JapShow Finale 2011 Report & Gallery
Sunday 18th September at Santa Pod Raceway
Read the JapShow Finale 2011 report below and view more photos on the JapShow Finale 2011 Gallery page.
The JapShow Finale took place at Santa Pod Raceway on September 18th 2011, and the new date in September to avoid autumn rains was only partially successful. The Saturday test day started off well, but by lunchtime some torrential downpours and impressive lightning had put an end to any racing for the day.
Luckily, the Sunday started off with clear blue skies, and racers desperate to get out on track and duke it out on the dragstrip were raring to go. The track opened with the first of the Jap Drag Series qualifying sessions, and then the Run What Ya Brung competition kicked off. As the fury was released on the dragstrip, it was almost as if a pressure-release valve had finally been blown after a frustrating day of waiting for the track to dry the day before.
The show car paddock was also taking entries, but despite a notable lack of really shouty show-cars, there was plenty to please the eye, with some undeniably sweet Jap rides. The cars that took the trophies were as follows:
Show & Shine
Over in the Live Action Arena, the Podzilla Monster Truck squashed a few cars with an end-of-season gusto that left it a bit broken and battered… but don’t worry, she’ll be back! Team Maximum Lock put on a fantastic Maltease-themed drift show, and the Arena also hosted the handling track, which proved to be as popular as ever with participants.
High above the dragstrip at 1400h, Tom Cassells gave everyone a crick-neck as he performed a brilliant display in his stunt plane that included prop-hangs, barrel rolls and some other crazy moves that were difficult for us mere mortals to comprehend.
Also around site, the London Rally School were getting down and dirty offering passenger rides in their Subaru Imprezas. With all the rain on Saturday, they really sent the mud flying! Another way to get an adrenaline hit was over in the drift area, where passenger rides were on offer for anyone wanting to taste some lateral G’s without having to spit out mud. They were spitting out bits of tyre instead, but it was just as much fun!
The Run What Ya Brung competition drew to a conclusion in the afternoon, and the winners wee as follows:
RWYB Winners
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Class A - Nissan
Lyle Milner
Nissan R35 GTR
11.2863s @ 128.78mph
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Class E – Subaru
Gordon Farley
Subaru Impreza P1
11.2746s @ 123.19mph
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Class F – Mazda
Ramon Surrey
Mazda RX7
15.7288s @ 101.21mph
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Class G – Suzuki / Daihatsu / Isuzu
Jeff Whitbrook
Daihatsu Charade Gtti
15.2014s @ 94.48mph |
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Class X – Non Road Legal
“Bizjak”
Toyota Supra
10.5734s @ 137.68mph |
The day closed with the finals of the Jap Drag Series. These are the fastest modified cars in Europe, and two championships came down to the last race of the last round! In the Front Wheel Drive class, Doggie Gemmell and Adam Buckley met in the final as the top two drivers in the championship, and Adam used his superior power to take his first win of the season but the drivers championship in the process!
In the Street class, James Willday had to sit and watch as his main competitor, Mark Salem tore through elimination rounds and into his points lead. But Mark was beaten in the final by Rob Blackshaw and James' championship was safe. A real nail-biter for James though!
In the Fac Mod class, Stuart Williams already had the championship in the bag, but he still needed to beat Mikee Singh’s flying Impreza for the round win. When it mattered though, Stuart’s car pulled off a great run and brought home the bacon.
Last but not least, the Pro class was down to John Bradshaw and Chris Impey. John had the championship all wrapped up, but he saved the best until his last run of the day. A 6.6 second run at over 200mph was the parting shot for the Jap Drag Series and the JapShow Finale. Brilliant stuff.
Jap Drag Series Winners
Thanks to everyone who supported the show in the face of a horrible weather forecast. Thank you so much for making it another good season of events at the Pod.
See you in 2012!
…Or maybe even on October 29th: Some of the JDS cars are being invited back to the Flame & Thunder Show to receive their championship trophies and put on some grudge-matches. You’re welcome to come too! Find out more here: www.santapod.co.uk/e_flame.php
View more photos from JapShow Finale 2011 on the JapShow Finale 2011 Gallery page.
Rain Off Values: As the track action was adversely affected by rain on Saturday there has been a credit value assigned to Saturday Tickets of £10 gate (£10 adv) and
Weekend Ticket of £5 gate (£5 adv) so keep hold of your tickets. View full details of the Santa Pod Raceway ticket policy at www.santapod.co.uk/g_rainoffs.php. |
