Sunday morning rolled around and we were still excited to be number 1 qualifier. With an odd number of participants this would mean a first round bye run for us and chance to get into the semi finals and try and earn some championship points.

There had been some rain early Sunday morning but luckily it had stopped, and although overcast, the ground was drying out. A quick look at the ladder confirmed that we had a bye in the first round and we would then meet the winner from the match up between Phil Sweeny and Neil Ward.

Vroom-diddly-vroom!

We ran our bye just before 2pm and were pleased with 9.90 on a 9.80 dial in. Phil had beaten Neil in a break-out battle so we were lined up to meet Phil and the "Antiscoial" slingshot in the next round.

That's a big trophy and a very big smile!

Phil shots off into the distance, with Helen in hot pursuit!

That return road is a lonely old place...

 Phil already had several MSA event victories under his belt and is well known for his good reactions and ability to "drive the line". In order to get through this round we needed to run our own race and play it as close as we dare. Phil left first with a great reaction time of 0.07, whilst Helen chased him down with a 0.10 reaction. As they headed down the track Helen passed Phil at the 1000 foot mark and lifted slightly in order not to break out. We were rewarded with a winning 9.94 on a 9.80 dial in and a ticket through to our first final!

The girls looking right at home.

It was going to be an all female all-Altered final. Helen was to race Sarah Howells in our first final and it wasn't going to be easy!  Sarah, Bernie and the Destiny's Angel team had come through to the finals with a string of good passes and it was going to be a close run race. Again, we dialled in a 9.80 and this time we left first with Helen pulling her best reaction of the weekend, an 0.082. At the finish line it was a very close indeed and Sarah had just got to the line first, but only at the expense of a breakout, meaning that our 9.90 was good enough for the win!

So, after a fantastic weekends racing we'd won our first event! The atmosphere was great with all the teams providing support throughout the elimination rounds. Our thanks go to all those who both attended and ran the event, over what turned out to be a very busy weekend!

We'd like to hope we'll see you all soon for another blast down the track. Stay Tuned!

Click here to go back to the 2006 event index