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Open Sports Nationals August 24 - 26
Wild Bunch ResultsOpen Sports Nationals24th - 26th August 2013
Real Steel Series Round 7.
Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars Series Round 3.
APIRA Series Round 2.
MSA Points Challenge 3.
The Open Sports Nationals was the 7th event of the WB season. It was Real Steel Series Round 7 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 8 Wild Bunch cars competing: 3 Altereds and 5 Slingshots.
| Wild Bunch Points | ||||
| Pos | WB | Driver/Team | Car | Points |
| 1 | 1 | Adz Price | Go Hard or Go Home | 9 |
| 2 | 67 | Darryl Howells | Chemical Reaction | 6 |
| 3 | 17 | Team GAS Racing | Tiki Munki | 5 |
| 4 | 91 | Bob Hawkins | Timetraveller | 4 |
| 5 | 6 | Chris Hartnell | Backdraft | 2 |
| - | 35 | Dick Sharp | Dorset Horn | 2 |
| - | 69 | Alan Loten | Paranoia | 2 |
| - | 78 | Keith Crampton | Soultown Shaker | 2 |
| MSA Points | ||||
| Pos | WB | Driver/Team | Car | Points |
| 1 | 1 | Adz Price | Go Hard or Go Home | 560 |
| 2 | 67 | Darryl Howells | Chemical Reaction | 350 |
| 3 | 91 | Bob Hawkins | Timetraveller | 270 |
| 4 | 17 | Team GAS Racing | Tiki Munki | 240 |
| 5 | 78 | Keith Crampton | Soultown Shaker | 220 |
| 6 | 35 | Dick Sharp | Dorset Horn | 130 |
| 7 | 69 | Alan Loten | Paranoia | 120 |
| 8 | 6 | Chris Hartnell | Backdraft | 110 |
| Spot Prizes | ||||
| WB | Team/Driver | Car | Detail | |
| Closest To Dial-In | 1 | Adz Price | Go Hard or Go Home | 0.004 off |
| Best Engineered | 35 | Dick Sharp | Dorset Horn | |
| Best Appearing Team | 17 | Team GAS Racing | Tiki Munki | |
| #1 Qualifier | 78 | Keith Crampton | Soultown Shaker | 0.027 off |
| Best Appearing Car | 35 | Dick Sharp | Dorset Horn | |
| Fastest m.p.h. | 91 | Bob Hawkins | Timetraveller | 161.03 |
| The 8 teams competing at the event were hoping the weather would allow lots of qualifiers and all of the eliminations!
Qualifying Saturday This was a qualifying day and there were scheduled to be 3 rounds. The forecast was mixed for this day. We were 16th on the running order, so a while to wait. The rain fell heavy early on in the morning, so it was a wet start. The track crew started drying the track and it was open around 12noon, so not much time lost to rain. There were then quite a few incidents of one kind and another, but we finally got called down for our first round at about 2pm. But there was quite a wait and the round took place around 3:30pm. After this round, all 8 teams had qualified. But we ran out of time for a second qualifier. Qualifying Sunday After Saturday's delays, we were due to be about 7th on the running order, for our second qualifier. There was a bit of delay due to early dampness, but the round then took place around noon. The weather stayed dry for the rest of the day and we had our third qualifier around 2:30pm and our fourth around 5pm. | |
| WB 1 | Adam Price was raring to go in the Go Hard or Go Home!!! altered in his 7th Wild Bunch event of the season. He dialled in at 9.28 for his first qualifier and ran a 9.429 at 142.72mph. On Sunday, the team raised the Dial to 9.39 and Adam recorded a 9.524 at 141.48mph. The team were contending with fuelling problems, which they were getting a handle on. They kept the Dial for the next two runs and Adam posted a 9.425 at 141.80mph, with a good reaction of .041, followed by a 9.485 at 142.09mph. He qualified in 3rd place overall. |
| WB 6 | Chris Hartnell had replaced the broken torque converter and rebuilt the gearbox in Backdraft after damage sustained at ‘Dragstalgia’. He was hoping to run some ‘8's on his birthday weekend! The team dialled in at 8.85 for the first qualifier and Chris ran an off-pace 9.370 at 146.00mph. They changed the Dial to 8.96 on Sunday and Chris ran a similar 9.358 at 145.62mph. The team made a few checks and discovered a broken weight in the dizzy, which a friend (thanks, Rick Cooke!) then welded up, and Chris just made it out for the third qualifier, where he kept the same Dial. He launched hard and had to back off, doing a double wheelie, and recorded a 9.353 at 148.22mph. He also had to ease off after his next launch, to a 9.360 at 147.03mph, on an 8.95 Dial. He qualified in 8th place. |
| WB 17 | was Scot Durrant's second event of the season in his and Gina's Tiki Munki slingshot coupe, on their fifth event of the year. Scottie began the weekend with a Dial-in of 12.99. He ran a 13.170 at 94.47mph in the first round. The team changed the Dial to 13.05 for Sunday morning, and Scot ran a 13.135 at 94.47mph. They raised the Dial to 13.09 for the next two qualifiers, and Scottie ran an off-pace 13.494 at 94.23mph, and then a better 13.241 at 95.25mph. He qualified 5th overall. |
| WB 35 | Dick Sharp was in his sixth event of the season with the Dorset Horn altered, in the team's 40th Anniversary year. They started the day with a Dial-in of 9.60, and Dick broke out with a solid 9.490 at 139.09mph. They lowered the Dial to 9.50, and Dick posted a 9.928 at 138.01mph on Sunday morning. Again, the Dial was lowered to 9.40, and Dick ran a better 9.564 at 138.68mph. the dial was then raised again to a 9.51, and Dick broke out with a strong 9.423 at 139.03mph, which proved to be his best run of the weekend. He qualified in 6th place. |
| WB 67 | Darryl Howells was also in his sixth event of the season in his Chemical Reaction slingshot. He dialled in at 9.63 for his first run, and broke out with a 9.503 at 139.62mph for starters. The team lowered the Dial to 9.50 for the first run Sunday, and Darryl recorded a 9.681. The speed on the ticket (169mph!) did not match his usual speed, so was not valid. The team changed the Dial again to 9.63, and Darryl ran a breakout 9.553 at 138.12mph. They team refined the Dial-in to 9.52 and Darryl posted a 9.570 at 137.20mph, to qualify in 4th place overall. |
| WB 69 | Alan Loten was in his sixth event of the season with his Paranoia altered, and had recently had the MSD reconditioned during a trip to the US. He dialled in at 9.30 for starters, and was a bit disappointed to run 10.136 at 126.06mph. (Still trying to get rid of that gremlin!!). He raised the Dial to 9.50 for the next qualifier, and ran a much better 9.793 at 132.86mph. He kept this Dial for the next round and posted a 10.194 at 132.16mph, though had redlit at the start. He raised the Dial to 9.60 for the last qualifier, and a problem with the nitrous caused the car to run 10.415 at 130.90mph. He qualified in 7th place overall. |
| WB 78 | Keith Crampton was in his seventh event of the season in his Soultown Shaker slingshot. He had finished in the Top 4 in every event so far this season! He dialled in at 11.20 for his first run, and posted an 11.401 at 113.87mph to open his account. He raised the Dial to 11.33 and ran an 11.434 at 113.98mph. Again, the Dial was raised, to 11.39, and Keith ran a much closer 11.417 at 113.16mph. Tweaking the Dial to 11.40, Keith then posted an 11.484 at 116.03mph. He qualified #1! |
| WB 91 | Bob Hawkins was in his sixth Wild Bunch event this year with his Time Traveller slingshot. He had just come back from running at the Nitrolympix at Hockenheim, which he had been invited to attend! He started off with a Dial-in of 8.12, and posted an 8.534 at 156.45mph. He kept this Dial-in throughout qualifying, and posted an 8.482 at 159.48mph in Round 2, an 8.540 at 156.41mph in Round 3. He then ran a much better 8.178 at 161.03mph, which was ‘Fastest MPH of the event’ in Wild Bunch. He qualified in 2nd place overall with this last run. |
| Race Day Monday (Eliminations) Monday's forecast was good, and the weather got better throughout the day, turning really sunny! Quarter-Finals All 8 Wild Bunch cars had qualified for eliminations, so there were due to be 4 great races and no Byes at all during the day! The first round, the Quarter-finals took place at about 11:30am. The first pairing saw Crazy Chris matched up with Darryl Howells. Chris had added some weight to the front of the dragster to modify the launches, so dialled in at an optimistic 8.98, whilst Darryl went for a 9.52. Well, Chris hooked up nice and smooth, and broke out with an 8.874 at 149.04mph! This handed the win to Darryl, who ran a strong 9.587 at 137.51mph. The next matchup saw Scottie and Keith paired up. Scot dialled in at 13.10 and Keith opted for an 11.40. Their reactions were within a thousandth of one another! They both ended up breaking out, with Scot recording a 13.095 at 94.71mph, and Keith 11.394 at 113.63mph. This was the closest race of the day! As there was just 7/100,000ths in it, and Scottie emerged the victor! Fantastic race, guys! Another matchup was between Adam and Alan. Adam and team dialled in at 9.40, and Alan at 9.70. Adam had a good reaction of .062, and was closer to Dial, with a 9.450 at 141.63mph to take the win over Alan's 9.829 at 131.56mph. The other race of the round was between Dick and Bob. Dick went for a 9.42 Dial-in, and Bob an 8.14. Dick posted a 9.698 at 137.65mph, but Bob ran a great 8.164 at 156.75mph to take the win. Dick and team were awarded both the Best Engineered car, by the scrutineers, and the Best Appearing Car by the commentators, a great tribute to a well-turned out altered! Semi-finals After the quarter-finals, there was less than 2 hours until the semis. One great race saw Adam and Scottie facing off, with Adam dialling in 9.41, and Scottie 13.07. Adam had another good reaction and posted a strong 9.433 at 141.75mph to take the win over Scot's 13.147 at 95.25mph. Scot and Team Tiki were awarded the Best Appearing Team by the commentators for their great crew outfits and well-turned out slingshot coupe. The other great race was Darryl versus Bob. Darryl kept his 9.52 Dial, and Bob kept his 8.14. Darryl ran a consistent pass, to within a thousandth of his first round pass, recording a 9.588 at 138.31mph, taking the win over Bob, who broke out with a strong 8.088 at a slowing 149.24mph! Great racing! Final There was a bit of wait for the Final, so both teams had plenty of time to cool down. Adam kept his 9.41 Dial-in, and Darryl raised his to 9.58. Adam fired up and drove round, but Darryl just could not get the car to start! This later turned out to be an electrical problem! Such a shame, as it would have been such a fantastic race! This then left Adam to solo. And what a great run he put in! His reaction time was a quick .044, and his run was a 9.414 at 142.80mph! Just 4 thousandths off his Dial! And taking the Closest to Dial-in Spot Prize. This would have been tough to beat! Well done to all the teams, who really put on a great show, with great qualifying and racing. Overall it was a great event, where the weather allowed four qualifiers, and three great rounds of racing. Once again huge thanks to the track crew, marshalls and officials who worked really hard over the weekend, especially in the face of various problems on Saturday. Fair play to all of them! The results mean that Adam and Team Gridlock have won the 2013 Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars Series! Scot & Gina Durrant have finished in 2nd place, Keith Crampton in 3rd place and Darryl Howells in 4th place, so congratulations to all of them!! And, after ratification by the APIRA points co-ordinator, Adam Price has won the 2013 APIRA Championship and Bob Hawkins is Runner-up. Congratulations to both of them!! Adam is now leading the Real Steel Series just ahead of Keith, and Bob is still leading the Springbridge MSA Challenge just ahead of Adam, 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 21st & 22nd September, for the final rounds: Wild Bunch Series Round 5, Real Steel Series Round 8 and the Springbridge MSA Challenge Round 4. It should be another exciting end to the season, with the points being so close! Hope to see loads of entries for this one! | |