Arena Essex Raceway - Meeting 05/03 Sunday, March 27, 2005 Crashnet > Reports Index > PRI 2005 Index > Meeting 05/03

Lightning Rods Outlaw Hot Rods Ministox

Ministox
There was a bumper 50-plus car turnout for the Ministox at Arena Essex on March 27, and plenty of new talent including Ian Beaumont, who started his debut meeting in the best way possible by winning his first race well ahead of Jamie McAngus whilst Billy Standing finished third only to be penalised back two places for unnecessary contact, the trophy for third spot going to Joe Simmons. The second race wasn't quite as cut and dried as it was stopped just over the three-quarter mark as Roy Laybourn dumped Dan Weeks on the back straight, catching Kerri Witherington and Billy Hobbs out in the wake. Gary Archer took control of the race early on, whilst Clare Macnamara battled her way past Gavin Ward for second spot around half way. Craig Upson won the 29 car consolation ahead of Jack Wheelwright and Luke Armiger.

A crash or two in the final left George Simmons stranded in the middle of turn 4 which led to a first full restart. Beaumont, however, managed to get the better of Macnamara five laps out in a battle for the chocolate, then Wheelwright, then Charlie Court passed Macnamara to get the other eggs, donated by Whiteman Building Services. Clare Macnamara managed to grab a second, albeit chocolate free win in the helter-skelter.

Lightning Rods
A full meeting on March 27 for the Lightning Rods at Arena Essex started with a win for Dan Amos in the first heat, a somewhat fraught affair which saw more than one car stuck out, Nick Wiseman black flagged for one affair at least following some determined midfield battling. Amos was well ahead by the end, with Terry Shelvey taking second. The second heat was a lot cleaner though it was a real struggle for Colin Murray to get to the front in the early stages, though he was never caught once he got there, easily jetting away with Mark Collins chasing in the distance. Chris Jones won the consolation easily with Darren Cardy in second after a determined charge from near the back of the start.

All 24 cars made it onto the circuit in the final, but not all of them made it to the finish, the first start leading to a pile up on turn two outside, Paul Harris and Rob Naismith left in pieces on the fence, the paltry couple of completed laps leading to a complete restart. Mark Davidson and John MacLaren were badly disabled in a back straight pile up on the restart which also claimed Amos and stopped Jones though he again managed to keep it together for a second restart. A third set of red flags came out after Shelvey and Cardy collided on the pit bend outside, Cardy collapsing his offside front, Shelvey needing a little help getting pulled from the fence. 8 cars were hors-de-combat by the time the race was restarted for the third time! Jones would eventually go off after too many trips to the fence, whilst Gary Greenland sped off with the early lead on a circuit covered with the various spills of crashes. These were still going on, more cars leaving the race after colliding with themselves or the fence. Lee Morrow was making good progress, however, and when Greenland made a mistake on turn 2 and went wide, Morrow fought his way past Martyn Jones to take the winners' trophy, Rick Pannell grabbing second at the end from Jones, Greenland getting a deserved 4th place.

The last race of the day was already being called the demolition derby by some officials, though there were far less crashes amongst the 20 cars that survived to this part of the meeting, led home by Greenland for his first win in a lightning rod ahead of Nigel Carroll.

Outlaw Hot Rods
An early oil leak on turn 3 in the first heat for the Outlaw Hot Rods at Arena Essex, March 27, caught Chris Rabbitt, Wayne Souter and Neil Reeve out in an early race stoppage. Souter did manage to escape the worst of the damage and fought off a determined race-long challenge from Salvo Falcone to win the first race with Warren Farazmand and Trevor Ward making it past Falcone in the last few laps which were quite a scramble for all concerned. The second heat, a reverse of the third, saw former champion Dave Fry grab the lead from row three early on but spend the rest of the race fending off a determined but doomed challenge from Tony Moss and Gary Stow who were left with second and third places respectively. Fry took full advantage of his pole position start in the final, Souter unable to hold on from the outside, letting Falcone through to hound Fry all the way to the line.

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Also see Matthew Bull Photography for official photos of this meeting.

© 2005 Chris Johnson (Crashnet) / Promotasport Raceways