As time trials began for the fifth and final round held under sunny Sunday skies in early October the question being asked was would the day end in favour of Richard Batty (otherwise known now as the Batman) or would some other joker come along and steal the PSDS title away for 2008. All would be revealed later that afternoon.

With the 9.3 to 10.3 class already wrapped up in favour of Garry Passingham, the star attraction in the 10.3 to 11.3 category was David Greenhalgh’s 2.7 litre silver Skyline, commonly known in the trade as the GTART ‘Garage Bomber‘. From the four passes made David finally took the class honours just 30 minutes from the close of play with a very rapid 10.325 to oust John Moreby’s 10.599 set earlier in the morning from his 2.1 turbo’ed Subaru Wagon. Staking a claim on his first trophy of the year (albeit third) was Sheffield’s Neil Wrenn who took his R33 GTR all the way to 11.107 at 127.28 mph.

With the Batman looking for sweet success in the overall series, the Barricade, driven by Karl Farrer, was in no mood for taking prisoners with the 11.3 to 12.3 class. Following mechanical mishaps in the previous round, Karl knew what he had to do to take the class win which he achieved five minutes before the cut-off time was announced, resulting in an 11.599 to push early class leader Malcolm Thomas down the leader board into second place with an 11.652 from his 2.7 Jun powered GTR 34. Third was new boy Scogsy (aka Gennaro Scoglio) with a single lap time of 12.060 from his 2.1 Impreza.

Taking his second back-to-back class win of the season in the 12.3 to 13.3 category was Cliff Judson’s R33 GTR. From his two runs made, Cliff’s 12.302 held good against Gary Bramwell’s record of 13 passes in one weekend which must have done him some good as Bram reeled off a 12.306 from his 1994 RZ Supra for second although he did notch up an even better time of 12.052 the previous day. Third was Simon Paul’s inline 6 cylinder street racing class Supra with a best of 12.598.

Moving to the two Pro class, this was left up to Chris Impey’s RX Motors RX7. Having set new personal best numbers at the previous round (9.356), Chris pushed his 1300cc rota to an even quicker 9.318 seconds which, two hours later, resulted in a catastrophic firey transmission and almost certain engine failure at half track which, from the outside looking in, was worthy of any 300 mph Top Fuel Dragster engine explosion as the Mazda’s rear end trailed fire, oil and debris covering the length of the raceway and in affect closing the lane for the rest of the day in the interest of safety.

However, all this excitement happen well before Richard Batty finally closed in on the Pro Street Drag Series title for 2008. In front of his fellow Mitsubishi FTO Owners club members who had come along to the raceway to cheer the Rotherham based driver on once three o’clock had arrived and it was declared official and with no one in sight to touch him, the champagne corks and beer started to flow with Richard’s best of 11.771 at 131.05 mph sealed the series win for 36 year old IT Technical Architect. And to go with the title and the trophy, Richard received courtesy of series sponsor, Adrenaline Race & Performance, a brand new custom made roll cage from proprietor Danny Bates.

So with all the points calculated, not only did Richard come out on top in the Overall PSDS category with 40 points but he also picked up the Pro Class award from Mick Begley. Cliff Judson was classed second with 38 points followed by Chris Impey and John Moreby tied joint third.

On behalf of the series organisers, we would like to say thanks to all the drivers who have supported the PSDS this year. This also extends to the series sponsors: Japanese Performance Magazine, Opie Oils, MPB Structures Ltd, AET Turbos, Adrenaline Race & Performance and Motorshack VP Race Fuels. Long may the association continue.

The PSDS will be back at Shakespeare County Raceway in 2009, see you at the strip!

Pro class
1st - Richard Batty - 40 points
2nd - Chris Impey - 32 points
3rd - Mick Begley - 30 points

Street class
1st - Cliff Judson - 38 points
2nd - John Moreby - 32 points
3rd - Gary Passing ham & David Greenhaulgh - 30 points

Overall final places (Pro & Street classes combined)
1st - Richard Batty - 40 points
2nd - Cliff Judson - 38 points
3rd - Chris Impey & John Moreby - both with 32 points












Words by Jeremy Cookson
Most pictures courtesy of Peter Donaldson