Season Opener - Wild Bunch

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Season Opener April 12 - 13

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2003 Season Opener12 April - 13 AprilPoints awarded for The Wild Bunch & Real Steel Championships

This weekend was Wild Bunch Series Round 1 as well as Real Steel Series Round 1. We had a field of 21 Wild Bunch cars taking part, including 10 Slingshots, 8 Altereds, 1 Rear-engine dragster and 2 Radicals

Event Results
Pos	WB	Driver	Car	Points
1	2	Tony Smith	The Cunning Plan	9
2	21	Gareth Kent	Hot Dog	7
3	86	Dick Sharp	Dorset Horn	6
4	101	Matt Lee	Worth The Wait	5
5	1	Floyd Codpiece Racing	Back in Black	4
-	28	Pete Loveridge	Herr X	4
-	33	Tom Coe	Psycho	4
-	34	Alec Coe	Shy Torque	4
-	42	Colin Stevens	GoldDigger	4
-	50	Chris & Clayton Round	Rebellious	4
-	56	Dogs Bollocks Racing	RamRaider	4
12	3	Chris Hartnell	Backdraft	3
-	4	Darryl Howells	Wheels of Fortune	3
-	9	Dogs Bollocks Racing	Nutcracker	3
-	29	Tony Wynne-Jones	Welsh Raider II	3
-	61	Ron Roper	High Fever	3
17	40	Dennis Hawkins	Wicked Lady	2
-	110	Nick Connor	Barking Mad	2
19	22	Scottie Durrant	In The Dog House Again	1
-	265	Paul Martin	Red & Yellow Flamed Topo	1
-	464	Tracy Froome	Sunburst	1

Spot Prizes
	WB	Team/Driver	Car	Detail
Best Reaction	34	Alec Coe	Shy Torque	.580
Closest To Dial-In	33	Tom Coe	Psycho	.020
Fastest M.P.H.	86	Dick Sharp	Dorset Horn	140.62 Mph
& Joint =	40	Dennis Hawkins	Wicked Lady	140.62 Mph
Quickest E.T.	86	Dick Sharp	Dorset Horn	9.586
Best Altered	86	Dick Sharp	Dorset Horn
Best Dragster/Radical	40	Dennis Hawkins	Wicked Lady
Best Slingshot	56	Sarah Howells	Ram Raider
Best Appearing Team	101	Matt Lee	Worth The Wait

Keith Charman and Chevone Charman-Osborne “Alkymist” (WB 15), Chris Round “Rebellious” (WB 48), (who ran a notable 8.88 pass on the Sunday), Steve Goode “Wobble” (WB 102) and others were also at the track but did not race with the Wild Bunch, as they were just Testing and Tuning! A mention goes out to Keith and the whole team for running their Personal Best E.T. of 8.69 in the “Alkymist” dragster (beating their previous best by half a second!). Congratulations to the whole team for their first 8-second run after all their perseverance!
Saturday was a practice day and the weather was very good - it started off sunny, but cool. We welcomed back many racers, including WB 1,2,3 and 4 (the second year in a row that all Top 4 have been in active racing!). We also welcomed new teams into the Wild Bunch, WB 265, Paul Martin with the yellow and red-flamed Topolino altered, and Tracy Froome, WB 464, with the “Sunburst” Funny car (Tracy had been at the November event, but he, like everyone else, did not get a run due to the bad weather!). Most drivers managed to put in a couple of testing and tuning runs on the Saturday.
Sunday was Series Points Day, and the weather turned out pretty good again, and there was no rain all weekend! And the track crew had worked very hard to get the track ready. We were able to run 3 rounds of Wild Bunch format, despite there being some long queues during the day. Already some teams are showing some early consistency, with many drivers having good runs; in fact 7 racers ran their Personal Best E.T.'s over the weekend!
WB 1	Joe Stevens, the reigning champion, was out in his “Back in Black” altered. He was not able to make any runs on Saturday, due to oil pressure problems, but Dialled-in at 12.90 for Sunday. He promptly ran an 11.706 in the first round, having cured the problem. He posted an even quicker 11.435 in the second and slowed to a 13.635 in the third round, finishing 10th overall.
WB 2	Tony Smith was raring to go in “The Cunning Plan” altered, running a 12.595 for starters on the Saturday. He Dialled-in at 12.25 and ran a solid 12.348 in the first round, and a similar 12.367 in the second. In the third round he ran a new Personal Best E.T. with the Minivan body on, a 12.057 at the end of the day, which gave him the win for the weekend.
WB 3	Wild Bunch Chairman “Crazy” Chris Hartnell was back in the “Backdraft” slingshot. He had changed a few minor things on the car, including the ignition, and ran a 10.306 on the Saturday. He hoped to tune the car back up and Dialled in 9.90. In the first round he posted an off-pace 10.534, with a very good reaction, just one-hundredth slower than the winning Reaction Time. He ran a 10.443 in the second round, and decided to park the car for the day, and take it home and diagnose the fuel/ignition problem. This weekend Chris and the team debuted their wicked new crew shirts, red of course, with yellow flames (what else?!), beautifully embroidered by Karen of the Dog Squad, many thanks to her!!
WB 4	Darryl Howells had kept the name of his slingshot as “Wheels of fortune” and put in a 12.428 and a 12.7 on Saturday. He Dialled-in 12.20, and ran 12.951 in the first round, missing the second with problems, and then posted a better 12.344 in the third round.
WB 9	saw Ray Ford driving the Team Dog's Bollocks “Nutcracker” slingshot on the first team outing of the year. He ran a 13.091 and a 15.7 on the Saturday with some kind of engine problem and Dialled-in at 13.40 for Sunday. He ran a 13.572 in the first round, and a struggling 18.6 in the second, having to sit out the third.
WB 21	was one of our younger drivers, Gareth Kent in the “Hot Dog” altered. He put in a 15.9 and a 16.0 on the Saturday, and Dialled in an optimistic 12.50 for Sunday. He put in a 12.680 pass for the first round, followed by a Personal Best E.T. of 12.356 in the second, and a close 12.541 in the third round, taking 2nd place overall in his first full Wild Bunch format event!
WB 22	was Scottie Durrant, who had recently finished his immaculate beautiful purple Topolino altered “In the Dog House Again”. He spent most of the weekend in the pits, tuning and firing the car, but on Sunday his gear box failed and he was unable to make any runs. He’ll soon have that fixed and be out again – good luck Scottie!
WB 28	Pete Loveridge was once again having fun in the “Herr X” fluorescent-flamed slingshot. He made a couple of runs Saturday, and Dialled-in at 10.80 for Sunday. He ran a close 10.825 in the first round, followed by a 10.967 and a 10.841 in the third. He finished 5th overall, just missing out on the top 4 by .059%!!
WB 29	Tony Wynne-Jones had brought his Corvette roadster-style “Welsh Raider 2” and hoped for some good runs. He ran a Personal Best E.T. of 12.74 on Saturday and Dialled in at 12.34 for Sunday. He ran 13.069 and 13.840, having to sit out the third round, but having an encouraging start to the season.
WB 33	was Tom Coe's “Psycho” slingshot. He ran an 11.709 and an 11.756 on Saturday, and Dialled-in at 11.70. He ran a “Closest to Dial-in” 11.720 in the first round, but slowed to a 14.474 in the second and had to be towed off during his third run due to a coil lead coming off.
WB 34	was Dad Alec Coe's “Shy Torque” slingshot and he was hoping for some performance out of the car, after problems last season. He ran an 11.224 PB on Saturday, followed by a rewarding 10.556, a Personal Best E.T. and his first time in the 10's! He Dialled in at 10.30 for Sunday and ran 10.850, 10.731 (with a “Best Reaction” of .580) and another Personal Best E.T. of 10.520 in the third round, to finish in 9th place overall.
WB 40	Dennis Hawkins was out in the “Wicked Lady” Rear-engine dragster. He Dialled-in at 9.60 Sunday. He only made one run of 10.088 in the first round, diagnosing some sort of problem, but putting in the JOINT “Fastest MPH” of 140.62 mph, and winning the “Best Dragster/Radical” Spot Prize!
WB 42	Colin Stevens was back in his gold-painted slingshot “Golddigger”. The car was again parked under an awning next to the van where he was selling his model cars and “Nitro UK” T-shirts, but this did not distract him, as he ran improving PB's on Saturday of 13.785 and 13.527! He Dialled-in at 13.50 and his first run was a very close 13.579. In Round 2 he ran another Personal Best E.T. of 13.192 and posted a 14.320 in the third, finishing in 6th place overall.
WB 50	saw a change of hands of the ex-Roy Wilding “Chariot of Fire Buick-powered slingshot, which had last year been owned and driven by Clive and Shane Bush and Andy Staton as the “Dire Straits” car (renamed from the “Good Fun Dragster”!!). It was now in the hands of Clayton Round, and the Rebel Racing brothers were fielding a 2-car team, along with “Rebellious”! Clayton ran an 11.289 on Saturday, getting a handle on the car, and Dialling in at 10.80 for Sunday. He ran a good 10.625, followed by a very creditable 10.245 Personal Best E.T. in only his third pass in the car, finishing with a 10.594 in the third round, to finish 7th. Congratulations on the debut of the slingshot, Clayton!
WB 56	Wild Bunch Secretary Sarah Howells was having the team's first turn for 2003 in the “Ram Raider” slingshot. Sarah put in a couple of passes of 10.713 off the trailer and 10.227 on Saturday and Dialled-in at 10.12 on Sunday. She ran a 10.338 in the first round, followed by a 10.416 and a 10.575, (with a wildish ride!) finishing in 8th place for the day, and winning “Best Slingshot” for the weekend!
WB 61	was Ron Roper's altered, renamed “High Fever” because of the steel Topo body that it was running. He put in an 11.6 pass on Saturday and Dialled in at 11.60 Sunday, running a 12.308 and a 12.424, and sitting out the third round Sunday.
WB 86	Dick Sharp, along with co-owner and crew chief Bunt Willcox, the current holders of the Don Garlits “Spirit of Drag Racing” Shield, were back in the team “Dorset Horn” altered. The car was once again beautifully turned out, earning “Best Altered” for the weekend. Dick put in a 9.748 “checkout” pass, fired up running with “Crazy” Chris on Saturday, followed by another pass of 9.66. He Dialled–in at 9.65 on Sunday, and ran 9.602 (at the JOINT “Fastest MPH” of 140.62 mph), 9.586 (not far off a PB, and the “Quickest E.T.” of ‘the Bunch’) and 9.849, finishing in 3rd place for the weekend. An officially good weekend for the whole “Dorset Horn” team with all 5 runs in the mid 9's!
WB 101	was another one of our young drivers, Matt Lee, in the aptly-named “Worth the Wait” slingshot. He ran a PB 14.785 on Saturday and Dialled in at 14.00 on Sunday. He ran another Personal Best E.T. of 13.925 in the first round, followed by a close 14.050, and a 14.302 in the third, giving him 4th place overall in his first full Wild Bunch format event. The team also won “Best Appearing Team” for their smart racewear and appearance, and included fire marshall Jim amongst their ranks!
WB 110	was Nick Connor in the “Barking Mad” altered. He Dialled in at 10.20 on Sunday, but had transmission problems in the first round, running an 11.856. Nick should have the problem fixed soon and be back out for the first MSA event in 3 weeks’ time!
WB 265	was newcomer Paul Martin, in his yellow and red-flamed Topolino altered. He spent all weekend in the pits, trying to get the car to run, but the starter motors (plural) finally gave up the ghost. Undaunted, he will hopefully be back out soon!
WB 464	was the first appearance of Tracy Froome's nostalgic Funny Car “Sunburst”. (He had been unable to make any runs at the November event, due to the weather.) His first pass Saturday was excellent, for a shakedown pass, straight and steady, and unfortunately not getting a time, due to Tracy not staging. It was estimated at around 10 seconds, and a promising start, leaving Tracy grinning like a Cheshire cat, and declaring that he quite liked racing it!! Unfortunately, after Dialling in at 10.00 on Sunday, the car had an oil leak before it could stage for the first round, and the team could not cure it on the day. Hope to see them all out soon to have more fun along with the rest of the Bunch!!
It's really great to be back Drag Racing again and the year ahead looks like being another exciting competition for the 8th full year of Wild Bunch racing! Next event is Ultimate Power Series Round 1, the “Excitement Nationals” on May 3rd-5th! That should be really exciting!! Have a great season everybody!