Round 5, Santa Pod Raceway, 27-28 September 2008 - National Finals

By some miracle, a weekend of fine, dry weather coincided with a major drag race. Both days of Santa Pod Raceway's National Finals meeting were delayed by morning fog but that was a trifling irritant after the assortment of tempests that had blighted the 2008 season thus far.

In the MSA British Drag Racing Championship's designated Pro Modified class, Surrey's champion-elect, Philip 'Bert' Englefield, eventually secured his crown, but not without dramas. After Saturday's three qualifying sessions, an off-pace Englefield languished outside the field. His last-ditch, 6.851sec. blast in Sunday morning's closing session solved that problem but caused engine damage which could not be repaired in time for the opening eliminations round.

Essex's Graham Ellis capped a fine debut year by winning the race but could not accumulate enough points to overhaul Englefield's lead. Another Essex rookie, Roger Moore, reached the final in only his third Pro Mod outing. Moore and Yorkshireman Wayne Nicholson both achieved career-best performances during the event. Despite the weather's many depredations, no fewer than 31 entrants managed to score MSA points during the year.

Results

Top 5 qualifiers:

1.             Graham Ellis:  6.768sec. / 213.67mph

2.             Roger Moore:  6.8512 / 205.38

3.             Philip Englefield:  6.8515 / 211.91

4.             Kevin Slyfield:  7.162 / 198.08

5.             Wayne Nicholson:  7.196 / 190.53

Semi-finals:

Roger Moore 7.006 / 198.69  def.  Wayne Nicholson 7.293 / 190.53

Graham Ellis 7.376 / 204.30 - bye-run

Final:

Graham Ellis 8.291 / 149.06 def. Roger Moore - broke