Crashnet > Reports Index > PRI 1998 Index > Meeting 98/25

Meeting No. 25, Sunday, 2nd. August, 1998 Group A Hot Rods Supreme Championship Qualifying Round 3 PRI Hot Rods Diment Brothers Memorial Trophy PRI SuperBangers

PRI SuperBangers
The SuperBangers had three races as support for the Rods on August 2 at Arena Essex, and another heat and final performance, this time by Tony MacDonald. He won the first heat more by luck than judgement as runaway leader Dean Anderson suddenly found himself wedged on the first turn as he came up to lap Barry Wilsher who suddenly blew, dumped his sump and spun into the armco, taking Anderson with him. We had a little nostalgia break in the second heat as ex-Mag 7 driver Brian Orriss overpowered the field, leading home from Anderson while Jamie Dyckhoff ran out of time again as he would do in each race despite good attempts from the back of the field. The second race was somewhat marred however when Nick Langley hit first Gary Doyle, then the previously fenced Martin Monkhouse. The ensuing argument off track met with a load up for Monkhouse and Langley with more penalties to follow. Anderson had a good early race in the final, but was soon to succumb to MacDonald, a tap on turn four was all that was needed. As MacDonald pulled into the distance, the race was on for Dyckhoff who overhauled Anderson then managed to get inside Steve Macklin on the last lap to take second place.

PRI Hot Rods
Ricky Hunn took time off from his various racing ventures to try his hand at PRI Hot Rods in the August 2 Diment Brothers Memorial Meeting. The former Group A and National Hot Rod champion borrowed Roy Rawlins' car as Rawlins was away racing his Lightning Rod but found the car a little wayward, spinning on two races and hitting Paul Simmons hard in the other race. To say that this was an interesting return to Arena Essex for Hunn would probably not be far from the truth. Meanwhile the three races saw a heat and final double, one of many at this track this season, in this case from Simon Smith, who held Dave Fry off all the way to the line in the first heat then did the same to Rick Fray in the final, though Fray was trying right up to the line as Smith closed down the inside line. Defending Diment Brothers Memorial champion Dave Hitchen made up for an iffy start by getting to third place in the final. However, Smith managed to get these wins from near the front, a grid position that he had to give up in the helter-skelter. A close start was eventually won by Fray as he slipped inside Paul Harris and outside Andy Brown, then sprinted away to an easy victory, Simmons having a good scrap with Adam Scott until he blew out while Fry and Hitchen also had a battle going. Scott and Fry got the better places behind Fray by the end.

Group A Hot Rods
Round 3 of the Supreme Championship Qualifiers was the last for the Group A Hot Rods at Arena Essex on August 2 with a record fifty cars in the pits all trying to get the necessary points for the finals in September. Twenty-five took the track in the first heat; only twelve came home in a bruising run which included three disqualifications. It also included a career best performance by Nichola Bearman as she led the heat up to lap fifteen before eventual winner Gary Finch ran outside her and shot away, Dom Tomlinson catching her too late to mount a significant challenge for second place. Bearman may have won a race last season but the performance in this race far outstripped that victory, and the lap of honour taken by Finch and Bearman bore that out. The second heat was a lot cleaner however with only six non-finishers, Zac White getting the victory after an early tussle with Darren Sawyer while Glen Salmon tried hard to pass Richard Haines but ran out of time and had to settle for third. Some big names populated the consolation as a result of the first heat, including Michael Vitulli, Terry Skeef and Darren Read, the latter of whom won the stalled race after a determined drive on a difficult track, the oil on the first turn left by the Barry Wilsher SuperBanger making the outside line very dicey. It was the second turn however that caused the stoppage when Andy Clark spun sideways, collecting Paul Smith, Daren McLoud and Mike Thomas.

All seemed fine in the final up until a pile up on turn one took out ten or so cars, a problem with Dennis Howes bringing the red flags out. From then on the front place became jinxed as first Finch ran full pelt into the back straight armco, destroying his nearside front, then Tomlinson went for a dynamic outside pass on longtime leader Tim White, his first outing in a Group A, and finally got round after several attempts, only to be spun off by Haines who was promptly disqualified, leaving the lead with last place qualifier Terry Skeef. All seemed well until Glen Salmon came up behind Skeef and the two commenced battle for the lead. Into the midst of this came Wayne Shackleford who was a back marker at this point and, in their attempts to pass him, both Skeef and Salmon spun out after colliding, Salmon very lucky to avoid being hit as he spun across the home straight while Skeef spun into the safety area and recovered to take third behind Gary Christie and surprised race winner Kevin Down. Only nine cars made it home out of the twenty-eight qualifiers, very much in the same vein as the first heat. The helter-skelter was much as the consolation was, though this time the unlucky spinner was McLoud, while the unluckier hitters were Carl Steptoe, who took the brunt of the impact, with Trevor Dyer and Doug Constable following in. Tomlinson again seemed to have done sufficient work to take this race until he put the power down too early on turn four two laps from home and spun out, leaving the way clear for Haines to win his second helter-skelter in a row ahead of Steve Mills and Gary Rouse.

Results

Event                 1st  2nd  3rd  4th  5th  6th  7th  8th  9th  10th 11th 12th 
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1   Grand Parade
2   Group A 1          65  119    4   13  175   48   93   18  148   75
3   Group A 2         122   94    7   83   63   66   68  108  190  100
4   PRI HRods          10   20    3   21   05   51  119    8    6   77
5   S/Bangers 1        27   36  347   79   30  151   15   26  313   38
6   Group A Cons        2  168  123   22  121  120   89    3
7   PRI HRods FINAL    10   21    3  119   27   20   71    6
8   S/Bangers 2       313  151   36   30   72   26   89  347   38  391
9   Group A FINAL     108   83    3   93    7  120  148  190
10  PRI HRods h/s      21  119   20    3   10   05   27   71
11  Group A h/s        94   23   63   13   48   93   22  108
12  S/Bangers FINAL    27   36   72  151   30  313   52   38
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All results subject to confirmation by promotion.