Arena Essex Raceway - Meeting 03/02 Sunday, March 16, 2003 Crashnet > Reports Index > PRI 2003 Index > Meeting 03/02

National Bangers Outlaw Hot Rods Group A Hot Rods

Believe it or not, John Harding managed to resurrect this one!

National Bangers With the war being escalated between the various teams at Arena Essex, the first full National Banger meeting of the season provided plenty of spectacle along with some quite awesome crashes as a number of big names returned to the circuit, though the most successful was Sonny Sherwood who grabbed the second final win of the season to add to his success in the Non-Ford meeting last week. However, with people such as Suicide Squad veterans Kev Wilsher and Chris Whiteman, along with popular travellers Carl "Jack" Overy and NIR's John Golden making an appearance, this meeting could be considered a classic!

A cold, sunny day greeted the first full National Banger meeting of the year at Arena Essex on March 16 with rumours flying and more than a few surprises waiting in the pits for an expectant crowd. With one meeting behind them the Banger folk, or more particularly the various warring teams, were at it again with more old faces showing up to bolster the main antagonists, including a token return for one of the most successful teams in the country; the Suicide Squad.

The first Bangers up didn't spend that much time on wrecking, though there were a few attempts. This race also included some Condoms, which was interesting as the meeting also included a couple of black cars, notably Carl Overy and John Golden, though they were saving themselves for the second race. There has been some contest between Jack and the pink folk for some years, although this race saw little of that, but it promised good things for later, though who Darren Nash was talking of in his birthday wishes to "'Er with the big boobies" is best left to the imagination! If anything, however, the first race left more questions than answers as the Creams ignored the Runners for once and turned their attention to the Silent Heroes, a team which had supported them to this point.

Tony Green was suffering spins all around the circuit. I was reminded of his actions during the previous Firecracker meeting and wondered if there might be some reason for his treatment at this point, though it was quite obvious that Green was handing out a few as well as taking it. However, with a few exceptions, there was more racing than wrecking this time out, with the win going to ex-Champion Richard Ahern, racing on an RDC licence, ahead of Billy King in a virtually untouched Runner car with another ex-Champion, Andrew Davies, running home in third.

It was the second heat that everyone was waiting for, with the appearance of Kev Wilsher and Chris Whiteman augmenting the field already burdened with Runners, Creams and the two black cars as well as a few other visitors. Although many of them were concentrating on getting out of this with something intact for the final, it was obvious that only luck would help them. It didn't take long for the crunches to start, with turn two quickly turning into a scrap pile, almost blocking the circuit. Whiteman was flagged off at this point as he prowled the circuit the wrong way looking for a victim and finding little, though it did take him a while to notice it, and he did manage a few hits before finally retiring from the race, though he did get a warning. Phil Stevens was a casualty of the ongoing hostilities, his car t-boned on the pit bend, while John Harding had his car folded lengthwise as the wrecking shifted to turn four, while Terry Goodearl and Stephen Hale provided one of a number of head on attacks. When the dust settled, Lee Dann had victory to mark his return to the formula with Luke Radley forsaking his wrecking to pick up points in second and Mark Newman behind them. However, with Wilsher and Overy in the result, Golden still in one piece, quite a few Cream and Runner cars still rolling and the Davies brothers in the pits, the allcomers' final was anticipated as a real thriller!

The scene was set, with all the main personalities coming up for the final, and more than one battle to be joined. With over forty cars finally crammed on, the race started and soon became an unofficial destruction derby which saw much of what the crash fans had hoped for; mayhem! The back straight saw a major shunt in the form of Radley rear-ending King who was already planted in the rear of Greig Cheeseman who was likewise planted in Jimmy Randall, and it didn't stop there! Radley then received similar treatment from Newman, while turn four was filling up with cars, Wilsher trapped in the middle of the pile up but still running and trying to push out. He finally made it out and pursued Andy Davies, but the red flag was already flying due to a folded car. This didn't stop Wilsher, who continued to wreck, Stu Cummings jetting round to get a measure of Wilsher as the officials tried everything they could to stop the out-of-control drivers. Cummings eventually stopped, while Frankie Skinner effectively stopped Wilsher from doing anything more by pinning his car to the dead Davies motor. Neither Wilsher nor Cummings would race again that day and await further penalties. However the upshot of all this was that few cars remained for the restart, which was race ordered, and it took little time and less effort for Sonny Sherwood to muscle up to the front for two finals wins from two successive meetings, passing Anthony Oak three laps from home as the field attempted to find their way through the wreckage strewn right around the circuit. This didn't mean that no more hits occurred, as Overy and Golden continued their own vendetta with the Davies boys and more than one car ended up misjudging a gap with the usual result.

The last race of the day, as usual, meant a Rawlins 2000 qualifier, though there were a few doubts as to what might make it up. Certainly there were a few surprises, including the resurrection of the John Harding paper-bag and the Phil Stevens banana, though it was a shame that some useable cars disappeared to another meeting after the final. Thirty survivors still managed to struggle up though, including the two Silent Heroes that had attended the meeting that day, though by this time rumour trackside had it that any collusion between the Heroes and the Cream was effectively at an end. One takes such rumour as one finds it, and certainly it seemed to hold some water as both Heroes were destroyed early on. Overy and Golden also returned along with both Davies cars, with the obvious outcome. First blood went to Jason Jackson and Matt Fuller as they started in on what was left of Stevens' car, King joining in also. Paul Wilks cruised round to plant himself in the visiting James Medley car, Gary Staples copying the feat on Wilks shortly after, then Paul Whiteman put one on the side of Stevens which had a knock on effect on Medley who was blocked in behind him by this time. Roy Laybourn delivered a hit to Boxer Jack, Lee Hutton then chased Laybourn back around the pit bend. Staples met up with Dan Weller, the two jamming together on the pit bend outside. However it was inevitable that they would meet; Overy delivered big time on Andy Davies while Golden took on brother Shane at the other end. None of them would finish, but the show had certainly been appreciated by the time Chris Trickett shot through for the last win of the day, followed by Malcolm Fuller. Third place Dean Goodearl then went on to grab the extra trophy, points and qualifying place as the last car running, outlasting Golden and Laybourn after some last hits took Golden out while Laybourn's car died slowly.

Group A Hot Rods Four different winners from four races for the Group A Hot Rods this meeting, with success for Jason Griffiths, Mick Collins and Darren Read in the heats leading up to a big final showdown that saw Chris Smith easily win, though the meeting was not without its talking points.

Things getting a little close for Wes Graves and Mick Collins

Another year, another load of Group A Hot Rod rookies, and they were to provide a measure of difficulty for the formula at their first Arena Essex meeting on March 16 that more than one driver would find difficult to handle! The A's are seldom disappointing to watch, however, and this meeting proved just as exciting as ever.

After mixed fortune in the previous weeks' 1300 Stock Car meeting, Paul Haralambou headed up the rookies in the first Group A race but would soon lose out, spinning on the first lap, a feat he would repeat all through the meeting. Chris Fuller tried his Nova on the armco and would also spend most of the meeting out of the result as a consequence, his car letting him down. Meanwhile, at the front, Darren Read was to be in front or thereabouts for much of the meeting, though contact would mar much of the race, a crash early on claiming a number of victims. Obviously Jason Griffiths needed to get the cobwebs out of his system, and he did just that as he sprinted through the field, getting the better of Steve Rickard outside on the back straight just before a series of goofs on the pit bend claimed team mate Steve Gooch among others. Griffiths then challenged Read through the half way mark and found an inside line to take the lead, Read now having to deal with an impatient Dave Lamb. Read managed to block Lamb to the line, not without effort and not without other interest as Steve Mills made a belated attempt to mix it up, to maintain second spot behind Griffiths who sprinted into the distance for the first win of the season, though not before another crash on the pit bend took Haralambou, Dennis Howes and Nick Hill out of the race as they slid into the abandoned Gooch car.

Race two proved just as tense and almost as destructive, at least once Simon Simmons got his Mini running! With Haralambou grabbing the lead from the start ahead of Wes Graves, all seemed well for the former Rabbit teamster, but Haralambou still had issues with corners, and the lead changed hands with the race barely started. Gooch had more problems as he got in a tangle with Mark Avison and the pair slid sideways out of turn two and across the safety area in what had promised to be an interesting flight for the front, leaving Graves with a cluster following at a short distance including Rickard, Ian Simpson and Mick Collins, who would eventually take Haralambou who still found the corners tricky in his new Corsa, with Chris Smith moving up from the back to join them. This short distance would close as the race wound down, Rickard dropping back, though not before some attention from the Smith front end brought out the first black cross of the season. With the race into its final laps, Graves, Collins and Smith fought hard for the lead, and with just a quarter of a lap to go there seemed nothing in it until Collins took the outside line down the home straight and floored it, taking the win from Graves by a nose with Smith following closely in third. Smith got away with his warning, so the result stood, though it was noticeable that Smith was a little more careful with his tactics in the remainder of the meeting.

The third heat of the day started much as the first had, with a crash which saw Simmons crawl away with car damage among others. Read took control from the start and controlled right through the race with some aggressive blocking tactics that ultimately won him the race, notably keeping Smith out of contention in a battle for the lead that lasted much of the race. The turn two crash at the start was not the only one to occur, however, with contact around the circuit leading to another crash on turn three just after the pit gate which took Howes and Mills. Behind Read, Smith was caught by Collins, Lamb and Tony Moss, each trying to make headway against the blocking tactics being used by the leader, the four closing up as the race ran down, but none of them successfully passing. By the end, therefore, it was a matter of a result of shuffling that put Lamb in second from Moss, Collins and Smith, with Griffiths also up there.

The turnout for the final was certainly impressive but, as is usual with a big field, there were some casualties. The most notable was Dave Lamb, who bounced off Steve Rickard, then thundered into the turn one armco, destroying one side of his car and stopping the race, though he emerged from the wreckage in a neck brace and was taken off for further examination. A pile up that had occurred shortly before this had also claimed quite a few others including Mills, whose car seemed to be suffering, Steve Smith who featured a large impact in the back end and Nichola Bearman. Chris Smith had already managed to grab the lead by that point, and had no trouble regaining the big gap he had lost as a result of the restart, while Darren Read was repeating the tactics that had served him so well earlier in the day. Well, if one person can do that, why not another? That was what happened as Mick Collins repeated his drive from his earlier heat victory, diving outside to grab second place from Read on the last 100 yards, Smith already comfortably home and victorious.

A quick whack with a hammer and it'll be fine!

Outlaw Hot Rods Some new blood showed up for the Outlaws in this meeting as well as some impressive new cars, though the three race meeting would be dominated by the old lags, with victory for Dave Fry in the main event backed up with success for Chris Rabbitt and Julian Scott in the support races.

The Outlaws had really shown off some good material at the Brentwood Show earlier in the year, and the Arena Essex meeting on March 16 was a good place to see if the performance matched the polish. Amongst the new metal was the new Stu Hammond Audi, an impressive looking machine which has been a star attraction at the Brentwood Show, and the first appearance in an Outlaw for Clinton Groom, previously seen racing a Group A for the Groom Motorsport team. As anyone in the sport can tell you, there is a learning curve whether you are getting used to a new car or a new formula, so both ended up trailing the pack by the end of the warm up event, Chris Rabbitt taking the honours ahead of Julian Scott, Rabbitt sprinting away from the pack after grabbing the lead from Alex McLean in his newly painted Fiesta. Scott only managed to pass McLean towards the end of the race, too late to make up the distance between himself and Rabbitt.

All seemed well for the main event but, at the speeds these cars reach, a crash is a serious thing and can not only take you by surprise, it can cause quite a bit of damage. So it seemed as Jimmy Bryan, who had finished in the points in the warm up race in his newly rebuilt car, found when he took on the armco and lost. McLean was surprised off the start as he was slow to the throttle, dropping places as Julian Scott managed to pass him along with Bryan and Rabbitt, but a close race meant that one mistake could be fatal. So it proved for Bryan, though he was not alone in suffering as Chris Wood also ended up out of the points in a collision with day tripper Pat Enwright. Spun out, Bryan continued to race until blowing a front offside tyre going into turn three, losing control and fetching up in the wall by the Raceway Tavern. In all, only nine cars finished the race, Dave Fry putting in his first appearance on the pace car as the winner along with Perry Clack who picked up his joint Drivers' Championship trophy for 2002.

The day ended for the Outlaws with a Festival of Speed qualifier - as with last year, the qualifying for the Festival is being conducted during the season rather than in a separate meeting, so qualifiers from this race and others like it will get grid positions in the Festival finals for the Chick Woodroffe Memorial trophies on June 29 this year. Julian Scott managed a good start from fourth on the grid, taking advantage of a mistake or two by McLean, a better turn of speed on the straight and ongoing pressure by Salvo Falcone and Terry Bell to grab an early lead spot. Falcone and Bell would eventually give way to a good effort from further back by Wood, while McLean did everything to stay up ahead of the pack, his third place threatened on more than one occasion as the race progressed. However Scott was too far gone for Wood to catch, and McLean seemed unable to catch up, so the result stood, though the shuffling behind McLean was hairy to say the least of it!

Notice of variation of rules
As of meeting 03/01, 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: 271 Dean Goodearl

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