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Summer Nationals June 13 - 14
Wild Bunch ResultsSummer nationals13th - 14th June
Real Steel Series Round 5.
Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars Series Round 1.
The “Summer Nationals” at Santa Pod was Real Steel Series Round 5, MSA Challenge Round 3 and the first round of the Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars Series. There was a field of 6 Wild Bunch cars competing: 2 Altereds, 3 Slingshots and a Rear-engined dragster.
| Wild Bunch Points | ||||
| Pos | WB | Driver/Team | Car | Points |
| 1 | 9 | Ed Yates | RamRaider | 9 |
| 2 | 44 | Dave Rowlands | Destinys Angel | 7 |
| 3 | 3 | Chris Hartnell | Backdraft | 3 |
| 4 | 40 | Darren Law | The Wicked Lady | 5 |
| 5 | 2 | Terry Clifford | Ratcatcher Resurrection | 2 |
| - | 43 | Martin Holgate | Paranoia | 2 |
| MSA Points | ||||
| Pos | WB | Driver/Team | Car | Points |
| 1 | 9 | Ed Yates | RamRaider | 600 |
| 2 | 44 | Dave Rowlands | Destinys Angel | 350 |
| 3 | 3 | Chris Hartnell | Backdraft | 130 |
| 4 | 40 | Darren Law | The Wicked Lady | 240 |
| 5 | 43 | Martin Holgate | Paranoia | 110 |
| 6 | 2 | Terry Clifford | Ratcatcher Resurrection | 120 |
| Spot Prizes | ||||
| WB | Team/Driver | Car | Detail | |
| Closest To Dial-In | 9 | Dogs Bollocks Racing | RamRaider | 0.009 off |
| Best Reaction | 43 | Martin Holgate | Paranoia | 0.003 |
| Best Appearing Team | 3 | Chris Hartnell | Backdraft | |
| #1 Qualifier | 9 | Dogs Bollocks Racing | RamRaider | 0.006 off |
| Best Appearing Car | 40 | Darren Law | The Wicked Lady | |
| Saturday Qualifying The 6 Wild Bunch teams were hoping for some good weather to get a full complement of qualifiers in. As it turned out, Saturday was a great day, sunny and warm, and there were 3 qualifying rounds for all classes and the schedule finished early! Sunday was also sunny and even warmer, and all eliminations were completed over half an hour ahead of schedule. 8 Wild Bunch teams had entered for the event, but unfortunately Keith Crampton had to withdraw his “Soultown Shaker” slingshot before the weekend due to clutch problems, and Neil Ward also did not make it with his “Andromeda” slingshot. Hope to see them back at the Nostalgias! | |
| WB 2 | saw Terry Clifford returning after repairing a broken oil seal from the last event. Terry had done a partial strip down of the engine of his “Ratcatcher Resurrection” slingshot, and luckily had found no damage. So he hoped to put in some better runs at this event. He started with a cautious Dial-in of 10.60 and recorded an 11.882 at 120.43 mph in the first round of qualifying. He kept the Dial for the next round, running a better 11.014 at 123.01 mph in the second round. He then changed the Dial to 10.80 for the third round and posted an 11.674 at 121.72 mph. He qualified in 5th place overall. |
| WB 3 | ‘Crazy’ Chris Hartnell went into the event in 3rd place in the Real Steel Series after a win and three 4th places in his “Backdraft” slingshot, hoping to improve on his performance and pull some good wheelies (there was a special message underneath on the sump for any photographers to catch if the wheelie was high enough!). The team dialled in at 8.98, and ‘Jungle Claire’ was on backup duties for the day! Chris began with a 9.140 at 142.52 mph in the first qualifier. He kept the same Dial-in for the next two rounds, and recorded a closer 9.056 at 143.79 mph in the second round, and a consistent 9.089 at 142.45 mph in the third round, and qualified in 4th place overall. |
| WB 9 | saw Ed Yates having his third turn of the season in the Team Dog's B's “RamRaider” slingshot. The team were currently in 2nd place in the Real Steel Series and hoped to consolidate this place. Ed dialled in at 9.41 for the first qualifier, and promptly broke out with a 9.335 at 140.34 mph for starters. The team lowered the Dial to 9.33 for the second round, and Ed recorded a 9.336 at 141.58 mph. They lowered the Dial again, to 9.31, and Ed posted a consistent 9.338 at 141.13 mph which earnt him the #1 Qualifier Spot for the third event in a row. Fair play, Ed! |
| WB 40 | saw the welcome return of Darren Law and “The Wicked Lady” rear-engined dragster team, after a long off-season build of a new axle. Darren was initially in checkout mode for his first pass and dialled in at 9.32 For starters. He ran a solid 9.608 at 133.64 mph for his first run in 10 months! Great for a checkout pass! The team raised the Dial for the second round to 9.45 and Darren recorded a 9.619 at 136.46 mph. They raised the Dial again to 9.60 for the third round, and Darren posted a consistent 9.665 at 136.16 mph. He qualified in 3rd place overall, and the team were pleased with the car's performance off the trailer, and really thrilled to be back at the track! Great to have them back! |
| WB 43 | Martin Holgate was back out with his “Paranoia” altered, after some promising runs at the Springspeed Nationals at Shakey. He had also effected some minor repairs, to a gearbox oil seal, and hoped to pick up where he left off, making progress with his engine tuneup. (At this event he was also running his Harley Sportster in Supertwin Top Gas!). Martin dialled in at 9.40 for the first round, and was shut down for a suspected leak, which did not eventually materialise. He came back out in the second round of qualifying and ran a troubled 12.320 at 68 mph, after the car cut out at half track. He sat out the last round to work on the car. But at least he had safely qualified, in 6th place overall. |
| WB 44 | Dave Rowlands was leading the Real Steel Series in his “Destiny's Angel” altered, and hoped to extend this lead. On his first run of the day, he recorded a 9.806 at 140.69 mph on a 9.45 Dial-in for the first qualifier. He changed the Dial for the next round to 9.78 and posted a 9.787 at 141.10 mph, in a side by side matchup with Ed who set the #1 mark on this run - Dave was just one thousandth behind this, qualifying in 2nd place overall! He was also really close in the third round, breaking out by just four thousandths, running a 9.776 at 140.66 mph on the 9.78 Dial-in. |
| Sun-day (Race Day) All 6 Wild Bunch cars had qualified for eliminations so there were due to be 3 good races in the Quarter-finals. Sunday's running order went through really quickly and, at one point, the eliminations were a full 2 hours ahead of schedule! This meant our first round was at 12:40 instead of 2:40 pm! Quarter-Finals The first pairing was an all-slingshot affair with Crazy Chris taking on Ed. Chris dialled in at 9.10, and Ed chose the ‘old faithful’ 9.33! Chris had a slight advantage off the lights, and there was only a tenth in it at the top end where Chris posted a 9.283 at 137.24 mph, losing out to Ed's “Closest to Dial-in” 9.339 at 129.79 mph. Chris and the team were awarded the “Best Appearing Team” by the commentators, for a great car, loads of wheelies and the well co-ordinated crew (as well as those shorts!). The next matchup saw Terry facing Dave. Terry set a Dial of 10.90 to Dave's 9.76. Dave had the holeshot, and it was him all the way as he took the win with a 9.854 at 122.76 mph over Terry's 11.615 at 121.36 mph. The third race saw Darren paired with Martin. Darren and the team chose a 9.60 Dial whilst Martin opted for a 9.40. Martin did all he could at the start, pulling the q of the Bunch, with a stellar .003, but unfortunately the car cut out mid-track and he coasted to a 13.633 at 60 mph, whilst Darren advanced to the Semis with a 10.474. Semi-finals After the quarter-finals, there was only a couple of hours to wait, and again, the day was ahead of schedule. So much so, that just after the Bunch ran, there was time for half an hour break in the racing. This time, Ed had a Bye, and he just staged and rolled the beams, and was pushed back, as we all thought the Final would come around really quickly. Darren dialled in at 9.60 in his matchup with Dave, who dialled in at 9.76. Dave had a slight advantage on the start and took the stripe first with a 9.827 at 131.63 mph, to Darren's 9.744 at 134.83 mph, to advance to his third Final round this season. The commentators awarded ‘The Wicked Lady’ the “Best Appearing Car” Spot Prize for being well presented and sparkly, and performing well on its return to the track. Final The Final saw Ed taking on Dave, and both had been consistent all event. They both kept their Dial-ins of 9.33 and 9.76, but unfortunately Dave rolled the beams on the start, and did not record a time. Such a shame as it would have been a really close race. Ed marched to victory with another consistent 9.371 at 138.20 mph, and was really chuffed with the win! Congratulations to Ed on his first win of the year and the team's second! This means they are now leading the Real Steel Series. Well done to all the Wild Bunch teams who put on a great show! It had been a great and sunny event, which lived up to its name! Huge thanks to everyone at Santa Pod for all their hard work, as always! Well done to them all! We are now looking forward to the third Wild Bunch round of 2009, the sixth Real Steel Series round and the second round of the Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars Series, at the “Nostalgia Nationals” at Shakey on June 27th & 28th! | |