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Super Series Fall Nationals August 24 - 26
Super Series - Fall Nationals 24th - 26th August 2002Points awarded for Super Series & Real Steel Championships
This Super Series Round 3 event, the "Fall Nationals", was also Real Steel Series Round 8. There was a field of 16 Wild Bunch cars competing at this weekend, and these included 6 Slingshots, 8 Altereds and 2 Rear-engine dragsters.
| Event Results | ||||
| Pos | WB | Driver | Car | Points |
| 1 | 20 | Mark Coulsell | Limited Funz | 730 |
| 2 | 33 | Tom Coe | Psycho | 540 |
| 3 | 110 | Nick Connor | Barking Mad | 410 |
| 4 | 67 | Darryl Howells | Wheels of Fortune | 380 |
| 5 | 9 | Dogs Bollocks Racing | Nutcracker | 300 |
| 6 | 86 | Dick Sharp | Dorset Horn | 300 |
| 7 | 96 | Tony Smith | The Cunning Plan | 290 |
| 8 | 4 | Floyd Codpiece Racing | Back in Black | 270 |
| 9 | 3 | Paul Croston | B-Sting | 250 |
| 10 | 146 | NRS Racing | Yellow Dragster | 240 |
| 11 | 43 | Martin Holgate | Paranoia | 220 |
| 12 | 2 | Chris Hartnell | Backdraft | 160 |
| 13 | 44 | Chev Charman-Osbourne | Odditee | 130 |
| 14 | 24 | Mark Turton | Growler | 120 |
| 15 | 1 | Dogs Bollocks Racing | RamRaider | 50 |
| 16 | 15 | Keith Charman | Alkymist | 10 |
| Spot Prizes | ||||
| WB | Team/Driver | Car | Detail | |
| Best Reaction | 20 | Mark Coulsell | Limited Funz | .436 |
| Closest To Dial-In | 110 | Nick Connor | Barking Mad | .001 Off |
| #1 Qualifier | 9 | Sarah Howells | Nutcracker | .040 Off |
| Closest Runner-Up | 43 | Martin Holgate | Paranoia | .017 Behind |
| Best Altered | 43 | Martin Holgate | Paranoia | - |
| Best Slingshot | 2 | Chris Hartnell | Backdraft | - |
| Best Dragster/Radical | 146 | Ian Roddy | Yellow R.E.D. | - |
| Best Appearing Team | 24 & 110 | Team Dog Squad | Growler & Barking Mad | - |
| Saturday This was a qualifying day and there were 2 rounds to be had. The weather stayed dry, although cloudy. In the 1st round of qualifying, 14 drivers took part, and thanks to the early start, everyone had run by about 10:30 am. Ed Yates ran a 10.434 on a 10.10 Dial in the "Ram Raider" slingshot while Chris Hartnell was trying out some brand new slicks on "Backdraft" and ran a 10.055 on a 9.10 Dial-in. Team sponsor Andy Murphy was taking his turn in the "B-Sting" altered. He ran a good 12.554 on a 12.50 Dial-in, for a solid opener. Joe Stevens was making his MSA debut in his "Back in Black" altered and put in a 12.397 on an 11.80 to start his account. Sarah Howells was surprised by the early performance of the "Nutcracker", running a breakout, 13.463 on a 13.69 Dial-in. Mark Coulsell ran a 10.554 on a 10.40 Dial-in in the "Limited Funz" slingshot, whilst Tom Coe ran an 11.450 on an 11.16 Dial for his opening qualifier in the "Psycho" slingshot. Martin Holgate was making his first Super Series appearance of the year in "Paranoia" and unfortunately red lit in this round, not recording a time. Chevone Charman-Osborne was back in the hotseat of the "Odditee" altered and ran a very strong 9.257 @ 147.06 mph. The crew had forgotten to show the Dial-in in their excitement of being back out, but this still counted as a qualifier for Chevy (on difference from 0.00). Darryl Howells put in a 12.530 on a 12.10 Dial-in in the "Wheels of fortune" slingshot, and Dick Sharp was back again in the "Dorset Horn". He Dialled in at 9.60 and ran a 10.703 pass. Tony Smith ran a good 12.355 on his 12.15 Dial-in for his opening qualifying run in "The Cunning Plan" altered. Nick Connor put in his closest run of qualifying with a 10.518 on a 10.35 Dial in the "Barking Mad" altered while Ian Roddy carded a 10.667 on a 10.00 for his opening bid in his Rear-engine dragster. In the 2nd round of qualifying, 14 cars took part. Ed set a slightly better time of 10.431 on a 10.10 Dial-in. Chris put in his closest pass of qualifying with a better 9.772 on a 9.50 Dial. Andy Murphy had a good one with a 12.544 on a 12.50 Dial-in, to take the number two qualifying spot. Joe improved on his first round with a 12.071 on the 11.80 Dial-in, just one thousandth ahead of Chris!! Sarah Howells pulled one out of the bag with a great 13.340 on her 13.30 Dial to take the Number One Qualifier title and Spot Prize! Keith Charman was making a return in the "Alkymist" Rear-engine dragster, and unfortunately did not register a time for what looked like a good strong run. Mark Coulsell posted a 10.569 on his 10.50 Dial-in, to take fourth qualifying spot, whilst Tom Coe just pipped him with a 11.455 on an 11.40, for third qualifying place. Martin Holgate broke out slightly, putting in a good 9.847 on his 10.00 Dial-in. Darryl ran a 12.426 on his 12.20 Dial, whilst Dick ran a 9.782 on a 9.60 Dial-in. Nick Connor ran a 10.650 on a 10.35 Dial-in, and Ian Roddy broke out with a strong 10.243 on a 10.30. That night there was a legendary Wild Bunch Wacky Racers party with Sarah and Darryl dressing up as the Sarge and Private from the Army Surplus Special, Chris becoming the "Red Max" (who else?) and Claire swapping red for pink and going southern with "Penelope Pitstop". Little Zak from the "Dog Squad" was a great "Blubber Bear" and won the Spot Prize for the best Wacky Racer. Dad Scottie and Mark Turton were cast against type becoming the Slagg brothers, in full caveman regalia. We had cake, snacks and drinks, and later all walked round the pits and clubhouse, much to the amusement and bemusement of many people in the pits. We all had a great time! It may become a yearly theme event!! | |
| Sunday There was another round of qualifying on Sunday morning, before 10:30am, and 14 cars ran again. Chris ran a 10.247 on a 9.40 Dial-in, still hoping for an improvement in performance wearing in the new tyres. Andy ran a 12.655 on a 12.50, getting quite consistent, and Joe ran a 12.292 on a 12.00. Sarah put in a 13.912 in a 13.32 Dial-in. Keith Dialled in at 9.75, and went straight out and ran a Personal Best E.T. of 9.181, with a very strong run in the "Alkymist". Unfortunately, the car has sustained damage to the heads, and Keith was sidelined for the event. Hope you can fix it soon Keith and get down into those 8's!! Mark put in a 10.742 on a 10.50 Dial-in for this round. After much work in the pits to tune the car, and last minute adjustments, Mark Turton brought round the "Growler, Once Bitten Twice Smitten" altered for its second trip to the track after the extensive rebuild. He did a checkout pass with a 20.601 on an 11.00 Dial-in, but at least it meant he had qualified and made it to the top end for the first time since his crash at SS1. Fair play Mark!! Tom ran an 11.716 on an 11.40 Dial-in in this round. Martin took number five spot with a good 10.106 on a 10.00 Dial-in, and Chevone broke out with a 9.315 on a 9.35 Dial-in. Darryl put in a 12.728 on a 12.45 in this round, whilst Dick ran an 11.331 on a 9.60, having to back out of a hairy moment. Tony had to miss the second round Saturday and this qualifier due to personal reasons, but came back for a practice in "The Cunning Plan" altered and ran a great 12.272 on a 12.25 Dial, which would have nicked #1 Spot. Nick ran a 10.724 on a 10.35 and Ian posted a 10.475 on a 10.10, getting closer to his Dial. | |
| Round One The first round of eliminations started on Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately Ed Yates could not get the "Ram Raider" fired up for his match up with Mark Coulsell, who burned out and staged to take the win, luckily for him, as his coupler broke shortly after the launch. But he was now through to the next round, if he could get the car fixed in time. Chris Hartnell was still trying to run his new tyres in and went better with a 9.776 on a 9.70 Dial-in, his closest of the weekend, which was still not good enough to defeat Tom Coe, who, although he ran an 11.525 on an 11.40 Dial-in, had a better reaction time to take the win. Chris took "Best Slingshot" Spot Prize for the weekend - a great way to celebrate his birthday! Andy Murphy ran a 12.669 on a 12.50 Dial-in, handing the win to Joe Stevens who ran a 12.180 on a 12.05 Dial, for his first win in competition. It was a match race of the Howells, with Darryl running closer with a 12.591 on a 12.45 to take the win over Sarah's 13.752 on a 13.45. Keith had sadly broken, so Tony Smith took a solo, running a strong 12.130 on a 12.25 Dial-in to advance to the quarter finals. Mark Turton put in his first full pass with the new "Growler, OBTS" of 13.452 @ 107.40 mph, on a 12.85 Dial-in. He was paired with Dick Sharp, who took the win with a good 9.684 on a 9.60 Dial-in. Mark was really chuffed to have had his first race in competition with the new car, so was still happy. Congratulations Mark, and well done to you and all the crew!! Ian Roddy ran a solid 10.300 on a 10.10 Dial-in with a better reaction time to take the victory over Martin Holgate, who ran a 10.106 on a 10.00. Martin was "Closest Runner Up" with this run, only losing by .017, and taking "Best Altered" of the weekend for his efforts. Nick Connor came out and put in a virtually unbeatable 10.551 on a 10.55 Dial-in, just one thousandth off, taking "Closest to Dial-in" Spot Prize and advancing over Chevone running a brilliant Personal Best E.T. of 9.154 on a 9.25. (Two P.B's for the Rainbow team this weekend so congratulations to them!). The whole of Team "Dog Squad" took the Spot Prize for "Best Appearing Team" for their usual smart appearance and team presence. | |
| Monday The weather was really cloudy and cold most of the day Monday, but luckily no rain hampered the racing. | |
| Quarter-Finals Darryl ran close to his index with a 12.477 on a 12.45 to take the win over Ian's 10.317 on a 10.20. Ian took the "Best Radical/Rear-engine dragster" for his efforts this weekend. Tom took the win off the start line in his matchup with Dick, who pulled an uncharacteristic red light. Tom ran an 11.654 on an 11.40 Dial, whilst Dick ran a 9.725 on a 9.60. The run had looked good, but Dick had to be towed off track with suspected massive damage to the new gearbox. It turned out that the prop shaft, u-j and gearbox casing were almost completely trashed, so hope the team can get that fixed soon! Nick ran a 10.647 on a 10.55 to advance over Joe's 12.131 on a 12.05 Dial-in. Mark Coulsell had worked late into the night and got that coupler fixed with the help of Roy Wilding, at Roy's home in Birmingham. Mark says a big thanks to Roy for all his help! He came out and ran a 10.758 on a 10.55, with a good .460 reaction, to take the win against Tony's great 12.217 on a 12.20 Dial-in. | |
| Semi-Finals Despite running very close to Dial-in with a 12.455 on a 12.45, Darryl could not overcome Tom's reaction time advantage, where Tom also ran a close 11.526 on an 11.50 Dial-in to advance to the final. In the other matchup, Mark had another "Best Reaction" with a.436, which was enough to take the win with a 10.780 on a 10.55 in a heads up race against Nick running a 10.842 on the same Dial. | |
| Finals This was Tom's second final of 2002, and a very close run thing it was. Tom ran 11.557 on an 11.50, just .057 off, while Mark's better reaction time won the day, with a 10.612 on a 10.55, only .062 off!! How close is that?! The final turned out to be the decider for the Super Series Championship, with Mark winning the Series, and Tom finishing second, so many congratulations to both of them!! Thanks again to the extreme hard work of all the marshals and officials and racers themselves, all the rounds of qualifying and racing were completed for all classes (this time around 280 racers!). They all really outdid themselves again, and the whole event was superb, with a wide range of Sportsman and Pro classes and pairs in 4 different Nitro classes!! Thanks also to the track owner, club and Promoters for a great weekend, and a brilliant Series. And once again, we enjoyed some more really close racing. We're hoping to look forward to another year of Super Series next season! |