Arena Essex Raceway - Meeting 03/09 Sunday, April 27, 2003 Crashnet > Reports Index > PRI 2003 Index > Meeting 03/09

BriSCA F1 Stock Cars National Bangers Rob Belchamber Memorial Trophy 1300 Stock Cars Supreme Championship Qualifier

VSCA race
The annual Reg Pryor Memorial Trophy race for the Veteran Stock Car Association was run prior to the April 27 meeting at Arena Essex using 1300cc Saloon Stock Cars borrowed from the 1300 Stock Car formula drivers also racing that day with a number of former winners and quite a few first time entrants taking part. With Mo Smith, winner last in 2000, failing to get going at the start and defending champion Ken Sanders nowhere in sight, it was left to former F1 man Alex Ferrada to grab the lead off the line, ultimately to gain a flag to flag victory. John Taylor, another first timer, finished second with Clive Beales beating out Graham Youd for third.

National Bangers
In 1983, following the tragic death of Rob Belchamber, a memorial series was created. First run at Crayford, the trophy proclaims B. Howlett as its first winner and has the names of many more great drivers on it, though the trophy has seen its fair share of age induced wear since then. Twenty runnings after that first memorial, the final ever Rob Belchamber Memorial meeting was run at Arena Essex on April 27, Phil Stevens defending the title in the face of stiff opposition given current events at the circuit.

The overall meeting saw a few visitors, including Colin Farley who has made occasional visits in the past from Spedeworth and, though Wally didn't make it to the final, he certainly took a few cars with him! The day really belonged to Roy Laybourn who picked a great meeting to complete a heat and final double! The first race was heavy with wreckage including notables such as Andy Davies who spent a fair amount of the race perched on a marker tyre, though the first casualty had to be Anthony Oak who had made a wrecking nuisance of himself the previous week. Laybourn was not immune to the action either, though the spin he encountered close to the end just made his lead a little less embarrassingly large, Mark Griffin trailing in a distant second.

The one thing that was missing from the first race was certainly in evidence in the second, and that just happened to be the long running war. It all started early on with overtures from Phil Stevens who has been in the thick of it for some few weeks. The first corner became a mass of battered cars, Stevens taking particular interest in Mark Newman amongst the debris, though some uninvolved parties became ensnared by the activities. Stevens received some too, however; notably a jacking from Paul Whiteman. The race itself fell to Paul Dobson who has been making a habit of winning recently, ahead of Lee Madden and Sonny Sherwood as the race ran down and the cars seemed to relax into it. Just as it seemed over and the winners collected their places, a final shot came in the form of a classic follow-in by Terry Goodearl on the fenced Chris Clark. The spoils of war seemed to favour the Runners this time as John Harding, who had spent a good deal of his race going the wrong way, was loaded, though Stevens received nothing more than a warning for his actions. The battle was won and lost, but the war would continue.

You know when things have been rough when a consolation turns up so many big names, including Farley and Davies as well as Richie Ahern. However, if Terry Goodearl though he had the crash of the day, then he was to be disappointed as Whiteman slammed the back of Greig Cheeseman in a pile up that left Ratty somewhat squished on the pit bend below a packed crowd. Most of what was left of the race was mainly spins, though another pile up did develop when Mark Marchant and Waz Barber took each other on. Stephen Hale crossed the line first but was then docked a place following a stewards' enquiry for jumping, the race awarded instead to Allen Paveley who had been persuaded into racing by Matt Fuller and company, this meeting being the New Zealanders' first outing.

Buzz Kelsey led the cars away for the last ever Rob Belchamber Memorial, Mick Bradbury being the only qualifier that didn't make it to the final which meant that thirty-five cars started the race. Almost immediately the race turned into another unscheduled destruction derby, with Andrew Chapman receiving Mark Deacon head on amongst the various hits raining in with hardly a lap on the lapsheet. Jimmy Randall, one of a number of drivers that had travelled back from a meeting in Scotland the night before, added his own hit as he pinned Terry Watkinson head on by the Bridge. Meanwhile, in the race, it had seemed like another win for Dobson until he was spun out by Roger Trickett down the home straight which let Roy Laybourn in while Sonny Sherwood had to contend with Steve Macklin, Lee Madden and Lee West in front of them while Dobson recovered to ninth behind the remaining Runners.

Dobson made up for his final loss by winning the Rawlins 2000 qualifier, Frank Skinner and Darren Nash getting the other places while Paul Whiteman qualified for the big money final the hard way. There were a few parting shots, for example Harry Rawlins gave Bob Dunn a sideways shunt that left the early leader totally twisted, while Jason Jackson ended an otherwise unremarkable day by pushing Lee Busby's wreck hard into the pinned Lee Callis car.

Banger action at Arena Essex continues on most weekends until November. See fixture list for details.

BriSCA F1 Stock Cars
It is always good to see the BriSCA F1 Stock Cars at Arena Essex, though I doubt that anyone would have expected a race win quadruple in that formula. Winning four races in one meeting is a feat that has only been done twice before in the quarter of a century of racing at the Purfleet oval, both times in the Banger formula. What was even more amazing was the person that did the winning was a white top, namely Mark Peters.

The turnout was certainly better than last year, apparently part of a resurgence of interest in the formula and tarmac racing. The meeting didn't lack for big names, from Gary Castell who has previously done well on this circuit to both Wainman Senior and Junior. We even noticed a few ex-F2 folk including Craig Finnikin, as well as local driver Nick Smith who would be the only other driver to win anything that day.

Peters would take the lead early in the race, given his starting advantage, then rack up the yards between himself and the rest of the field, coasting in to win. This is exactly how he won the first race, getting the advantage over his white top colleagues within the first couple of laps, early challenges from Carl Pickering soon dropping away while Frankie Wainman Jr. tried hard to catch up but ran out of time, the race ending before he could make a meaningful challenge for the lead. The race was not all procession, with quite a few drivers trying to get forward, some of them trying a little too hard including Kevin Shinn who bounced hard off the bridge end armco but still managed to get ninth place. Dean Whitwell put in a good attempt for the second race, leading for much of the race from the front, but local driver Nick Smith makes a habit of winning at least one race on his home turf. His experience around this circuit in the smaller open wheelers served him well as he quickly moved up through the ranks and eventually took Whitwell out, though the white top would eventually finish in fifth place. Castell came home second having pushed all the way but not quite enough to best Smith, with Neil Scothern behind them.

Heat three, and Peters was back on the circuit, in the white top pack and pulling out the early lead, trying to put enough distance between himself and the following cars. He didn't get away with it totally this time, however, since he had Lee Robinson with him, keeping the pressure on for a little while at least. Simon Brooke ended up the wrong way after meeting up with the Scothern car, while an interesting scrap was getting under way between Junior Wainman and Junior Smith. Wainman might have had the potential, but Smith certainly had the local knowledge and had been a prolific winner in the past on this circuit, the dash for the front being fast enough to propel them up to, but no further than, second and third place, Smith ahead of Wainman, but Peters won again.

The cars were arranged for the meeting final which also included a couple of extra awards for the most successful white and yellow grade drivers; the BARC award for the best white top came in the form of a tool kit, while the best yellow would receive the Lee Wilson Memorial Trophy. The final was well packed with star grades, though the race result was very similar to the race before it as was the racing. The back of the race became pretty heated as the various red grades tried to force each other out of the way, each trying to get an advantage that would carry them forward, which gave that much more time to the grades up front and, notably, to Peters. Matt Newson and Mark Smith were typical of the problems that beset some of the drivers, meeting up by the Tavern in traffic, Smith getting black flagged as his bonnet hung dangerously off his car following his crash. Plenty of action as Peters made it three from three with Nick Smith, Wainman and Castell behind him.

Peters decided not to try to attempt to race from the one lap handicap in the Grand National Qualifier, sacrificing his chance at double points but increasing his chances at a four way win. He quickly took the lead and shot away, Mark Gilbank making the early running from the red tops while Wainman Jr. decided to get rid of Smith Jr. early on. Scothern made his way to the front of the race, passing Gilbank and the rest of the field to get second place while Wainman had to settle for third yet again, Smith behind him this time.

The next open wheel action at Arena Essex comes from the BriSCA F2 Stock Cars on May 11.

1300 Stock Cars
Supreme Championship qualifier days are always notable events for the 1300 Stock Cars at Arena Essex, and the April 27 meeting, the first round of the 2003 running, brought out a few extra folk to add to the swelling numbers. These included appearances from Collin Moss and John Smith, both of whom put in a few good performances amongst the Arena faithful. It was, however, to be another meeting dominated by the newcomers, namely Paul Griffiths and Colin Thorndyke.

Thorndyke was involved in the first win of the day, though not for himself. His run in with Trevor Manning on the home straight in the first race led to a pile up with Manning as the unwitting victim, eventually collecting Michael Coventry before the race was stopped, waved yellow flags allowing the marshals to push Mannings' wreck off the track. The upshot was that the cars were closed up which allowed Griffiths to grab the lead close to the end, Paddy Palmer having to settle for second place yet again after a heated midfield battle.

It didn't take long for trouble to happen in the second race, the Supreme Championship Qualifier itself, as Paul Staples, Dean Hannay and Michael Riley came together on the turn two fence while James Radcliffe had the problem of trying to keep his car straight in an oil slick. He wasn't alone, however, with quite a few overzealous drivers having to steer wildly in the slippery patches left by the Bangers in the previous race. The lead was taken by Griffiths with Thorndyke close behind, setting the scene for the race which saw a few drivers retire with problems and, more often than not, contact damage. Clive Pratley will possibly remember this day as the day he dared to spin out Derek Mortimer, though this was not one of Delberts' better meetings, his high point on the day still to come. By half way, Griffiths had given way to Thorndyke and had dropped away, leaving Thorndyke to fend off Alec Mortimer who did manage to grab the lead briefly but left his back end exposed and vulnerable. A quick shove into the corner and Thorndyke was back on top, though he looked like he may have lost it again when Manning got in his way close to the end, though by this time the lower places were changing hands again, Steven Fish just edging out Palmer this time after pushing Mortimer A. out for second.

Thorndykes' first task in the Festival qualifier was to send Manning to the kerb. It's interesting to speculate how this might affect future meetings but, for the moment, these squabbles kept Thorndyke down the order and away from Griffiths, the early lead taken up by Alec Mortimer while Scott Hughes tested the armco after going a little too enthusiastically into the turns. Griffiths soon made up the distance, pushing his way through Mortimer and second place Fish before dashing away to take his second win of the day, Delbert following for second with Paddy in tow.

The 1300 Stock Cars return to Arena Essex on Monday May 5, then again on May 26 as part of the second PRI Banger Team meeting.

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: 10 Paul Whiteman

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©2003 Chris Johnson/Crashnet