MAIN EVENT - SANTA POD

SUNDAY
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Eddie Corr (right) and John  Ogden (left) make adjustments this morning.

The First National / Carter Motorsport team had another late night last night. As we told you yesterday the team were having problems with the clutch. The team made the decision to replace the clutch and fuel management system, this was done last night and completed at about 11:30pm.

The car was warmed up this morning in front of an appreciative crowd at about 10:30am.

Eddie Corr checks his watch during the warmup.

The teams aims are clear and simple - they will try there best to do whatever it takes to hold on to the number one qualifier spot.

The previous owner of the car, Pelle Lindelow, and his team are here today as the guests of Andy and the First National Team and carried out a joint signing session at 2pm.

2nd Qualifying Run
Andy was paired with Tommy Moller, Andy running in the left hand lane. There was a delay of about 10minutes before the run due to a few spots of rain, not what you want when you are sitting in the car, suited up and ready to run. When they started Andy put in another good smokey burnout. The tree ran down and from our vantage point it looked like a good hard launch. Moller was out ahead at 1/2 track when his engine let go in a ball of flames. Soon after Andy's blower belt snapped and both cars cruised through to the finish. When we got back to the pits we found that Andy's launch was not as good as we had thought. The 60ft was slower than yesterday and the car shock from about 50ft out, Andy had to pedal the car twice to combat the shake, when he got back on it for the second time the belt gave way and the run was over. Here are the full incrementals for Andy's run - Reaction Time  0.522 - 60ft  0.944 - 330ft 2.389 - 1/8th Time 3.478 - 1/8th Speed 216.60mph - 3/16 Time 4.626 - 1/4 Time 5.964 - 1/4 Speed 160.56mph. The team were not happy with the run as not only did they not get in a full pass they have now dropped down to 4th qualifying position, behind Kim Reymond 5.005, Moller 5.227 and Jacobson 5.357. There one more run to go this afternoon, will the team achieve their aim of being number one qualifier?

Andy looses the blower belt as Moller's motor lets go.

The broken blower belt.

Between runs the normal service routine was carried out. The only damage caused when the blower belt came off was to the magneto pneumatics which are used to retard/advance the timing which in turn caused slight damage to the throttle cable. The pneumatics have been fixed and the cable replaced as a precaution. The problematic clutch cannon was once again serviced and found to be working ok which has given the team more confidence in it. Given the team's stated aim of being number one qualifier they need to put in a good run in the next qualifier, Eddies tune for this run reflected this.

A problem arose during the warm up before the 3rd qualifying run with the starter motor. The starter motor is quite a heavy item and sometimes the mounting bracket on the supercharger can become misaligned, which happened this time, meaning they could not disconnect it from the car. Not a major problem and it was soon overcome. It was a delay the team could have done without though as the time of the next qualifier was looming fast. By the time they were ready the other teams had already towed to the collecting area. The car was, shall we say, speedily towed down the fire up road.

The team warm up on nitro.

3rd Qualifying Run
Opponent for this round, Gary Page, did not show for the run so Andy was on his own in the right hand lane. Once again Andy pulled a nice burnout, these are fast becoming a Carter trademark. The usual procedure followed as Eddie Corr guided Andy to the line, Eddie checked his watch regularly as he did this as he wants the car to be staged within 1 minute 45 seconds of starting the car. Andy put the car into pre stage, then edged forward into stage, the lights ran down and Andy nailed it! Did it shake as it did in previous runs? Yes, but Andy bit the bullet and drove through it. Through the 60ft and on to the 1/8th, the car was really pulling hard. This was going to be a fast run if everything stayed together until the finish line. Just before the finish line there was a cloud of smoke from the car, but everyone's attention turned to the score board as 4.884 flashed up.... the fastest time outside of the states! The crowd went wild! As we drove down the fire up road the team were ecstatic... shouting and yelping as the fans applauded and sounded air horns. When we got to the top end Andy was out of the car, he didn't know the time yet and was thrilled when he heard, jumping into the air. Andy and the team celebrated as the fire crew contemplated the clean up that must now take place. Yes, Andy's car had dropped oil but a quick  inspection revealed there wasn't too much damage so the celebrations continued. The car was towed back to the pit via the weigh bridge. On the way the team coined themselves, "The Kings Of Top Fuel" and for now we would have to agree... it was a fantastic run which has rewarded the teams hard work and perseverance when times were hard yesterday and this morning. But as soon as the team got back to the pits work started on the car to ready it for tomorrows eliminations, there's no rest in this game even when you put in a run like that.

Andy gets the wheels up away from the line.

Andy Carter - one happy man!

In the other qualifiers no one improved on Andy's time, Anita Makela came close running a 4.89. This means Andy is number one qualifier, the team have achieved there aim, congratulations from Dragster World, you've worked hard and deserve it. Andy will now face Smax Smith in the first round of eliminations tomorrow. Although Smax hasn't put in a good pass yet this weekend, he is always capable of pulling a fantastic pass out of the bag like he did at Easter. The team know they could be made to fight for the win and will prepare accordingly.

The tuning maestro - Eddie Corr

Here are the full incrementals for Andy's run - Reaction Time 0.567 - 60ft 0.868  - 330ft 2.227 - 1/8th Time 3.247 - 1/8th Speed 244.29mph - 3/16 Time 4.094 - 1/4 Time 4.884 - 1/4 Speed 284.64mph.

When we got back to the pits we spoke to Andy he said "At about 1100ft I felt the car stop pulling as hard as it had been, then the blower lifted". He was understandably very pleased with the run and said "I'll sleep well tonight!".

The mood in the whole team has changed following the run. Previous to the 3rd qualifier we could sense the tension and nervousness in the camp. Since the run everyone is more relaxed, they now know they can run good numbers in their new car, something they were not 100% sure they could do at 4.30pm.

The crew start to get the car ready for tommorow.

Eddie Corr told us that tyre shake caused the blower to lift by loosening it, causing oil to come out of the rear seal which produced the smoke through the finish line. The damage done is worse than first thought. The crank is blackened and scored, two pistons, rods and bore's were damaged, so a new block we will put into the car tonight, it looks like being another late night. It is very unusual for the team to suffer this kind of damage as over the past two years very few parts have been used. Eddie now believes the car to be at its performance limit with its current spec. Without moving the car up to the next spec level by increasing the size of the fuel pump and adding a larger back axle Eddie believes he wont be able to tune the car to go much faster without hurting parts. So with the need to put in three passes tomorrow to win the event they may have to run slightly less aggressively to progress through the rounds.

A damaged piston.

'That' timing ticket.

So after a poor start it turned out to be a fantastic day for the Carter Motorsport / First National Telecom team. The team are ready for the challenge that tomorrow will undoubtedly bring, but they wont be happy if the go home with anything less that an event win.