the absolute limit and Ben has been super-consistent at this round so far…

As the lights dropped to green, both drivers were a little tardy to react, but James was away first. It all looked lost for Ben, but James slowed mid track… a missed gear perhaps… and Ben was alongside! A final brutal push at the top end saw James pushing ahead again and then it was all over. James had nearly thrown it away, but had clawed the win back at the last moment. Great racing!

FWD Pro Qualifying

With just 3 cars entered into the Pro class, getting the top qualifying spot meant earning a bye-run and then a fairly straightforward ride into the finals. Robert Johnston just about pipped Sam Bolton to the top-spot by 0.1 of a second, and RER developments had to settle with third spot, a couple of seconds off the pace.

Round 1 Eliminations

FWD Pro Semi Finals

Robert Johnston took it easy on his bye-run to see him through to the final.

Sam Bolton lined up against RER Developments to battle, but Sam would need to screw things up if RER expected to get through. But both a good reaction time and a convincing run saw Sam through to the finals.

FWD Pro Finals

With Robert Johnston and Sam Bolton so evenly matched, it was certain to be a fast and exciting all-Vauxhall final. Robert Johnston was slow off the line and Sam streaked ahead, but then faultered, allowing Robert to pass him and run onto a strong 10.8 second run. Sam was back on the power, but a 12-second run wasn’t good enough to take the win.

4WD/RWD Qualifying

Andy Waite headed up the qualifying with an excellent 10.3 second run. Mark Gunns was not far behind with a 10.5 and a monster terminal speed of 137mph. John Southcote and Paul Jordan were not far behind in the low-11s.

Eliminations Round 1

Andy Waite was up against Paul Jordan, but a broken machine for Paul meant Andy Waite had a free ride into the final. He bashed out a very strong 10.2 anyway to prepare for the final.

Mark Gunns took on John Southcote. The two mid-table qualifiers were great match, but Mark got everything right, running two-tenths faster away from the lights and three-tenths faster in the elapsed time. John’s run was convincing, but it simply wasn’t enough to see him through to the finals.

4WD/RWD Final

Andy Waite and Mark Gunns went head-to-head in the finals, and both drivers got away from the lights with excellent reaction times, Andy fractionally ahead. Both cars were well matched, but neither seems to be going at full-steam.. it could have been anyone’s race as Andy Waite flashed across the line in 11 seconds dead, but Mark was less than 0.2 seconds behind, making it a close race, but very much Andy’s victory.