Mildenhall Stadium
Saturday August 6 2016
Unlimited Bangers Suffolk Open
Championship and Steamer Memorial Trophy and BriSCA F2 Stockcars
World of Shale QF
The 2016 staging of the Unlimited Banger
Suffolk Open and Steamer Memorial Trophy raised a superb field of just under
95 cars on August 6, a number which was again greater than expected as while
there were eight drivers absent from the final entry list they were more than
replaced by nearly 20 extras on the night. There was a fair amount of interest
on the car front as well, the sizeable Gypsy Crew contingent wielding plenty of
it with 85 James Ellis and 273 Kevin McClagish in their Mercury Grand Marquis
estate and Pontiac Tempest hearse which failed to race at the Speedy meeting
while 125 Nathan Lake debuted a Chevy Caprice estate and 313 John Cullingford
and 411 Daniel Pegg returned Rover P5s from A Speedy Exit and 372 Barry Overland
his Rolls Royce Silver Shadow although that failed to race. More fresh Yanks
came from 311 Gary Lown with a Ford Crown Victoria, 514 Chas Taylor’s Caddy
Seville and a quite superb Lincoln Continental MkV coupe for 9 Tom Jordan and
equally impressive were the fresh Crowns of 67 Rickie Beasley and 617 Jack Overy.
51 James Licquorice turned heads with a six door Volvo 960 limo and 12 Paul
Deane had a pretty Mk1 Granada. 632 Callum Reed returned his estate from A
Speedy Exit and 90 Adrian Harboard returned his Silver Shadow from the same
night while 360 Steve Nichols had a barely scratched Scorpio limo, 316 James
Cushion piloted his Lincoln Town Car limo from the Dim Tim memorial and 757
Callum Gill again raced his unusual Cadillac Coupe de Ville.
The opening heat, as is tradition for the meeting, was for the stand out
cars with an emphasis on racing at this stage so all the cars could then join
the main heats later on and 13 of the near 20 invited to take part took to the
grid where, as intended, the action was restricted to spin outs. Nichols had
Deane around while 316 Mr Cush heaved aside fellow Yank pilot 125 Nath and Ellis
hooked out 90 Joe Ninety before Mr Cush continued to wind out 282 Mr Mad which
was enough to earn him the entertainer award as Licquorice survived an attack
from Deane to take the win from Mr Cush and Ellis.
The second heat was for the pre 85 cars and the few pieces of modern
material and together they raised a massive field of 45 cars and as expected it
was a much more action packed affair. Licquorice began by running in Nichols
which also claimed Taylor as 616 Jack Tickner (XJ) found 224 Lewis Canham (240
estate) for a head-on only to take a package from 206 Dave King (XJ40) in turn
as 269 Tom Morris (240 estate) hit Licquorice in the rear wheel and was crushed
by Mr Cush as behind them 252 Steve Bugler (240 estate) thundered 318 Tony Citro
(740 estate) into the escalating wreckage and 326 Shane Lynn (Mk3) did the same
to 338 Terry Garrod (Mk3) with 469 Martin Baxter (740 estate) scoring on 326
Ratty before Mr Mad pasted 768 Danny McSweeney (240 estate). 17 Kyle Overy (XJ)
delivered a head-on to Mr Cush as Deane added 902 Rhys Mills (740 estate) to the
carnage before 32 Alan Wombwell (XJ40) picked up 90 Joe Ninety who latched onto
757 Jack Jnr and he connected on and trashed 329 Michael Carter (Mk2 estate).
With the pile-up now a near track blockage 841 Phil Jennings (XJ40) scored on 32
Asbo and 884 Tom Filmer (240 estate) jacked Joe Ninety a treat before 632 Reedy
Jnr scored on Mills and Jordan crashed into 888 Jake Smith (XJ40). 317 Callum
Jacobs (740 estate) inflicted further damage to Joe Ninety and he was crushed
himself by a hard shot from 60 James French (XJ) and he copped it from 237 Gary
Nash (Mk2) who was blitzed by 620 Guy Whitehead (240 estate). 388 Taylor Sowter
(240 estate) pasted 620 Mr G in turn as Mr Cush evened the score on 17 Chiefy
when he piled him into 338 Wingnut. 169 James Rushton (240) found 785 Dom
Ambrose (740 estate) in the heap and landed a shot as 32 Asbo also weighed in on
Mr G before Overy picked up 222 Matty High (740 estate) and thundered him into
the heap, 237 Nasha copping the brunt of it which completely destroyed his
Granada and brought the reds out but Taylor was already committed to a hit on
Overy and Beasley to a shot on Asbo. With Nasha safely out of his wreck near 20
survivors gathered for the restart. This began with Beasley piling Rushton into
Nichols’ limo with 337 Ash Garrod (740 estate) then stuffing Mr Cush into the
Barton Boy. A few quiet laps followed until Lown picked up and drilled Mr Cush
into the wall and Beasley went one better with a stonking follow-in on Jordan’s
Lincoln. Filmer then grabbed hold of Licquorice and smashed him into the
driver’s side of the thankfully vacated Tickner’s XJ and 252 Boogie zeroed in
for a ballistic hit on Licquorice’s limo. The leading Reedy Jnr attacked Boogie
on the final bend but got his move wrong and collected a dead car and Filmer
homed in for a crushing hit with 388 Lump then delivering a T-bone to Reedy Jnr
but the latter was able to find reverse and get his battered wreck over the line
for the win from Beasley and Boogie, Filmer, Lump and Lown the only other
finishers with Beasley the best entertainer.
All those not in heat two were able to contest heat three and a late
surge of cars to line up resulted in an even bigger field than the previous race
and an equally mental start where 96 Amber Daniel (Supra) fired into 327 Mick
Maskall Jnr as 276 Adam Rowell (E class) buried 88 Lyndon Stark to trigger a
pile-up by the pit gate which 704 Kevin Chandler (Previa) added 96 Bam Bam too
as a big push behind them saw 9 Ben Cox (Previa) thunder in 785 Diminoc which
also claimed 313 Cully while 148 Ian Redden stuffed the XJ8s of 375 Alex Hensby
and 551 Brett Jackson, the latter getting cracked in the rear wheel by 204
Charlie King (Previa). 55 Chris Hornbrook (Previa) nailed 100 Callum White (E
class) as 79 Ricky Twell (XJ8) delivered a crushing rear wheel hit to 273 Mad
Mouse’s rated hearse. 04 Mikey Croft was destroyed by hard hits from 705 Ant
Turner (Previa) and Ellis with 148 Shorty blasting Turner in the rear wheel as
174 Callum Henderson (Previa) blasted 160 Shayn Winsor and then reversed out of
the heap and stopped 757 Tom Farren (300) with 639 Tye Williams (Supra)
clobbering the latter in turn as 88 Fat Face also blasted Winsor. 22 Dave
Vincent hammered Henderson with a rear wheel hit as Nat administered a crushing
front wheel hit to 79 Twelly and Ellis continued to destroy 319 Wayne Cunnington
(740 estate) as Shorty picked up 517 Sid Cooper (Mk2) and thundered him flat out
into Cox in another massive crash just as the reds flew to check on a shaken
Twelly. Much like the previous race around 20 still stood for the restart with
Bam Bam piling welcome returnee 249 Matt Frost (XJ8) into the pit bend wreckage
which also claimed Browning and 132 Rob James (E class) homed in for a big hit
on 249 Frosty with Ellis zeroing for a stunning blitz on 132 Bobbles, leathering
his Merc. 757 Tom Farren (300) assaulted Henderson who responded by reversing
into Browning who quickly gathered himself up and deliver a wicked revenge hit a
lap later only to be bundled into the infield blocks by Farren as he tried to
escape which allowed 209 Tom Waller (estate) to whack the latter in the rear
wheel. 233 James Carter (Previa) disrespected the no turning round rule and went
against the flow to stop 328 Dan Lathan head-on as 209 Tombo hit the spun 776
Daniel Newman (Previa) in the rear wheel. The lively Bam Bam added 898 Andy
Battle (Omega estate) to the heap which now completely blocked the track and 817
Kurt Jacobs (Omega) made the most of it with a shot on Tombo and he took one in
turn from 551 Jacko Jnr who was hammered by Vincent with Farren then firing into
him which cleared a path. Carter continued to ignore the rules of the night with
a second head-on to Lathan as Farren cracked Henderson in the front wheel with
Vincent coming through the misery to win from Battle an Tombo, 817 the Stig,
Farren and Newman the only other finishers with Ellis the best entertainer.
Despite all drivers afforded 30 minutes of repair time it looked as though the
carnage from the main heats would leave precious few for the consolation
with barely 20 cars lined up 10minutes before the time elapsed but remarkably
this doubled in the next five minutes and when the cars came to start the line a
monster field of 54 cars were present for action and it was another total
massacre. An immediate push resulted in 206 Kingy and Asbo finding the wall and
932 Rhys Reed hit the latter on the nose with Hornbrook then smashing Farren
into the Shunter as Citro span Williams into the infield blocks and Mr Mad ran
in Henderson on the road bend where another pile-up had started to form. Back on
the pick bend and Asbo rammed Nath head-on while McSweeney zeroed in for a much
harder head-on to Fat Face which left him open to a killer hit from 327 Little
Legs who was trashed in turn by Chiefy with Mr Mad blitzing the 17 XJ in turn.
Jack Jnr hit 178 Kieron Bowman (Previa) on the nose as Ratty cracked 82 Dave
Norris (Previa) in the rear wheel while 100 Captain Cock homed in for a superb
hit on Mr Mad. 136 Adrian Court (240 estate) basted Norris with a T-bone and
Kingy smashed 262 Rob Bugler (240 estate) into Captain Cock which allowed Reed
to nail 262 Roona with a head-on but revenge was swift with a hard rear wheel
attack from Boogie. Jack Jnr laid into Turner with Beasley powering into the
well-worn Caddy before Boogie stuffed Bowman into the spun Nath with the latter
pair continuing to trade blows. 119 Davey Cox (240 estate) fired into 160 Perry
Willings (300) and drilled him into the wreckage with Hornbrook nailing Cruncher
only to take a rear wheel hit from Lathan. 317 Stress picked up Filmer who
latched onto Overy, taking them all into the heap which claimed Shorty as well
and French zeroed in for a package on 418 Simon Eglen (Omega) with Little Legs
blasting him in turn before Lump crashed into the heap. Browning found Chiefy
for a head-on as Boogie continued to trash Stress with the reds then flying for
a fire for Hensby. The restart began with Hornbrook stuffing Mr Cush in the
middle of the pit bend wreckage which immediately blocked the track again and
Nichols found Ratty for a shot which in turn stuffed Lump into the carnage and
Overy arrived for a hit on Nichols. Jack Jnr blasted the World Champion in turn
as Bowman assaulted Norris and Taylor crashed into the heap although he didn’t
land a significant hit on any one car but it did leave him open for a package
from Rushton who was flattened by Beasley in turn. Cruncher was the next to
arrive with a shot on the 67 Crown and Fat Face also connected on Beasley as
Farren weighed in on Cruncher and French connected with a T-bone on Bowman.
Norris nailed the former in turn which left his Previa open to a big hit from
Nichols and Jack Jnr drilled the latter with a wicked rear wheel hit. The well
battered Ratty hammered Roona as Lathan hit French in the rear wheel and Overy
blasted Cruncher and Browning scored on Taylor with 269 Mozza laying into the
former in turn. Overy continued to blitz Rushton in style and Ratty also hit the
latter which left him open to a hit from Mr Cush with Overy powering into the
Lincoln. Nichols arrived to nail Overy with a fine hit and Lathan also weighed
in on Mr Cush as Browning flattened Stress and Overy rallied back to blast Jack
Jnr. Lathan homed in for a solid head-on to the latter and he was pasted by
Farren and with now everyone buried in the heap the reds were flown with
Cruncher declared the winner and the rest of those still running qualifying for
the final but none had completed sufficient laps for any places to be awarded,
Overy was the best entertainer.
With a blind eye turned to a few non-qualifiers the field for the Suffolk
Open was swelled by 21 cars which in all fairness was still more than
expected and a big push in the middle of the pack saw Vincent turned into the
wall immediately and the push continued to see Cruncher follow-in Captain Cock
with Lathan firing into the former as Lown butted heads with the spinning Battle
causing a small pile-up in which Overy scored on Browning and 337 Pretty Boy
collected Captain Cock and he was hammered by Filmer. Things settled down and
Tombo span 160 Pez for the lead and immediately behind Citro removed Boogie to
take second. The recovered Vincent attacked the warped Ratty and Nichols
attacked Lathan only to spin into the infield blocks as Cruncher fired into and
span Lathan. The recovered Pez fenced Pretty Boy and dumped him on the home
straight as Citro span Tombo, and Lump, to claim the lead, the latter pasted by
Ellis as he tried to re-join. Captain Cock dragged himself back onto the track
and Overy was happy to deliver a T-bone and Ratty also weighed in on the
Aftermath man with Boogie finally putting down Ratty with a hit as Vincent span
Tombo to take second. Citro though was clear and raced to the win from Vincent
an Cruncher with just seven finishing and Ratty’s determined efforts earning him
the entertainer award.
The late running of the meeting meant little extra repair time could be afforded
the drivers and therefore it was most impressive to see 24 drag themselves back
out for the Accumulator and DD and they included several who had not been
seen since the heats including Bobbles who cruelly expired on the grid. A
spectacular start began with Henderson holding up Mr G who was nailed in turn by
Baxter before Mr Cush buried himself in the back of Henderson with a big hit as
a push down the back straight resulted in Ellis rolling team mate 411 Chunky and
climbing all over the P5 in incredible fashion to bring the reds out. The race
resumed with Ellis somewhat oddly burying himself in the back of Mr Cush’s
vacated limo as Mr G had Frosty and 222 Matty out allowing the on opposite
Boogie to claimed Frosty ad Tombo homed in for a ballistic hit on Ellis. 512
Sean Cooper (740 estate) had fallen victim to the pit bend wreckage and was
trashed by Hornbrook as 204 Charlie King (Previa) also punished Ellis. Boogie
continued on opposite to smash Croft with a savage head-on while 204 Charlie Boy
added Baxter to the pit bend wreckage which left him open to a hit from Mr G.
Nichols crashed into Tombo and he took one in turn from Matty as Tombo limped
out of the heap on opposite to stop Citro head-on. Boogie continued with another
hard head-on, this one to Mr G and Charlie Boy arrived to destroy the TPL man
and Boogie now zeroed in for a head-on with Nichols as the recovered Citro
landed a revenge hit to Tombo and Overy turned round to nail Baxter with a
head-on before he powered into Citro. Nichols inflicted further damage to Mr G
and Charlie Boy trashed the former before Boogie stopped the leading Lathan with
a killer head-on but with Matty opting to blast Charlie Boy hard and take an
equally fierce hit from Croft it allowed Lathan to continue onto his final lap
with his snapped Scorpio. Roona assaulted Citro on opposite before stopping
Lathan on the nose on the final bend but the British Champion was able to drag
himself across the line for the win Roona, Mr G and Charlie Boy taking the
places on laps completed. There was next to nothing left for the DD but
Croft eventually got momentum to silence Roona with a pair of hits before he did
a full lap to ram Overy head-on and claim the win. Boogie took the entertainer
award from the final event while entertainer points were awarded to Baxter,
Hornbrook, Charlie Boy, Tombo and Mr G with Overy reclaiming the Steamer memorial trophy as
the evening’s most entertaining driver.
Heat one: 51 James Licquorice, 316, 85, 12, 282, 90, 514 Best entertainer: 316
James Cushion
Heat two: 632 Callum Reed, 67, 252, 884, 388, 311 Best entertainer 67 Rickie
Beasley
Heat three: 22 Dave Vincent, 898, 209, 817, 757, 776 Best entertainer: 85 James
Ellis
Consolation: 119 Davey Cox Best entertainer: 617 Jack Overy
Suffolk Open: 318 Tony Citro, 22, 119, 328, 898, 887, 884 Best entertainer: 326
Shane Lynn
Accumulator QF: 328 Dan Lathan, 262, 620, 204 Best entertainer: 252 Steve Bugler
Destruction Derby: 04 Mike Croft from 617
The second World of Shale qualifier attracted a decent, albeit somewhat
disappointing field of 42 BriSCA F2 Stockcars although given the World
Championship Semi-Finals were just seven days later perhaps the entry was all
the more impressive and it was boosted by no less than seven drivers on their
first appearances of the year at the venue, these include welcome surprise
visitor 7 Gordon Moodie from Scotland, he one of six extras on the night which
boosted the entry and it was pleasing there was just one no show on the final
entry list.
21 cars for heat one and 728 Carl Pilikinton overcooked it and was
collected by 219 Chris Mitchell as 630 Justin Parker set the pace and 5 Josh
Coleman challenged 235 Bradley Blyth but sent himself into a spin as 103 Carl
Issit was dumped out by 464 Matt Linfield and the frantic Coleman tangled with
413 Richard Rayner and crashed into the fence. 417 Allan Weston climbed into
second as the race hit half way when 226 Billy Webster span 345 Gary Taylor and
climbed all over him as well and 662 Steve Wycherly fired into 283 Gary Allen to
take third place only to then clash with the recovered Taylor which allowed
Webster to nip into second but Parker was clear and raced to the win with
Wycherly in third.
21 again for heat two with 81 Mark Clayton landing an early hit on 597
Barry Clow as 669 John Hindley and 774 Steve Flatt suffered spins and 414 Josh
Rayner led his first laps in an F2 and behind 735 Mick Haworth slipped passed
369 Mick Ford for second and Clow came under fire from 788 Stephen Mallinson.
Haworth challenged and took the lead from Rayner as Ford and 724 Tom Pell
battled for third and a big push in the pack behind saw 225 Tony Blackburn land
a hit on Mallinson while 136 Kyle Taylor came under fire from 823 Sam Wagner.
There were spins for 846 Ashley England and 372 Steve North before 351 Gavin
Mason came to a halt on the home straight which brought the caution flags out.
The restart was short lived as a big push into the first bend resulted in 18
Matt Clayton crashing out and with concern for him the reds flags flew which
meant the cars were re-lined as they were for the restart which was most
fortunate for Haworth who was reinstated as the leader having not only lost the
top spot toBlackburn but also being dumped out by Wagner. Blackburn quickly took
the lead back on the second restart with 124 Ollie Skeels barging into Mallinson
to climb to sixth as Wagner span 177 Glenn Scott in the race for third only to
then challenge Haworth for second which sent them both around. Pell and Scott
also suffered spins as Blackburn was left clear to take the win, Skeels
inheriting second from the later action and Taylor third.
20 returned for the consolation with an early clash between 372 Steve
North and Taylor leaving the latter stuck in the fence to bring the reds out but
this didn’t prevent 623 Rob Dobie from being shoved into the wall which ended
his race. Things resumed with Pell quickly coming under 532 Callum Oates-Kitson
for the lead as Matt Clayton span and Haworth challenged Pell for the lead but
this allowed Oates-Kitson to come under the former and snatch second but they
were all held up enough for Blyth to take the lead as Oakes-Kitson span from
contention and a half spin for Haworth cost him time. 742 Nick Rogers crashed
out in a heap on the road bend which left him stranded and the waved yellows
flew to assist him from the track. The race resumed with 464 Matt Linfield
firing into Blyth in the race for the lead but the latter held onto his
advantage as 941 Jamie Lane tangled with Pell and span into the infield blocks
and further down Pell lunged at 331 James Di’Guillio which sent them both around
as Blyth raced to the win from Linfield and Coleman.
Just Blackburn, who’d blown his engine despite winning his heat, failed to
contest the final leaving 27 cars but it was soon 26 with 606 Andy Palmer
an immediate retirement as Skeels dumped out Issit leaving Weston to set the
pace from Haworth, Parker, 774 Steve Flatt and Blyth with Parker spinning
Haworth to take second which allowed Weston to open a useful advantage as 93 Stu
Sculthorpe span and Linfield collected the spun Flatt with Coleman firing the
former into the wall. Wycherly climbed to third as Moodie also span and Coleman
was dumped out by Webster as 377 Daz Shaw fired into 444 Ben Howard and he then
attacked Mark Clayton as Skeels got stuck into Clow while Howard used his bumper
on Scott. In all that was going on Wycherly emerged in the lead Allen dumped out
Clow triggering a pile-up on the exit of turn two with Shaw adding Weston to the
heap and ultimately the waved yellows came out for the stricken cars. The race
resumed with Wycherly leading the field into the final five from Clayton and
Wayner as Haworth and 669 John Hindley suffered spins with the luckless Issit
collecting the former and Skeels running into Hindley and Wagner was delayed and
Mitchell burst through in third. Wagner came back at Mitchell but crashed into
Hindley as a result costing him more places as Wycherly raced to the win from
Clayton and Mitchell.
Despite limited times for repairs it was pleasing to see 23 cars return for the
Grand National with Flatt spinning North from the start and he was
collected by Howard as Pell led the way and Mark Clayton removed Pilkinton and a
push behind saw Issit spin Mitchell and Coleman also went around. Haworth
muscled his way into the lead as Di’Guillio was dumped out by a combination of
Clayton and Skeels and Coleman would spin for a second time, the recovered
Di’Guillio coming under fire from Pilkington as Pell attacked Haworth in the
race for the lead which allowed Palmer to close and he then fired the latter
wide for the lead as Mallinson clashed wheels with the luckless Di’Guillio,
Palmer racing to the win with Moodie justifying his long trip with a fine second
and Shaw third while behind Clayton just beat Issit home for eighth.
Heat one: 630 Justin Parker, 226, 662, 606, 377, 219, 7, 417, 283, 103
Heat two: 225 Tony Blackburn, 124, 136, 788, 81, 93, 449, 597, 823, 774
Consolation: 235 Bradley Blyth, 464, 5, 177, 846, 444, 735, 669, 369, 724
Grand Final: 662 Steve Wycherly, 81, 219, 124, 226, 823, 788, 444, 103, 377
Grand National: 606 Andy Palmer, 7, 377, 724, 449, 219, 124, 81, 103, 846
Some excellent action on track but action which came at a cost, the insane
amount of wreckage in the second and third Unlimited Banger heats and
consolation meaning lengthy clear ups which resulted in a later finish and while
it could be debated some of those races had too big a grids, the unpredictable
circumstances which led them could not have been expected, especially the
consolation which never looked likely to attract anywhere near as many cars as
it did until they were on track, although fans of crashing and big hits were
perhaps pleased it did fall that way and once again the BriSCA F2 Stockcars
served up an enjoyable affair despite the line-up being lacking in a few of it’s
bigger stars on the shale scene which perhaps took a little edge from things.