BriSCA F2 Stock Cars World Qualifying Round 1600cc Bangers Series 1 Ladies Bangers Outlaw Hot Rods

Ladies Bangers
Sharon Worthington took the second round of the Ladies Banger qualifiers, spinning Alison Wright amongst other things on her way to the win at Arena Essex on April 29. Last month's winner, Danielle Hewitt, again managed to work her way to the front runners, securing second place while a late spin for Stacey Ruskin meant third was all she could hope for.

1600cc Bangers
The second round of the first 1600cc Banger Series on April 29 at Arena Essex saw a continued domination by Rainham based defending PRI Drivers' Champion Jason Jackson as he took heat, final and Rawlins qualifier wins in a meeting that saw a partial break with the usual team based antics, a group of visitors from Spedeworth along with a number of day licenced drivers stirring things up. The first race was fairly tame, though John Small lived up to his name with possibly the smallest car of the meeting which, though it didn't go very fast and cornered badly, it did manage to give the Gillingham driver a ninth place finish and a later sixth spot in the final. The first heat was won by John Seex in a mostly contact free race. The second heat, however, was anything but contact free, with Nicky Walker and Darryl Bennet, both on day licences, took each other on in the midst of what started off as the usual team wrecking while Lee Clarke was involved in possible the biggest hit of the race by the pit gate, Jackson leading only six cars home through the pit bend wreckage. This set the tone for the final, which turned into a destruction derby on the pit bend, the few cars that survived picking a circuitous route through the carnage, seven cars only surviving, broken up over a number of laps. This left the Rawlins qualifier which saw an interesting variation by Phillip Smith who had seen his fair share of hits that day but, on the approach of Wayne Byrne, he dodged inside on turn four, letting Byrne run into the fence! Jackson took the win again, while Clarke took on his Spedeworth chum Luke Parfitt, though a final head-on was too much for Clarke's banger, giving Parfitt the last trophy of the day.

Outlaw Hot Rods
Richard Simmons left his mark on Arena Essex in the April 29 Outlaw Hot Rod meeting, a first and second place in the heats giving him the pole position in the final and a basis for a flag-to-flag victory. Simmons took victory in the first heat by over half a lap from Philip Young in a race that saw, among other things, Mick Pageant catching fire and a close race by banger sponsor Roy Rawlins lost as he spun off second place close to the end. Simmons then settled for second behind Dick Burtenshaw in the second heat which, to start with, had been a series of calamities including a spin for Mark White, catching Rawlins and early leader Terry Bell out. Bell ran into the back of the stopped Rawlins car and had to retire, though Rawlins was able to rejoin and took a sixth place finish, only seven cars finishing. Simmons then took advantage of his pole start in the final, holding Burtenshaw and Young off despite determined efforts to pass.

BriSCA F2 Stock Cars
April 29 was the day that the BriSCA F2 Stock Cars met at Arena Essex for the World Championship qualifying round, made all the more important this year as the circuit will be hosting the World Championship finals in September. Chris Cuming chose this meeting to put in a heat and final double, upstaging many of the star grade drivers in attendance in a well attended meeting. James Thackra was victorious in an easy first heat, while Cuming easily picked up the trophy once he had fended off the Northern Ireland visitor, Gary Chambers. The consolation race, however, seemed reluctant to start as, first, Nick Rogers vaulted his car on the home straight, collapsing one side then the race had to be stopped as Tom Smart clumped his rear inside wheel, ripping it off round the pit bend into the back straight. Once all was cleared, however, former track champion Barry Goldin reminded us all that he knows the circuit well enough by following Chris Roots through the field then, once both had passed early leader Steve Davis, Goldin let Roots have it, grabbing the front while Davis reclaimed one place, sending Roots back behind a late charge from Matthew Deeble, one of many West Country visitors. The final was, as a result, very crowded, which gave the star grades a little too much to do though Thackra and defending World Champion, Gordon Moodie, made a good run of it behind Bill Batten. Cuming finished first, ahead of Batten, Thackra and Moodie. However, following the event, Batten was removed from the result; his car was found to be illegal due to a problem with the geometry on the rear wheels following what was presumed to be some contact. Gary Chambers then went to improve on his first heat result by easily winning in the Grand National Qualifier race ahead of Canvey Island local, Darren Phillips, and Daz Kitson.

Penalties
bs38 penalised 4 places in event 7 for starting out of formula
bs167 removed from event 10 result (was second) following failure of technical check. Following contact, it was found that part of the rear geometry of the car was no longer within specification. This was agreed by the driver.
B165 was loaded before event 9 for failing to wear overalls/speeding in pit area
B308 was loaded following event 9 for ignoring marshal/steward instruction
B460 was loaded following event 9 for ignoring marshal/steward instruction

Crashnet Photos

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Also see Matthew Bull Photographic for more photos from this meeting.

© 2007 Chris Johnson (Crashnet) / Promotasport Raceways