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WB Spring Nationals at Yanks Weekend May 26 - 27
Wild Bunch ResultsSpring Nationals26th - 27th May
Wild Bunch Series Round 1.
Real Steel Series Round 3.
The 'Spring Nationals' was the third event of the WB season. It was the first round of the Wild Bunch Series, in our 17th year, and Real Steel Series Round 3, and we had a bumper field of 20 Wild Bunch cars participating! 6 Altereds, 12 Slingshots (1 coupe) and 2 rear-engined dragsters
| Wild Bunch Points | ||||
| Pos | WB | Driver/Team | Car | Points |
| 1 | 1 | Adz Price | Go Hard or Go Home | 10 |
| 2 | 9 | Dogs Bollocks Racing | RamRaider | 8 |
| 3 | 4 | Chris Hartnell | Backdraft | 7 |
| 4 | 3 | Dave Williams | Green With Envy | 6 |
| 5 | 8 | Ballbreaker | Mark Coulsell | 5 |
| - | 41 | Tom Larman | The Ferret | 5 |
| - | 67 | Darryl Howells | Chemical Reaction | 5 |
| - | 69 | Alan Loten | Paranoia | 5 |
| - | 78 | Keith Crampton | Soultown Shaker | 5 |
| - | 91 | Bob Hawkins | Timetraveller | 5 |
| - | 109 | Andy Murphy | B-Sting | 5 |
| 12 | 35 | Dick Sharp | Dorset Horn | 4 |
| - | 70 | Alan Smith | Avanti | 4 |
| 14 | 40 | Darren Law | The Wicked Lady | 3 |
| - | 72 | Sag Southworth | Daddy Cool | 3 |
| - | 74 | Simon Williams | Pure Nostalgia | 3 |
| - | 94 | Tom Maunders | Oddball | 3 |
| 18 | 76 | Steve Field | The Black Pig Too | 2 |
| - | 142 | Mike Cresswell | Living the Dream | 2 |
| 20 | 129 | Pedro Rawlinson | The Fleeting Glimpse | 1 |
| Spot Prizes | ||||
| WB | Team/Driver | Car | Detail | |
| Closest To Dial-In | 13 | Adz PriceDave Williams | Go Hard or Go HomeGreen With Envy | both0.009 off |
| Best Reaction | 40 | Darren Law | The Wicked Lady | 0.131 |
| Best Altered | 3 | Dave Williams | Green With Envy | |
| Best Slingshot | 67 | Darryl Howells | Chemical Reaction | |
| Best Appearing Team | 8 | Ballbreaker | Team 'Limited Funz' | |
| Best Burnout | 9 | Dogs Bollocks Racing | RamRaider | |
| There were 3 WB teams testing: Geoff Marshall in '4 Pot Pinto' T-altered, Kev Preston in his blown altered 'Valkyrie' and Mike Couch in his new 'Flat Frenzy 2' slingshot. We hope they join in soon!
The weather forecast was great for the weekend!! And it could not have been better, with blue skies and warm temperatures. It was more like the 'Summer Nationals' than the 'Spring Nationals'! Many of the teams managed to get in 2 or 3 runs throughout Saturday. And we completed all 4 rounds of racing on the Sunday. On Sunday 4 drivers ran Personal Best E.T.'s and 2 ran PB Speeds. | |
| WB 1 | Adam Price was in his third event of the season with the Team Gridlock 'Go Hard or Go Home!!!' Topolino altered. The team had installed a new prop shaft and parts in the diff after the damage at Springspeed, so they were raring to go to see what the new lengthened car would run! Adz started Saturday with an 11-second checkout pass. His second pass off the day netted a new Personal Best speed of 141.28mph on his 9.39 ET, and his third run was a 9.42. The team dialled in at 9.40 for Sunday's rounds. Adam began his campaign with a 9.356 at 140.78mph in the first round. His second and third rounds also resulted in new best speeds, with a 9.309 at 141.58mph and a 9.367 at 141.63mph. He finished the day with a strong 9.391 at 141.51mph, just .009 off. This run was also equal 'Closest to Dial-in' for the Bunch! And Adam won the event! So the team had another great weekend! Fair play! Adam is now in 2nd place in the Real Steel Series. |
| WB 3 | saw Dave Williams also in his third event of the season with his and Linda's 'Green with Envy' altered. His first run Saturday was an off pace 12.001 at 109.79mph. He later improved to an 11.586 at 112.86mph. The team dialled in at 11.55 for the rounds, and Dave ran an 11.561 at 112.87mph for starters. In the second round, Dave was even closer, with an 11.541 at 113.44mph. This was equal 'Closest to Dial-in' for the Bunch with Adam! Dave's third round run was quicker, and he posted an 11.451 at 114.75mph. He went even quicker on the last round with an 11.357 at 115.21mph, not far off his best ET. Dave finished in 4th place overall, his first Top 4 placing of the year. Dave and Linda were also chuffed to be awarded the 'Best Altered' Spot Prize by the commentators! |
| WB 4 | ‘Crazy' Chris Hartnell was another driver in his third event of the season, with the 'Backdraft' slingshot. Chris began Saturday with an 8.887 at 145.99mph. This run was a real nice pairing of two 60's slingshots, as Chris matched up with Alan Smith in his 'Avanti' Allard. He followed this up with a consistent 8.865 at 147.07mph. Chris and the team dialled in at 8.87 for the rounds on Sunday, and Chris and the team were chuffed to run an 8.801 at 148.27mph, his third quickest time ever. In the second round, he ran a consistent 8.804 at 147.75mph. Chris went even quicker in the third round, recording an 8.774 at 148.40mph! His second quickest ever and best run for 7 years! He finished the day with an 8.791 at 148.42mph, his fastest run of the weekend. All 4 runs were within 3 hundredths of each other. Chris finished in 3rd place for the event and is now leading the Real Steel Series. |
| WB 8 | Mark Coulsell and the Limited Funz team were back with a new fuel pump in the 'Ballbreaker' slingshot. The team had just fired the car up and were helping another team unload when Mark suffered 3 broken toes! He had to take a trip to the hospital but was back later hobbling around. So he was unable to make any runs on Saturday. Undaunted, and after passing the medics approval, he and the team dialled in at 9.50 for Sunday. The whole team were jubilant when the first run netted a 9.202 at 141.97mph! Mark's third best ever run! And no-one minded that it was way under Dial!! He then posted a 9.262 at 142.09mph in the second round and a 9.327 at 144.43mph in the third, 1mph off his best speed. Though there had been drama before the run, as the parachute pack started to come undone whilst he was pulling into stage. The team pushed back and sorted out the problem, and made the run still within the Wild Bunch session. Well done, Marras! Mark finished the day with a 9.649 at 138.05mph, and in 9th place overall. He was just chuffed to have been able to take part in the day's racing! Fair play, Mark! Great effort! There was another bonus for the team when they were awarded the 'Best Appearing Team' by the commentary team! Great stuff! |
| WB 9 | Andy Gosling was having his first turn of the season in the 'RamRaider' slingshot, which is still up for sale. (At a bargain price for a real great quality car!). Gos put in two consistent passes on the Saturday of 9.38 and 9.33, the latter being one of the common numbers for the car! He dialled in at 9.30 for the rounds on Sunday, predicting that the car would run quicker. Andy started the day with a solid 9.351 at 141.62mph. He then improved on every run thereafter, with a 9.262 at 142.09mph in the second round, a 9.255 at 143.43mph in the third, and a 9.213 at 143.55mph in the fourth. He was never far off the Dial, and finished in 2nd place overall for the weekend. He was also awarded the 'Best Burnout' Spot Prize by the commentators. Team Dog's B's are now in 3rd place in Real Steel. |
| WB 35 | Dick Sharp was fresh from running a lifetime PB of 9.413 in the 'Dorset Horn' altered at the Springspeed Nationals. He put in two runs in the 9.7s on the Saturday with the better being 9.73. He and the team dialled in at 9.65 for Sunday. Dick began the day with a 9.843 at 135.53mph. He then ran quicker in the second round, posting a 9.790 at 136.21mph. He improved again in the third round, recording a 9.752 at 137.05mph pass. This run was against one of the 'Dorset Horn's longest fans, Dave ‘Sag' Southworth, who had first watched Dick run in 1973! And it was the first time they had ever paired up. Between them Dick and Sag have 71 years since they both started drag racing! A nice historic match race! Unfortunately, though, after the run, one of the throttle spindles broke, and the team were not able to repair this to make it out for the fourth round. Hope they can fix it and be back out at the next event! Best of luck to them! |
| WB 40 | Darren Law had been running well so far this season in 'The Wicked Lady' rear-engined dragster. The team had planned for son Sean to do his licensing runs in the car on the Saturday, and Sean went down for a pass. He had to be shut down on the burnout for something on the track, but could not re-fire afterwards. The team spent most of the afternoon investigating the problem, which they believed to be the starter motor. They tried several options, and with a bit of help from Mark Hartnell, found that the problem was with the battery. Time on Saturday then ran out for any runs. So Sunday morning, the team dialled in at 9.21, and Darren recorded a 9.278 at 143.31mph in the first round, also checking that everything worked fine (it obviously did!). He then stepped aside and Sean got in the car and completed all 3 of his licensing runs during the day's RWYB sessions, including a 9.4-second full pass! Many congratulations to Sean! There was then just time for Darren to join back in with the Bunch for the fourth round where he ran a 9.408 at 143.08mph. He also recorded 'Best Reaction' of the day for the Bunch, a .131! Fair play to the whole team on a great weekend! |
| WB 41 | saw the first event of the season for Tom Larman and team with 'The Ferret' altered. The car was now sporting a new paint job, complete with nice cartoon ferret logos, and some new shiny parts to boot, so looking good! Tom put in three runs on the Saturday of 10.5, 10.7 and 10.5 so the team had a fair indication of Dial-in. They chose a 10.50 for Sunday's rounds, and Tom posted a 10.765 at 118.54mph in the first round. However, this had been a red light, which put him out of competition for the Top 4! He then bounced back with a 10.613 at 119.14mph in the second round, a 10.694 at 119.45mph in the third and a 10.675 at 120.31mph in the fourth. Welcome back, not-so-rookies!! |
| WB 67 | was the third event of the season for Darryl Howells in the 'Chemical Reaction' Slingshot. Darryl had been running well in the high 9's and low 10's so far, and hoped to improve on this. He certainly did, posting a 9.999 and then a new Personal Best ET of 9.812 on Saturday! He and Sarah dialled in at 9.99 for Sunday, and Darryl started well, with a 10.005 at 134.22mph in the first round. He then went a lot quicker in the second round, posting a strong 9.813 at 137.07mph. He ran well in the third, with a 9.866 at 135.60mph and then recorded another new Best ET of 9.780 at 133.60mph in the fourth round! He and Sarah were also chuffed when 'Chemical Reaction' was awarded the 'Best Slingshot' Spot Prize by the commentators! Darryl finished in 7th place and is 4th in Real Steel. |
| WB 69 | Alan Loten was raring to go in his 'Paranoia' altered, and he and Steve arrived early Friday night. His first pass of the weekend was a 10.9, with a bit of a misfire at the top end. His second run Saturday resulted in a new Personal Best ET of 10.217 at 119.66mph! A big improvement! He dialled in at 10.00 seconds even for Sunday's rounds, and had a problem on the first run, posting an 11.061 at 90.52mph. The car had another problem with fuel delivery in the second round, where he ran an 11.544 at 83.86mph. But then he and Steve managed to remedy the problem, and this achieved a 10.265 at 123.99mph in the third round, Alan's best speed since last year. Alan then recorded a 10.867 at 120.81mph in the last round, and finished in 10th place overall. |
| WB 70 | Alan Smith was back with the 1964-vintage 'Avanti' Allard slingshot, after several years away from Wild Bunch competition. The car now has a new gearbox, and this has worked very well in testing, with Alan pulling some spectacular wheelies! The addition of a wheelie bar has now settled things down though and Alan and Margaret were keen to see how the car would run, as the engine is now slightly smaller than the original. They also had some smart new orange team shirts, so looking good for the season. Alan began the weekend with a 12.277 at 107.56mph, against Crazy Chris' 1969-vintage 'Backdraft' for a great 60's pairing! Alan followed this up with another 12-second pass on Saturday. They dialled in at 12.10 for Sunday, and Alan began the day well, with a 12.027 at 119.29mph. He then had a problem in the second round, posting a 13.958 at 101.44mph. He improved again in the third round, recording a 12.576 at 89.24mph. But again, something was not right. On firing the car up in the pits, it became obvious that there was a problem with the cam belt, and then that there was probable engine damage. Such a huge shame, as it has been really great to have the team back running with the Bunch. Best of luck on the repair, and we hope to see them out again later in the season. |
| WB 72 | we welcomed back Dave ‘Sag' Southworth and team with the 'Daddy Cool' rear-engined dragster. Sag and Elaine, crewman Al and the kids arrived late Friday night, and set up at the far end of the pits. Sag had recently run a 9.20 lifetime best ET at York, so was hoping to run well this weekend. He recorded a couple of 9.6-second passes, with a best of 9.64 on the Saturday. The team decided to dial in at 9.60 for Sunday, and went down for the first round. There was a problem on the line, and Sag could not make the run. Back in the pits and the team then found some broken fuel fittings. Unfortunately they could not make the second round, but came back out for the third, where Sag matched up with Dick in the 'Dorset Horn', a big ambition for both of them as they had never raced each other before in the last 32 years since Sag began his racing career! Well, Sag recorded a close to Dial-in 9.611 at 131.06mph, and took the ‘match race' bragging rights for that one, as he beat Dick across the line! That one was worth travelling to from Bolton to Shakey for! He was then back out for the last round, but had another problem on the run, recording a 19-second pass, and just making the first turnoff. Hope it's nothing too serious and that they can be right back on form again! We hope to see the whole team back out soon! (And just to tell you how hot it was at the weekend, one of Sag's winkle pickers got stuck to some melted tar in the pits!). |
| WB 74 | was Simon Williams' first event of the season with the Wild Bunch, with his 'Pure Nostalgia' slingshot. Simon had recently run a PB of 8.99 at 154.00mph in testing at a RWYB at Santa Pod. Big congratulations to Simon and Dad Paul on this double achievement!! Simon lined up for two runs on Saturday, but had problems on both, and did not complete either pass. He then dialled in at 9.00 for Sunday, and began the day with a 9.344 at 144.93mph. On his second round run, he had a problem and posted a 10.218 at 112.00mph. Simon did not run in the third and fourth round, so we hope they can fix the problem and be back out at another event soon. Simon and fiancée Mina are getting married in August, so we wish them all the very best for their wedding and the future!! |
| WB 76 | Steve and Lesley Field were back out with their 'Black Pig Too' slingshot after a year out. They had to go to Plan B with the engine, as the originally planned engine has not yet been completed, out in the States. Steve and Lesley built up another Chevy to install in the car and were looking forward to seeing how it would run. Steve put in a 12-second checkout pass on Saturday, though had to take the manifold off to investigate a problem. They dialled in at 9.50 for the rounds on Sunday, and Steve posted a troubled 11.266 at 118.11mph in the first round. More investigations back in the pits resulted in the team having to sit the rest of the day out. Hope they can evict the gremlins, and be back out racing really soon, as it's great to have them back with the Bunch! |
| WB 78 | Keith Crampton was in his first event of the season with his 'Soultown Shaker' slingshot, which was now sporting some nice new rear slicks, as well as a new automatic gearbox. So Keith was really keen to see how the car would run! Well, he didn't have long to wait on Saturday, as his first pass resulted in a new Personal Best ET of 11.295 at 118.36mph, also a new best speed! His second run of the day was another best ET of 11.139 at an identical speed! Keith dialled in at a conservative 11.20 for Sunday's rounds, and began well with an 11.269 at 115.50mph. He then ran two more PB's in the second and third rounds, 11.111 at 116.96mph and 11.110 at a new best speed of 119.67mph. And then to top it all, he ran his first ever 10-second pass at over 120mph in the fourth round! A great run of 10.949 at 120.56mph. Congratulations, 10-second Keith! He finished in 6th place overall for the event, and was really chuffed with how well the car ran! |
| WB 91 | Bob Hawkins was fresh from even more PB's at the Springspeed Nationals which saw him go further into the low 8's in the 'Time Traveller' slingshot! Bob started the weekend with an 8.721 at 151.98mph. He then ran a lot quicker, recording an 8.475 at 156.52mph pass. He and Tom decided to Dial in at 8.47 for the rounds on Sunday. Bob made a good start, posting an 8.585 at 153.22mph in the first round. He then went quicker in the second with an 8.439 at 156.17mph. He had a problem with the nitrous on the third round, where he posted an 8.921 at 144.50mph. He bounced back in the fourth round, recording another strong 8.564 at 153.11mph. Bob finished in 8th place overall. |
| WB 94 | Tom Maunders was back with a new Chevy engine in his formerly Rover-powered slingshot after a year away from Wild Bunch competition. He and Dad Steve had also painted the car, in white, and sporting a ‘British Drag Racing Hall of Fame' sticker on the cowling. Tom had a couple of runs on Saturday and then dialled in at 11.75 on Sunday. The first round pass netted an 11.966 at 102.63mph. (This may be a PB, as Tom had stated his previous best was an 11.9!). In the second round, he had a problem on the run, posting a 14.334 at 78.82mph. After this, Tom and Steve were in the pits trying to diagnose the problem, which was something to do with the ignition/electrics. Tom did not make the other two rounds. Hope it's nothing serious and that we see the team back real soon! |
| WB 109 | Bob Morgan was taking his first turn of the year in the hotseat of the 'B-Sting' altered. He had three runs on Saturday, getting familiar with the car in its new configuration. His best two passes were in the 10.9s. So the team dialled in at 10.90 for the rounds on Sunday. Bob began the day with an 11.044 at 122.96mph. He then improved with a 10.965 at 124.23mph in the second round. He later put in two similar runs of 11.003 at 124.29mph and 11.008 at 124.22mph in the third and fourth rounds, showing improving consistency. Bob finished in 5th place overall. |
| WB 129 | was Pedro Rawlinson's first time out with the Wild Bunch this year with his slingshot coupe 'The Fleeting Glimpse'. He had travelled over from his home in the Isle of Wight on the ferry, and picked a nice sunny event to attend! He went down for a couple of times in the pairings lanes on Saturday, but was not able to make any runs. By Sunday morning, he and the team had realised that there was a problem with the gearbox, so Pedro was unable to take part in the rounds. Such a shame, but we hope they can fix this and be back out with the Bunch soon! Good luck, Pedro! |
| WB 142 | Mike Cresswell and the fReQ Racing team were back with their 'Living the Dream' slingshot, after a year out. They had also teamed up with Pedro and were pitted together for the weekend at the far end of the pits. Mike made a pass or two with the car on Saturday, and then dialled in at 11.50 for Sunday's rounds. He did not make it out for the first two rounds of the day, but joined in on the third round, where he recorded a solid 11.719 at 113.04mph. Mike did not come out for the last round, so we hope that all is well with the car, and we will see the team back at the next event as it was good to have them back with the Bunch! |
| Big Congratulations to Adam and Team Gridlock on the win! A great start to their title defence. And congratulations to Gos, Chris and Dave for their Top 4 placings. And well done to all of the Wild Bunch teams on a really excellent show!
In all it was a great event, held in fantastic weather! With the biggest field of Wild Bunch at Shakey since 2006! And this saw many iconic cars back together again, and some great matchups. Many thanks to all the marshals and officials and track crew at Shakey for their hard work as always. Especially in the heat and in the face of a late oil down at 4pm Sunday. Due to their hard work, we were able to hold our fourth round, so we really appreciate all their efforts! Thanks to all! We are now really looking forward to the second Wild Bunch Series round and fourth Real Steel Series round of 2012 at our 'June Jubilee' at the ‘Shakey Super Pull' on June 9th & 10th! Where we hope to see another big field of Wild Bunch and more great weather!! | |