Arena Essex Raceway - Meeting 03/01 Sunday, March 9, 2003 Crashnet > Reports Index > PRI 2003 Index > Meeting 03/01

Plastengrave "Non-Ford" Bangers 1300 Stock Cars

Kev Harland shows off his moggy...

Plastengrave Bangers Round 1 Arena Essex reopened for its 2003 season on March 9 with its usual Plastengrave Non-Ford Banger meeting, with a few surprises in store as well as some classic material including Kev Harland's Moggy and a Minx from Tommy McGurk, both of which would suffer during the meeting; the Morris would roll during the day and the old Hillman was destined to become involved in one of the many wrecking events as the animosities of the previous year, seemingly forgotten during the closed season, suddenly erupted again.

The first race was typical of this as the various Midnight Runners had to contend with crunches from the Creams, the Silent Heroes and a new team which was identified as a Silent Hero second team. However this did allow for some of the other teams and solo drivers to go at it, and Ian Smith put in a win as a result ahead of Del Waterman after a fair old battle for the front.

The second race was probably heavier than the first, especially judging by the number of finishers. Simon Smith had a good chance of winning this one, but was spun out close to the end by Clive Killick having lapped the field up to third place, which gave the lead and eventual win to Daren Jacobs, while the errant Killick was taken out by the eventual runner-up, Joe Warner. The battle for team supremacy had continued while this was going on, and pile ups at both ends claimed many, though sprints down the home straight the wrong way by John Harding and Paul Whiteman meant both having to sit the rest of the meeting out by order of the steward, and these would not be the last penalties to be handed out on the day.

Heat three saw two rollovers; the first happened during a big pile up on turn four when visiting driver Danny Chapman helped Simon Warner over coming through turn four which was already jammed up with the debris of continued war, especially after Jason Jackson took on Trevor Wright only to be t-boned by Tommy McGurk. The other roll was a two pointer by the Harland Moggy on the back straight. The race eventually went to Stephen Hale after a processional end following the big hits earlier in the race.

We saw more war in the consolation, plus a debut senior run for Daryl Bennett who last saw action behind the wheel of a mini. This was certainly a bad choice of event for a debut as the hits rained in, Bennett taking a rear shot that saw the black Vauxhall disabled, though this was nowhere near the worst shot of the race. With plenty of Runners and assorted Creams on the circuit, it was inevitable that all heck would break loose, though Paul Dolman, racing for the Heroes, and legit Creamster Wright ended up feeling the wrath of the steward; Dolman did more damage to his own car as he attempted a hit over the highest part of the pit bend safety area, while Wright would probably have escaped a penalty had he obeyed the red flag following the end of the race. In fact the race received two reds; the first happening when Greig Cheeseman was boned hard on the pit bend by Matt Fuller. Ratty emerged unhurt from the diminished wreck, while Fuller restarted and was well wrecked for his effort. The event was eventually won by Simon Smith, making up for his earlier mishap, while East Anglian visitor and veteran caravan jumper Emerson Fairweather grabbed second ahead of former track champion and multi-promotion racer Sonny Sherwood.

By the time we got to the final, the main antagonists had effectively wiped each other out of the running, but this did not stop the racing and wrecking action, though again there was a need to stop the racing when Kelly Wilson met the fence by the pit gate, though as with the earlier stoppages there was no physical harm sustained. There was also a couple of shunts on turn two, but the race got under way again with no injuries to worry about, though there was a waved yellow shortly after the restart following another rollover, this time by Clive Killick, and not the last one to roll either. Andy Reynolds had to pull out late in the race in a cloud of steam, relinquishing the lead, while Sonny Sherwood moved up the places, eventually taking the race with Kevin Elmore following at a distance.

There was an air of anticipation as the cars took the track for the first Rawlins 2000 qualifier of the year, and they were not dissappointed, especially when a whole posse of Runners came on in various states of repair, ready for one last go at the combined Cream and pseudo-Cream forces including some good exchanges between Boxer Jack and returning Dinosaur Stu Cummings. This round went to the Runners, however, with a couple of blue cars still running by the end, though Reynolds won the race having repaired his steaming hulk, with Chapman and Tony Abrehart following. The destruction soon became a three way match up between Reynolds, Chris Trickett and eventual last car winner, Ricky Korpiela who took the place as Reynolds and Trickett knocked each other out with a hefty head on.

1300 Stock Cars The 1300 Stock Cars at the March 9 Arena Essex meeting showed some promise, both in numbers and in action. In a three race line up, new boy Colin Thorndyke managed easy wins in warm-up and final, though he needed to really push hard following an early spin out in the last race of the day to pull back to eighth spot, Derek Mortimer doing the honours in the win in that race, though the car that needed to be watched on the day turned out to be Trevor Bibby who managed third spot in the warm up before getting slung to the back in the final, then putting his Corsa about mightily in the last race, a Festival of Speed Qualifier, giving more than one passing driver something to remember him by!

It seemed that the day was destined to provide plenty of rollovers, and the 1300 Stocks provided one of their own when Glenn Bragg rolled on the home straight in the first race, while Paddy Palmer gave a few out including a mighty spin from Darren Pratt shortly after the race was restarted. Meanwhile Thorndyke had early leader Steven Fish by the tail and shortly after passed him, Fish falling back to following pack which also included Spike Ellis, Clark Wells and Delbert Mortimer. With the race running down to its conclusion, this following pack had a coming together that saw many of the fancied drivers drop right back, allowing Alec Mortimer to grab second with Bibby in third.

The main event saw an early spin for Alec Mortimer and Michael Riley, with more to come as the race progressed, including another for Pratt by Palmer, seemingly a pattern forming there. Bibby was passed by Thorndyke on his way to the front, Bibby not having such an easy time of it, not unusually so considering that the previous banger race had bequeathed a line of oil all the way around the circuit which saw more than one car slide out on the corners. Thorndyke then passed Fish to take the lead, Bibby disposing of Fish after failing to remove Thorndyke. It was then down to Delbert to clear some of the front runners away; Bibby, Palmer, Wells and Neil Chapman all falling foul though Chapman did eventually recover to second place, while Wells dropped Bibby back a few places shortly after. Palmer would have taken second had it not been for another attack on Pratt; Palmer sent Pratt out to the fence, then as Paddy spun out, Pratt collected Delbert, allowing Chapman through to second while Delbert recovered quickly to secure third spot.

Trevor Manning must have been cursing his car by the time he emerged for the final race of the day, having taken the circuit for every race only to pull off and watch from the centre each time! Thorndyke had plenty to curse about too, finding the progress somewhat trickier from the back of the yellows, something that the reigning Ministox champion will have to get used to given his performance in the earlier racing. He became Bibby's first victim in this race, with more to come, though Bibby soon learned that what ye give, so shall ye receive! Dean Hannay took an early lead, and made good progress through the race, while Bibby had a fight on with Palmer. However Hannay could not hold off Delbert, Ellis following for second.

Notice of variation of rules
As of this meeting, the points for all non-championship events are; for heats, the winner receives 10 points, each successive finisher receiving 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 point respectively with up to ten finishers. Where places are given for finishers outside the top ten, one point is awarded to each finisher. For consolation races, the same scheme is used except that the winner receives 8 points, with the other finishers being awarded 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 point. Finals are generally awarded as double the heat points. The "Rawlins" accumulator event remains as previously, i.e. the winner is awarded 10 points and qualifies for the main event, second and third place are awarded 6 and 3 points respectively and the last car running receives 5 points and qualifies for the main event.

For full interpretation of the rules run under Promotasport Raceways you should obtain a copy of the rule book (available from the Track Shop on race days or from the office by post, a copy is provided free to all PRI licensed racers) or contact the PRI office.

Where shown below, "NOCR" indicates "No Other Car Running". All results are subject to confirmation by the steward and promoter of the meeting.

Last car running: 242 Ricky Korpiela

Drivers' lists

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©2003 Chris Johnson/Crashnet