Arena Essex Raceway - Meeting 05/08 Sunday, April 24, 2005 Crashnet > Reports Index > PRI 2005 Index > Meeting 05/08

Small Van Bangers Group A Hot Rods Ministox

Small Van Bangers
The first Small Van race at Arena Essex on April 24 was somewhat delayed by Ministox problems earlier, and it seemed that the drivers were up for anything once they finally got onto the circuit, including Danny Bevin who was blacked after a full lap on oppo, whilst Richard Gunther was piled into the pit wall by Jason Jackson as the war continued between the Gigglers and their sock puppet team Ollies Army and the Runners. The race eventually went to Danny Chiddle in a smart Pug van ahead of smart van winner Wayne Holton. Darren Fuller took the second race ahead of a tight race for second between Karl Douglas and Phillip Smith, which Douglas took before Smith gave him the bmps n turn one past the line. The hostilities also continued as Steve Laybourn took Ricky Korpiela head on, then a visitor jacked Laybourn all inside on the home straight. The forty car final was full of smashes, Michael Outen getting a lot of attention from the oncoming traffic out of turn four which was full of dead cars.

Ministox
With an increase in numbers at Arena Essex for the Ministox, a new schedule was tried out at the April 24 meeting, with four mixed heats and two finals. The first heat was interrupted at the half way point, however, when Jamie-Lee Callis spun and hit the wall at the bridge end. Alfie Lee led the order restart and seemed to be doing well until Joe Simmons found the inside line he wanted out of turn two and ran off with the race, Gavin Ward and Luke Armiger eventually left to scrap over second spot. The second heat was held up even more with two restarts following crashes on turn one by Sonny Gay, then by George Simmons. This pair of collisions led to a suspension of racing as both ambulances on duty were busy. It was a sizeable delay but the racing did eventually get going again, Brad Turk running away with the race which again had to be stopped when Rob Hull spun Jack Woodroffe on turn two a couple of laps shy of the end. The spin cost Hull a place in the result, whilst Andrew Taylor and Tom Waller both got trophies. Race three finished without too many problems, Gary Archer easily jetting home as the winner ahead of Waller. Ben Murray and Jamie McAngus had a coming together at the start of the last heat which left McAngus stranded on the kerb on turn four, though the racing settled down with one black flag for Hull and a few other crunches including a four way crash on the pit fence, the lead hotly contested by Andrew Taylor and Charlie Court, Court hanging on to take the last heat victory of the day.

The first final went the way of Tom Waller after he caught early leader Ward and Court who had been pressuring hm for much of the race. Waller stayed up with them then found a hole on turn two inside and jetted past them for the win. Ward got stuck behind a back marker, allowing Court to go past for second, then Joe Simmons and Luke Armiger managed a late surge for third and fourth. Roy Laybourn took the consolation final with half a lap to spare from Jamie-Lee Potter.

Group A Hot Rods
It was quite a wait for the Group A Hot Rods at Arena Essex on April 24, but the first race finally got going, Mark West passing Joe Weal then sprinting away for the first win of the day, Dave Lamb doing well to grab second, though it was 4pm before he finally did it thanks to the Ministox. The second heat was a very tight race for the various positions behind runaway leader Dan Moulton, Lee Ayton doing a good job of holding Clinton Groom back for an eventual second place while Gary Rouse and Lamb fought their way home past Paul Smith, Chris Smith following later. Moulton then just hung on to win the third heat after pushing past Weal, Moulton unable to shake Groom, West and Steve Gooch. A crash on turns one and two outside involving Lee Hall and Richard Haines meant that the final was held up a little, and poor discipline from the remaining drivers led to a sloppy restart but they got going, Nicky Parris grabbing the restart lead as West was a little slow to get going. However he was pushed aside by Moulton, although his passing tactics resulted in a two place penalty, leaving the final trophy with Simon Simmons closely followed by Terry Bearman.

Last car: 349 Lewis Price/356 -

Sorry for the delay in the photos. I'm working on it at the moment!