2011 Index
Select another 2011 event
Sportsman National Finals September 24 - 25
Wild Bunch ResultsNational Finals24th - 25th September
Real Steel Series Round 8.
Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars Series Round 3.
APIRA Series Round 2.
MSA Points Challenge 3.
The “Fall Nationals” at the UK National Finals was the 9th event of the WB season. It was Wild Bunch Series Round 6 (Final), Real Steel Series Round 9 (Final) as well as the 4th round of the MSA Challenge (Final). There was a field of 8 Wild Bunch cars competing: 2 Altereds, 5 Slingshots and a Rear-engined dragster.
| Wild Bunch Points | ||||
| Pos | WB | Driver/Team | Car | Points |
| 1 | 11 | Dave Williams | Green With Envy | 9 |
| 2 | 91 | Bob Hawkins | Timetraveller | 7 |
| 3 | 40 | Darren Law | The Wicked Lady | 5 |
| 4 | 3 | Adz Price | Go Hard or Go Home | 4 |
| 5 | 25 | Terry Clifford | Ratcatcher Resurrection | 2 |
| - | 6 | Chris Hartnell | Backdraft | 2 |
| - | 78 | Keith Crampton | Soultown Shaker | 2 |
| - | 8 | Ballbreaker | Mark Coulsell | 2 |
| Spot Prizes | ||||
| WB | Team/Driver | Car | Detail | |
| Closest To Dial-In | 11 | Dave Williams | Green With Envy | 0.057 off |
| Best Reaction | 11 | Dave Williams | Green With Envy | 0.016 |
| Best Appearing Team | 8 | Ballbreaker | Limited Funz | |
| #1 Qualifier | 91 | Bob Hawkins | Timetraveller | 0.019 off |
| Quickest ET | 91 | Bob Hawkins | Timetraveller | 8.823 |
| Best Appearing Car | 78 | Keith Crampton | Soultown Shaker | |
| Qualifying Saturday This was a qualifying day and there were scheduled to be 3 rounds. The 8 teams competing at the event were hoping for good weather for the season finale, and they were not disappointed! The day dawned dry though cloudy, and fairly warm. We were 16th on the running order, and got called down to the pairings lanes at about 10:30am. All 8 drivers made the first round and safely qualified. Our next round was at about 2:15pm and our third qualifier was around 6pm. | |
| WB 3 | Adam Price was back in the “Go Hard or Go Home!!!” altered, after work had forced the team to miss the Open Sports Nationals. This event was Adam's eighth Wild Bunch event this season. He and the team dialled in at 9.30 for the first round, and posted a 9.342 at 133.36mph to start the day in Number 1 Spot. The team increased the Dial for the second round, and Adam recorded a 9.440 at 131.71mph. They raised the Dial slightly to 9.33 for the 3rd qualifier, and Adam ran a 9.470 at 133.76mph, to finish in 4th place overall for qualifying. |
| WB 6 | ‘Crazy’ Chris Hartnell was one of two drivers in his ninth event of the season in the “Backdraft” slingshot. The team started the weekend with a Dial of 9.10, and Chris promptly broke out with a 9.095 at 143.00mph, better than he had run the weekend before at the Hot Rod Drags, so the team were quite pleased with this run. They lowered the Dial to 9.05 for the second round, and Chris posted a 9.150 at 140.81mph in the warmest part of the day. The team then raised the Dial to 9.08 for the qualifier, and Chris made a pass of 9.117 at 142.10mph. He qualified in 3rd place overall. |
| WB 8 | Mark Coulsell was in his sixth event of the season with the “Ballbreaker” slingshot. On his first qualifier, the team dialled in at 9.10, and Mark ran a 10.329 at 136.95mph, with some problems on the run. They also had a problem on the second qualifier, and could not fire the car up in the pairings lanes, which later turned out to be loose wires which were easily fixed. The team kept the Dial for the third round, and Mark lost fire after the burnout. When Steve put petrol in the bugcatcher to help try to re-fire the car, there was a flash fire, which the marshals quickly reacted to and put out. But both Steve and crew Rob caught alight very briefly, but thanks to their quick actions and that of the safety teams, this was instantly extinguished, and the only lasting effects were a singed goatie for Steve! Many thanks to all the safety crew and medical teams for their quick action and concern! Mark and the car were also okay, and the team regrouped back in the pits. They later discovered the drive on the dizzy had worn and lost teeth, so they worked late into the night to replace this, drop the sump, clean the parts and put it all back together, hoping they would be able to make the first round Sunday! |
| WB 11 | was Dave Williams’ eighth event of the season in his and Linda's “Green with Envy” altered, after only missing the Open Sports Nationals. They began the weekend with a Dial-in of 11.60, and Dave recorded an 11.768 at 113.91mph in the first round to open his account. They raised the Dial to 11.70 for the second qualifier, and Dave posted a break out 11.692, at an identical 113.91mph! They then refined the Dial-in to 11.68 for the third round, and Dave ran an 11.824 at 113.63mph, to finish in 6th place overall for qualifying. |
| WB 25 | Terry Clifford with the “Ratcatcher Resurrection” slingshot was one of only two drivers to complete nine events this season. The team started the day with a Dial-in of 10.35, and Terry recorded a 10.432 at 125.84mph in the first round. The team kept the same Dial for the next round, but Terry had some trouble on the run, recording an 11.195 at 119.62mph. The team raised the Dial-in for the third round, but Terry had a problem and did not record a time. He finished in 5th place overall in qualifying. Later on, the team diagnosed gearbox problems, and in the morning they drained the oil and topped it back up, in the hopes that the box would last to at least make the first round. |
| WB 40 | Darren Law was back with the team's “The Wicked Lady” rear-engine dragster in their third event of the season. Son Sean had entered the event, to do his first licensing passes, but was unable to get the paperwork in time, so Darren stepped back into the hotseat. The team began the weekend with a Dial-in of 9.03, and Darren recorded a 9.231 at 143.85mph in the opening qualifier. The team raised the Dial for the next round to 9.21, and Darren posted a minute breakout of 9.208 at 143.37mph. They lowered the Dial to 9.20 for the third round, but there was a problem with the transbrake and the car rolled through stage and Darren did not record a time. He qualified in 7th place. |
| WB 78 | Keith Crampton was back out with his “Soultown Shaker” slingshot for his sixth event of the season, all of them Wild Bunch Series rounds. He started off with a Dial-in of 11.65, and recorded an 11.738 at 114.05mph to begin with. He kept this Dial for the second round, and lost traction during the run, posting a 12.194 at 113.64mph. He persevered with the same Dial-in, and ran a much improved 11.684 at 115.95mph in the third round. This raised his qualifying position to a strong 2nd place. |
| WB 91 | Bob Hawkins was in his eighth Wild Bunch event of the season with his “Time Traveller” slingshot. He had run deep into the 8's at the Open Sports Nationals, recording more personal bests for ET and speed. He began the weekend with a Dial-in of 8.80, but had a problem in the first round, recording a 10.270 at 153.12mph. He kept the Dial for the next qualifier and posted a much better 8.823 at 150.11mph to go into temporary Number 1 Spot. This run also proved to be the “Quickest E.T. of the weekend” for the Bunch. The team refined the Dial to 8.81 for the last round, and Bob ran a consistent 8.829 at 150.56mph to consolidate his #1 Qualifier position. |
| Race Day Sunday (Eliminations) Sunday dawned fairly warm and sunny, and stayed that way most of the day, with only a few clouds at times. The track opened around 9:00am, right on schedule, and all classes completed all their eliminations by about 4:15pm! Many thanks to all the race officials and marshals for their hard work!! Quarter-Finals All 8 Wild Bunch cars had qualified for eliminations, so there were due to be 4 good races in the quarter-finals. We were quite late on the running order, only having three rounds, so our first round took place at about 1:45pm. The first race saw Chris Hartnell facing Darren Law. The team had disconnected the transbrake in “The Wicked Lady”, and dialled in at 9.20, whilst Chris and the team dialled in at 9.12. Darren had the reaction time advantage off the start, recording a 9.385 at 143.85mph to take the win by just .010, over Chris’ 9.189 at 133.37mph. The next pairing saw Terry Clifford facing Bob Hawkins. Terry opted for a 10.40 Dial whilst Bob chose an 8.81. Terry was hoping to nurse the gearbox through the round, but was not able to hold the car on the line, and rolled forward, redlighting and coasting over to the side of the track. Such a shame! Bob went on to take the win with a slowing 9.137 at 129.42mph. The next race saw Dave Williams matched up with Keith Crampton. Dave and Linda went for an 11.68 Dial, and Keith slightly quicker with an 11.65. Keith had had some clutch problems during the year, and it finally went on the run, with the car slowing to a 14.719 at 82.72mph, leaving Dave to take the win with a cautious 12.014 at 112.22mph. There was some consolation for Keith, as “Soultown Shaker” was awarded the “Best Appearing Car” Spot Prize by the commentators. The last race of the round saw Adam Price facing Mark Coulsell. With Adam's nearest rivals just having gone out in this round, Adam was now assured of the Wild Bunch Series win! Congratulations to him and the whole team on this great achievement! Adam dialled in at 9.34 and Mark at 9.35, so no noticeable difference on the tree. Mark made a valiant challenge, recording a good reaction of .068 to Adam's .190, but after having ‘tyre shake’ off the line, he slowed to a 10.632 at 119.95mph, leaving Adam to take the victory with a 9.456 at 131.68mph. With this run, Mark just made it into the Top 10 in the Wild Bunch Series, a fitting reward for all the team's hard work this season! They were also awarded the “Best Appearing Team” Spot Prize by the commentators! Semi-finals It was then just over an hour until the semis, which took place about 3:15pm. With first place now decided, there was still more to play for, for the rest of the Top 4 placings, with several drivers still in contention. The first race of the semis saw Adam facing Dave. Adam dialled in at 9.40 this time and Dave and Linda kept their 11.68. Adam had the reaction time advantage, but Dave recorded the “Closest to Dial-in” of the Bunch for the day, with .057 off, posting a winning 11.737 at 117.78mph to Adam's tiny breakout of four thousandths, a 9.396 at 131.67mph! The other race saw Darren and Bob matched up. Darren dialled in at 9.30 and Bob raised his Dial very slightly to 8.82. Bob had the start line advantage, and maintained this all the way down track posting a winning 8.920 at 142.02mph to Darren's slightly closer 9.398 at 143.44mph. Darren finished in 3rd place for the event, being closest to Dial-in without breaking out of the Semi-final Runners-up. Adam finished in 4th place, keeping up his season-long record of finishing in the Top 4 at every Wild Bunch Series round!! Final The Final took place about an hour later. Dave had started the weekend in 6th place in the Wild Bunch Series and Bob in 8th and they both now had the chance to finish in the Top 4! Dave kept his 11.68 Dial and Bob kept his 8.81. Dave pulled out a cracker of a Reaction time, with a .016, the “Best Reaction” of the Bunch, to Bob's .158. Bob was closer to Dial with an 8.909 at 150.07mph, but Dave took the victory with the holeshot, recording 11.899 at 110.87mph! This was Dave's first ever MSA event win, so many congratulations to him!! Congrats to Bob on his 2nd Final round appearance of the season. This meant Dave earned 3rd place in the Wild Bunch Series and Bob finished in 5th! It was a great event, where the weather was really good, and the racing was close. Once again huge thanks to the track crew, marshalls and officials and all at Santa Pod who worked really hard as always, and gave us all a fitting finale to the season! The results mean that Adam Price and Team Gridlock have won the 2011 Wild Bunch Series with their “Go Hard or Go Home!!!” altered in only their third season of racing! Terry Clifford has finished in 2nd place (his second 2nd), Dave Williams finished in 3rd place (his first solo Top 4 finish) and Chris Hartnell finished in 4th place (his 7th Top 4 finish), so congratulations to all of them!! Terry Clifford and team have won the 2011 Real Steel Series as well as the MSA Challenge. So big congratulations to all of them!! The Wild Bunch website results page has all points standings for 2011. We are now looking forward to our Annual Dinner Dance and Prize Presentation on 26th November. It should be another great evening to celebrate all our winners after another fantastic season!! | |