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 😊