Chris Reed of Ringwood returned to the Arena Essex Raceway on November 6 to take the fourteenth Firecracker meeting with a heat and final double in a meeting full of great action and good material, with plenty of effort from all sides both before and during the meeting.

I must admit that my heart sank as I heard the weather forecast the previous evening, and hoped that it was up to the customary accuracy of the type. Unfortunately, they proved 100% accurate as the meeting opened in drizzle and went from shower to torrential downpour throughout the day. It was certainly a testament to those that stayed for the whole meeting as to how hardy the banger fan actually is! The weather conditions also contributed to some of the crashes, with the traction favouring the shaleway drivers. The day opened, however, with the on-track scrutineering and a chance for some of the copious numbers of photographers to get their first look at the days‘ material. There was certainly plenty to see, though maybe some folk needed to keep a tighter hold of their bonnets as more than one blew off along the back straight as the cars drove down to the queue of material waiting for a once-over.

As far as the material went, there was the usual load of Jags along with a sprinkling of Rovers and the odd permitted Granada (as usual, Granadas were barred except for the hearse or limo extended types). As has been the case over the last few years, this was amply augmented by a large American field, including limousines of all sizes. As far as large, old and unusual was concerned, the 1949 Buick of David Nichols was certainly impressive, as was the 1926 Daimler Hearse brought in by Mark Mitchell. The usual suspects also made an appearance including the Rolls-Royce Goldfinger special driven by Allan Trickett and a Spiderman Jag, a special effort by Mark Johns, known for his immaculate turnouts. The pre-race smart car awards eventually went to Trickett and Nichols, along with Danny Webb in another Rolls-Royce, this time decked out in Trotter memorabilia including portraits of the dynamic duo themselves! Runner up awards went to Johns, Mitchell and Belgium‘s Leslek Malinowski.

Race one, stoppage one as turn four became totally blocked with metal, Grant Butler getting the blunt end of a major run in from Steve Thacker with Matt Small‘s hearse, or what was left of it, acting as a guide, the wall adding the overall stopping power. Mark Cassidy also put his Nissan President to good destructive use on turn three which caught me by surprise to start with, especially as it was on the infamous corner where a certain limo went airborne the previous year! Thankfully, nothing was to make it over the wall this year, at least not in my direction! One of the upshots of all this early destruction, however, was that the whole pit bend was suddenly coated in oil which, with the amount of water flying about, meant that the circuit became even slicker than before. The eventual winner was Mark Whittaker who took the win after Mark Bartlett took a wrong turn close to the end, then took a thump from behind courtesy of Jason Pollard.

The second race was all about limos. Limos hitting each other head on, as was the case with Brett Fry and Steve Anscombe, and limos getting mobbed by other cars, Fry again in the frame as Steve Laybourn gave him one in the side below the start rostrum. The unusual Zodiac limo provided by Mark Thompson also came to grief as Fry decided to go out with a bang at the bridge end of the circuit, picking up a best wrecked award for his bruises, whilst Chris Reed got his pass into the final with an unremarkable win, six cars surviving this race. This wasn‘t just a race about limos after all — it was also about Belgian beer! Race three, on the other hand, was all about trying to stop one car by any means possible. It is debateable how Len Brinkley managed to pull this stunt off, and twice in one meeting no less, but it was certainly enjoyable to watch as he pushed his way to the finish line despite everything that Glyn Platts threw at him. It all started with Turbo Tom Reynolds turning early to take on anything and everything, a trick that has often earned him plenty of admiration, and a few penalties, in the past. This time it got him rather a lot of wreckage, the result being a playground for would-be bushwhackers on turn three. This was where most cars ended up, and where Brinkley had to be very careful when making his way through. Lap after lap, Platts tried and failed to stop Brinkley but ultimately failed, Brinkley getting the win as the last car running whilst Platts took a special award and a post finish t-bone from the winner for his efforts!

The fourth heat also featured a last car finish, though the scrapyard shifted in this race to the pit gate with Simon Smith providing the biggest hits, something he received the special award for this race for whilst Dave Truman got one of the days‘ best wrecked awards for what was left of his beast, what had been billed as a Granada Hearse, though closer inspection revealed that it had not always been used for that purpose. The win, however, went to three-times Essex SuperBanger Champion Nigel Carroll. By this time it had really started to rain heavily. Whether this was the reason behind the relatively light wreckage in the fifth heat or not isn‘t really known but Paul Woods took the best wrecked award for getting his boot lifted and Steve Kaye grabbed a special award for a series of hits on the back straight. Otherwise there wasn‘t a lot to the race which was taken by RDC irregular John Millen. That just left the sixth heat and another stoppage after Ashley Riley was mobbed by the field in what was the biggest start of the day. Whilst Riley was easily extracted from what was left of the Cadillac Fleetwood that Riley was using, said Fleetwood was much harder to extract from the field with its nose well and truly embedded in the front end of Tommy Harrell‘s Jag. Indeed, the over- exuberant marshals ended up wrecking the front of one of the tractors trying to bash the pair apart! The race itself, once restarted, went the way of former RJK champion Jason Jackson in yet another last car standing finish.

Of the two consolation races, the second was certainly the better received, though the first saw its fair share of large shunts, especially around the pit bend. Daniel Steele took the win, but the best performance award went the way of Leszek Malinowski for some seriously heavy action down the home straight towards the end of the event. The second consolation, however, boiled down to a fingertip win for Richard Steeghs who was finally stopped by Nutty Nige Riley only a short length from the line at the cost of his own car.

With the weather getting heavier and the sun completely gone, the final got under way. It did, however, suffer a stoppage as first race winner Sparky carried Lee Woodards down the back straight, across the safety area, over a sleeper. The marshal working at that point jumped for it as the two cars and the lump of wood approached him, but a stoppage was necessary at that point to allow for first aid access to the centre. Whittaker and Woodards ended up in the pit bend wall. Reed took the race by a comfortable distance ahead of Tony McNeil and John Millen. This just left the destruction derby, which was mostly a repeat of the third heat as Brinkley again made his way to the line, Neil Osbourne unable to stop him whilst Jan Verhoeven took his impressive green monster and put it to good use in a big shunt around the pit bend that finished more than one car, earning him a best wrecker award. This left the usual firework display to top off another season at Arena Essex.

The next season at Arena Essex begins at 2pm on March 12th, 2006.

Pre-meeting checks | Smart Car Parade | Action shots | Drivers List