Wednesday October 17, 2018 at 1:48pm
Rounds three and four of the ACU Championships were held over a two-day event of the Redline Rumble meeting at Santa Pod Raceway. Funny Bike and Comp Bike were the only classes to compete in the championship, Super Street Bike raced a non points event over the two days. Round three was run on Saturday and round four on Sunday. Funny Bike. Four bikes entered the double header event and Lorcan Parnell was the number one qualifier just ahead of Dave Peters. Dave Buttery had transmission issue and Phil Crossley had fitted a bigger motor for the meeting but had various issues and didn’t put a pass in on the Saturday. Parnell ran a jaw dropping personal best of 6.567 on his bye run in the semi-final round. Peters beat Buttery in the other semi. Peters missed the call for the final due to not have enough turn around time with clutch problem, leaving Parnell a bye run in his first ACU event final. It is the first win for Parnell and it was back in the seventies that owners Barry Eastman and Mick Hand last won a championship event. Comp Bike. Holland’s Erik Jennes ran a personal best 7.709-188.20 to top the field. Former champion Kevin Osman made his first appearance of the season and ran 7.836-187.35. Dave Batcheler was third just ahead of Martin Walker and Sam Sykes. John McLean Sr debut his stunning new bike and qualified eleventh. Jennes ran back to back personal bests 7.639-192.95 and 7.548 in the opening two rounds of the eliminations. Sean Mills had an electrical problem and lost in the semi-final to Margot Schmidt who ran a personal best of 7.718-182.08. Jennes beat Walker in the other semi. An all Dutch final and for both riders it was their first ACU final. Jennes turned the wick up and run a p/b of 7.493-193.05 to Schmidt 8.093-179.21. Super Street Bike. Pete Field had an electrical problem but still managed to be number one qualifier. Garry Bowe was second ahead of newcomer Mark Dainty. Field beat Graham Dance in the semi-final 7.494 to 7.692. Bowe broke a chain on his solo pass in the semi-final and Field had a bye run in the final. Allan Davies did some testing of his Puma V Twin for preparation of the European Finals. The rear gearing was changed, and Davies ran a best to date 7.465. Team change the front gear, which resulted with a career personal best for Davies of 7.166 at a speed of 182mph. ACU Championships Round 4 Following day (Sunday) saw Round 4 of the ACU Championship at the Redline Rumble event. The competitors faced a stiff headwind during qualifying in the morning. Funny Bike. Funny Bike only managed to complete one qualifying session due to a couple incidents. Dave Peters took number one spot with 8.260. Lorcan Parnell winner the day before in round 3 of the ACU Championships was next with 8.989. Dave Buttery still had transmission issue and ran 15.447. Phil Crossley once again didn’t put a qualifying run. Peters broke the beam in his bye run. Parnell beat Buttery in the other semi-final. Parnell picked up his second win of the weekend 6.721 against Peters who had a delay issue off the start line. Comp Bike. Erik Jennes continued his dominating form from the day before with another personal best of 7.470-193.88. Scott Collier repaired his transmission (selectors) and ran 7.637. Sigmaro Profas also had to do repairs to his boost controller and qualified 7.745. Next was Dave Batcheler 7.875. John McLean Sr dropped a valve the day before and was out of the show. Championship contenders coming into the weekend double header Sean Mills and Scott Collier missed out again on increasing their points advantage. Mills red lit in round one to Mick Winyard and Collier once again had gear shift issue down track in round one and lost to Daniel Bergelin. Jennes ran back to back p/bs 7.431 and 7.388 in the two opening rounds of the eliminations. On the other side of the ladder Margot Schmidt also recorded back to back p/bs 7.710 and 7.705-182.15. to reach the final to face Jennes once again. This time the result was reversed with Schmidt winning her first ACU event with a personal best of 7.636 to Jennes losing 7.984. Super Street Bike. Garry Bowe led the small field with a 7.218. Dave Smith had fuel injector issues and managed his best run of the weekend 7.575. Mark Dainty was next 7.708, Pete Field 8.058 and finally Graham Dance 8.099 and had a clutch problem and didn’t run in the eliminations. Bowe and Field raced in the final, with Bowe wasting a stunning 7.088-206.02 when he red lit. Field picked up his second win of the weekend. Report by Steven Moxley.