VW Action '07
This year VW Action had been greatly anticipated, mainly because of its new location at Santa Pod, and we were not disappointed at all. For the members & wannabes, the highlight of the weekend revolved around the famous drag strip.
I turned up on the Fri lunchtime to find a very busy campsite with a real buzz in the air. As the USB & BWA were not racing till the Sat evening, it was a day to catch up with old friends, meet some new ones and enjoy ourselves. Later that afternoon myself & Alex went over to welcome TonyM as he'd been having problems with his bus over the summer months. To our shock he had lost all steering as he pulled into the field!! Thank god it happened at such a slow speed off road. Luckily it was a minor fault and he'd be out playing on the Saturday.
Saturday was kind of a weird one for a lot of us. No drinking was involved!! (shock horror). The day was spent recovering from the Friday evening antics, watching the awesome cars & bikes racing....including the mind blowing Top Fuel dragster and making sure all the racers knew where to go and when.
Speaking to some of the members, there was a mixture of anxiety, excitement & nerves, mainly coming from me i must add!!
Respect goes to Corky who turned up Sat afternoon straight from a trip to Ireland! His new 3,2 Porsche engine was sounding sweet.
So by 4pm we had all just about signed in and were eager to get pit side and ready for action (no pun intended).
One thing to remember is don't try to fix something that isn't broken - at the 11th hour Alex decided to replace his clutch cable - but like all good plans - it went belly up.
A big thanks goes out to Shane r and his pit crew for helping him out as for a while it looked like he wouldn't make it out on track.
Some of us had USB logo's stuck to the front of our busses (Alex had to have two on his doors hahahaha) - just a little advertising until our banner is sorted.
So anyway........we'd made our way round to the top of the fire-up lane when Corky found that he'd got a puncture from leaving the campsite. Again, mad panic to find a donor wheel. In the end a temporary repair was done by fitting his spare wheel - the only problem was that he now had 3 Porsche cup wheels and a standard VW one. It might have looked odd but at least he managed to line up with the rest of us. Considering the club is still very young we had a respectable 12 Bays turn up to run. Yes we were out numbered by the BWA but that was to be expected.
We all lined up side by side against the BWA busses. The atmosphere was electric! This was the first time that the clubs had come together for a heads up race. It wasn't at all like us against them, more like busses united for one common purpose. There were alot of excited faces to be seen, last minute adjustments going on and then, what seemed to be for ages, the waiting for the signal that the track was ready for us.
Eventually we heard the announcement of our respective clubs and engines were fired up. I don't know about anyone else but my left foot was twitching on the clutch pedal!!
Once the first pairing had gone through, it didn't take long to get through the whole line up. I witnessed a few passes but mostly was concentrating on my own race.
Once we had all done our first run we went round for another run. The waiting was agony but it did give us time for more tinkering, a quick ciggie and a chat with our fellow racers.
After some other clubs had raced we got paired up again. Most of us managed a total of 3 runs - the last ones were probably the most fun! Night racing!! If you've never experienced this, you must!! A word of warning though - once you've passed the finish line, its very dark, especially with no lights on!
The USB busses were not embarrassed by the more experienced BWA.
Mark (Beanie) had the quickest bus of the day, running in the low 13's. There were a few personal bests on the day too. Pick of the day must have been Kev with his '70 deluxe turbo running a 17 dead. So close to a 16, but the engine is now for sale, watch out for this bus and others next year as over the winter there are some serious monster engines in the pipeline.
The USB can hold their heads high as we triumphed over the BWA. David and Goliath springs to mind, although it was the taking part that meant the most.
Welcome to two new members who qualified during the session - l.a.r.d in his early panel van and TonyM (at last mate) in his 2017cc bus.
All in all, a great show, great racing and we look forward to having a rematch next year.
Thanks to all concerned for your efforts, including the show organisers for allowing us this opportunity to race. Here's to more in 2008.
One last thing. During the Sunday RWYB session, two more busses qualified into the USB, one Bronze & one Silver member. Info in the 'members' section.
18/08/07 - Santa Pod RWYB/Mini Fest
As usual this summer, the weather wasn't great and the threat of rain was in the air.Braving the odds, five of us decided to risk it and drive up to Santa Pod which had a public RWYB day/ Mini Fest on.
Alex (Jesus) & Russ (6yrs & not finished) had already decided not to race and save their engines for VW Action as any breakages so close to this event would be disastrous. Plus as they are both members of USB, they didn't need to prove anything. As for the rest of us, we were hoping that it stayed dry long enough for us to get some track time, sort out any gremlins and hopefully qualify into the club.
I think I can speak for us all about our surprise when we arrived to find so many vehicles in the fire-up lane! This was definitely a popular event, probably due to less track time this summer, what with the dire weather and all.
Several clubs had turned up, for example, Mini's (as it was their event), Renault 5 turbo's, various Jap machines and Old School Fords. Even some of the pro's were out testing including Super Gas, Super Pro & Pro ET.
The bikes were very popular too and out in force, even some very quick scooters were running!
So there we were, signed in and rolling out into the fire-up lane. There were many smiles, weird looks, pointing and mumbling going on, which to our amusement was great fun! I guess its not the kind of sight that most people expect to see at one of these events.What I found great was the relaxed atmosphere and the friendliness between racers. There were alot of nicely turned out vehicles and most people seemed to acknowledge the time and effort that had gone into them whether it be a Mini, VW or Super Gas motor.
Myself & Andy were up first. Andy was on the money with his reaction time, pulling a 0.1 but he fell short of the elusive sub 18, running a respectable late 19 with his 1914cc motor.
I was struggling again with wheel spin and recorded a personal best of 18.1.
Kev was round next. Apparently the driver of the Renault 5 turbo (Kev's opponent) couldn't believe his eyes as his beloved French car was beaten briefly off the line hahaha........This was Kev's first ever run with his 1776cc turbo motor and incredibly he recorded a time of 17.2! Well done mate.
The fire-up lane by now was heaving and we knew we were going to have a long wait. Myself & Andy managed two more races. With a little tinkering, I managed less wheel spin and recorded 17.2 & 17.4 runs. Andy was still getting great reaction times but kept in the 19's and low 20's. Watch out for his Bay next year once his new engine arrives!
Kev managed one more run, a 17.3 before rain stopped play at mid-afternoon. We'd all had a great day, the big smiles were proof. Roll on VW Action!
BugJam 21
As you will know by now, the weather was against us for this weekend. By the time the track had dried on the saturday, there wasn't enough time for us to get out and play.
There was one bright moment though. Shane Rae (VWDRC) was out on track in his blue/white early westy testing his new engine. Shane and team (CCR) have recently fitted a new 2110cc stroker motor and were desperate to get the bus under the 18 seconds to qualify into the USB. The canadian done well, running a 17.7 and then a 17.9. Welcome aboard fella!
I've yet to run a sub 18 and have planned to head up to RWYB at Santa Pod on Sat 18th August. Other members will be joining me in some track action (weather dependant) and others are more than welcome to pop along too.
Just a quick note to say don't forget about VW Action at the end of August!
This event looks awesome and there will be a heads up race against the guys/girls of the BWA! This might even involve some night racing too!!
Myself and Rikki are going to try to pair up busses with similar ET's, adding to the excitement of close side to side racing.Hope you can all make it that weekend as i think it will be a memorable show. If you could let me know if you'll be attending as i need to put together some numbers for Brian Burrows and also a few notes for the commentators for when you're on track.
Reaction times
Test your own reaction skills. See LINKS.
Customize your Bay!
Now you have the chance to customize your Bay the way you want it! Slam it, change the wheels, colour etc.. See how your bus will look before you spend your hard earned cash. See LINKS.
Big Bang '07
Great to see so many busses out on the track during Saturday's RWYB session. With ideal weather (dry, not too hot and a tailwind) it gave everyone a good chance for some quick runs.
Well done to our two latest members, Russell Phillips (aka 6 yrs & not finished) with a blinding run of 17.1 and Paul Weeding with a 17.65. Good going, as it was the first time out for both of them.
Beanie was out playing too but his reliable subaru powered panel van broke a gearbox. A real shame as i expected a new personal best from him (hope the bus is fixed soon).
Congratulations to Alex (Jesus) who acheived a new PB of 17.7 in his 1776cc powered panel van. Great to see the bus is still running strong.
Stumpy vdub (brett) couldnt make it out this weekend but he has told me of his new plans for the next few months. If anyone was pit side and saw his stretched bay with the professional USB spray job (tongue in cheek), all i can say is keep your eyes peeled for it later in the year! Good luck Brett.
April '07
Good luck to Shane r at Big Bang this weekend, racing his all new Bay window. To check out his website, see LINKS
March '07
Welcome to our latest new Gold member - Mark Prosser, with his awesome VW powered panel van. Lets see if he can hit the 12's this year!
December '06
Certificates are now being presented with the stickers. Existing members, I will be in contact shortly for your addresses and to ask what name you'd like on them.
Congratulations to Simon (Corky) in running a 16.2 at Shakespeare County Raceway.
Bubbaontour wins the VWDRC AE 2006 Championship
After another thrilling VWDRC season, a Baywindow, running in the AE class, has come out on top of the pile.
A hugh well done to Bubba in achieving such heights with your Porsche powered Bay. A real crowd pleaser all year, its great to see peoples faces of amazement when your front wheels are in the air!
All the best for 2007 as I know you have a new Type II venture and I am looking forward to seeing you out on the track soon.