ROBERT Taylor took his first win in the Stock Rod class at Arena Essex on Sunday and then followed this up with another win in the Final. In fact he might well have had three wins on the day, but for a problem that prevented him from gridding for heat two. After his success, Taylor revealed that he very nearly didn’t race at all on Sunday, following a torrid time with the car at recent events.
The popular Lightning McQueen liveried Toyota Starlet of Ian Heffernan won heat two and was under the mis-apprehension that he won the final too, following a stormy affair which saw clashes involving Jamie Lee Potter and Luke Oliver and a separate crash involving Gary Byrne, Richard Haines and Carl Shackleford. Heffernan blasted past the various debris but was unaware of Taylor being further up the road.
The Stock Cars saw a clean sweep for Matt Fuller, but he had to work hard for it. A battle with Dean Bateman on the last lap of heat one was made trickier with the intervention of Daniel Bateman, but Matt managed to shrug off the family attack. The final saw a great battle with Fuller making his way past several cars in a four abreast moment before getting put out wide by John Harris and losing some ground. He soon bumpered his way back past Brian Jarvis to take the lead, whilst Adrian Clifton deposed Dean Bateman of third on the last corner.
James Waite won heat and final in the Junior Mini Stox and was within a few feet of winning the other heat too, track championship contender, Charlie Morphey, just beating him to the flag on that occasion.
The National Bangers also featured with Billy Standing scoring heavily as the competition to make it onto the World Final grid next month intensified. The races were largely devoid of crashing, although the Destruction Derby was an entertaining, if long-running affair, with visiting racer, Matt Butcher, putting on a good show until finally pummelled into submission by the locals. Georgie Lee and Dave Bull then played cat and mouse with each other, with the seemingly stronger car of Lee being the first to cry enough. Bull’s rubber shredding and crippled car may have only been moving at a snails pace, but Lee’s submission was enough to gift him the victory.
The next action at Arena Essex is a double header over the August Bank Holiday. Sunday 30th August features the PRI Bangers, Mini Stox, Stock Rods and Lightning Rods, whilst the following day features the Big Van National Bangers, 2L Stock Cars and two junior formulas – the 6-12 year olds in the Ninja Sprints joined by the slightly older children in the Junior Bangers. The start time on both days is 1pm.
Photos courtesy of Matt Bull
