Crashnet > Reports Index > PRI 1998 Index > Meeting 98/12

Meeting No. 12, Sunday, 17th. May, 1998 Plastengrave Bangers incl. Ladies Essex Jaguars Banger Qualifier 1300 Stock Cars Ministox

Ministox
It seemed as if the May 17 Ministox meeting at Arena Essex would be a continuation of the last time that they met as Ben Bland won the first heat well ahead of fellow RDC driver Simon Welton in a race which was stalled midway after James Avison rolled a double on the first corner. Tom Meekings managed to hold of Dave Devine and Joe Bullen in a close third place scrap. However it was not to be for Bland as he picked up contact disqualifications in promising positions in both the second heat and the final in this well attended meeting. It was a spin of Meekings in the second heat that started Bland's run of fortune, the race going to Bullen from Paul Sparke from Incarace and former PRI points champion Dave Devine, who managed to undercut "Tubbs" Butler in the final stages to nick third. The final saw a flurry of contact warnings being issued at the start as the heat affected a few in a hard start reminiscent of the racing last year when contact was still legal. The early race was dominated by Bullen and Danny Cassar, though Cassar dropped back as the race went on, Welton and Bland coming through before a three way scrap saw Bland putting the bumper in again, another black flag and penalties to follow, one of two to be pulled in the final for contact, the other being Lee Smith who, after ignoring the disqualification for several laps, also incurred the wrath of the steward. The upshot of that was that Welton managed to evade the scrap to take and hold the lead to the end, pulling away from second place Bullen while Louis Whiteman managed the best drive of the season so far for him as he successfully took and held out Devine for third.

1300 Stock Cars
Derry Monk. That was all that could be said about the May 17 1300 Stock Car meet at Arena Essex. With no Steve Cassar to play with, and only dropping the warm up heat, Monk dominated the racing with the rest of the field well down and out. The first heat was stopped quickly at the end when erstwhile driver and Arena marshall Jon Bendle got himself stuck across the exit to turn four, to be hit several times before the racing stopped and he could safely get out and examine the damage. The early stages formed a theme that would be played out through the meeting, the early lead being taken by Grieg Cheeseman and Glenn Bragg before the higher grades came through, in this case Steve Hall who dumped Cheeseman into the wreckage to take over at the front. Hall won from a good drive by Mark Thompson, Cheeseman recovering to third this time while Monk languished in fifth. Monk would not be beaten from that moment, taking the lead from Bragg and Nick Edwards well before halfway in the main event, distantly followed by Chris Whiteman and Derek Mortimer while Bragg ended up in a three way pile up with Hall and Rob Porter, Porter being another driver with serious doubts about his cars' future following some blistering hits. To make sure that the point had been made, Monk repeated the feat in the helter-skelter race with identical results; Monk, Whiteman and Mortimer, though Hall and Bragg had a better time of this race, finishing fourth and fifth ahead of a fast improving ex-Ministox Lizzie Crowden.

Plastengrave Bangers
Another Plastengrave Banger meeting, another set of very wrecked cars as the small Bangers met at Arena Essex on May 17, literally in many cases. The Essex Jaguars race for the ladies saw many of the top names go out early on including Trina Wade who shot through in a promising move from the back only to spin on the first turn then t-boned by someone identifying herself only as Victoria, and an early good start by Carol Turner coming to nothing as she spun on the back straight. Paula Sewell managed to take the race when the leader was taken out courtesy of Vicki Brocketts.

The male variety of Banger driver is wont to hit hard on occasion. It was just a matter of the occasion presenting itself, and there were plenty of them in the first heat, though the attempt by Terry Watkinson to chase Dave Llewellyn across the grass was one attempt that the steward wasn't impressed with, both getting flagged off. "Boxer Jack" Jason Jackson celebrated his first career win in style with a hit of his own, pursuing sixth place Clive Killick and jacking him hard enough into the abandoned Meg Grant car to end up jammed underneath! Needless to say that Jerry Foulkes and John Harris who finished second and third had seen it all before and were a little more decorous in crossing the line. With only ten finishers and plenty in the pits, the second heat took no less than fourteen finishers through, led up by Paul Harden from Shane Davies and Stuart Allen and if the race was that little bit more sedate, it did finish with a rollover for Tony Cooper. However the attempts by the promotion to get the numbers up in the final came a little unstuck in the consolation as pile ups galore eliminated many of the cars before Llewellyn spun on turn four, and everyone hit him! Once fished from the wreckage, the race was cut to a five lap dash which was finished by only eight cars headed up by Phillip Morrison ahead of a hard chasing Jock Parker with the Deacon boys, Garry and Mark, following that.

The final was no less hotly contested as Buxton regular visitor Brian Heywood put about him with a will to be joined by Dave Greenstreet who had made it in as fourteenth qualifier in the second heat. After taking a hit from Mark Newman, Greenstreet returned it with a will, writing his car off, though his earlier t-bone and full straight jacking for Shane Davies got him a load up. John Harris also renewed his right to the hitman title with a jacking for Allen before helping Chris Whiteman to push Phil Hudson across the line. thus giving Balders seventh and Harris himself eighth. Hudson had been going well up the field until dispatched into the wreckage on the home straight by Whiteman within sight of the line, Hudson's car dead to all intents and purposes. Whiteman got second for his effort behind Jerry Foulkes and ahead of Brian McGuiness. The Rawlins 2000 qualifier was stopped close to the start as Rich Harding rolled on his side on turn three in traffic as the green flag went down. The restart seemed to be a signal to the various Ant Hill Mob and Vange Destroyers to resume their scuffle from the last team championship heat, the teams blitzing each other into submission including a head on for Glen Seago by Steve Shaw before George Rowbotham blitzed Shaw from behind. Heywood and Harris also hit until death, while Foulkes ran away to another victory, ahead of Harden and Buzz Kelsey before the destruction started. Foulkes and Harden wiped each other out, with help from Kelsey and a slow moving Jason Mills, leaving only Sean Collin, who had given Tommy McGurk a massive nutting and had been moving at nearly a whole mile per hour around turn four trying to hit something to collect the last car running award.

Results

Event                 1st  2nd  3rd  4th  5th  6th  7th  8th  9th  10th 11th 12th 
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1   Grand Parade
2   Ladies Bangers    311  339  161  568  280  250  296  288  350  266  277  104
3   Bangers 1         331   11  418   37  130  149   43  356  237   14  NOCR
4   1300 Stx wu       797  622  612  697  643  655  714  777  633   84
5   Bangers 2         311  158  558  401   55  159  104   13  250   48   73  206 519 59
6   Ministox 1        M25   M6   34   17   90   41   62   64   22   88
7   1300 Stx Final    643  655  697  777  797  622   84  658  788  612
8   Bangers Cons      398  464  101  102   25  288  350  160  NOCR
9   Ministox 2         90    9   17   64   41   24   62   25   58   49
10  Banger Final       11   55   14  101  250  311   37  418 
11  1300 Stx hs       643  655  697  797  714   84  658  788
12  Ministox Final      6   90    5   17   62   49  120    9   56   24
13  R2000              11  311  206  LCR=257
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Abbreviations: M(specified with Ministox) - RDC license
               R2000 - Rawlins 2000 Qualifier for Bangers
               Stx - Stock Cars / LCR - Last Car Running / NOCR - No Other Cars Running
All results subject to confirmation by promotion.