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Mini Weekend July 15 - 16

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Mini Nationals15th July - 16th JulyPoints awarded for the Wild Bunch Series Round 4, Real Steel Series Round 7
This event was Wild Bunch Series Round 4, the “Mini Showdown”, as well as Real Steel Series Round 7. There was a field of 18 Wild Bunch cars participating: 8 Altereds, 8 Slingshots and 2 Rear-engine dragsters
Event Participants
Position WB Driver Car Points
1 100 Roy Wilding Chariot of Fire 9
2 2 Tony Smith The Cunning Plan 7
3 44 Sarah Howells Destinys Angel 6
4 109 Alan Broughton B-Sting 5
5 57 Neil Ward Andromeda 4
- 4 Chris Hartnell Backdraft 4
- 3 Helen Smythe Hell's Belle 4
- 16 Mark Hartnell Awesome 4-Some 4
- 9 Andy Gosling RamRaider 4
- 20 Mark Coulsell Limited Funz 4
- 76 Steve Field The Black Pig 4
12 63 Joe Stevens Back In Black 3
- 34 Alec Coe & Kev Mortimer Shy Talker 3
- 81 Steve Taylor Claustrophobic 3
15 54 Phil Sweeney Antisocial 2
- 115 Paul Bambrick American Pie 2
17 40 Darren Law Wicked Lady 1
- 132 Dan & Elliott Jones Ragin Cajun 1
Spot Prizes
WBTeam/DriverCarDetail
Best Reaction 20 Mark Coulsell Limited Funz .014
Best Altered 109 Andy Murphy & Team B-Sting
Best Slingshot 9 Andy Gosling & Team Ramraider
Best Radical/Dragster 40 Darren Law & Team The Wicked Lady
Best Engineered 9 Andy Gosling & Team Ramraider
Most Improved Mph 9 Andy Gosling Ramraider +15 Mph
Driver's Choice 9 Andy Gosling Ramraider
Saturday. This was a practice day and most drivers got in 4 rounds. The day started off cloudy, but it soon cleared and the weather became very hot once again! On the evening, the Wild Bunch held a Hawaiian Beach party in the pits, and there were many teams in grass skirts and Hawaiian shirts, not to mention the odd shark and limbo dancer! The weather sure joined in as well, as it was a nice warm dry evening! And everyone had a great time!

Sunday (Series Points Day) Again the day started cloudy, but the weather soon turned even hotter than on the Saturday and stayed that way! Because of the heat and the volume of vehicles, we completed 3 rounds on the day.
WB 2 saw Tony Smith back in the hotseat of The Cunning Plan minivan altered, after Dave's win at the ‘Nostalgia Nats’, which had consolidated their lead in the Wild Bunch Series. He made 5 passes on the Saturday, starting with an 11.860 and an errant 13.260, then improved with an 11.737, an 11.764 and an 11.606, with the four 11's all being at 109 mph. He dialled in at 11.68 for Sunday's rounds, and started well with an 11.645 in the first. He then posted a quicker run of 11.569 in the second and a close 11.673 in the third, just .007 off his Dial-in, and the closest of the Bunch for the day. This made the difference, and Tony finished in 2nd place overall and maintained the lead of the Wild Bunch Series!
WB 3 Helen Smythe was hoping for some more good E.T.'s in the Hell's Belle altered. She was currently in the lead of the Real Steel Series, so hoped to keep her position. She started off Saturday with a 9.682 @ 136.67 mph and made a total of 5 runs for the day, including a 9.701, a wayward 14.869, a 10.468 and a 10.968. She dialled in at 9.75 on Sunday and posted a 9.611 in the first round, her best run of the weekend. She then recorded a 9.666 in the second and a 10.210 in the third, and finished in 7th place overall for the weekend. Helen still leads the Real Steel Series.
WB 4 Chris Hartnell was running the Backdraft slingshot, and as always hoping for some more 8-second runs. He began Saturday with a 9.381 @ 146.06 mph, and then put in two consistent runs of 9.269 and 9.263, so dialled in at 9.26 for Sunday. He went straight out and ran quicker on the Sunday with a 9.124 in the first round, and then an even quicker 9.054 in the second. He lost traction on the launch on the third run, and posted a 9.414, with all three runs being at 145 mph. He finished in 6th place overall for the event, and enjoyed the weekend's racing.
WB 9 saw Andy Gosling having his first ever turn in the all-new RamRaider slingshot of Team Dog's B's. His best ever E.T. in the old car had been in the 10.8's at around 130 mph, and he was hoping to quickly improve on this. To the delight of the whole team, his debut pass Saturday was an amazing 9.530 @ 142.67 mph! Superb! And there was no stopping him there either, as he then recorded successive PB's of 9.487 @ 143.30 mph, 9.415 @ 143.83 mph and a new Team best E.T. for the car of 9.252 @ 145.02 mph!! He then dialled in at 9.25 for Sunday, and was still on a roll, posting more PB's in the first and second rounds of 9.239 @ 146.10 mph and 9.195 @ 146.24 mph! Having now been over 15 mph faster than he’d ever been before, he won the Most Improved MPH Spot Prize. Unfortunately, he redlit in the third round and ‘slowed’ to a 9.509 @ 146.12 mph, but he was thrilled with how the car had run. A great debut drive! The slingshot had also performed exceptionally well and with its good construction and appearance was awarded the Best Engineered Spot Prize by the scrutineer. Andy and the team were also awarded the Best Slingshot ‘Mr Bolt’ Spot Prize for his string of PB's and the well-turned out car. And Gos himself also won the Driver's Choice Spot Prize voted for by the majority of drivers attending the event. Congratulations Gos! And all of Team DB's! We did reckon it was going to be an exciting weekend for the team and it sure was!
WB 16 Mark Hartnell was hoping for some more consistency with his Awesome 4-Some slingshot after his success at the ‘Nostalgia Nationals’. He started the day Saturday with a 12.656, then improved to a 12.540. He had four runs altogether and also posted a 12.870 and a 12.585. He dialled in at 12.50 for Sunday's rounds, but unfortunately there was a tree fault on his first run, against B-Sting, and no time was recorded for either car! The officials offered them both a re-run and they went straight back round to put in another pass. On this run, Mark missed a gearshift and posted a 14.868, which was really rotten luck, as his first run had looked to be right around the mid 12's! (He did post a good reaction of .024 on this pass, his best ever). He then recorded close runs of 12.551 @ 105.87 mph and 12.467, just .033 off his Dial, but the first run had spoilt the average and he finished in 9th place overall. He later went out for a testing run and put in his best pass of the weekend, a 12.431, which would have put him right in the Top 4! Better luck next time, Mark!
WB 20 Mark Coulsell was looking for his usual mid-10-second form in his Limited Funz slingshot and had four testing and tuning runs on the Saturday, 10.921, 11.199, 10.798 and a 10.679 @ 123.37 mph. He dialled in at 10.60 for Sunday's rounds and started off with a 10.747 in the first round. He then recorded a 10.735 in the second round and an 11.206 in the third, with a great Reaction time of .014, which won him the Best Reaction Spot Prize for the Bunch. And well and truly back on form in that department!
WB 34 Alec Coe was driving the Mad R's Shy Talker slingshot on the Saturday, and started the day well with an 8.564 @ 155 mph. He then posted runs of 9.635 and 9.018, but unfortunately on this third run, the car blew a head gasket. The team spent several hours that evening repairing the damage and were hopeful that everything was sorted for Sunday. It was then Tom's turn to drive and the team dialled in at 8.55. Tom ran a great 8.647 @ 165.66 mph in the first round, which looked good, but unfortunately the car would not fire in the second round. Tom later posted a 9.154 in the third round, but sadly it looks like there was some more damage to the engine, which will need further investigation back in the garage. We all hope this is not too serious, and that they can fix it and come back out racing really soon. Best of luck to all the Mad R's!
WB 40 Darren Law and the team were back with The Wicked Lady rear-engine dragster after having done some investigation into the recent gremlins that had plagued the car. Things looked more promising when he started off by running a 10.709 @ 130.12 mph on the Saturday morning. But on the next run, the car ran a slower 11.049, and the team had to once again investigate the cause of the drop in performance. It turns out that a couple of the lifters had worn, as had the cam, so the team had to park the car for the rest of the weekend. They are now hot on the case and hope to be able to fix the problem and be back out racing soon, so best of luck to them all! There was some consolation, as they won the Best Dragster/Radical ‘Mr Bolt’ Spot Prize, awarded by the commentators!
WB 44 Sarah Howells was running in Bernie's Destiny's Angel altered and was hoping for some really good E.T.'s this weekend. She started off with a 9.835 on the Saturday morning, then posted three good runs of 9.526, 9.530 and 9.600, all at 142 mph. Bernie dialled her in at 9.57 for Sunday's rounds and she ran quicker all day, with a 9.501 @ 143.81 mph in the first round, a great 9.493 in the second, very close to her PB, and a close to Dial-in 9.550 in the third round, just .020 under. With this consistency, she finished in 3rd place for the weekend!
WB 54 Phil Sweeney was running his Antisocial slingshot, hoping to crack the 11-second barrier. He started the weekend with several 12-second passes, including a 12.453, a 12.501 @ 110.88 mph and a 12.781, as well as a 14-second pass. He dialled in at 12.50 for the rounds on Sunday, but had some gearbox problems on the first run, recording a 14.236. This sadly put him out for the day, but hopefully he will be able to install a new box soon and be back out racing and hooking up that Rover V8 power, and getting straight into the 11's. Good luck, Phil!
WB 57 Neil Ward was back with the Andromeda slingshot. Neil was again looking for some more 8-second passes in the car and the team were hoping to sort out the nitrous gremlins from the last event. He made 4 passes on the Saturday, including a 9.381, a 9.270 @ 146 mph, a 9.350 and a 9.294, and dialled in at 9.30 for Sunday's rounds. In the first round he put in a 9.446 pass, and then a 9.487 @ 140.62 mph in the second. Unluckily, he pulled a narrow red light in the third, and posted a 9.761. The team are still tuning their nitrous system so hope to be back in the 8's at the next event!
WB 63 ‘Smokin’ Joe Stevens was looking for his first 8-second pass in the blown Back in Black altered. He made 4 passes on the Saturday including a 9.734, a 9.326, a 9.477 and a day's best of 9.276 @ 143.83 mph. He dialled in at 9.10 for Sunday's rounds, and wouldn’t have minded breaking out! He ran a good 9.219 @ 142 mph in the first round, and followed this up with a great 9.187 at a new Personal Best Speed of 145.50 mph in the second round, not far off his best E.T. Unfortunately, he had a slight oil leak on this run, so had to sideline the car for the rest of the event, and further investigate the problem at home. But he's getting closer to that 8-second run, so sure to be there soon!
WB 76 Steve Field arrived late Saturday after displaying The Black Pig altered at a charity fete. Lesley dialled him in blind at 9.95 for the rounds, and once again, he went out and the car performed better than expected, recording a really strong 9.796 in the first round! In the second round he posted a 9.825 @ 137.17 mph, followed by a much closer 9.937, just .013 under his Dial-in. He finished in 5th place overall, and was pleased with the car's performance in the heat.
WB 81 saw the second Wild Bunch event of the season for Steve ‘Jacko’ Taylor in his Claustrophobic rear-engined dragster. He didn’t run on the Saturday, and dialled in on his usual numbers, with a 13.10. In the first round he was unable to fire the car, but came back in the second and posted a good 13.185 @ 100.59 mph. He then recorded a 13.231 in the third round, and hopes to improve on this at the next event.
WB 100 Roy Wilding spent Saturday fine-tuning his Chariot of Fire altered, and it really ran consistently, in fact within four hundredths all day, recording an 11.420, and 11.413 and an 11.382, all at 116 mph. Roy dialled in at an exact 11.415 for the rounds on Sunday, and maintained his consistency with runs of 11.386, 11.381 and 11.348, never being further than .067 off his Dial-in. All his testing and tuning paid off, and Roy won the event, his first win for several years! Many congratulations to him, Angie and Aaron on this success!! Fair play!
WB 109 saw the return of Andy Murphy to the B-Sting altered. His first run Saturday was straight back in the 10's with a 10.908 @ 121.29 mph. He made four more runs that day including a new PB of 10.452, a 10.468, a 10.640 and a 10.511 @ 124.52 mph. He dialled in at 10.52 for Sunday, and unfortunately the first run was the aforementioned tree fault, so he had to repeat the run. This time he put in another Personal Best E.T. of 10.403! For the second round he recorded a 10.494 and later posted a 10.477 at a new Personal Best speed of 125.79 mph. Andy finished in 4th place overall, so not rusty at all! The team also won the Best Altered ‘Mr Bolt’ Spot Prize for the event so they were really chuffed with the weekend!
WB 115 was Paul Bambrick's second outing with his brand new American Pie slingshot. He arrived mid-morning Sunday and spent some of the day firing up and sorting out some tuning. He dialled in at 12.00 even and joined in with the third round running a new PB and speed of 13.146 @ 101.74 mph, still in checkout mode. We hope to see more of Paul's stunning-looking slingshot real soon!
WB 132 was also the second outing for the Jones family with their gorgeous Ragin’ Cajun altered. They arrived Saturday morning and hoped to make more progress with the tuning and cure some more new car gremlins. They fired the car up in the pits and something did not seem right. Eventually there was a little smoke puffing out from the head gasket, and the team realised that it had gone. On removing the head to replace this, they discovered a dropped liner, so luckily they hadn’t run the car and caused more damage! Hope they can fix that soon and be back out racing and tuning their lovely-looking altered, which eventually ended up at the local Long Marston fete that afternoon! It's not only a great race car but also a great show car! And best of luck to the Joneses getting it back racing soon!
It had been a good event where we were again lucky with the weather, and absolutely no sign of rain! Thanks as always to all the very hard working marshals and officials, especially in the very hot weather again! We really appreciate all their efforts. Thanks also to Bruno and the track prep crew who did an extra special job of prepping the launch area each time we ran! And thanks to Jerry Cookson for all his help and organisation. And to Tony Byng for his commentary and Spot Prize choosing. And thanks to Bev, Annette and Julie for doing a great job in the fireup road! We are now looking forward to the York Summer Showdown at Pennine Raceway in three weeks’ time!