The Japanese Performance Show 2004 Review

Last year's show was something very special to try to live up to, but both the weather and the cars were superb, and a massive "thanks" goes out to every person who supported the event, traders, clubs, racers and spectators alike.

Even before the gates opened on Sunday morning it was clear that this was going to be another incredibly popular show. Over 1,500 spaces had been laid out for car clubs, trade bookings were full, and a bevy of serious race cars had been lined up for the showcase Pro Shootout.

The club stands filled up very quickly, and it was great to see such amazing collections of cars from entire clubs consisting of limited edition Civic Jordans, though to massive displays by the Subaru Impreza Drivers Club (who incidentally won the Best Club Display trophy).

Every type of Jap car was represented, from tiny Suzuki Cappuccinos right through to monstrous Honda NSXs. The latest high-tech imports stood alongside classic Celicas and old-skool rides from every make and model.

There was a great selection of traders on hand selling pretty much everything from unique draggin' tyres and performance parts through to branded clothing and merchandise. The temptation to empty the wallet was hard to resist. Just down from the trade area was the Pro Pit area where the day's top Japanese tuners and importers could park and work on their cars. The Pro Shootout was a new concept for 2004, whereby the fastest cars in the UK would go head to head in proper drag racing eliminations to find the fastest Japanese car in Europe. The turnout for the Pro Shootout was excellent, with most of the big names represented, with only a couple of notable absences (we hope you guys know what you missed out on!).

Pro Shootout Qualifying:

Race #	Driver	From	Car	Cc	Et	Mph
PRO10	Ron Kidell	Essex	R32Skyline	2,600	10.234	141.12
PRO1	Andy Barnes	Kent	R34Skyline	2,600	10.325	144.28
PRO15	Rocket Ronnie	Essex	R33Skyline	2,700	10.746	141.13
PRO2	Guy Chamberlain	Hants	RX-7	1,306	10.786	130.53
PRO3	Steve Whittaker	Surrey	Supra	3,100	11.088	133.59
PRO11	Tim Webster	Lancs	R33Skyline	2,700	11.129	126.42
PRO7	Andy Ashby	Cambs	Celica GT-4	1,998	11.250	125.59
PRO5	Adrian Smith	Cambs	Corolla	1,998	11.312	129.31
PRO17	Simon Norris	Warws	Lancer Evo 7	2,000	11.373	133.78
PRO6	Tony Charles	Cambs	Celica GT-4	1,998	11.569	126.54
PRO8	Gary Passingham	Sussex	R33Skyline	2,600	11.749	125.38
PRO16	Michael Begley	Dorset	R32Skyline	2,600	11.769	129.32
PRO13	Neil Robertson	Kent	R33Skyline	2,700	13.063	116.25
PRO4	David Craig	Surrey	Supra	3,100	Broke/Abort
PRO18	Clive Seddon	Chesh	Lancer Evo 6	2,400	Broke/Abort
PRO14	John Morgan	Sussex	Supra	3,000	Broke/Abort
PRO12	Nigel Filo	Lancs	R34Skyline	2,800	Broke/Abort
PRO9	Dan Wrench	London	R33Skyline	2,700	Broke/Abort

Number one qualifier was Ron Kidell of RK Tuning, who clocked a super 10.234 secs @ 141.12 mph. The fastest in Qualifying goes up against the slowest in qualifying therefore giving the fastest cars the best chance of going through to the next round. Unfortunately, the qualifying process took out Adrian "Fensport" Smith's diff in his Toyota Corolla, and Gary Passingham of GT-ART's gearbox, so despite qualifying well, they were unable to progress through the eliminations. Better luck next time guys!

Pro Shootout Elimination Ladder:

PRO10 0.276 10.449 139.43 Bye		PRO10 0.342 10.835 138.88 PRO7 0.575 11.379 129.34
PRO7 1.087 11.367 129.78 PRO5 Broke/Abort
PRO2 4.729 12.905 115.08 PRO8 Broke/Abort		PRO2 0.264 11.658 128.19 PRO3 0.536 11.602 131.90
PRO3 0.542 11.430 125.65 PRO6 0.491 11.507 125.41
PRO1 0.062 9.860 143.71 PRO13 0.624 12.937 120.02		PRO1 1.599 9.889 145.24 Bye
Bye       Bye
PRO15 0.773 11.504 139.67 PRO16 0.537 16.003 125.01		PRO15 0.776 10.959 132.03 PRO11 RED 11.468 4.89
PRO11 0.410 11.507 124.32 PRO17 1.092 11.608 134.33
PRO10 0.548 10.376 138.80 PRO2 0.277		PRO10 0.216 Broke/Abort PRO1 0.357 9.757 146.59
PRO1 0.389 9.681 146.21 PRO15 0.588 10.394 137.24
PRO1 Winner

The eliminations progressed with some tight battles, including an awesome flight between Abbey Motorsport's Rocket Ronnie and Sumo Power's Andy Barnes, where Andy clocked a stunning best ET of 9.681 seconds @ 146.21 mph. Andy ended up in the final with number one qualifier Ron Kidell, in what was set to be an incredibly tense staging process. Neither wanted to throw away the final, and Ron's historically better reaction times might have helped him to a win, but it was not to be- after an awesome launch, Ron's gearbox packed in, and Andy was left with no competition to take the first ever Japanese Performance Show Pro Shootout win!

Running in between the Pro Shootout sessions was the usual Run What Ya Brung action, where us mere mortals are allowed out on the hallowed Santa Pod asphalt. The Run What Ya Brung best times are as follows:

Also on track were a couple of other drag racing monsters, including Dave Wilson's Top Fuel dragster and Martin Hill's Firefoce 2. Both exhibition vehicles stunned the crowd with 5-second passes. Dave Wilson was in a Top Fuel car for only the second time in his life, so he surprised all with his pedal-to-the metal run that resulted in a top-end fire and some jittery driving, but still clocked an incredible 5.36 seconds @ 205 mph! Martin Hill's performances were even more "shocking" - He did two runs, the first of which was an awesome 5.8 second run, and the second run went unrecorded due to the shock-waves damaging the timing gear in the tower, and breaking a window!

Over in the Meguiar's Best of Show paddock, a selection of great show cars were lined up catching the occasional glimpse of sunshine. A big thanks to everyone who turned, and congratulations to Neill Richardson, who walked away with the Best of Show trophy for his stunning Orange Honda Integra.

So, at the end of Santa Pod Raceway's largest ever one-day event, everyone went home happy, dry, amazed. and desperate for some more Jap-drag action! See you next year!

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