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SpringSpeed Nationals April 30 - May 2
Wild Bunch ResultsSpringspeed Nationals30th April - 2nd May
Spirit of Nostalgia Challenge Series Round 2.
SCR/APIRA Series Round 1.
MSA Points Challenge 2.
The Springspeed Nationals was the second event of the WB season. It was Spirit of Nostalgia Series Round 2 & APIRA Series Round 1 as well as the 2nd round of the Springbridge MSA Challenge. There was a good field of 10 Wild Bunch cars competing: 3 Altereds, 6 Slingshots and a Funny Car
| Wild Bunch Points | ||||
| Pos | WB | Driver/Team | Car | Points |
| 1 | 4 | Phil James | Rampage | 7 |
| 2 | 69 | Alan Loten | Paranoia | 5 |
| 3 | 91 | Bob Hawkins | Time Traveller II | 4 |
| 4 | 111 | Dan Sharp | Little Big Horn | 3 |
| 5 | 25 | Terry Clifford | Ratcatcher Resurrection | 2 |
| - | 35 | Dick Sharp | Dorset Horn | 2 |
| - | 101 | Steve East | Ellies in Trouble Now | 2 |
| 8 | 64 | Russ Heaven | Tight Fit | 1 |
| - | 67 | Darryl Howells | Chemical Reaction | 1 |
| - | 76 | Team Black Pig | The Black Pig Too | 1 |
| MSA Points | ||||
| Pos | WB | Driver/Team | Car | Points |
| 1 | 4 | Phil James | Rampage | 320 |
| 2 | 111 | Dan Sharp | Little Big Horn | 270 |
| 3 | 91 | Bob Hawkins | Time Traveller II | 260 |
| 4 | 69 | Alan Loten | Paranoia | 210 |
| 5 | 35 | Dick Sharp | Dorset Horn | 150 |
| 6 | 101 | Steve East | Ellies in Trouble Now | 130 |
| 7 | 25 | Terry Clifford | Ratcatcher Resurrection | 120 |
| 8 | 67 | Darryl Howells | Chemical Reaction | 40 |
| 9 | 64 | Russ Heaven | Tight Fit | 10 |
| - | 76 | Team Black Pig | The Black Pig Too | 10 |
| Spot Prizes | ||||
| WB | Team/Driver | Car | Detail | |
| Closest To Dial-In | 4 | Phil James | Rampage | 0.002 off |
| Best Reaction | 91 | Bob Hawkins | Time Traveller II | 0.041 |
| Best Appearing Team | 111 | Team Little Big Horn | Little Big Horn | |
| #1 Qualifier | 4 | Phil James | Rampage | 0.039 off |
| Quickest ET | 91 | Bob Hawkins | Time Traveller II | 7.178 |
| The Wild Bunch welcomed back 5 teams from the 'Festival of Power' plus 5 more teams beginning their 2016 season. One driver ran a Personal Best Speed this weekend.
Qualifying Saturday This was a qualifying day and there were scheduled to be 3 rounds. The Wild Bunch were 20th class out on the running order. The start of racing was delayed about half an hour, and sadly there was an unfortunate incident with a bike rider who had to be taken to hospital. We hope she makes a quick recovery and wish her all the best! There was a long period of downtime, and just as the track was about to open, there was an almighty hail storm! The track crew worked hard to get the track dry and just before it was about to re-open, there was more rain, so that was it for the day. Only 4 classes had run their first qualifier. Qualifying Sunday There were now scheduled to be 3 qualifiers for us on this day. The track opened about 10 past 10. But within about an hour of running, there was another unfortunate incident with a bike rider. We hope she also makes a speedy recovery and with her all the best! During both incidents, the safety crews were quick to respond and care for the riders, so we admire their actions and professionalism and thank them for all they do to keep the racers safe. There was not that much downtime, and we then had our first qualifier around noon. There was some downtime during the day with spots of rain, which was quite frustrating and caused the loss of a cycle of qualifying, but eventually we had our second qualifier by about quarter to 5, and 8 teams safely qualified by then. | |
| WB 4 | Phil James was looking forward to his second event of the season with the 'Rampage' funny car. Again he was ably crewed by son Carl and friend Matt, as well as brother Mike. The team started off with a Dial-in of 9.34, and Phil posted a great 9.379 at 142.97 mph to open his account. The team kept the Dial for the second round, and Phil ran an incredibly consistent 9.379 at 141.46mph! In fact the 2 runs had been within 4/100,000ths of each other!!! Amazing! The second run consolidated his #1 Qualifier spot, and he was Top for the second event in a row! Well done Phil! |
| WB 25 | Terry Clifford and team were back out in the 'Ratcatcher Resurrection' slingshot. This weekend they had the whole family for crew! A rare and happy get together ïŠ The team dialled in at 9.40 for starters, and Terry ran a better 9.292 at 149.20mph, which was a pleasant surprise straight off the trailer. They lowered the Dial for the second round, to 9.10, and Terry posted a 9.714 at 149.70mph. He qualified in 7th place overall. |
| WB 35 | Dick Sharp and team were out for their first event of the year in the 'Dorset Horn' altered. Dick began his 2016 campaign with a modest 10.05 Dial–in, and had planned to do a checkout pass. Well, he blew that out the window and ran a 9.302 at 147.81mph! The team sensibly lowered the Dial to 9.25 for the next round and Dick recorded a 9.550 at 144.64mph. He qualified in 4th place. |
| WB 64 | Russ Heaven was making his MSA event debut in his 'Tight Fit' slingshot, hoping to get through all his licencing passes. The team had a lot of work done on the car since last year, and Dave and Steve had done some 17-hour days the week before the event to make sure it got there in time! Fair play to them! For the first pass, it was just the burnout and launch required, but as the car bogged off the start, it did not light the tyres, and Russ was asked to repeat the first observed run. Sadly the team missed out on the next qualifier, but were going to able to do more observed runs on race day. |
| WB 67 | Darryl Howells and the DASH Racing team were back with their wildly-painted 'Chemical Reaction' slingshot. They dialled in at 9.19 for starters. The car did not run as well as hoped and Darryl recorded a 10.359 at 132.63mph. Darryl kept the Dial for the second round and ran a much better 9.666 at 140.06mph. Darryl qualified in 5th place overall. |
| WB 69 | Alan Loten was running his first event of the season with the 'Paranoia' altered. He and Steve had been doing the winter rebuild and when almost completed in early February had notice a crack in the chassis!! They were able to get a booking with Roy Wilding who did a great job as usual, but the delay and extra work meant they missed the Festival of Power. The team dialled in at 12.50 for the first run of the event, aiming to do a checkout pass. Unfortunately there was a small fuel leak on the line and they had to shut down and not make the pass. This was soon rectified and Alan was out for qualifying Round 2. But without the trusty quad, as its battery was playing up. So Claire offered a tow. Alan ran much better than planned, recording a breakout 10.293 at 93.30mph pass. He qualified in 8th. |
| WB 76 | Sarah Howells was back in the purple-bodied 'Black Pig Too' slingshot of Steve and Lesley Field. The whole team hoped the car would play ball this event! Unfortunately though, this was not to be, as it was running quite smoky on fireup in the pits, and developed a small transmission leak which could not be cured at the event. Such a shame!! But nevertheless the team still had a great event as Steve and Lesley were celebrating their 20th Wedding Anniversary and had a party in the pits, so Congratulations to them! And Best of luck for the next event! |
| WB 91 | Bob Hawkins was eager to be back in his 'Time Traveller II' slingshot, and carry on with the tuning of the new bigger blower. He began with a Dial-in of 7.00 even. He posted a 7.259 at 184.65mph on the first qualifier. The team made some tweaks and adjusted the Dial to 6.99. Bob ran quicker and recorded a 7.178 at 183.79mph, which earned him 'Quickest E.T. of the event' in Wild Bunch. Bob qualified in 3rd place overall. |
| WB 101 | Steven East was in his first event of the season with his 'Ellie's in Trouble Now' slingshot. He was joined by new crew man and his daughter, as well as the famous Ellie herself, as son Joshua had to work. Steven began the weekend with a Dial-in of 9.78. He had a problem on the run and posted a 14.803 at 96.35mph. He bounced back in the second qualifier, keeping his Dial and running a closer 10.297 at 141.30mph, a new Personal Best Speed. He qualified in 6th place overall for the weekend. |
| WB 111 | Dan Sharp was running at his first event of 2016 in his 'Little Big Horn' altered. On trying to fire up before the first qualifier, the team had a problem with the starter motor engagement, and could not fire the car. They worked to cure this and on Sunday dialled in at 9.80 for the second qualifier. They managed to start the car, and Dan ran a solid 9.954 at 135.23mph. He was really chuffed to qualify in 2nd place on the one-hit qualifier! |
| Race Day Monday (Eliminations) Monday dawned sunny though the forecast predicted rain later on. We were hopeful of at least getting one round completed and there were due to be 4 good races in that round with the 8 qualifiers. Quarter-Finals Our First Round, the Quarter Finals was held around noon. The first race of the round saw Steven versus Dan, and now Joshua and friends had arrived to help crew for Steven. He dialled in at 9.78 and Dan at 9.50. Steven recorded an 11.040 at 126.60mph, and Dan took the win with a closer 10.437 at 135.77mph, albeit with a bounce off the line! The next race saw Dick paired with Alan, a classic matchup! Dick dialled in at 9.45 and Alan 9.20. The reaction times were quite even, but Alan took the win with a close 9.260 at 140.32mph against Dick's breakout of 4 thousandths! He recorded a 9.446 at 144.31mph. The following race should have been Phil versus Darryl. Phil dialled in at 9.32 and Darryl 9.20. Sadly Darryl could not get fired, so Phil took the solo win, recording an excellent 9.322 at 141.69mph, also earning him the 'Closest to Dial-in' Spot Prize. The last race of the round was Terry matched with Bob. Terry opted for a 9.20 and Bob a 7.15. There was some last minute hitch in the Time Traveller pits when the car did not sound good on fireup, though the team fixed the problem and made it to the round. Terry recorded a wayward 9.917 at 136.45mph whilst Bob took the win with an off-pace 7.713 at 146.15mph, but with a 'Best Reaction' of .041. Sadly the team have found quite a bit of damage with the motor, so very best wishes to them for rebuilding it and carrying on with the new blower. (As usual they have a backup plan, with the spare motor so good luck to them!) Following this run, Russ put in another one of his observed runs, and this went well, so good progress for the team. Semi-Finals We were in the pairings lanes queued up for this round, though there were a few spots of rain. It was a case of stop and start during the previous classes, and we were just 4 pairs away from running and the drizzle persisted, eventually turning into rain. The teams turned back to the pits and waited but the rain carried on and the officials were forced to call the event to a close. Such a shame, but at least we had one round. By virtue of closest to Dial-in without breaking out of the quarter-finals winners, we were still able to declare a result. Phil was declared the winner, with Alan in 2nd place. Bob finished in 3rd ahead of Dan in 4th place. The 'Little Big Horn' team were also awarded the 'Best Appearing Team' by the commentators. Well done to all the Wild Bunch teams, who put on a good show, with close qualifying and a great round of racing. Overall it was a better event, as we at least got the one round in. Huge thanks to the track crew, marshalls and officials who worked really hard to dry and prep the track, and get as much racing in as possible. Big thanks also to Mark Coulsell who worked tirelessly as pit runner all weekend. We are now really looking forward to the first Wild Bunch Series round, of this our 21st Anniversary season, which will be the 'Spring Shootout', also at Shakey on May 14th & 15th. This will also be the 3rd Spirit of Nostalgia Challenge Series round of 2016. It should be another great event! | |