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Super Series 2001 Round 1 May 5 - 7
Super Series 15th - 7th May 2001Points awarded for Super Series Championship and Custom Chrome Championship
At the first Super Series event of 2001 the weather stayed good all weekend. This event was also Custom Chrome Series Round 1. There was a field of 12 Wild Bunch cars competing over this 3-day Bank Holiday weekend.
| Event Results | ||||
| Pos | WB | Driver | Car | Points |
| 1 | 4 | Chris Hartnell | Backdraft | 680 |
| 2 | 20 | Mark Coulsell | Limited Funz | 430 |
| 3 | 133 | Alec/Tom Coe | Cobalt | 400 |
| 4 | 46 | Colin Aldred | Classy Chassy | 360 |
| 5 | 56 | Dogs Bollocks Racing | Ram Raider | 310 |
| 6 | 67 | Darryl Howells | Jolly Boys Outing | 270 |
| 7 | 1 | Dogs Bollocks Racing | Nutcracker | 160 |
| 8 | 73 | Johnny Hall | The Happening | 120 |
| 9 | 3 | Tony Smith | The Cunning Plan | 90 |
| 10 | 44 | Chev Charman-Osbourne | Odditee | 50 |
| 11 | 53 | Pete Watkins | Sixpack | 40 |
| 12 | 15 | Keith Charman | Alkymist | 10 |
| Spot Prizes | |||||
| WB | Team/Driver | Car | Detail | ||
| Best Reaction | 20 | Mark Coulsell | Limited Funz | 0.404 | |
| Closest to Dial-in | 4 | Chris Hartnell | Backdraft | .008 off | |
| Fastest m.p.h. | 4 | Chris Hartnell | Backdraft | 133.93 mph | |
| #1 Qualifier | 46 | Colin Aldred | Classy Chassy | .053 off | |
| Closest Runner-up | 67 | Darryl Howells | Jolly Boys Outing | 0.004 | |
| Best Appearing Team | 20 | Limited Funz | Limited Funz | ||
| Saturday This was a qualifying day and there were 3 rounds to be had. In the 1st round, 10 drivers took part, with both "Team Dog's Bollocks" cars racing each other, Ed ran a good 10.541 in the "RamRaider" against Andy's 15.0 second pass in the "Nutcracker". Most other teams were making steady passes to get a qualifying run in the bank, but Chris' time did not get recorded in "Backdraft" due to a staging light problem. Keith Charman was back in his rainbow-painted Rear-engine dragster, "Alkymist", after an engine rebuild over the winter. Unfortunately, Keith experienced a major problem in the form of a blown manifold and smoke poured out from the engine. He has yet to diagnose how much engine damage was sustained, but needless to say, it put him out for the event (and unluckily a few more). Good luck with the repairs, Keith! Daughter Chevone was also back in the rainbow-painted "Odditee" altered getting back in the hotseat. It was also Mark Coulsell's first appearance of the year, enthusiastic as ever, unveiling a new blue and silver paint job on the "Limited Funz" slingshot, not to mention snazzy blue teamwear, complete with matching trainers for all the crew!! [They took the "Best Appearing Team" Spot Prize for this and their appearance and conduct on the track]. We also welcomed 'newcomer' Alec Coe in his son's "Cobalt" slingshot. Alec had raced slingshots 25 years ago (in the high 11-second bracket) and he has just got back into the sport and joined the Wild Bunch. He had been at the Test 'n' Tune in April and seen the Wild Bunch and been persuaded that it was a good club to join! [Something which he very much agreed with by the end of the weekend!]. Tony Smith was out setting a good early qualifying mark with a 12.393 on a 12.3 Dial-in, being quite happy with "The Cunning Plan's" performance. For the 2nd round of qualifying, 9 cars took part and Colin Aldred joined in, setting a lower qualifying mark with a 10.953 on a 10.9 Dial-in. He ended up being the #1 qualifier with this run. Chris Hartnell posted his personal Best E.T. ever with a 9.369 @ 133 mph after a good wheelie at the startline. A "breakout", as he had a Dial-in of a 9.40, but he was happy! Most teams again put in steady runs, including Pete Watkins, who put in an 11.175 pass on his 10.75 Dial-in. For the 3rd qualifying round, 9 cars ran, and Chris got in a qualifier with a 9.486 on a 9.30 Dial-in. Ed put in another good pass with a 10.539 on a 10.48 to take # 2 qualifying spot with .059 off his Dial-in. Alec Coe qualified 3rd with his good 12.071 on an 11.99 Dial-in. Unfortunately Pete Watkins' engine let go on his run, causing a con-rod out the bottom, crank damage and a fair-sized hole in the block, which were all on display most of the weekend in the pits. [He should be back out soon - Good luck, Pete!] Chevy put in an 11-second pass in the altered, and the team diagnosed some gear box problems, so sadly the car was also sidelined for the weekend, with Bernie due to strip and fix the box. (Good luck again with that!). Another casualty of Saturday was Tony Smith, who had had a misfire in "The Cunning Plan" and took it round the back of the wall to fire it up. On doing this, his engine also let go, resulting in a cracked block and broken pistons. [Don't think it'll keep him out for too long though, as he's pretty fired up about the rebuild! And had even talked of finding an engine over the back of the track to race Monday, which didn't quite come about in the end!]. Another new addition to the Wild Bunch appeared in this round in the form of Johnny Hall, who had bought the Stars n' Stripes "Northern Star" slingshot of Wendy Baker. It's now painted purple and re-named "The Happening". He was putting in his licensing runs and getting to grips with the Rover-powered vehicle. Sunday There was one more qualifying round on the Sunday for all classes (as well as the rest of the 3rd round) some demonstration racing, and a few "grudge matches". Only 7 Wild Bunch cars made runs (including Darryl Howells, Andy and Ed) with notably Mark Coulsell running nearly a second under his Dial-in with a strong 10.517 on an 11.50 Dial-in (he had sorted out the timing, plugs, etc!), and also had a .472 reaction. Closest of the round was Alec, with a 12.312 (.133 off his Dial-in). Monday (Race Day) Round One The first race in the first round was a real close one with Colin Aldred narrowly beating Andy Gosling with a slightly quicker reaction time, crossing the line .013 seconds ahead. Mark, Ed, Alec and Darryl all had Bye-runs as their opponents had unfortunately broken! Chris was matched up against Johnny "newcomer" Hall. He had just had his license signed and was having a ball getting into Drag Racing. They had decided to go for a "heads-up" race to make it interesting as Johnny was still learning the car. Johnny ran a very respectable 10.590 @ 132.35 mph for his first real full pass with the car, and, amazingly "Backdraft" ran an identical equal Personal Best E.T. of 9.369 again (on a 9.30 Dial-in). Quarter-Finals The quarter-finals saw Colin and Mark both Dialling-in 10.75, with Colin running 10.795 and Mark 10.851, but winning on a much quicker reaction of .410!! Colin ended up 4th for the event on the "tot-back" system, by virtue of being closest to Dial-in in that round. The next race was a tough one with Chris against Ed (who was really on form and running well). Ed ran a brilliant Personal Best E.T. of 10.38, breaking out on a 10.46 Dial-in!! Chris had Dialled in 9.32 and ran a 9.379 to go through to the Semis. The third race saw both cars breaking out with Alec running a 12.010 on a 12.07 Dial-in and Darryl running 12.894 on a 13.14 Dial-in; Alec going through as he had broken out the least, and Darryl taking "Closest runner-up", only losing by .004! Semi-Finals The Semi-Finals saw Mark Coulsell with a Bye-run. And Chris racing "newcomer" Alec Coe, who had been running really consistently and close to his Dial-ins, so it was another tough race! Alec ended up running his Personal Best E.T. of an 11.94, breaking out on his 11.99 Dial-in. Chris had Dialled-in a 9.32 again and ran another Personal Best E.T. of 9.328 @ 133.93 mph ("Fastest MPH" Spot Prize), just .008 off his Dial-in, earning the Wild Bunch "Closest to Dial-in" Spot Prize, and advancing to the Final. Finals In the Final, it was Chris and Mark. Chris had a reasonable .555 reaction time, but Mark had a spot-on .404 reaction (wired to the tree and winning "Best Reaction" Spot Prize)! Mark also ran his Personal Best E.T. of 10.424, and brokeout on a 10.50 Dial-in. Chris also broke out on his 9.32 Dial-in, and ran yet another Personal Best E.T. of 9.308! But, Chris hadn't broken out as much as Mark, so he took the win! All in all, some very close and exciting racing. The track was just brilliant, so thanks a bunch to Bruno and all the very hard working marshals and officials for a really well-prepped track and a well-run organised event! Thanks also to the Promoter for making the event possible in the first place. See you all next time!! |