The Easter Thunderball 2004 Review
Santa Pod's drag-racing season got off to a flying start at the weekend with a fabulous three days of sportsman drag racing, Pro Fuel racing, and demo vehicles. The Thunderball was the perfect opportunity to see all the new cars, bikes, drivers and riders, and everyone was treated to some close racing in all classes.
Andy Carter did as promised, and made his new car stamp it's authority on the opposition, but he had to work VERY hard for the win, when Top Fuel new boy, Lex Joon stormed up the track in the finals matching Andy's time to within three-thousandths of a second! Andy only took the win because of his fractionally better reaction times, and although Lex had the speed, he zig-zagged up the track in thrilling style. Certainly, this was an incredible pro-fuel final, and not one person dared breathe for the 5-seconds it took them to cover the quarter mile. Perhaps Lex would have taken the win if he had been able to keep his car straight, but both drivers must have been very pleased with their performance in the finals.
 
The sportsman classes didn't disappoint either, and the National Championships got off to a dream start with some very close and skilful racing. Final results for all classes are as follows:
Cars:
| Pro Fuel Shootout: |
Andy Carter 5.049/290.75 def. Lex Joon 5.046/280.95 |
| Top Methanol: |
Rob Turner 5.635/242.07 def. Doug Ripley 7.021/189.80 |
| Super Modified: |
Rob Smallworth 8.030/172.89 def. Andy Kirk 8.328/160.03 |
| Super Pro ET: |
Ian Tubb (7.73) 7.806/154.10 def. Derek Flynn (8.40) 8.643/143.39 |
| Pro ET: |
Rick McCann (10.49) 10.520/130.83 def. Carl Burton (10.99) 10.983/121.90 |
| Sportsman ET: |
Matt Glassup (14.07) 14.156/98.29 def. Linda Platt (12.80) 12.770/110.08 |
| Super Comp: |
Paul Ingar Udtian 9.066/116.22 def. Colin Aldred 9.609/135.90 |
| Super Gas: |
Conrad Stanley 9.970/120.30 def. Malcolm Francis 9.975/141.44 |
| Super Street: |
Lee Huxley 10.676/123.63, Mark Watkins broke |
| Junior Dragster: |
Collin Morrice (9.04) 9.107/71.32 def. Andrew Herron (15.50) 15.248/40.31 |
Custom Car
Street Eliminator: |
Andy Frost 8.459/166.09 was unopposed |
| VW Pro: |
Ant Lockyer (12.60) 12.907/102.25 def. Justin Aldred (11.20) 11.315/108.72 |
| VW Sportsman: |
Mick Geraghty (15.40) 15.113/80.32 def. Amy Homewood (20.40) 20.090/65.48 |
| VW Alternate Engine: |
Spencer Tramm (9.20) 9.222/137.92 def. Matt Attwood (13.16) 13.259/101.58 |
Bikes:
 
| Top Fuel Bike: |
Steve Carey 8.155/156.26 was unopposed |
| Funny Bike: |
Neil Midgley 7.195/182.29 def. Paul Knapp 7.267/182.23 |
| Pro Stock Bike: |
Dave Beck 7.517/148.05 def. Tony Clark 8.053/163.10 |
| Comp Bike: |
TJ O'Brien 8.000/157.15 def. Vaughan Foster 9.816/106.64 |
| Super Street Bike: |
Graham Dance 8.108/166.83 def. Mark Fisher 8.446/171.89 |
| 9.90 Bike: |
Fred Furlong 9.917/111.89 def. Paul Coombs broke |
| 0.90 Bike: |
John Hackney 10.790/117.11 def. Andy Bird 10.464/123.64 |
Eric Teboul put in a storming pass on the rocket-bike, flying across the finish line with a 5.795 @ 200.96mph with a half-track of 3.68 @ 217.53mph. Martin Hill put in some fast passes with the Fireforce 2 Jet funnycar, and Gary Picardo showed the Easter crowd what the famous Stingray wheelie-car could do. Unfortunately, the track action on Monday was brought to a halt by a serious top-end accident involving Funny Bike racer Sarah Jane Head. Sarah was air-lifted to hospital after the incident, and is recovering from multiple injuries. We wish her and her family all the best, and hope a speedy recovery ensues.
 
A massive thanks to everyone who came to the show, including racers and spectators, we hope you had a great Easter. Thanks to Eurodragster for helping with the above information and pictures. For a full report on the weekend's racing, click here.
The Auto Trader Easter Thunderball Menu
Easter Thunderball 2008 Report
Easter Thunderball 2008 Entry List
Easter Thunderball 2008 Running Order
Easter Thunderball 2008 Daily Galleries
Friday | Saturday | Sunday | Monday
Easter Thunderball 2007 Report
Easter Thunderball 2007 Entry List
Easter Thunderball 2007 Daily Galleries
Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday | Monday
Easter Thunderball 2006 Report
Easter Thunderball 2006 Gallery
Easter Thunderball 2005 Report
Easter Thunderball 2005 Gallery
Easter Thunderball 2004 Report
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