Mildenhall Stadium Saturday March 28 2009
RDC's One Wild Night 2009
National Bangers BBA Supreme Championship and Saloon Stockcars

The 2009 National Banger BBA Supreme Championship attracted a whopping field of just over 150 cars to Mildenhall on a miserable March 28, the entire day littered with showery conditions which made for a damp looking stadium when everyone arrived. Nonetheless the field included drivers from every ORC promotion and it was pleasing to report an almost 100% attendance by the qualifiers for the main event who had confirmed their intention to compete, just four finalists failing to arrive without prior warning and with a couple of reserves getting in at the last minute it left 46 contenders for the main event. The entry was predictably dominated by Mondeos but there was a smattering of RWD interest with a handful of large Volvos and a smaller number of Granadas which included a used Mk2 limo for 292 Keith Saunders and stunning hearse for 88 Alan Read for the title race although sadly engine gremlins resulted in his car being one of a few which failed to make the track all night. Many of the sports biggest teams were represented as well with the Levellers having the largest numbers but also featuring on the line up were the Midnight Runners, Cream Team, Blue Crew, Common Crushers, Stinkbridge, Team Black, Condoms and Predators. 

The Supreme Championship was the first race on the programme, a few late arrivals and problems behind the scenes with the electronic transponders meaning the driver introduction didn’t begin until 6.30pm when the meeting was scheduled to start. Nonetheless 44 drivers were introduced for the big race, the field including five current world champions and a further seven ex world champions plus a whole host of current and former champions of the sport for a star studded line up. It was good to see several drivers make the effort in the paint department for the race and thus smart car trophies were presented to 844 Tom Haggerty, 188 John Reeves (Primera), 384 John Golden, 88 Ash Burton, 385 Roy Gedge (Bluebird), 525 Wes Starmer (Bluebird), 119 Davey Cox (Cavalier), 898 Andy Battle (Vectra), 730 Dean Mayes, 714 Paul Smaldon, 67 Mark Whittaker and 341 Andy Jones. The aforementioned 88 Speedy and 741 Luke Parfitt (Cavalier) would have also received awards had mechanical issues not kept them in the pits and there were further woes for 271 Dean Goodall and Saunders whose cars let them down on the grid. After all the drivers drew either the inside of front row of the grid, an Incarace draw was used to determine the front row and it handed 206 Dave King pole position with 188 Victor alongside, 349 Lee Saunders (Primera) and 396 Scott Mowlam (Bluebird estate) on the second row and 437 Chris Bailey (Primera) and 67 Sparky behind. Defending champion 439 Danny Sutton (Vectra) found himself in the middle of the pack while 516 Carl Gould (Cavalier), just like the Spedeworth World Final, found himself at the very back of the grid. 

Sadly just after the driver introductions were completed the rain which had threatened to return all afternoon started to fall and got increasingly heavy as the race continued. Nonetheless the cars set off for two rolling laps, the skies lit by a small fireworks display on the second lap. Bailey was the first to strike as he attacked Sparky although the latter did well to not spin but 528 Alan Hunt (Rover) was not so lucky as he was wound out by 190 Steve Bailey and 11 Darren Race clobbered the spun 844 Tom Haggerty on the nose and a pile-up quickly formed on the back straight. Victor grabbed the lead early on with 206 Kingy, Sparky, 617 Jack Overy and 348 Sonny Sherwood the front runners as 516 Gouldy stuffed 432 Mark Munson into the fence on the back straight allowing 349 Michael Allard (Cavalier) to home in with a big hit on the Gladiator. Overy was looking very quick and raced into second with 348 Mushy behind as Allard and 247 Lee Clarke also emerged as front runners. 432 Mental Mark took a swipe at the passing Mushy on opposite as the bad luck for the Gladiators continued when 206 Phil Milner was buried by 218 Rob Speak. Meanwhile the Blue Crew v Midnight Runner war featured as 592 Mark Marchant and 190 Pikey went head to head. Allard had now raced up to third place as Mushy was stopped by a dodgy inside out attack from 206 Turkish which resulted in an immediate black flag for the Gladiator. 247 Bro ran into Mushy in turn costing him much time as Speak attacked Kingy which in turn claimed Sparky. 119 Cruncher now nailed Turkish as 53 Dave Palmer had 470 Pete Corbett (Primera) out. 409 Carl Pears now began what would be a lively showing as he buried 714 No Show’s ultra smart Mondeo before 730 Deano ran head-on into Turkish. Bailey crashed head-on into Mushy as Speak span Sparky from contention. 409 Carlos continued with a hit over the rear wheel of the superbly turned out 384 Goldie with 37 Dave Lewis (Rover) getting caught out in this crash. Sparky meanwhile turned round and destroyed Corbett with two savage hits by the pit gate as Bro picked out the spun 528 Jethro and administered a solid head-on. Kingy enjoyed a brief spell at the front but Victor soon reclaimed the lead by which point 294 Lee Hughes had moved into third as Carlos stuffed Bro into the fence. The race now hit the half way stage of the 25 lap distance by which the track conditions were worsening rapidly as the rain fell even harder and the pace slowed dramatically for the final 12 or so laps. Nonetheless 158 Shane Davies turned round and pounded Goldie into submission with a string of hits as the entertaining Carlos piled 198 Marcus Goldsmith into the luckless Goldie. Sparky dumped 294 Stuntman into the pit bend heap costing the Condom plenty of time but Kingy was also delayed, allowing Stuntman to catch him and he punted him into the fence to grab second. Carlos now picked up 517 Scott Weldon and followed him in, this also claiming Sparky as Victor led the race into the final five laps. By now only Stuntman remained on the lead lap, about half a lap adrift of a smoking Victor with Kingy, Speak, Cruncher and Gouldy next in line. Speak put away Goldsmith which also claimed Stuntman putting more distance between him and the leader and Speak had a further pop at Stuntman a lap or so later, Carlos delivering the final action as he buried Weldon. Meanwhile Victor kept his cool and carefully survived the final laps to register his first major win in his career, Stuntman second and Kingy and Speak joining them on the podium. Gouldy took fifth with Goldsmith, Bro, 349 Finbarr, Lewis and Weldon wrapping up the top 10. 

Following the race the trophy presentations were carried out, Victor receiving the superb Supreme Championship trophy, which is an exact replica of the trophy Damon Hill claimed for winning the British GP, and the top four enjoyed their lap of honour which boasted the second fireworks display of the evening. 

Fortunately the rain had now stopped and would not return for the remainder of the evening as 33 cars assembled for the first heat, track conditions still far from ideal. 425 Martin Stopher clobbered the Rover 620 of 106 Brian Pfender in the midst of an early pile-up as 688 Wayne Morphett stuffed 837 Martin Wesby (Galant) and 547 Tony McNeil did the same to 70 Ant Long, the latter then taking a head-on from 380 Trevor Wright as 761 Nat Cohn (Cavalier) squeezed 236 Rob Everett into a small pile-up which had formed on the home straight. Leveller 478 Chris Spiers blasted the Astra estate of 928 Emmerson Prime while 380 Shaky fell foul of the Levellers getting buried by both Morphett and 478 Chucksy. The Leveller attack continued as 800 Luke Benn buried 236 Robo while a revenge seeking Shaky blasted Morphet head-on only to take one in turn from 257 Jaimie Neve with Chucksy hammering the RDC young gun in turn. Neve bounced back and sought revenge and duly ran in Benn well as Robo buried Prime before 237 Lee Millhouse stuffed 384 Liam Conway (Bluebird). Wesby ended the race with an on opposite attack from Wesby as 160 Perry Willings (Cavalier) won from 328 Daniel Latham and Conway. 

A similar sized field gathered for heat two with 77 John Till’s smart Escort estate in the wars from the start as 262 Jason Barnard fenced him and 170 Darren Teal zeroed in for a head-on as a pile-up again formed from the start, this time on the road bend. Deano targeted Blue Crew young gun 50 Reece Laybourn while 808 Steve Tyson (Bluebird) scored on 262 the Verger only to take one in turn from 542 Ray Outhwaite (Cavalier) before 148 Ian Redden (Bluebird) hit the spun 648 Kyle Guyler on the nose. Outhwaite continued to fence 270 Paul Roots, prompting the latter to turn round and connect with a hard T-bone on 239 Steve Carter. Outhwaite continued his lively showing by running in the Mk2 Granada of 555 Sam Gelsthorpe as 587 Alex Humphrey and 05 Carlos Perez stuffed 362 Matt Godden, the latter copping the impact in the drivers side as the Blue Crew v Midnight Runner battle continued with 593 Tom Harrell turning round to hit Nemesis. 593 Big T took a head-on from 808 Tosh for his troubles as 519 Lee Middleton hit Roots on the nose and Perez blasted the Rover of 461 Tom Black only to take one in turn from Godden. Deano now joined in the war with hits on Roots and Big T before he took a head-on from Laybourn. Deano then hit the well smart Bluebird of 128 Andy Lack on the nose as Perez dished out a hard hit to Big T and the fired up Deano rammed Roots on the nose leaving 26 Daniel Holmes (Cavalier) to end things by running in 93 Chris North. 673 Darren Fendley guided his Rover 620 to the win ahead of 128 Lacky and Perez. 

Track conditions were starting to improve when 35 cars lined up for the final heat. 180 Mark Foster started things well with a hard follow-in on Mowlam as 22 Dave Vincent (Bluebird) tagged the spinning 86 Alec Savage (Cavalier) and the luckless Mowlam copped further stick from 507 Paul Ashby and 122 James Woodley. Another road side pile-up formed as 80 Gavin Wood stuffed the smart Cavalier of 498 Jay Curtis which also claimed 200 Wayne Holton before 370 John Cobbold (Cavalier) put away 171 James Simpson (Bluebird). 200 Skippy recovered and followed in 146 Dan Wigman with 179 Shaun Rushton (Bluebird) then doing the exact same to Curtis setting the latter up for a solid T-bone from Ashby as 30 Roy Laybourn Jnr followed Wood in well. 180 Sparky dished out a big hit to Woodley as the reds came out to assist Ashby who was in trouble on the pit bend, the race declared in favour of 682 Paul Sparrow from 20 Andy Burbridge (Primera) and 808 Jay Buckland (Rover).

A Saloon Stockcar race followed and subsequently the track conditions were again much better for the first Allcomers which raised 36 cars. Things started with a bang as Woodley picked up 361 Chris Walden with 502 Kayligh Dighton latching onto the former to thunder the World and British champ in hard snapping his Bluebird. 401 Steve Hemmings opened his account with a hit on Millhouse as 502 the Chief put away 801 Jack Foster and 157 Michael Piggott also laid into Millhouse which in turn fenced track virgin 38 Craig Allen (Cavalier). 313 Craig Osbourne ran in 807 Chris Murfin a treat but took an equally stiff hit in turn from 157 Piglet as Carlos homed in on 807 Murf for a shot and 776 Ady Groom kept the big hits coming as he followed in 648 the Dart. Carlos now blasted 179 Cool which sadly resulted in Middleton catching the Stinkbridge young gun in the door as Foster put 511 Helen Licquorice away. The luckless Murf now copped a head-on from Conway as Foster blasted 776 Groomy only to take one in turn from Kingy as 67 Sparky hammered the Dart and Kingy assaulted 181 Craig Allen. Long turned round and powered into 312 Tom Reynolds (Volvo 240 estate) with 401 Psycho treating the latter to a head-on as well. Piglet picked up Osbourne and followed him full chat into 361 Wally’s wreck creating some nice air time with Allard then homing in for a monster shot on Piglet. Long continued with a head-on to Conway only to take a hit himself from the recovered Osbourne as Allard hit Murf only to be punished by Psycho and Middleton in turn. Murf battled back and T-boned Osbourne as Sparky T-boned Middleton only to take one himself from Long. Vincent meanwhile came through for the win, Victor second (having started at the back) and Kingy third. There were a few hits briefly after the reds as Wesby hit Sparky on the nose and Foster assaulted Psycho, Kingy hitting Piglet before things calmed down. 

The second Allcomers also started in lively fashion as Black picked up Marchant with 547 the BFA picking up the former to slam the Blue Crew man into the pit gate hard, Marchant then getting caught in the door by Teal as he went round. Teal picked himself up and put 20 Baldy away, the Verger T-boning the latter in turn as the BFA ran Black into the wall. Pikey picked out 271 Deano and connected with a massive hit only to take an equally hard revenge shot from Laybourn Jnr as the Chief continued to impressive with a solid follow-in to Gedge. 730 Deano put away 456 Nathan Roberts only to come under immediate fire from 552 Karl Douglas (Cavalier) but the Runner bounced back to hit 557 John Small, 730 Deano then coming under attack from 460 Lewis Barber. 730 Deano continued to fight single handidly with hit Roberts on opposite before taking a hard T-bone from 552 Blacknuts as Fendley stuffed Kingy into a dead car en route to his second win of the night, 224 Dave Canham (Primera) and 587 Humps the placemen, 730 Deano sitting tight for further head-ons from Small and Blacknuts before the reds came out. 

Another field of 30 plus for the final Allcomers with 128 Andrew Shipp (Volvo 240 estate) dishing out a monster head-on to the spun Neve at the start only to take a killer hit from Long in turn as Piglet ran in 117 Karl Dack on the pit bend. Sparrow hit the spun 160 Pez on the nose allowing 117 Kamikaze to fire into the former only to come under fire from the impressive Long as Piglet put away 204 Charlie King, the Predator then taking a rated hit from Long. Humps put away Benn and Pez in a single go with Piglet homing in on Humps only to take another damaging shot from Long. The Common Crusher again stuck it to the game Pigley but took one in turn from Foster as Cobbold raced to the win from Sparrow and 64 Barry Lee (Primera). 

Just shy of 30 returned for the Accumulator qualifier, Piglet back for more in his crippled Mondeo while all three of the Runners also repaired for more feuding with the Cream Team and Blue Crew. Kamikaze laid into Piglet from the off as Nemesis nailed Small with a head-on only to take one from 93 Northy in turn with 180 Sparky blasting the latter a second later. Laybourn Jnr followed in 730 Deano as Pikey hammered the luckless Small with a T-bone as Neve connected on Laybourn and 320 Paul Seymour went head to head with Wood. The Verger duly blasted the latter in turn and a lap later the WI piloted followed Roberts in a treat on the pit bend. This opened the door for Pikey to nail the Cream Team man head-on but he took one in turn from Laybourn before Laybourn Jnr administered a brutal head-on. Foster pounded the game Piglet on opposite but the latter shrugged it off and met Latham on the nose only to take one in turn from King. Sparky got the better of the BFA on the final bend to snatch the win with Cobbold in third. Into the demo and 180 Sparky tried to silence Piglet with a hard hit but the former then took a head-on from the BFA with King nailing him in turn only to take one himself from Latham. Mushy and Cobbold met on the nose, the latter catching the hit on the drivers side but fortunately no serious damage was done as 67 Sparky now became the latest to attack Piglet while Neve was followed in hard by Mushy. Piglet battled back and rammed Foster on the nose only to then take more abuse from 67 Sparky as Latham and the BFA enjoyed a head-on. Mushy nailed Latham in turn with the latter meeting Foster on the nose as 67 Sparky hit Latham which saw everyone expire almost at the same second, 67 Sparky getting the verdict having delivered the final hit with Piglet taking the entertainer award. 

BBA Supreme Championship: 188 John Reeves, 294, 206, 218, 516, 198, 247, 349, 37, 517
Heat One: 160 Perry Willings, 328, 384, 502, 237, 236, 224, 917, 257, 478
Heat Two: 673 Darren Fendley, 128, 05, 405, 811, 648, 808, 93, 26
Heat Three: 682 Paul Sparrow, 20, 808, 370, 179, 22, 159, 64, 80, 30
Allcomers One: 22 Dave Vincent, 188, 206, 801, 348, 169, 157, 349, 401
Allcomers Two: Fendley, 224, 587, 349, 644. 547, 206
Allcomers Three: 370 John Cobbold, 682, 64, 204, 146, 808, 801, 160, 200, 157
Accumulator Qualifier: 67 Mark Whittaker, 547, 370, 348, 204
Into Destruction Derby: Whittaker from 328

A fine field of 32 Saloon Stockcars gathered for their second track championship round of the season although sadly only 25 of them would ultimately race. 18 Jamie Clayton, 41 David Maltby, 390 Leyton Hubbert, 401 Steve and 402 Shaun Webster never even made it through the pit gate and furthermore 511 Craig and 512 Darren Barnett retired to the infield prior to heat one and never returned, all six presumably put off by the wet weather. The field did include west country pairing 10 Frank Little Jnr and 964 Kenny Peters, 97 Dave Allen made his Mildenhall debut in the formula and 312 Neil Payne on his first appearance at the track since returning to the division. 

In the end just 21 cars gathered for the first heat with very difficult track conditions as the rain had only just stopped. 317 Dwayne Powell and 468 Kelven Nicholls were both early spinners and they were soon joined by 311 Steve and 912 Andi Newman while 360 Carl Waterfield sent 417 Fred Powell around leaving Peters to set the pace from Little Jnr and Waterfield as 420 Ivan Street became the latest to spin. Waterfield meanwhile marched into the lead as a recovered Steve Newman had Dwayne Powell out, the latter collected by 190 John Wagstaff. 219 Luke Grief climbed to second as behind 368 Steve and 369 Andy Santry fought for second along with Peters and Little Jnr. There were late spins for Steve Newman and Wagstaff as Waterfield took a convincing win from Grief and Andy Sanrty. 

There were also 21 cars for the second heat but it was a different looking grid to the first. Andi Newman removed Street from the off as Little led from Peters and Wagstaff as further down the order 156 Darren Goudy span Grief and Waterfield turned around Andy Santry. The leading Little was then spun by the back marking Steve Santry gifting Peters the advantage as the lively Waterfield spun Aldridge. Peters then ran wide and got caught with back markers handing the lead to Steve Newman as Andi Newman fenced 305 Nigel Parker. Late actions saw Goudy fence Fred Powell and Grief spun Wagstaff as Steve Newman romped to the win from 106 Jamie Stafford and Andy Santry. 

One less for the final by which the racing conditions were much improved and near perfect save the outside line. Steve Santry span 428 Lee Sampson from the start as Peters set the pace from Andi Newman and Street. Goudy and Fred Powell suffered spins before Allen attacked Parker only to send himself spinning and the luckless Sampson was dumped out by Waterfield. Peters fenced 43 Karl Gilbert as Wagstaff and Andy Santry went out. Five laps in and Andi Newman took the lead while Peters lost more time evening the score with Steve Santry. Allen span into the infield blocks while the luckless Steve Santry was spun by Steve Newman and Andi Newman lost time dealing with Street which allowed brother Steve to grab the lead with just over five laps to run. 176 Murray Jones removed Allen as Stafford turned aside Wagstaff and Waterfield sent Steve Santry spinning once again as he raced into fourth. Aldridge removed Wagstaff before getting the better of Andi Newman for second, Sampson delivering the final action as he removed Grief. Meanwhile Steve Newman took the win from Aldridge and Andi Newman. 

10 qualifiers contested the dash for cash and a typically lively start saw Stafford spin Street who was collected by Sampson, this quickly spreading the field out. Peters got away but Andi Newman reeled him in and span him for the lead as further down the order Stafford again used the bumper with Andy Santry his victim this time. Grief triumphed in a battle with Aldridge and Waterfield for third, the latter then winding out Aldridge as Steve Newman eased past brother Andi for the lead. Steve Newman though had to spin Peters which allowed Andi Newman and Grief to close but the latter overcooked it a lap later while pushing too hard and Steve Newman eased clear of brother Andi and took the win. 

Heat One: 360 Carl Waterfield, 219, 369, 368, 964, 106, 43, 305, 115, 311
Heat Two: 311 Steve Newman, 106, 369, 964, 417, 219, 190, 360, 115, 10
Grand Final: Newman, 115, 912, 360, 106, 428, 420, 219, 964, 176
Dash for Cash: Newman, 912, 360, 115, 428, 219, 106, 369, 964

A mixed night on the whole, the expected wet weather coming at the worst time to ruin the main event of the evening and the rain having an adverse effect on the first four races of the night before things improved as the programme wore on, the final eight races providing some very decent action and a huge message of congratulations to John ‘Victor’ Reeves as one of RDC’s hardest working banger drivers in recent seasons on the big win which he richly deserves. 

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