Dover Raceway
Sunday August 29 2016
Rookie Bangers Kent Championship, Bangerstox Masters QF and Super Rods Masters QF

Just shy of 40 Rookie Bangers gathered for their Kent Championship but a couple failed to race all afternoon with 37 gathering for heat one and 84 Jake McWilliams stuffing 3 George Forbes while 226 Luke Marsh did the same to 85 Marc Anderson and a pile-up quickly filled the pit gate as 26 Dom Boden fenced 151 Jack Hughson and 199 Darren Mouser turned 376 Alan Hewitt into the wall and 188 John Reeves got beached on the back straight banking. Boden added 536 Harry Barwell to the growing pit bend mess and 941 Jimmy Williams scored on 282 Rhys Waters as the luckless Hewitt was buried by 587 Alex Humphrey and 197 Sean Chapman turned 144 Jordan Godfrey into the fence before 741 Charlie Daniels span McWilliams and he was clobbered by 326 Paul Miller. The recovered Forbes added 258 Callum Anderson to the pit bend wreckage as Boden clobbered Miller head-on and they were collected by 6 Gary Lee who rolled on impact to bring the reds out. The restart saw 346 Kayligh Dighton fire 88 Jayden Anderson into the banking as 54 Kevin May stuffed Forbes and Anderson came back to lunge at and spin Mouser before 349 Lee Saunders fired into 101 Ian Norris which sent 321 Jim Anderson around with 447 Mark Barnes then burying 349 Finbarr and he continued to fire into 85 Mr A which in turn span Forbes into the fence, 101 Bam Bam winning from Mr A and Finbarr.

Impressively 30 returned for heat two and again Forbes was the first casualty as he was stuffed by Chapman while 303 Jacob Bromley span 200 Ashley Grison into the wall and May assaulted Humps as Chapman continued to fence Hughson and Barwell did the same to Mouser and Bam Bam to Chapman. Barwell cracked the latter in the rear wheel as 511 Trev Holland added Forbes to the wreckage on the pit bend but the latter recovered quickly to repay the favour as Chapman was clobbered by Miller and Bam Bam while 346 the Chief turned Mouser into the banking and the luckless Forbes was stuffed by Waters. The latter was stuffed again by Humps in the second half before 144 Bungle fired into Barwell which in turn span Chapman into the infield banking, the latter then hammered by Forbes with Grieson also attacking the determined Chapman and they crashed into the stricken Bam Bam as Bromley took the win from Finbarr and Miller, Barwell ending things by stuffing May into the pit bend heap.

Down to 23 for the title race with 11 James Spriggs hitting the spun Grieson on the nose to trigger an another pit bend pile-up with Waters homing in for a massive head-on to the prone Grieson to earn his dismissal as did McWilliams when he trashed the former. 94 John Armstrong turned Bromley into the fence as Humps added 314 Jordan Fullaway to the pit bend wreckage and 188 Victor cracked the spun 2 Sean Swinborn in the rear wheel. 94 Rolly now stuffed Miller, the latter fighting on only to be stuffed up the banking by Victor as Barnes span Bromley and was trashed by Victor to earn himself a load-up, his victim receiving the same penalty when he turned round to attack Victor with a head-on. Bungle came through for the win from Finbarr and Jayden Anderson, just six finishing.

17 repaired for the Allcomers and a push into the first bend resulted in an immediate pile-up with Boden joining the list to blatantly break the rules as he turned round to lay into 2 Swizz before the reds flew with concern for 226 Luke Marsh in the heap. The race resumed with Bungle unwittingly clobbering the empty car of Callum Anderson as Miller fenced Williams before things again went off the head with Mouser, 741 German Jnr and Williams all showing no regard to the rules by trading hits on opposite. In the race Jayden Anderson turned Swizz into the banking before Rolly earned his exclusion from the race with a pair of hard hits on Mouser before Williams stopped the leading 734 Speaky on opposite with Barwell coming through as the sole survivor, Speaky and Jayden Anderson taking the podium spots on laps completed.

Heat one: 101 Ian Norris, 85, 349, 258, 741, 447, 346, 3, 321, 88
Heat two: 303 Jacob Bromley, 349, 326, 144, 282, 54, 85, 346
Kent Championship: 144 Jordan Godfrey, 349, 88, 587, 258, 346
Allcomers: 536 Harry Barwell, 734, 88

Despite being the final Masters qualifier of the season the Bangerstox numbers dropped to their lowest of the year but given they had raced at Mildenhall two days before this was perhaps no great surprise and that said the 34 car entry was hardly anything to complain about although it was a little disappointing that a few who had travelled to Suffolk earlier in the weekend were unable to race as planned meaning the proposed half car heat format meant a few races were under subscribed.

16 for heat one with 82 Gareth Garratt and 64 Jake Clubb fighting for the lead until 60 Nathan Port slipped passed them both with 58 Owen Charles quickly into second and then into the lead as 85 Alfie Hover bested Clubb for third but Clubb came back to regain the place as 78 Bobby Miles raced up the inside of 27 Dean Thompson and 99 Brad Epps to gain two places but he was then passed by 9 Chris Young who moved into third and he soon bested Aaron Clubb for second but Charles was half a lap clear and took a comfortable win, Young an impressed second and Clubb third.

After the pit gate was re-opened to allow a number of late comers to join the grid, 15 cars contested heat two and 79 Jamie Walker immediately collected a penalty when he went 69 Chloe Pelling spinning into the fence with 4 Paul Harris going round in the aftermath as 5 Dan Clubb led with 45 Harry Marsh overhauling 35 Lewis Winterbottom for second and 39 Ash Colvin soon fought his way to third. Walker then clashed wheels with 15 Jay Powell as Clubb, Marsh and Colvin battled for the lead and were soon joined by 92 Amy Harper and a tangle between Clubb and Marsh allowed Colvin to slip into third as 88 Nick Dash also joined the group but the tight battle ended in disaster when Clubb was sent spinning Marsh, which earned the latter a penalty although he also dropped out of contention as a result, Colvin winning a hard race from Dash and Harper.

20 cars for heat three with Garratt and Jake Clubb battling for the lead as Epps suffered a spin and Hover span into the banking on the bottom bend while Marsh and 11 Heather Powell also suffered spins followed by 49 William Parrish and 383 Shane Harvey who went out in a heap on the bottom bend. Garrat held the lead at half way but was nudged wide by the back marking 11 Mrs Powell which allowed Clubb and Charles to slip through and a few laps and Thompson and Colvin also got the better of Garrett but the latter nudged the both wide in the single move to regain third which he took as Clubb just held off Charles for the win and in other close finishes 383 Chimp just best Young for seventh and 7 Joe Marsh beat Miles for 10th.

Just 13 for heat four with 52 Justin Harris quickly nudging Dan Clubb wide for the lead but the latter returned the favour to retake the title spot which also allowed 29 Liam Hover to take second as 28 Shane Howland and Dash tangled and they both struck the home straight banking before Winterbottom overshot turn four and hit the wall. Walker and 23 Shane Spencer stepped up to challenge Harris for second as the race entered the final five laps and they both passed him with Harris then slowing and dropping to sixth as 15 Jay Powell made a late pass on 77 John Kingsley en route to finishing fourth as Clubb won from Walker and Spencer.

The splits for the final heats were equally uneven with 15 for heat five and Port set the pace as Alfie Hover and 62 Phil Cook suffered spins, the latter collected by Parrish as Thompson moved into the lead and Chimp bested Port for third while 53 Leigh Garratt climbed the infield banking and Charles stormed in to the lead as Port span from contention, Hover again spinning before he collected a penalty when he span 15 Powelly on the final bend which mixed things up in the pack but Charles was clear for second win from Thompson and Parrish.

Just 10 for the final heat which was reduced further when Dash clouted the wall and retired while 4 Paul Harris span as did the leading Dan Clubb which handed Marsh the lead. Miles bested 3 Alec Stride for third and Jake Clubb eased past Marsh for the lead at half way while before Stride battled Miles and Colvin for positions. Clubb took a second win and Marsh survived a hit to the wall to take second and Miles third.

17 qualifiers for the final with Dan Clubb setting the pace as Charles sent Thompson spinning to earn a two place penalty and the latter was collected by 37 Liam Clubb as Parrish bested Harry Marsh for sixth. Charles raced round the outside of Garratt for third and joined Dan and Jake Clubb in the race for the lead with the latter grabbing the top spot as Garratt fought Parrish for third and Marsh also earned a penalty when he span Colvin. Charles moved passed Dan Clubb on the inside for second and Parrish followed him through and Harper made a late pass on Powelly which brought Young through as well but a last lap push saw Harper get shoved out wide and out of the top 10. Jake Clubb won from Charles but the aforementioned penalty dropped him to fourth and Parrish and Dan Clubb filled the podium spots.

Heat one: 58 Owen Charles, 9, 64, 78, 27, 7, 91, 85, 11, 82
Heat two: 39 Ash Colvin, 88, 92, 23, 15, 52, 53, 45, 79, 62
Heat three: 64 Jake Clubb, 58, 82, 39, 45, 27, 383, 9, 92, 7
Heat four: 5 Dan Clubb, 79, 23, 15, 88, 52, 77, 29, 62
Heat five: Charles, 27, 49, 7, 383, 9, 15, 53, 100
Heat six: Jake Clubb, 45, 78, 37, 3, 39, 92
Grand Final: Jake Clubb, 49, 5, 58, 3, 45, 88, 9, 78, 15

The final Super Rod Masters qualifying round raised another good field of 10 cars, even more so with a couple of regulars noted by their absence, them replaced by newcomer 50 Travis Parker and a welcome return for 10 Ben Palmer.

Palmer led heat one as 85 Jack Miles retired and 75 Neil Parker made the first move, passing 34 Lisa Powell on the outside for seventh while 88 Stacey Reeves did the same to 7 Nat Tutt for fifth and she soon climbed to fourth while Tutt came under pressure from 87 Robin Miles who passed him on the outside. Palmer had now opened a big lead over Travis Parker with third placed 90 Billy Perry hesitant to try the outside it allowed Miles to switch to the line and he blasted past 90 Flippa and 88 Doris and was followed by Neil Parker as Palmer took a comfortable win, a last bend clash between Miles and Travis Parker saw Neil Parker close but he could not make a pass and Miles beat Travis Parker to the line for second.

All 10 for heat two and Travis Parker got the better of Palmer to take the early lead while Jack Miles passed Flippa on the outside for fourth but the former again slowed and retired as 88 Doris went wide allowing Robin Miles and Neil Parker to pass. Flippa stepped up to challenge Tutt for third as Neil Parker passed Powell on the outside with Miles following him and the former caught and passed Flippa in the same way but Parker then slipped the fence allowing Miles to try and make it three wide but it was Flippa who benefitted as he was able to pass Miles. Neil Parker rallied back to pass Tutt and then Palmer with Miles staying in his shadow and they reeled in Travis Parker with Neil Parker switching to the outside a split second too late and tangling with Miles who was already trying to make a pass. This allowed Travis Parker to break away and take the win with Neil Parker expiring a lap later with steering damage leaving Miles to take second and Flippa third.

10 again for the final with Robin Miles beating Travis Parker in the first lap to gain control as behind Tutt passed Palmer on the inside for fourth, the latter steadily dropping down the order before expiring with a lap or so to go. Doris passed Tutt on the outside to take fourth, the latter then coming under pressure from Neil Parker as Miles led the race to half way by which point he was comfortably clear although he was delayed slightly when he caught the battle for ninth between 86 Jason Wood and the struggling Palmer. Jack Miles bested Tutt for sixth as Doris passed Flippa on the outside for third and Neil Parker was able to follow suite and that was how it ended with Robin Miles winning from Travis Parker and Doris, Flipps just beating Jack Miles on the line for fifth.

Heat one: 10 Ben Palmer, 87, 50, 75, 90, 88, 7, 34, 86
Heat two: 50 Travis Parker, 87, 90, 7, 10, 34, 88, 86
Grand Final: 87 Robin Miles, 50, 88, 75, 90, 85, 7, 34, 86

Another enjoyable afternoon at the raceway spoiled only by the few who blatantly showed no regard to the racing rules in the Rookie Bangers and the couple of Bangerstox heats which were a little short on numbers.