When two classes clash

MAYHEM IN MASTERTON WHEN two classes clash

With 34,000 followers on Facebook, the Wild Bunch now has one of the biggest social media followings of any drag racing class in New Zealand. Not bad, considering their rst race was less than three years ago. Thirty years ago, Chris Tynan and fellow members of the iconic class called Wild Bunch were an important part of the drag racing landscape, and left a lasting impression wherever they went. Amongst them was a young Ryan Sheldon who helped out wherever he could. Years passed but Ryan’s memories of the Wild Bunch never faded, and in 2018 he decided it was time to revive it. “A few of my mates had similar sorts of cars that are not necessarily competitive in the higher performance based classes. “We just wanted to get back to having fun, putting on a show, and go pretty fast along the way.” The rst meeting of the Wild Bunch, held in April 2019 in Auckland, was a tester with just eight cars. This season Ryan expects to see 20 or more cars. Ryan is careful not to over-expose the Wild Bunch and only holds three or four events in a season.

“We don’t want to saturate the market. We want people to look forward and want to be at each of those select events.”

Luckily for Masterton Motorplex, it is going to host The Wild Bunch twice this season – at Dragstalgia on January 2nd and 3rd and Mayhem at Masterton on February 12th and 13th.

The original Wild Bunch were based on average road cars that were “modi ed on steroids” with whatever their owners could nd, recalls Ryan. “Back in those days you made do with the parts you could nd locally. Thirty years ago it was impossible to get parts from the United States because it was too costly and too time consuming.” The Wild Bunch today is a specialist class with competitors having to meet certain criteria, the most obvious being that the cars need to have doors that open and close.

What everyone is looking forward to this season is Mayhem At Masterton which will see the Mount Shop Wild Bunch come up against the Panhead Outlaw 71’s.

Wild Bunch racers Michael Franklin versus Mark Gapp. Photos/Graham Meiklejohn

Summer’s here - Be Cool with a Daikin Air Con

CALL US FOR A QUOTE

PHONE 06 378 2288 MOBILE 0274 425 022

www.heatpumpswairarapa.co.nz

CARS & TRUCKS

• Servicing • Repairs • Wheel Alignments and more

“We are going to create a lot of match-ups beforehand,” says Ryan. “By then we will have stats on how the cars have been performing up until then so it shouldn’t be too hard to gauge who is close to whom.” This is going to create a bigger spectacle, closer racing and also some intense rivalries, Ryan predicts. “We’ve got a couple of rivalries going already. We all know each other already, but we don’t normally get the opportunity to race each other. “I’ve known people for 20 years in different classes who I have never raced before. “It’s going to be an enjoyable, fun couple of days. It won’t be as hard out as normal with the Wild Bunch.” There has been nothing to stop Wild Bunch cars to race in the Outlaw 71 class up until now, Ryan points out. “Most of our cars have super chargers so we can compete in their class but not vice versa. You have to have swinging doors to compete in the Wild Bunch.” One of the reasons Ryan thinks the Wild Bunch is attracting more competitors is because the cars are more affordable to race. “You don’t need to have as big a cheque book.” For the public the cars are relatable to cars they have may have seen on the streets. “The look is important and the crowd can identify with them. They look like the sort of cars their parents might have driven!”

Ryan takes charge.

Waterjet

OMAX MAXIEM 0707

Dimensionz Manufacturing

• Maximum cut size of 700mm x 1100mm • Cuts virtually any material • Accurate to 0.1mm • Zero thermal distortion to intricate parts • No heat a ected zones • Low material wastage • Little to no clean-up of parts • Environmentally friendly • In house design service available