2-litre Bangers Lightning Rods SuperBangers

SuperBangers
The July 22 meeting at Arena Essex for the Superbangers saw a triumphant return to the circuit by Dave Barwick, with two heat wins and a second place final finish behind Romford driver Chris Trickett.

Barwick took the lead early in the restarted first heat which was stopped when Chris Smith was destroyed out of turn four and was left helpless across the home straight. Trickett, defending his 2006 Davies Preparations Drivers' title, finished third in both heats, the first behind Tubbs Butler who tried hard to catch Barwick but ran out of time, the second behind Phil Butler in a race that was somewhat dirtier, a number of crashes - both intentional and accidental - depriving the final of its full compliment of racers. Trickett jetted through the field in the final, taking the trophy easily while the Butlers took a heavier hand to the cars in front of them which effectively slowed them down, Tubbs again unable to catch Barwick while Alec Mortimer got his best finish of the day, keeping Phil firmly behind him.

Lightning Rods
The Lightning Rod meeting at Arena Essex on July 22 was certainly worth watching with white top dominance in the heats leading to a fascinating final taken by former Lightning Rod World Champion, Rick Pannell.

The heats both went to Carl Banks of Chelmsford, racing his Morrow sponsored Sierra in conditions that went from the sublime to the ridiculous as oil dropped from one stricken car around the pit bend which effectively cost Stephen Powell a win in the second heat as he fought for control and lost, hitting the turn one wall after snaking down the home straight with only a couple of laps to go. Indeed Banks inherited the lead in both heats, Simon Fennell doing well off the start only to go out in a home straight spin leaving Banks in charge, Powell catching up but unable to pass in time.

The final was really worth the wait, with Banks lining up on pole thanks to the double win. His story, however, finished there as the opening laps saw Andy Brown, one of a number of Clacton based drivers, take the lead ahead of Pannell. From that point on, Pannell tried repeatedly to get past but, with Brown on the inside and taking the pressure well, he could not find a way through. Meanwhile, behind him, Terry Shelvey was going at it with Alfie Smith in a battle that was at least as close as the one in front, made all the more interesting when Gary Greenland reached that point late in the race and promptly joined in. It was, therefore, unfortunate that Brown would lose the lead inside the final laps as his inside front tyre went flat after he got a little too close to the inside kerb, allowing Pannell the victory and Shelvey second place though Brown managed to console himself with third place.

2l Bangers
Business as usual? Almost, but not quite. While the bangers at Arena Essex yet again endulged in the team wars that have been a feature of the action for the last couple of years, the pit bend being almost scripted, some of the action at the July 22 meeting gave the more jaded fans something else to see. While the first race was mostly taken up with little contact besides the annihilation of Phil Milner on the pit bend by various black cars, notably Billy Lee, and one fetch-in for Tilbury's Tony Frith by eventual winning driver Paul Whiteman, the second heat contained more actual contact including a crushing for Simon Smith on turn two as well as a rollover, the second in as many weeks, for Sonny Sherwood though the South Ockendon driver was disqualified from further racing that day when he attempted to put his car back on its wheels during the race, an action that the steward considered dangerous. That second heat went the way of Jason Jackson in an eight car finish. That just left the final which saw the mostly Colchester based Gladiator team totally trashed yet again, though the few pink cars in attendance also ended up getting involved in the wrecking for once. It was also another win for Paul Whiteman, finishing ahead of Jackson and Danny Gardiner. Frankie Skinner took the latest winning entry to the Rawlins 2000 while Lewis Barber just managed to keep his car going long enough to get into the same final in October via the last car running route.

© 2007 Chris Johnson (Crashnet) / Promotasport Raceways