RACE REPORT: X-RACE, SANTA POD. 13/10/02
 
Bo Selecta! And welcome to another exciting instalment from the world of X-RACE! After the success of the SANTA POD HIJACK, a few more rounds of sprinting had been set to take place in the latter part of the year hence, the 'X-RACE UK WINTER SESSIONS'. The last bout of sprinting was at Elvington on September 8th and took place in glorious sunshine but I was unable to race this time round due to my fractured elbow (an injury I indured after circuit racing a fortnight ago). So the latest X-RACE meet took place at Santa Pod on October 13th. Well the weather was certainly in keeping with the winter theme I can tell ya, it was bloody freezing! Regardless of the conditions which everyone had to endure, the attendance turned out to be half that of the SANTA POD HIJACK 2001. And everyone seemed to enjoy themselves despite it pissing it down mid-afternoon. So a turn-out of around 15 scoots for a relatively low-key event is pretty good. If anything, the attendance suggests that the UK scooter sprinting scene is steadily growing which is mainly due to the number of automatic owners who are now starting to show an interest in sprinting.
 
On to the racing itself then, Joe Elliot managed to keep his number one position firmly intact with a 13.87 @ 86.5 mph, no one seems to be getting anywhere close! This is easily attributed to the fact that Joe weighs in at 8.5 stone (like I keep saying) and the fact he's splashed out more money than anyone else to get the fastest bike, his machine's now worth a staggering £10,000! The weekend before at Santa Pod Joe ran a 13.61 @ 88 mph which is his best time yet for the quarter mile and arguably the current fastest in the UK on an automatic scooter.
 
Some may say that some engines tune-up good and some just don't, well Scott Scorey seems to have got one of the good ones and his time of 15.583 @ 78.41 mph may prove this theory. Scott's got a similar engine spec to most people (Malossi kit, bigger carb, PM skull cap etc.) yet he gets a faster time, how?! If Scott's luck/magic touch whatever it is continues then he may well be one to watch at next year's SANTA POD HIJACK. Daniel McGeary had a few technical difficulties this time round with his Twist & Go featured Gilera Runner. His quickest time of the day turned out to be a 17.44 @ 71.77 which is almost a second slower than his personal best of 16.483 @ 75.08 mph, better luck next time Daniel. In contrast Lee Baker made an improvement with a 16.562 @ 64.60 mph, compared to his previous best of 18.093 @ 68.26 mph that's a 1.5 second improvement, not bad at all. Tom Wright is another member of the 'mad for it' Runner gang who's showing a keen interest in sprinting, a 16.090 @ 69.93 mph sets a new personal record for Tom but breaking into the 15's will now be his goal, let's see how you get on at Elvington eh Tom?
 
So we had about 15 scoots turn up at Santa Pod on October 13th, two thirds of 'em were Runner's and Dragster's and the remainder were Lambretta's. Worth a mention are Mal Sykes who once again rode all the way from Huddersfield on his Dragster but I must say I felt sorry for you Mal having to ride all the way back in the pouring rain! Paul Taylor aka 'Ska Man' came to Santa Pod and forgot his licence, so he couldn't race. Matthew Preen sported the most unusual looking Runner engine modification I have seen - a cut-away flywheel cover with flashing red LED's and a clear plastic cover so that you see the magneto on the inside, it looks trick but even better in the dark I'm told. Good to see 'Easterners' Mark Tricker and Darren 'Matt Black' at The Pod once again, due to a crank problem Mark was unable to race for fear of not being able to ride home in case the crank broke completely whilst horsing it up the strip. And Darren was unable to race because the baffle inside his otherwise sturdy Jahspeed pipe (prototype) decided to part company with the muffler, you should have heard the sound though, proper bo!
 
All in all it was a good day apart from the bastard rain in the afternoon and a few latecomers didn't even get any runs in because of the rain, never mind. See you all at Elvington on November 17th for more X-Racing.
 
Words: Paul Robinson.