|
2 Litre Banger World Final - Hednesford - Sunday 12th October 2008
Many thanks to Dave Goddard for this report.
The sixth annual 2 Litre World Final drew just shy of 80 cars to Hednesford on a sunny October 12th, with drivers travelling from nearly every ORC promotion while 949 Michael Smith made the trip from Ireland. The entry included a trio of Stinkbridge drivers while the Midnight Runners, Blue Crew, Damage Inc, Scrapyard Screamers and Common Crushers were all well represented. On the car front the Mondeo was the most popular mount of an all FWD entry, closely followed by the Primera and Cavalier, while the rest of the entry consisted of a smattering of Bluebirds, Calibras and Vectras, a few Rovers and Hondas, a couple of Carinas and a lone Mazda 323F.
The programme began with the traditional two last chance qualifiers, the first ten in each going through to the big race. 25 cars lined up for the first of them with 313 Darren White (Primera) firing the first shot on 162 Brett Fiddler’s Mondeo estate leaving the Demon open to a shot from 51 Simon Hields (Mondeo) who was then blasted by the Primera powered 12 Paul Deane. 60 Kyle Stevenson (Mondeo) piled 595 Andrew Tarn’s Cavalier into the pit gate as 170 Anthony Long used his Mondeo estate to destroy 98 Elliott Beamon’s Primera which was trashed further by 313 Ozy as 648 Kyle Guyler (Mondeo) hit the estate version of 152 Tyrone Poulter. 128 Mark Atkins (Cavalier) was run in by 60 Shakey Jnr as 299 Dale Locker’s Mondeo estate blasted Long with Shakey Jnr going in on the Scrapyard Screamer young gun in return. Ozy threw a tyre and was hit by 132 Chris Cullum’s Cavalier as 595 Tarny Jnr attacked 123 Rob Smith (Bluebird) with the Green Team man recovering to spin his attacker into the wall before zeroing in on 60 Steve Laybourne’s Cavalier. 12 Flex fired up the back of Hields as 837 Martin Wesby took a flag to flag win in his Rover 620 ahead of 511 Dan Crosbie’s Vectra and the Rover 216 of 391 Adam Bligdon.
Result: 837 Martin Wesby, 511 Dan Crosbie, 391 Adam Bligdon, 141 Toby Tiddy, 648 Kyle Guyler, 123 Rob Smith, 304 Dave Bennett, 583 Dan Weeks, 12 Paul Deane, 152 Tyrone Poulter.
Down to 20 cars for the second qualifier which was quieter accordingly. 177 Will Powell (Mondeo) started proceedings by hooking out Trent Raceway’s 49 Martin Workman (Bluebird) as Blue Crew man 557 John Small powered his Mondeo into the smart Cavalier of 196 Ben Harrison which was then blasted by 840 Dan Waddingham’s Mondeo estate. Things then turned quiet until Cullum, the only man to do both last chance races, attacked 287 Dean Quinsee in the Mazda only to come under fire from 269 Greg Mulligan’s Bluebird who was then walled by the leading 70 Simon Needle (Mondeo). Quinsee then sent Workman into 196 Ginner’s dead car only to take a hard burial at the hands of 379 Adrian Clifton (Primera) as 70 the Needle took the flag but was disqualified after failing post race tyre checks, handing 149 Rob Bevan (Mondeo) the spoils ahead of 592 Mark Marchant’s Cavalier and the Mondeo of 21 Gavin Robinson.
Result: 149 Rob Bevan, 592 Mark Marchant, 21 Gavin Robinson, 161 Pete West, 353 Sean Mullins, 379 Adrian Clifton, 595 Andrew Tarn, 51 John Worstencroft, 476 Matt Rogers, 132 Chris Cullum.
A big 55 car field lined up for the World Final which was preceded by an excellently observed minute’s silence for Hednesford Raceway’s founder Bill Morris who had passed away a few days before the meeting, while floral tributes were also laid on the infield. The Incarace draw placed 66 Dave Spooner’s smart Mondeo and 34 Warren Burnham’s tidy Bluebird estate on the front row with fancied Spedeworth runners 516 Carl Gould (Cavalier) and 730 Deane Mayes in a superbly turned out Calibra on the second row. 349 Michael Allard looked a threat on row six in his Cavalier with 247 Lee Clarke (Vectra) directly behind him. 208 Jimmy Randall (Cavalier) and 741 Luke Parfitt’s Calibra were on row nine with 348 Sonny Sherwood in another Cavalier back on row 13 with defending champion 188 Matt Fuller (Cavalier) a couple of places further back. After a short pause to get 455 Ricky Finney’s Mondeo running the 20-lap race got underway with 516 Gouldy racing into the early lead as 222 Matt Logan powered his Cavalier into the Mondeo of 05 Carlos Perez from the off as 383 Paul Adams fired his smart Cavalier into 348 Mushy after the latter had done 472 Matt Cooke’s well smart Primera. Crosbie scored on Wesby as 51 John Worstencroft (Carina) buried 648 the Dart into Dodger and 161 Pete West (Primera) went for 476 Matt Rogers only to get caught up on the side of the Westworld man’s Bluebird estate leaving both cars locked together on the infield. 341 Lee Turner powered his Primera into 742 Ian Gregory’s Mondeo as 294 Alan Tarn (Primera) fired up the back of 82 Wayne Quinn’s smart Mondeo with the latter taking further stick from 38 Craig Allen (Cavalier) as 361 Chris Walden (Rover 216) did 294 Tarny and 152 Tyza crashed into Penfold after an attack on 05 Carlos. Cullum then piled head-on into Dodger who baled out only to see his empty car take a further head-on from 898 Andy Battle’s immaculate Calibra as 188 Smoker was taken into the inner wall by Small ending his chances of retaining the title. 118 Jason Anslow (Cavalier) then buried 198 Marcus Goldsmith’s Mondeo estate with Tarny then blowing up Anslow with a big hit as Cullum and 99 Jason Jukes’s smart Primera estate went in nearby leaving the former open to a simply massive T-bone from 34 Wobby and an equally titanic length of the straight shot from 21 Robbo Jnr completely destroying the Scrapyard Screamer’s Cavalier. Anslow then took further punishment from the Cavalier of 353 Sean Mullins before the yellows came out to check on Cullum who was thankfully unhurt. At this point Gouldy still led from 66 Spoons, 88 Ashley Burton (Mondeo) and Allard with the restart seeing 741 Captain D fire straight up the back of 103 John Seex (Cavalier) with the latter recovering to hit 247 Bro as Carlos collected the fenced Finney in the door although no harm was done. At half distance Gouldy was just ahead of the closing Spoons with Allard moving past 88 Ace Ash into third as Seex came under fire from 583 Dan Weeks (Primera). 58 Martin Dalton (Primera) had a pop at 452 Anthony Sleeman’s smart Mondeo estate as Logan attacked 730 Deano allowing Ace Ash back into fourth. Gouldy then lost time after tangling with Dalton and bouncing off the wall, and a lap later his engine gave up the ghost and he retired to the infield giving Spoons the lead ahead of Allard and Deano. 379 the Worm then ran 452 Lurch into Wobby’s wreck as 82 Quinney took 800 Tom Hannah (Primera) into the pile-up on turn three, while 361 Wally piled Carlos into the home straight wall and Dalton crashed into the infield. With the lap boards out Deano slowed handing 208 the Finger third as Spoons held off a last bend attack from Allard to take a deserving title win, a just reward for one of the sport’s most dedicated drivers, while the Worm ended things by running Ace Ash into Wobby’s wreck just as the reds appeared. Allard was sadly removed from the result due to tyre irregularities handing the Finger second and Wally third to continue his recent flying form. East Anglians Bro and Deano were next with Ace Ash sixth and last chance qualifiers 391 Little Spikey and Bevan next, Tyza and 583 Dan Weeks competing the top ten.
Result: 66 Dave Spooner, 208 Jimmy Randall, 361 Chris Walden, 247 Lee Clarke, 730 Deane Mayes, 88 Ashley Burton, 391 Adam Bligdon, 149 Rob Bevan, 152 Tyrone Poulter, 583 Dan Weeks.
Next up was an Allcomers Final which raised 48 cars, 110 Grant Doe (Mondeo) starting proceedings with an attack on Ginner as Allard ran in Hields and was blasted in turn by Lurch sparking a turn four pile-up. Battle’s repaired Calibra was buried by 170 Ant as Locker T-boned the spun Primera of 601 Lee Usher, while 470 Peter Corbett (Rover 416 coupe) zeroed in on 303 Brian Cope’s Cavalier but this left him open to a package from 51 Wusty. Ozy then dealt out a hard burial to Marchant with Gouldy the next man into the pile on turn four as Finney wrecked 303 Dangerous Brian with a stiff hit and Captain D went in on 123 the Traveller with Laybourne laying into the Damage Inc man. The Dart impressed with hits on 200 Steve Farrell (Accord) and Mulligan as Mushy trashed 601 Usha with a hard shot after the latter had blasted Battle, while Ace Ash crashed 88 Josh Fuller (Primera) and 21 Robbo Jnr was trashed by Ozy on the back straight with the Finger nailing the latter. Small hit back for the Blue Crew with a shot on Allard as 223 Brett Harrison’s smart Primera was hammered by Crosbie after the former had done Waddingham, while 472 Matty went in on Gouldy and Workman bravely blasted Mushy. Captain D then hit Wesby and Doe as the Worm piled 742 Taz into Waddingham’s stranded car allowing 200 Noon to destroy the Stinkbridge man with a rated shot. Doe then hit Ant on the nose as the Worm continued to impress with a shot on Captain D as the recovered Gouldy went in on Ant and Wesby met Doe head-on, before Goldsmith piled the Worm into the pit gate causing it to fly open on impact, the reds coming out but not before Wusty was buried by Battle sparking a pile-up on the exit of turn four. The result was declared in favour of the Finger ahead of Wally with Wusty classified third.
Result: 208 Jimmy Randall, 361 Chris Walden, 51 John Worstencroft, 60 Steve Laybourne, 188 Matt Fuller, 741 Luke Parfitt, 198 Marcus Goldsmith, 837 Martin Wesby, 470 Peter Corbett, 200 Steve Farrell.
The programme closed with a five lap dash into the DD, and 19 cars lined up along with a further six waiting for the death. From the clutch start Ozy was straight up the back of Mullins who recovered to fire Ace Ash over the winner’s ramp, while Dalton fired into 949 Hippy and Ozy hit Shakey Jnr on the nose albeit on the infield. Hields ran in Carlos as 162 Fid fenced Bro before the red flags appeared again due to further problems with the pit gate after its earlier hit. Laybourne was declared the winner, and the DD began with Westy getting onto two wheels with an attack on the Smoker who went on to continue the Runners and Blue Crew battle with a shot on Marchant. Flex blasted the Smoker in turn only to take one from Cullum (who had been given permission to race team mate 531 Toby Tropper’s Mondeo) who then went in on Fid. Anslow then spun the Smoker with Marchant coming inside out to T-bone his adversary in revenge only to take a similar shot from Hields. Smoker recovered to hit Small with Laybourne delivering swift revenge before nailing Tyza allowing the Smoker to hit back for the Runners. The Traveller then blasted Anslow leaving him open to further stick from Cullum as Flex did Hields and the Smoker dealt out a stiff shot to Small, while Cullum went on to attack Fid and took one from the Traveller. The Scrapyard Screamer then launched a dodgy inside out attack at Smoker, connecting over the Runner’s front wheel allowing Anslow to blast the PRI man. The Traveller then ran Hields head-on into the Finger’s empty car leaving just the Traveller and 304 Dave Bennett (Mondeo estate) running, and after an exchange of hits 304 Mad Dog piled the Green Team man into the home straight wall to secure the win.
Result: 60 Steve Laybourne, into DD: 304 Dave Bennett from 123 Rob Smith.
This wrapped up an excellent World Final meeting, the controversies over tyre rules the only downside of a day when the action got heavier as the day went on.
Back to top |
