whistlinjacksmith Hot Rod Racing ISSUE ISSUE 9: 9: JULY 2012 JULY 2012
SPEDEWEEKEND SPECIAL Bell wins controversial wet World Full qualifying data Reports on Nationals, 2L, Lightning Rods and Stock Rods
Bell w ins co ntrov ersial Diggy wet W & Mur orld ray ta ke Br itish t itles Whistlinjacksmith.co.uk 1
What do you call a man with a car on his head? Insert your own punchline
WJS EDITORIAL Spedeweekend is the best weekend of the year for me, it’s like three meetings rolled into one. I could just stay in my chair for 48 hours straight getting baked – that’s being sunburnt before anyone gets ideas of what I really do. The sunburn is an interesting issue as I can clearly remember getting sunburnt whilst at Primary School from a Spedeweekend, the topic came up recently with friends and I was told by several I had bad parents to let that happen to their child. Now I have grown up I see nothing wrong that incident I mean is it really that bad to sit with your child through the wind, rain and sun to tighten your family bond with a past-time that has lasted decades? PAUL BALLARD
All pictures in this issue taken by Peter Ballard unless stated
2 whistlinjacksmith.co.uk
Contents ISSUE 9: JULY 2012
4
NHR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
4
This year Glenn Bell won in a downpour that subdued the atmosphere but the race itself has become the most controversial of all time. 8
NHR BEST IN BRITAIN
Taking second place in a World Final is not enough for some people and after drawing an advantageous grid position Gavin Murray romped home in the Best in Britain. 10
2L BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIP
Shane Murray retained his British title with a drive
8
around the outside of fellow Northern Irish driver Derek Martin. 12
LIGHTNING ROD BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIP
In a championship race where second to eighth on the road had their positions changed because of penalties you would expect Diggy to be one of those. 14
STOCK ROD EURO CHALLENGE CUP
15
CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND-UP
16
OTHER NEWS ITEMS
ISSUE 9: JULY 2012
10 16 12 Whistlinjacksmith.co.uk 3
Bell wins World crown in the wet FORMULA
National Hot Rods
In the 40 year history of the race there had
EVENT
World Championship
been three completely wet races before the
FIRST HELD
1972
VENUE
Foxhall, Ipswich
winning from 27th on the grid. Skip for-
DATE
8th July 2012
ward two years earlier and the Phil White
2012 event. The last being the 1990 event where Davy McCall surprised everyone by
v George Polley meeting is classed as one of the greatest world finals. This year Glenn Bell won in a downpour that subdued the atmosphere but the race itself has become the most controversial of all time.
4 whistlinjacksmith.co.uk
Qualifying 187 Ronnie McKenzie
14.97 14.88 14.98
303 Matt Simpson
14.79 14.47 14.62
100 Dick Burtenshaw
NA
11 Neville Loosemore
14.73 14.50 14.47
209 Kym Weaver
14.98 14.69 14.62
174 Jason Kew
14.85 14.74 14.55
95 Gavin Murray
14.62 14.56 14.66
996 Stewart Doak
14.65 14.47 14.51
970 Shane Murphy
14.47 14.25 14.25
116 Steve Burrows
14.87 14.57 14.51
961 Tom Casey
15.07 14.86 14.64
911 Malcolm Blackman 14.68 14.36 14.26
39 Terry Hunn
14.69 14.58 14.55
467 Winnie Holtmanns
14.83 14.64 14.49
72 Willie Hardie
14.57 14.39 14.57
115 Chris Haird
14.32 14.2
162 Carl Waller-Barrett 14.73 14.64 14.61
555 Gavin Taber
14.69 14.71 15.04
780 Mike Loosemore
15.24 14.83 14.72
962 John Christie
14.31 14.25 14.33
152 Shaun Taylor
14.97 14.82 14.79
60 Mark Paffey
14.74 14.51 14.42
9 Glenn Bell
14.54 14.45 14.50
994 Keith Martin
14.68 14.48 14.48
940 Gary Woolsey
14.50 14.27 14.31
92 Jack Blood
14.56 14.98 14.40
339 Danny Hunn
14.95 14.78 14.79
844 Billy Bonnar
14.70 14.49 14.42
10 Samantha Holland
14.97 14.85 NA
99 Wayne Lee
15.53 15.22 15.34
155 Lee Pepper
14.82 14.63 14.63
278 Colin Gomm
14.90 14.47 14.40
66 John V.D Bosch
14.89 14.77 14.69
261 David Casey
14.79 14.61 14.54
871 Graeme Callender
14.99 14.73 14.58
14.69 14.57
Before racing got underway Dick Hillard was rushed into hospital when he collapsed in the pits, although he did return to the track that day it enabled Samantha Holland to step up to the race. Lee Pepper was also promoted by one group. Perfect conditions for the qualifying hot laps were opened up by Ronnie McKenzie in a new Tigra. The lap times got interesting with the fifth driver Shane Murphy set two identical laps of 14.25 seconds. Coming close to that time was Gary Woolsey with 14.27 but he would eventually be bumped back to group 2 when John Christie also set a time of 14.25, his second best time of 14.31 meant he would start behind Murphy. On the English side their times were not looking good until Malcolm Blackman set a time of 14.26 which put him to the front of group 2 and behind Matt Simpson who only set a time of 14.47. The man that took pole
was Chris Haird with a lap time of 14.20 which was the same time as last years’ pole position from Simpson. Glenn Bell’s lap time was the 10th quickest and due to the group systems started the race 14th all his lap times were within 0.09 seconds of each other making him the second most consistent driver on the grid, Christie the best for this criterion. For those reading that like stats Gavin Taber was the only driver who set his best lap on his opening lap. After the weight issues of last year this year the problem this time was tyres when Carl Waller-Barrett and Willie Hardie had registered the wrong tyres, the pair were given a pardon by fellow drivers. Some may think problem solved but the consequences of this event is the resignation of Dave and Carole Longhurst from the NHRPA after the Spedeweekend.
Grid 115 962 303 911 844 116 209 11 115 92 994 100 278 261 961 339 10 970
72
95
940
60
162
9
14.27
174 780 996
39
555 467 871
66
99
152 187
Whistlinjacksmith.co.uk 5
The Race
Those that feel it is tradition to
moved into second place as Blackman moved clear,
carry on camping during the
Christie fell back as other Northern Irish drivers came
weekend had seen the weather
through the pack.
change overnight from sunshine (hot enough to burn the skin on Saturday) to a downpour in the early hours.
Murray’s second place disappeared when Simpson
Once the gates were opened it was clear to see the vol-
turfed him aside, Murray got himself back into the race
ume of water than fallen, half the speedway track under-
but lost a lot of time, Simpson was shown a black cross
neath water. The sweepers tried to suck away the water
at this point. Up front Blackman had created a lead of a
but it continued to fall until mid-afternoon.
quarter of a lap but was being reeled in by Simpson. Not far behind him was Murphy (who was getting to grips
The formalities of the grid interviews were carried out
with the conditions) and Bell. Christie and Haird were
with the continual bias best presented team went to a
falling away from the leaders.
continental driver; Jason Kew may feel aggrieved having been the only team with matching umbrellas. As the
In traffic Blackman was forced to take the outside line
grid cleared of mechanics and family members Holland
and the chasing trio started to make up a lot of ground.
was struggling to get going, however the cars started to
Simpson though got wrong footed and fell back to
circulate on the shake-down laps Holland fired up and
fourth as Murphy and Bell moved inside. It stayed like
was into the race.
that for several laps until Murphy was bumped out of the race by Simpson, the spun car on turn 3 forced cars
Noticeable comments from the drivers during the inter-
to race on either side of the car, trying the outside was
views were those that had yet to race in full wet condi-
Doak who clipped the Murphy car. Doak had quietly
tions at Ipswich in their present car or even in National
moved up to fifth position (probably the quickest on
Hot Rods. Pole-sitter Haird was one of the drivers not
track and passed more cars than Bell at this point) but
feeling too confident in the wet but still lead away the
was now out of the race along with Murphy.
race, Christie moved pass into the lead but took back that lead. Christie came back inside as Haird failed to
The race restart was at the halfway stage of the race and
keep a tight line.
the order on track was Blackman, McKenzie (backmarker), Burtenshaw (back-marker), Bell , Loosemore
The first caution of the race was needed for Casey who
(back-marker), Simpson, Murray, Kew and Weaver.
had spun out and clear debris that laid on the track. The yellows gave everyone the chance to catch their breath
Haird had been falling back down the order and after
and take stock of what had happened. In the laps lead-
the restart he struggled to get around the outside of
ing up to the yellow Blackman had moved inside Mur-
Loosemore, the pair collided and bounced into the wall
phy and then Haird for second place; the back-marking
on turn 2. Haird continued for a few laps but with a
Taylor who also lined up after Blackman. Simpson was
puncture he was losing too many places so retired.
expected to do well in these conditions but had clashed with Hardie. That dropped Simpson back to seventh
Blackman had opened up a lead but Bell closed in once
place while Hardie had slowed on the outside of turn 4
he had navigated the traffic. For more than 10 laps
which blocked Woolsey, the pair lost a lap here and
Blackman held Bell at bay but there was still another 10
pulled off. Hardie deliberate clash with Simpson meant
to go. Bell had tried the outside a few times and even
he was loaded up at the end of the race, although this
had a great chance to duck inside entering turn 3 but
was not made public to the paying audience.
backed out each time. Waiting for a chance Blackman did eventually get off line going through turns 3 and 4,
Once back to green Blackman took up the lead, like be-
Bell got himself into the gap as the cars powered onto
fore Christie came back for another stint of leading but
the straight. The gap itself was probably too small as the
Blackman moved into first and pulled clear. Murray
cars rubbed before Bell took the number position on
6 whistlinjacksmith.co.uk
track with 6 laps to run. As those two cars had been challenging for the lead
Result
Simpson had clawed back a quarter of a lap deficit, he
1st
9 Glenn Bell
was on Blackman’s back bumper by the time Bell passed
2nd
95 Gavin Murray
him. Simpson attempted the same three laps later but
3rd
303 Matt Simpson
4th
209 Kym Weaver
past Blackman but that had enabled Murray to go past
5th
116 Steve Burrows
the pair into second place. Simpson took third on the
6th
962 John Christie
7th
844 Billy Bonnar
Just before the chequers Kew’s sixth place disappeared
8th
278 Colin Gomm
as he crashed out, handing that place to Burrows who as
9th
100 Dick Burtenshaw
10th
261 David Casey
11th
339 Danny Hunn
12th
555 Gavin Taber
13th
66 John V.D Bosch
this point and Bell’s celebration donuts were unsighted.
14th
187 Ronnie McKenzie
It also appears that Blackman extracted revenge on
15th
155 Lee Pepper
16th
11 Neville Loosemore
17th
152 Shaun Taylor
instead he knocked the back of Blackman causing him to half spin before t-boned his door. Simpson bull-dozed
road, with Blackman now fourth.
stated in the programme ‘comes under the radar’ to take sixth place on the road behind rookie Weaver. Bell was able to coast to the chequered flag for the biggest prize in hot rods that set up hundreds of rockets from the centre green. The track became very smoky at
Simpson during this period. That contact became a loadup which twinned with his suspension period (activated from round 15 for the contact on Simpson) and Blackman’s refusal to take fourth place on road has left the former champion banned for a whole year. This ban has taken the shine off the success of Bell as well as causing unnecessary debate regarding Blackman’s position. Everyone within the crowd was left un-notified about Blackman who it seemed was disqualified, third on road Simpson escaped with no punishment and felt the wrath of the crowd that turned on him. With the title returning to Northern Ireland Glenn Bell becomes the first driver to win both Stock Rod and National Hot Rods World titles.
Whistlinjacksmith.co.uk 7
Murray is the Best
Taking second place in a World Final is not enough for some people and after drawing an advantageous grid position Gavin Murray romped home in the Best in Britain. The Saturday support racing also saw a one-off appearance from Carl Boardley. Heat 1
FORMULA
National Hot Rods
EVENT
Best in Britain
FIRST HELD
1980
VENUE
Foxhall, Ipswich
DATE
8th July 2012
Entry
369 Tommy Maxwell
27 Mikey Godfrey
444 Sam Shuddall
41 Carl Boardley
491 Colin Smith
44 Dave Garrett
615 Chris Lehec
67 David Brooks
639 Ricky Hunn
74 James O'Shea
662 Keith Chesher
76 Adam Maxwell
777 Les Compelli
117 Rob McDonald
874 Steven O'Shea
130 Andy Lane
960 Mark Heatrick
160 Frank West
963 Terry Maxwell
271 Neil Stimson
979 Andy Cochrane
316 Paul Frost
8 whistlinjacksmith.co.uk
A strong support field included the return of four times World Champion Carl Boardley in a quality field that included 12 drivers who had previously qualified for the World Final. Like the previous Thunder 500 meeting there was an early end to Ricky Hunn’s meeting when he clashed with David Brooks on turn 1, Brooks was able to continue though he was a lap down. Mikey Godfrey had converted his pole into a lead over Boardley. A yellow was needed when Andy Cochrane crashed on the entry to the home straight and was clipped by Sammy Shuddall; although the yellows had been aired that didn’t stop Andy Lane being flung onto the speedway track. From the restart Godfrey had the benefit of Brooks shielding him from Boardley but the lapscorers had failed to realise he was a lap down, the 67 car was shown for the majority of the race on the scoreboard and no blue flags were being aired. Brooks did eventually fall away but it was not Boardley who caught the rear of Godfey but Colin Smith and Mark Heatrick closing on his tail during the final few laps. Res: 27, 41, 491, 960, 615, 74, 316, 271, 117, 369
Heat 2
World Revenge
Adam Maxwell turned pole into a lead while Keith Chesher held second place with Rob McDonald and Neil Stimson in tow. Making up the most ground from midpack was Smith who had every move tracked by Heatrick. Turn 3 become the trouble spot for the pack when first Dave Garrett spun and then David Brooks a few laps later. The Brooks spin was more significant as his car lay into the middle of the track, Stimson dived to the inside to take 2 places, while Heatrick chose the inside line to snatch a place from Smith.
With a drying track the remaining World Finalist had a
Once the Brooks car was cleared the race restarted Stimson lost his second place as he had to retire with a puncture. Chesher was back in second place and had drivers queuing up behind him (McDonald, Heatrick and Smith). McDonald moved to the outside and with two laps left he moved beyond him but these four had Tommy Maxwell, Boardley, Cochrane and Chris Lehec close in, another 5 laps and this race could have been very interesting.
Res: 66, 187, 174, 278, 339, 209 (x-2), 100, 844 (x-2), 9, 871
chance to show some outside passes. McKenzie and John V.D Bosch took the front two places as everyone else queued up behind Callender. V.D. Bosch made a fine move around the outside of McKenzie for the lead and his first win in England. Callender lost out in the final few laps when Kew burst through but all 3 Scottish drivers finished in the top 10.
Best in Britain The race was made up of World finalists and 10 support drivers, the quickest three from the Saturday night (Boardley, Smith and Heatrick not present for Sunday racing). Godfrey pulled out his second pole position of the weekend but couldn’t hold off row 2 starter Murray
Res: 76, 117, 662, 960, 491, 369, 41, 979, 615, 74
who moved into lead and pulled clear. Although some drivers made up a lot of places in the race it was a quiet
Support Final (Saturday)
491 41
76
end to the Spedeweekend.
615 369 316 874 979 963 67
444
1st
95 Gavin Murray
2nd
871 Graeme Callender
3rd
27 Mikey Godfrey
4th
844 Billy Bonnar
5th
209 Kym Weaver
and then outside Shuddall (who had missed the second
6th
962 John Christie
heat repairing the 206). After those two Smith seemed to
7th
130 Andy Lane
run too deep into turns 1 and 2 that enabled Heatrick to
8th
74 James O'Shea
9th
100 Dick Burtenshaw
10th
271 Neil Stimson
960 117 27
662 74
130 160 271 44
777
The two fastest from the heats Smith and Heatrick pulled clear of the field and quickly caught the slower back-marking cars. The pair dived inside Les Compelli
charge for the inside line but there wasn’t enough space and Smith was tipped into a spin. The field stayed pretty stagnant for the remaining laps though there was a brief caution for Tommy Maxwell who blew up and caught fire – this was soon extinguished. Res: 960, 41, 76, 117, 74, 27, 130, 271, 979, 662
Whistlinjacksmith.co.uk 9
Magic Murray Shane Murray retained his British title with a drive around the outside of fellow Northern Irish driver
FORMULA
2L Hot Rods
Derek Martin lasted the majority of the race
EVENT
British Championship
FIRST HELD
1988
VENUE
Foxhall, Ipswich
DATE
7th July 2012
The highlight for the Saturday night race had a quality line up with drivers from England and Northern Ireland, for the first time Incarace was represented with Barry Limer. Top of the points in England Danny Fiske was not racing, his Nova now sold and in Northern Ireland. Heat 1 Once the Incarace draw was made Pannell started on pole position. The 34 car grid was in trouble when Limer was knocked sideways on the back straight. That caused cars to scatter as they entered turn 3. Wellman slammed into the wall while Shelley was beached on the inner kerb. The restart didn’t even get to the green flag as third placed Andrew Murray lost a wheel on the exit of turn 4. With wheel collected Wright and Shane Murray pulled away from Pannell. The bigger names were moving forward but Woolsey lost a lot of time when he tagged the back of Clarke and the pair ran out wide. The battle for third placed compressed as Pannell had to fight off quicker drivers, for the second half of the race an exciting ten car battle emerged with Woolsey closing in who looked very quick when in open air. Moss spun out from this pack as the line of cars got longer, Woolsey was even able to latch onto the tail of it. On the final few laps Smith took third place while Reed charged on the outside and looked like to take fourth place but slowed on the final corner and lost out a top ten finish, Beatty also went spinning out on the final corner. Res: 43, 70, 565, 39, 30, 29, 75, 537, 54 (x-2), 920
10 whistlinjacksmith.co.uk
Entry
96 Kevin Randell
2 Andy Collins
99 Barry Limer
7 Collin Moss
118 Lewis Shelley
8 Damon Wellman
303 Gavin Botfield
11 Alex Crane
306 Will Reed
22 Dan Payne
310 Sean O'Leary
29 Duane Peacock
342 Adam Heatrick
30 Martin Codling
537 Billy Clarke
31 Charlie Jowers
543 Tommy Miller
39 Rick Pannell
565 Daniel Smith
43 Paul Wright
745 Daniel Bennett
50 Wayne Woolsey
918 David McMenemy
54 Adam Hylands
920 Derek Martin
65 Mark Willis
926 Petie Donnelly
70 Shane Murphy
931 Mark Madill
72 Gary Goodswen
935 Philip Beattie
75 Chris Crane
997 Andrew Murray
88 Dale Atkins
Heat 2 Once the race restarted Adam Hylands moved inside Goodswen with Derek Martin in tow. Hylands caught Heatrick but spun him out halfway down the back straight to take up the lead position. Hylands took the flag but was disqualified once the stewards reviewed video footage to give the win to Martin. Martin had spun out Petie Donnelly but he escaped with no penalties.
The reverse grid put Adam Heatrick on pole but he lost out to fellow front row driver Gary Goodswen from the drop of the green. Heatrick moved into the lead early before a yellow was needed for Andy Collins and Wellman. Wellman had done well to fix his car his car after two breakdown trucks were needed to remove the car from the previous heat but this crash was enough to end his weekend.
Grid
920 70
303 50
65
30
306 43
565 75
543 72
39
31
Res: 920, 72, 543, 31, 306, 303, 50, 65, 918, 88
88
54
935 997 745
29 918 537
7
22
British Championship The highlight of the Saturday night was yet again void of the build-up it deserves due to time constraints (bangers take too long to clear up). Once the green flag dropped Will Reed tried the outside line to take the lead but after a few tours he fell back but much more dramatically than being off line and was the first retirement. Once the race settled into its stride Martin led Shane Murray, Wright, Woolsey, Willis and Gavin Botfield. These six edged clear of the rest in a line. Murray put himself onto the outside of Martin and was able to get his nose ahead but that wasn’t enough he fell back to third place, Wright the beneficiary here. Murray had two choices: keep on the outside or fall back in line to sixth place. Martin didn’t give up and moved back alongside Martin; Martin’s driving became more erratic as he didn’t have the speed to hold back the competition. When Murray was again nosing ahead on the outside he couldn’t keep a tight line on the bends that enabled Wright almost inside the pair. Wright didn’t make that move stick and now had Woolsey trying the outside line of him.
2
310 342
118 99 11
laps to challenge Murray. Wright moved inside Martin for third place behind the Irish 1-2. The National Hot Rod World final may have grabbed all the headlines from this years’ Spedeweekend but this race was a proper hot rod race, the boisterous applause from the crowd showed their admiration for the winner and placemen. 1st
70 Shane Murray
2nd
50 Wayne Woolsey
3rd
43 Paul Wright
4th
920 Derek Martin
5th
65 Mark Willis
6th
565 Dan Smith
7th
303 Gavin Botfield
8th
75 Chris Crane
9th
543 Tommy Miller
10th
30 Martin Codling
Revenge race
An early caution was needed to remove the spun car of Crane. When the race restarted the Irish trio of Madill, Hylands and Andrew Murray pulled clear. Atkins spun his battled scarred car from fourth place handing that to Murray’s charge on the outside lasted for the majority of Moss. From the back Martin was up to fifth place but wasn’t going to catch the leaders. In traffic Hylands was the race his desire to win paid off when he broke clear and into the lead position. Woolsey was in a similar po- able to attack Madill and on the final lap hauled himself alongside but lost out narrowly on the finishing line. sition to Murray earlier and had to stick with the outside line and he passed Wright and Martin quite quickly. Woolsey did look quicker but there was not enough Res: 931, 54, 997, 7, 920, 745, 565, 935, 926, 65
Whistlinjacksmith.co.uk 11
Another title for Diggy In a championship race where second to eighth on the road had their positions changed because of penalties you would expect Diggy to be one of those, however he was clear for the win. Heat 1 Neil Wollington led away the pack that included 4 Scottish drivers. Davy Hearst and Ben Kerry moved by before the yellows were out for Lee Rudge and Andy King who had crashed on the back straight. When the green dropped for the restart Adam Eyles spun out his new car, Eyles returned to the race as a back-marker. When Eyles was being lapped leader Hearst clipped him, this caused damage to the wheel of Eyles; Hearst survived and maintained his lead over Kerry. The track become very slippery when Paul Blackman blew up but there were no significant accidents, reigning British Champion Brendan McConnell drove the last few laps very carefully to maintain his fifth place on track though several drivers lined up behind him.
FORMULA
Lightning Rods
EVENT
British Championship
FIRST HELD
1994
VENUE
Foxhall, Ipswich
DATE
8th July 2012
Entry
368 Steve Santry
2 Lee Rudge
386 Marcus Gridley
9 Ian Atkinson
416 Diggy Smith
22 Mark Cooper jnr
452 Adam Eyles
45 Craig Boyd
503 Ben Murray
David Glencross led the majority of the opening lap before being tapped into a spin on turn 4 by Richard Stewart. The following pack done their best to avoid the car but Glencross was hit by heat one winner Hearst; Wayne Farrer and Kerry also crashed out. Once restarted Stewart had Lee Morrow on his rear bumper but Stewart pulled clear, Morrow then spent the second half of the race with Ben Murray, Steve Santry and Gary Greenland applying pressure. As usual with Lightning Rods there was more carnage; 3 laps left Morrow was turfed onto the speedway on the home straight with Murray who bounced over the yellow marker tyres that ripped off a wheel.
51 Andy King
526 Paul Strawson
78 Paul Blackman
629 John Sibbald
81 David Glencross
633 Robert Gamble
84 Alan Conroy
636 Lee Skoyles
227 Roger Dormer
730 Mike Daniels
240 Lee Morrow
781 Neil Wollington
267 Gary Greenland
904 Brendan McConnell
314 Wayne Farrer
918 Richard Stewart
331 Michael Gabriel
924 Mervyn Emerson
339 Ben Furness
926 Davy Hearst
342 Ben Kerry
974 Gary Beggs
Stewart was given the flag and no penalties were issued.
346 Andy Brown
987 Francis Rafferty
Res: 926, 781, 924, 342 (x-2), 904, 346, 9, 974, 730, 416 Heat 2
355 Mick Walker Res: 918, 368, 267, 416, 227, 45, 339, 730, 904, 629
12 whistlinjacksmith.co.uk
Grid
416 368 918 346 781 926 267 629 339 84
386 51
904 924 730 45
636 987 331 526
227 974 342
9
633 22
240 314
78 355 452 81
503
advantage of one back marker between him and Diggy Smith. Once the race restarted Smith passed the backBritish Championship marking Gamble quickly to close onto the tail of Wollington. Smith moved back into the lead soon after and took Diggy Smith converted pole into the lead while champion the chequers. McConnell tried the outside line. That allowed Santry to move inside him for second place but he lost out quickly With all the contact in the race it was inevitable the penalties would be dished out but surprisingly Wollington lost to Wollington with Dormer, Stewart and Daniels also his second place for jumping the start which promoted moving past the pair. Mark Cooper Jnr and Brown. The first caution was needed when Strawson and Gabriel clashed on the home straight. When these cars were 1st 416 Diggy Smith cleared Smith was passed by Wollington for the lead, 2nd 22 Mark Cooper Jnr. Smith regained this lead quickly. When lapping Glencross, Smith was outfoxed by Wollington at the score3rd 346 Andy Brown board end and retook the lap and opening up a decent 4th 781 Neil Wollington (x-2) lead. Glencross caused more chaos when being lapped by 5th 45 Craig Boyd the other placemen. McConnell had moved his way back the places but was spun out by Santry. Dormer was struggling to get by Glencross then allowed Stewart inside who spun aside the back-marker, he was hit head-on by Glencross scattering the cars across the track. Both Dormer and Stewart were disqualified from the race for their roles of this crash.
6th
339 Ben Furness
7th
267 Gary Greenland
8th
730 Mike Daniels (x-2)
9th
503 Ben Murray
10th
924 Melvyn Emerson
Wollington’s lead was now diminished but did have the
Whistlinjacksmith.co.uk 13
4th time for Sturt Andy Sturt has won many Stock Rod titles in his career, the this year’s Euro Challenge Cup was the fourth time he had won. Entry
251 Lee Ribbans
7 Andy Grant
257 Ashley Brown
15 Lee Johnston
288 Harry Palmer
25 Siobhan Martin
300 Tristan Jackson
28 Alan Thorndyke
394 Mike De Paiva
57 Raymond Harper
447 Stuart Smyth
59 Carl Mann
577 Craig Miller
61 Derek McMillan
647 Jonathan Lattka
spun car of Peter Thomson, Lee Johnston blew-up
74 Tyler Collison
658 Chris Lattka
when third, Dean O’Dell slammed into the fence on
83 Michael Bethune
730 Alex Hunter
turn 4 and Ryan Peat bounced off the home straight
91 Wayne Leedell
745 Daniel Bennett
wall to be collected by Carl Mann.
97 Ben McCully
755 Mark Barber
116 Michael Madden
823 Paul Williams
While that was going on Chris Lattka had closed in on
128 David Gale
829 Stuart Fox
the leader Stuart Fox who in turn was gaining on World
151 Luke Oliver
858 Ryan Peat
Champion Stuart Smyth who was almost lapped.
168 Andy Sturt
876 Lewis Clark
171 Dean O'Dell
900 Dave Patterson
Res: 829, 658, 57, 168, 394, 25 (x-2), 116, 647, 288 (x-2),
184 Pete Thomson
924 Stuart Wright
251
227 Alisdair Roger
Heat 1 Michael Madden led the opening heat briefly until Ashley Brown passed him; he was punted aside by Raymond Harper who was not given any punishment. Harper lost his lead in a legitimate manoeuvre. A messy race included plenty of crashes Stuart Wright hit the
Heat 2
Diving through cars he forced Paterson to the centre and across the marker tyres. McMillan was disqualified
With the grid reversed Smyth shot off from the front
from the race.
following by Wayne Leedell. Tyler Collison challenged for second place but he lost out to Derek McMillan and
When the race restarted Lattka dropped Smyth who
Andy Sturt. Sturt even moved up to third place before
was passed Barber who started mid-grid. Lattka closed
mechanical woes that slowed him, he did make it to the onto Sturt but wasn’t close enough to try and pass. end which gave him a handful of points to assist in a 1st
168 Andy Sturt
2nd
658 Chris Lattka
3rd
755 Mark Barber
4th
447 Stuart Smyth
5th
25 Siobhan Martin
Sturt made a better start than Chris Lattka and raced
6th
74 Tyler Collison
into the lead, Lattka had Smyth for company which
7th
394 Mike De Paiva
8th
647 Jonathan Lattka
the home straight. The majority of the field had seen the
9th
28 Alan Thorndyke
yellows but McMillan didn’t slow like he should of.
10th
251 Lee Ribbans
good grid position. Res: 447, 91, 61, 28, 745, 74, 300, 755, 876, 900 Final
allowed Sturt to pull clear. There was a stoppage when Thomson needed to be recovered when he stopped on
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Championship results round-up Only weeks after the Spedeweekend international racing headed across the sea to Northern Ireland where the majors championship were won by the local drivers. Andrew Murray pictured above had a much better meeting at home taking third place in the European Championship
2L Hot Rods European Championship Heat 1: 997 Andrew Murray, 54, 9, 70, 993, 50, 920, 306, 959, 75 Heat 2: 8 Damon Wellman, 70, 342, 903, 988, 75, 935, 982, 997, 959 Heat 3: 931 Mark Madill, 975, 31, 918, 903, 65, 306, 54, 8, 50 European Final: 70 Shane Murray, 54, 997, 903, 935, 975, 31, 50, 988, 982 Lightning Rods European Championship Heat 1: 926, 923, 962, 992, 503, 977, 987, 972, 924, 999 Heat 2: 923, 961, 974, 904, 940, 924, 962, 999, 933 Heat 3: 904, 937, 945, 902, 503, 964, 986, 961, 971, 679 European Final: 923, 962, 902, 974 , 926, 924, 977, 947, 987
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Other news items
Although a busy championship there was a few other items hitting the headlines for Hot Rod racing.
Kewy V Godfrey The real big race of the season takes place at Hednesford Hills Raceway next weekend, and there won't be an engine to be heard. Yes, this is Kewy v Godfrey, one lap of the track on their bikes to raise funds for FORDS Care, the Fund for Oval Racing Drivers and Staff. The race is sponsored by AP Signs, but we need YOUR help. We need to raise at least £200 for the race to take place in full race gear. £300 gets the boys into superhero outfits ... but if we can raise £500, Jason Kew & Mikey Godfrey will race their bikes dressed as women! This event is organised by Garry Staines and donations should go to his paypal account catherine.staines@btinternet.com - all proceeds will go to FORDS-Care. If you know Jason, Mikey or Garry and can guarantee your pledge that is acceptable, but you must be able to pay at Hednesford National weekend.
Astra mk4 hot rod The latest shape to hit the Swaffham hot rod class is the Astra mk4 that is currently being built by Mark Sewell. This model has been racing in Northern Ireland but there has never been a hot rod of this type in England. Thanks to Mark for supplying the picture. More information on the class can be found: swaffhamhotrod.yolasite.com
Abridge car show Hot rods turn up in plenty of unexpected places, this time the relatively unknown Abridge car show in Essex had 2 hot rods on display. The first being the road going Status Quo Escort replica of Ray Vale built by son Dean. The other of former Outlaw racer Greg Moore, the National Hot Rod web address on the front of the car signifying his racing aspirations for the year. Forget about getting the hot rods into expensive shopping centres, car shows are a far cheaper way to show off the cars this sport has to offer.
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