The Unusual Suspects

Version 10 of the Easter Thunderball entry list is now out, and all entries are closed. The number of entries in Competition bike now stands at 11, which isn't bad considering it's the first event of the year.
The only total unknown (to me) entrant is Mark de Jong all the way from the Netherlands. I can't find any info about him so I'm sorry mark but i can't feature you in my gallery of contestants!

I created a similar gallery last year but i though it time for an update, and with it being the start of a whole new season then it was fitting to do another. Apologies for any out of date info, it's hard to find details such as personal bests so I've generalized some but if anyone has accurate info feel free to contact me with the latest bike spec/PB's etc.

CB1 - Ivan birch
Suzuki GSX 1570cc Nitrous Promod bike
Last years championship winner. Regularly ran down into the 7.3 second zone with speeds around the 185mph mark. Hopefully Ivan will have a bit more competition this year and the already impressive times should continue to fall.

CB2 - Phil Leamon
Suzuki GSX 1290cc Nitrous bike. I believe the chassis was once a pro stock bike.
Phil has been Comp bike champ a few times in the past on this same bike. Generally runs in the 8.2 second zone @ 160mph. Consistency and fast reaction times are Phil's trademarks.

CB3 - Stuart Crane
Suzuki GSX 1428cc Nitrous bike. Stuart has already been out this year and proven without question that the electrical gremlins that plagued the bike in the 2nd half of last year have been sorted. Stuart ran a personal best at the recent straightliners event and went 7.67 @ 173mph.
Not a bad start to the year and improvements seem inevitable.
Picture Courtesy of Mr & Mrs fish

CB4 - Dave Peters
Suzuki GSX 1327cc Turbo - Nitrous Funny bike. Dave did well last year and could well have taken the championship had he been available during the first half of the season. Ran a Personal best of 7.3 during last years Extreme bike weekend and the bike has been well into the 180mph zone. Dave can be great to watch as a fight with the bike is a regular occurrence.

CB5 - Alan Young
Suzuki Hayabusa 1300cc Turbo Outlaw bike. I don't know a great deal about Al's bike - being an outlaw style machine it has a long long wheelbase and doesn't have the luxury of wheely bars. Al spent a lot of last year running low 9/high 8's but as far as I'm aware he has gone as fast as 8.3 @ 170mph+

CB6 - Phil Crossley
Suzuki GSX 1260cc Nitrous dinosaur. Don't need to say much about my bike as it's all here in previous posts. Best run was an 8.7 @150mph at the Finals, but hunting low 8's this year.


CB7 - Sandra Chaplain
Suzuki GSX 1327cc?? Nitrous bike? Could be hard to predict what bike the Chaplains could be running this year as a new bike was added to their collection late last year. Sandra generally Runs the Santa Pod rounds and Roland the Shakespeare County rounds. Last years bike ran 8.3 second runs @ 160mph+

CB8 *Stephen Moons outlaw Now for sale*
Suzuki GSXR Outlaw – Europe’s Fastest No Bar Nitrous Bike
For sale due to leaving racing, my newly rebuilt Outlaw. This bike has run 7.6 on the 1314 motor with a very conservative setting. Since then, the world record holding ex-L&W 1454 motor has been added – this new motor has run 7.27 at 195.
The bike has had the best of everything.
£9,900 takes it all – a fraction of the total cost. Will consider deal for Hayabusa, fast Jap or Yank car. Call me on +44 7967 564301

CB17 - Nick Daniels
Suzuki GSX 1327cc Draw-through turbo bike. Unfortunately I've not got any information regarding Nicks bike nor it's previous performances. I've posted a picture of last years bike in the vague hope it's the same one he's running this year. If anyone knows any different please let me know!


CB21 - Richard Gipp
Suzuki GSX 1640cc Top secret mystery bike. Richard has been racing in both ACU and UEM Prostock bike for a long time. This year he is having a change on the ACU front and entering Comp bike.
On the same machine or an entirely new one? Who knows?? all i can say is, i'm saying nothing.
Picture courtesy of dragbike.com


CB23 - Mark de Jong
Harley Davidson Sportster 1556cc. I'm going to have to leave a complete blank here as i cant find a picture or any info regarding Mark or the bike.



Overall the entry list is pretty good in all classes and should make for a great weekend. 4 Fuel Dragsters, 3 Fuel Funny Cars, 7 Fuel Bikes and a couple of Fuel Top Alcohol dragsters should provive plenty of entertainment.
As usual the event will be covered by eurodragster.com with live reports and webcam. Plus live commentary can be heard via Nitro FM.