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Club Day Test & Tune October 15 - 16

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Fall Shootout15th October - 16th OctoberPoints awarded for the Real Steel Championship Round 10
This weekend was a RWYB event, the “Fall Shootout”. It was Real Steel Series Round 10 (Final) and there were Spot Prizes. We had a field of 11 Wild Bunch cars: 5 Slingshots, 5 Altereds and 1 Rear-engined dragster
Event Participants
Position WB Driver Car Points
1 76 Steven Field The Black Pig 10
2 67 Darryl Howells Chemical Reaction 8
3 81 Steve Taylor Claustrophobic 7
4 1 Tony Smith The Cunning Plan 6
5 16 Mark Hartnell Awesome 4-Some 5
- 38 Helen Smythe Hell's Belle 5
7 34 Alec Coe & Kev Mortimer Shy Talker 4
8 2 Joe Stevens Back in Black 3
- 4 Bob Morgan & Paul C B-Sting 3
10 3 Mike Cresswell Living the Dream 1
11 59 Lee Birch Colliebosher 1
Spot Prizes
WBTeam/DriverCarDetail
Best Reaction 67 Darryl Howells Chemcal Reaction .040
Closest To Dial-In 76 Steve Field The Black Pig .041 Off
Best Altered 38 Helen Smythe Hell's Belle
Best Slingshot 16 Mark Hartnell Awesome 4-Some
Best Radical/Dragster 81 Steve Taylor Claustrophobic
Best Appearing Team 38 Team Twisted Hell's Belle
Saturday was a practice day and the weather was mild, cloudy and dry all day! There was loads of track time, as not many other vehicles had turned up for the Run-What-You-Brung. In fact, the Wild Bunch made up about a quarter of the entrants! And many drivers got in up to 6 runs! Sunday was a bit cooler but still no rain, and about double the attendance, so still there were hardly any queues at all, so all 4 rounds were completed. Four racers ran Personal Best E.T.'s, and three of these ran Personal Best MPH's! And the weekend saw a very welcome return of the “B-Sting” team, who had been rebuilding the altered for most of 2005! It was great to see them back with the Bunch! And it meant that it was the first time this season that we had all of numbers WB 1 to WB 4 attending!
WB 1 Tony Smith arrived on Sunday with “The Cunning Plan” altered hoping to maintain his lead and win the Real Steel Series. Tony dialled in blind at 11.50. In the first round, he recorded an 11.734 @ 108.48 mph for his opening bid. He then posted an 11.891 in the second round and an 11.847 in the third, finishing with a slower 11.894 in the fourth round. He finished in 4th place overall for the weekend. Not at all bad for a blind Dial-in! And the result was good enough to secure victory for Tony in the Real Steel Series for 2005, so many congratulations to him and the team! Fair play, Tony!
WB 2 Joe Stevens was back in his “Back in Black” altered. He had now installed a blower atop a new engine, which he was testing this weekend. He put in a couple of checkout passes on the Saturday, including an 11.10 and a 10.5, trying to get to grips with the new setup. He dialled in at 9.90 for Sunday's rounds, and went straight out and ran a great new Personal Best E.T. of 9.627 @ 134.75 mph. He then recorded a closer to Dial-in run in the second round, a 9.802. Unfortunately, when he tried to stage for the third round, he was shut down and could not make the round. He then parked the car to hopefully fix some gremlins, and should be back testing at the next RWYB. And with that 9.6, we ain’t seen nothing yet!!
WB 3 ‘Psycho’ Mikey Cresswell was fresh from the Pod where he had taken the win in the Wild Bunch Series in his “Living the Dream” slingshot. He was still in with a shout of winning the Real Steel Series too, if he could finish a couple places higher than Tony Smith. Unfortunately, on his first run Saturday, something broke after the launch and the team had to push the car back. A broken diff was diagnosed, and Mikey was sidelined for the rest of the event. He was not too disappointed, as he has finished second in the Real Steel Series! Well done, Mike!
WB 4 saw a welcome return of the “B-Sting” team in their first Wild Bunch event this season! They had done a couple runs at York at a RWYB, but this was the first real test of the car. The altered had been newly rebuilt since the end of last season, and now had a bigger engine, bigger axle and chassis improvements (not to mention being stretched by around a foot!). The Best E.T. of the previous incarnation had been an 11.884, by Paul Croston, and the boys were hoping for quicker and better times with the new improved version! Bob Morgan was first in the altered and took the driving duties on Saturday. His first run netted his first ever 11-second pass, a great 11.026 @ 127.05 mph, also a Personal Best Speed for him and the car! He then recorded an 11.106 @ 126.32 mph, and on his third run a brilliant new Personal Best E.T. of 10.699 @ 126.04 mph, the first ever 10's at over 120 mph for himself and the car!. On Sunday, it was Paul Croston's turn to jump back into the hotseat. He dialled in blind at 10.60, and went straight out and ran his first ever 10-second pass, a strong 10.910 @ 123.49 mph! He followed this with another brilliant Personal Best E.T. of 10.659 @ 126.44 mph, a Personal Best Speed. Unluckily, in the third round, the car would not fire, and the team later diagnosed a blown fuse. Which then meant they had to park the car for the rest of the day, to try and trace the problem. They were all ecstatic about the string of 10's, already taking over 1.2 seconds off the car's previous best, and promising a lot for next season! Congratulations, and welcome back! Hope the off-season doesn’t seem too long for you guys!
WB 16 saw young Mark Hartnell with a newly rebuilt gearbox and carbs in his “Awesome 4-Some” slingshot. He was hoping for the low 13-second runs that had eluded him at the Hot Rod Drags, and was still testing some new parts, including the exhaust system. He started off the weekend with a disappointing 29-second pass at only 53 mph, with gear change problems. He then ran a better 19.6-second pass @ 80mph, but still off the pace. He then improved with an 18.050 and even further still on his fourth run, with a 16.511 @ 90.19 mph, starting to get a handle on the rebuilt box. He then took another second and a half off, recording a 15.066, and finished the day taking yet another second off, with a 14.037 @ 98.43 mph. Throughout Saturday, Mark had also been trying new things with his launching techniques and he hoped to continue his run of improvements. He dialled in at 13.50 on the Sunday, but started off with a pair of 14's, 14.703 and 14.609, both at 95 mph. He adjusted the fuel, and then also followed some advice about changing the cam timing, and in the third round ran a great new Personal Best E.T. of 13.304 @ 99.83 mph! He altered the setting once more, and recorded his first ever 12-second run over the ton, a fantastic new Personal Best E.T. of 12.927 @ 101.58 mph! Congratulations, Mark, fair play! He finished in 5th place overall for the weekend, and was also thrilled to be awarded the “Best Slingshot” Spot Prize for his improvements and PB's and determination, and a nicely turned out car!
WB 34 saw Alec Coe running his and Kev Mortimer's “Shy Talker” blown slingshot, putting in four runs on Saturday starting with a 13.831, having to back off a wheelying launch. He then ran an 11.261, struggling for traction, but put in an improved 9.311 @ 156.77 mph on his third run. He finished the day with a 10.678, again coming out of the run. On Sunday, he dialled in at 9.00 even and started off with a 10.478 in the first round. He then put in a better 9.407 in the second, and his first 8 of the weekend in the third round, an 8.849 @ 161.85 mph. With this run, he was the quickest and fastest driver at the track all weekend! Due to his engine being a bit warm earlier in the day, and the weather conditions cooling off, Alec did not run in the fourth round, but hopes to be back out for some more quick runs at the next RWYB!
WB 38 Helen Smythe was running the Team Twisted “Hell's Belle” altered. She started off with a great 9.897 @ 134.37 mph on Saturday, and followed this up with an even better 9.752 @ 135.60 mph. She then put in passes of 10.876 and 10.634, with crew chief Dean making some adjustments to back the engine off a little. Helen dialled in at 10.55 for Sunday, and went straight out and ran a 10.190 @ 128 mph. As this had been a bit too quick for Dial, further adjustments were made, but went a bit far with Helen slowing to a 12.853! This was remedied in the third round to an 11.326, and finally a near spot-on run of 10.605 in the fourth round! Helen finished in 6th place overall, and was awarded the “Best Altered” Spot Prize for her well turned out machine. The team also won the “Best Appearing Team” Spot Prize for their smart co-ordinated appearance.
WB 59 Lee Birch was in his second event with the Wild Bunch in “The Colliebosher” Buick-powered slingshot. He started off with a pass of 13.083 on Saturday. He then put in a run of 11.819 slowing to 88.85 mph. Unfortunately, on this run, the engine let go, and the car also suffered pretty comprehensive gearbox damage, and a broken starter motor and flexiplate! Fortunately Lee was perfectly fine, and so was the rest of the car! We’ve heard that he is well on the way to sourcing another engine and box, so should be back out early next season! All the best of luck to him!
WB 67 Darryl Howells was raring to go in the D.A.S.H. Racing “Chemical Reaction” slingshot. He made 4 strong low 10-second passes on Saturday of 10.369, 10.362, 10.122 and 10.394, all over 132 mph. He dialled in at 10.16 for Sunday's rounds, and started off with a 10.424, with a great “Best Reaction” of .040! He then recorded a 10.215 in the second round, and another strong 10.115 @ 132.66 mph in the third. He posted a 10.558 in the fourth round, and finished in 2nd place overall, a great result!
WB 76 Steve Field was running “The Black Pig” altered and made 5 runs on Saturday, starting with a 10.224, a 10.077, a 9.834 @ 136.90 mph, a 9.889 and a 9.883. He and Lesley dialled in at 9.95 on Sunday, and Steve put in a 9.898 in the first round. He then posted “Closest to Dial-in” with a 9.909, just .041 off, in the second round. He went on to improve to a great 9.794 in the third round and put in a 10.009 in the fourth, to take the win, his first ever event win! Steve and the team were very pleased with the car's performance over the weekend, and thrilled to take their first victory!
WB 81 Steve ‘Jacko’ Taylor was back in the “Claustrophobic” Rear-engined dragster. He made several passes on the Saturday, including a pair of 13.3's, and Dialled in at 13.30 for Sunday's rounds. He began with a 13.791 in the first round and got closer with a 13.382 in the second. He then posted a pair of 13.5's in the third and fourth round, a 13.561 and a 13.506, and finished in 3rd place overall for the weekend, his first event placing! Well done Jacko! He also won the “Best Dragster/Radical” Spot Prize for good measure and was really pleased with his weekend.
All in all a good weekend, where the weather was fine and there was lots of tracktime, and quite a chilled event! Some drivers got in 9 or 10 runs over the weekend. Well done to all of them on some good performances and a good showing as usual! Thanks as always to all the track crew and officials for their hard work. They even had time to stage a ‘marshall's challenge’ in their own street cars throughout the weekend, and had some well-earned fun doing it! Congratulations to Steve Field on his first ever event win, and to Mark for some great improvements throughout the weekend and his first 12, and to the Sting boys for their great debut of the rebuilt “B-Sting” and their early success with their first 10's!

The Real Steel Series is now concluded and Tony Smith has taken the victory! Many congratulations to him and all the team! Mike Cresswell has another strong Series result in second place, and in third place is Sarah Howells, with another Top 4 trophy to add to her win in the Ultimate Power Series. And moving up the rankings from last season is Helen Smythe in fourth place, another good performance. Congratulations to all of them on their achievements!

The next event is the “Halloween Showdown” at Shakey on 29th & 30th October. This is a RWYB event which will be for testing and tuning, and just a bit of fun! Rumour has it that there will be quite a few crew members taking over the driving for this event! So should be fun!