Crashnet > Reports Index > PRI 1999 Index > Meeting 99/36

Plastengrave Non-Ford Banger Finale Group A Hot Rods 1300 Stock Cars

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Group A Hot Rods
The penultimate meeting for the Group A Hot Rods at Arena Essex this year was in support of the Non-Ford Banger Finale on October 17, with Dave Devine notching up another victory in his late started career in te first heat, staying ahead of veteran Vince Vitulli who was put down to fourth after the race for contact, giving second spot to Jim Richards by a squeak from a faile last gasp effort from Gary Finch. The second heat proved even closer and certainly a thriller as Dave Lamb, Doug Constable and Finch pulled ahead of Devine, including three laps of sheer nailbiting action at the end. Lamb held the lead to the end while Finch took the inside line in a dash for the line that saw him pull down second from Constable. Lee Ayton easily pulled away for the third race win while the action piled up behind him, Andy Beverton losing out to Mark Cook in a scrap for second, Jim Richards just missing out on fourth from Adam Cheadle. With all the excitement of these races, the final would have to be something special, and the A's did not disappoint. Keith Simmons was the first casualty at the front, having started well to take the early lead only to spin by the Tavern having let Dennis Howes go inside him earlier. Vitulli and Richards came together on the back straight, Vitulli out of control hitting one of the concrete filled tyre markers onto the track while Howes spun out leaving the lead to Cheadle ahead of Ayton and Devine. With the outside line cluttered with debris from various crashes, Devine found the outside line difficult to handle but got a break when he managed to stick his nose inside Ayton who was forced to take the line before clipping the inside kerb, Devine took off. He held second and then tried to take the lead on the outside of Cheadle, then Cheadle tried to come back before both cars went sideways collecting Lee Follett in the side around turn two. The three untangled leaving Cheadle still in command before Devine tried again. Cheadle leaned hard to keep Devine wide around the pit bend which gave Follett his chance, nipping through inside the pair of them to take the lead before Carl Steptoe flicked the pair into the wall for which Steptoe was disqualified. The last stage was a frenzied attack by Lamb and Richard Haines on Follett which didn't come off as Follett managed to hang on to the lead all the way home, Lamb getting second from Haines.

1300 Stock Cars
With the World Final looming, the 1300 Stock Cars at Arena Essex had one meeting left to get into shape on October 17. Paul Haralambou stayed well ahead of the trouble in the warm up, dragging it out with Darren Plumb at the start then sticking a large gap that even Derry Monk in second couldn't close in time. Monk made up for it in the main event, easily closing and passing Haralambou while Andrew Palmer and John McGirr were scrapping it out behind them, the two crossing almost together with Palmer getting the edge for second from McGirr while Haralambou held off Ricky Wolf for fourth. Monk also won the final helter-skelter race of the year ahead of McGirr and Palmer, while David Perry crossed the line in sixth spot on three wheels as the entire front nearside leg flew off his car along the home straight running in toward the line!

National Bangers
The Plastengrave Non-Ford series has provided the best line ups of Bangers this year at Arena Essex. We approached the final meeting for them on October 17 with the points desperately close and, with points leader Howard Martin not present, only a miracle could see him take the overall prize for the year. Race one saw a win for Lee Witherington in a quickly finished race after Mark Woolner mishit Graham Lindfield then went full on into Alec Quarman while he was dismounting. Jason Randall's car was also cause for concern as it blazed up on the safety area by the pits. The second race went the way of Keith Perren who, having been spun on the last corner by Alan Greenfield, chose to cut time by slinging his car into reverse to finish the race, with Dale Atkins a more conventional second spot after he had taken care of Chris Clark. This race, which only saw five cars finish, included a spirited performance by Ray Sharrod who bounced back from a four point rollover to nail John Harris on the nose before Bob Bailie stuffed Sharrod out. Thirty-seven pulled onto the track for the consolation, with plenty of them being left on the pit bend by the end as Dean Kingsworth shook off Terry Peacock for a win from Luke Radley and Graham Hayward - both Haywards were down from Buxton for the day along with a cluster of RDC drivers. Stuart Ruff had crossed third but was docked for corner cutting.

The final started with a big t-bon for Andrew Parker from John O'Neill and went on from there, with Brian Hayward doing his bit around turn four, joined later by Graham while Perren banana'd Clive Killick after he missed Darren Witherington by the pit gate. Parker also pinned Hayward B. while Atkins got Perren on turn two before Perren was black flagged while Len Brinkley rolled the drove away while Atkins and Perren continued their scrap, both getting disqualified. The race belonged to Steve Witherington with brother Lee behind him and Stuart Ruff in third. Jason Jackson jetted home for the final Rawlins qualifier of the year, dodging John Harding toward the end. Harding had been spending his time taking on allcomers on the pit bend, jacking Alan Biggs and Alice Howes and joining in on the scrapping of Woolner after he took out John Harris on the pit bend. Harding got yet another last car award as he continued to wreck, Graham Hayward and Phil Rumsey doing each other in after one big head on while Harding took care of Howes, while the other contenders, Waz Barber and Luke Radley, saw black to end their race.

The overall Plastengrave points saw the title go to Lee Witherington who had taken the lead after the first heat, while Howard Martin managed to keep second from Mark Mahoney in third.

1  Group A 1 (A/B) 117 Dave Devine        /5/65/88/174/43/94/63
2  Bangers 1       284 Lee Witherington   /134/232/331/28/433/169/326/149/490/147/353
3  Bangers 2       402 Keith Perren       /98/275/54/160 NOCR
4  1300 Stx w/u    668 Paul Haralambou    /643/699/766/697/77/666/674
5  Group A 2 (A/C)  82 Dave Lamb          /65/73/117/88/174/12/110
6  Bangers Cons    467 Dean Kingsworth    /356/295/260/391/591/16/428/377/622/131/418/560
7  1300 Stx Final  643 Derry Monk         /674/748/668/666/750/799/766
8  Group A 3 (B/C)  43 Lee Ayton          /12/176/110/5/73/82/86
9  Bangers Final    28 Steve Witherington /284/260/331/232/467/169 NOCR
10 1300 Stx h/s    643 Derry Monk         /748/674/666/668/799/756/658
11 Group A Final    48 Lee Follett        /82/94/43/12/93/86/174
12 Bangers R2Kq    331 Jason Jackson      /546/356 LCR=160 John Harding