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The 2001 Festival of Speed - Qualifying Night

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As usual, the month of June at Arena Essex saw the weekend Festival of Speed, this year featuring Reliant racing for the first time at this circuit, along with action from the Group A, Outlaw and Lightning Rods, the 1300 Stock Cars and the PRI SuperBangers. The start, however, was delayed due to scrutineering delays, mostly due to heavy numbers of competitors in the Group A and Lightning Rod formulas. However the weather held off over both days, providing some fast action over the weekend topped off by the antics of the plastic pigs on the Sunday.

Group A Hot Rods have taken pride of place in many recent Festivals, with numbers still good despite some of the star drivers moving on to other things. It was the A's that started the meeting, although the scrutineering delays were compounded by non-starters, including Chris Whiteman in the Gary Finch special who took some time to push off. Darren Read took up the running after the usual front end squabble in the first heat, then pulled away from the field to provide himself with a barrier which, as it turned out, he would need with Robbie Wolf and Gary Rouse moving through the pack while recent returnee Gary Barlow finished this race mounted on the infield rubbish after what looked like a possible contact. Wolf put a tough drive in but was unable to catch Read, Rouse making a last attempt in the closing stages which would give him third whilst many of the other contenders blew up, crash out or just didn't finish. Race two, and a real memory as Simon Simmons returned in his Maryland Mini - actually a new one since his last was totally destroyed in a pile up here some time ago, but a welcome return, especially since the departure of Charlie Benjamin who drove the last regular Mini, although Paul King does still occasionally bring his Mini for a burn up or three. Together with the Bobby Pooley Escort, this race seemed somewhat of a throwback, with only the Reeve Anglia and the Demetriou Moggy missing! Simmons didn't do too badly either, although it did seem that he struggled on occasion in the rarified atmosphere of the front runners. However he just held Darren Clement off for fourth and bothered Peter Read over third for a while, though pride of place had to go to Steve Gooch who inherited the lead when the car in front was black flagged for contact. Lee Follett took second despite a cross for a lesser contact. The A's had to wait somewhat for their other two heats but, when they returned, Gooch and Pete Read did it all over again! A number of cars limped out before the race ended, Nick Hill being one of them, while Leon Burgess earned a black flag for a stupid manoevre that intefered with more than one car, his antics earning him an early exit from the meeting along with Clinton Groom. Indeed this race had a lot of contact in it, including Lee Ayton who had a promising drive killed by a trip to the wall close to home. This left Gooch and Read ahead with Clement in third. Kev Foster held an early front in the last heat of the night but not for long as Doug Constable took up the lead for a fair way before spinning himself on the pit bend, Dom Tomlinson taking over the lead. Rouse evaded first Matt Leadbetter and Mick Collins, then took Nichola Bearman with no little effort for second spot, the win going to Robbie Wolf, although he received taking attempts from both Rouse and Bearman as he ran home. However, with two wins on the night, Steve Gooch would start the final on Sunday on pole position.

The Lightning Rods have improved well this year at Arena Essex and appeared for the Festival of Speed mere weeks away from the World Final, also to be held on the Purfleet oval. Like the A's, the Sierras also received a four group setup, and race one would set the tone for the whole days' racing for them. Race one was delayed while the Barlow Group A was dismounted and pulled into the pits, then it was business as usual as Martin Jones led the group away in the first heat, though Mark Davison made good progress, eventually inheriting the lead from Nathan Bone who was unable to keep the line on the corners. Davison would pull out a good lead while the folk behind him scrapped hard for points, John Wicks in second though the fight would be behind third place Tony Bates as Riki Rawlins, Lee Morrow, Vic Bilkey and Dave Meningen battled away down to the line. That was how they finished, but the race was close. The second heat would also be close, though Roger Dormer would lose the lead in the closing stages, his attempt to keep eventual leader Nick Wiseman behind him eventually failing as first he was baulked when a car returning from the safety area pulled in front of him, then he was spun out of second in an incident that also included the eventual second place man, Carl Wheeler. Although there was no foul play judged, Dormer would not score from this heat which, considering his brave drive up to the penultimate lap, was a shame. Rob Deville was back in his spinning ways in the third heat, Vic Bilkey also seeming to have spinning problems which eventually led to a waved yellow when he stalled following a spin on turn two. Chris Chao took the lead shortly after the restart while more crashes occurred around the circuit, Chao taking half a lap off the second place car, Lee Morrow who was held up for quite a way by Deville who would eventually be black flagged, but not before Chao had become impossible to catch, especially as Morrow and eventual second place Colin Murray, John Crowther and Brian Orriss all ended up in a four way battle for points which slowed them all up and provided a close finish. Mark MacKenzie had also been in the pack but ended up with a two spot demotion for jumping the restart after the Bilkey stall. The spotlights were on by the time the last heat started, Dormer grabbing the lead early, but the John Clarke USA Special took the brunt of a pile up on turn two, a number of cars limping on with bumps and bruises to show. Carl Wheeler and Rick Pannell met up beak to beak as the comedy of errors continued, Martyn Jones destroying himself also. Paul Harris, however, had a promising drive, grabbing fourth from the back while Dormer easily won over Brian Thomas and John Christie, with no real hints about who might be the victorious driver in the final.

It has been one year now since the Outlaw Hot Rods were launched upon the Festival 2000 crowd, and the formula continues to amaze the onlookers as it gains an element of interest here that maybe surpasses that of the Nationals when they were at Arena Essex. They had two outings on the Saturday, and the overall dominance of Dave Fry would start to show from the first race. With twenty cars to deal with this year, the first race proved fascinating watching, with ex-Lightning Rod driver Chris Rabbitt grabbing the early lead until a pile up on the Raceway turn which included Simon Smith, who was also the subject of a big crash at his last visit to Arena Essex. The race was restarted on a rolling lap, Neil Reeve now leading, Salvo Falcone in third trying to go outside to grab the front place but failing before Fry reeled the first three in and passed them. Reeve would keep second place from Fred Smith and Falcone. With a false start, duly rectified, the second heat was led away by Russell Williams in the "Life of Bryan" special, though he dropped back quickly before taking the fence. Rick Fray and Gary Andrews came a cropper on turn one for which Reeve got a black flag, the race having to be restarted again. Philip Mansell led the order away, though he would not make it home - only nine cars did! The main race on the restart was Fry and Mark Lisowski, Pete Winstone also joining in as the battle engulfed him. Winstone ended up letting Fry through as Fry could keep a tighter corner, then as Fry took Mansell, Mansell misjudged his braking and slammed into the fence! Fry took his second win and the Festival final pole, Mansell took his car off for repairs.

I have sometimes been accused of being less than impressed by the 1300 Stock Cars, but this meeting was worth watching as a good number turned out, the usual front runners getting some attention from the rest including Derry Monk who was spun out on more than one occasion, though Darren Cardy who show that the big names also had a front bumper, doing a number on the Paul Haralambou Astra. John McGirr took advantage of the mess and jetted through, putting his foot down hard to keep his tail clear of Steve Davies who seemed in fighting mood back in second place, George Boult also seemingly hungry for contact in third, while early spinner Andy Brown pulled out a great effort to get back up to fifth. Monk took over Andrew Palmers' car after his own was bashed to oblivion, Palmer retiring from the meeting for personal reasons, but it did him no good as he again received treatment in the second heat. Carl Steptoe and Sean Smith grabbed first and second place before the race was stopped as Paul Young had to be fished from what remained of his car that had collapsed on the track. Ricky Wolf would restart in third but would be taken by Boult before the end as the veteran took on everything. McGirr tried his best for a second result but hs car was unequal to it, having received no little bashing, and though it finished, it was out of the frame.

The SuperBangers have often supplied the crowning touch to the Festival, many crash fans tending to leave the Saturday night meeting alone due to the lack of full contact but those of us that turn up sometimes get to see these limited contact beasties as Bangers like they used to be. Looking at some of the names behind the cars, that isn't too far wrong! The SB's would do two races on the Saturday night, and the biggest upset was that current form driver Jamie Dyckhoff won neither of them, but he did come second in both, a useful thing given the winners. Graham Heard would grab the lead reasonably early while Dyckhoff roared up from behind to deny second place to Nigel Hepburn but ran out of road before he could get to Heard. Dyckhoff would again be denied in the last race of the night, this time by old adversary Colin Everett, a pile up helping to promote the Rabbit regular who then drove impressively to shut Dyckhoff out all the way home.

That was it for that night, the all-nighters retiring to the Raceway Tavern to compete in the karaoke to see the colour of new scrutineer Dennis Whitemans' money, while the rest went home to repair for the next days' finals.

See Meeting 20 report for finals day

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