Arena Essex Raceway, Meeting 11/01, Sunday, March 13, 2011
Unlimited Bangers Shakedown VI
SuperBangers
1300cc Stock Cars

Bangers
Rain hit hard at the Shakedown meeting at Arena Essex though the Bangers had one race with a dry track, the circuit getting a soaking as the first race ended with James Avison winning flag to flag. The race had some contact but nothing too remarkable compared with the latter races where so much depended on whether a car could get any traction in the turns. This was certainly a problem in the second heat which was comfortably won by Allan Trickett in his Firecracker Gold Jaguar, a quarter lap ahead of Danny Brown. Only seven cars were left at the end as most of the rest either took out their frustrations on each other or simply ended up in the walls - it was difficult at times to tell which! Even Trickett didn't finish unchallenged as Darryl Theedon tried to spin him on more than one turn, some of the crashes, including one that saw Sean Harvey up the diff of Andy Swift on turn one or the attack of Kevin Lee on Robert Bestwick at the other end, were pretty good to watch, whatever the cause! With thirty-two survivors struggling onto the soaked circuit, it was no surprise that most of the field ended up in pieces around the circuit, especially the neatly folded car of Chris Trickett which was started off by John Small and finished by a number of the Gladiator team which brought Allan into the fray as he took on Phil Smith and Mark Munson around the pit bend, also Craig Oliver who was the one one at the end actually doing the laps needed to claim this year's title. Simon Smith claimed the first Destruction Derby win of the season while Oliver doubled his haul for the day as the last car running in an event stopped and restarted after Luke Radley's wreck went up in flames.

SuperBangers
The meeting for the SuperBanger formula at Arena Essex on Shakedown day was all about how Roger Trickett and new boy to the formula Wayne Bryne dominated the results and how so many drivers had to fight to keep in line as the rain decimated the formula. Trickett won the first heat ahead of Bryne though he was warned by the steward for starting out of position - the result was left as it was as Trickett won by such a large margin. Bryne took the second heat as Trickett, now in position, wasn't able to catch up in time despite Bryne losing the last corner and snaking in for victory. It was, however, a sign of the good sportsmanship encouraged at ovals that Trickett invited Bryne aboard the pace car for the victory lap as Trickett took the meeting final, Lee West taking third spot in his best finish of the day.

1300cc Stock Cars
The March 13 meeting was less of a race day and more of a day of aquaplaning as the rain soaked the tarmac. Lee Madden, a relative newcomer to this formula after his career in bangers, made the most of the situation by winning the first heat, most drivers losing grip and direction as the rain fell, especially Alec Hannay who adopted a novel method of getting around the bends though whether his sideways approach was appreciated by other drivers is another matter! Another recent addition to the stock car roster, Nathan Roberts, took the second heat though the action was certainly behind him, Paddy Palmer just nipping second past the battle between Nick Langley and Karl Douglas which had been raging for some time, a battle that briefly saw the involvement of Jack Wheelwright until he was shoved into the fence and out of the race. Wheelwright made up for his gaffe in the heat in an easy victory in the meeting final ahead of Douglas, the scrap for third being finally won by Madden as he craftily swiped Danny Rosenthal outside coming around the final bend, the pair having swapped places many times on their way to the line.

Results

	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th
Bangers Heat 1	20 James Avison	247	542	309	741	402	130	442	236	557
SuperBangers Heat 1	145 Roger Trickett	161	509	126	6	77	211	221	210
1300cc Stock Cars Heat 1	671 Lee Madden	756	77	616	717	775	772	677	752	374
Bangers Heat 2	146 Allan Trickett	507	549	61	268	115	941
SuperBangers Heat 2	161 Wayne Bryne	145	126	509	6	77	211	221	210
1300cc Stock Cars Heat 2	756 Nathan Roberts	374	669	752	671	79	717	772	635	677
Bangers Shakedown VI	542 Craig Oliver	549	146	432
SuperBangers Final	145 Roger Trickett	161	6	77	126	211	210	509
1300cc Stock Cars Final	616 Jack Wheelwright	752	671	677	717	635	772
Bangers Destruction Derby	589 Simon Smith	532

Last car: 542 Craig Oliver

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