Report by Mark Paulson
Pictures by Kev Wickham
JANE’S A GOLDEN GIRL
Former Lady Banger British Champion 369 Jane Allard struck gold at the Norfolk Arena, King’s Lynn on Saturday night, 2 November as she claimed the coveted on Gold Roof crown. The ladies were in destructive mood on Fireworks Fantasy night, while the Reliant Robins also contributed their own carnage. Completing the bill were the mighty 2-Litre Saloon Stock Cars where 641 Willie Skoyles Jr claimed a heat-and-final double and 115 Scott Aldridge scooped the annual White & Yellow Grade Series Final.
Lady Bangers
With one latecomer and a couple of others not making it, 19 ladies took part in the grand parade and gridded up according to their qualifying points, which used a multiplier system to boost the scores of the lower graded drivers. The complete grid lined up as follows:
|
Inside
|
Row
|
|
Outside
|
|
74 Caroline Garner
|
1
|
|
444 Natasha Street
|
|
369 Jane Allard
|
2
|
|
85 Kate Calver
|
|
1 Danielle Hewitt
|
3
|
|
762 Kerry Thurgill
|
|
345 Karen Lown
|
4
|
|
4 Stephanie Street
|
|
888 Vicki Hopkin
|
5
|
|
95 Jade Harbord
|
|
419 Laura Quadling
|
6
|
|
730 Marie Mayes
|
|
319 Jodie Grief
|
7
|
|
88 Alice Sullivan
|
|
79 Stacey Lightfoot
|
8
|
|
213 Trudy Gowler
|
|
344 Jessie Kennedy
|
9
|
|
8 Holly Slack
|
|
23 Debbie Clarke
|
10
|
|
|
74 Caroline Garner used pole position to shoot straight into the lead but was immediately spun out on the power station bend by fellow front row starter 444 Natasha Street. Defending champion 1 Danielle Hewitt was also involved in some heavy action from the off and ended up being turned into the home straight fence at quite some pace. Street continued to lead until she hit the spun 345 Karen Lown head on, which allowed 369 Jane Allard to take up the running from 762 Kerry Thurgill, a recovered Street and 85 Kate Calver. The latter then clipped the spun 888 Vicki Hopkin, while Street rotated Thurgill to return to second. Meanwhile, the recovering but lap-down Garner was on the rampage, putting away 4 Steph Street hard and then leaning sister Natasha into the parked Hopkin. That allowed Allard to stretch her lead and waltz to a thoroughly deserved win by a half a lap. British Champion 319 Jodie Grief was second, having steadily worked her way up from row seven, with a recovered Calver third. 730 Marie Mayes, 79 Stacey Lightfoot and Garner completed the top six in what had been a destructive race.
Allard went on to claim another comfortable looking win in the ladies’ first all comers race and then take third in the second, which was won by the lively Garner with a last bend move on 8 Holly Sack. Sack held onto second, her best ever result. Garner also scored a third in the first all comers race, behind outgoing Gold Roof champion Hewitt.
The ladies’ action was completed by their first ever destruction derby, with four cars taking part. It was a fitting way to end a bruising night’s racing.
Saloon Stock Cars
Another excellent turnout of 42 cars led to a two-thirds heat format being adopted, with the first doubling-up as the final of this year’s White & Yellow Grade Series. All who had scored points as white or yellow graders were eligible, which led to a big field of 28 cars, including two champions. They lined up in graded order, with top scorers at the front of their grade and grades closed up, as follows:
|
Inside
|
Row
|
|
Outside
|
|
192 Robert Heanes
|
1
|
|
404 Robert Bulldeath
|
|
232 Gavin Anderson
|
2
|
|
164 Neil Kent
|
|
301 Tom Welham
|
3
|
|
638 Martin Bulldeath
|
|
220 Casey Englestone
|
4
|
|
214 Tom Yould
|
|
115 Scott Aldridge
|
5
|
|
216 Dan Booth
|
|
391 Jake Banwell
|
6
|
|
130 Joe Gladden
|
|
23 Lee Pearce
|
7
|
|
912 Andi Newman
|
|
2 Paul Tuppen
|
8
|
|
777 Alan Ainslie
|
|
538 Jake Swann
|
9
|
|
128 Craig Banwell
|
|
730 Deane Mayes
|
10
|
|
738 Gary Munns
|
|
349 Michael Allard
|
11
|
|
26 Tommy Barnes
|
|
77 Glen Heeps
|
12
|
|
|
|
149 Jamie Sampson
|
13
|
|
152 Chris Fountain
|
|
303 Frank Loeff
|
14
|
|
|
|
306 Daniel Parker
|
15
|
|
428 Lee Sampson
|
When the race got underway, a big pile-up towards the back delayed many, while 2011 champion 164 Neil Kent made the early running from birthday-boy 301 Tom Welham. With the leaders quickly getting caught up amongst the delayed stars, 115 Scott Aldridge took advantage of the melee to move in front, while Kent was eliminated. Aldridge held his nerve to work through the traffic and seal the win. Behind him, Welham spun out of second with two laps to go, which allowed 128 Craig Banwell to be the runner-up, repeating his result of last year. 23 Lee Pearce completed the top three, with Welham recovering to fourth ahead of 26 Tommy Barnes and defending champion 130 Joe Gladden.
There were a similar number for heat two, where 360 Carl Waterfield continued his recent good form from the blue grade to take the win from 391 Jake Banwell and 641 Willie Skoyles Jr. After that, the rest of the evening was mainly about Skoyles and Pearce. Willie scythed through for a convincing win in heat three, with 428 Lee Sampson relieving Pearce of second in the closing stages.
Skoyles then went on to win the 35-car meeting final too. Welham led the early stages before a yellow flag was called to assist those caught in a pile-up on bend one, including track champion and new UK Superbowl champion 499 David Aldous. Welham initially pulled clear once the green flags flew but Pearce caught and passed him. As 152 Chris Fountain also tried to pass Welham he only succeeded in spinning himself, then getting clobbered by the pack. 304 Martyn Parker also clobbered the spun 638 Martin Bulldeath, which led to another caution period. Skoyles, second on the restart, proceeded to have a battle royal with Pearce, with the lead changing between them five times. With Skoyles ahead going down the back straight for the final time, Pearce lined up a last bend lunge and went in hard – too hard: both went to the fence, with the Londoner making heavy contact and then also catching the parked 420 Ivan Street machine. His car cried enough and he was left stranded as Skoyles recovered to take the win from 6 Simon Welton and Lee Sampson. 18 Jamie Clayton, 349 Michael Allard and 220 Casey Englestone completed the top six.
Pearce finally got the win his strong showing merited in the all comers race. After a complete restart to the race, a big roll for Allard led to early yellows, with Kent leading from Craig Banwell and Pearce. The three then had a great battle out front before yellows were called to remove cars who were failing to heed technical disqualification flags. By this time, Pearce was in front and he pulled away to win, despite being clutchless, from Englestone and 156 Darren Goudy. Despite 28 starters, there were only nine finishers as a few more were thrown out once the race was run for failing to respect flags.
Reliant Robins
On firework night, the three-wheelers added to the fun, with their own brand of thrills and lots of spills. There were the usual multiple rolls and shed bodywork amongst the 16 cars as 702 Allen Cooper won both heats and 85 James Ellis took the final, to continue their battle for the silver roof. In the first, Cooper caught and passed World of Shale champion 704 Stuart Henderson, with Ellis third, while in the second, it was Ellis that followed Cooper home. The final saw 379 Peter Graham well involved in some very big smashes, but it was Ellis that showed the pace required to turn the tables on Cooper, beating him home, with Henderson third.
White & Yellow Final (Heat 1) |
115 |
128 |
23 |
301 |
26 |
130 |
192 |
2 |
349 |
538 |
Heat 2 |
360 |
391 |
641 |
730 |
156 |
6 |
499 |
306 |
116 |
115 |
Heat 3 |
641 |
428 |
23 |
360 |
499 |
912 |
130 |
6 |
152 |
156 |
Final |
641 |
6 |
130 |
428 |
18 |
349 |
220 |
360 |
158 |
128 |
All Comers |
23 |
220 |
156 |
214 |
306 |
164 |
18 |
158 |
128 |
nof |
Gold Roof Final |
369 |
319 |
85 |
730 |
79 |
74 |
4 |
419 |
762 |
213 |
Heat 2 |
369 |
1 |
74 |
319 |
85 |
730 |
419 |
762 |
4 |
95 |
Heat 3 |
74 |
8 |
369 |
1 |
762 |
4 |
730 |
85 |
95 |
nof |
DD |
730 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Heat 1 |
702 |
704 |
85 |
185 |
379 |
490 |
nof |
|
|
|
Heat 2 |
702 |
85 |
72 |
247 |
490 |
379 |
185 |
70 |
nof |
|
Final |
85 |
702 |
704 |
72 |
490 |
311 |
247 |
70 |
791 |
nof |
Merit Awards |
155 |
247 |
379 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Entertainer Awards |
51 |
379 x 2 |
393 |
791 |
|
|
|
|
|
|