The 2003 Terry Skeef Memorial Plastengrave Non-Ford Bangers Group A Hot Rods

Plastengrave Bangers
The Terry Skeef Memorial at Arena Essex on October 5 was kicked off by the parade of the victorious PRI Banger team following their second round success against the CAMSO team at Warneton the previous weekend, the trophy taken on its lap of honour by John Harris, driver of the last surviving car of the gruelling meeting which saw a much closer competition than the first round. Whether this had an effect on the bangers or something else was brewing, the banger racing this day would see some excellent wrecking performances from more than one driver as the Plastengrave Non-Ford series came to its conclusion.

The Plastengrave title for the year would have been a tight race between series leader Paul Dobson and RJK Drivers' Championship points leader Sonny Sherwood, with only a mathematical chance for anyone else. However this showdown never happened as Sherwood was unable to show due to a ban, the result of his actions in the World Final two weeks previously, a ban which the PRI committee will be reviewing on October 14. This didn't stop the attempt by other drivers to close the gap, but Harry Rawlins fell short of the mark in an otherwise valiant attempt, despite the fact that Dobson was unable to score a point during the meeting. We weren't disappointed by material either, Tony Abrehart turning up in a Moggy, albeit with fibreglass arches, while Mark Want took an A40 out which would finish on its side in its heat and would take Rawlins on to the bitter end in the Rawlins 2000 Qualifier.

Terry Peacock had the Skeefy looky-likey out in the first heat, taking out Steve Laybourn early on, though Mark Bonfield got the heaviest hits at the start including some insertion from behind by Lol Ridley. Day licence driver Adrian Downey spun out on the home straight in what seemed to be an increasing amount of destruction. As I already mentioned, the A40 of Mark Want went for a roll, a two point effort on the back straight at mid point, though he managed to get out without a hitch. A pile up developed after Jason Scoones took on series leader Dobson on the back straight, Paul Chapman providing a big hit that came off of Charlie Cumber and into RDC visitor Nick Grays. Chapman then attempted to ambush Dobson around the dead Grays car but was spotted, Dobson getting his hit in first. Gary Brown, having already picked up a Group A winners' trophy in the race immediately prior to the opening Banger race, grabbed the lead half a lap from the finish from George Rowbotham, while Chapman went for an early bath after one of hits, which had occurred on the shaleway.

The Terry Skeef Memorial usually features cars that are all orange, but it seemed that one driver had been in a little too much of a hurry to prepare his car, or else he didn't have any paint handy. The result was that Jerry Ansell drove on in a blue car with the word "orange" painted on the side. Whether this counted as an actual orange car, I don't know! However he was soon in the thick of things as he took on Ian Smith. After some few weeks of bitter feuding with Sonny Sherwood, you might have expected Smith to get down to a little bash-free racing, or at least stay clear of the biggest wrecking, but not this Gladiator! His first contact with Ansell at the pit end turned into a real slugfest, this hit being one of many that both cars ended up taking on. Turn four was turned into a scrap pile, Ansell eventually getting a major shot from Jason Jackson and Matt Fuller, Smith also joining in before he was killed off on the turn four fence. Colin Voller won out, avoiding all but the lightest of taps to keep his path clear ahead of John Harding, Ginger seemingly reluctant to go bashing in this one.

There was no consolation race in this meeting, the annual staff race replacing it.

The first thing of note in the final was the wholesale destruction of the Abrehart Moggy, or at least what was left of it, by Scoones who was pretty much taking up things where he had left off in his heat, both cars having got through by way of the staff race. The race was stopped mid way however when it appeared that Peter Smith had been hit badly. As assistance was brought on, it was something to behold when Tony Abrehart chugged past the start line! They certainly knew how to build a tough car back then! Steve Laybourn led the race back into the restart from Brad Theaker, Kevin Lee and Shane Davies, Harry Rawlins also in a promising position. Davies jetted inside Theaker then spun Laybourn to take the lead, Rawlins trying his best to catch up but to no avail. Tony Green tried to make a nuisance of himself during the run in, both on Davies and Rawlins, but neither was affected, then Green provided the second rollover of the day, the race stopped early as Green blocked the fourth turn on his roof.

Playing the part of Shane Davies, Rob Porter! Yes, the Arena Essex commentator decided to abandon the box for the Rawlins 2000 qualifier and take over the car he had unsuccessfully piloted in the staff race, though Davies was unwilling to reciprocate by taking on the microphone duties, that honour going to Henry Ashworth! With all that sorted, what was left of the turnout for the day, a respectable pit full in the end, got going, though Rob would see very few laps. He ended up in the pile up on turn four, one of a number of hits and goofs that also saw a full on rollover amongst other things, Wayne Holton ending up on his side too before a red flag came out. There were few cars left to restart the race, what was left seemingly only willing to go for an early wreck, only Harry Rawlins doing laps. Rawlins took the win, then managed to grab the extra points for last car along with the Wanty A40 for an impressive points total for the day, though not enough to deprive Paul Dobson of the 2003 Non-Ford title. The DD was finished early after Nick Grays took a vicious shot in the side.

The Plastengrave Non-Ford series kicks off the 2004 season on March 14th.

Annual Staff Race
Sometimes I wonder why we do it! Well, this year I didn't. I've tried it before, and I think I've done my bit for the sport, so I let others go for it while I kept an eye on them from the sidelines. This year the annual staff race, cars supplied by the banger drivers, featured defending champion, Henry Ashworth Jnr., his dad and a number of other reprobates including Mark Farmer, whose reports you may well be familiar with in the pages of Oval Racing News. We left Dennis Whiteman to try to figure out how the flag system worked, strapped the sixteen hopefuls into their wrecks, stood back and hoped that they would all make it out in one piece! Having finally got Sam Young's car running and called Terry Reynolds back from his outrageous piece of attempted start jumping, they managed to start doing laps. Well, all except steward and ex-Rod driver Jim Lazarus who was spun on the start! And for once he couldn't penalise the guilty party! Commentator Rob Porter, a past trophy winner in this event, wouldn't finish either as he got stuck on the back straight, stalled and couldn't restart. Ah well; you never get that problem with slot cars! Ken Griffiths took Terry Reynolds out of turn four while little Henry had steering problems after doing Sam Young who collected steward Jim, who was then hit by Mick from the top bar, though Mick suffered more damage than he gave out! Les Saunders had to pull off as the Abrehart Moggy gave up, wheels pointing in any direction but forward while Kev White wrestled unsuccessfully with the corners. Before the race I heard that Alex Williamson was a target for more than one driver, and obviously they were successful as he ended up the wrong way round towards the end of the race, Brian Hooper finishing poor Sam over on the bridge bend. The win this year went to new bug Mark Anderson, followed home by Mark Farmer, though Henry Ashworth, our clerk of the course, has told me to keep his third place finish quiet. So don't tell anyone I said it! All cars contributed to the staff race were automatically put through to the main final, though only Rob Porter would see action again that day, taking the Shane Davies car for a spin in the Rawlins 2000, though he didn't get far in that race either!

Group A Hot Rods
Just as with the Bangers, the Group A Hot Rods were in fine form for their version of the Terry Skeef Memorial, kicking off with a couple of heats that saw a somewhat fraught win for Andy Beverton followed by a win for Gary Brown. It was Trevor Gillman who took up the early running in the first heat from Chris Wallis and Martin Wickens, though Wickens would soon drop out of the hunt after spinning out by the pit gate, collecting Lee Ayton in the process. Wallis pressured Gillman for quite a way until Beverton pulled through, leading Chris Goldsmith through the melee. Beverton would collect a black cross as he got a little too friendly with the back end of Wallis's car but would not suffer any penalty in the end, though Goldsmith would not last the course as he blew out shortly after this. Gillman also pulled out of the race around this point having been taken, and Beverton shot away while Gary Rouse, Dave Lamb and Jason Griffith started to move through the field. Griffith went airborne on turn four as he attempted to go inside Doug Constable, Lamb and Rouse going through as Griffith had to run wide to recover himself, Lamb getting disqualified here for contact. Beverton, Rouse and Griffith took the first three spots from there with little difficulty, Constable fading to fifth behind Steve Rickard.

The Keith Perren "Terry Skeef" car actually reminded me more of a banger as it raced away from the start in its all orange livery (Terry's actual Group A car was more white than orange) but it was good to see as it led much of the second heat. As with the first heat, one of the early deciding factors was a spin, this time by Mark Avison, collecting Lee Hall, which kept things clear for Perren for much of the race, but Gary Brown had been denied a victory in the last Group A appearance, and wasn't about to be denied this time. Perren led from day license driver James Newins and Brown, the first three cars well away from Hall who recovered in a distant fourth, though he would not figure in the result by the end. Brown pressured his way past Newins, then went outside Perren for the lead before Hall spun on turn two, collecting Newins, Steve Gooch, Steve Mills and, of course, Avison who was having problems controlling his car on the corners anyway. This left Brown and Perren free to run home for first and second, Steve Goldsmith being awarded third as the race was stopped close to the end.

Trevor Gillman again led the race in the consolation early on, but would again fail to finish while Martin Wickens again spun out, though this time he did it in clear road so the only car he stopped from getting to the final was his own. In fact the reason why Gillman failed to finish this time was due to a coming together between himself, Ray Layton and the turn four wall, both cars totalled. The race eventually went to Dave Lamb well ahead of John Yeomans, Lamb having made the best progress through the ranks and having taken advantage of the confusion during the crash.

I suppose I should mention that Lee Hall made up for his goof earlier in the day with a win in the final. I say that because he was so far ahead that he had little part in the action that took place further down field, once he had passed Perren in the early stages of the race. The action was really further back with cars dropping out in the early stages including heat winner Brown and Ray Harris, no doubt having a dabble on a temporary licence to see how the other half live. Perren kept hold of second for quite a while, though he was under pressure from Lee Ayton who fought hard to catch up. However there were ten red tops in this race, so Perren and Ayton had their work cut out to keep ahead of the mayhem that was the fight for dominance between the red and blue grades. By the time Ayton caught Perren, he was getting some serious challenges himself from Steve Goldsmith, Andy Beverton also catching up. Goldsmith found an outside line and grabbed second, Beverton likewise to third as the race came down to an early finish as Brown came to grief, blocking the circuit, Ian Heffernan and Jason Griffith meeting on turn four as the cars ran down. Hall had lapped a fair amount of the field by that time, a comfortable win from Goldsmith and Beverton. It was well that the race stopped when it did as far as Hall was concerned, however, his car going sick as the red flag went out.

Perren tried to emulate Hall's final win in the helter skelter race but wasn't able to keep it going. Ray Harris was destined to fall out of this race too, this time courtesy of Steve Mills, though Mills also didn't finish, pulling off shortly after this incident. It wasn't obvious whether Mills had taken damage, but certainly he dropped out before any penalty was called. Chris Smith seemed to be reliving his early days in the formula when his car blew up spectacularly mid race; Smith had been a driver of extremes in his first days in Group A's after his Ministox career ended, either doing really well or blowing the car. Today he finished off with a fourth place, a fifth place and a desiccated engine. This meant one less star grader in the challenge at the back, Doug Constable being the first to catch Perren before the waved yellows came out. Steve Goldsmith received a warning from the starter for speeding under the caution, but all was soon put in order and the race restarted, though Steve Gooch in second place at this point read the flags superbly, getting the drop on Goldsmith inside as the green flag dropped to take the lead from which he was not displaced from there on. Gary Rouse, Dave Lamb and Terry Bearman would get past Constable to give enough problems to Goldsmith to keep him away from Gooch as they finished.

The Group A Hot Rods return for their final meeting of the year on October 26.

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: 57 Harry Rawlins/116 Mark Want

Staff race cars

 Photos

Click on photo to see full size

Also don't forget to see Matthew Bull's website! Click here