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Open Sports Nationals August 25 - 27
Wild Bunch ResultsOpen Sports Nationals25th - 27th August
Real Steel Series Round 8.
Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars Series Round 3.
APIRA Series Round 2.
MSA Points Challenge 3.
The Open Sports Nationals was the 8th event of the WB season. It was Real Steel Series Round 8 and APIRA Series Round 2 (the Final) as well as the 3rd round of the Springbridge MSA Challenge and Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars Series Round 3 (The Final). There was a field of 12 Wild Bunch cars competing: 4 Altereds, 7 Slingshots and a Rear-engined dragster.
| Wild Bunch Points | ||||
| Pos | WB | Driver/Team | Car | Points |
| 1 | 40 | Darren Law | The Wicked Lady | 9 |
| 2 | 1 | Adz Price | Go Hard or Go Home | 7 |
| 3 | 17 | Tiki Racing | Tiki Munki | 6 |
| 4 | 67 | Darryl Howells | Chemical Reaction | 4 |
| 5 | 91 | Bob Hawkins | Timetraveller | 3 |
| 6 | 4 | Chris Hartnell | Backdraft | 2 |
| - | 8 | Mark Coulsell | Ballbreaker | 2 |
| - | 9 | Dogs Bollocks Racing | RamRaider | 2 |
| - | 35 | Dick Sharp | Dorset Horn | 2 |
| - | 65 | Ian Turburville | Mr Spokehead II | 2 |
| - | 69 | Alan Loten | Paranoia | 2 |
| 12 | 3 | Dave Williams | Green With Envy | 1 |
| Spot Prizes | ||||
| WB | Team/Driver | Car | Detail | |
| Closest To Dial-In | 91 | Bob Hawkins | Timetraveller | 0.020 off |
| Best Reaction | 40 | Darren Law | The Wicked Lady | 0.056 |
| Best Appearing Team | 8 | Limited Funz Racing | Ballbreaker | |
| #1 Qualifier | 17 | Tiki Racing | Tiki Munki | 0.011 off |
| Best Appearing Car | 69 | Alan Loten | Paranoia | |
| Fastest m.p.h. | 65 | Ian Turburville | Mr Spokehead II | 166.77 |
| Wildest Ride | 8 | Mark Coulsell | Ballbreaker | |
| The 12 teams competing at the event were hoping the weather would be better than predicted!
Qualifying Saturday This was a qualifying day and there were scheduled to be 3 rounds. There were a few torrential downpours early in the morning, and it was very wet first thing. The forecast was for showers, so we were all pleasantly surprised when the track started drying, and racing began around 12:15pm! Thanks to all the marshals and officials for all their hard work! We were moved to 5th on the running order, and ran about 12:30pm. After this round, 9 teams had qualified. There was then a shower, and heavy rain ended proceedings for the day. Sunday Qualifying After Saturday's rain delays, we were due to be about 17th on the running order, for our 2nd qualifier. This took place around 1pm, and after this, 11 teams were qualified. The weather stayed dry all day, and we had a 3rd qualifier around 4pm. Three drivers ran Personal Best ETs and two ran PB Speeds. | |
| WB 1 | Adam Price was raring to go in the 'Go Hard or Go Home!!!' altered. He dialled in at 9.20 for his first qualifier and ran a 9.333 at 143.56mph. On Sunday, the team raised the Dial to 9.25 and Adam ran much closer with a 9.271 at 143.17mph. They refined the Dial to 9.26, and Adam broke out with a 9.238 at 143.37mph on his third pass. He qualified in 2nd place overall. |
| WB 3 | Dave Williams was in his 8th event of the season with his 'Green with Envy' altered. He and Linda dialled in at 11.50 for the first round of qualifying. During the burnout, Dave had problems and had to shut down, as he hardly had any forward drive, so did not run. Back in the pits, and he checked the gearbox levels, but there were still problems and unfortunately the team were sidelined for the weekend. Hope they can get this fixed and be back out for the 'National Finals'! Best of luck! |
| WB 4 | We welcomed back 'Crazy' Chris Hartnell who had just finished the engine rebuild in the 'Backdraft' slingshot. He and the team were hoping to be back in the '8's on his birthday weekend! The team dialled in at 8.95 for the first qualifier, and Chris went straight out and broke out with a great 8.847 at 149.90mph! The team were thrilled with the run! They then dialled in at 8.77 for the second run, and Chris ran a similar 8.849 at 150.73mph, having to back off slightly after the launch. They raised the Dial to 8.80 for the third qualifier and Chris posted a brand new Personal Best ET of 8.706 at 150.79mph! But on returning to the pits, Chris discovered a 4-inch split in the sidewall of one of the rear slicks! So would not be able to run any more. He had qualified in 5th place. |
| WB 8 | Mark Coulsell was in his 8th event of the season with the 'Ballbreaker' slingshot. The team dialled in at 9.18 for the first run, and there were some fuel delivery problems, resulting in a 9.817 at 134.73mph. The team raised the Dial to 9.28 and Mark recorded a better 9.486 at 142.05mph in the second round. On his third qualifier, the team raised the Dial again to 9.38, and Mark had a really hairy wheelying launch, aimed towards the tree and bounced down and crossed the centre line, before steering back into his lane and posting a 10.578 at 140.48mph, which was disqualified. He was awarded 'Wildest Ride' for this one! Mark qualified in 7th place overall. And the team had to repair some damage suffered on this run. |
| WB 9 | Ed was back in the 'RamRaider' slingshot for his third Wild Bunch event of the year, and the team's eighth. Ed dialled in at 9.39 for the first round, and posted a 9.461 at 142.17mph for his opening bid. He lowered the Dial-in for the second round to 9.36 and ran a solid 9.397 at 141.58mph. He changed it slightly to a 9.38 for the third round, and ran a 9.431 at 141.78mph. He qualified in 3rd. |
| WB 17 | was Scot Durrant's first event of the season in his and Gina's 'Tiki Munki' Ruby-bodied slingshot coupe, on their fourth event of the year. Scottie began the weekend with a Dial-in of 13.40. He had some trouble with the gears and recorded a 15.293 at 92.92mph. The team amended the Dial-in to 13.37 for the next qualifier and Scottie recorded a much better 13.281 at 96.05mph, to go into the top spot. He kept the Dial for the last round, and ran a 13.317 at a breakout 95.82mph. He remained as #1 Qualifier. Real good for his first event for a year! |
| WB 35 | Dick Sharp was in his fifth event of the season with the 'Dorset Horn' altered. The team started the day with a Dial-in of 9.68, and Dick ran a 10.134 at 132.36mph, with some problems. The team went down for the next round but could not fire the car, so had to tow back to the pits. They bounced back on the next round, where Dick recorded a 9.589 at 140.03mph on the 9.68 Dial. He finish in 9th place overall in qualifying. |
| WB 40 | Darren Law was back with the team's 'The Wicked Lady' rear-engine dragster for his seventh event of the season with the Bunch. He started the weekend with a Dial-in of 9.32, and ran a 9.550 at 143.38mph in the opening qualifier. The team raised the Dial for the second run to 9.45, and Darren recorded a 9.656 at 141.05mph. They kept this dial-in for the last round, and Darren posted a 9.614 at 141.09mph. He qualified in 6th place. |
| WB 65 | Ian Turburville was welcomed back in his 'Mr Spokehead II' slingshot after repairs to the head, damaged in June. Ian missed the first round, as the team were making some adjustments and a small repair in the pits. He then dialled in at 8.90 for the second qualifier. He had a bit of a squirrely run near the top end and recorded a 9.449 at 124.37mph. He kept the Dial for the last qualifier and ran a great new Personal Best ET and Speed of 8.533 at 166.77mph! Well chuffed! This run proved to be the Wild Bunch 'Fastest MPH of the weekend'! He qualified 11th. |
| WB 67 | Darryl Howells was in his seventh event of the season in his 'Chemical Reaction' slingshot. He dialled in at 10.20 for his first run, and posted a 10.671 at 125.16mph to open his account. He kept this Dial and ran a 10.854 at 121.79mph on his second pass of the weekend. He then raised the Dial to 10.55 for the third qualifier and ran an off-pace 11.045 at 119.89mph. He qualified in 10th place. |
| WB 69 | Alan Loten was in his fourth event of the season with his 'Paranoia' altered. He dialled in at 10.00 seconds even and his first round pass was a stunning new Personal Best ET of 9.493 at 139.30mph! Though the run was disqualified for a blue line violation. On his next qualifier, he dialled in at 9.60 and recorded a 9.934 at 129.31mph. He kept this Dial for the third run and posted a 9.984 at 129.99mph. He qualified in 8th place overall. |
| WB 91 | Bob Hawkins was in his eighth Wild Bunch event this year with his 'Time Traveller' slingshot. He had just rebuilt the axle with some stronger parts, so was looking forward to seeing how the car would run. He started off with a Dial-in of 8.20, and ran an 8.493 at 163.74mph. He made some adjustments. kept this Dial for the next round, and recorded a similar 8.478 at 163.72mph. Bob raised the Dial for the third round, to 8.45 and ran a much closer 8.491 at a big speed of 165.03mph. He qualified in 4th place overall. |
| Race Day Monday (Eliminations) Monday's forecast had been for heavy persistent showers, but the day dawned cool and cloudy and dry! The marshals and officials worked hard and got the track open early. And though we had a rain delay just after the start of our first round, the weather was much better than expected, and we made it all the way to the Semi-Finals, before rain stopped play for the day. Round 1 11 of the Wild Bunch cars had qualified for eliminations, so there were due to be 5 good races and a Bye in the first round. We were 10th on the running order, and first round took place at about 12:30pm. The first pair saw Darren matched up with Ian. Darren dialled in at 9.54 and Turbo 8.50. Turbo had a bit of a squirrely launch, and had to back off, recording a 10.063 at 152.35mph, whilst Darren took the victory with a 9.579 at 138.33mph. The next pair, Dick and Bob, were fired up and had burned out when a small shower fell. The cars all pushed back to the wall and waited about 20 minutes, until the track was dry again. Dick had dialled in at 9.47, and Bob at 8.45. Dick recorded a 9.573 at 140.24mph, and Bob posted a “Closest to Dial-in” run of 8.470 at 152.14mph, to advance to the next round. Next up were ‘Crazy’ Chris and Darryl. Chris posted an 8.80 Dial to Darryl's 10.65. Chris had already planned to stage and break the beam, due to his tyre problem, and had told Darryl and the officials the plan. He duly did so, and Darryl soloed to a 10.857/121.40 win. Next up were Adam and Mark. Adam opted for a 9.25, and Mark a 9.28, so real close on the tree. Adam ran a 9.338 at 143.49mph, to take the win over Mark who slowed to a 12.139 at 61.18mph, with a problem. The Limited Funz team were awarded the “Best Appearing Team” by the commentators, so a nice finish to their weekend. After this race, Ed matched up with Alan. Ed's Dial was 9.38 to Alan's 9.60. Alan put in another PB ET and a new PB Speed of 9.485 at 140.05mph, his first time over the 140mark, and a breakout, whilst Ed slowed to a 16.340 at 40.72mph, after hearing a really bad grinding noise from the axle/gearbox area. He had won the race, but had to investigate the problem back in the pits. Alan was again awarded the “Best Appearing Car” Spot Prize by the commentators. #1 Qualifier Scottie took his Bye run, and recorded a 13.414 at 97.59mph on a 13.33 Dial to advance. Quarter-Finals The next round took place about an hour and a half later. Sadly Ed could not make it back for the round, and this left opponent Darren to solo to a 9.554/142.41 on a 9.45 Dial-in, and a “Best Reaction” of .056. One of the two match ups of the round saw Adam facing Darryl. Adam dialled in at 9.24, and Darryl 10.81. Their reactions were fairly even, and Adam took the win with a closer 9.279 at 139.80mph to Darryl's 11.303 at 116.87mph. Darryl finished in 4th place overall, by virtue of being the closest to Dial without breaking out of the quarter-finals runners-up. The other race of the round saw Scottie taking on Bob, with Scottie's 13.37 and Bob's 8.45 Dials being the biggest differential of the day. Bob really hooked up and broke out with an 8.278 at 157.90mph, to Scottie's lesser breakout of 13.258 at 97.05mph, which saw him progress to the Semis. Semi-finals After the quarter-finals, it was only around an hour until the semis which took place around 3pm. The only race of the round saw Scottie matched up against Darren. Scottie recorded another breakout, with a 13.174 at 98.04mph, to Darren's winning 9.767/139.86 on a 9.54 Dial. Scottie finished in 3rd place for the event. After this, Adam dialled in at 9.24, and opted to stage and break the beam, in order to make the inevitable quick turnaround easier, and the engine cooler. Final As expected, all Finalists were being called to the pairings lanes as Adam and Darren arrived back in the pits!! The clouds were really building up all the time. And though both teams towed down, a shower soon happened. This grew heavier and the officials were forced to call the event to a close. Such as shame, as they so nearly got everything completed! But still great to get that far! As we could not run the Final, we could still declare an event result, with Darren the winner by virtue of closest to dial in the previous round. Well done to all the teams, who really put on a great show, with great qualifying and racing. Congratulations to all those who ran PB's and the event and Series winners! Overall it was a great event, where the weather allowed three qualifiers, and three rounds of racing. Once again huge thanks to the track crew, marshalls and officials who worked really hard to repeatedly dry and prepare the track and run the event as far as possible. Fair play to all of them! The results mean that Adam and Team Gridlock have won the 2012 Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars Series! Darren Law has finished in 2nd place, Tom Larman in 3rd place (his first ever Top 4) and Darryl Howells is in 4th place, so congratulations to all of them!! And, subject to ratification by the APIRA, Darren Law has won the 2012 APIRA Championship and Ed Yates is Runner-up. Congratulations to both of them!! Adam is still leading the Wild Bunch Series and the Real Steel Series and Darren is now leading the Springbridge MSA Challenge, with one more round still to go for each!! We are now really looking forward to the Finals of our season at the “National Finals” at Santa Pod on 22nd & 23rd September, for Wild Bunch Series Round 6, Real Steel Series Round 9 and the Final of the Springbridge MSA Challenge. It should be another great end to the season, as always! Hope to see loads of entries for this one! | |