Crashnet > Reports Index > PRI 2008 Index > Meeting 08/26

Bangers
The Gladiator team made a return to Arena Essex on August 10 for the annual Brian Orgles Memorial meeting following an absence that started at the very first fixture of the year when the team abandoned the meeting en masse in a protest relating to a team war that had been raging for the last couple of years or more. The first race was fairly tame by comparison, but the second race saw things really take off with Simon Smith making a nuisance of himself around the pit bend, Lewis Barber and, as the race drew on, Blacknuts Douglas getting back into the old routine, both drivers loaded up for attacking off the centre and ignoring the black flag, this incident eventually leading to an unfortunate situation in the pits. The current fracas between the Blue team and the Midnight Runners also continued through the meeting, with a sizeable pile of scrap left after each event.

The race wins went to two returning drivers that, for the most part, stayed clear of the wrecking, though the number of cars that managed this was quite low as the two different wars continued, the first salvo being when Sonny Sherwood, a long time combatant in the older conflict, was slammed into the back wall by Phillip Smith, destroying the front end, while Mark Marchant was squished on the home straight and Roy Laybourne (the elder one) ended up in a four way crunch on turn two along with, amongst others, Jason Jackson. Lee West took the trophy for the first heat, although his car sounded somewhat sick in the last couple of laps. It was the second heat, however, where things kicked off in earnest, with crashes on the pit bend soon blocking the way. It all got started on the pit bend when George Goodearl hit Josh Fuller head on, Fuller's car exploding in flames at the front as a result. Sean Harvey met up with Michael Outen before Dave Osborn waded in, pushing both into the turn four fence. It was shortly after this that Simon Smith started to make things difficult on the pit bend for anyone that happened through, which was when Karl Douglas turned is car on the safety area and started in. Lewis Barber followed suit, this getting them both black flags which both promptly ignored, Douglas even crashing into Smith after the red flag. Despite this and hits from Michael Outen, Danny Brown and George Goodearl, Smith still managed to keep going through the meeting. The race went to Richie Ahern.

The final went the same way, the race stopped midway following a multiple collision on the pit bend. Although most of the Gladiator and Bad Company cars were out of it by this time, the battle between the other teams continued, including Marchant in a car with no two wheels pointing the same way and Jimmy Randall trying to make the best hit in a car with a problem going forward. Again the finishing field was small compared with the number of cars towed off in pieces, and Ahern accepted this year's Brian Orgles Memorial Trophy for his trouble. It was trouble, however, that had already erupted on the circuit, and trouble would then spill over into the pits which, coupled with the number of cars destroyed in earlier racing, meant that the field in the Rawlins 2000 Qualifier was much reduced and, when yet another collision halted proceedings, the steward called a halt, awarding the two places in the final to Lee West in first place and John Golden in second as the skies opened.

1300cc Stock Cars
Dave Lamb, a multiple champion in the Group A Hot Rods, swapped his non-contact formula for the contact of the 1300cc Stock Cars in the August 10 fixture at Arena Essex, starting the meeting off with a double heat win. Lamb, one of two new drivers in the meeting, seemed to enjoy the difference as he pushed Dave Barwick aside for the second win in a meeting that wasn‘t short on contact generally. With two wins, however, Lamb was pushed back down the field to a position that he is a little more familiar win in his hot rod, leaving Alex Guintini to pull down a win well ahead of the eventual place cars, Jack Wheelwright just nipping second spot from Barwick on the line while Lamb battled another former Group A champion, Gary Finch.

Lightning Rods
The Supreme Championship Qualifier for the Lightning Rods at Arena Essex on August 10 was a complete success for Andy Brown who took the lead from the outside front row in the final and, despite pressure most of the way by Mark Collins and later by Dale Atkins, he managed to hold the line for a win in the meeting final. It also started out well for Tony Gordon who, after succesive engine failures in recent meetings, pulled off a double heat win earlier in the day to get pole position, though he failed to capitalise on it in the final, dropping to fourth place by the end. His wins in the heats were fairly easy; the first heat saw a heated contest between Chris Reeve, Mark Collins and Andy Brown, while the second heat was gifted to Gordon when the white tops got into a muddle on the inside of turn one on the first lap, Gordon hitting the outside line and the open space and leaving the rest of the field to sort itself out.

Footnote:
During the meeting, there was a certain amount of violence on the circuit and in the pits. The attempt by some drivers to control the meeting to their own ends and to use violence against other drivers led to police intervention in the pits late in the meeting, which eventually drove the promotion, during the course of the following week, to issue the following open letter to all drivers.

© 2008 Chris Johnson (Crashnet) / Promotasport Raceways