LFR 2023 Season - DONE! & what an AMAZING year it was too!!

 

LFR 2023 Season - DONE! & what an AMAZING year it was too!!

So our race season started with a brand new paint job for BallBreaker thanks to Rich and Pete Walters & new crew gear to go with the new look.

The 1st meeting should have been FoP but ended up being Springspeed, long story lol. BB was No. 1 off the trailer with a 8.29 on an 8.25 which we knew wouldn't last long. We ended up qualifying in 10th place but sadly had suffered some engine damage so we didn't make it to race day. Harley had an ok meeting but didn't do as well as he would have hoped, especially with this being his last year in Junior Dragster. Ada had a good meeting, popping a .004 reaction in at the last minute which put her in the no. 3  qualifying position.

Next was FoP which was just the Juniors as BB was still poorly! Harley qualified 7th but went out in round 2. However, Ada qualifying 17th then went on to reach her first final 😍- well done Ada, we are all so massively proud of you. 

Steve aka Marra Chief worked his nuts off to get BB ready for The Main Event & we were over the moon with the first pass of 8.09 @ 166mph, 2 hundredths off our previous ET PB and a HUGE 5 mph more than our best ever!! The good times didn't end there & we ended up as no. 2 qualifier. Sadly we went out in round 2 with a cherry on the tree! Harley helped out with the crewing on BB now that he's 17 which was great. Unfortunately he didn't have the best weekend in Bandit 1 qualifying 9th and going out in round 2, also with a cherry! Ada qualified in 15th place but drove Cherry Bomb to her 2nd back to back final !!!!!!!!! What a fantastic result! Unfortunately she joined Grumpy & Harley in the Cherry club but what an amazing achievement to get to her 2nd final in 2 meetings 😍😍

Summer Nationals - 13th for Harley & 15th for Mark so not so good but a fantastic 2nd place qualifier for Ada, on a flyer this year for sure! Unfortunately Mark went out on a holeshot even though he ran on his dial and Ada went out on a cherry. Harley flew the LFR flag once again to the quarter finals but lost on a cherry against the bosses daughter. Not the best meeting for us but still a few more points in the bag. As the post at the time said, next stop Hockers 😉

Hockers - WOW - JUST - WOW!! Mark getting to the final in Super Pro ET. Harley getting to the Semi Finals in Junior Dragster. Ada racing for the first time in Hockenheim. WINNING BEST APPEARING CAR WITH BALLBREAKER AT HOCKENHEIM And one thing we'll never forget is OLD BIG BALLS - MARK COULSELL

European Finals  What an event - HOT, HOT, HOT, oh and a bit of a storm too!! BB qualified 5th with a 8.304 on an 8.30!!! Sadly went out in round 1 to Billy Gane with a breakout and a shit reaction! Got to improve on this next year!! Ada finished qualifying in 18th place with a .01 - that's how high the stakes are this weekend! Adas weekend unfortunately finished in round 1 when she went out in round 1 like grumpy. Harley ended qualifying in 10th position. Much to our excitement, he made it to his first ever final which would be against good friend Luke Mugridge. Not just any final, Luke and Harley made it to the first ever 6 round Race Final that's ever happened in the UK and Europe! BUT mother nature had other ideas - after one heck of a rain/hailstone/wind storm where everyone was holding onto their gazebos for their lives, the amazing Santa Pod managed to get the track ready for racing again after about 5 hours. Unfortunately, heartbreakingly & devastatingly that meant that there were still 3 finals to run when the track officials had to call time on the 9pm curfew 😭

Last but certainly not least was National Finals!

This would be Harleys last meeting in Junior Dragster so a bit sad really for us!

So his final meeting and Harley managed to bag 4th qualifying spot. Ada was in 14th & Grumpy a respectable 9th. Harley & Ada both went out in the 1st round & Mark in round 2 so not the best meeting, however.................

Qualifying round 3 Santa Pod very kindly allowed Harley & Luke to run the final from Euros 😀 Much to our absoutle delight, Harley won - we were beyond excited - we'd waited for this for 10 years! Mom finally got to get the photo of her boy on that podium 🏁😃🏁

Now that is usually the end of the season for us but someone had an 18th birthday coming up & decided he wanted to drive his Junior Dragster 1 more time on his birthday. What he hadn't anticipated was the Marras offering to bring Wrathchild to Pod for him to drive as well!! He started the day in Bandit 1 with all of the weight taken off to see what it would do. He only pulled a .001 reaction which would have done him the world of good in any qualifying session this year! Next was his turn in Wrathchild. He did the warm up first then a few practice turns around the empty pits before setting off for the start line. 11.74 @ 121mph was what he went through the finish line on his first pass 😀 There were many cheers from the onlooking crowd on the start line, all relieved he'd managed 2nd gear and made it to his 1st quarter mile. The day just got better & Harley finished his 3 runs in Wrathchild with a best of 11.18 @ 124 mph! We finished the day with a little party with a food, drink & a few games.

So is that the end of the season now..... nope, lets take all 3 cars to Flame & Thunder just for the hell of it! Harley, Ada & Mark all got 3 runs in before the weather called time on the day.

So that is it then, oh wait, let's just finish the year off with a sneaky trip to Malta to see how they do Drag Racing 😊

Harleys 18th Birthday at Santa Pod

As 18th birthdays go, I think we can say Harleys was a huge success & ticked a few boxes too ✔️🏁🎉🖤🤍🧡🎉🏁

Harley said a while ago that he wanted to take all of the weight off his Junior once his last season was over & run it to see what it would do. As luck would have it there was a RWYB on his actual 18th so he said he would like to spend the day at Pod race his Junior & have a few friends around for a bit of a party.
So being the great parents we are lol, that's what we arranged 😉
We told a few friends what he wanted to do & that's when The Marras approached us & said would Harley like them to bring Wrathchild for him to have a go in?
Hell yes we thought but checked with him just to make sure it wouldn't be a wasted journey 😁
Yes was the answer from Harley, oh dear was the reaction from Mom 😬
Friday 13th was a horrible day so we were hoping for a much better, dryer day & thankfully that's what we got 😁 A sunny day with blue sky & white fluffy clouds ⛅️ Up early & set up the pit with all 3 cars under 1 gazebo & another for the party area. Once set up, the birthday boy & Ada set off for the 1st run.
He only pulled a .001 reaction!!! Why couldn't he have done that all year in Qualifying 🤔😬🤨🤭🤣 typical Harley 🤣 He ran 7.85 @ 80.79mph so a bit faster but maybe not as fast as he'd have liked 😁
Next run for Ada & this time against Meg Talbot in Bandit 1 😎 Not new to the 1/8th mile but used to doing it on 2 wheels not 4! She drove it like she stole it pulled quite a wheelie for a Junior, a .015 light & recording Bandit 1's best ever of 7.63 @ 83mph!! Go Meg 🏁😁🏁

Next in Bandit 1 was a nervous Liv Forth who had never been down the track before!! Brought into stage by equally nervous boyfriend Tom Kaye, she staged the car beautifully and ran an extremely respectful 8.06 @79mph 🎉 Go Liv, you did a fabulous job & we were all very proud of you 😍

And now it's Harleys turn in Wrathchild - gulps from Mom 😬 He started off with the warm up then had a little drive around in the empty pits to get familiar with the new seat. Off to the pairing lanes we went. The smiling Marras fired Harley up & off he went to the startline. After a few attempts at staging due to a cold Wrathchild and a nervous right foot, he was off! I looked around and the smiles from Dad, Steve, Marras & TCA were just as big when he pulled 2nd gear as they were when he went through the finish line 😆 We all (& there were a lot of us 😄) went crazy, jumping up and down and cheering like we'd won the lottery 😂😍😎 He did it 🏁🏁 11.74 @121mph 😀

The day just got better, the sun kept shining & we kept racing. Jack Gooding was up next in Bandit 1. He was running his Rocco but wanted another chance to take a Junior up the track. He drove it like a pro, like riding a bike 😆

Ada was having a fab day racing against so many different people that she'd never raced before 😊 If only it was a competition as Cherry Bomb was super consistent with 3 almost identical runs, typical 😄

Harley had 2 more runs with a best of 11.18 @124mph. His last run started with a HUGE burnout, encouraged by the Marras & enjoyed by us all 😂😎 & he pulled the chute just to complete the set 😀

I think we can safely say that Harley had a great day on the track 😀

So now onto the party 🥳🥳

There was the usual bbq, presents, cake, beer etc and then the 'obligatory' lol, Twister, Splat the Rat & even Play Your Cards Right which got a little bit competitive, didn't it Tom Kaye 😂

A great time was had by all and we would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who came and made it such a special day for Harley 😍

LFR - HOCKERS 2023 by Lynne

🏁 Way back in Jan, Harley asked if he could go to Hockenheim one more time (He raced there in 2015) before he finished in Junior Dragster 🏁

Why not we thought so decided to take all 3 cars (after Mark sulked that it would just be the kids 😃)

So the plans began and the saving started. Thank goodness that Leah and Colin decided to set up the Hockers Baby 2023 WhatsApp page as that gave us a few pointers to things we may have missed! Plus we had a lot of help and advice from the lovely Redshaw family.

So 20th August and Race cars are ready, documents are ready, passports are ready – let’s go racing…………….

So the boys, Mark, Steve, Harley and TCA set off on Tuesday 22^nd August for Dover. Anna and I were getting plenty of updates but I’m sure there were a lot of things that the boys left out! They got the 6am ferry on the Wednesday morning then set off for the 6+ hour journey to Hockers. They arrived safely around 6pm and I was shocked to see photos that evening of the pit fully set up with gazebos and all 3 cars so well done boys for getting set up in record time 👍

So the girls, Lynne, Anna, Ada, Rebecca & Meg got to Birmingham airport for 7am ready for the 9am flight. We arrived on time in Frankfurt and after a short wait for Megs case, headed for the car hire. After a rather long wait, we were handed the keys to a rather nice Audi Quatro 😁

We found the car and instantly Anna and myself got in the wrong side despite being really conscious that it was left hand drive – an easy mistake lol. I have to admit that I had a tiny panic attack when I sat in the car having never driven abroad before and was just about to say to Anna, I can’t do this, when she read my mind and said right lets do this! She got Google maps up and off we went. I’ve never been so grateful for a full on ‘backseat’/passenger seat driver – thanks Spanna 😊

We arrived at the track which was heating up and then our first night started with a bit of a storm 😨It didn’t stop us singing happy birthday to Meg though with obligatory cake & balloon thanks to TCA – Happy 18th birthday lovely 🎈🍰

Day 1 – Friday 25^th August (& Rebeccas birthday – more cake 🍰)

We woke up on Friday morning again to rain which meant racing started later than planned. First run for SuperPro was around half 1 and we did a respectable 8.34 which would do nicely.

The Juniors weren’t out until half 4. It was so nice that Harley and Ada paired up for the first qualifier. Ada did amazing as Hockers is quite daunting especially when you’ve never driven there before but she drove her car like the pro she is and ran a 10.29. Harley had to try to remember what it was like to race here as it was 8 years ago and managed an respectable 8.04 with a .09 light. A good start overall.

Day 2 – Saturday 26^th August

Juniors and Super Pro all managed 3 runs today and finished:

Mark P 12 out of 18 

Harley P5 out of 22

Ada P6 out of 22

And so to the Night Show – it had come to our attention that there may be a space in the night show so Mark was keen to establish whether we could fill that spot. There was so we did. The boys headed for the startline for the start of the show at 8 with a slot for just before 10. The girls got in the stands ready for fire and lights etc. BallBreaker was supposed to be against Colin Miller in the Flying Fyfer but Colin came round the corner onto the startline but no BB! Meg was getting messages from Tom K that BB was on fire! Great lol! What actually happened was BB being the b**** that she sometimes can be & had decided not to do the night show and to cough a ball of flames over Steve instead! Nice! Back in the pits and fired up good as gold! Oh well, maybe next year 😉

And so onto race day – Sunday 27^th August

Super Pro were up first and BB had a German car in the 1^st elimination. We dialled 8.34 and ran 8.36 but the other car had red lit so the win light went to us 😍

Juniors next and Harley dialled 7.97 as his car had just been getting quicker and quicker in Qualifying. He took the win so onto round 2 😍

Ada dialled 10.19 but Cherry Bomb decided to go on a go slow and ran 10.24! Still a fag paper at the stripe but Ada could now chill and watch Grumpy and Harley. Well done Ada you did a great job on your first visit to Hockenheim 😍

Elim 2 and BB had a Swiss car. We dialled 8.34 ran 8.35 but once again the win light went to us as the other lane red lit – think our little dragster is scaring the opposition. Not sure they know what to make of it lol 😂

Harley was up against Max Love from the UK! Such a close race but Harley took the win and onto E3 semi finals for both my boys 😍 

Elim 3 and Mark was against a beautiful '57 Chevy. We dialled 8.30 and ran 8.40 but fortunately they were more off than us so we took the win and not to a cherry this time – into the FINAL AT HOCKERS WE GO 😜

Harley dialled 7.93 and ran 7.918  - .0012 off his dial but the other lane was .0011 off so took the win! Don’t think my boy is destined to get to a Junior Dragster final 😩 but well done Marra for giving it a damn good go & well done TCA for being sole crew chief this weekend - makes my heart melt you two working together 😊

The Final

After quite a wait due to a clean up in the left lane after a Pro Stock car hit the wall, and an extension granted as we were over the curfew, we got to run our final.

Unfortunately, we didn’t get the win as BB took a weird turn for the wall and had a bit more than just one of BB’s usual ‘sashays’ at the finish line! 😱

I couldn’t really see what was happening tbh, luckily, but could see by the look on Steve, Anna and TCA’s faces that it wasn’t a straight run. The marshall on the wall had already given me the universal hand signals that indicated it was a bit of a wiggly one 😬

Anna asked if I’d heard what the commentator had said but I hadn’t so she repeated it for me – MARK COULSELL – BIG BALLS 😜😜😜😜

We got to the bottom to fetch Mark and he was so apologetic that he’d let us all down but we were just relieved that he and the car were ok. Obviously he was gutted he had to lift and watching it back, I’m so glad he did!

We rushed back to the pit, taking the apex round the circuit as we’d done on most return journeys (who said dragsters don’t do corners 😄, and got ready for the Trophy Party 🏆

Fashionably late (well it was a long way from our pit tbf lol) team LFR rocked up and managed to squeeze in at the back of the marquee with all of the other rowdy Brits 😊 The commentator tried to call order and the noise did quieten down slightly so we could sort of hear what was going on.

First up were the spot prizes for: Best Appearing Car, Best Appearing Bike & Best Appearing Team.

 Car first – This year it’s from Super Pro ET – wooooooooooo and from the UK – WOOOOOOOOO

And the winner is MARK COULSELL with THE BALLBREAKER SLINGSHOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The place erupted! I didn’t realise a few chaps and lasses from the UK could make so much noise!

Over the bloody moon we were! There were some cracking cars there and we couldn’t believe our little slingshot from the UK had taken 1^st prize 😊 We did receive some beautiful comments from a lot of other teams and spectators which was really nice, makes all of the hard work even more worth while.

We still had the runner up for Mark and semi final trophies for Harley yet, which I think is so nice that they celebrate that there too 😊

The roars, cheers, foot stamping and clapping for all of the UK winners etc was deafening, not forgetting the bugle obvs. What an amazing atmosphere – that alone was worth the journey, well almost lol 😁

Well done to all of the racers flying the UK flag – absolutely fabulous turn out and performances, so proud to be able to race with you all 😊

Well done to Damion Redshaw for getting straight back in his car as if nothing had happened after his little mishap and massive well done to Leah and team for getting that car ready to rock n roll in time for the last Qualifier – superb effort.

I think it’s safe to say what an absolutely fantastic time we’ve had in Hockenheim and maybe, possibly, one day, I’ll (we’ll) be back 😊

And now for the sh*te bit!

So it’s Monday morning and the girls are a bit sad to be leaving but the airport is calling.

So we say our goodbyes to the boys and Hockers and set off for Frankfurt, Spanna still holding my hand in the hire car with the steering wheel still on the wrong side lol 😬

Car dropped off, all checked in and waiting to board reflecting on the great time we’ve had. We’re on the plane, engines running, safety talks complete, mint in hand waiting for take off when the pilot comes on (the same pilot who sounded like a dirty perv when he spoke to us earlier 😨) – unfortunately due to an issue with the UK air traffic control you will have to leave the plane until we find out more about the problem. Back on the bendy bus back to the airport – no one to be seen to help us! Find Lufthansa Cust Services who tell us to go to A12 for further instructions. We are then told that we have been booked onto a later flight at 4.45. Bit inconvenient but at least we’re going home. Meal voucher issued so off we go to chill out before our 2^nd flight. It gets to 3pm and my phone starts buzzing – flight cancelled!

No announcements or anyone around to help so we head back to A12 – all UK passengers please follow this random passenger with a piece of paper above his head which says desk B480!! Off he goes with Anna shouting ‘hang on, wait for us, we’re all supposed to be following you’!

Get to check in area where B480 desk is and there are 2 humungous queues of people all waiting to be told alternative flights back to the UK. We queue for about 2 ½ hours to be told no flights and no point in waiting for the desk staff. We were told to come out of the queues and book your own hotels and flight home.

Anna and Rebecca are straight on their phones trying to book things. No flights is a fact. So we get into a hotel, grab a taxi and off we go. No toiletries, no knickers, no anything as it’s all in the RV with the boys cos we were going home! Meg has a checked bag which she was told she wouldn’t get until at least Thursday! So Plan B – we didn’t have one! Ring the boys and find out where they are. Too far to turn back so internal flights, trains & even another hire car was considered to get to Brussels to meet the RV and the boys. Prices for all of the above were just rocketing as we were looking! Sooooooo after a while we had a train booked from Frankfurt station at 9am Tuesday morn with 2 changes which would get us to Brussels for 1.30pm. Sorted! Quick shop for toothbrushes & knickers and find a nice Asian restaurant for food. Night all see you in reception at 7am.

Tuesday

Up early and showered we head for the airport/station with a very jolly Indian taxi driver who kept singing Tikka Masala at us! We had time so me and Meg went to see if we could retrieve her checked bag. While we’re waiting Anna rings me, ‘train has been cancelled & I’m starting to lose my s*it’ – nope we can’t do that we’re British, stiff upper lip and carry on! So Rebecca goes off to sort another train which leaves shortly with 1 stop in Cologne. Lovely. Get on the train and someone is in our booked seats but plenty available so no problem. 20 mins in and a rather rude German woman tells us we need to get off our carriage as there is a defect with the air-con, we knew that as it was sweltering but we just wanted to get to Brussels! So move we did and did manage to get seats even if Anna and Ada were in the buffet car. We managed a bit further and then the train stopped. No one said anything so we waited and then the train started to move backwards! We all looked at each other not knowing what the hell was happening then Meg springs up, climbs over me and says she’s going to find out what the hell is going on!! Apparently the line had been vandalised so we needed to go back and divert. The train stops again with an announcement that the driver needed a 30 minute break – are you f*king kidding me! 30 mins pass & another announcement that there is no driver to continue the journey so could we all get off the train and go to the next platform & wait for another train. Train arrives and off we go to Cologne, I think!

We finally get to Brussels (3 ½ hours later than planned), after getting off at 2 wrong Brussels stops, – oh how we laughed – and get an Uber to a Shell Station where the boys are hopefully still waiting – the Uber driver did check that we actually wanted to go to a service station!

So we meet the boys but wouldn’t make the 8pm ferry now so looked like it would be a midnight sailing for LFR. Customs did ask if we were a band as there were so many of us lol.

So home was in our sights, oh no, wait a minute, no headlights on the RV you say Mark 😱

So that was Steves job now until we got on the ferry – and still after the ferry as still not fixed – will we ever get home 😫

So I had Happy Birthday sung to me in France and again on the Ferry as it crossed midnight again on our way to England. Nice. Got to Dover & Steve still had the lights to fix – well at least it’s not raining – of course it was raining!!

He managed to fix them (cos he’s a flippin’ superstar 🌟) and off we finally went. Mark was seriously nodding off and I could hear Steve talking total b**locks to him to try to keep him awake (been there a few times lol) so I asked where we were and said we needed to stop to get some kip and that’s how I ended up waking up on my birthday in a bed with 4 other people 🎈 

We finally reached Marra HQ at half 9 on Wednesday morning, totally exhausted but at least we made it. 

Would I change anything – only that chuffin’ journey which we did have some laughs & fought back a few tears but girl power got us through!

LFR and extended crew of TCA, Meg & Rebecca – what a team, what a trip, what an adventure xxxx

A few funny things along the way:

Mr’s Bartlett, Marshall & Prentice spotted leaving a shopping outlet loaded up with bags of goodies and when questioned said ‘what happens at the track, stays at the track’

The bumhole sticker on the fag machine by the pit toilets

This Ausfahrt place must be massive as you can get to it from loads of exits

Steve serenading Meg & TCA on Monday morning to get them out of bed

The bar filling up at the petrol station

Us pretending to put ‘PUMP GAS’ in BB

The many times we all got in the wrong side of the bloody hire car (good job no one spotted us!)

The 90c p*ss tickets from the service station toilets

Taking the RV dashboard apart to fix the lights to find out it just lifts up

And much, much more 🏁😀🏁