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Easter Thunderball March 21 - 24
Wild Bunch ResultsEaster Thunderball21st - 24th March
Real Steel Series Round 1.
The “Easter Thunderball” was the first event of the WB season. It was Real Steel Series Round 1 and there was a field of 7 Wild Bunch cars competing: 2 Altereds, 4 Slingshots and 1 Rear-engined dragster.
| Event Participants | ||||
| Pos | WB | Driver/Team | Car | Points |
| 1 | 4 | Darren Law | The Wicked Lady | 9 |
| 2 | 44 | Dave Rowlands | Destinys Angel | 7 |
| 3 | 6 | Chris Hartnell | Backdraft | 5 |
| 4 | 95 | Mark Richardson | Pony Express | 1 |
| - | 25 | Terry Clifford | Ratcatcher Resurrection | 1 |
| - | 9 | Dogs Bollocks Racing | RamRaider | 1 |
| - | 3 | Darryl Howells | Chemical Reaction II | 1 |
| Event Participants | ||||
| Pos | WB | Driver/Team | Car | Points |
| 1 | 4 | Darren Law | The Wicked Lady | 9 |
| 2 | 44 | Dave Rowlands | Destinys Angel | 7 |
| 3 | 6 | Chris Hartnell | Backdraft | 5 |
| 4 | 95 | Mark Richardson | Pony Express | 1 |
| - | 25 | Terry Clifford | Ratcatcher Resurrection | 1 |
| - | 9 | Dogs Bollocks Racing | RamRaider | 1 |
| - | 3 | Darryl Howells | Chemical Reaction II | 1 |
| Spot Prizes | ||||
| WB | Team/Driver | Car | Detail | |
| #1 Qualifier | 6 | Chris Hartnell | Backdraft | .298 off |
| Best Reaction | 4 | Darren Law | The Wicked Lady | 0.139 |
| Closest to Dial-In | 6 | Chris Hartnell | Backdraft | .066 off |
| Best Appearing Car & Team | 4 | Darren Law | The Wicked Lady | |
| This was the third time the Wild Bunch had competed at the Easter Thunderball at Santa Pod as a class, and it was a very unusual event, with 2 days of qualifying and racing, and 2 days of snow in the middle, with Sunday seeing 2½ inches of snow covering the whole of the Pod in the early morning! Temperatures were very low throughout the weekend, and the teams spent a fair bit of time just trying to stay warm!
Friday This was a qualifying day and there were scheduled to be 3 qualifiers. The day started off very cold, windy and cloudy, and stayed like that throughout the day with a small snow flurry in the afternoon. | |
| WB 3 | Darryl Howells was back in the DASH Racing Chemical Reaction II slingshot, now sporting an Enderle fuel injection system, repainted chassis and a new chromed front axle. The car looked great and the team had been looking forward to this event, having just completed putting everything back together, and were keen to test the new fuel system. Darryl missed the first round, doing checks and fireups with the help of Chris and Dean. He towed down for the second qualifier, and a very unfortunate incident occurred when he fired up and advanced forward, and the throttle stuck open. Darryl did his very best to steer and brake but ran into Terry Clifford's front wheel, and then into the new barn garage doors at the back of the fireup area. The slingshot's whole front axle, steering arms, nosecone and wheels were damaged, as was Terry's front wheel and axle. We were all devastated and concerned for both the teams, but thankful that no one had been hurt at all. And the positive news is that both Darryl and Terry have gotten their cars into the garages, and are on the way to rebuilding their axles and acquiring wheels. We wish them all the best for a speedy rebuild and return to the track. Best of luck to them all, and hope to see them back really soon! |
| WB 4 | Darren Law was making his first appearance of 2008 with The Wicked Lady Rear-engined dragster, after a return to form at the end of last season. He started off with a Dial-in of 9.62 and the team were pleasantly surprised with a 9.602 @ 141.60 mph, into a strong headwind. They lowered the Dial to 9.58 for the second qualifier, and Darren ran a new Personal Best E.T. of 9.451 @ 139 mph! Another breakout, but the team were really thrilled with this! They decided to sit out the third qualifier, as they were happy with the performance, and the track was getting colder late in the day. Because of the two breakouts, Darren qualified in 5th place overall. |
| WB 6 | ‘Crazy’ Chris Hartnell had refitted his Sherpa axle back in Backdraft over the winter, and had an off-season freshen up of the motor. The team were hoping for improved performance this season. They dialled in at 9.50, being the quickest the car had run in 2007, and they were all chuffed when Chris ran a 9.233 @ 141.24 mph – another team who didn’t mind the breakout at all! Chris lowered the Dial-in to 9.15 for the second qualifier, and had a problem with the rev limiter cutting in at half track, and the car only ran a 10.081 @ 113 mph. Back in the pits the team diagnosed the problem thanks to help from Steve Johnson of Motor Mouse fame - the coil had given up! Luckily, Bob of the Wicked Lady had one, and kindly gave it to Chris to try. Late in the day on the third qualifier, Chris dialled in at 9.05, and soloed to a 9.348 @ 142.40 mph, problem cured! This put Chris into the #1 Qualifier spot, and the team were pleased with the performance of the car, in the cold windy conditions. |
| WB 9 | saw Ed Yates taking the first turn of the year of Team Dog's B's, in the RamRaider slingshot. Ed dialled in at 9.43 for the first qualifier, and posted a 9.979 @ 137.70 mph to open his account. The team kept the Dial-in for the second qualifier, but the car had a problem changing gear, and Ed recorded a 10.251 @ 125 mph, but still finished as 2nd qualifier overall. |
| WB 25 | Terry Clifford was in his first outing of the year in his gold Ratcatcher Resurrection slingshot, and arrived on the Friday morning with lovely wife and crew Ruth. They were looking forward to the first event of the year, and hoping to improve on the good performance of last season. Unfortunately, Terry did not get a run due to the previously described incident. So we all wish the team well for a quick return to the track, and hope to see them real soon. |
| WB 44 | Dave Rowlands was in his first MSA event with the Destiny's Angel altered, and had been doing licensing runs at a recent Test and Tune at Santa Pod. He only needed one more pass to obtain his MSA licence. He started off with a Dial-in of 9.80, and took it steady, with an 11.532 @ 118.79 mph in the first qualifier. He kept the same Dial for the second round, and posted a slower 12.595 into the strong headwind. Dave qualified in 4th place, and was successful in gaining his MSA licence, so congratulations to him! |
| WB 95 | Mark Richardson was also in his first MSA event with his Pony Express altered, making a welcome return to the Pod for the car. He too had been at the previous weekend's Test and Tune and only needed a full pass to gain his MSA licence. He began with a Dial-in of 10.10, but down in the pairing lanes, the car would not fire! The team sorted the problem, and came back out for the second qualifier, with Mark recording an 11.219 on a 10.10 Dial, to qualify in 3rd place. Mark also achieved his MSA licence, so congratulations to him! |
| Saturday There were scheduled to be 3 more qualifiers on Saturday and the day started off with cloudy weather again. Throughout the day, there was a high wind and several snow showers, which did not pitch, but did stop racing. The track crew worked very hard to dry the track in between the showers, but to no avail, so racing was called for the day in the early afternoon. Sunday There were scheduled to be yet 2 more qualifiers on Sunday. The day started off with an early snowstorm (!) and by the time everyone woke up, there was 2 ½ inches of snow covering all the cars, the pits, and the whole of Santa Pod!! We had never seen weather like it at a drag strip before, though we’d all heard tell of snowy events in the past. We believe this one might have topped them all! The event was soon dubbed the “Easter Snowball” (after a previous wintry event some years ago). The racing was called off early for the day, but the track crew were still out there working hard to clear the snow, so that it did not turn to ice overnight. There was even a snowman down by the startline, and several around the pits, but this all melted by late afternoon. Monday (Race Day) Monday started off cold again with some snow flurries, and there were one or two short pauses during the day while these cleared. Racing was delayed and there were loads of clouds around at times, but thanks to the exceptionally hard work of all the track crew and officials, Santa Pod managed to complete all the planned eliminations! Huge thanks to them all for this amazing effort in the face of such cold and wintry weather! Fortunately the wind had dropped, so all classes had a chance to race. Five Wild Bunch cars had qualified for eliminations and we waited to be called for the quarter-finals. This took place after 4pm, so we all had a long wait! Quarter-Finals The first pairing was due to see saw Darren facing Mark. Unfortunately, Mark discovered a broken throttle cable on the “Pony Express” which put him out of eliminations. This left Darren to take a solo, and he posted a 9.596 @ 142.26 mph, on no Dial-in, as it registered as 0.00. In the next pairing, Dave should have been facing Ed, but the team had to leave early, so Dave had a single. This proved to be very lucky, as Dave had trouble starting the altered in the cold conditions, and had several attempts at this, finally making it to the line, and putting in a safe 29 second pass on a 10.00 second Dial-in. Chris then had a Bye run in this round, as he was #1 Qualifier. The team dialled in at 9.05 again, and Chris recorded a 9.409 @ 141.64 mph, having to steer gently back on landing the wheelie. All three progressed to the Semi-Finals. No-one was awarded 4th place, as only these three cars ran in the eliminations. Semi-finals After the quarter-finals, there was not that long of a wait, and we got called to the pairings lanes around 5:30pm. This time, Dave had the Bye, and he ran an 11.153 @ 131.30 mph on a 10.00, to make it to the Final for his first ever MSA event! That left a race between Crazy Chris and Darren, who were both running similar times. Chris posted a “Closest to Dial-in” of 9.466 on a 9.40, but Darren took the win by virtue of his better reaction time, with a “Best Reaction” of .139, and recording a 9.602 on a 9.45 Dial. Final The final took place in the cold and dark, at about 7:30pm. Dave dialled in at 11.00 seconds even, and Darren chose 9.45 again. Darren took the win recording a 9.822 @ 130 mph over Dave's 11.567 @ 121 mph. This meant that Darren had won back to back races at Santa Pod, having been the winner of the 2007 Sportsman Finals too. To top off the team's weekend, they won the “Best Appearing Car and Team” award for their good looking car, and their fine performance over the weekend. There was another tribute to the dedication and determination of the track crew, in that they were still clearing up an oil down around 8:30pm, so that the last few classes could complete their eliminations. Huge credit and thanks to them all for their hard work! Congratulations to Darren on the win, and a new PB! And to the whole team on an excellent performance at the event. Well done to all the teams for sticking it out through a testing weekend, and making a big effort. All in all, an interesting event, with such extreme weather! And thanks to everyone at Santa Pod for all their help! We are now looking forward to the first round of the Wild Bunch Series and the second Real Steel Series round of 2008, at the “Spring Nationals” at Shakey on April 19th & 20th! | |