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Nostalgia Nationals June 27 - 28
Wild Bunch ResultsNostalgia Nationals27th - 28th June
Wild Bunch Series Round 3.
Real Steel Series Round 6.
Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars Series Round 2.
The “Nostalgia Nationals” was the sixth event of the WB season. It was the third round of the Wild Bunch Series and Real Steel Series Round 6 and Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars Series Round 2, and there was a field of 17 Wild Bunch cars participating.
| Wild Bunch Points | ||||
| Pos | WB | Driver/Team | Car | Points |
| 1 | 9 | Dogs Bollocks Racing | RamRaider | 10 |
| 2 | 4 | Scot Durrant & Gina Rumble | Tiki Munki | 7 |
| 3 | 3 | Chris Hartnell | Backdraft | 5 |
| - | 44 | Dave Rowlands | Destinys Angel | 5 |
| - | 142 | Mike Cresswell | Living the Dream | 5 |
| 6 | 52 | Ant Harris | Frantic | 6 |
| 7 | 99 | Adz Price | Go Hard or Go Home | 5 |
| 8 | 16 | Mark Hartnell | Awesome 4-Some | 1 |
| 9 | 11 | Dave Williams | Green With Envy | 5 |
| - | 2 | Terry Clifford | Ratcatcher Resurrection | 5 |
| 11 | 35 | Dick Sharp | Dorset Horn | 3 |
| 12 | 95 | Mark Richardson | Pony Express | 8 |
| 13 | 101 | Matt Lee | Worth the Wait | 4 |
| 14 | 38 | Helen Smythe | Hell's Belle | 1 |
| 15 | 109 | Andy Murphy | B-Sting | 5 |
| - | 71 | Andy Solley | Repeat Offender | 5 |
| 17 | 43 | Martin Holgate | Paranoia | 1 |
| Spot Prizes | ||||
| WB | Team/Driver | Car | Detail | |
| Closest To Dial-In | 4 | Scot Durrant & Gina Rumble | Tiki Munki | 0.008 off |
| Best Reaction | 95 | Mark Richardson | Pony Express | 0.037 |
| Best Altered | 109 | Andy Murphy | B-Sting | |
| Best Slingshot | 9 | Dogs Bollocks Racing | RamRaider | |
| Best Appearing Team | 99 | Team Gridlock | Go Hard or Go Home | |
| Best Burnout | 52 | Ant Harris | Frantic | |
| Most Improved ET | 11 | Dave Williams | Green With Envy | 0.870 better |
| The weather had not been predicted to be that good on the Saturday, but in the end there were only a few grey clouds which passed over without any rain at all, and the day was quite warm. Sunday was even warmer, and again there was no rain, until about 10 minutes from the curfew time, but by then we had completed all 4 of our rounds. | |
| WB 2 | saw Terry Clifford in his fourth event of the year with his “Ratcatcher Resurrection” slingshot. He started off with a 12-second pass on Saturday, but then had to be towed off on his second run when the car stopped out on track. He bounced back from this and posted an 11.2 second run at 123 mph later that day. Terry dialled in at 11.11 for the rounds on Sunday, but began with an off pace 12.286 at 119.52 mph. He improved on every round after that, posting an 11.722 at 122.30 mph, an 11.368 at 122.13 mph, and then a breakout 11.061 at 123.42 mph! Terry finished in 7th place overall and was pleased to have made all the rounds on the Sunday, with constant improvements on each. |
| WB 3 | ‘Crazy’ Chris Hartnell was in his sixth event of the season with the “Backdraft” slingshot. He was in third place in the Real Steel Series coming into this event. His first run Saturday was an off pace 9.322 at 143.25 mph, so he made a fuel system change before the next run, improving to a 9.082 at 143.91 mph. His third run of the day netted a better 9.035 at 143.35 mph, but on his fourth pass, the throttle pedal cable bolt snapped, and he coasted to a 23-second pass at 22 mph. Chris dialled in at 9.05 for Sunday's rounds. There was drama for the team in the fireup road on the first round when Chris fired up then had to shut down again with a throttle problem. Crew Mark ran back to the pits for a spanner, and had the problem fixed whilst the round was still in progress. Chris ran a 9.265 at 143.38 mph on this run. He then posted a 9.023 at 142.82 mph in the second round and a close 9.068 at 142.62 mph in the third round, only to suffer a different problem with the front throttle arm in the fourth round, resulting in him having to coast to the first return road, recording a 16.22 at 41 mph. Chris finished the event in 10th place, but was still relieved to have made all the rounds. He remains at 3rd place in the Real Steel Series. |
| WB 4 | Gina Rumble was in her second event of the year in the GAS Racing “Tiki Munki” altered and she and Scottie were leading the Wild Bunch Series before the event. She made 5 passes on the Saturday, beginning with a 14.425 at 89.88 mph, a PB with the Ruby body on the altered. She improved to a 14.410 at 89.56 mph on her second run, and was fairly consistent with the third, recording a 14.495 at 89.16 mph. She posted a 14.808 at 87.92 mph for the fourth run, but then greatly improved to a 14.199 at 90.32 mph, another Personal Best E.T. The team deliberated long and hard over the Dial-in, and chose a 14.38 for Sunday's rounds. Gina began with a 14.621 at 88.09 mph in round one, then improved in the second round to a “Closest to Dial-in” 14.388 at 91.42 mph, another Personal Best Speed. (This was a delayed run, as there had been a problem with the tree on her second pass, and both she and B-Sting driver Andrew were granted a re-run, which they had to fit in as soon as possible.) She ran a 14.494 at 86 mph on the third round, and then a better 14.443 at 89.40 mph in the fourth round. Gina finished in 3rd place overall, and she and Scottie were real chuffed with another Top 4 placing! Especially with having had to do an extra run! This means that the team are now in second place in the Wild Bunch Series. |
| WB 9 | saw Andy Gosling in his first turn of the season in the Team Dog's B's “RamRaider” slingshot, and in fact first turn for a year. The team were currently in 2nd place in the Wild Bunch Series and it was their sixth event of the year, with Ed having had three drives and Ray two so far. Gos started off with a checkout 9.492 at 134 mph on Saturday. He then made three very consistent runs of 9.21, 9.22 and 9.23! The team dialled in at 9.22 for the rounds on Sunday, and Gos made a great start with a 9.275 at 142.54 mph in the first round. He then made a better pass in the second round of 9.184 at 143.16 mph. An off pace 9.341 at 141.55 mph followed this, but then a better run of 9.162 at 144.15 mph rounded off the day nicely for the team, as Gos won the event! This means they have won three in a row, with their three different drivers! Well done, guys! The team were also chuffed as they were awarded the “Best Slingshot” Spot Prize by the commentators. And because this means that they are now leading the Wild Bunch Series, as well as the Real Steel Series and the Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars Series. Basically, everything as they top the APIRA Series, and the Wild Bunch MSA Challenge Series! Fair play! |
| WB 11 | saw Dave Williams in his third Wild Bunch event with his “Green with Envy” altered. He had been having some tuning problems, and started the weekend off with a 13.568 at a new Personal Best Speed of 113.33 mph. He then made a couple more passes of. The team dialled in at 12.95, and Dave opened his account with a 13.765 at 111.59 mph. His second round was a slightly better 13.519 at 116.89 mph, another new Personal Best Speed. And the third round saw another slight improvement to 13.284 at 108.58 mph. In the fourth round, Dave completely blitzed his Personal Best E.T., recording his first 11-second pass with the car, a Wild Bunch “Most Improved E.T.” of 11.967 at 115.63 mph! An improvement of .870! Well done, Dave on starting to get a handle on the car! Dave finished in 8th place overall and was chuffed to finish on a real high note! |
| WB 16 | Mark Hartnell was running in his third event of the season in his “Awesome 4-Some” slingshot, and was in 3rd place in the Wild Bunch Series going in to the event. He paired up with Dad Chris for all four runs on Saturday, and started the day off with a 12.634 at 102.48 mph. He made some adjustments to some settings, and recorded a 12.777 at 102.44 mph for his second run of the day. He made some other changes and posted a 12.893 at 101.21 mph on his third run, pulling a massive wheelie on the launch! On his fourth run of the day, he again launched well, but quickly pulled over to the side, experiencing loss of drive. The team pushed the car back to the pits, suspecting diff damage. Unfortunately this meant Mark was sidelined for the rest of the weekend. Such a shame as he had been doing well in the points. Since the event, he has found that he snapped a halfshaft and broke some teeth off some planetary gears. He also traced the cause of the drop in performance to some valve damage. Hope he can get repaired soon, and be back out for the Mini Showdown in two weeks’ time. Good luck, Mark! |
| WB 35 | Dick Sharp was back out in the new “Dorset Horn” and had found the cause of some of his off-pace runs at the ‘June Shootout’. He started Saturday with a promising 10.654 at 126.33 mph. He then ran an off-pace 11-second pass, but bounced back on the next run, recording a new Personal Best E.T. of 10.383 at 127.63 mph. He finished the day with a 10.620 at 124.95 mph. The team dialled in at 10.40 for the rounds on the Sunday, and Dick opened his account with a 10.804 at 119.95 mph. There was a problem in the second round when the engine started smoking, and Dick slowed to an 11.433 at 114.22 mph. There was then a noise in the shutdown area before Dick clicked off the motor, and on returning to the pits, the team discovered the engine had thrown a rod, and there was hole in the sump! Such a shame, as they were making good progress and it's great to have them back with the Bunch! Dick was very philosophical about the damage, and hopes to rebuild the engine with some spare parts and be back out later in the year! Best of luck to them and hope they can fix it soon and be back with the Bunch! |
| WB 38 | Helen Smythe was in her second event of the season with the Team Twisted “Hell's Belle” altered, and raring to go. Her first pass Saturday was a promising 9.230 at 145.43 mph. The team went back out for a second run and Helen recorded a new Personal Best E.T. of 9.041 at a new Best Speed of 147.24 mph! Great pass! Her third run of the day netted a 9.092 at 146.30 mph, another strong run. The team did some more tuning, and Helen went out around 4pm for her fourth pass of the day. This was a stunning 9.010 at over 146 mph! Another PB! The team decided to lap straight back out and take advantage of the cooler air, and the warm engine, and all went well til about quarter track when the Belle made a move. Helen corrected, but the car got up on two wheels and flipped over onto its roll cage, sliding up past the finish line! The safety crews were quickly on the scene, and everyone held breath til it was announced that she was a-okay! Such a huge relief! Helen got into and out of the ambulance unaided and was soon pronounced fine by the paramedics. We are all so thankful that she was completely uninjured apart from about one bruise which appeared during the week. What a great testament to the very high build quality of the Belle, and the safety regulations that are in place. Dean and a few of the Bunch later went up to recover the car onto the trailer, and were amazed to see that the bodywork only had one small scratch on it, though the front wheel and suspension were heavily damaged, as was the top of the injection system and there was a twist in the front of the chassis. Helen had the presence of mind and great driver sense to shut off the fuel and the ignition before the car rolled, so the team hope there is minimal or no damage to the engine. The team are unsure of their plans at the moment, but Helen would have no qualms getting back in a race car, most especially one that Dean built! Fair play to them both for such a positive attitude after the incident. And we wish them all the very best with their future plans! |
| WB 43 | Martin Holgate was also in his third event of the season with his “Paranoia” altered, coming back after some compression problems at the ‘Summer Nationals’. Well, he had well and truly cured this, as his first run Saturday was a stunning new Personal Best E.T. of 9.159 at 135.14 mph! His best run for several years! Well done Martin! His next pass started off as a flyer, as his 60ft time was 1.19, but unfortunately there were problems and he slowed to a 10.127 at 92 mph. Back in the pits, he discovered some problems, and had to sideline the car for the rest of the event. But the first run again showed great promise, so hopefully Martin will be back soon to pick up where he left off. |
| WB 44 | Dave Rowlands was also in his sixth event of the season with his “Destiny's Angel” altered, and he was in 2nd place in the Real Steel Series, but on equal points to the “RamRaider” boys. His first pass Saturday was a 9.708 at 141.99 mph. He then recorded two very consistent passes of 9.805 at 141.49 mph and 9.804 at 141.48 mph! Spot on! His fourth run of the day was a 9.777 at 140.59 mph. He decided to Dial in at 9.77 for Sunday's rounds, and started the day with a 10.090 at 129.45 mph. He was even mysteriously further off his normal pace as the day went on, recording a 10.582 at 124.98 mph, a 10.866 at 120.69 mph and a 10.904 at 120.51 mph! Dave finished in 9th place overall and had some head scratching to do before the next event. He was pleased to still be second in the Real Steel Series after the round. |
| WB 52 | Ant Harris was in his third event this year with his “Frantic” altered, and had some promising improvements on E.T. at the last event. He started Saturday with a checkout 9.492 at 131 mph. He then improved to a great new Personal Best E.T. of 9.025 at 141.77 mph, nearly three tenths quicker than his previous PB set at the last event! In his third run of the day, Ant went on to record his first ever 8-second pass! An 8.975 at a new Best Speed of 146.95 mph!! Well done Ant, and big congratulations on the great achievement! He put in another good run of 9.074 at 144.36 mph at the end of the day. The team dialled in at 9.20 for Sunday's rounds, and Ant broke out on his first pass, posting a 9.019 at 140.38 mph. He also broke out in the second round, with a 9.125 at 129.65 mph, but went the other side of the Dial in the third round, with a 9.490 at only 107.55 mph. He finished the day with a 9.302 at 116.27 mph, and was 4th overall for the event! He was also awarded the “Best Burnout” Spot Prize, by the commentators for his big smoky efforts. And his burnouts sure do command attention! Fair play Ant, and congratulations on a great weekend! |
| WB 71 | saw the first Wild Bunch event for 2 years for Andy Solley in the “Repeat Offender” altered. He started with a non-nitrous 11-second pass, then turned the bottle on and made several passes in the 9.7s on the Saturday. The team dialled in at 9.77 and Andy started well, with a 9.863 at 132.60 mph. He then improved to a 9.722 at 132.56 mph, not far off his personal best. Unfortunately, the car went through stage on the third round, and Andy did not record a time. He was now also low on nitrous, so only recorded a 10.658 at 114.53 mph in the fourth round. But he really enjoyed the weekend. Great to see you back Andy, and running so well! |
| WB 95 | Mark Richardson was back out in his “Pony Express” altered for his third event of the season, after an enforced layoff of three events. He was itching to get back out on track, and recorded a strong 9.38 for his first pass on Saturday. His second run netted a 9.418 at 139.01 mph, and Mark called it a day, pleased with this consistency. He dialled in at 9.38 for Sunday, and started off very well, with a 9.430 at 137.35 mph. He then posted a 9.488 at 137.4 mph in the second rounds and a close to Dial 9.400 at 137.62 in the third round. All appeared well in the fourth round, though he recorded a slightly slower 9.574 at 137.49 mph. Unfortunately, just past the finish line, he experienced a big problem with his front wheel, and had to pull over to the left hand side of the track. On inspecting the damage, it appeared the wheel had nearly come off, and the suspension and front part of the chassis was heavily damaged! Such a shame, as he had been running so well. Mark was somewhat surprised, and thrilled to still finish in 2nd place overall for the event!! And he also won the “Best Reaction” Spot Prize for a great .037 reaction on that last run! Well done, Mark, and we all hope you can fix the damage and be back out soon, chasing your goals! Best of luck! |
| WB 99 | Adz Price was in his third event with the Wild Bunch with the Team Gridlock “Go Hard or Go Home!!!” Topolino altered, and the team had really thrashed to get the car to this event, after the loss of a front wheel at the ‘June Shootout’ two weeks beforehand. They had managed to borrow a wheel from Paul Bland, whilst theirs were still on order, and Bill Felstead had quickly effected repairs to the chassis. They had to contend with core plugs breaking, and their tow truck gearbox breakage, and had made a huge effort to get the car to the track. Due to airline delays, team leader Dex was not able to get the car to the track until midday Saturday! So Adz and the whole team were really keen to make sure everything worked well. After scrutineering, another core plug breakage, and a non-start up in the fire-up road, Adz finally got a run in mid afternoon, recording a solid PB of 12.135 at 106.64 mph. The team were contemplating another run, but with all the thrashing leading up to the event, decided to call it a day for Saturday, and get some rest for the Sunday. Adz dialled in at 12.11 for the rounds Sunday, and the team's goal was just to make each and every one of the four rounds! They achieved and exceeded this goal, as Adz ran a 12.371 at a best speed of 108.44 mph in the first round, and then a new Personal Best E.T. and first time in the 11's with a great 11.856 at a best speed of 109.22 mph in the second! He followed this with a 12.267 at 97.29 mph in the third round, and completed the full quartet of runs, with a 12.029 at another best speed of 109.69 mph in the fourth round! Job done! They were all amazed to finish in 5th place overall, just outside the points, and really over the moon to win the “Best Appearing Team” awarded by the commentators for their smart teamwear, and concerted effort over the rounds with a well turned out altered. Big congratulations to them all on their success after all the efforts!!! |
| WB 101 | Matt Lee was back with the Wild Bunch for the first time since May 2004 with his “Worth the Wait” slingshot. It was great to see him back, and he really enjoyed his weekend, making several low 11-second passes on the Saturday. He enjoyed matching up with Dick Sharp in the “Dorset Horn” altered! He dialled in at an optimistic 10.80 for the rounds on Sunday, and started off with an 11.137 at 115.41 mph in the first. His second run netted him a new Personal Best E.T. of 11.020 at 116.02 mph, real close to that 10! He then recorded an 11.1-second pass in the third round, but experienced a misfire, so decided to sit out the fourth round. Welcome back Matt! Great to have you back with the Bunch! |
| WB 109 | Andrew Murphy was the first team driver to take to the hotseat of the new improved “B-Sting” Topolino altered! The car had been a couple of years in the building, with a new tagged chassis and rear end, and rebuilt motor and the Sting boys were sure raring to go! Andrew amazingly made four consistent passes straight off the bat, with three 10.51's and a 10.508 at 122.79 mph!! Incredible! No teething troubles for this team! They dialled in at 10.515 for Sunday's rounds and Andrew started off with a 10.653 at 125.28 mph. As with Gina's pass mentioned earlier, there had been a problem with the tree, so Andrew had to re-run for a second round. He then recorded a new Personal Best E.T. of 10.381 at a best speed of 128.77 mph in that round, quite a way below the Dial, but the team did not mind! His third run was a closer 10.567 at 125.68 mph, and his fourth an off-pace 11.100 at 125.74 mph. He finished in 6th place overall for the weekend, and the team were awarded the “Best Altered” Spot Prize by the commentators for their very well turned out car, and its smart appearance and consistent performance. Welcome back, boys, it's great to have you back with the Bunch! Congrats on building a great car! |
| WB 142 | Mike Cresswell was back in the hotseat of the freQ Racing “Living the Dream” slingshot, for his second event of the season. He made 5 passes on the Saturday: an 11.535 at 115.42 mph, an 11.627 at 111.86 mph, an 11.550 at 117.03 mph, an 11.705 at 115.88 mph, and an 11.642 at 115.48 mph, and this showed promise for the Sunday. The team dialled in at 11.60 for the rounds, and Mikey started well with an 11.557 at 114.04 mph in the first round. He then recorded an 11.654 at 112.23 mph in the second round, and an 11.848 at 111.83 mph in the third. Unfortunately, the car rolled through stage on the fourth round, so Mikey did not record a time! Such a shame, as he had been doing well. But the team were chuffed to be out racing in the sunny weekend and enjoyed it!! |
| Many thanks to all the marshals and officials and track crew all for their hard work over the weekend and to the NSRA for their organisation! And a special thanks to all the safety and fire teams for their quick response to the “Hell's Belle” incident, and their superb care of Helen.
Congratulations to Gos on the win, the third in a row for each of the team's different drivers! This means that they are now leading the Wild Bunch, Real Steel and Roy Wilding Series, as well as the APIRA Series and the MSA Challenge! Well, everything! Well done, guys! Great performance! Well done to all the teams for a great show over the weekend! All in all, a great event! And thanks to everyone at Shakey for all their help! We are now looking forward to the fourth Wild Bunch round and the seventh Real Steel Series round of 2009, at the “Mini Showdown” at Shakey on July 11th & 12th! Wild Bunch fancy dress time again with Superheroes and Supervillains, cartoon characters. Should be a great time and a great event! | |