Crashnet > Reports Index > PRI 1999 Index > Meeting 99/19

Pedal Bangers PRI Banger Team Championship Round 3 PRI Hot Rods Ministox

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Pedal Bangers
The first round of Pedal Bangers this year was won by Dale Russell, Tom Skeef (who was also successful last year) and Dominic Porter (eight year old son of announcer Rob). Another round is scheduled as part of the August Bank Holiday meeting on August 30 (contact the PRI Office or go to the Race Video shop on race days for application forms).

PRI Hot Rods
The PRI Hot Rods got the wet end of the meeting on June 27, which meant that few tried anything spectacular and things went well for Roy Rawlins who picked up a heat and final double, both times ahead of current dominant force Dave Fry. The helter-skelter was the only race where the track was dry enough for real action, Fry pressing hard to get past eventual second place Paul Simmons and would have but for some skillful driving and the occasional wet patch which still caused the unwary problems. The race was taken by Andy Brown who had spent most of the early meeting coughing and spluttering in the wet.

Ministox
Whatever might be attracting Ministox to Arena Essex, it isn't affected by weather as another good turnout showed up for the June 27 meeting. Glen Witherall held off Darren Cardy for a close heat win, then Cardy came back in the second race which saw a few bumpers go in and a few black flags go out, while second place Sanderson coasted to victory in the final while second place was being contested by Mark Wilson and Neal Gardiner which sorted itself as Wilson overcooked the pit bend close to home.

PRI Banger Teams
With the top of the table pretty much sorted, the PRI Banger Teams gathered on June 27 to sort out the bottom of the table. Naturally the Suicide Squad and the Rabbits were in attendance and gave a good show during the heats though neither scored anything in the process. The Squad weren't too bothered since their first two rounds were enough to get them into the eliminator while the Rabbits were there for their own purposes. The first race and the highest point hit came the way of the Midnight Runners and Nick Marsh who won a spread out first heat; the Runners were eighth going into the round and most vulnerable in the scrabble for the last Eliminator places, and this was a welcome boost for them, though the Wrekin Krew picked up seven points courtesy of Ian Smith, an ominous sign for later in the meeting. The second heat saw a little retribution as ex-Rabbit and current Squad member Buster Woods got a spanking from Tony Wade, Rabbit and ex-Condom, and Mark Woolner of the Black & Whites after t-boning Wade on the safety area following a legitimate t-bone on Wade by Frankie Holmes, now Suicide rather than Spotty, while Stuart Wilson rodded to eight points for the Elite from Bob Sterling, Dunno. The Wrekin Krew picked up four from Kev Hirse with nothing for the Runners, the race beginning to heat up. If you really want extreme racing, however, you should look to the third heat which was won by Cream Team regular John Harding who rolled Jason Jackson to take the lead on the Aveley bend. For hitting and resilience, you needed to look no further than Dave Lightbody who furthered the Rabbit cause by pinning Kev Wilsher and Chris Whiteman, two of the biggest names in the Squad and well known for big hits themselves. Lone Cockney Pride racer Mark Ruskin decided to join in, but his contribution was merely mopping up. In the points, the four points from Danny Oliver to the one point for Dan Reid meant that the Wreckin Krew were still closing in on eighth spot overall but had not quite made it yet.

Things would get even stickier for the Runners as Steve Ward notched up a win in the abruptly ended consolation when Chris Whiteman got into a spot of trouble during the big hitting contest which saw his teammates Brian McGuiness and Den Whiteman, as well as Rabbits Dave Ricketts and Kevin Prayle and Cockney Pride Mark Ruskin all loaded for a few too many trips to the safety area. With one point in it, the Wrekin Krew went all out in the final to try to secure a spot in the Eliminator and initially looked as though they would do it with points to spare as Steve Ward, Ian Smith and Danny Oliver assumed position in the first three places. However the other teams were hardly likely to let the Krew get away with forty-two points in a single race, Tony McDonald of the Creams making this clear by picking off Oliver on the pits, then Ward hit loose metal by the Tavern to leave Smith to try to get the two points needed to pass the Runners. Paul Stern, Ant Hill Mobster and former team finalist, decided to take on the remaining Krew by stopping both Smith and Ward before he found himself fighting off the attentions of Paul Salmonis who was living up to the Menace name. Buzz Kelsey, racing for Dunno, got himself a loading for a monster turned hit on the home straight, head on into Lee Witherington of the Cowboys, while Mark Want managed to augment the Dunno haul by finishing seventh in reverse. However the Creams took the biggest haul and the round overall, with the rest going to the Nads and the Cowboys, hence the Wrekin Krew missing out on the Eliminator by one point.

Overall, the teams going through are; Suicide Squad, Cream Team, Team Dunno, Ant Hill Mob, The Elite, Canvey Cowboys, The Nads and the Midnight Runners.

The Rawlins 2000 at the end, run as a solo event as usual, saw a win for Dave Lightbody ahead of Sid Smith, though John Harris survived a last minute jacking by Lightbody to take the last car award.

Results

1  Pedal Bangers - See main report
2  Banger Team 1     110 Nick Marsh     /336/243/43/104/280/597/429/206/477
3  Banger Team 2       7 Stuart Wilson  /41/510/59/417/301/42/326/101/434
4  Ministox 1        558 Glen Witherall /518/599/64/68/505/129/9/5/87
5  Hot Rods wu         5 Roy Rawlins    /20/103/18/51/21/71/9
6  Banger Team 3     160 John Harding   /300/268/116/423/385/467/284/263/61
7  Ministox 2        518 Darren Cardy   /360/599/9/129/90/16/75/87/64
8  Hot Rods Final      5 Roy Rawlins    /20/51/18/71/21/9 NOCR
9  Banger Team Cons  560 Steve Ward     /266/287/27/418/288/407/457/37/515
10 Ministox Final    360 ..? Sanderson  /88/75/20/16/41/64/87/527/90
11 Banger Team Final 429 Andy Burrough  /510/37/27/104/160/116/42
12 Hot Rods Sprint    71 Andy Brown     /51/20/9/21/103/18/5
13 Bangers R2000q    427 Dave Lightbody /510 NOCR LCR=418 John Harris

Final points

Team name        | So far | H1 | H2 | H3 | Cons | Final | Total
-----------------+--------|----|----|----|------|-------|---------------
Suicide Squad    | 132    |    |    |    |      |      0| 132
Cream Team       |  50    |  1 |  5 |  8 |  5   | 32  51| 101
Team Dunno       |  46    |  1 |  9 |  5 |  1   | 18  34|  80
Ant Hill Mob     |  37    |  6 |  3 | 13 |  6   |     28|  65
The Nads         |  27    |    |  6 |  1 |  1   | 14  22|  49
Cowboys          |  27    |  7 |  1 |  4 |      |  8  20|  47
The Elite        |  28    |  5 |  8 |    |      |     13|  41
Midnight Runners |  18    |  8 |    |  1 |      |      9|  27
-----------------|--------|----|----|----|------|-------|---------------
Wrekin Krew      |   5    |  7 |  4 |  4 |  6   |     21|  26
Gladiators       |  16    |    |  1 |  2 |      |      3|  19
The Menace       |   8    |  1 |    |    |  1   |      2|  10
Black & Whites   |   8    |    |  1 |    |      |      1|   9
Outlaws          |   7    |    |    |    |  1   |      1|   8
Courage Boys     |   6    |    |    |    |      |      0|   6
Outcasts         |   0    |  2 |    |    |  4   |      6|   6
Convicts         |   3    |    |    |    |      |      0|   3
Cockney Pride    |   0    |    |    |    |      |      0|   0
Rabbits          |   0    |    |    |    |      |      0|   0

Points correct according to race result, checked against totals taken trackside by Rob Porter and Chris Johnson, subject to confirmation by promotion.