Words by Mark Paulson
Local star 641 Willie Skoyles Jr claimed the final in the 2-litre saloon stock cars at the Norfolk Arena, King's Lynn on Sunday afternoon, 12 May. The weather tried to spoil proceedings for the latter half of the meeting but the saloons, together with micro bangers, lady bangers and junior bangers still put on some good racing, combined with plenty of crashing.
A mid-thirties turnout of saloons, including a first appearance for 179 Stephen Usher, a return for former Bumper Trophy runner-up 176 Murray Jones and a 2013-debut for 391 Jake Banwell in a very smart car, was present in the pits. A relatively thin field for the white and yellow grade heat still served up a good race. Out front, 192 Robert Heanes dominated from flag to flag, while 152 Chris Fountain made his way through to second. W&Y race specialist 214 Tom Yould, now starting from the yellows, had made his way past 637 Mick Bulldeath for second, only for Bulldeath to spin him out. Bulldeath was then spun from third place himself on the run to the flag by 391 Jake Banwell.
Nearly 30 cars took to the track for heat two, which was a super-fast paced race with action throughout. With no yellow graders except the late arriving 26 Tommy Barnes, 570 Simon Venni took advantage of his recent drop to blue to work his way to the front quickly, from where he held on for a clear win from Barnes and track champion 499 David Aldous.
The final heat proved to be the saloons' race of the day. Barnes spun early leader Fountain out of the lead and proceeded to build a big gap whilst everyone else was delayed. 149 Jamie Sampson also broke free from the pack to run in second, while 216 Dan Booth, who had been running well in the top three, took a pounding in the aftermath, leading to a full course caution period. On the restart, Sampson and Aldous both passed Barnes, with the 499-car then nipping through for the lead and Barnes fighting back to re-pass Sampson. However, a big gaggle of cars converged on the home straight, turning Jones into the fence and causing him to roll. The red flags came out and with barely a lap more completed, the order was reset, with Barnes resuming his place at the head of the queue. Only 16 of the 30 starters had survived by this stage. This time Aldous and 6 Simon Welton dispatched Barnes. The pair then proceeded to have an excellent battle for the lead; Welton moved ahead, only for Aldous to get back past with two laps to go. At the start of the final lap, the former 1300 saloon World Champion pushed Aldous wide to take a decisive lead, with 18 Jamie Clayton also passing the latter who had got caught behind a backmarker in the move, before recovering to third with Barnes fourth. English Champion 306 Daniel Parker had been running well until he was unable to avoid giving a very heavy head-on to the spun car of 328 Carl Issitt, leaving him with an injured foot and bringing his afternoon to a premature end.
By the time of the final, the rains had come and the cars were left to contend with a tricky surface. Over 30 cars contested the event, which featured a lot of spins. The impressive Fountain led much of the way before hitting trouble, allowing 641 Willie Skoyles Jr, who appears increasingly at home on a wet track, to take the flag from Issitt. It was a fine result from the recent convert from Brisca F2, while 538 Jake Swann came home third. In the all comers race, 402 Shaun Webster passed 349 Michael Allard to take the win, with the indefatigable Aldous also overtaking the former national banger star to finish as runner-up.
Over 30 micro bangers provided their usual levels of entertainment, with crashes galore. 351 Martin Evans must have thought he was back in his Reliant Robin when he rolled at the start of heat one. 380 Luke Johnson was taken in by 69 Jonny Wilkinson, while 390 David Gibson dished out a stiff head-on to claim himself an entertainers award. A second went to 83 Booby Wilmer who rolled when he tried to dish out a big follow-in to 9 Bruno Norman. 11 Ryan Leeks steered clear of too much trouble to take the win from 691 Ryan Bartram and Wilkinson.
On his return from a year off, 566 Tony Pallett soon resumed his feud with Garrod brothers. Things really kicked off in heat two, where 337 Ashley managed to take 566 Zippy Jr to the fence and delay him, setting up successive crunching packages from 338 Terry and 99 Ricky, before running-mate Norman also joined in with a hard hit over the front wheel of the Pallett's driver's side. Pallett didn't take things too badly, however, as there were handshakes all round when the race had to be red-flagged to attend to 284 Justin Roff who had hurt his neck when done by 743 Kevan Bartram after 288 Phillips put in 394 Baines. There was a lengthy delay while Roff was cut out his car – best wishes go to him for a speedy recovery. On the restart, the lively Gibson delivered a good shot on the roadside bend, but then there was a relatively quiet period until 601 Chris Medler followed in 123 Clements, with both rolling on impact, a cue for more red flags. Leeks led away the restart but 199 Davey Cox soon found a way through to take the win, with Ashley Garrod passing Leeks and 381 Sam Harbour in one move to take second.
A healthy 25 cars, including 908 Lewis Judd taking his first outing of the day, survived for the final which was held in far from ideal conditions. An early red flag was called to attend to Baines, while on the restart Cox followed in Norman when both were well placed in the race order. 271 Ashlun Woods spun Evans out of the lead, but both were delayed, allowing Ashley and Terry Garrod through. The latter then passed his brother to take the win, while Wilmer came home third.
There were 22 lady bangers present including a handful of new or returning names. 213 Trudy Gowler took advantage of her downgrading to white to dominate the first heat, winning by a big margin from 444 Natasha Street and 74 Caroline Garner. Heat two then went the way of the impressive 57 Hannah Godfrey in only her second meeting, with the soggy track causing a slower-paced race. 127 Vicky Henderson brought a poor recent run to an end with second place, while Gowler picked up another trophy in third. A slightly depleted field took part in the final on what was now a very wet track. Garner impressed on her way to the win from Godfrey and 85 Kate Calver.
The junior bangers numbered 16, with 51 James Licquorice using his experience and yellow grade starting slot to full effect to win the first heat, spinning 32 Callum Henderson out of the lead on the way. The latter had revenge in heat two when he drove a very fast race to lead from flag to flag, while 386 Daniel Petters took a heavy hit into the fence. As with the other categories, the wet track made things difficult in the final, but 364 Bradley Bull made things looked easy. The pint-sized Nissan Micra pilot even had time for a spin, as he otherwise pulled away with ease to take the win his pace deserved, ahead of Petters and 322 Cody Storr.
Next up, it's the big one: Axestinction!
Heat 1 (White & Yellows) |
192 |
152 |
391 |
216 |
349 |
538 |
220 |
214 |
nof |
|
Heat 2 |
570 |
26 |
499 |
306 |
149 |
730 |
428 |
217 |
18 |
360 |
Heat 3 |
6 |
18 |
499 |
26 |
360 |
152 |
570 |
217 |
116 |
350 |
Final |
641 |
328 |
538 |
402 |
360 |
349 |
217 |
18 |
156 |
22 |
All Comers |
402 |
499 |
349 |
641 |
18 |
6 |
328 |
26 |
360 |
391 |
Heat 1 |
11 |
691 |
69 |
337 |
338 |
351 |
700 |
733 |
186 |
276 |
Heat 2 |
119 |
337 |
11 |
572 |
338 |
691 |
733 |
nof |
|
|
Final |
337 |
338 |
83 |
69 |
572 |
511 |
119 |
nof |
|
|
Destruction Derby |
338 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Merit Awards |
69 |
182 |
186 |
239 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Final |
83 |
390 |
691 |
708 |
908 |
|
|
|
|
|
Heat 1 |
213 |
444 |
74 |
1 |
369 |
127 |
88 |
762 |
661 |
319 |
Heat 2 |
57 |
127 |
213 |
888 |
316 |
444 |
85 |
1 |
762 |
4 |
Final |
74 |
57 |
85 |
444 |
369 |
762 |
319 |
432 |
1 |
660 |
Heat 1 |
51 |
77 |
323 |
93 |
322 |
386 |
868 |
123 |
131 |
660 |
Heat 2 |
32 |
119 |
868 |
93 |
77 |
323 |
131 |
309 |
322 |
69 |
Final |
364 |
386 |
322 |
399 |
309 |
77 |
51 |
119 |
32 |
nof |