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Easter Thunderball April 6 - 9
Wild Bunch ResultsEaster Thunderball6th - 9th April
Real Steel Series Round 1.
MSA Points Challenge 1.
The Easter Thunderball was the first event of the WB season. It was Real Steel Series Round 1 and the first round of new sponsors for the ‘Springbridge MSA Challenge’, and there was a field of 10 Wild Bunch cars competing: 2 Altereds, 7 Slingshots and a Rear-engine dragster
| Wild Bunch Points | ||||
| Pos | WB | Driver/Team | Car | Points |
| 1 | 1 | Adz Price | Go Hard or Go Home | 1 |
| - | 3 | Dave Williams | Green With Envy | 1 |
| - | 4 | Chris Hartnell | Backdraft | 1 |
| - | 8 | Ballbreaker | Mark Coulsell | 1 |
| - | 9 | Dogs Bollocks Racing | RamRaider | 1 |
| - | 40 | Darren Law | The Wicked Lady | 1 |
| - | 65 | Ian Turburville | Mr Spokehead II | 1 |
| - | 67 | Darryl Howells | Chemical Reaction | 1 |
| 91 | 1 | |||
| - | 961 | Dave Nelson | Doris Dormouse | 1 |
| MSA Points | ||||
| Pos | WB | Driver/Team | Car | Points |
| 1 | 40 | Darren Law | The Wicked Lady | 140 |
| 2 | 3 | Dave Williams | Green With Envy | 90 |
| 3 | 91 | Bob Hawkins | Timetraveller | 80 |
| 4 | 1 | Adz Price | Go Hard or Go Home | 70 |
| 5 | 961 | Dave Nelson | Doris Dormouse | 60 |
| 6 | 4 | Chris Hartnell | Backdraft | 50 |
| 7 | 9 | Dogs Bollocks Racing | RamRaider | 40 |
| 8 | 67 | Darryl Howells | Chemical Reaction | 30 |
| 9 | 8 | Ballbreaker | Mark Coulsell | 20 |
| 10 | 65 | Ian Turburville | Mr Spokehead II | 10 |
| Spot Prizes | ||||
| WB | Team/Driver | Car | Detail | |
| Best Reaction | 1 | Adz Price | Go Hard or Go Home | 0.101 |
| #1 Qualifier | 40 | Darren Law | The Wicked Lady | 0.018 off |
| Quickest ET | 91 | Bob Hawkins | Timetraveller | 8.566 |
| Best Appearing Car | 65 | Ian Turburville | Mr Spokehead II | |
| This was the 7th time the Wild Bunch had competed at the Easter Thunderball at Santa Pod as a class and this equalled our biggest ever field at the event. The Wild Bunch welcomed back a great group of racers, many with new parts, and 2 racers ran Personal Best E.T.s and Best Speeds in qualifying. All of the teams were hoping for good weather for the start of the season, but rain and cold temperatures sadly affected the event.
Qualifying Friday This was a qualifying day and there were scheduled to be 3 qualifiers. The racing started at around 9:15am, and we had our first qualifier about noon and 9 of the cars took part. There was quite a bit of downtime during the day with some unfortunate incidents, though we are glad to report that the drivers were a-ok. We had another round at about 5:00pm, and 8 cars took part. The weather was real cold and cloudy and the track did not warm up all day. Saturday Three qualifiers were scheduled on Saturday and we were earlier on the running order, as Friday had finished half way through the third cycle. There was some rain first thing, so the track crew got to work, and the track opened around 11:15am. We were called for our 3rd qualifier about 12:30pm, after one of the Pro sessions. We all got down to the pairings lanes, and waited, but there was some drizzle. We then waited for a couple hours before racing started again, and our round took place about 3:45pm. We were hoping for another qualifier, but with some delays the track finally got too cold at about 7:45pm. 9 cars were qualified at this point. Sunday There were 3 more qualifiers on the Sunday schedule, and we were due to be 9th out, as we were still only half way through the fourth cycle. Again, the day started rainy, but this time the track did not open until about 12:15pm, after the hard work of the track crew. We were called not long after this, and all 10 cars made their way to the lanes. After only a couple of classes the rain came again. So we all waited around. We were given a couple of 5 minute warnings, and all the drivers got back in the cars, but more drizzle delayed proceedings. The track crew worked hard, and luckily the temperature increased a bit, and with this warmth and a recently sprayed track we got the benefit of better conditions for our fourth round, at about 4:45pm! During this round, we had no less than 5 breakouts amongst the drivers, and some great numbers, prompting the commentators to say that it had been a stellar round for the Wild Bunch! By now, all 10 teams had safely qualified. | |
| WB 1 | Adam Price was now proudly sporting WB 1 on the Team Gridlock Go Hard or Go Home!!! altered. Adz had run his first ever 140 mph pass in testing a few weeks before the event and was looking forward to seeing what the car would run after some off-season modifications. Adz dialled in at 9.20 for the first qualifier and posted a 9.481 at 134.93mph for starters. The team raised the Dial for the next round, to 9.35, and Adam ran a much closer 9.426 at 135.75mph. For Saturday's qualifier, the team raised the Dial slightly to 9.38, and Adam posted a 9.598 at 137.84mph, his best speed of the weekend. On Sunday, the team kept this Dial-in, and Adam ran a 9.507 at 137.42mph, with a Wild Bunch Best Reaction of .101. Adam qualified in 4th place overall. |
| WB 3 | Dave and Linda Williams were back out with their Green with Envy altered, after Dave's first solo Top 4 WB placing last year. They dialled in at 11.50 for starters, and Dave posted a 12.167 at 112.78mph in the first qualifier. They raised the Dial-in for the next qualifier, and Dave broke out with a good 11.632 at 112.77mph in this second round. They lowered the Dial to 11.50 for the next round Saturday and Dave recorded an improved 11.554 at 115.07mph. They kept the Dial-in on Sunday, and Dave posted an 11.741 at 111.40mph. He qualified in a promising 2nd place overall. |
| WB 4 | In the off-season ‘Crazy’ Chris Hartnell bought a new fuel pump and nozzles for the Backdraft slingshot and he was looking forward to seeing how the car would run. The team dialled in at 8.95 for the first qualifier and Chris wheelied off the line and ran a 9.311 at 143.85mph. The team kept the Dial for the second qualifier, and Chris had a double wheelie and a wander towards the wall, having to back off to a 10.555 at 90.16mph on the cold track. On Saturday the team kept the Dial-in, and Chris lit the tyres off the line and posted a 9.789 at a promising 148.63mph. Chris stuck with the Dial-in on Sunday, and he and the whole team were over the moon to run an 8.914 at 146.66mph! They didn’t mind the breakout on that one! Chris finished in 6th place overall in qualifying, and the team were well chuffed to have run their first 8 of the year! |
| WB 8 | Mark Coulsell and the Limited Funz Team had installed a new axle in the Ballbreaker slingshot over the off–season and they were raring to go. They started off with a Dial-in o 9.00 seconds, and Mark had some problems on the run, recording an 11.163 at 108.05mph. The team raised the Dial to 9.30 for the next run, which was a slower 11.680 at 91.60mph. They had problems with the starter motor and managed to borrow another, and dialled in at 9.30 for Saturday. This was a great improvement, as Mark ran a 10.049 at 125.83mph. They raised the Dial to 9.60 for the last qualifier, and the team were thrilled when Mark ran a 9.472 at 122.54mph. Another team who didn’t mind the breakout! Mark qualified in 9th place overall. |
| WB 9 | saw Ed Yates taking the first turn of the year in the RamRaider slingshot for Team Dog's Bollocks. Ed began with a Dial of 9.41, and had a problem on the run, posting a 14.967 at 62.27mph. The problem was soon fixed, and, keeping the same Dial, Ed improved to a 10.281 at 126.28mph. For Saturday, the team kept this Dial-in, and Ed improved again, recording a 9.796 at 135.77mph. They raised the Dial to 9.61 for the fourth qualifier Sunday, and Ed broke out by just 7 thousandths, posting another improved run of 9.603 at 138.21mph. He qualified in 7th position overall. |
| WB 40 | Darren Law and the Wicked Lady team were glad to be back after the off-season, and the team started the year well when Darren ran a strong 9.258 at 144.39mph on a 9.24 Dial-in. This put Darren straight in at the top spot. They kept the Dial for the second round but there was a problem on the start line and the car rolled the beams so Darren did not record a time. The Dial-in remained the same on Saturday, and Darren posted a better 9.208 at 146.18mph. The team lowered the Dial for Sunday to a 9.18 and Darren ran a 9.290 at 143.00mph, showing early consistency. Darren remained as #1 Qualifier, so a great start to the season. |
| WB 65 | Ian Turburville was back after installing a new engine in the Mr Spokehead II slingshot, after the previous motor was destroyed at last year's Hot Rod Drags. After an initial fireup on Friday, Ian had problems re-firing the car and the team realised there was a problem with the starter motor and missed the first two rounds of qualifying. They managed to borrow a starter motor and fitted it to the car and Ian dialled in at 9.00 for Saturday's qualifier. He did a great smoky burnout but unfortunately had to shut down on the line when a leak was spotted. The team fixed this and came back out for Sunday's qualifier, keeping the 9.00 Dial. Ian's previous best had been a 10.40 at 140mph, but he blasted this away with a great 8.965 at 152.60mph! Congratulations to Ian and the whole team on his first ever 8 at over 150! Fair play! With this, Ian successfully qualified, in 10th place overall, and the whole team was chuffed with the great run! They also were awarded the Best Appearing Car Spot Prize by the commentators, which was more icing on the cake! |
| WB 67 | Darryl Howells was back out in the DASH Racing Chemical Reaction slingshot, after a 3-year layoff. Darryl dialled in at 10.10 for his first qualifier, and posted a 10.806 at 130.91mph for starters. The team then raised the Dial to 10.62 and Darryl broke out with a 10.471 at 130.53mph. On Sunday, they lowered the Dial to 10.45 and Darryl broke out again, with an improved 10.395 at 131.67mph. The team lowered this again for Sunday, to 10.34, and Darryl once again broke out, but this time it was a great 9-second pass of 9.996 at 133.22mph! He and Sarah were well chuffed with his first 9 for several years! Darryl qualified in 8th place overall. Welcome back, Darryl!! |
| WB 91 | Bob Hawkins had made some modifications to the nitrous system in his Time Traveller slingshot. Bob started the weekend with a Dial-in of 8.50, but had a problem on the startline and the car rolled the beams so Bob did not record a time. He kept the Dial for the next round and taking a tenth off his previous PB, ran a new Personal Best ET and Speed of 8.566 at 156.30mph. This was the Quickest ET of the event for the Wild Bunch. Well done, Bob! He and Tom kept this Dial for the next round, and he posted an 8.708 at another Best Speed of 157.39mph. On Sunday, they raised the Dial to 8.62 and Bob ran an 8.754 at 155.21mph. He qualified in 3rd place overall. |
| WB 961 | Dave Nelson and team were back with their Dorris Dormouse slingshot for only their second ever event with the Wild Bunch. Dave and the team dialled in at 8.55 for starters and posted a 9.384 at 138.12mph on the cold track Friday. Dave was doing double duty this weekend, and missed the second round, due to some maintenance. He dialled in at 8.99 for the third qualifier Saturday, and posted a 9.075 at 146.78mph. The team again lowered the Dial to 8.55 for the last run, and Dave recorded an improved 8.814 at 151.07mph and qualified in 5th place overall. |
| Race Day Monday Monday dawned rainy again. All 10 Wild Bunch cars had qualified for eliminations, so we were due to see 5 good races in the first round. But sadly, the rain persisted and by 12 noon, the Race Director was forced to call the event off. Such a shame for everyone! Well done to all the teams for putting on a great show for our season opener! The commentators specially mentioned our ‘stellar round’ on the fourth qualifier, where many teams recorded breakouts and improved. Great performances, great cars, great people! It's a real pleasure to race with you all! A good event despite the weather. Huge thanks to all the marshals and officials and track crew for all their hard work in drying the track and trying to get in as much racing as possible! And thanks to everyone at Santa Pod for a good event and a warm welcome! We are now looking forward to the second Real Steel Series and Springbridge MSA Challenge rounds of 2012, and the first APIRA Series round, at the Springspeed Nationals at Shakey on May 5th – 7th. It should be a great event! We’re hoping for better weather and a big field of Wild Bunch! | |