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Mini Weekend/Club Day July 16 - 17

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British Mini Showdown16th July - 17th JulyPoints awarded for the Wild Bunch Series Round 4 & the Real Steel Series Round 6
This weekend was a RWYB event, the “Mini Nationals”. It was Wild Bunch Series Round 4 and Real Steel Series Round 6 and there were Spot Prizes. We had our biggest field of the season so far, with 20 Wild Bunch cars including 9 Slingshots, 8 Altereds, 2 Rear-engined dragsters and 1 Radical
Event Participants
Position WB Driver Car Points
1 1 Tony Smith The Cunning Plan 9
2 38 Helen Smythe Hell's Belle 7
3 76 Steven Field The Black Pig 6
4 2 Joe Stevens Back in Black 5
5 6 Chris Hartnell Backdraft 4
- 29 Tony Wynne-Jones Welsh Raider 2 4
- 34 Alec Coe & Kev Mortimer Shy Talker 4
- 39 Roland Willats Dragin Time 4
- 44 Sarah Howells Destinys Angel 4
- 54 Phil Sweeney Antisocial 4
- 81 Steve Taylor Claustrophobic 4
- 147 Sid Slattery Destiny 4
13 3 Mike Cresswell Living the Dream 3
- 23 Les Stephenson & Gareth Kent Top Cat 3
- 40 Darren Law Wicked Lady 3
- 67 Darryl Howells Chemical Reaction 3
17 5 Lee Hartnell Dazed & Confused 1
- 16 Mark Hartnell Awesome 4-Some 1
- 57 Neil Ward Andromeda 1
- 100 Roy Wilding Chariot of Fire 1
Spot Prizes
WBTeam/DriverCarDetail
Best Reaction 57 Neil Ward Andromeda .021
Best Altered 23 Les Stephenson Top Cat
Best Slingshot 34 Tom Coe Shy Talker
Best Radical/Dragster 29 Tony Wynne-Jones Welsh Raider II
Most Improved Mph 34 Alec Coe Shy Talker 10.37Mph Improvement
Best Appearing Team 38 Team Twisted Hell's Belle
Wildest Ride 34 Alec Coe Shy Talker
Saturday was a practice day and the weather was warm and sunny! Sunday was really hot and sunny, hotter than expected! Many racers had 3 or 4 runs on the Saturday, and the whole Bunch ran 3 rounds on the Sunday. Four racers ran Personal Best E.T.'s, and 5 ran Personal Best MPH's! We welcomed back Darryl Howells in the DASH Racing “Chemical Reaction” slingshot, with a newly rebuilt engine. We also welcomed newcomer Les Stephenson, appropriately debuting in his Mini-bodied altered “Top Cat”, co-driven by Gareth Kent.
WB 1 Tony Smith was back behind the wheel of “The Cunning Plan” Minivan altered. He put in 4 good passes on the Saturday ranging from an 11.536, through two 11.6's and up to an 11.728, with a best speed of 113.47 mph. He had tried for a 5th run, but unfortunately had to shut down, and back in the pits, the team discovered a couple of bent valves. Luckily Tony had spares, and the team spent a couple of hours Saturday evening replacing them and fixing the problem. He Dialled in at 11.70 for the rounds on Sunday, and started well with an 11.724 @ 108 mph. He was even closer on the second round, recording a great 11.705, just 5 thousandths off, and finished with an 11.807 in the third round to win the event, and increase his lead in both the Wild Bunch and Real Steel Series! Fair play, Tony! Well worth all the hard work Saturday night!!
WB 2 ‘Smokin’ Joe Stevens was running his “Back in Black” altered. He was tuning his carb on Saturday, and made a couple of low 10-second passes, including a 10.230 @ 127.13 mph. He dialled in at 10.15 on Sunday, and in the first round run, recorded a 10.107 @ 129.33 mph. He followed this with a 10.097 and a 10.294 in the second and third rounds, and finished in 4th place overall.
WB 3 Mike Cresswell was out having fun in the “Living the Dream” slingshot. He made 5 runs on the Saturday, an 11.332, a pair of 11.2's, an 11.015, and a new Personal Best E.T. of 10.964, with a day's best speed of 116.23 mph. He dialled in at 11.15 for Sunday's rounds, but unfortunately missed the first round when he had starting problems. He and the team worked hard on this in the pits, with some help from some friends, and managed to fix the car in time for the second round, where he posted an 11.775. He also made the third round, but red lit and did not record a time. Mike and all the Freq racing gang still had a great weekend!
WB 5 Lee Hartnell was back in his “Dazed & Confused” altered, one of a trio of Hartnell cars racing this weekend. He put in a couple of passes on Saturday, starting with a 12.412 @ 110.25 mph, and improving to a 12.272 @ 110.83 mph and the car looked really strong. Unfortunately, after returning from the second run, Lee realised something had broken in the diff and was then sidelined for the rest of the event. A great shame!
WB 6 “Crazy” Chris Hartnell began Saturday crewing for both of the boys before getting back in the hotseat of his “Backdraft” slingshot. His first run was a 9.413 @ 146.55 mph, losing some traction off the line. He later recorded a 10.060 @ 128.23 mph, when he had to back out of the run, after going out of shape. This left a bit of a guessing game over Dial-in, and Chris opted for a 9.40 for Sunday's rounds. He promptly went out and ran a strong 8.912 @ 148.95 mph in the first round!! For the second round he posted a 9.881 @ 146 mph, once more losing some traction off the line. He ended with a 9.447 in the third round, his closest of the day, and finished in 9th place overall. The highlight of the weekend had been pairing up with Lee and racing with the boys!
WB 16 saw the third event of the year for young Mark Hartnell in his “Awesome 4-Some” slingshot. He was fresh from his first Top 4 placing at the Nostalgias, and was hoping for another improved performance. Dad Chris crewed for his first run, assisted by Mark's friend Mike, who was just learning the ropes. Mark recorded a 14.677 @ 93.80 mph on this pass, against brother Lee, and had some tuning problems. He made some changes between rounds, and the car sounded better at the start of the second run, which resulted in a 17.819, due to a gear selection problem. His third run launch was much smoother, but he still recorded an 18.352 @ 93.55 mph, with a second gear problem. Unfortunately, on returning to the pits, Mark discovered he had blown a head gasket, and had a couple of other minor leaks, so had to retire for the weekend. He hopes to strip down and re-gasket the engine in time for the Hot Rod Drags. Good luck, Mark!
WB 23 saw the debut of Les Sanderson's “Top Cat” full Mini-bodied altered. He had just finished building the car in time for the event, and had only had time to do a quick blue spray job, just to make sure it got to the Mini weekend!! Good friend Gareth Kent had helped him bring it to the track on Saturday, but Les could not attend til Sunday, due to other commitments. The team dialled in blind, with a 13.42, hoping to get in some checkout passes for the rounds. Gareth took the first couple of runs in the car, to test everything out, and recorded a 21.237 and a 20.906 @ 44.71 mph. The car had some teething problems, which unfortunately meant Les did not get a run, after queueing up for the third round. Hope to see Les back out soon making some runs, but in the meantime, fair play for getting the car to the event!! He was absolutely amazed to be awarded the “Best Altered” Spot Prize by the commentators, as they had dubbed the car ‘Bold and Adventurous’! Welcome to the Wild Bunch, Les!
WB 29 Tony Wynne-Jones was back running his beautiful “Welsh Raider II” Corvette Radical, after fixing some problems that had occurred at his last event. He put in several passes on Saturday, including an 11.991 @ 111.07 mph, and an 11.977, and dialled in at 11.70 for Sunday. He posted a 12.018 for the first round, a 12.014 for the second and a 12.235 for the third, not quite getting a handle on the new engine tune-up yet, but he soon will! Tony was thrilled to be awarded the “Best Radical/Dragster” Spot Prize for the weekend, and finished in 10th place.
WB 34 was the second event of the year for Kev Mortimer and Alec Coe's new methanol-burning “Shy Talker” blown injected slingshot. Alec put in an early pass Saturday, of 9.842 @ 139.96 mph, losing some traction during the run. His next run of the day netted some long-hoped for figures, as he ran his first 8-second pass at over 150mph, an 8.959 @ 151.08 mph!! Many congratulations to Alec and the team on the achievement!! He put in a third pass Saturday, a match race against Crazy Chris, and they had hoped for a side-by-side 8, but Alec just missed out with a 9.015 @ 150.49 mph, to Chris’ 10-second aborted run. On Sunday, Alec's son Tom was due to have a drive in the car, and the team dialled in at 9.00 seconds even. Alec drove in the first round and recorded a new Personal Best E.T. and Speed of 8.870 @ 154.88 mph! This jump in speed also won Alec the “Most Improved MPH” Spot Prize with an improvement of 10.37 mph over his debut event best. Tom then took his first ever turn in the hotseat, and posted an amazing 9.090 @ 157.14 mph, beating his Personal Bests in the old “Shy Torque” slingshot by a full second and 22 mph!!!! Another member of the family who does not do checkout passes!! For this achievement the commentators awarded the “Best Slingshot” Spot Prize to Tommy Gun alone, with the comment querying whether the ‘old man’ had been kicked out of the seat already! Alec soon got back in the chair for the next round, but lost traction off the line, after a red light, and had to swerve to avoid the guard rail, and coast to a 15-second pass! For his great driving job, Alec was awarded the “Wildest Ride” Spot Prize! Well done to all the Mad R's team on a brilliant weekend! And the Wild Bunch would like to wish Tom and Jen all the best for their forthcoming wedding on 6th August! Have a lovely day all of you and Congratulations and good luck!!
WB 38 Helen Smythe was driving the Team Twisted “Hell's Belle” altered, with the team arriving fresh from husband Dean's Graduation ceremony, where he had been awarded his Automotive Engineering Degree. Many congratulations, Dean! Well done! (And how did you ever get time for all that engine building and tuning?!). On Helen's first run on Saturday, she recorded a 10.358, and was never far from that, posting a 10.378, a 10.274 and a 10.492 @ 127.40 mph. The team had a pit party Saturday night to celebrate Dean's success and all the Wild Bunch joined in! Helen dialled in at 10.35 for Sunday's rounds, and started off tentatively with a 10.466. She then posted a better 10.315 @ 128.07 mph, and a really close 10.368, and finished in 2nd place overall! The team were also awarded the “Best Appearing Team” Spot Prize for the weekend, for their smart appearance, despite the heat, and their total attention to teamwear co-ordination with even their bear mascots wearing purple Graduation outfits!! Another great week for the whole team!
WB 39 Roland Willats had arrived early Sunday for some more good racing in his “Dragin Time” slingshot. He dialled in blind at 12.77, hoping to beat his PB from the Nostalgias. He started off with a 13.289 in the first round and went on to run an improved 12.856 @ 102.05 mph in the second round, and a 12.917 in the third, to finish in 7th place overall, and really enjoyed the day's racing.
WB 40 Darren Law was back running “The Wicked Lady” rear-engine dragster. He made 4 good runs on Saturday, only dropping into the 10's once, a 10.147 @ 139 mph, and recording a 9.921, a 9.911 and a 9.750, very near his Personal Best. The team dialled in at 9.75 for Sunday's rounds, but the car unfortunately experienced some gearbox problems, with Darren running a 10.568 in the first round and a 10.732 in the second. The team had to park the car, and will surely diagnose and cure the problem in time for their next event, hopefully at the August Bank Holiday!
WB 44 Sarah Howells is having more fun than a barrel of monkey's this year in Bernie Nicholas’ “Destiny's Angel” altered, and was raring to go for this event. Especially as she had the added excitement of husband Darryl's car being back at the track! She put in several passes on Saturday, including a 9.662 @ 140.99 mph, and a 9.818. Bernie dialled her in at 9.70 for the rounds on Sunday, and Sarah started really well with a 9.724 @ 141.61 mph in the first round. She then recorded a 9.791 and a 9.828 in the second and third rounds, and finished just outside of the Top 4 in 5th place overall. This was by a mere three thousandths of a second over the 3 rounds, right behind Joe Stevens, with Sarah's total distance from Dial-in being .243, to Joe's .240 (meaning an average of .081 versus .080!)! So close!
WB 54 saw Phil Sweeney running in the “Antisocial” slingshot. He put in several passes on the Saturday, ranging from a 13.9 up to a 16-second pass, and was experiencing some carb problems. He was also doing his licensing runs, and managed to gain his MSA license on the Saturday, so many congratulations to him! He dialled in hopefully at 13.80 for Sunday's rounds, and was still a fair way off in the first round where he posted a 14.869. He had then had some advice from other Wild Bunchers, and managed to cure his problems, and put in a much improved 13.375 @ a new Personal Best Speed of 97.81 mph in the second round, and then dipped back into the 14's in the third round, carding a 14.049, to finish in 11th place overall for the weekend.
WB 57 saw Neil Ward and the team back with the “Andromeda” slingshot, after their oil seal problem at Santa Pod. Neil ran well on Saturday, posting a 9.726 @ 131.75 mph, a 9.859, and a 9.729, which boded well for consistency for Sunday. Unfortunately, the team discovered a broken lifter or two, and were unable to replace this by Sunday, and had in fact made the decision to replace the whole set, hopefully in time for their next event at the August Bank Holiday. Good luck, guys! There was some consolation, in that Neil had recorded the “Best Reaction” of the Bunch, a .021, on one of these runs! Fair play, Neil!!
WB 67 saw the very welcome return of Darryl Howells in the beautiful “Chemical Reaction” slingshot, with an engine newly rebuilt by Crazy Chris Hartnell (Kiitos!). (The team had suffered the loss of the previous engine at the first event this season). Darryl spent some of the day in the pits Saturday running the engine in, and crewing for wife Sarah in the “Destiny's Angel” altered. Later on in the day, Darryl put in a checkout pass of 12.107 @ 108.35 mph, just for starters, with Sarah and Bernie crewing this time. He dialled in at 11.50 for Sunday, and in the first round he recorded a close 11.472 at a new Personal Best Speed of 131.02 mph, his first time over 130mph!!! Fair cushtie, Darryl! Due to a bit of delay in the queue, Darryl's engine was running a bit hot, and he decided to pass on the second round, and go for it in the third! He recorded an even better 11.027 @ 130.44 mph, and he was thrilled to be back, and starting to run some good numbers! This was the second time in as many years that Darryl ‘debuted’ the car at the “Mini Nationals” so it is getting to be his lucky event! Welcome back DASH racing!!
WB 76 was Steve & Lesley Field's “The Black Pig” altered. Steve's first run of the day Saturday was a 10.061, and he followed this with a slightly better 10.019 @ 137.17 mph. He later put in a 10.860 and a 10.310 and Lesley dialled him in at 10.05 for Sunday's rounds. Steve ran better, recording two 9-second passes in the first two rounds of 9.969 @ 138.65 mph and 9.946, before going on to post a close 10.034 in the third round, and finish in 3rd place overall, for the second time in as many events! Well done, Steve!
WB 81 Steve ‘Jacko’ Taylor was back in the “Claustraphobic” rear-engine dragster. He had brought the car up late on Saturday, so dialled in blind for Sunday, at 13.00 seconds even, hoping for his first 12-second pass. He put in a 13.397 @ 101.35 mph in the first round, but then got closer in the second, with a 13.176, and ended the day with a 13.288, to finish in 8th place overall. He really enjoyed the day's racing and should be in the 12's soon!
WB 100 saw the second event of the year for Roy and Angi Wilding's new “Chariot of Fire” altered, with Roy once again in the driving seat. Everything seemed to be going well and the car fired up nicely in the pits and sounded strong, but on Roy's first pass Saturday, the engine let go, without warning. Roy coasted safely to the first return road and was thankfully perfectly fine, as was the altered. Once they got back to the pits, Roy investigated further, and found the cam in pieces, twisted rods, a smashed oil pickup, and other broken parts. This was a huge shame as the car had looked so great, and it was so early on in its career. So we all really hope Roy can rebuild the engine soon and be back out racing once again! Best of luck, Roy!
WB 147 Sid Slattery was running his lovely Jag-powered “Destiny” slingshot after he and the team had worked to fix the small amount of engine damage sustained at the Nostalgias. He made 4 runs on Saturday, ranging from a 12.560 @ 116.96 mph down to an 11.518, and was pleased with how the car was running. He also succeeded in gaining his MSA license on the Saturday, so many congratulations to him! (Word is he performed the cockpit escape in record time, so fair play!). Sid dialled in at 11.63 on Sunday, and recorded an 11.907 in the first round. He followed this with a better 11.833 in the second round and remained in the 11's for the third round, with an 11.878 @ 118.05 mph, with a nice little wheelie off the line! He finished in 6th place overall. Sid and Sheena and the whole team were really chuffed with how well the car ran, and pleased to have used almost all of the fuel they had brought with them! In fact it would be a close run thing between them and the Mad R's as to who had the biggest smiles of the weekend!
Once again, another great weekend, with lovely sunshine and lots of track time on the Saturday. Congratulations to all of the drivers for good personal performances and a really great show! They did themselves proud! Many thanks as always to all the track crew and officials who worked hard all weekend, especially in the heat!

We’re now really looking forward to the next event, the “York Summer Showdown” at York Dragway on 6th & 7th August! This is a pre-entry RWYB event and will be Wild Bunch Series Round 5 and Real Steel Series Round 7 as well as Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars Series Round 3! This should be another fun weekend of racing so hope to see you at sunny York!