THE Kevin Elmore memorial was the feature event at Arena Essex on Sunday and there was a very good turnout of racers in cars decked out in the black and red stripes of the Menace Team, of which Kevin was an enthusiastic member.
The first race of the day was a chained pair race, with several pairs looking completely out of control as they rounded the raceway. One such pairing was Dave Lightbody and Mark Telfer, but somehow as other pairs began to hit trouble they found themselves in the lead and managed to hang on from the much more rapid pairing of James Fewings and Kevin Giles, who had come to grief earlier in the race. It was a great result for Lightbody in particular who now resides in Australia and had flown over especially for the event.
The first individual heat featured the crash of the day as Alfie Hallett flew headlong into Craig Hewitt, standing his car on its nose as he did so! Tom Waller then ensured Hallett wasn’t going any further as James Fewings followed Mick Turner into the fence and the growing pile up. Roy Rawlins took the win before being despatched into the fence by Fewings on the run down lap.
A rollover at each end of the raceway enlivened the final with Mark Cope doing a complete roll on the pit turn as Rob Layton didnt quite make it all the way over, bringing the race to a halt to allow him time to escape. Once the race was restarted there was only ever going to be one winner, with Alfie Lee continuing his stellar run of form.
The Destruction Derby saw Lee once again in the mix, he was largely responsible for Kevin Giles massive wreck at the start but he was also on the receiving end, taking heavy damage from Layton. When Layton’s car cried enough, Lee turned his attentions to Cope, striking him a couple of times before a big crash with Lightbody stopped him in his tracks. Despite Cope firing up and somehow moving his wreck a few feet, much to the delight of the crowd, Lee was awarded the DD win, although Cope did get the most Destructive Driver award as recompense.
A fantastic trio of Junior Mini Stox races saw Dan Santry win all three, but he had to work incredibly hard on each occasion. The pick of the races was the first heat with Santry and Track championship leader, Luke Dorling, bumpering each other wide on each corner. Their battle allowed Steph Sore into the lead at one point, with Santry going for a flight over the. The two were able to pull away as the handling of Sore’s car seemed to go awry and in one particular sideways moment she was tagged into a spin and a hard impact with the wall. The race continued around her with Dorling pushing Santry wide on the last corner, Santry went on the outside of the stricken Sore and Dorling went on the inside, the former just hanging on at the flag.
The final was also decided on the last bend, but this time Santry was in second place as they approached the corner. A perfectly timed lunge sent Dorling sideways and Santry was through for the treble.
Another triple winner was Zak Alaoui, who dominated the three Stock Rod heats. The final however was a different story with Alaoui leaving plenty of room up the inside for Wayne Shackleford to get through and race into a lead he was in no mood to relinquish. This was a welcome win for reigning track champion, Shackleford, who has had a nightmare season so far, a write off earlier in the year putiing him on the backfoot.
The next action at Arena Essex is on 3rd July when the National Bangers compete in the Chick Woodroffe memorial meeting. The Lightning Rods, Stock Cars and Junior Bangers complete the programme.
