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Allstar Nationals August 23 - 25
Ultimate Power Series 2003The AllStar Nationals23rd August - 25th AugustPoints awarded for Ultimate Power Series, Wild Bunch Series & Real Steel Championships
The Final of the Ultimate Power Series, the “Allstar Nationals”, was also Wild Bunch Series Round 5 and Real Steel Series Round 7. We had a field of 19 Wild Bunch cars competing at this 3-day Bank Holiday weekend, 6 Altereds, 9 Slingshots, 2 R.E.D.'s & 2 Radicals - our biggest MSA field to date!
| Event Results | ||||
| Pos | WB | Driver | Car | Points |
| 1 | 21 | Gareth Kent | Hot Dog | 870 |
| 2 | 33 | Tom Coe | Psycho | 730 |
| 3 | 20 | Mark Coulsell | Limited Funz | 490 |
| 4 | 44 | Tara Nicholas | Destiny's Angel | 410 |
| 5 | 3 | Chris Hartnell | Backdraft | 400 |
| 6 | 1 | Floyd Codpiece Racing | Back in Black | 330 |
| 7 | 2 | Tony Smith | The Cunning Plan | 320 |
| 8 | 34 | Alec Coe | Shy Torque | 280 |
| 9 | 82 | Gary Kay | Dream Machine | 270 |
| 10 | 60 | Andrew Gibb | AB Speedshop Slingshot | 260 |
| 11 | 9 | Dogs Bollocks Racing | Nutcracker | 250 |
| - | 56 | Dogs Bollocks Racing | RamRaider | 250 |
| 13 | 40 | Dennis Hawkins | Wicked Lady | 240 |
| 14 | 15 | Keith Charman | Alkymist | 160 |
| 15 | 4 | Darryl Howells | Wheels of Fortune | 140 |
| 16 | 86 | Dick Sharp | Dorset Horn | 80 |
| 17 | 29 | Tony Wynne-Jones | Welsh Raider II | 30 |
| 18 | 43 | Martin Holgate | Paranoia | 20 |
| 19 | 464 | Tracy Froome | Sunburst | 10 |
| Spot Prizes | ||||
| WB | Team/Driver | Car | Detail | |
| #1 Qualifier | 33 | Tom Coe | Psycho | .004 Off |
| Best Reaction | 20 | Mark Coulsell | Limited Funz | .401 |
| Closest To Dial-In | 2 | Tony Smith | The Cunning Plan | .005 Off |
| Closest Runner-Up | 3 | Chris Hartnell | Backdraft | .072 Behind |
| Best Engineered | 43 | Martin Holgate | Paranoia | |
| Best Altered | 86 | Dick Sharp & Bunt Willcox | Dorset Horn | |
| Best Slingshot | 60 | Andrew Gibb | AB Speedshop Slingshot | |
| Best Radical/Dragster | 464 | Tracey Froome | Sunburst | |
| Best Appearing Team | 21 | Gareth Kent | Hot Dog | |
| Driver's Choice | 86 | Dick Sharp & Bunt Willcox | Dorset Horn | |
| Saturday This was a qualifying day and there were 2 rounds to be had. In the 1st round of qualifying, 16 drivers took part. Joe Stevens put in a banker of 10.809 on a 10.50 Dial-in to open his account in the Back in Black altered. Tony Smith had problems with The Cunning Plan and could not put in a run. Darryl Howells carded a 13.662 on a 12.90 for openers in the Wheels of Fortune slingshot, paired heads-up with Andy Gosling running a 13.386 in the Nutcracker car. Ray Ford Dialled in at 10.00 in the Ram Raider, but did not record a time on his pass. Chris Hartnell ran a good solid 9.499 pass on a 9.20 Dial-in in the Backdraft slingshot at 137.20 mph against Tracey Froome in the Sunburst Radical Funny Car, who had Dialled in at 10.00 even. Sadly, Tracey blew his engine shortly after half-track and coasted to a 14.457 qualifier. Several rods had exited the block, and there was also crank and head damage, so hopefully the team can rebuild before too long. The car won the Best Radical/Dragster Spot Prize again, so the team were pleased with that! There was quite a big cleanup after the oildown and the marshals were getting to grips with new absorbent compound spreading equipment, which did its job well. Next up was Chevone Charman-Osborne in the Destiny's Angel, who ran a brilliant 9.593 on a 9.60 Dial-in, and luckily sailed off into the distance, as she was paired with Dick Sharp in the Dorset Horn, who had Dialled in at 9.67 and was giving her a very good run for her money until very unfortunately, something happened just before the finish line, and Dick took a very sharp turn left and ‘the Horn’ went over, rolling about 4 times. The safety crew were soon on the scene and did their job superbly as usual. It was an anxious wait before we knew how Dick was; and he had to be taken to hospital for a thorough check-up. He emerged with a broken wrist and fingers, black eyes, a stiff neck and harness bruising and thankfully was back at the track the next day, telling the tale. The car was very much the worse for wear, and the body was broken into pieces, along with all the other damage incurred. It was a very sad sight to see in the pits, but a relief to see the rock solid roll cage and safety cell that had done its job to protect Dick. Dick and Bunt will be thoroughly looking over their car to see what damage it has sustained and are already talking about rebuilding Dorset Horn mark 007! The team would like to say a big thanks to the safety crews and marshals and everybody who donated towards the rebuild fund and offered their support! Best of luck to the whole team, who took the Best Altered Spot Prize, as well as an almost unanimous Driver's Choice award! Keith Charman was next up after Dick's crash and put in a strong 9.289 on a 9.20 Dial-in in the Alkymist Rear-engine dragster, finishing the first day in #1 Spot. Gareth Kent recorded a 12.578 on a 12.05 Dial-in in his Hot Dog altered for starters. Tony Wynne-Jones, in the Welsh Raider II Corvette Radical dialled in at 11.80 and ran 13.427. On this run, the engine had unfortunately seized at about 100 mph, but luckily the car kept straight. Later Tony realised the car had rod and crank damage, but hopes to be out for the Santa Pod event. Good luck with the rebuild Tony! Andrew Gibb, who was debuting a lovely recently-built slingshot, was doing his observed licensing runs. He put in a launch and half pass in the first round of qualifying. Mark Coulsell had gearbox problems in the Limited Funz slingshot, and had to try and acquire some new parts to fix it, so had to miss all of Saturday's qualifying runs. Tom Coe was running in his slingshot Psycho and ran an 11.430 on an 11.40 for his opening qualifier, while Dad Alec, leader in the Ultimate Power Series points, put in a 10.563 on a 10.34 Dial in the Shy Torque slingshot. Dennis Hawkins had just rebuilt the engine in the Wicked Lady Rear-engine dragster and put in a checkout pass of 10.961 on a 9.74 Dial-in to get a safe qualifier in the bank. Gary Kay put in a 13.666 on a 12.80 Dial-in in the Dream Machine Rear-engine dragster, still trying to get rid of his fuel-delivery gremlins, but safely qualifying. | |
| Sunday The Wild Bunch were called for our 2nd round of qualifying late on Saturday, but time ran out past the curfew, so we were first up on Sunday morning and 14 cars took part. Joe set another good time with a 10.671 on a 10.50 Dial. Tom ran an 11.465 time on his 11.40, whilst Alec ran a 10.663 on a 10.44 Dial-in, incredibly at the exact same .223 off his Dial as he had posted in the first round of qualifying!! Martin Holgate had brought his Paranoia altered for its first trip to an MSA event this season and put in a strong 10.191 on a 10.20 Dial for his first qualifier. Darryl put in a 14.272 on his 12.90 Dial-in, whilst Andy carded a 13.757 on the same Dial. Tony Smith ran a safe 12.191 on his 11.95 Dial-in, and Chris improved his mark with a 9.651 on a 9.40. Keith put in a spectacular 8.891, breaking out on his 9.00 Dial and recording 146.58 mph (Top MPH of The Bunch for the weekend). (Keith qualified in fourth spot with his earlier pas). Unfortunately he noticed some bearing damage after the second run and the team started to work on that. Gareth put in a 12.733 on a 12.34 Dial-in, fine tuning his performance. Dennis was turning up the heat on the new engine and posted a good 9.849 on his 9.74 Dial, to get a bit closer. Chevy recorded a 9.636 on a 9.40, to go the right side of her Dial for her second qualifier. Ray also put in a banker, with a 10.458 on a 10.00 even Dial, and Gary improved with a 13.201 on a 12.80 Dial. There was one more qualifying round on the Sunday for all classes, and 12 WB cars ran. Joe and Tony both improved their qualifying marks with a 10.735 on a 10.60 and a 12.366 on a 12.15 respectively. Darryl and Andy both posted times of just over a second off their Dial-in and did not improve, whilst Gareth moved up the order with a 12.467 on a 12.42, to finish in 3rd qualifying spot, just .047 off. Andrew Gibb made his third observed run, a full pass of 12.322 on an 11.91 Dial, and a Personal Best E.T. (being his first ¼ run) which eventually earned him his licence and a qualifying spot!! Mark Coulsell had thrashed that morning on the gearbox and narrowly made it just in time for the third qualifier, posting a 10.801 on a 10.50 Dial-in! So fair play to him! Chris Hartnell had noticed some rear-slick deflation since the 2nd qualifier, and had thought it was due to valve problems. He changed the valve and re-inflated the slick and went down for the qualifier. Chris performed a good burnout, but the team noticed the tyre had started to go down, so shut down. Tom and Alec Coe nearly stole the show with side by side runs of 11.404 on an 11.40 and 10.549 on a 10.54, .004 off and .009 off respectively, taking #1 and #2 qualifying places!! Dennis Hawkins had surprised himself with only the third full pass on the rebuilt engine, posting 9.514 on a 9.74 Dial, but being very happy with the run! Martin put in another qualifier, with a 12.164, unfortunately breaking the timing chain in the Paranoia, and sidelining the Altered for the event. He did pick up Best Engineered Spot Prize for his nicely turned out car, and hopes to have it fixed for the Hot Rod Drags! Ray was another driver to improve his mark, running exactly a tenth over his 10.25 Dial, and qualifying in 5th spot. All 19 Wild Bunch cars had qualified! | |
| Round One This was held on the Sunday, about 5:00 pm, as we were one of the bigger classes and had 5 rounds at the event. We had to hurry to get ready for the round, and we were unsure if time would permit it. Unfortunately, Keith Charman could not fix the Alkymist in time so could not make the call. Gary Kay was also having some problems with wiring, but put things back together realising he had a Bye run in the first round, as Keith was due to be his opponent. He recorded a 13.078 on a 13.00 Dial, and retired for the day to sort the problem out for the next round. Chris also had a Bye run, as his opponent was scheduled to be Tracey Froome. The team inflated the rear slicks, and took the slingshot to the start line and staged to go through to the next round. (They then fixed the tyre overnight with a new inner tube from Tony Wynne-Jones, many thanks to him!). Mark Coulsell ran an 11.052 on a 10.80 putting out points leader Alec Coe, who ran a breakout 10.513 on a 10.54. On this run, Mark posted an amazing .401 Reaction time, taking the Best Reaction Spot Prize! Tony Smith, Gareth Kent and Chevy Charman-Osborne all had Bye-runs as their opponents had unfortunately broken! Tony ran a great 12.155 on a 12.15 Dial-in, to take the Closest to Dial-in trophy, just .005 off! Gareth ran a safe 12.646 on a 12.42 Dial, advancing to the second round for the first time ever; and Chevy ran a 9.586 on a 9.50 Dial, seeing what the altered could do. Tom Coe also had a Bye-run by virtue of being #1 Qualifier, putting in an 11.375 on an 11.40 Dial-in. Joe Stevens managed to overhaul Darryl Howells with an 11.598 on a 10.66 to Darryl's slowing 14.721 on a 13.40. Dennis once again surprised himself with a brilliant 9.449 on a 9.54, breaking out and handing the win to Andy Gos who ran a 13.475 on a 13.30. The Wicked Lady team were thrilled with the run and the preservation of all the engine parts!! New man Andrew Gibb faced 2nd-in-the-points Ray Ford and won his first ever race with a 12.473 on a 12.28 against Ray's 10.395 on a 10.25 Dial. | |
| Round Two In Round 2 on Monday morning, there were 5 races. Tom ran an 11.847 on his 11.40 Dial-in to take the win over Andy's 13.810 on a 13.30. Mark took the victory with an 11.030 on a 10.80 Dial-in over Joe's small breakout of 10.639 on a 10.66; Mark carding another good .415 reaction. Andrew Gibb faced Chris Hartnell and posted a loseout 12.522 on a 12.28 to Chris’ 9.767 on a 9.60. Andrew did well in his first ever event, and was pleased with how the team's new car ran. The car was voted Best Slingshot by the commentary team, to top off their debut. The next race was another tough one with Tony Smith against Gareth (who was really on form and running well). Tony ran a 12.176 on a 12.05 to Gareth's 12.644 on a 12.42. Gareth won the race by virtue of his strong .413 Reaction on the light. Chevy advanced to the quarter-final with a solid 9.618 on a 9.60 Dial, over Gary, who posted a slowing 14.994 on a 13.06 Dial. | |
| Quarter-Finals This round saw Mark Coulsell with a Bye, and he recorded a 10.885 on a 10.50 Dial-in. Chevy ran second closest to Dial-in with a brilliant 9.606 on a 9.60, with a speed of 141.51 mph, which exactly matched her speed in Round 2! This was not enough to overhaul Tom Coe, who ran an 11.461 on an 11.40, and won with a reaction time which was quicker by 2 ½ tenths. The other race was a tough one with Chris Hartnell posting a 9.720 on a 9.60 which, even though he had a slightly better reaction time, was not enough to defeat the charging Gareth Kent, who ran a great 12.439 on a 12.42 Dial-in to advance to the Semis. Chris took Closest runner-up in this race, only losing by .072! Chevy ended up 4th for the event on the tot-back system, by virtue of being closest to Dial-in (without breaking out) that round. | |
| Semi-Finals The Semi-Finals saw Mark Coulsell posting a 10.876 on a 10.80 Dial-in, after having had some startline flameouts; and due to this, he was uncharacteristically late on the light and not quite as close as Tom Coe, who ran an 11.441 on an 11.40, to reach the Finals. Gareth had a Bye run, where he just staged and pulled back to the wall to wait to pair up with Tom in the Final, for a battle of the 21-year-olds! | |
| Finals This was quite soon after the previous round, as the finals had been called during the running of the Semis! Both drivers pulled close reactions, but Tom broke out with an 11.313 on an 11.40 trying to charge down Gareth who ran a 12.524 on his ‘lucky’ 12.42 Dial-in to take his first ever MSA event win! Many congratulations Gareth!! The team of Gareth, Les and Lou also won the Best Appearing Team Spot Prize for their appearance and conduct on the track. So well done to all of them! Overall, some close exciting racing with the usual friendly rivalry. And once again it was thanks to the hard work of everyone concerned, marshals, officials and racers alike, that enabled the event to be completed! Thanks also to the track owner and Promoter for making the event possible in the first place. The next event is the Hot Rod Drags where the 10 fastest cars from the Nostalgia Nationals have been invited by the NSRA to take part. After this, there is the season finale, the Sportsman Nationals Finals at Santa Pod at the end of September, where there will hopefully be a good attendance by the Wild Bunch. Tom Coe is now leading both the Wild Bunch and Real Steel Series, but things are very close, and in the case of the Real Steel Series, only 3 points separate the Top 4!! These Series will also go right down to the wire! Should be really exciting! Stay tuned!! |