Mildenhall Saturday June 26
National Bangers British Qualifier plus Brian Wheeler, Mick Kavanagh and Danny Sutton Memorial and Saloon Stockcars 2004 British Championship

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Just over 70 bangers gathered for the last British qualifier at Mildenhall on June 26 which was also saw the Brian Wheeler, Danny Sutton and Mick Kavangh Memorial trophies up for grabs with the Bad Company turning out in force as expected and they brought some tidy cars with a well smart Mk1 Granada for 56 Malcolm Mortamer whose Mk3 limo was returned by 66 Steve Lee while 442 Dennis Wenhold returned Mark Trowbridge's Old Skool team meeting Granada coupe. Other noteworth cars included a used Mk2 Triumph 2000 estate for 869 Rob Ling, a fresh Mk1 Granada for 757 Mark Roberts and 64 Piers Turner returned his Mazda 929 estate. 

Fortunately the on and off rain before start time only managed to settle the dust on the track and the shale was in great condition for the 31 car opener where a spun Turner was clobbered by 192 Terry Nightingale (Bluebird) as 119 Davey Cox hit 324 Mark Latham (Mk3) and 76 Terry Mansfield (Volvo estate) buried both 338 Terry Garrod (Mk3) and 188 John Reeves allowing 119 Cruncher to give the former a hard hit. 547 Matt Reynolds' Sapphire was walled by 753 Billy Cunningham while Spedeworth visitor 363 James Bulley (Bluebird estate) buried 214 Marcus Ballard but he took similar stick from 53 Dave Palmer which set him up for a massive T-bone from Turner but Buley was able to repay the compliment as 204 Andy Bailey took the win from 364 Sean Winchester and Palmer. 

A larger field of 38 cars lined up for the second heat with 466 Mark Hackett in the wars early as 396 Graham Hyla put him in and 290 Jason MacMahon attacked 135 Donny Mann (Volvo). 768 Calvyn Girling (Bluebird) put away both 17 Mark Anderson and 211 Barry Franklin (Mk3) before 167 Kev Ling buried Hyla and 133 Damien Whall (Volvo estate) copped a T-bone from 665 Stu Scarlett. 277 Gary Staples started a lively show with a hit on 37 Dave Lewis (Accord) before he buried returnee 238 Tom Aldous' Volvo before he took a head-on from Whall which he shrugged off for a big hit on 328 Paul Wilkes who had gone in with Aldous on the back straight as 131 Barry Wade (Bluebird) guided his Bluebird to victory from 35 Peter Lewis' rapid Aerodec and 249 Matt Frost (Bluebird).

It was a 38 car field again for the consolation which saw 309 Shane Collins take a head-on from 148 Ian Redden (Bluebird) at the start as a pile-up quickly formed on turn two in which 753 Young Gun blasted 306 Dave Dalton while the smart 203 Darren Nash T-boned Kiddle which fired the Incarace visitor up to give Dave Lewis a meaty T-bone against the flow. 188 Victor then landed a hard T-bone to 311 Richard Dalton (Cortina) at the end of the back straight while Whall buried Ballard setting the latter up for a head-on from 566 Tommie Coleman as Whall turned round for a pop at Victor and Young Gun stuffed 371 Sean Foley. 117 Karl Dack hit Ballard while 148 Shorty neatly piled 74 Joe Cunningham (Bluebird estate) into 24 Ian Mallion as Bulley met Roberts on the nose and Cruncher fired in Shorty. 17 Caveman moved in with a hit on Young Gun with 203 Gnasher ending the action by stuffing 159 Darren Scarrow into Young Gun as Cruncher raced to the win ahead of 211 Bazza and 21 Jason Colbert. 

28 of the 30 qualifiers returned for the Brian Wheeler Memorial Final which was predictably a quiet affair although not for Rob Ling who was leaned in by 712 Andy Westgate (Bluebird) before Wenhold hit him head-on, the latter then getting put in by 715 Mick Prince and taking shots from 348 Sonny Sherwood and a recovered Rob Ling. Colbert fenced 290 Tramo and 161 Karl Totham put away both 602 Billy Lee and Scarrow. Bulley romped to the win with Peter Lewis, Bailey and Winchester filling the trophy spaces, Bulley getting taken out on the run down lap and hit head-on by 249 Frosty which tore a wheel off the latter.

The Accumulator and DD for the Mick Kavanagh and Danny Sutton Memorials respectively raised another good field of 34 and started with a big pile-up at the end of the home straight which soon moved to the exit of the road bend but not before Girling buried Palmer into Colbert allowing 395 Stephen Hale to blast the former as Coleman buried Peter Lewis allowing Lee to do the latter head-on while Victor hammered Rob Ling and then evened the score on Whall only for Mortamer to turn round and nail Victor with a good hit before he T-boned Peter Lewis. Whall buried Palmer with the Condom turning round for a T-bone and then a meaty head-on the following lap as Young Gun gave Turner a stiff shot and followed it up with a blast directed to Kiddle before the race was called early due to a blaze for Whall with Winchester getting the verdict from 67 Mark Whittaker (Bluebird) and 70 Charlie Cunningham. We restarted with the DD and Staples and Colbert kicked it off in style with a solid head-on before Hale buried Girling and Mallion enjoyed a head-on with Gnasher allowing Girling to do the latter. Mallion carried on for head-ons with Prince and Girling before the Ant Hill Mob man took a T-bone from Hale but he shrugged it off to do Young Gun on the nose as Hale hammered Girling. Prince went in on Mallion and Charlie Cunningham went on Hale before Sparky zeroed in for a big T-bone to Prince. Mallion and Young Gun met head-on silencing the former as Sparky finished Hale with a big shot on the back straight, Sparky then polishing off Young Gun with a couple of hits for the win.

Heat one: 204 Andy Bailey, 364, 53, 273, 442, 917, 85, 67, 22, 161
Heat two: 131 Barry Wade, 35, 249, 348, 290, 125, 602, 712, 869, 665
Consolation: 119 Davey Cox, 211, 21, 363, 446, 238 715, 159, 17, 74
Grand Final: 363 James Bulley, 35, 204, 364, 119, 249, 67, 53, 21, 238
Accumulator: 364 Sean Winchester, 67, 70, 24, 277, 273, 715, 348 
into DD; 67 Mark Whittaker from 753

A quite superb 55 cars gathered for the 2004 Saloon Stockcars British Championship including a good showing from the south west although disappointingly only four Scottish drivers made the trip down. 

28 cars for the opener with the track in mint condition despite the drops of rain before the start. 31 Dave Smith made the early running until he slipped to third allowing 18 Jamie Clayton and 712 Kev Hook to move into the top spots as 368 Steve Santry spun 525 Jason Elvin as 512 Darren Barnett hit the wall as did 219 Clive Grief thanks to 360 Carl Waterfield before 272 Wayne Doddington spun and 468 Kelven Nicholls flicked out Hook to move up the places. 51 Paul Licquorice spun 377 Mick Oslar who was hit head-on by 241 Rab Copland and Smith removed 172 James Earl while 428 Lee Sampson spun 917 Graham Rutherford to move into second but there was no catching Clayton who took the flag with Licquorice third with late action seeing Nicholls spin Smith and Oslar remove Hook. 

One less for the second heat which kicked off with a spin for 167 Richard Cosbey as 848 Andy Wales led and 5 Mo Crowson was put in the wall by 6 Horry Barnes and 15 Jon Sparks took over up front, 401 Steve Webstar and 557 Jon Banwell were spinners and 382 Danny Hunt removed Crowson. Wales reclaimed the lead only to spin promting Sparks back into the top spot with 417 Fred Powell in chase as 26 Tommy Barnes was spun by 720 Shane Brown and Sparks was hooked out by Webstar but he managed to rejoin still in the lead but Brown soon got passed as Webstar continued to take out 677 Eddie Darby. Brown took the win ahead of 199 Phil Powell and 838 Ady Wales while late spins for 183 Andy Mews and Hunt cost them early qualification. 

720 Shane Brown was the victor in the second heat (Wickham)

The nights biggest field assembled for the consolation with 33 cars but it was 32 at the first attempt as the race suffered a false start with the gate reopened to allow Cosbey to join the grid but it was all for nothing as 441 Phil Martin spun him straight away and he was collected by 420 Ivan Street, 6 Horry Barnes and Banwell. Barnett was another spinner as 666 Stan Petty took out Hook and Waterfield also went round as up front Smith headed the field from 567 Matt Banwell and Andy Wales. Crowson took out Earl and 654 Paul Soper and Petty tangled on the home straight. Andy Wales grabbed the lead at the half way mark but lost time while he spun Waterfield and Crowson came through to take it up and Mews was close behind in second. Smith then fenced Andy Wales costing him a place in the champioship as Webster was spun by Barnes and Barnett removed 217 Wayne Mitchell. Hunt took out Grief before the race was cut a few laps early to tend to Barnett who was shaken after a hit on the back straight with Crowson taking the spoils ahead of Mews and Darby.

All 28 qualifiers returned for the British championship with Brown winning the coin toss and taking pole with Clayton alongside. Hunt was the first spinner thanks to the front bumper of Rutherford as Brown made the early running from Sampson and Ady Wales while 93 Ada Haddon was spun by 114 Nick Courtier and Bradford bounced Clayton off the wall. Defending champion 499 Dave Aldous went round and was hit by 651 Barry Jones while Crowson and 368 Steve Santry also spun as did a reovered Aldous thanks to 402 Shaun Webster while Licquorice had Jones out and Barnes spun Soper before Brown was removed handing the lead to Sampson with Powell, Courtier and 490 Ian Jarman in chase. Aldous fenced Rutherford as Licquorice and Courtier were put in by Shaun Webster and Bradford went in thanks to Crowson. Aldous again stuck it to Rutherford spinning him as Haddon had a nibble at 511 Craig Barnett while Shaun Webster removed Powell which collected Barnes and 624 Ryan Wilson. Jarman spun Cortier and Mews fenced Ady Wales before the reds were shown to tend to Wilson who had suffered an arm nasty. Sampson enjoyed a comfortable lead when the race restarted with five to run as 2 Paul Tuppen spun Mews into the path of Aldous and Crowson's luck ran out and he was spun by Haddon and Barnes. The race was then thrown wide open as 001 Phil Morgan spun Sampson in the dying stages, his spinning car collected by the second placed Jarman and Powell was judged to have taken the lead from no where and he held on for the flag ahead of Haddon and Barnes while the run down lap saw Ady Wales spin Tuppen with Darby hitting the wall hard trying to avoid them. But the drama was far from over as the lap sheets revealed that in the confusion it was Shaun Webstar who had come through to take the win but the steward had already deemed he and Barnes had jumped the restart and so Powell was declared the victor ahead of Haddon and an understandably upset Webstar with Barnes' penalty handing Tuppen a fine fourth. 

Outgoing champion 499 Dave Aldous spins 207 Darren Bradford (Wickham)

The moment 428 Lee Sampson's lead came to an end (Wickham)

New British Champion, 199 Phil Powell (Wickham)

A fine 32 car field gathered for the Allcomers which was an explosive affair. 562 Trevor Gray set the ball rolling by spinning 312 Neil Payne before the former hit the wall as did 84 Lizzy Crowden-Murfin while Smith led from Mitchell and Earl. There were more spins from Shaun Webster, Gray and Petty before Aldous removed Craig Barnett who was collected by 425 Richard Baldwin and elsewhere Nicholls spun Sparks. Smith hooked out the leading Gray before things exploded on the pit bend saw Sampson spun Crowden which triggered a pile-up that claimed Waterfall, Nicholls, 104 Matt Horwell, Barnes and Ady Wales as elsewhere 369 Andy Santry and Mitchell also went round. Jarman took the lead from Smith and surviving collecting a spinning Waterfall as Smith was cruelly taken out by Barnes who was flicked out in turn by Sampson as Andy Santry had Sparks round and Aldous did the same to Sampson. Jarman made up for his earlier disappointment with Brown and Sampson next. 

490 Ian Jarman won the Allcomers (Wickham)

Three and four abreast racing was the order of the night (Wickham)

Heat one: 18 Jamie Clayton, 428, 51, 114, 207, 368, 499, 651, 425, 917
Heat two: 720 Shane Brown, 199, 838, 93. 511, 2, 490, 402, 417, 15
Consolation: 5 Mo Crowson, 183, 677, 382, 001, 26, 654, 624, 557, 562 
Brititish Championship: 199 Phil Powell, 93, 402, 2, 511, 26, 838, 677, 425, 428 
Allcomers: 490 Ian Jarman, 720, 428, 499, 51, 420, 511, 848, 425, 26

A decent if not memorable night from the bangers were the main focus was on scoring those vital qualifying points although each race, save the final, contained at least one good hit and the DD was a tidy affair while the Saloon Stockcars were nothing short of incredible with an action packed, thrilling and controversial championship meeting which will have people talking for some time.

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