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Festival of Power April 18 - 20
Wild Bunch ResultsFesitval of Power18th - 20th April 2014
Real Steel Series Round 1.
MSA Points Challenge 1.
The "Festival of Power" was the first event of the WB season. It was Real Steel Series Round 1 and the first round of the 'Springbridge MSA Challenge', and there was a field of 8 Wild Bunch cars competing: 1 Altered, 6 Slingshots and a Funny Car.
| Wild Bunch Points | ||||
| Pos | WB | Driver/Team | Car | Points |
| 1 | 91 | Bob Hawkins | Timetraveller II | 7 |
| 2 | 3 | Keith Crampton | Soultown Shaker | 5 |
| 3 | 1 | Adz Price | Go Hard or Go Home | 4 |
| 4 | 25 | Terry Clifford | Ratcatcher Resurrection | 3 |
| 5 | 45 | Phil James | Rampage | 2 |
| - | 961 | Dave Nelson | Dorris Dormouse | 2 |
| 7 | 68 | Mick Gleadow | Jurassic Parts | 1 |
| - | 76 | Team Black Pig | The Black Pig Too | 1 |
| MSA Points | ||||
| Pos | WB | Driver/Team | Car | Points |
| 1 | 1 | Adz Price | Go Hard or Go Home | 250 |
| 2 | 3 | Keith Crampton | Soultown Shaker | 240 |
| 3 | 91 | Bob Hawkins | Timetraveller II | 230 |
| 4 | 45 | Phil James | Rampage | 200 |
| 5 | 961 | Dave Nelson | Dorris Dormouse | 120 |
| 6 | 25 | Terry Clifford | Ratcatcher Resurrection | 110 |
| 7 | 68 | Mick Gleadow | Jurassic Parts | 10 |
| - | 76 | Team Black Pig | The Black Pig Too | 10 |
| Spot Prizes | ||||
| WB | Team/Driver | Car | Detail | |
| Closest To Dial-In | 91 | Bob Hawkins | Timetraveller II | 0.077 off |
| Best Reaction | 1 | Adz Price | Go Hard or Go Home | 0.102 |
| #1 Qualifier | 45 | Phil James | Rampage | 0.002 off |
| Best Appearing Car | 91 | Bob Hawkins | Timetraveller II | |
| Event Quickest ET | 91 | Bob Hawkins | Timetraveller II | 7.676 |
| The Wild Bunch welcomed back a great group of racers, plus newcomer Phil James. Sadly two of the original 10 entrants were unable to make the event: Chris Hartnell and team with "Backdraft" had problems with the brakes on their Winne, and the newly built "The Wicked Lady" was not quite ready to run. Such a shame, so hope these teams can be out for the next event! This left an 8-car field, and all the teams were hoping for good weather for the start of the season. Three racers ran Personal Best E.T.s and Best Speeds during the event.
Friday This was a qualifying day and there were scheduled to be 2 qualifiers, and the Wild Bunch were 25th on the running order! It was cloudy and cool to start with, though there were sunny periods. The track opened on time, but there were loads of delays, and the Bunch did not get their first round until nearly 3:30pm! After the first round, only 3 teams had safely qualified. There was a wait to see if there would be a second round, but time ran out for this on Friday. Saturday There were 3 qualifiers on the Saturday schedule, and luckily the Wild Bunch were second on the running order for the day, and managed to have the second qualifier by around 9:45am. By then 2 more teams qualified safely. There were then some Pro sessions and jet exhibitions and more Sportsman qualifying, and our third round took place at about 1:30pm. Thereafter there were some delays in the racing, and time ran out for a 4th qualifier, but 6 cars were then qualified and ready for eliminations on Sunday. | |
| WB 1 | Adam Price was again proudly sporting WB 1 on the Team Gridlock "Go Hard or Go Home!!!" altered and eager to start the challenge for this year. The team had had the engine refreshed and gearbox sorted, and they were looking forward to seeing how the car would run. Adz dialled in at 9.15 for the first qualifier and the whole team were thrilled when he ran a new Personal Best E.T. of 9.027 at 147.72mph! They didn't mind the breakout for that one! The next morning they dialled in at 8.96, their first 8-second Dial-in. Adam again ran a new PB, with a 9.018 at 147.71mph, getting ever closer to that magic number! For the third qualifier, the team tried something different, and dialled in at 8.97. Adam posted a 9.057 at a new PB Speed of 148.10mph. He qualified in 2nd place overall. |
| WB 3 | Keith Crampton has a nice new paintjob on his "Soul Town Shaker" slingshot. And he had also done some other improvements to the appearance of his already very well-turned out car. Keith was raring to go, and dialled in at 11.00 seconds even for starters. His first round run netted an 11.067 at 120.12mph, very near his best speed, and putting him into the top slot for the first round. He kept the Dial-in on Saturday morning, and posted an 11.129 at 116.43mph. Keith raised the Dial to 11.04 for the third qualifier, and ran an 11.118 at 116.13mph. He qualified in 3rd place overall. |
| WB 25 | Terry Clifford was back out in the "Ratcatcher Resurrection" slingshot, and looking forward to racing. He dialled in at 9.20 for starters, but lost fire after the burnout. The team nearly got the car re-fired, but the next class was then coming round. Back in the pits the car fired up okay and all seemed fine. In the second qualifier Saturday morning, Terry kept the Dial-in but ran an off pace 10.296 at 131.04mph. He raised the Dial for the third qualifier to 9.70, but again ran a similar 10.208 at 129.92mph, which caused some headscratching. Terry made changes to timing and fuel pressure and hoped this would cure the drop in performance. He qualified in 6th place overall. |
| WB 45 | Newcomer Phil James joined the Wild Bunch with the "Rampage" funny car which the team had bought last year. They had made at least 30 test and tune runs at Run-What-You-Brungs to date, so were already getting a handle on the car. Phil was joined by his crew, son Carl, wife Anna and brother Mike. For his first round, he dialled in at 9.52, and ran a good 9.658 at 139.03mph to open his account. He kept the same Dial for the second run, and broke out with a new Personal Best ET and Speed of 9.318 at 141.62mph! Well done Phil! He then lowered the Dial-in to 9.32 for the last qualifier and ran a great 9.322 at 141.21mph, to become #1 Qualifier in his first time of trying! Fair play! And welcome to the Wild Bunch Phil and team! |
| WB 68 | Mick Gleadow was back with his "Jurassic Parts" slingshot. Unfortunately the car suffered some damage in transit to the track and Mick and the team had to spend most of Friday repairing this. And when they fired the car up late that day, they had a problem with a leaking water pump. Mick went home that night and came back to carry on repairs to the pump Saturday morning. The team later had a chassis tag inspection, and it passed fine. They also went to scrutineering, but there were some minor issues that they needed to fix before they could run the car, so unfortunately that was it for their weekend. Best of luck to the team and hope they will be back out soon. |
| WB 76 | Sarah Howells was due to be running in the brand new "Black Pig Too" slingshot of Steve and Lesley Field, which they had built since the New Year! The team had just finished the paint on the car on the Wednesday before the event, and the new car looked fantastic! Both Steve and Sarah booked in for the test day on the Thursday, with Steve taking the first run. But sadly, on the car's first ever burnout, it hooked and turned right, straight into the central Armco barrier in between the lanes! Fortunately Steve was perfectly okay, but the car suffered extensive front end damage, which saw the front axle broken and torsion bar snapped, and a kink in the front of the chassis! Such a shame! Huge commiserations to Steve and Lesley and Sarah. But not one to be daunted, Steve hopes he can rebuild the front end within a few weeks, so best of luck to the whole team and look forward to seeing the car back out very soon! |
| WB 91 | Bob Hawkins was debuting his new "Time Traveller II" blown slingshot. Bob bought the ex-"Speed Demon" car which belonged to Vic Hammond, and was driven by Sam Freeman. Bob had refreshed the engine and stripped the paint, and highly polished the bodywork. And the car looked great! Bob was testing on his first qualifier, and dialled in at the car's best ET, a 7.48! Though due to a problem with the transbrake, he left the line before the tree ran so did not record a time. There were a few other teething problems to sort out, which the team quickly did. And in the second qualifier Saturday, Bob again dialled in at 7.48. Well, the car left well, and Bob stayed with it and posted a new Personal Best ET and Speed of 7.676 at 169.17mph! Fair play! A fantastic start! And this proved to be Wild Bunch "Quickest ET" for the weekend. The team kept the Dial-in for the third qualifier, and Bob ran well again, with a 7.695 at a new best speed of 170.45mph, his first time in the 170's! He qualified in 4th place overall. |
| WB 961 | Dave Nelson was rejoining the Wild Bunch with a new combination in the team's "Dorris Dormouse" slingshot. Dave and team fired the car up a few times in the pits, and got rid of some gremlins such as a small fuel leak. They did not make the first qualifier, but were ready Friday afternoon, before time stopped play. Dave dialled in at his personal best time of 8.44. He performed the burnout, but lost fire and had to be pushed back. He was able to re-fire and was coming up to stage, but the car cut out again, so it was back to the pits to sort it all out. Dave came back out for the third qualifier with the same Dial-in, and the car pulled a wheelie off the line, then lifted again when Dave got back on it. He posted an 8.925 at 140.38mph, and was safely qualified in 5th place. |
| Race Day Sunday There had been some overnight rain, but this was drying up quite quickly, and though cloudy, the weather looked better than expected. The track crew were out working hard to get the track ready, and it did open right on time. Just 6 cars had qualified for eliminations. The Wild Bunch did not have that long to wait and were called down before 10:30am. Quarter-finals The first pair saw Adam Price matched with Dave Nelson. Adam dialled in at 8.98 and Dave opted for the 8.44. Adam left the line well, but at the hit, Dave's right rear wheel studs sheared off! The car went forward but the wheel stayed behind! Very luckily Dave shut it off quickly and coasted to about the 100-foot mark and stopped safely and was a-ok! Hopefully the team can fix this and be back out soon! Meanwhile, Adam posted a solid 9.073 at another Personal Best Speed of 148.65mph to advance to the next round. He ran the Wild Bunch "Best Reaction" on Race-day of .102 on this run. The next race saw Keith Crampton paired with Terry Clifford, in a repeat match of last year's first round. Keith dialled in at 11.06 and Terry at 9.90. Keith recorded an 11.151 at 113.77mph, to take the win over Terry's slowing 10.657 at 125.25mph. (Since the event, Terry has found damage to a cylinder head and a broken rocker shaft, so hope there's not much more damage and he can rebuild and be back out soon! Best of luck!). The third pairing saw Phil James up against Bob Hawkins. Phil dialled in at 9.32, whilst Bob raised his Dial to 7.61. Phil posted a new Personal Best ET of 9.313 at 135.73mph and broke out so handed the win to Bob, who recorded a consistent 7.687 at a new Best Speed of 170.46mph, also posting the "Closest to Dial-in", to move on to the Semis. He was also voted "Best Appearing Car" of the event by the commentators. The teams went back to the pits, but only half an hour later it started to rain lightly. Once it stopped the track crew got to work, and made great efforts, only for more showers to fall again. They kept trying, and the track was so very nearly ready, with sledding being done and classes being called, when a small shower fell at around 3:30pm. Unfortunately, the officials were then forced to call an end to the event, due to persistent drizzle. Such a shame, but at least we got one round in! This meant we could declare a result, by 'closest to Dial-in without breaking out or redlighting'. So Bob was the winner of the event, with Keith 2nd, Adam 3rd and Terry 4th. Congratulations to all! Well done to all the teams for an entertaining start to the season. A great bunch of cars and teams! Huge thanks to all the marshals and officials and track crew for their hard work trying to turn the track around to race on Sunday, and for battling numerous problems on the Friday. And many thanks to all at Santa Pod for trying so hard to keep the event going despite delays, it so nearly got further! We are now looking forward to the second Real Steel Series and Springbridge MSA Challenge rounds of 2014, and the first APIRA Series round, at the "Springspeed Nationals" at Shakespeare County on May 3rd – 5th Bank Holiday weekend. It should be a great event! We're hoping for better weather and a good field of Wild Bunch! | |