Open Sports Nationals

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Open Sports Nationals August 29 - 31

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Wild Bunch ResultsOpen Sports Nationals29th - 31st August Spirit of Nostalgia Challenge Series Round 8. Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars Series Round 3. SCR/APIRA Series Round 2.

The 'Open Sports Nationals' was the 8th event of the WB season. It was Spirit of Nostalgia Challenge Series Round 8 and APIRA Series Round 2 (the Final) as well as the 4th round of the Springbridge MSA Challenge and Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars Series Round 3 (The Final). There was a field of 9 Wild Bunch cars competing: 3 Altereds, 5 Slingshots and a Funny Car

Wild Bunch Points
Pos	WB	Driver/Team	Car	Points
1	45	Phil James	Rampage	1
-	4	Keith Crampton	Soultown Shaker	1
-	69	Alan Loten	Paranoia	1
-	35	Dick Sharp	Dorset Horn	1
-	76	Team Black Pig	The Black Pig Too	1
-	2	Bob Hawkins	Timetraveller II	1
-	111	Dan Sharp	Little Big Horn	1
-	67	Darryl Howells	Chemical Reaction	1
-	25	Terry Clifford	Ratcatcher Resurrection	1

MSA Points
Pos	WB	Driver/Team	Car	Points
1	45	Phil James	Rampage	130
2	4	Keith Crampton	Soultown Shaker	80
3	69	Alan Loten	Paranoia	70
4	35	Dick Sharp	Dorset Horn	60
5	76	Team Black Pig	The Black Pig Too	50
6	2	Bob Hawkins	Timetraveller II	40
7	111	Dan Sharp	Little Big Horn	30
8	67	Darryl Howells	Chemical Reaction	20
9	25	Terry Clifford	Ratcatcher Resurrection	10

Spot Prizes
	WB	Team/Driver	Car	Detail
Best Reaction	45	Phil James	Rampage	0.085
#1 Qualifier	45	Phil James	Rampage	0.012 off
Best Appearing Car	111	Dan Sharp & Scott Chilcott	Little Big Horn
Best Burnout	2	Bob Hawkins	Timetraveller II

The 9 teams competing at the event were hoping the weather would allow lots of qualifiers and all the eliminations! And with two Series to be decided (Roy Wilding and APIRA) there was a lot to play for! Qualifying Saturday and Sunday Saturday was a qualifying day and there were scheduled to be 3 rounds. The forecast was fairly good. We were 19th and last on the running order, so quite a while to wait. We were eventually called to the pairings lanes around 12 and had our first qualifier about quarter to one. After this round, 6 of the teams had qualified. There was some downtime during the day and our second qualifier took place at about 3:15pm, and after this, all 9 teams were safely qualified. We then had a third qualifier at around 5pm. The officials started on a fourth cycle which they got about two thirds of the way through. Sunday's forecast was mixed, so we hoped to get at least one more qualifier in. That we did, at around 10:30am. The fifth cycle was started but some rain came along around 12:30pm, and eventually persisted so the officials were forced to call time on the day. Just 1 driver ran a Personal Best Speed this weekend.
WB 2	Bob Hawkins was in his eighth Wild Bunch event this year with his 'Time Traveller II' slingshot. He had just come back from running at the Nitrolympix at Hockenheim, where he had been invited to attend to perform another fire burnout! The team actually took both 'Time Traveller' slingshots to Germany but the track conditions at the night show meant that only Bob was able to run in TT2. He put on another spectacular show!! Bob started this weekend off with a Dial-in of 6.91, his PB! He launched well but had to back off on the run so coasted to a 15-second pass. He kept the same Dial for the second run, and posted a much better 7.209 at 187.00mph pass. He then raised the Dial slightly to 6.97 and recorded an improved 7.179 at 183.85mph (this proved to be Low ET for the whole event!). For Sunday's qualifier, he dialled in at 6.97, and ran a 7.223 at 184.91mph. He qualified in 6th place. He was also awarded the 'Best Burnout' Spot Prize by the commentators for his long smoky burnouts.
WB 4	Keith Crampton was in his fifth event of the season in his 'Soul Town Shaker' slingshot. He dialled in at 10.98 for his first qualifier, and posted a small breakout of 10.971 at 117.37mph to open his account. He lowered the Dial to 10.96 for the second run and ran a solid 11.001 at 117.57mph. He again raised the Dial back to 10.98 and ran a much quicker 10.894 at 120.35mph, very near his best ever figures. For Sunday's qualifier, he lowered the Dial to 10.94 but posted a slower 11.126 at 118.55mph. He qualified in a strong 2nd place overall for the event.
WB 25	was Terry Clifford's sixth event of the season in his 'Ratcatcher Resurrection' slingshot. Terry began the weekend with a Dial-in of 9.10. He had some problems on the run and posted an 11.897 at 93.72mph in this first round. He kept this Dial for the second and third rounds and made some adjustments in the pits, but still recorded passes of 13.904/51.46 and 13.649/60.74 with second gear problems. The team had made an adjustment to the gearbox after the second round which had not made any difference, but, mysteriously on the fourth qualifier Terry made a much better pass of 9.520 at 146.56mph on a 13.64 Dial-in!! He qualified in 9th place. Hope the team can trace the intermittent problem and be right back on form for the final event.
WB 35	Dick Sharp was in his fourth event of the season with his 'Dorset Horn' altered and raring to go after his glorious win at Dragstalgia!! For the first qualifier, the team dialled in at 9.05, and Dick had a problem on the run and slowed to a 10.533 at 137.91mph. Back in the pits, they discovered the cause, which was quickly rectified. So Dick kept this Dial for the second round. He then recorded a much better 9.151 at 152.08mph. Dick kept this Dial-in again and posted a great 8.992 at 150.29mph on his third qualifier. On Sunday morning, the team kept this Dial and Dick ran even better again, recording an 8.811 at 151.04mph, a great run! He qualified in 4th place overall.
WB 45	Phil James was running in his seventh event of the season in the 'Rampage' funny car. He and the team dialled in at 9.32 for his first qualifier and Phil began well, posting a 9.379 at 141.64mph for starters. This run proved to be the 'Best Reaction' of the weekend, with an .085 light. The team adjusted the Dial slightly to 9.35 for the next round and Phil ran a great 9.362 at 142.42mph. They kept this Dial for the third qualifier and Phil posted a 9.425 at 139.75mph. On Sunday, they still ran with this Dial-in and Phil recorded a pass of 9.505 at 138.23mph. He qualified in 1st place, his fourth #1 Qualifier of the season, and closest to dial of all of these! Well done, Phil!
WB 67	Darryl Howells was back with his 'Chemical Reaction' slingshot for his sixth event of the season. He did not make the first qualifier on Saturday, but came out for the second, where he dialled in at 8.90, and ran a 9.458 at an unconfirmed speed with a glitch on the timing ticket. He kept this Dial for the next round and ran a slower 10.155 at 142.11mph. The team made some adjustments and kept this Dial for Sunday's qualifier. Darryl posted his best run of the weekend, with a 9.345 at 149.71mph. He qualified in 8th place overall.
WB 69	Alan Loten was in his seventh event of the season in his 'Paranoia' altered and hoping for some good passes with his new rear slicks! He did not make the first round Saturday, but dialled in at 9.15 for the second qualifier. He recorded a promising 9.199 at 139.51mph, which was great on the new rubber! He did not make the third qualifier as he had to make some adjustments in the pits. He kept the Dial for the qualifier on Sunday and posted a 9.323 at 137.79mph. He qualified in 3rd place.
WB 76	Sarah Howells was back in Steve and Lesley Field's 'Black Pig Too' slingshot for her second outing of the season and the team's sixth. Steve had changed the rear end gearing since the last event, so the team were looking forward to seeing what the car would run. Sarah did not make the first qualifier. The team dialled in at 9.30 for the second qualifier, and Sarah ran a great breakout of 9.047 at 157.65mph, her best ever speed in the car, and the car's best speed! The team duly lowered the Dial-in to 8.90 for the next round, and Sarah ran a similar 9.090 at an unconfirmed speed. On Sunday's qualifier, the team kept this Dial and Sarah posted a 9.245 at 153.49mph. She qualified 5th.
WB 111	Dan Sharp was in his third event of the season with the team's 'Little Big Horn' altered. He began the weekend with a Dial-in of 9.35, just below his PB. He recorded a 9.708 at 137.32mph to open his account. The team kept this Dial-in for the second qualifier, and Dan had a very wayward launch, having to back off and slow to a 16-second pass! He kept the 9.35 Dial for the third round and had a similar though not as drastic launch, backing off and getting back on it to a 10.199 at 127.52mph. He kept the Dial for the qualifier on Sunday, but had some more problems and ran a 15-second pass. He qualified 7th overall. There was some consolation in that the 'Little Big Horn' team were awarded the 'Best Appearing Car' Spot Prize by the commentators! Their second in a row at this particular event, and very well-deserved!
Race Day Monday (Eliminations) Monday's forecast was not very good at all, and though there were some early dry spells, by mid-morning the drizzle had set in! With the radar not looking promising and more rain falling, event organisers were forced to call off the event before midday. Such a shame, as there had been due to be 4 great races in the first round and really close competition! Well done to all the teams, who put another good show during qualifying. Huge thanks to the track crew, marshalls and officials who worked really hard over the weekend. Fair play to all of them! Special thanks to Mark Coulsell who braved broken ribs to cycle up and down the pits all weekend with pit running. Many thanks also to Linda Williams for her pit callouts. The results mean that Keith Crampton has won the 2015 Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars Series! Dick Sharp finished in 2nd Place, Team B-Sting in 3rd place and Tom Larman in 4th place. Many Congratulations to all of them!! Also, after ratification by the APIRA points co-ordinator, Darryl Howells has won the 2015 APIRA Championship, his first ever win in this Series. Phil James is Runner-up, earning his first ever Series trophy. Congratulations to both of them!! We are now really looking forward to the Finals of our season at the 'National Finals' at Santa Pod on 19th & 20th September, for the final rounds: Wild Bunch Series Round 5, Spirit of Nostalgia Challenge Series Round 9 and the Springbridge MSA Challenge Round 5. It should be another exciting end to the season, with the points being so close, especially in WB and SNC!