VWV Racing

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Articles written by Tom Herbert race crew to his Dad Paul Herbert...

Bug Jam, Santa Pod Raceway

Bug jam started on a high note with sunshine as we arrived.

After setting up camp we got on with the BBQ, we filled up on meat put on our fancy dress ( only gays at Santa pod costumes) and headed out to the club party to bust some moves. After the party finished and a few games of pool we retired for the night

Friday we awoke to rain followed by rain…only the later entertainment of the Queen tribute band to look forward to. With that day gone and a go in the dance tent it was off to bed

Surprisingly on Saturday morning it was STILL raining which called for a long lay in. But at 2pm to everyone's joy the sun broke through and the rain stopped and after an hour of preparation on the track we started VWDRC qualifying

We came around the corner to a massive reception with the bank and grandstand full of spectators, seeing the crowd we gave them what they wanted, a massive burn out

We dialled in a 13.45 and with a massive spin off the line we pushed a 2.1 60ft time pushing through the line at 95mph on a 13.945, which put us in fifth after one round

After every class had done a round the clouds gathered slowly and it poured down cancelling racing for the day. We decided to finish our time on the dodgems and the fairground before the Prodigy tribute band and the dance tent

Sunday we woke to sun so straight out for qualifying, dialled in 13.45 and kept that dial in all day

First ran we ran 13.74 at 93mph, second run a 13.63 at 96mph and the final qualifier ran a 13.47 at 97mph that put us in the number two spot going into eliminations

First round we drew Chris Baylis, dialled in the ole trusty 13.45 again, the run started with a big burn out we staged and was a little too eager leaving a red light up on the tree by 0.009seconds. So we were out in the first round… that's racing

After the disappointment of going out first round, it gave us the rare chance of watching a day of racing and what racing it was, with some great times, massive burn outs, mental wheelies

Even after the weekend's weather it was an exciting and entertaining weekend for all

Summer Nationals, Santa Pod Raceway

We arrived about 6.30 Friday, set up and scrutineered ready to race

Later that night fellow racers, the Bailey brothers, brought out the pool table, wide screen TV and Nintendo after seeing the weather report. After joining them in a couple of games we got to bed ready for Saturday

We woke to sun until the rain hit a few minutes later. As soon as the track was clean, we were lucky enough to be up second for Qualifying and ran a 13.46 at 96mph on a 13.50 dial-in, which put us down to 8th in qualifying before the rain started again. This continued all day which made us grateful for the 'Baileys'

Sunday brought better weather consisting of bright sunshine. At 2:30 we ran against Martin Aryton who was number 3 qualifier

After an unfortunate serious of events which led to us leaving the nitrous unarmed, ran a 14.79 at 87mph on a 13.45, which put us out of the meeting

Despite the weather it was an very enjoyable weekend and we're now looking forward to Bug Jam in July

Spring Nationals, Shakespeare County Raceway

We started the weekend on the Saturday with a firm first run with a 13.7 at 98mph even after wheel spin off the line

For the next run we lowered the pressure of the nitrous and after a good burnout and little spin on the line ran through with a 13.31 at 99.37mph

On the third and final run of the day we ran a 13.42 at 98.83mph which was the best qualifier of the day

On the Sunday we went out on our first run against a type 25 bus who had a 12 second advantage on us at the start but we still ran a good time of 13.48 at 98.65mph

which became our best qualifier

For the final qualifier we broke out with a 13.44 at 99.12mph still so close to the 100mph

At the end of Sundays racing we went into elimination 6th in qualifying

Unfortunately due to weather conditions Monday's race day was called off after rain but it was still a good weekend and after 3 rounds we lead the drivers championship

Big Bang, Santa Pod Raceway

Saturday started with the run what ya brung'ers on the track with cars of all shapes and sizes, we went out on our first run just looking to make sure the car was running well and to get ready for qualifying the next day

First run we ran a solid 13.55 at 97mph

After watching some entertaining RWYB we went out for another run, after a great burn out and a good launch we ran our first 1.7 60ft and another strong time of 13.49 at 98mph still chasing the 100mph point

After that run we put the car to sleep and went to watch some racing

Sunday started with qualifying and after another big burnout and another 1.7 60ft ran a perfect e.t. with a 13.45 dial-in and ran 13.450 at 99.22mph

After the track had heated up we went on for our second run and went through on a 13.22 at 99.57mph which is a personal best time and speed for us

also on our third run we backed up our time with a 13.21 at 99.98 which is another personal best time and speed also a tiny fraction away from 100mph

Going into eliminations number 1 qualifier which earned us a bi-run first round

Second round we drew Jacob Bailey in his R32 golf after a close race we won and went on to race Phil Norman in a red beetle pick-up

after beating him earned another bi-run in the semi final sending us into the final against Greame Freeman in his black beetle

after his second advantage we launched and started hunting him down, going through the line with 0.003 seconds between us

Greame prevailed in the current best race of the season. After the weekend we went home very proud after personal bests on time and speed, perfect ET and runner up in the meeting

Easter thunderball, Santa Pod Raceway

Well here we go again starting the 2007 season as vwdrc sportsman champ the only two year back to back champ

Good to be back at the Pod with a new coat of paint and NOS on the car. After passing scrutaneering Friday morning was our first pass and the car just sat on the start line and spun the wheels but ran slower than last year but 8 mph faster

Turning the NOS right off at the start I got a lot of grip and ran a 13.9 which was a personal best, saterday we tweeked the NOS programmer a bit, on the first run the car hooked up and it went off the line no spin and it felt fast, a 13.7, cool in the 13's

next run the same hooked up and ran 13.54 at 98 mph
I qualified rubbish in 7th place but not to worry went on to Monday the eliminations a bit off luck for me saw my first opponent breakout which gave me a bye run in the second round
The semi finals saw a good win against old rival Chris Bray
Onto the final and a great start gave me 3 tenths over my opponent and I caught him by half track and just stayed infront to take the win A great start to the season