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Spring Test & Tune April 21 - 22
Spring Nationals RWYB21st - 22nd AprilPoints awarded for the Wild Bunch Series Round 1 and Real Steel Series Round 2
This event was the “Spring Nationals” RWYB at Shakespeare County, and it was the first round of the Wild Bunch Series, as well as Real Steel Series Round 2. There was a good field of 18 Wild Bunch cars participating: 11 Altereds, 5 Slingshots, 1 Rear-engine dragster and 1 Radical
| Event Participants | ||||
| Position | WB | Driver | Car | Points |
| 1 | 1 | Tony Smith | The Cunning Plan | 10 |
| 2 | 52 | Ant Harris | Frantic | 8 |
| 3 | 3 | Andy Murphy | B-Sting | 7 |
| 4 | 44 | Sarah Howells | Destiny's Angel | 6 |
| 5 | 2 | Roy Wilding | Chariot of Fire | 5 |
| - | 4 | Joe Stevens | Back in Black | 5 |
| - | 6 | Chris Hartnell | Backdraft | 5 |
| - | 9 | Andy Gosling | RamRaider | 5 |
| - | 17 | Gina Rumble | Tiki Munki | 5 |
| - | 40 | Darren Law | The Wicked Lady | 5 |
| - | 67 | Darryl Howells | Chemical Reaction II | 5 |
| 12 | 95 | Mark Richardson | Pony Express | 4 |
| - | 129 | Pedro Rawlinson | The Fleeting Glimpse | 4 |
| 14 | 102 | Steve Goode | Wobble | 3 |
| 15 | 25 | Terry Clifford | Ratcatcher Resurrection | 1 |
| - | 43 | Martin Holgate | Paranoia | 1 |
| - | 47 | Liam Maltby | Vauxhall Funny Car | 1 |
| - | 76 | Steve Field | The Black Pig | 1 |
| Spot Prizes | ||||
| WB | Team/Driver | Car | Detail | |
| Best Reaction | 40 | Darren Law | The Wicked Lady | .052 |
| Closest To Dial-In | 1 | Tony Smith | The Cunning Plan | .001 Twice! |
| Quickest E.T. (Sun) | 4 | Joe Stevens | Back In Black | 8.885 |
| Best Altered | 52 | Ant Harris | Frantic | |
| Best Slingshot | 67 | Darryl Howells | Chemical Reaction | |
| Best Burnout | 4 | Joe Stevens | Back In Black | |
| Wildest Ride | 6 | Chris Hartnell | Backdraft | |
| Saturday. The day started off sunny and warm, and remained that way for most of the day. This was a practice day and many drivers got in 4 or more runs. One even had 7! Sunday (Series Points Day) Sunday's weather was about the same as Saturday, but a bit more overcast until mid-afternoon, when it warmed up quite a bit. We were able to run all 4 rounds, which were completed by about 4:30pm. | |
| WB 1 | was the first Wild Bunch appearance of the year for 2006 winners Tony Smith and Dave Williams in The Cunning Plan minivan altered. Tony was the driver this weekend, apart from one run made by track crew Simon Day on Saturday! Tony made 4 runs on the Saturday, including an 11.530, an 11.514 and an 11.997, all at 112 mph. He also took the body off the car, and recorded a new Personal Best ‘Body off’ ET of 11.095 @ 117.32 mph! Tony dialled in at 11.52 for Sunday's rounds, and started off with an 11.594, followed by an 11.491, getting closer. His third and fourth round passes were excellent as he ran 11.521 and 11.519, just one thousandths off the Dial on both runs, and earning him the Closest to Dial-in Spot Prize, and eventually the event win! So he's started off the season very well again! Congrats, Tony! |
| WB 2 | Roy Wilding was back in his Chariot of Fire altered. He made several runs on the Saturday, including an 11.66 and dialled in at a precise 11.555 for Sunday. He had an off-pace run in the first round, recording a 12.018 @ 111.93 mph. He then ran better in the second round with an 11.601. He wavered again in Round 3, posting a 12.109, but had his best pass of the day in the fourth round where he ran an 11.588 @ 116.47 mph. Roy finished in 6th place overall. |
| WB 3 | saw Andy Murphy back at the helm of the B-Sting altered. Andy made around 4 runs on the Saturday, including very near the car's best runs, with a couple at 128 mph. The team dialled in at an exact 10.431. Andy's first pass of the day was better than Dial, at 10.368 @ 127.99 mph. He then improved to a PB of 10.286 at a new best speed of 128.97 mph. In the third round, Andy ran just .009 off Dial, recording a 10.422, and ended with a 10.361 in the fourth round, to finish in 3rd place overall. (Another team picking up from where they left off last year!). |
| WB 4 | Joe Stevens was in his first Wild Bunch event of 2007 with his blown Back in Black altered. He made a few passes Saturday, including a 9.02, an 8.98 and a new Personal Best E.T. of 8.857! Joe dialled in at 8.85 for the Series rounds, and posted a 9.021 @ 148.13 mph to open his account. He then recorded an 8.949 in the second round and a great 8.885 @ 150.25 mph in the third round, to win the Quickest E.T. of the day for the Bunch. In the fourth round, he recorded an 8.919, and ended up in 5th place overall. Joe was also awarded the Best Burnout Spot Prize by the commentator, for his strong smoky burnouts. |
| WB 6 | ‘Crazy’ Chris Hartnell was keen to put in some improved runs in the Backdraft slingshot, after some performance problems at Santa Pod. On Saturday, he put in an early run of 10.068 @ 133 mph, but then discovered some play in a wheel bearing. Luckily he had some spares, although they were at home in Bristol! So he and Claire made the round trip in the afternoon, got back to the track at 4pm, fitted them, and made a couple of other changes, and Chris ran a 9.505 @ 138.84 mph! He later made a backing off pass of 11.212. Chris dialled in at 9.50 for the rounds on Sunday, and recorded a 10.379 in the first round, not being able to hook the car up off the line. Unfortunately, this was his quickest run of the day, and he posted an 11.792, a 10.926, and a Wildest Ride run of 13.791, where he had to back off as he was heading towards the Christmas tree. Chris finished in 10th place overall. |
| WB 9 | saw Andy Gosling back in the hotseat of the RamRaider slingshot of Team Dog's B's, for his first WB event of the year. He started Saturday with a 10.5, not being able to find the traction early on. He then improved to a 9.4, before recording runs of 10 and 12 seconds later in the day. The team dialled in optimistically at 9.30, with Gos hoping to get back into the low 9's. His first round run was a backing off 10.599 @ 106 mph, but things improved greatly after that, with runs of 9.417 and 9.329 in the second and third rounds. He saved the best for last when he recorded a new Personal Best E.T. of 9.157 @ a new best speed of 148.25 mph! Well done, Gos! He finished the day in 8th place overall. |
| WB 17 | saw the debut of Gina Rumble and Scottie Durrant's Tiki Munki Pinto-powered altered. The car looked great and so did the team, with Hawaiian shirts, and leis decorating the tow car! Scottie started Saturday off with a checkout pass of 21 seconds. He quickly improved on this recording a 17.4 on his next run. He later posted an even better 16.2 second pass, before handing the car over to Gina, for her first ever run. Gina was not a novice racer, having driven Ministox at the age of 9, but she had never ventured down the dragstrip before. She settled herself in nicely with a checkout pass of 30 seconds, on a steep learning curve! It was then over to her for all the 4 rounds on Sunday, so she and Scottie dialled in at 19.79, hoping to get near that mark. Gina's first run Sunday was a greatly improved 20.732 @ 73.98 mph, already taking 10 seconds off in only her second attempt! She then put in a pass of 21.830 in the second round, which included a bog off the line, which she ably recovered from. For her third pass of the day, she put in a great 17.288 @ 83.83 mph, quickly getting to grips with the new car, and running 2 and a half seconds quicker than Dial-in! She recorded a 19.591 in the fourth round, fairly close to Dial, and finished in 9th place overall in her first ever drag racing event. Fair play, Gina, and congratulations on a great debut!! Welcome to the Bunch! |
| WB 25 | was the first event for Terry Clifford after the engine rebuild in the golden Ratcatcher Resurrection slingshot. Terry arrived Saturday morning, unloaded the car, and later fired up, only to experience a problem with broken teeth on the flexiplate! Unfortunately, this meant Terry was not even able to make a single run over the weekend! He does have a spare at home, and hopes to be able to cure the cause of the problem and race at the ‘SpringSpeed Festival’. Good luck, Terry! |
| WB 40 | saw the second WB event of the season for Darren Law in The Wicked Lady rear-engined dragster. Darren made 3 passes Saturday, including a 10.126 @ 135.48 mph, a 10.316 and a 10.469. The team dialled in at 10.25 for the following day, and Darren was a little off that pace on the first two runs, recording a 10.687 and a 10.858. He followed this with a better 10.346, with a Best Reaction of .052 in the third round, before experiencing a slight problem, posting an 11.365 in the fourth round. Darren finished in 7th place overall. |
| WB 43 | saw Martin Holgate back out with his Paranoia altered. He made several runs on Saturday, including a 9.7 @ 135 mph, so was definitely heading in the right direction. He dialled in at 9.50 for the rounds on Sunday, but whilst trying to fire the car up for the first round, experienced a small injection fire. Pairings marshal Bev was quick to leap into action with the fire extinguisher, and soon had the situation under control. Huge thanks to Bev for being on the ball and professional, as always! Needless to say, Martin was a bit shaken by this, but was thankfully okay. And there was only a small amount of damage. The team went back to the pits and assessed this, but did not make any more runs. Hopefully Martin will be straight back out at the next event, improving on the performance in his great Jag-powered machine. |
| WB 44 | saw the first event of the year for Sarah Howells driving Bernie Nicholas’ Destiny's Angel altered. She jumped straight back into the hotseat and carried on running some good numbers, including a 9.485, and a 9.32 @ 146 mph on the Saturday, with Bernie dialling her in at 9.40 for the Series rounds. She came straight out in the first round and put in a solid 9.383, followed by a 9.382 @ 146.03 mph in the second round. She was still close in the third, posting a 9.351, and finished off the day with a great new Personal Best E.T. of 9.189 at a new best speed of 147.03 mph, a best speed for the car! Even with this breakout, she still managed to secure 4th place overall for the weekend. Well done, Sarah! |
| WB 47 | Liam Maltby was back out doing shakedown runs with his Vauxhall Funny Car, which was sporting a great new paint job, complete with an eagle and flags. The team spent a fair amount of time in the pits tuning, and a couple of times Liam drove carefully round the pits, to test a few changes. It was the same story on Sunday, and there were a few gremlins to get rid of, so Liam did not manage to run in any of the rounds. We’re sure he’ll have a handle on it soon, and iron out any remaining problems! |
| WB 52 | was Ant Harris, in the Frantic Topolino altered. He made several passes on the Saturday, most very near the car's best times. He dialled in at 9.75 for Sunday, and started well, with a 9.772 @ 136.99 mph in the first round. In the second round he recorded a new Personal Best E.T. of 9.769 @ a new best speed of 137.61 mph. He then posted runs of 9.785 and 9.788 in the third and fourth rounds, never being further than .038 off his Dial. This consistency earned him 2nd place for the weekend, and the good performance and well turned out car also won the Best Altered Spot Prize! Fair play, Ant! |
| WB 67 | Darryl Howells was in his second WB event of the year in his Chemical Reaction slingshot. He made a few passes on Saturday, including an 11.1, later followed by the car's best to date of 10.4 @ 131 mph. Darryl dialled in at 10.70 for the rounds, and started off well with a 10.554 @ a new best speed of 134.63 mph. He then posted a 10.792 in the second round, but this was with a red light. Not being able to chase for the Top 4, Darryl chased E.T.'s and was rewarded with a new Personal Best E.T. of 10.346 @ 133.38 mph in the third round, and another PB of 10.340 @ 134.61 mph n the fourth! Darryl also won the Best Slingshot Spot Prize for the beautifully-painted car, and a good performance! Cushtie! |
| WB 76 | Steve Field was in his first appearance of the season in The Black Pig altered. He made a few runs on Saturday, starting with a 10.682 @ 137 mph to blow the cobwebs away. He followed this with a strong 9.786 @ 142.08 mph, quickly returning to form. Unfortunately, Steve was unwell on the Sunday and could not take part in the rounds, so we hope he's better soon! |
| WB 95 | saw the Wild Bunch debut of Mark Richardson in only his second event with the great-looking Pony Express altered. Mark made a few runs on Saturday, still on a learning curve, and easing himself into the car and its handling. He finished the day with an 11.93, making good progress. The team hoped for more improvement, so dialled in at 10.90. Mark posted a 12.086 in the first round, but bounced straight back with a good new Personal Best E.T. of 10.308 at a new best speed of 133.86 mph. He followed this with more PBs in the 3rd round of 10.202 @ 135.94 mph, but did not take part in the fourth round. Well done, Mark, and welcome to the Wild Bunch! |
| WB 102 | saw the first appearance with Wild Bunch this season of Steve Goode and his Jag-powered Wobble altered. Steve had recently rebuilt the engine and was doing some running in most of Saturday, and was doing shakedown passes. He dialled in at 10.00 on Sunday morning, and posted runs of 11.172 @ 120.32 mph and 11.357 in the first and second rounds, still tuning and running in. Hopefully we will see even more progress at the next event. |
| WB 129 | saw the debut of Pedro Rawlinson in the ex-Tony Wynne-Jones TFIF Slingshot, which Pedro bought and has renamed The Fleeting Glimpse. Pedro and his crew travelled all the way from the Isle of Wight to get to the track! Yes, a ferry and a drive! The team were all very excited to be at the track and looking forward to learning the ropes. Pedro's first run Saturday was a creditable 20.5 @ 57 mph, not bad at all for a first ever run down the strip! He made six more runs that day, including a couple of 18's, a 17.722, a 17.8 and a PB of 17.378 @ 79 mph. He dialled in at 17.50 on Sunday, and started with a 19.953. He improved with an 18.694 in the second round and posted a 19.943 in the third, experiencing some trouble with the fuel pump, which put him out of action for any more runs. He’ll have that fixed real soon! Well done on your debut, Pedro, and welcome to the Wild Bunch! |
| It had been a good event where we were lucky with the weather, and track time! Thanks very much to all the hard working marshals and officials for their efforts, and to all at Shakey for some improvements that have taken place at the track, and for more which are planned! Fair play! We are now looking forward to the 3-day Spring Speed Festival MSA event on the May Day Bank Holiday, once again at Shakespeare County Raceway! This will be Real Steel Series Round 3. | |