Crashnet > Reports Index > PRI 1999 Index > Meeting 99/38

SuperBangers Essex Championship Group A Hot Rods PRI Hot Rods

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PRI Hot Rods
The PRI Hot Rods popped out for one last meeting before the seasons' end at Arena Essex on October 31 with Phil Mansell winning in the warm up by holding off Julian Scott, then Rick Fray picked up the final final of the year with a good late attempt by Paul Simmons putting him to second, then a five car cool down race saw Simmons get the last trophy of the year with Scott following.

Group A Hot Rods
October 31 was the final meeting for the Group A Hot Rods at Arena Essex this season with a number of folk trying out the formula while others were showing off their hardware for sale as they upgrade or shift formula for next year. Lee Ayton took the first trophy of the day as he took the lead after a run in part way with Dennis Howes, then burnt off the field, Richard Haines running out of time before being able to catch him. Mark Browne won the second heat, running outside Dave Devine on the last lap after dogging the ex-Ministox ace for a fair number of laps. Things got hairy in the consolation as Dave Imber and Barry Hughes got too close to lead car Darren Sawyer and all three went flying round on the pit bend, leaving Nichola Bearman to score another victory, holding Doug Constable off in the closing stages with Nick Hill also close at the end. Nichola, however, was not to finish the final, spinning on the same turn that gave her the chance in the consolation after Sonny Sherwood, out in the old Greenstreet car, got a little too close. Another first timer, Colin Steptoe, using Carl's machine, ended up with Ian Hefferman, yet another new face, in the barrier trying to avoid the spin while Keith Simmons ended up being collected by the unfortunate Bearman whose car, blocking turn four, caused the red flags to come out. Devine led the restart away and stayed there to the end, with Browne and Barry Miles picking up second and third after a heated contest with Wes Graves who held the pair off almost all the way home until Browne found the outside line coming out of turn two. That just left the helter-skelter which saw Lee Follett pick up another win after Reg Griffiths lost the lead late on to Matt Haines before Follett made his move late on, while Imber also stayed close at the end.

SuperBangers
The Essex Championship has a long history going back through the National and PRI Bangers, and was resurrected last year for the SuperBangers when it was won by Steve Jones. He was unable to defend the title this year, but turned up to return the distinctive trophy at Arena Essex on October 31, the last meeting of the regular season and the day of the 1999 running of the championship. The first start of this race was stopped only a few laps in when Graham Powell managed to wedge himself in the passenger window of Kevin Kings' car. This didn't stop the King SD1 V8, which trundled back to the start and quickly made it through the field, Nigel Hepburn not so quickly off the pole this time and Nigel Carroll proving an easy target for King as he took and held the lead. Hepburn managed to recover and shadowed King all the way while Dave Kingsmill managed to come through to third spot, just shutting out Riki Rawlins at the end. King also managed to clock up a new 25 lap record in the process on his way to the 1999 title. Chris Weston drove a souped up Mk.II Escort of all things to victory in the sprint heat ahead of Kingsmill and Tony Shelvey, while fifth place for Hepburn was enough to confirm him as the SuperBangers Driver's Champion for 1999. To show that it was not a fluke, Weston then repeated his trick in the Finale in a last quarter tussle with Mick Thompson which saw the lead change hands twice before the end.

1  Group A 1               43 Lee Ayton       /94/132/75/93/71/174/163
2  Group A 2               67 Mark Browne     /117/38/91/190/48/77/99
3  PRI Hot Rods wu        108 Phil Mansell    /77/51/21/20/8/44/103
4  SuperBangers Essex CH   89 Kevin King      /68/52/58/347/82/189/44/90/167
5  Group A Cons           119 Nichola Bearman /73/90/720/86/62/159/182
6  PRI Hot Rods Final      21 Rick Fray       /51/77/8/103/44 NOCR
7  SuperBangers Sprint    189 Chris Weston    /52/347/58/68/167/544/313
8  Group A Final          117 Dave Devine     /77/67/38/75/190/93/73
9  PRI Hot Rods hs         51 Paul Simmons    /77/21/103=8* NOCR
10 Group A hs              48 Lee Follett     /64/93/182/43/174/75/90
11 SuperBangers Finale    189 Chris Weston    /167/58/52/40/68/82/313

* Indicates a dead heat.