A DRAMATIC finish to the first PRI Banger heat got the Bank Holiday Raceday at Arena Essex off to a great start. Georgie Boult Jnr took a dive at the leader, Josh Cant at the last corner and made heavy contact with the rear of the car.
With Cant’s rear wheel pushed into his bodywork and Boult’s radiator erupting in steam, the two struggled to rejoin the race before the pack caught them, Cant managed to drag his car across the line in first, but the unlucky Boult dropped to fourth place as he coasted across the line.
Heat two was similarly filled with drama, with a last corner crash accounting for several cars and the eventual winner, Dan Nichols, emerging from a huge dust-storm completely unaware that he was in the lead!
Two rollovers punctuated the heats with Debbie Taylor and Lee Hallam the victims, Hallam’s roll in particular a high speed affair on the straight, which took him all the way to the bend on his roof.
A huge grid of cars contested the consolation, with much of the action hidden in a duststorm. Antoni Colby won the race but took a T-Bone crash after the flag which put him out for the rest of the day.
The final saw Daniel Woodward heavily involved, finally spinning to the infield and collecting Georgie Boult Jnr on the way. Bill King Jnr took the win.
The Destruction Derby saw the Nissan Micra of Ryan Martin bravely take on many of the bigger cars, but it was Tommy Harding that was the last car running.
The Mini Stox saw Abbie McGuiness take her new car to heat one glory whilst the unfortunate Michael Dobney hit the wall hard and was out for the day. Dobney’s misfortune was replicated later in the meeting by Archie Fryatt, who tangled with West Country visitor Harry Sheppard and went for a spectacular double rollover. Fryatt, in the car recently vacated by Kieron Rowe, climbed out unharmed.
Aaron Totham won heat and final, holding off a last corner challenge from points leader, Luke Dorling, in the latter.
Three wins from three races was Joe Cooper’s tally from his first Stock Rod meeting at Arena Essex. With a handful of races under his belt over 5 years ago up at Swaffham, the Suffolk based racer belied his relative lack of experience to dominate the meeting, holding off a feisty Joe Rollings in the final.
A bad tempered first race decimated the Stock Rod field somewhat with Dan Newman getting pushed onto the shale and spinning out Carl Shackleford as he somewhat recklessly rejoined. Shackleford then lost his temper and drove into the side of Newman, with the unfortunate Gary Hicks and Luke Oliver also getting damage in the incident. Both Newman and Shackleford were disqualified from the rest of the day, whilst also out were Zak Aloui and Ted Symes, the latter suffering brake failure and hitting the wall very hard indeed.
The Heritage F2 Stock Cars added a touch of nostalgia to the day and they shared the wins round with Robin Secker and Mike Walmsley winning the heat races, before Phil Smith narrowly fended off Walmsley in the final.
