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The team were up late once again  last night. It took them until around 12 midnight to fix the damage caused on yesterdays fastest run outside of America, 4.884. A new (spare) block was installed and engine rebuilt. The block that was taken out yesterday is fine, all it needs is new liners. One head requires some work on two valves. The crank may or not be salvageable, the team are not sure yet. We knew you had to put in a lot of hours and work into these cars but we are just beginning to realise how many long hours and how much hard work goes into running a Top Fuel car.

Eddie Corrs computer told him that yesterday the power was only off for the last three tenths of a second of the run. If the power was on all the way through we may have been looking at a 4.84.

This morning there was a small oil leak form the rear main oil seal which is in the reverser. This was changed and once the car had been fired up on methanol the clutch can was removed and residual oil was cleaned off, the last thing you want anywhere near a clutch is oil!. Everything was put back together and the car was fired up on nitro. The crew seemed happy with everything so its on to the first round.

The motor is warmed on nitro. Eddie Corr likes to warm the motor for an exact amount of time before each run, if you look during the warm up he will check his watch regularily.


Dan Leggett holds on to the wing struts as the motor is warmed.

A large number of people from team sponsors First National Telecom (www.fntele.com) are guests of Carter Motorsport today. Company CEO Albert Mackey had the car explained to him and sat inside the cockpit for a short time, commenting afterwards "It felt very cramped and a bit claustrophobic". When asked if he would ever like to drive one he said "Although I like fast cars I think the answer would be no." Albert was also impressed by the number of spectators here today, as we type at 10:15 there is a very large crowd gathering on the bank. Also among the guests from First National are Miles Barry (Senior Marketing Manager) and Steve Smith (Sales Marketing Director).

First National's CEO Albert Mackey finds out what a Top Fuel cockpit feels like.

We are extremely pleased to announce that First National Telecom CEO Albert Mackey and Carter Motorsport have agreed a deal which will see First National as primary sponsors for the 2004 season. To say Andy, Dan and the team are pleased would be an understatement, ecstatic would be a better word! A delighted Dan Welberry said "Its making getting up at six this morning worth it".

Andy Bacos fills the car with fuel.

Its now 10:20 and the team have just left the pit to tow to the collection area to face Smax Smith. A slightly less aggressive tune has been put into the car but the team know they can't back down too much, as Smax  is always capable of forcing them to run another big number to take the win.

1st Round
First up were Oyver Jacobson and Tommy Moller. Jacobson took the win with a 5.131 @286.19mph. However in the other lane  Moller had problems and dropped fluid from about 60ft to 1000ft. This meant a clean up was needed, all credit to the track crew... the track was ready again in 25 minutes. Andy and Smax were the next pair meaning they were kept waiting whilst the clean up took place. Before the previous run Eddie had chosen the right hand lane to run in but when the fluid was spilt on the track he changed to the left. This is no reflection on the track Eddie simply wants to run on a known surface, the cleaned up lane may be better, the same or worse than it was and so is an unknown quantity. Once the track was in a go situation the cars were started. Andy pulled forward and put a good burnout, Smax followed close behind. When running the old car it was rare to see Andy put in a smokey burnout, apparently the new car makes burning out easier so short smokey burnouts are now common from Andy. The cars were soon back and then into pre stage and onto stage. The lights ran down and Andy nailed it. Andy left 100th second faster than Smax and was ahead at the 60ft mark. On to the 1/8th and Andy was still ahead. Both cars were really running hard now. As they came past my position at around the 800ft mark Andy was definitely ahead. But at around the 1000ft mark Andy slowed as happened yesterday and Smax snuck by on the line to take the win. Although we were very disappointed as we've become quite attached to the team over the weekend well done to Smax. He did exactly what we had feared yesterday, he overcame his problems, which left him at number eight qualifier, and ran a storming 4.899 @ 303.4 mph. Andy was not far behind though still running a 5.008 @ 233.22mph. Here are the full incrementals for Andy's run - Reaction Time  0.571 - 60ft  0.856 - 330ft 2.241 - 1/8th Time 3.268 - 1/8th Speed 243.75mph - 3/16 Time 4.120 - 1/4 Time 5.008 - 1/4 Speed 233.22mph. The relatively low terminal speed showed there was a problem. Also through to the next round are Gary Page, and Kim Reymond who put in a nice 4.93 pass.

Andy is still ahead at this point.

Later on we spoke to Andy "It was my fault" he admitted "I thought I had him and probably subconsciously lifted early to save parts after yesterdays run, then he came flying past me. All credit to Smax and the team for a great run". Well done to Andy for admitting what he did, he deserves respect for admit a driving error. Eddie calculated that Andy would have run a 4.86 if he had kept on the throttle. Andy is hoping he holds on to the low ET of the meeting as he will get 5 extra championship points. He already has 8 for number one qualifier, 10 for entering and 20 for first round loser.

The team are obviously very disappointed, they wanted to win the event. Still they have achieved a lot and learnt a huge amount. Don't forget that this last run was only Andy 7th ever run in the car. Eddie tells us they now have a good handle on the car and are confident they can run consistently in the fours/low fives. They now think they know enough to do well at the next round in Finland. As usual number one qualifier and an event win will be the aim. Eddie summed up his feelings by saying "If it was easy I wouldn't be interested in doing it! It's the challenge of overcoming all of the problems that makes all of the hard work worth while.". In just over five seconds the mood in the camp changed from elevation to deflation, its emotional stuff this Top Fuel racing. However come the next round confidence will be high again as they continue in their quest to be the FIA Top Fuel Champions.

This afternoon the crew from the Channel 4 program RISE interviewed Andy to follow up on the feature shown on Friday. We stood near the film crew and couldn't stop laughing when we heard to following exchange: Presenter - "So what's next for Andy Bad Boy Carter". Andy - "We go to Finland and kick ass...woops can't say that can I". Take 2....

TV Star Andy Carter

The car had a light service after round one. It will now be taken back to Carter HQ and fully stripped down before Finland. The team are going to investigate the possibly of upgrading some components such as the fuel pump before Finland. They feel they need the extra fuel flow of a bigger to avoid hurting parts as there is a possibility of the car leaning out at the top end. The extra fuel flow is also needed if they want to step the performance up.

Well we have had an extremely enjoyable weekend following the First National Telecom Top Fuel Team. We feel honored and privileged to have been invited along to follow the team this weekend. We would like to thank the following for making us feel welcome, answering our questions and generally putting up with us throughout the weekend...

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