STREET’S AHEAD OF THE OPPOSITION
by Mark Paulson
Veteran shale specialist 420 Ivan Street won the main event in the mighty 2-litre saloon stock cars at a wet King’s Lynn on Saturday night, 13 April. The wins lifts him into the top six of the track championship, but it was the top three of 499 David Aldous, 641 Willie Skoyles Jr and 306 Daniel Parker who continued to pile on the points and open out a gap at the head of the table. Ministox graduate 344 Ryan Fisher continued his fantastic start to life in 1300cc stock cars with another heat and final double in another great night of action for the smaller saloons. Meanwhile, the micro bangers provided their usual brand of mayhem with a packed field of cars, and the junior bangers took their bow at the Norfolk Arena with a decent entry and some impressive performances from the young lads.
The forecasted rain failed to dampen the enthusiasm of the ‘heavy metal brigade’ national saloon stock cars as another big entry of very nearly 40 rolled into the pits. A two-from-three heat format was adopted, with the first outing being just for white and yellow graded drivers. White top 214 Tom Yould continued his run of good form to dominate the 19-car field, winning from another man who’s made a great start to 2013 – 306 Daniel Parker – and 730 Dean Mayes.
Heat two saw 29 cars on track, with some early spins delaying several of the red tops. Once recovered, a couple, like 6 Simon Welton, ran with the leaders throughout, but were a lap down. Yould once again raced into an early lead but a spin dropped him back. 360 Carl Waterfield came through to win, with 698 Danny Colliver second and 641 Willie Skoyles Jr third.
Up to 31 cars for heat three, the race with no white graded drivers. That allowed the yellows a clean break and 257 Timmy Aldridge to continue his great start to life in the saloons by streaking away for an easy win. Parker claimed another second place, while 499 David Aldous looked fast on his way to third. The race saw a first outing for novice 270 Matt Fuller who started from the back but looked well in control. A contemporary of 27 Roy Fuller was 116 Diggy Smith – the legendary saloon driver was making yet another comeback on the night. Smith finished this one in eighth, a repeat of his first outing of the night, having spun after running well in the opening laps. The car was steaming heavily by the end of the race and further mechanical gremlins would strike in the remainder of the meeting. With a sorted car, and assuming he sticks around this time, Diggy will surely be a force to be reckoned with once more.
The all-in final also featured 31 cars – those that had survived the heats. Unfortunately the race had to be stopped after a simmering feud boiled over on – and off – track. 698 Danny Colliver absolutely blitzed the stationary 115 Scott Aldridge, full-pelt, inflicting banger-style damage, despite the ironwork on Aldridge’s machine. As Aldridge attempted to reverse his stricken car onto the turn four infield, he clipped the passing Aldous, sending the latter head-first into the home straight fence at unabated speed. Aldous will surely be sore after that one. That wasn’t the end of the incident, however, as Colliver completed another lap before performing a full-bore t-bone on the Aldridge machine which had by now made it to the infield. The two then proceeded to have a private DD on in the safety area, sending race officials running for cover and leaving no option but to throw the red flags. It’s a shame, as both are great racers, and Colliver in particular has shown great commitment since his switch from Spedeworth two or three years ago.
When the race finally got back underway, 730 Deane Mayes led the field, with the now lap-down Aldous and 538 Jake Swann, also lapped, providing a buffer back to second-placed Parker. Aldous quickly unlapped himself and turned some quick laps in, with Mayes delayed enough to let the pack back on his tail. Street, Parker and 389 Ryan Santry nipped through, before 402 Shaun Webster gradually picked them off. He couldn’t catch Street though, who streaked to the flag, while Parker held on for third.
Only 16 cars made it back out for the all comers race where most of the blues and reds got caught up in a big early pile-up. Aldous avoided it though and soon hit the front, before easing to the win. Parker, 217 Sid Madgwick and 738 Gary Munns had a great scrap over second, with Parker prevailing after he had spun Madgwick. Three seconds and a third for the Norwich-based youngster: not a bad night’s work! Skoyles eventually overcame Munns for third.
The smaller 1300cc saloon stox had another excellent turnout of 34 cars, including a number of very smart looking new machines. Top marks to 90 Joey Holmes (Honda CRX), 119 Scott Clarke (Vauxhall Corsa) and 409 Carlos Pears (Corsa) for their efforts. 07 Ady Moden also sported a smart new livery, there was a first appearance for a third member of the Jackson family – 550 Jamie – while it was also good to see 276 Stephen Walden return to the track.
All 34 made it out for heat one, where the wet conditions did make it hard going for the less powerful saloons. As the green flag flew there was carnage on the power station bend, with a whole host of cars involved. With 55 Josh Harlock shaken up, the red flags came out and a complete restart ordered. Schoolboy sensation 344 Ross Fisher soon hit the front of the re-run before pulling off after a good battle with 143 Sam Begley. 573 Shane Moat showed supreme racecraft to very quickly work his way up the order and take the win. He survived a scare in the closing laps as his engine began to give off more and more stream. In fact, brother 473 Dean faced a similar problem and was forced to pull off, enveloped in a huge cloud. 177 Chris Masters was second, ahead of 316 Danny McCluskey. Clarke and Pears both scored good results in the new cars, fourth and fifth.
Early yellow flags were called for in heat two with all three Jackson cars spun, two of them stranded mid-track, facing oncoming traffic. Fisher led away the restart but faced an onslaught from the Moat brothers who swarmed all over him for a few laps. Fisher drove superbly to fend them off and then open out a gap as he eased to his sixth win in four meetings. Shane Moat prevailed in second, while wet weather specialist McCluskey fought his way past Dean Moat for third.
Just 19 cars survived the attrition to make it on track for the final. Early leader 781 Scott Sparrow was soon chased down and passed by Fisher. Meanwhile Dean Moat made good early progress but took a while to get by Sparrow. 09 Buster Ketteringham seized the opportunity and passed the pair of them. The other man who had shown prodigious pace all evening was Shane Moat but his progress had been delayed by a heavy hit into a marker tyre early in the race. He made an excellent recovery to work his way to fourth by the end of the race, ahead of 447 Richard Hampshire and Sparrow. All that had allowed Fisher to build a lead he would never relinquish – three shale meetings down and Ross has won the final at every single one. His lead in the national points chart now stands at an incredible 64 points.
The micro bangers raised a larger than expected number of cars, reaching the mid-40s. Their first race, with over 40 cars on track, was almost non-stop action. Through it all came ‘Captain Slow’ 155 Sam Coote, who drove an excellent race, removing 791 Nicky Young en route to victory. 851 Adam ‘Intimidator’ Storr claimed the entertainers award, while Mad Hatters debutant 394 Tom Baines was blown up by 601 Chris Medler, with his front tyre also exploding and disintegrating in impressive fashion.
Amazingly, almost 40 cars returned for heat two. Baines was again in the action, along with Cool Running pair 26 Paul and 62 Craig Lovick, who were all involved in stiff shots on the power station bend. 9 Bruno Norman also got involved, before 551 Brett Jackson, better known for his exploits in Robins, thundered in 363 Chopper. Hard hits were going in all over the place and it was 840 Dan Waddingham, something of a micro specialist, who scooped the entertainers award in this one. 99 Ricky Garrod drove an excellent race to take the win from 791 Spud and 128 Andy Shipp.
21 cars survived for the final by which time the rain had almost stopped and the saloons had made something of a dry racing line. Spud and 257 Jamie Neave were particularly lively, as Garrod survived an attempted fencing by the latter to race to another win. Neave was also involved in the big pile-up that formed on the back straight, which also featured Jackson and 83 Bobby Wilmer, to earn himself the entertainers award.
A number of late entries swelled the ranks of junior bangers to the 20 mark on their Norfolk Arena debut. Three drivers dominated proceedings – 123 Kieran Gray took a heat and final double, while 316 Sam Dace won the other heat and also scored a second place. 77 Callum Gill, a former junior banger gold roof holder at Swaffham, also raced well to a second and two thirds. In the final, Gray won by an impressively large margin after early leader 730 Brandon Mayes had been turned into the back straight fence. Having taken the chequered flag, Gray then managed to clip the 730 car and end up crashing into a marker tyre. It failed to take the shine off an impressive performance from the youngster though, or his fellow racers, who will next be in action at the Norfolk Arena on Sunday 28 April.
Heat 1 (White & Yellows) |
214 |
306 |
730 |
738 |
128 |
217 |
22 |
389 |
257 |
220 |
Heat 2 |
360 |
698 |
641 |
499 |
428 |
214 |
402 |
116 |
512 |
216 |
Heat 3 |
257 |
306 |
499 |
328 |
420 |
641 |
128 |
116 |
401 |
158 |
Final |
420 |
402 |
306 |
730 |
389 |
26 |
499 |
641 |
570 |
217 |
All Comers |
499 |
306 |
641 |
738 |
570 |
6 |
730 |
217 |
158 |
428 |
Heat 1 |
155 |
62 |
11 |
791 |
271 |
338 |
22 |
48 |
128 |
390 |
Heat 2 |
99 |
791 |
128 |
338 |
572 |
551 |
257 |
601 |
390 |
840 |
Final |
99 |
11 |
381 |
128 |
338 |
376 |
572 |
48 |
337 |
nof |
Destruction Derby |
128 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Entertainer Awards |
83 |
93 |
257 |
840 |
851 |
888 |
|
|
|
|
Heat 1 |
573 |
177 |
316 |
119 |
409 |
838 |
704 |
7 |
374 |
10 |
Heat 2 |
344 |
573 |
316 |
473 |
412 |
377 |
119 |
7 |
447 |
653 |
Final |
344 |
9 |
473 |
573 |
447 |
781 |
377 |
316 |
802 |
7 |
Heat 1 |
316 |
123 |
77 |
504 |
323 |
69 |
119 |
873 |
nof |
|
Heat 2 |
123 |
316 |
77 |
119 |
93 |
131 |
323 |
730 |
873 |
51 |
Final |
123 |
77 |
322 |
131 |
323 |
868 |
nof |
|
|
|