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Spring Speed Festival May 14 - 15
Wild Bunch ResultsSpringspeed Nationals14th - 15th May 2011
Real Steel Series Round 2.
APIRA Series Round 1.
MSA Points Challenge 2.
The “Springspeed Nationals” was the second event of the WB season. It was Real Steel Series Round 2 and APIRA Series Round 1 as well as the 2nd round of the MSA Challenge. There was a field of 9 Wild Bunch cars competing: 4 Altereds and 5 Slingshots.
| Wild Bunch Points | ||||
| Pos | WB | Driver/Team | Car | Points |
| 1 | 6 | Chris Hartnell | Backdraft | 10 |
| 2 | 25 | Terry Clifford | Ratcatcher Resurrection | 8 |
| 3 | 4 | Dogs Bollocks Racing | RamRaider | 6 |
| 4 | 2 | Dave Rowlands | Destinys Angel | 4 |
| 5 | 91 | Bob Hawkins | Timetraveller | 3 |
| 6 | 3 | Adz Price | Go Hard or Go Home | 2 |
| - | 11 | Dave Williams | Green With Envy | 2 |
| - | 17 | Tiki Racing | Tiki Munki | 2 |
| - | 35 | Dick Sharp | Dorset Horn | 2 |
| MSA Points | ||||
| Pos | WB | Driver/Team | Car | Points |
| 1 | 6 | Chris Hartnell | Backdraft | 680 |
| 2 | 25 | Terry Clifford | Ratcatcher Resurrection | 450 |
| 3 | 4 | Dogs Bollocks Racing | RamRaider | 430 |
| 4 | 2 | Dave Rowlands | Destinys Angel | 270 |
| 5 | 91 | Bob Hawkins | Timetraveller | 220 |
| 6 | 11 | Dave Williams | Green With Envy | 160 |
| 7 | 3 | Adz Price | Go Hard or Go Home | 140 |
| 8 | 35 | Dick Sharp | Dorset Horn | 130 |
| 9 | 17 | Tiki Racing | Tiki Munki | 110 |
| Spot Prizes | ||||
| WB | Team/Driver | Car | Detail | |
| Closest To Dial-In | 6 | Chris Hartnell | Backdraft | 0.011 off |
| Best Reaction | 3 | Adz Price | Go Hard or Go Home | 0.065 |
| Best Appearing Team | 6 | C&C Nostalgia Drag racing Team | Backdraft | |
| #1 Qualifier | 4 | Dogs Bollocks Racing | RamRaider | 0.006 off |
| Fastest m.p.h. | 6 | Chris Hartnell | Backdraft | 148.26 |
| Best Burnout | 3 | Adz Price | Go Hard or Go Home | |
| The Wild Bunch welcomed back Scot Durrant in the Ruby-bodied “Tiki Munki” slingshot coupe and Dick Sharp in the “Dorset Horn” altered, who joined the other 7 teams who had competed at the “Easter Thunderball”. Sadly we were missing Mark Coulsell with the Limited Funz team “Ballbreaker” slingshot, who just ran out of time to repair damage sustained to a cylinder head at the Thunderball; and likewise “The Wicked Lady” team, who could not effect repairs to the cracked block in the rear-engined dragster in time. We hope they will both be back real soon! The 9 teams competing at the event were hoping the weather would be better than the forecast!
Qualifying Saturday This was a qualifying day and there were scheduled to be 3 rounds. It was cloudy and cool in the morning, and the track opened a bit early, just before 10am. We were 21st and last on the running order, so had quite a long wait! But we eventually got our first round just before 12noon, and 8 teams took part. The running order went through quite quickly and our second qualifier took place around 2pm. Straight after us were the NFAA, and Joe Bond set the track ET record for alky altereds. Congratulations to him and the team! But sadly, on the same run, Gary Page had a bad crash and flash fire in the “Chaos” altered. Thankfully he got out almost instantly after the car stopped and was a-ok. Well done to all the safety teams, the first of which was there in 10 seconds. The track crew worked hard to clear up the track, and repair the guard rail, but the delay was around 2 hours. The third cycle of qualifying started, and though we were in the pairings lanes, there was a shower at 6:30pm, so we and other classes had to turn back to the pits. Sunday qualifying Our third round was re-scheduled for Sunday morning, and took place at about 10:15am, as the track had opened right on time again. This was quite an exciting round with one driver, and then another taking the #1 spot. All 9 drivers had safely qualified after this session. | |
| WB 2 | Dave Rowlands was back for his second event of the season with the “Destiny's Angel” altered. He had been working around the clock all of the previous week, and had to sit out the first two qualifiers, though he was ready to take part in the third round on Saturday before the rain came. He then had one shot at qualifying on Sunday and dialled in at 9.80 for the round. He went straight into the second place slot at the time, running a solid 9.818 at 142.14mph. By the end of the round, Dave had qualified in 3rd place overall. Fair play! |
| WB 3 | Adz Price was back with the “Go Hard or Go Home!!!” Topolino altered, fresh from his first ever Final appearance and more PB's at the ‘Easter Thunderball’. He and the team started the weekend with a Dial-in of 9.29. Well, Adz had a real hairy launch on this one, turning right and then correcting left, getting back on the throttle, and then backing off to a 21-second pass! Dad Dex said at one point he could see the name on the side of the car from his vantage point behind! Adam bounced straight back from this in the second round, recording a 9.352 at 132.96mph, his first 9-second pass at Shakey. On Sunday, the team raised the dial to 9.32 and Adz went even better, posting a 9.274 breakout, at 132.43mph! Adam qualified in 6th place overall. |
| WB 4 | Ed Yates and Team Dog's Bollocks had a lot of work to do after the “RamRaider” slingshot broke a half shaft at the ‘Easter Thunderball’. They had quickly ordered parts and had hoped to build up a new spool axle ready for this event, but there was a delay, and the team had to go with ‘Plan B’, which was repairing the broken half shaft. They did this just a couple of days before the event and made it right on time! Fair play guys! Ed dialled in at the ‘old faithful’ 9.33 for the first round, and posted a 9.693 at 141.81mph for starters. The team kept the Dial-in for the second round, and Ed recorded a much closer 9.411 at 142.24mph. On Sunday, they raised the Dial to 9.39, and Ed ran a great pass of 9.396 at 143.41mph to move up to the #1 Qualifying Spot! Well done Ed and the team! |
| WB 6 | ‘Crazy’ Chris Hartnell and team were really chuffed to have been back in the 8's at the ‘Easter Thunderball’ and were looking forward to running more at this event with the “Backdraft” slingshot. They dialled in at 8.95 for the first round, and Chris had a real squirrely launch, and backed off to a 9.396 at 146.75mph (the speed certainly wasn’t backed off!). For the second round, the team kept this Dial, and Chris ran a much straighter pass, with a breakout 8.926 at 146.33mph. On the Sunday, the air was cooler, and anticipating better performance, crewman Mark lowered the Dial to 8.88. Chris ran a great pass of 8.890 at 148.26mph which, at the time, was good for the top spot. The run also earnt Chris the “Fastest MPH of the event” spot prize. Chris finished 2nd overall in qualifying. |
| WB 11 | Dave Williams had run consistently in the low 11's at the Thunderball and was keen to maintain this performance. He started the weekend with a Dial-in of 11.40 in the “Green with Envy” altered. He put in a good pass of 11.449 at 118.67mph, which was the closest of the first round. He and Linda kept the Dial for the second round of qualifying, and Dave recorded an 11.478 at 118.13mph. On Sunday, they stuck with this Dial-in, and Dave broke out, with a stronger 11.360 at 119.18mph. He qualified in 4th place overall. |
| WB 17 | saw the first appearance of the season for Scot Durrant and Gina Rumble's “Tiki Munki” Ruby-bodied slingshot coupe. Scottie had gone to a recent test and tune, where the car had received some damage caused by another car's incident. This curtailed the pre-season testing, but he and the team worked hard to repair this, and were ready early for the event, his first MSA event with the car. He had successfully gained his MSA licence again at the previous RWYB. The team dialled in at 13.40 for the first round and Scot started off with a pass of 16.990 at 78.69mph. They kept the Dial-in for the second run and Scottie went over a second quicker, with a 15.882 at 76.57mph. The team were getting ready for the 3rd qualifier, when early Sunday, they had a problem with a leaking tyre valve. They soon repaired this but had to miss the 3rd round. Scot qualified in 9th place overall. |
| WB 25 | Terry Clifford had been really consistent with the “Ratcatcher Resurrection” slingshot at the ‘Easter Thunderball’, and hoped this would continue. He started off with a Dial-in of 10.15 for Round one of qualifying and posted a 10.438 at 128.46mph for his opening bid. He and the team raised the Dial to 10.30 for the second round, and Terry ran closer, with a 10.397 at 127.67mph. For Sunday's last qualifier, they opted for a 10.25, and Terry got closer to Dial again, recording a 10.300 at 129.10mph, which would have been spot-on for the previous round! This was good for 5th place overall in qualifying, and the team had a good baseline for eliminations. |
| WB 35 | Dick Sharp was in his first Wild Bunch event of the season, after running some mid 9-second passes doing some recent testing with the “Dorset Horn” altered. He started the weekend with a Dial-in of 9.70, and ran a solid 9.982 at 137.83mph in the opening qualifier. The team kept this Dial for the second run, and Dick posted a 9.909 at 127.67mph. The team were still tuning the car to get a handle on the set up, and it was pulling some strong launches. They decided to raise the Dial-in for the third round on Sunday, to a 9.90, and Dick ran a 10.036 at 138.10mph. He qualified in 7th place. |
| WB 91 | Bob Hawkins was over the moon with his first ever win at the ‘Easter Thunderball’ in his “Time Traveller” slingshot, as well as his first ever 8's! He was on a roll and hoped to continue with another good performance at this event. He and son Tom dialled in at 8.80 for the first qualifier. Bob ran a 9.005 at 147.66mph on his first pass of the weekend. Tom raised the Dial to 8.90 for the next round, and Bob broke out with an 8.811 at 144.21mph. For Sunday, they refined the Dial to 8.75 for the morning 3rd qualifier, and Bob posted an 8.897 at 148.22mph, just .04mph short of Chris’ quickest speed of the weekend. So close! Bob qualified in 8th place overall. |
| Race Day Sunday (Eliminations) Sunday dawned very bright, but clouded over during the morning, and remained cool. The track opened around 10:00am, right on schedule. The third qualifier for the Wild Bunch had taken place at about 10:15am, so there was then a wait for our first round. Round 1 All 9 Wild Bunch cars had qualified for eliminations, so there were due to be 4 good races and a Bye in the first round which took place at 1pm. The first pairing saw Scottie and Terry matched up in a battle of the ‘gold cars’! Scottie dialled in at 14.20, and posted an improved 15.101 at 84.66mph, a new Personal Best E.T. and Speed for the coupe, and a slight advantage off the line, whilst Terry dialled in at 10.22, and managed to get round Scottie, backing off to a 10.588 at 114.75mph for the win. The next pairing saw a heads-up race between Dave Rowlands and Dick, as they both dialled in at 9.80. Dave had the reaction time advantage and held the lead all the way to advance to the next round, posting exactly the same ET as his qualifier, a 9.818 at 131.84mph to Dick's 10.111 at a quicker 139.17mph. The third race saw Dave and Linda Williams dialling in low at 11.28, with Tom dialling his Dad Bob in at 8.84. There was not much in it to choose from off the startline, nor in the difference to Dial, but Bob just edged the win by .019 at the top end. The last pair of the round saw Crazy Chris matched up with Adz, with Chris keeping the 8.88 dial from the last qualifier and Team Gridlock opting for a 9.25. Adz pulled out the “Best Reaction” of the Bunch for the day, with an .065, and a run of 9.358 at 133.24mph but Chris recorded the “Closest to Dial-in” of the eliminations, with .011 off, and a run of 8.891 at 147.52mph, and just got to the line .004 ahead of Adam - both of them flat out! The difference on the track equated to 9 inches! What a great race! Adam was also awarded “Best Burnout” by the commentators for his first time really ‘smoking the hides’! Following the 4 races in this round, Ed took his earned Bye-run on his 9.39 Dial, and opted to stage, roll the beams and push back, in order to save time in advancing to the next round. Quarter-Finals There was originally not much time before the next round, but while we were in the queue, there was a rain delay of about 45 minutes, so the quarter-finals took place about 3pm. The first pair to run were Ed and Bob. Ed kept his 9.39 Dial-in, and Bob kept his 8.84. Bob had a big reaction time advantage off the line, but Ed caught up with a 9.466 at 142.19mph taking the win over Bob who slowed to a 9.322 at 119mph. The margin of victory was just .006, another great close race! The other race this round saw Dave Rowlands facing Terry. Dave kept his 9.80 Dial and Terry and team went for 10.30. Terry had the much better light and ran just .013 off Dial, with a 10.313 at 126.83mph taking the win over Dave's 9.831 at 140.98mph. After this pair Chris took his Bye-run on an 8.88 Dial, staging, rolling the beams and pushing back, progressing to the Semis and saving time. Dave Rowlands was awarded 4th place by the rule of ‘Closest to Dial-in’ without breaking out, or redlighting, of the Runners-up in the quarter-finals. Semi-finals After the quarter-finals, it was more or less straight back round, as the semi-finalists were being called once they returned to the pits. The Semis took place at about 3:45pm. The only race of the round saw Ed matched up with Chris. They both kept their previous Dials of 9.39 and 8.88 respectively. Chris had the advantage off the line, posting an 8.974 at a slowing 129.07mph, whilst Ed charged hard to catch him, recording his quickest and fastest run of the weekend, a breakout 9.293 at 144.43mph, which saw Chris taking the win. In this round it was Terry who took a staged Bye on his 10.30 Dial, breaking the beams and pushing back to save time and advance to the Final. Ed finished in 3rd place for the event, a great performance after the team's hard work to make it there! Final As expected, all Finalists were being called to the pairings lanes as Chris and Terry arrived back in the pits. The Final was run just before 4:30pm, so it was three rounds in an hour and a half! Once again Chris kept his 8.88 Dial-in and Terry kept his 10.30. Chris had a better reaction time, an .098 to Terry's .180, and though Terry ran closer to Dial, with a 10.366 at 128.13mph, Chris took the win with the holeshot and an 8.891 at 142.98mph! There was just .047 in it at the top end, another close race. Chris was also chuffed when he and the team were awarded the “Best Appearing Team” award by the commentators. Many Congratulations to Chris and the team on winning their first MSA event at Shakey for many years! And congrats to Terry and team for their first time in a Final this season. Well done to all the teams, who really put on a great show, with some exciting qualifying and close racing. Another great performance from the whole Bunch! Overall it was another good event, where the weather held out and all the qualifying and eliminations were completed. Once again huge thanks to the track crew, marshalls and officials who worked really hard to prepare the track and run the event. Thanks also to all at Shakey for the improvements on site during the off-season. We are now really looking forward to the first Wild Bunch Series round of this our 16th season, which will be the ‘Spring Nationals’, also at Shakey on May 28th – 30th, the Yanks American Gary's Picnic weekend. This will also be the 3rd Real Steel Series round of 2011. It should be another great event! Hope to see loads of the Bunch out for this one! | |