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National Hot Rods
Hednesford 7th May

News of yesteryear
May

Swaffham Hot Rods
Opening Meeting

27th May

Northampton - Classic Hot Rods

After several successful meetings earlier in the year the class made its first Northampton outing. 161 Daniel Holden was racing his brother Lee’s Escort. A few last minute cancellations meant 15 cars arrived at Northampton.

Heat 1
31 Stephen Gooding started the opening heat with 172 Colin Hitch alongside (3 provisional meetings now completed), but Hitch started racing too quickly on the rolling lap. This start was aborted, Hitch was disqualified from the restart, 37 Ian Wright was removed for the same discretion. Once into their stride Daniel Holden pulled clear. The battle on track was for second in the final stages of the race, 20 Dave Fry closed onto the back of the 10 Paul Bowring and 32 Glen Moore, then onto the outside for the final few laps but was disqualified for spinning out 153 Sam Mitchell earlier.
Res: 161, 10, 32, 144, 6, 22, 61, 24, 30, 31

Heat 2
Hitch had no problems getting away in the second heat and built up a healthy lead, even taking putting back-markers between himself and the chasing Daniel Holden. However P Bowring slammed into the wall on turn 3 when a wheel came loose. A yellow was needed, which brought the pace car onto the track. As the cars waited on the track the lapped cars of 22 Rob Montagner, 30 Jamie Bowring and Gooding all unlapped themselves, they were all instantly disqualified from the race (a total of 6 given out in the heats!). When the green dropped Daniel Holden briefly moved to the outside of Hitch but he shook off the challenge and pulled clear for his first win the class.
Res: 172, 161, 32, 20, 37, 153, 6, 61

Final
Daniel Holden fails to get going and is pushed off during the rolling lap. Hitch disposes Gooding at the front and goes into the distance. At the back Fry was on the outside from the start moved beyond David Owen and Mitchell quickly. When challenging for third place he tangled with Moore, both cars slide to the inside of the track and were able to get back into the race but had lost places to 144 Tim Foxlow, Mitchell and 6 Graham Fulker. As the race approached its ending Hitch was comfortably half a lap clear while Foxlow was seizing up second place. A few moves to the outside didn’t work on Wright before he outfoxed him by diving to the inside line of turn 1. Foxlow claimed a great second place, his first trophy is 20 years!
Res: 172, 144, 37, 20, 6, 32, 30, 61, 31

Northampton - Stock Rods

A packed grid of cars for the 1400cc class making their first appearance since the very wet English Championship, the weather completely the opposite as summer finally begins. The majority of the field were Spedeworth drivers.

Heat 1
Yellow grader 257 Ashley Brown moved into an early lead while 942 Jason Gibson spun his Tigra on turn 2. Gibson was collected by 68 Graham Booty as the field ducked inside this, 144 Matt Woodcock had clipped one of the cars and raced on with a damaged door. Gibson retired to the centre while Booty continued, he got himself in another crash this time with leader Brown which put the pair of them out of the race. This put 116 Michael Madden in the lead that he wouldn’t lose, however 447 Stuart Smyth did make a late charge up to third place.
Res: 116, 772, 447, 669, 251, 28, 900, 755, 829, 924

Heat 2
Madden was put to the back of the yellows but it made no difference to the result as he cruised home to another win, this time ahead of Brown.
Res: 116, 257, 128, 772, 829, 28, 101, 924, 823, 144 (x-2)

Final
The big pack got into trouble when four into one doesn’t work. The outcome was 900 Dave Paterson, 59 Carl Mann, 28 Alan Thorndyke, 823 Paul Williams and 110 Kevin Wareham all in the fence on the outside of turn 2. Brown led the restart (Madden had to start this race from the blues), in sixth place was Woodcock and train built up behind him. Making the outside line work was 829 Stuart Fox and he was the first beyond Woodcock. His moves were being tracked by Smyth and 74 Tyler Collison. Fox caught up to second placed Madden with relative ease but struggled to pass allowing Smyth onto his rear. Fox bumped up the inner kerb on the exit of turn 2 that caused him to make contact with Madden. The cars continued but the lost momentum allowed Smyth to move by both on the back straight. Fox was to try again but the pair ran out wide and this gave Collison the chance to pass the pair. Smyth was now into the lead and Collison was also able to pass Brown for what was second on the road but it was important as Smyth was docked two places for contact. A great final win for Collison considering he had no top 10 places in the heats.
Res: 74, 257, 447 (x-2), 829, 924, 669, 116 (x-2), 136, 876, 755

24th May

Blackman Banned

As the 2012 qualifying campaign for the National Hot Rod World Championship reaches its climax, two of the sports biggest names were involved in an incident that could have a huge bearing on the destination of the English points title as well as qualification for the big one at Spedeweekend on July 7th & 8th. World Champion Malcolm Blackman has been issued with a racing ban which will see him miss the last World Qualifier as well as the Thunder 500 event for deliberately driving into the 303 car of European Champion Matt Simpson at the penultimate qualifying round at Ipswich on Saturday May 19th. Blackman does have the option of appealing this ban but it is not known at this stage if he will do so.

The final World Championship Qualifying Round takes place on Monday June 4th at Northampton International Raceway with a start time of 1:30pm. The battle for the points title is still very much in the balance and, with the points being so close, many drivers will be looking to improve on their current position. The Lightning Rods, Rebels and MASCARs are also on the bill but there can be no doubt that all eyes will be glued to the track as short oval motorsport's premier non-contact formula contest what should be a thrilling conclusion to an excellent season! Action gets underway at 1:30pm at Northampton International Raceway, near Brafield on the Green NN7 2BA.

Thanks to Spedeworth

Murray Leads Irish Invasion

Sunday May 27th sees Yarmouth Stadium (NR30 5TE) host the 2012 2.0 Hot Rod National Championship with a start time of 5:30pm. Defending champion Shane Murray will be making the long trip from Northern Ireland to defend his title and he will not be coming alone as another four drivers from across the water will be hoping to take the title back with them on the ferry. The top English drivers will also be in action including English and Best in Britain Champion Paul Wright making a fairly rare appearance at the Caister Road venue as well as National Points leader Danny Fiske 304 and World Champion Will Reed 306. Reed took the gold roof in style last year at Nutts Corner Oval - this was the first time that an Englishman took victory in that particular race on Northern Irish soil and there can be little doubt that the Northern Irish will be looking to take an element of revenge this coming Sunday. With a full grid of 24 cars on track, the action is bound to be fast and furious!

The Superstox are back in action at the well-appointed venue and always provide some fantastic action at Yarmouth Stadium. The "Back to Basics" Bangers will also be doing battle this Sunday at 5:30pm in a track championship round and the Grand Prix Midgets will be making the first of their two appearances at Yarmouth Stadium as they compete for the East of England title.

A fantastic mixture of contact and non-contact oval motorsport with something to suit every member of the family. Racing at Yarmouth Stadium (NR30 5TE) gets underway on Sunday May 27th at 5:30pm. Don't miss it!!!

Thanks to Spedeworth

19th May

Ipswich - National Hot Rods

Round 15 of the National Hot Rod world qualifying series held under the lights was an important night for drivers aiming to win the English points championship, qualify in group one or even make the top 20 places for a place on the grid come July. There was still 25 drivers in with a realistic chance of qualifying.

There were 3 returnees for the night; 615 Chris Lehec after blowing up in his previous qualifying round back in 2011, 130 Andy Lane his ban now ended and 491 Colin Smith. Continental drivers 467 Winnie Holtmanns and 66 John V.D Bosch also made the trip over. As the cars lined up for the opening heat the music may have sounded like background restaurant music but was infact ‘A walk in black forest’ - signature tune for former Ipswich commentator and stadium manager who was being remembered, Legends and Bangers supported the bill.

The other point of interest were the new racing lines painted around the track to promote overtaking (so the programme reckons!), though it will probably be used to penalise the contact within the sport. 8 camera’s have been installed to view the tracks, prepare for even longer results being declared.

Heat 1
316 Paul Frost leads away from pole, 74 James O’Shea is soon in front with Frost not sounding particularly healthy but still going quite quickly. Further back there is a big battle raging for 6th place with 780 Mike Loosemore holding a decent line. 10 Sam Holland, 60 Mark Paffey, 491 Colin Smith, 95 Gavin Murray and 14 Phil Spinks all try the outside and find no grip on the dirty track.

As the race continued O’Shea had put himself 3/4ths of a lap clear of the battle for 6th. The big names of 72 Willie Hardie, 303 Matt Simpson and 911 Malcolm Blackman had all kept a tight line and waited for those in front to slide aside. Once onto the rear of Loosemore ;Hardie and Simpson moved to outside and powered past. When Blackman tried he slide out wide on turn 4 allowing Murray and Smith back past.

O’Shea’s win moves him closer to the top 20, at the end of this race the distance is just 7 points. Other performances of note was Frost’s second place and Lehec’s 12th - a cars length behind Blackman where he started.
Res: 74, 316, 155, 67, 31, 152, 72, 303, 780, 491

Heat 2
Lane turns his pole position into the lead, 339 Danny Hunn tries the outside in the first few laps but has to drop back to 4th. The 5th place battle once again is behind Loosemore, 155 Lee Pepper is the first to try this but slips back, Loosemore is soon off line. However the big names starting from the back straight (Hardie, 115 Chris Haird and Simpson) took their time to catch the midfielders and were tracked by V.D Bosch who looked comfortable with their pace. Perhaps he was trying too hard and spun himself out on turn 4, once off again he took a chunk out the back straight wall which ended his night of racing.
br> Up front 67 David Brooks sneaked by Lane with 5 laps to run, the bigger names were a long way back. Simpson nicked a few more points from Blackman leading by 11 at this stage though Blackman had a race in hand.
Res: 67, 130, 92, 339, 100, 31, 60, 174, 10, 555

Heat 3
With bangers racing on the bill the track was never going to clear up even though the sweeper made several visits to the track. Blackman was the first struggling and he sailed out wide on the opening lap through turns and 3 and 4, he was able to catch the back of Haird and Murray once the field closed.

D Hunn took the initial lead but was passed 348 Shane Brereton (Brereton had elected to start his first heat from the back and spun out). A different move to the usual taking the position off of the bend. D Hunn starts to fall back and when Spinks sizes him up Hunn seems to hesitate slightly and Spinks ends up going into the rear quarter of him. Hunn’s car instantly hit the wall with Spinks carrying on, the car travels down the home-straight and ends up backwards at the entry of turn 1. The yellows are needed to remove the car that sadly needs to 2 breakdown trucks to get off the track.

Brereton leads off 92 Jack Blood, O’Shea and 100 Dick Burtenshaw. The green seems to take ages to drop and causes the field to bunch up and bump into each other. With the field squashed 555 Gavin Taber takes avoiding action bouncing over the kerb to move by 152 Shaun Taylor for fifth place, this manoeuvre got him a black cross though.

Once the race got back into full swing O’Shea went widely spinning out on turn 4 with a severely bent wheel. There more spins, Murray rotated on turn 4 and so did 39 Terry Hunn. Murray was able to rejoin the race while Hunn was facing the wrong way on the inside of the track. The field was able to briefly navigate the car, Blackman and Kew clipped the car. Kew was instantly out though Blackman got himself back in the race in search of those final few points a top 15 finishing place. The next to make contact with the car was 162 Carl Waller-Barrett and 209 Kym Weaver; Weaver ended up in the wall while Hunn moved his car onto the speedway - a bad race for both Hunn’s.

These spins were probably caused by 116 Steve Burrows who had retired, the oil flag had been shown and the cars were visibly slowed. Brereton won his first race since returning. Blood’s second place meant he jumped up to 16th place in the points while Haird had leapfrogged Blackman.
Res: 348, 92, 100, 278, 115, 555 (x-2), 162, 152, 14, 27

Final
It seems that a more familiar theme with Ipswich is the amount of contact, this time it may have been less but the consequences could be huge. At the back on the second lap Simpson bounced into the side of Blackman at turn 3 causing him to run wide, 117 Rob McDonald nipped inside. Perhaps this could have gone unnoticed and one of those racing incidents. Blackman was able to pass McDonald and catch the back of the Simpson. After a few laps Blackman dived inside Simpson and the pair crashed out in the Armco on turn 1, with the cars facing each other Blackman rammed his number 1 opposition head-on!

Meanwhile, back the in bit the crowd come to see (the racing!) leader Brereton was slicing through the back-markers. So far ahead he wasn’t even being shown on the scoreboard. The battle for second started to close up as they took on traffic. Lane spun out Burtenshaw from 5th place, while O’Shea bumped over the kerbs to take third place from Blood. He tried the outside of Brooks and fell back to sixth place, but threw that away by spinning on the final corner and scoring no points in this race. The one-two of Brereton and Brooks doesn’t help those trying to get points. Yet again the big names failed to get through Murray was on another banzai drive where he pushed too hard and put himself in the wall on the home straight.

The talking point from this race (and it will rage for a long time on the internet forums) is the clash between Simpson and Blackman. In the eyes of the this writer I only caught the back end of the incident I don't know if Simpson crossed the new lines causing the pair to hit. It was clear that Simpson made contact with Blackman earlier and Blackman retaliated by ramming Simpson. I expect the following to happen: Blackman to receive a 10 meeting ban (which mean f-all by the way) and is suspended in 8 of those - that’ll mean he is out of WQ16 and Thunder 500, allowing him to return for the world final albeit with less points and starting from group 3 or 4. Judging by the length of time it took results to be declared on the night, Blackman’s penalties will announcing about September time.

Res: 348, 67, 92, 780, 155, 130 (x-2), 10, 152, 555, 31

16th May

Incarace 2L Hot Rods

In 2012 Incarace made the decision to run a 2 Litre Hot Rod class to the same specification that is run by Davy McCall in Northern Ireland and the Spedeworth tracks.

The uptake has been very slow so far, only former Lightning Rod racer Baz Limer is the only driver to race so far. He already raced at open hot rod meetings at Arena Essex and Buxton. Incarace have allowed the class to be developed to race with Lightning Rods. The recent bank holiday meeting was the second appearance against the Lightning Rods and sadly ended in the fence with Mark Cooper Jnr. The drivers that have expressed interest in the class so far are Graham Fulker, Robert Ashman, Ivan Grayson and Steven Clark; Fulker and Clark were at the afore mentioned Hednesford meeting in other hot rod classes that day.

The next Lightning Rod meeting where the 2 Litre's can race will be the bank holiday meeting at Northampton on Monday 4th June, National Hot Rods will also be racing that day for their final qualifying round of the 2011-12 series. Drivers currently registered with Spedeworth may also race (providing it does not clash with a Spedeworth event) and may use up any old tyres at these events - no new tyre will be permitted for use.

7th May

Replica

The Classic Hot Rod formula in comparison has lacked the replica cars that the other historic oval classes have. The Bland, Lee and Polley cars have been repainted but 2 appeared as the class had its biggest ever grid during the May Day Bank Holiday meeting at Hednesford. Lee Wood had raced several cars in the Classics, most recently the Gerry Marshall inspired Viva but his latest creation is the Total backed Barry Lee style RS Escort and it performed well on its debut although it didn't make to the finish line. The other replica was the Pete Stevens Escort that was raced from the back by Graham McCabe who was able to finish 10th in the final. Both cars are a credit to the class.

Hednesford - National Hot Rods

The premier class made their first appearance of the year at the Hednesford raceway. All the top 20 were racing for the important qualifying positions. Back racing after a few meetings missed was 734 Ralph Sanders though his qualifying hopes have now disappeared. 8 Daz Owen was out in his older 206 hot rod (he also raced his Classic as well during the day). Making his debut was 117 Rob McDonald in the ex-Thompson/ McGuigan Tigra, the former Stock Rod racer was very successful in that class winning National and European titles.

Heat 1
After rain in the morning the track was wet for the start of this race and the grid started with a rolling start. The difficult conditions meant 92 Jack Blood was spinning before even reaching the green flag. The rest of the pack got going but the yellows were aired for 316 Paul Frost who spun out at turn 3 losing his wing.

67 David Brooks led away 339 Danny Hunn at the restart but Hunn fell back on the outside line. As the race got into full flow the front six of Brooks, 31 Dick Hillard, 100 Dick Burtenshaw, 10 Sam Holland, 209 Kym Weaver and 303 Matt Simpson pulled clear as the rest struggled to pass 116 Steve Burrows. Hillard tried the outside line of Brooks (that had helped him move past Holland) but immediately had Weaver and Simpson move onto their rear. These four edged ahead and quickly gained on the back marker 874 James O’Shea. Brooks swept to the outside entering the home straight but Simpson stayed on the inside and used O’Shea to help him slow down entering turn 1.

O’Shea was punted off into the fence head first and collected by Burtenshaw. Hillard went spinning but was able to get himself back in the race. Even though O’Shea and Burtenshaw were lodged in the fence the race continued. Simpson simply eased onto the back of Brooks and past on the outside with a lap and half to spare.

Directly after the race Simpson was disqualified for the removal of O’Shea handing the win to Brooks. In the chase for the points title Blackman’s sixth place had briefly put him back to the top of the chart.
Res: 67, 209, 10, 116, 174, 911, 31, 780, 339, 95

Heat 2
The wet track meant another rolling start, 14 Phil Spinks and 162 Carl Waller-Barrett spun before getting to the green flag so the race was restarted however because Waller-Barrett got out his car he was disqualified from the restart. Once the race was restarted D Hunn rejoined even though he never attempted the original start.

Once going 95 Gavin Murray and 115 Chris Haird were slicing through the field. The other big name of the race Blackman got caught up with Spinks and ended up spinning off the centre, he did get back into the race for 14th place but valuable points were lost. Blackman unlapped himself but that couldn’t take anything away from Brooks taking his second win of the day and this time he took a tour of the track on the back of the pace car. Murray muscled by 152 Shaun Taylor for second place and was lucky to escape a penalty. In his first race from the back McDonald took a fine 8th place.
Res: 67, 95, 115, 152, 116, 72, 27, 117, 14, 39

Heat 3
The track had been gradually drying out all day and this was the first clutch start of the day. Frost lead initially before Taylor and 155 Lee Pepper moved past. The yellows were out when Hillard lost a wheel at turn 3; his wheel had enough momentum to take it to the other end of the track.

Once off Pepper positioned himself on the outside, with the pack tight on his rear this type of move could meant 1st or 21st but within 3 laps he slowly edged ahead and into first place. Lots of outside moved were being made in the race to prove that drivers can over take, 39 Terry Hunn went around the outside of Sanders for fourth and then inside Frost for second, Frost fell back at this point as the stars started to close in. The pack of leading drivers was being led by Hardie who’s new car seemed very quick in the opening stages of a race.

Pepper had created some breathing space as the final laps approached, Taylor though had his hands full, he was credited with second place but T Hunn had taken this position with a rough move (note the paragraph before where he had been praised!). Pepper’s win was a big help in his challenge for world final qualification.
Res: 155, 152, 72, 39 (x-2), 278, 303, 115, 14, 100, 316

Final
Frost led off the big pack of cars; Sanders and D Hunn took up the next places as Brooks struggled on the outside unable to convert his front row starting position. D Hunn spun out on the home straight and Frost slowed suddenly before slotting back into 8th place. The frantic race was soon under caution when Blood got knocked sideways on turn 4, he was clipped by T Hunn and then by Hillard who ended up facing the inner armco.

The race restarted with Sanders leading 27 Mikey Godfrey, Pepper and 555 Gavin Taber. Once into their stride Blackman retired and this would give Simpson a great opportunity to punish him in the chase for the silver roof. The leading star man was Murray who sat behind Brooks in sixth place. Pepper went out to the outside and moved alongside Godfrey but he couldn’t do the same manoeuvre twice in one meeting and outbraked himself dropping back to fifth. Pepper and Brooks clashed on the outside line of turn 4 and then suddenly leader Sanders was facing the wrong way. He spun off hitting the centre banking very hard.

The race was becoming a little bit scrappy now with Godfrey (who was black crossed) leading Murray with only a few laps left. Murray dived inside Godfrey on the final corner and powered off the final corner leading, Simpson also nipped through for second and back to the top of the points series.
Res: 95, 303, 555, 72, 27 (x-2), 115, 209, 100, 278, 117

Hednesford - Classic Hot Rods

The third and final hot rod class appearing at Hednesford was the Classic Hot Rods. The class was looking stronger than ever with several newcomers. The most impressive cars of the day belonged to 333 Lee Wood in his Barry Lee Total liveried Escort mk2. Also out in a Escort mk2 was 247 Graham McCabe his version similar to Pete Stevens. Other new to the class were 6 Graham Fulker (Anglia), 16 Pat Smith Jnr (Anglia), 30 Jamie Bowring (Anglia), 144 Tim Foxlow (ex-Colin Hall Escort mk2) . 24 Roger Wright has repainted his Escort in a new colour scheme of white, red and blue.

Heat 1
37 Ian Wright won his first race in the class from pole but was chased hard 10 Paul Bowring. 8 Daz Owen made it past 333 Lee Wood for third place before he was disqualified for a technical infringement.
Res: 37, 10, 8, 22, 88, 24, 20, 32, 153, 6

Heat 2
The track was still slippery for this heat and front row start 31 Stephen Gooding was swallowed up by P Bowring before the start line. 22 Rob Montagner took up third place when Wood ran wide and fell back on the difficult outside line. His mechanical gremlins caused him to slow on the home straight and he was caught by 32 Glen Moore, both cars slide to the centre with damage. Owen and 20 Dave Fry were the men charging in this race. Owen’s heavy handed move on Fry put the yellow Escort wide and lost him places though Fry easily sliced by Wright and 153 Sam Mitchell. Owen nicked third place but the front two were clear at this point.
Res: 10, 37, 8, 22, 20, 153, 88, 24, 6, 172

Final
Gooding spun out his unique Hillman Avenger before reaching the green flag to leave Wright in the lead and able to cruise home for the win. Wood had to retire from second place while Owen had a smoky blow-up entering the back straight. Another significant retirement was Mitchell who spun out on turn 4 and almost hit by Fry. Fry was on a real charge and almost nicked second place on the final lap.
Res: 37, 22, 20, 24, 88, 10, 32, 172, 144, 247

The 19 car grid from the Classics was a real highlight, the class returns to the oval at Northampton on the 27th May with Stock Rods, Bangers and 1300 Stock Cars.

Hednesford - Lightning Rods

The class was boosted with entrants from PRI, Spedeworth and GMP. The long distance travellers from north of the border were 629 John Sibbald and 899 Paul Carruthers. Regular Scottish racer Frankie Cunningham is still yet to race with Incarace in 2012 but has clinched the English Championship recently at Arena Essex. The 2 Litre Hot Rod of 99 Baz Limer also raced with the class.

Heat 1
24 Daniel King led away and gradually being caught by the pack, as one became a pack 8 Steven Clark took a spin on turn 2 and King was bumped to the centre, the rest steamed in with 271 Peter Faggetter clipping a car riding up onto 2 wheels before hitting the wall. Yellows were brought with 22 Mark Cooper Jnr now leading but he couldn’t hold off 45 Craig Boyd but by the end 227 Roger Dormer and 240 Lee Morrow were closing in on him.
Res: 45, 227, 240, 9, 22, 67, 51, 629, (99), 259

Heat 2
Being the lone white top D King was able to start the race with a healthy lead, 355 Mick Walker moved into second place while everyone was battling for third place. When 21 Ben Newman, Cooper Jnr and Boyd all tangled and slide wide it allowed Morrow to slide into third place with Dormer following suite. Dormer moved up to third place as Walker eased past into the lead. In the midfield Cooper Jnr and Limer clashed, leaving the 2 Litre Hot Rod of Limer embedded in the wall for the final few laps. Although Limer was able to drive off the track it was the last appearance of the car that day.
Res: 355, 24, 227, 9, 67, 45, 240 (x-2), 51, 259, 899

Final
In a repeat of the second heat D King lead until Walker past him but the youngster put himself in the wall on the final lap and had to park up on turn 4 and failing to finish.
Res: 355, 45, 22, 271, 51, 227, 240, 21, 9, 78



		News of yesteryear in this month 02/05/1999 Colin White wins National Hot Rod British Championship, his spare car is driven to second place by Keith Martin 06/05/1996 Mike Holtby races at Hednesford with experimental zetec engine for first time 08/05/1993 First meeting for Lightning Rods at Ipswich, East Anglian Championship won by Tony Mitchell 10/05/1998 Swaffham hosts National Hot Rod British Championship, Roger Peck wins to stop Colin White winning all titles that year 12/05/1984 First ever Stock Rod World final at Cowdenbeath won by Jeff Simpson 14/05/1985 Second running of Stock Rod is declared null and void after top finishers all fail scrutineering 22/05/1992 First international meeting held in Northern Ireland for Stock Rods. Mark Willis wins the British at Ballymena 23/05/1999 Colin White wins last English championship ran as a stand-alone race 26/05/1996 Last time Taunton used for National Hot Rods racing 27/05/1996 First Lightning Rod World held at Arena Essex won by Steve Cassar after first on road Terry Hole fails scrutineering 29/05/1999 Colin Smith races the first Peugeot 206 in National Hot Rods 31/05/1992 Gordon Bland wins Super Rod World Championship at Hednesford

29th April

Northampton - Stock Rods - English Championship

At a very wet Northampton Dean O'Dell claims his first title in the class after front row starters Smyth and Sturt collide before collecting further penalties.

Heat 1: 447, 74, 288, 745, 394, 168, 900, 755, 876, 300
Heat 2: 168, 924, 171, 755, 300, 136, 151, 447, 823, 28, 91
English: 171 Dean O'Dell, 755, 300, 447, 924, 136, 876, 168, 91, 74

Results supplied by Terry M.

Northampton - 2L Hot Rods

Heat 1: 88, 11, 310, 96, 75, 565, 304, 303, 8, 306
Heat 2: 11, 303, 96, 88, 543, 87, 304, 65, 30, 8
Final: 87, 96, 11, 88, 304, 65, 303, 418, 43, 118

Results supplied by Terry M.

22nd April

Arena Essex - Lightning Rods - English Championship

Heat 1: 636, 227, 503, 240, 526, 106, 237, 87, 452, 416
Heat 2: 416, 267, 181, 730, 87, 781, 633, 452, 51, 22
Final: 87, 503, 267, 240, 227, 181, 730, 781, 452, 22

Results via mylaps

21st April

Swaffham Hot Rods opening meeting

The Swaffham Hot Rods had their first meeting of the season on a very wet Saturday 21st April, which saw 12 cars turn out with a good mixture of car specs including non and full spaceframed. Drivers were 5 Terry Sewell, 17 Micheal Benstead, 19 Luke Retchless, 27 parviz, 28 Richard Ansell, 76 Neil Howitt, 150 Robin Ashman, 198 Steve Nash, 371 Mark Sewell, 373 Andy Stevenson, 448 Gary Farrington and 516 Shaun Lane.

Heat 1: 5, 28, 17, 448, 373, 19, 516
Heat 2: 28, 17, 371, 448, 373, 19, 516
Final: 371, 28, 448, 17, 373, 27, 19, 516

Thanks to Mark Sewell: swaffhamhotrod.yolasite.com

13th April

Double southern comfort

The 2.0 Hot Rods make their first appearance of 2012 at Aldershot Raceway this Sunday in their Southern Championship - Rick Pannell won the title last year in his Starlet and will be campaigning the same car (albeit in a new livery) this weekend. The Hot Rods raced at Ipswich on Monday and condition were far from ideal with several cars taking damage - who will have their cars ready to roll come 1pm this Sunday? A quality field including World Champion 306 Will Reed, current National Points leader 304 Danny Fiske and English Champion 43 Paul Wright will line up to do battle and with 25 cars currently booked in - action is guaranteed! Join us for all of the action in this great event - Aldershot Raceway's season has started in spectacular fashion and this event should see that trend to continue!

Thanks to Spedeworth

Rookie Rods - change of scene

This Saturday sees the Rookie Rods make their debut at Northampton International Raceway. Around 30 cars are booked in for this event and Ed Kennett 326 leads the entry as the current national points leader - as well as being the leader of the DB Mechanical Services Series. This meeting is Round Three of the series and Kennett will no doubt be looking to consolidate his lead in both points charts. We hope that the Rookie Rods enjoy racing at a different venue and hopefully they will attract some new fans as they race in front of a new audience.

Thanks to Spedeworth

6th April

Northampton - National Hot Rods - WQ Round 12

The Good Friday meeting at Northampton hosted annually gives the one and only opportunity in England to see National Hot Rods, Brisca F2 and Saloon Stock Cars racing together. Although no championships are being held it is the best domestic meeting of the year. Northampton in the last few years been promoted by Incarace, the Good Friday meeting is slightly different with Autospeed running the show. Autospeed stopped running National Hot Rods at their tracks back in the mid-90’s when the qualifying trail dropped from 48 meeting to the modern 16-17 per year. They kept their foot in the door with an annual meeting at Ringwood initially that transferred to Northampton in recent years (possibly Arena Essex in 2013!).

All the familiar names were racing in the hunt for the top 20 qualifying positions barring 734 Ralph Sanders who has now trying to sell all 6 (yes six!) of his National Hot Rods after last weekend’s load-up for a weight infringement.

Heat 1
From pole position 67 David Brooks pulled into the lead. Lap 2 348 Shane Brereton spun on turn 2 and was hit by 209 Kym Weaver who couldn’t avoid him and then 14 Phil Spinks ran into him being jacking him up. Weaver and Spinks limped off while Brereton got going again. Over recent meeting Brooks had been quick recently and today was no different built a lead of a straight over 116 Steve Burrows, 92 Jack Blood and 339 Danny Hunn. Hunn though lost out on his fourth place with engine problems in the final few laps.

At the back 72 Willie Hardie, 95 Gavin Murray, 911 Malcolm Blackman and 303 Matt Simpson had all been drawn in this race. Simpson had ducked inside Blackman early on and from that point onwards these four lapped as one; going outside 100 Dick Burtenshaw and inside 152 Shaun Taylor on tow. Murray though moved beyond 10 Sam Holland on the final lap.
Res: 67, 116, 92, 219, 162, 95, 10, 72, 303, 911

Heat 2
Holland led for a short while before Blood eased past and into a big lead. Holland had the other queuing up behind her. Within that battle was 316 Paul Frost in his first meeting in a graded position, he had fallen back a few places from his row 3 starting position but did repass 60 Mark Paffey for 7th place, perhaps a little insignificant for this race but is the sign of things to come for another newbie to the class. Frost did however get caught on the outside and fall outside the top 10.

Blood was clear by a long way while Holland had 5 cars battling behind, Holland took her second successive second place (in terms of meetings), one of those behind was Weaver who equally had his second successive black cross (in terms of meetings).
Res: 92, 10, 339, 60, 174, 115, 27, 209 (x-2), 780, 303

Heat 3
Brooks led from the flag before 780 Mike Loosemore and Burrows moved past. Brooks had another retirement that would put him out of the final as well. Burrows took up the lead easily but had nothing to stop the charging Paffey who was being tracked by 31 Dick Hillard all the way. With 3 laps to run Paffey eased into first place.
Res: 60, 116, 31, 780, 72, 911, 115, 174, 316, 100

Final
Holland had the front row to herself but couldn’t hold back the second row starters of Loosemore and Burrows who passed on each side before entering turn one. 27 Mikey Godfrey moved into second place. Yet again it was Paffey making the moves passing Holland, Blood and Loosemore in quick succession but ran of laps to catch the front two. Blood lost out a decent fifth place when clipping Brereton and was being forced to the inside of the track. Burrows and Godfrey's top positions would help out in their quest for world final qualification.

Moving up from the back there was great battle from Hardie, 115 Chris Haird, 174 Jason Kew and Simpson. Blackman wasn’t able to cut through the traffic as the protagonists battling for a group one position and trailed the others by a quarter of a lap. By the end of the race he was able to get within one place behind but moving into 2012 the others do seem to have the upper hand.
Res: 116, 27, 60, 72, 115, 174, 303, 911, 780, 10

Blackman's better finish in the final heat had at that point closed the gap in the chase for silver to one point but by the end of the meeting Simpson finished it 2 points clear. Hardie retook the place in group one from Murray. The biggest mover was Burrows who has jumped from 20th to 10th place. No movements in and out of the top 20 though Colin Gomm is only 3 points from safety with Blood poised behind, his clash in the final with Brereton proving costly.

31st March

Ipswich - National Hot Rods - WQ Round 11

Although the days running up the meeting has posed the possible problem of no fuel, all the booked in drivers arrived for a big 34 car entry including overseas drivers 66 John V.D Bosch and 467 Winnie Holtmanns; plus Irish duo of 874 Steven O’Shea and father 74 James O’Shea. Making his debut after a year racing Slick Cars was 44 Dave Garrett in the ex-Gomm 206. Garrett had previously raced in the 2 Litre Hot Rods and last year had raced the ex-Gomm Colt.

Heat 1
Starting at the front this time was 160 Frank West and made an early lead. 152 Shaun Taylor was inside him before West spun out on turn 4. A few laps later 348 Shane Brereton did the same thing, unlike West who was resting up against the fence he spun the car around infront of leader Taylor. Taylor swung around the outside but Brereton didn’t want to be put a lap down and moved ahead once the leaders had to navigate past Garrett. Taylor had 734 Ralph Sanders and 339 Danny Hunn following his every move but none attempted any challenge on him, in the last few laps 10 Sam Holland went spinning out of fourth place and onto the shale track.

The battle for the points championship between 911 Malcolm Blackman and 303 Matt Simpson (who was now leading the points chase now by 4 points going into this round) was taking place half a lap back but two sets of eyes were required for this race. Simpson had taken the early upper hand, but whilst battling with 72 Willie Hardie, Blackman moved past though the pair spent most the race behind 27 Mikey Godfrey.
Res: 152, 339, 209, 162, 31, 174, 92, 74, 116, 911

Heat 2
67 David Brooks turned his front row start into a lead. Brooks was past the backmarking 874 Steven O’Shea quite easily but the bigger pack behind struggled with the slower driver. O’Shea was able to keep a clean tight inside line. 780 Mike Loosemore was the first in trouble when he was bumped aside through turns 3 and 4. 209 Kym Weaver tagged the back of O’Shea and sent the slower Fiesta into the wall – he did pick a black cross for this. Whilst these few chaotic laps happened leader Brooks had pulled off to end his night. This put Sanders into the lead with James O’Shea and 555 Gavin Taber now behind. Godfrey had another race finishing the wrong way, this time the incident slowed down 174 Jason Kew but yet again the field appeared to straighten up. Going into the final few laps Weaver put himself inside Taber for fourth place who fell back on the outside line. Simpson had by now made good progress and with Taber out wide took 6th on the road, this however was to become 4th place.

On the final lap with the competition out of sight J O’Shea tried the outside of Sanders and was able to get half way alongside when the chequers fell. Sanders though failed the weigh-in and lost this win and the second from the previous heat.
Res: 74, 10, 95, 303, 209 (x-2), 278, 115, 555, 100, 72

Heat 3
Taylor lead off from pole position. There was an early spin for 92 Jack Blood who was collected by 60 Mark Paffey. Paffey half spun on turn 4 which blocked the progress of 162 Carl Waller-Barrett and 348 Shane Brereton. Paffey retired while the other two continued. Waller-Barrett re-joined into front of Taylor as a repeat of heat 1 but pulled clear of the leader. Eyes were glued to S O’Shea as the pack built up behind him, 39 Terry Hunn didn’t move past instantly and 780 Mike Loosemore had the chance to steal third place. Loosemore didn’t capitalise and started loosing places. From the back the only driver making any real progress was 115 Chris Haird; Blackman and 14 Phil Spinks spent too much time behind 155 Lee Pepper. Haird was able to nick fourth place from 278 Colin Gomm on the final lap, at the front Taber stayed behind Taylor who took win number two of the night.
Res: 152, 555, 39, 115, 278, 95, 31, 100, 911, 780

Final
Things got messy as the green dropped with 116 Steve Burrows and 27 Mikey Godfrey making poor starts from the second block. 100 Dick Burtenshaw got caught and was parked up by the next corner. At the front Taylor wasn’t making it hard for the competition and easily let Taber and T Hunn past. Looking to the back of the grid Simpson, Blackman and Haird circulated the track as one but when the competition queued up behind the slower back-marking S O’Shea there was a big shift as Loosemore and J O’Shea tangled. Blackman was now 5 places in front of Simpson and that was soon the length of the straight.

Weaving in and out of traffic there was a real lack of blue flags for Taber and T Hunn was able to close up. Behind those S O’Shea was once again sorting out the drivers that could pass and those that couldn’t. Weaver crashed into the back of him with 4 to run and that put 339 Danny Hunn into the wall as well. As the final few laps ticked past Taber sat behind 4 back-markers and T Hunn was able to move on his back bumper as the final lap board became replaced by the chequered flag.

Although a damaging race the only noticeable disqualification was for 72 Willie Hardie who sent 10 Sam Holland spinning out on the home straight.
Res: 555, 39, 152, 174, 911, 95, 115, 303, 14, 31

In the chase for silver (and ultimately the English title) Simpson and Blackman both scored 35 points to keep the gap at 4 points. Haird outscored both with 42 but is still over 30 points adift of these. 95 Gavin Murray's third and two sixth place is enough to leap-frog Hardie into the final group one position. Sanders drops out of the top 20 and is replaced by 116 Steve Burrows with Blood one point adrift. Points to be officially confirmed.

18th March

Serious overseas contender

Current South African Hot Rod Champion Neville Loosemore (racing under #11) will be racing a brand new Spedeworth Fabrications car at this year's Spedeweekend at Foxhall Stadium, Ipswich (IP4 5TL) and the combination of Neville's experience and a state of the art racing machine should make him a serious contender when the green flag drops on the World Championship Final - possibly the first genuine SA contender since Jesse Huggett.

Of course, such a huge logistical operation could not become a reality without the support of a number of generous sponsors. On behalf of Neville, we would like to thank the following companies for their support:

Anderson Race Engines

Security Fencing (South Africa)

Spedeworth Motorsports/Spedeworth Fabrications

It is great to see drivers coming from other nations making this a genuine World Final. Don't miss all the action at short oval motorsport's biggest racing weekend.

Thanks to the Spedeworth

Title on the line

Current 2.0 Hot Rod National Points leader 304 Danny Fiske will defend his East Anglian Championship at Yarmouth Stadium (NR30 5TE) on March 25th. Danny will be hoping for a better result than when he defended the English Championship at Wimbledon Stadium in February where he had a torrid evening - eventually watching 43 Paul Wright take the title!

This should be an excellent meeting with around 20 cars already booked in with over a week to go until the event. As the other Spedeworth tracks open for 2012, many drivers' attention turns towards Spedeweekend qualification and every point counts as the drivers battle to be on the grid at Foxhall on July 7th & 8th.

This meeting marks the opening of Yarmouth Stadium for 2012 and should be an excellent meeting. This meeting also features the Bangers entertaining in their usual style, as well as the debut of the Street Stocks and the Superstox - many people's formula of 2012!

Thanks to the Spedeworth

14th March

Spedeweekend Advanced Tickets - ON SALE NOW!!!

Spedeworth are delighted to announce that advance tickets for this year's Spedeweekend on the weekend of July 7th & 8th are now on sale!!!

Of course, for many, the highlight of the weekend is the National Hot Rod World Final which will be shown on Sky Sports. The usual plethora of formulas will be on show with a great mix of contact and non-contact classes and a cosmopolitan field of entrants.

For many drivers, Spedeweekend represents the culmination of many months of hard work and, for many fans of short oval motorsport, it is the first date circled in the calendar!

To guarantee your tickets at the discounted rate; call at Spedeworth House on 01252 322920 and we will be glad to take your order!

Thanks to the Spedeworth

New to the Team!

Spedeworth Motorsports is delighted to introduce the latest member our team. Mark Butler has joined us to head up our Sales & Marketing division and has already made a positive contribution by helping to secure Sky TV coverage of the National Hot Rod World Final - as well as securing a number of new sponsorship deals. Mark has also secured a major sponsor for the National Hot Rod World Final - as well as the majority of the remaining races at Spedeweekend - opportunities do still exist to become involved but these are going fast! Mark has been a fan of short oval racing for many years and is also an example of the many family connections in our sport as Mark is the brother of one of our Managing Directors Janet Wood.

Mark has highlighted a number of exciting and unusual sponsorship opportunities and there is something in our remit to suit every business. So if you would like to become involved with Spedeworth Motorsports please do not hesitate to contact Mark on 01252 322920 or email mark.butler@spedeworth.co.uk.

Thanks to the Spedeworth

11th March

Northampton - National Hot Rods - WQ Round

After the winter break the English series resumed with World Champion and points leader 911 Malcolm Blackman heading the entry as the season embarks on the second half road to Ipswich. 32 drivers arrived chasing the 20 available positions, though 482 Jason Cooper (20th going into this round) was not present after previously leading the points. On the new car front, former Stock Rodder 316 Paul Frost started his National Hot Rod career in a Tigra. Also out in new Tigra’s were 72 Willie Hardie and 348 Shane Brereton who raced briefly last year in his old Corrado. 278 Colin Gomm raced the ex-Polley Tigra for the first time. 162 Car Waller-Barratt was still racing his 206cc but now repainted in red. Both the Hunn cars now in classic Ricky Hunn colours of yellow with red bumpers.

Heat 1
734 Ralph Sanders led off the race with Brereton. Brereton tried the outside line but this allowed 39 Terry Hunn to move up to second place. This trio became four when 339 Danny Hunn closed in, both Hunn cars tried the outside line but this allowed Brereton back to second place. 130 Andy Lane moved in for a top 5 group and 10 Sam Holland spun out of sixth place. The two Hunn cars clashed going into turn 3 which put D Hunn into the wall (although was still able to continue), from the back 303 Matt Simpson and 209 Kym Weaver were closing in quick. Simpson was only able to move beyond Lane but it was a sign of things to come from him during this meeting. Lane finished fourth but this position would be later removed.
Res: 734, 348, 303, 209, 39 (x-2), 116, 339, 60, 174, 278

Heat 2
Sanders turned pole into another lead with 152 Shaun Taylor on the outside. Taylor was bumped sideways on turn 4, heading down the home straight Lane pushed 27 Mikey Godfrey off the track and he crashed into the infield banking. Running in sixth place 67 David Brooks (who had been one of the quickest cars on track) had a big lock-up going into turn one and that resulted in a yellow flag.

The race resumed with Sanders leading 74 James O’Shea and Holland. Lane moved to the outside of 780 Mike Loosemore which enabled 491 Colin Smith on his inside. Smith moved up to second place with Simpson tracking his moves. With 3 to go Smith and Simpson were on the back bumper of Sanders, heading onto the back straight Smith clipped the inside kerb which put the car offline and forcing him to the outside. Smith took to the outside of Sanders and cleared him quickly with Simpson behind. The next lap Simpson barged inside Smith to put in front for the final lap of the race.

Simpson was duly docked two places while Smith was handed the win. Whilst on the control car Smith commented on his improvement being due to a new engine and gearbox thanks to his sponsors (next time Colin mention those people/ companies!!). This was short lived as he failed a tyre check due to not logging them correctly which resulted in a load-up. Lane was also loaded-up for retaliation.
Res: 734, 74, 303 (x-2), 115, 14, 10, 72, 155, 780, 219

Heat 3
The quietest of all the heats Taylor turned pole position into his first win in the class. The only significant movement being 60 Mark Paffey who charged around the outside for third place.
Res: 152, 74, 60, 348, 39, 27, 555, 162, 116, 115

Final
Before the final race of the day started there was a minute silence for photographer Dave 'Smiffyman' Smith who had passed away during the week.

A bigger field of National Hot Rods around Northampton normally ends in carnage and Godfrey was sent out spinning on turn 4 and Weaver on turn 2 at the start. The cars was able to move around the outside of the Weaver machine but unable to move the yellows were brought out after a few laps. Sanders had been leading with Taylor behind, his attempts at an outside move saw him slide into the wide when he outbraked at turn 3. The top three of Sanders, Brereton and T Hunn edged clear of the pack but Simpson was flying from the back and easily moved around the outside of all 3 as they hugged the inside line.

Simpson’s drive showed one of the highlights of hot rod racing however the main pack got themselves into a muddle with D Hunn, Holland and Loosemore all facing the wrong way and stranded on the straights and 116 Steve Burrows in the wall.

Res: 303, 734, 348, 39, 95, 72, 115, 31, 911, 60

10th March

FORDS update

Fundraising update
Over the quiet season we have just a couple of items to report - thanks to Mendips for their Dinner Dance raffle in aid of FORDS; also to Nutts Corner Oval starting the year with a collection for us. We'd also like to thank the Bears Banger Team - collectable button badges are on sale featuring every team member priced at £1.49 with 50 pence being donated direct to FORDS.

Help with fundraising
We're looking to recruit some more regional helpers urgently to help organise events, generate local sponsorship and coordinate fundraisers on the day. Areas to cover are: South-East; Anglia; Midlands; and North. There are no set boundaries but any help will be a big help to us - no more than 5 tracks, one event each, full support from our Secretary including training. You'll get free entry but we do expect you to work for it! Please contact Manuela on 0117 3851540 / 07870 383096 for a friendly chat.

Analysis of injuries - the how and the what
We have tried to keep figures simple while drawing meaningful data from them. It should be noted that a sample of 19 claims can only be regarded as an indicator - next year's figures will be more meaningful and we know that many injured drivers did not claim. Injuries we consider serious are potentially life-changing; this includes all head or spinal injury and internal organ damage. Broken limbs are considered relatively minor although not all are straightforward and some need surgery and may result in a long recovery period.

In considering the type of impact causing injuries we have broken this down into forward and sideways; sideways includes a knock or spin, forward includes (mainly National Bangers) following in, jacking trains and head-ons - what counts is whether the force on the driver is forward or sideways. Impacts are classed as major, eg full in the door or followed in, or minor, eg caught between another car and the barrier. It is not our place to speculate on whether an incident was deliberate or accidental.

Claims to date

The total paid to date is 19 claims of which 2 are ongoing, receiving a total of £10,515

3 of the 19 claims were from non-contact formulae

5 of the 19 claims were for serious injuries

This year we will be collecting a lot more data. Drivers please help us to get these figures if you are unlucky enough to be injured this year. Even if you don't wish to claim, if you could help us with this research it will help us to help you in the long term. There will also be a follow-up call after a claim has ended to evaluate the way claims are handled and the longer term impact of injuries.

Thanks to www.fords-care.com

26th February

Wimbledon - 2 Litre Hot Rods - English Championship

2L Hot Rod Entry

7 Collin Moss
8 Damon Wellman
11 Alex Crane
22 Dan Payne
29 Duane Peacock
30 Martin Codling
31 Charlie Jowers
39 Rick Pannell
43 Paul Wright
65 Mark Willis
72 Gary Goodswen
75 Chris Crane
77 Andy Owen
88 Dale Atkins
96 Kevin Randell
146 Scott Morgan
302 Andy Harris
303 Gavin Botfield
304 Danny Fiske
306 Will Reed
310 Sean O'Leary
390 Dean Hunt
537 Billy Clarke
543 Tommy Miller
565 Dan Smith
745 Dan Bennett

An early championship race for the class is a rarity in these days of oval racing. Heading up the line-up was 43 Paul Wright who won the last title race at Wimbledon towards the end of 2011 with the Best in Britain while 304 Danny Fiske was the reigning English champion. The regulars were in their usual cars while 543 Tommy Miller had upgraded to a Tigra that had been tested the night before at Ipswich; 10 other 2 Litre Hot Rods had tested that night. The heats would be reversed with the top scorer on pole.

Heat 1
11 Alex Crane led off the start from pole position with 88 Dale Atkins and 30 Martin Codling following. Fiske moved into 3rd with 537 Billy Clarke in tow. Atkins tried the outside and quickly found Fiske on his inside. At this point further 77 Andy Owen, 39 Rick Pannell and Miller were all embedded into the fence to cause a yellow flag. Whilst awaiting the green Atkins got out his car and sent to the infield. As the cars built up speed on the rolling lap before the green leader Crane had to pull off, 310 Sean O'Leary also pulled off here from 8th place. With the green dropped the front four of Fiske, Clarke, 565 Dan Smith and 31 Charlie Jowers pulled clear as the rest battled behind 5th placed Codling. 306 Will Reed tried the outside but lost out to Wright who was also able to get inside Codling.
Res: 304, 537, 565, 31, 43, 306, 72, 96, 8, 65 (x-2)

Heat 2
29 Duane Peacock led off the outside of the front row with 7 Collin Moss in tow. Moss moved around the outside of Peacock for the lead. 3rd placed 303 Gavin Botfield had a big blow up, there was alot of smoke but no one slide into the fence. The oil flag was aired and the track still seemed in reasonable condition. The next job for the start marshall was a black cross for 302 Andy Harris when he moved inside for 390 Dean Hunt for 8th place.

As the race moved towards the end the pack did seem to bunch up, O'Leary tried to pull off exiting turn 4, Jowers collected him and was inturn hit by 96 Kevin Randell who speared into the fence and was then hit by 11 Alex Crane. The yellows were out and spelt the end of the night for those involved. Moss led home the 3 lap dash to the flag.
Res: 7, 29, 8, 43, 75, 72, 306, 302, 537, 88

Final

Grid 43 8 7 306 31 75 302 65 745
304 537 72 29 565 30 22 88

Of the 26 drivers that started the night only 17 were left for the final, consistency won Wright pole and he had clocked the fastest time of the night with 14.345s. Wright converted pole position into the lead at turn 1, Fiske found 8 Damon Wellman on his inside and the outside line caused him to drop back to 5th by the end of the first lap. Jowers was an early casualty on lap with 75 Chris Crane spinning him out on the back straight. Fiske quickly moved by Clarke who thumped into the back of him to move him off line and take the inside of him through turns 3 and 4, Clarke however still leant Fiske out to the wires on the home straight. Fiske clipped a post damaging a wheel and putting the end to his championship reign.

Wright was able to pull clear as Wellman held up Moss. Reed moved by Clarke and quickly caught the Wellman/ Moss battle. Moss barged inside Wellman which attracted a black cross but the door was closed on Reed, this enabled Crane and Clarke to catch. On the final lap Crane put his nose inside Reed which helped Clarke through as well but although the chequers had fallen the result wasn't certain. Wright drove flawlessly for the win but the drivers over the line from 2nd to 7th were all classified with different places once penalties were given.
Res: 43, 8, 306, 7 (x-2), 72, 75 (x-2), 537 (x-2), 30, 565, 88

Wimbledon - Lightning Rods

Another smallish grid in a make or break year for the class.

Heat 1
398 Jason Gibbs led away from the white grade before being bumped aside by 314 Wayne Farrer. 340 Clint Brazier did the same to Gibbs for second and not surprisingly 339 Ben Furness also bashed Gibbs but didn't get past, he did however move past later. Farrer was given a black cross for his contact but Brazier went unpunished and was awarded the win. 416 Diggy Smith retired from this race and paid no further part in the meeting which allowed new silver top 452 Adam Eyles to stretch further away.
Res: 340, 339, 314 (x-2), 781, 398, 526, 503, 452, 633, 616

Heat 2
Jason Gibbs led off heat 2 but kept running wide which allowed 388 Daniel Gibbs into the lead. 339 Ben Furness cruises up behind and waits for a gap before moving into the lead.
Res: 339, 781, 314, 633, 452, 616, 730, 503, 526, 370

Final
Daniel Gibbs was an early spinner to leave Jason Gibbs out front by himself; Furness and then Farrer moved past. Farrer then slammed into the side of Furness entering turn 3 which put Furness up onto 2 wheels, Farrer received his second black cross of the night. Towards the end leader Farrer was being caught by 633 Rob Gamble and 781 Neil Wollington. Farrer was docked handing the win to Gamble who although looking quick had been hampered by a misfire all night.
Res: 633, 781, 314(x-2), 616, 526, 503, 398, 339, 370, 388

12th February

Wimbledon - Classic Hot Rods

The class returned to Wimbledon for the first time since supporting the Superstox World Final in 2009. New to the class for the year is former 2 Litre Hot Rodder 172 Colin Hitch who raced an all white Escort mk2 with black tape being used for the numbers; 271 James Johnson in a Escort mk1 and 11 Colin Peacock in a Mini. 32 Glen Moore failed to make it beyond practice.

Heat 1
From pole position 57 Mike Oliver led off 88 David Owen. 924 Stuart Wright passed Owen for second place but trying the outside Owen was able to get back into second, Wright regained this place but couldn't find the legs to go the long way by Oliver.
Res: 57, 924, 10, 8, 88, 153, 20, 22, 271

Heat 2
Oliver was moved back after winning the opening race, Owen had the front row to himself and led from flag to flag though Wright again tried the outside line.
Res: 88, 924, 57, 152, 20, 22, 8, 172, 10, 161

Final
Light rain had fallen for the final leaving the track greasy, Peacock struggling the most spinning out twice. Heat two winner Owen was moved back a row, which allowed Wright to step off pole and race into the distance. The big battle was for third place which had Oliver trying the outside line on 10 Paul Bowring, he eventually made this stick. From the back 22 Rob Montagner made the most progress to claim third place but Wright was half a lap clear of Owen when the chequered flag dropped.
Res: 924, 88, 22, 57, 20, 161, 153, 271

Wimbledon - Rookie Rods

The evening marked the start of the DB Mechanical Services Series that will lead up to a grand final later in the year at Wimbledon.

Heat 1
White top 310 Stuart Hillyer led away with 383 Richard Cooke behind. There was spins for 352 Mark Renwick and 211 Matt Abbott which both needed yellow flags. The front two lost their 1/4 lap lead and fast-charging 326 Ed Kennett in a new Nova went around the outside of Cooke for the win.
Res: 326, 383, 144, 506, 278, 650, 231, 28, 579, 310

Heat 2
There was spins on the first corner for 21 Lee Bridgman, 28 Leon Paine and 579 Dan Harris. Once Bridgman returned to action he was in front of the leader 14 Perry Osbourne-Brown who couldn't pass. Hillyer got beyond Osbourne-Brown but couldn't make it beyond the back-marking Bridgman. Behind them the pack started to bunch up. Osbourne-Brown was spun out on turn 4 and Cooke was bumped into the fence with 650 George Fitkin. After the yellows Abbott ducked inside Hillyer and pulled clear as the stars battled over second place. Kennett having another finish on the road but was disqualified for spinning out 70 Becca Dance.
Res: 211, 231, 747, 382, 650, 170, 310, 506, 278, 28

Final
The track was wet for the final and there was plenty of different lines being used, from the blue top former Stock Rodder Harris picked his way through these cars to lead the race. Towards the end of the race Kennett and 144 Lee Evans started to close in.
Res: 579, 326, 144, 310, 231, 14, 383, 111, 135, 211

Consistency rather than outright speed gives 231 Dave Reed the lead in the points series using the only Fiesta that raced on the night.

7th February

Classic Hot Rods 2012

The retro styled Classic Hot Rods kick off their 2012 season this Sunday at Wimbledon. Heading up the entry is current points champion 20 Dave Fry, an expected grid of 14 cars includes three newcomers Colin Peacock, Colin Hitch and James Johnson. Another 2 more drivers are known to be joining the class in 2012.

Racing alongside the Classics are the Superstox, Historic Stock Cars and Rookie Rods in the opening round of their DB Mechanical Services Series. First race starts at 5:30pm.

Proposed 2012 fixtures

12th Feb
17th Mar
9th Apr
7th May
27th May
Wimbledon
Birmingham
Ipswich
Hednesford
Northampton
16th Jun
1st Jul
15th Jul
5th Aug
27th Aug
Birmingham
Hednesford
Yarmouth
Hednesford
Northampton
9th Sep
29th Sep
7th Oct
10th Nov

Aldershot
Birmingham
Northampton
Birmingham

26th January

Les Eaton

At the beginning of the week Les Eaton passed away. The name Eaton is synonymous with oval racing since Les and wife Mavis starting promoting racing in the 1960’s. Les was more commonly known as Mr Stock Car and was responsible for setting Spedeworth that is currently the largest oval racing promoter in Europe. During the 1970’s he took hot rod racing to another level with the ‘Big 3’ of Lee, Polley and Collard, many consider this golden age of hot rod racing to have been the best and this set the foundations for stock car and hot rod racing in the 21st century.

Whistlinjacksmith.co.uk wishes to extend their sincere condolences to Les Eaton’s family and friends.

22nd January

Oval Racing Expo

Open Hot Rods Entry

Classic Hot Rods
20 Dave Fry

Outlaws
7 Glen Rossiter
8 Stu Hammond
46 Dave Saxon
125 unknown
285 Trevor Ward

RTS 2L Hot Rods
44 Lee Rogers
99 Barry Limer

Swaffham 2L Hot Rods
28 Richard Ansell
222 Gav Anderson

Super Rods
57 Dave Willis
341 Jason Osborne

Classified Modified
48 Malcolm Foskett
69 Kelly King

Held over 2 days the Rolling Thunder Show promoted Oval Racing Expo once displayed racing cars from almost all the non-ORCi tracks. As well as the usual RTS formulas there was cars from Swaffham, Stansted (previously known as Henham), SEGTO (Tongham, SAA, Standlake) and Autograss. The Sunday was bitterly cold and very dusty.

The open hot rods had many different classes put together to get a full grid of cars. The fastest Outlaws were placed at the front, followed by the Swaffham 2L Hot Rods, Classified Modified (usually a contact class but racing non-contact), Classic, 2L Hot Rods and Super Rods.

The two drivers racing 2L Hot Rods were racing their cars for the first time, Rogers raced the ex-Hendy 205 and Limer a Fiesta mk4. Willis was out in his new Mondeo Super Rod, while the Classic Modified were raced by two former Super Rod pilots Foskett and King.

Heat 1
Rossiter pulled off on the warming up lap to leave 11 cars to start the race. From the frot Hammond led away, Ward followed until he spun out. Ward rejoined in exactly the same place and tracked Hammond all the way to the line.
Res: 8, 20, 46, 285, 99, 28, 44, 48, 57

Heat 2
Osborne and King joined the grid this time but a few didn't return after the first heat. Hammond pulled off the front of the grid and was tracked by Ward all the way, dodging in and out of the slower cars did give Ward opportunities but he was never able to get alongside him.
Res: 8, 285, 20, 341, 99, 28, 44, 48

Final
The track was now under flood lights after a lengthy delay to cut a banger driver and the grid had shrunk, all the cars started on the home straight. Hammond pulled away into the distance for the hatrick and should have been followed by the other Outlaw on the grid Saxon, however Limer passed Saxon and stayed infront of him.
Res: 8, 99, 46, 48, 222

The other hot rod classes on racing: 92 Gavin Nicholls won both Mondeo Rod races, 168 Charlene Green in the SEGTO (Prod A, B, C) and 292 Jody Withers won in 1450 class.

15th January

Spedeworth Fabrications at the NEC Show

To many people, mid-January can only mean one thing - the Autosports International Show at the NEC in Birmingham. For many this is the first chance to see some of the new cars that will be gracing the Spedeworth/Incarace tracks in 2012. Taking pride of place in the centre of our stand for 2012 is the brand new Spedeworth Fabrications National Hot Rod of Scottish star #72 Willie Hardie. As the first National Hot Rod to be designed and built by Spedeworth fabrications, the Vauxhall Tigra carries some new and innovative ideas - with a newly designed front end being of particular interest.

Another stunning car on display is the new Lightning Rod of #87 Frankie Cunningham who races for Incarace - despite being from Scotland! Frankie's brand new Lightning Rod certainly falls into the category of looking "too good to race". No doubt Frankie will be back in the thick of the action when the big Sierras take to the Spedeworth/Incarace circuits in 2012!

Thanks to the Spedeworth

V6 Super Rods - 2012 Fixtures

After one year of racing only at Arena Essex within the Rolling Thunder Show the class will be racing again at Swaffham and Buxton during 2012 for a 15 date series.

17th Mar
1st Apr
14th Apr
12th May
20th May
9th Jun
14th Jul
11th Aug
26th Aug
8th Sep
30th Sep
13th Oct
21st Oct
10th Nov
24th Nov

Arena Essex
Buxton Raceway
Arena Essex
Arena Essex
Swaffham Raceway
Arena Essex
Arena Essex - Nick Farrer Memorial
Arena Essex
Swaffham Raceway
Arena Essex
Buxton Raceway
Arena Essex
Swaffham Raceway
Arena Essex
Arena Essex

All points from the three meetings at Swaffham will count and will be awarded on 21st October for English Championship. The Avon Tyres British Championship Final: Season long points championship sponsored by Waltham Services/Avon Tyres. Double points awarded at Buxton meetings. All Arena Essex meeting held at RTS.

Download PDF fixture list at v6superrods.co.uk

2nd January

FORDS update

We’d like to begin by offering our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of David Weare, tragically taken from our community on 25th September. Also to Incarace, to the staff, drivers and spectators on the day, to the drivers involved, and to friends and strangers alike affected by David’s accident. I think it’s fair to say this means everyone involved in short oval racing in some way.

Fundraising update
As expected, fundraising has now quietened down for the winter, with no further meetings booked at this time. The planned collection at Smeatharpe on 2nd October was cancelled, FORDS standing aside to let Autospeed focus on helping David Weare’s family. Another event organised with Spedeworth was also cancelled for the same reason. We regret the cancellation of the scheduled collection at Barford due to circumstances beyond our control. Nevertheless, a healthy income during September brings the total income including Promoters’ starting donations to a little over £14,000 to date.

Special mentions must go to Blandy’s Built Bangers for the raffled Buxton Bomber raising nearly £500; to the Stoxkarts Big Booze raffle raising £337; Ballymena Raceway, for sending a donation of £300 as they hadn’t organised a fundraiser this year; and with our apologies to Lochgelly who, at the last minute, ran their fundraiser themselves and generated £600 over a two-day meeting. Our heartfelt thanks to you all and to everyone who has helped or donated in any way, however large or small.

Help with fundraising
Initiatives like those mentioned above are vital to FORDS, not only for essential funds but also to keep on spreading the word and get everyone involved. We need help at collections at all tracks - next year’s fixtures will be finalised early in the New Year, please contact us if you can help with an event at a track near you, or if you have an idea ...

Thanks to www.fords-care.com

Oval Racers Swap Meet

Sunday 22 January at the Oval Racing Expo, Arena Essex. You name it, you can sell it. Private / Trade everyone welcome. Limited space available on the Saturday. Entry: Transit and Trailer £25 to include driver only, all others at normal gate entry fee (£13).
Call 01268 543735 to reserve a space.

1st January

Wimbledon - 2 Litre Hot Rods - Winternationals

Heavy rain greeted the cars and continued throughout the meeting, a fair sized grid included most of the usual racers. 50 Jamie White raced all day from the back in a Nova that had previously been raced by Mark MacKenzie and Mick Parker at RTS. 7 Collin Moss has switched over to Saxo that he had debuted at the last Wimbledon meeting. Reverse heats were used.

Heat 1
306 William Reed led off the opening race, 11 Alex Crane spun in turn 2 and his stationary car was hit by 118 Lewis Shelley. Shelley limped off the track while Crane got into gear and restarted. Moving up from the midfield was 65 Mark Willis and he passed 565 Dan Smith for second place but by the next corner he was sliding out and Smith hit him. The yellows were brought out because Smith was stationary on the track. From the restart Reed pulled clear, 72 Gary Goodswen held second until 304 Danny Fiske blasted past. Fiske had started 18th out of 19 cars. Fiske and Goodswen soon started started to catch the leader as he battled with traffic. 30 Martin Codling and 390 Dean Hunt raced side by side giving the leader no space, so he went for what seemed an impossible gap between the pair. Fiske choose the outside but had run out of laps, as the final lap was the only time he had an unrestricted view of the back of Reed.
Res: 306, 304, 72, 7, 626, 310, 39, 65, 8, 303

Heat 2
Fiske led off the second heat and was being caught in the final stages by Willis as he tackled backmarkers.
Res: 304, 65, 8, 565, 72, 303, 7, 310, 306, 39

Final
Fiske sat on pole and the result looked certain considering Fiske's speed so far, however he made a poor start. The pack behind piled and helped him going however the cars did go in several directions. Willis bounced off the wires; 8 Damon Wellman wasn't so lucky and tore a wheel off a post but was able to limp to the safety of the infield where the puddles had now become ponds.

Goodswen led the charge down the back straight, it was a three a breast in the battle for second between Reed, Moss and Fiske. Reed held the inside line and was able to take second. Fiske fell back to fourth but looked the quickest car his moved beyond Moss and then Reed but the pair made contact just after the pass. Fiske was flicked out to the fence on the entry of turn 4 bouncing off the wires head-on. The yellows were aired as Fiske was in a dangerous place, Fiske continued in the race (though he should have been eliminated). After the restart Willis moved up from fourth passing Moss, but attempting to get inside Reed at turn one the pair clashed. Willis spun and Reed was embedded in the fence. Willis was able to continue quickly and only lost a few places, Reed lost a lap. In front of hot-headed drivers Goodswen kept out of trouble and took the chequers.
Res: 72, 7, 565, 537, 65, 310, 75, 626, 303, 11

Remember when: the heavens opened at the 2000 2 Litre World Final. Lee Pepper has since gone down in history as a wet weather expert, third over the line was Gary Goodswen who did have a stint at leading that race.


		72 Gary Goodswen 2 Litre Hot Rod

Wimbledon - Lightning Rods - Winternationals

Wet conditions for a Spedeworth only affair in the Lightning Rods. 616 Billy Smith raced the ex-Langley Sierra, with his Superstox ban recently ended he raced in both classes during the day. The programme of events meant every Lightning Rod race would be after a Superstox race. He won the opening Superstox race of the day. Reverse grids were used in the heats.

Heat 1
351 Richard Spavins moved off the front row into the lead, 452 Adam Eyles moved beyond 340 Clint Brazier for second place on the outside. Moving through the pack quickly was 445 Criag Boyd he was able to move inside Eyles and Brazier at the same corner as they slide offline in the wet conditions. Boyd reeled in Spavins, waiting behind for a few laps before moving into first place.
Res: 445, 351, 416, 616, 633, 452, 314, 340, 636, 781

Heat 2
Father and son duo 416 Diggy Smith and Billy Smith started on the front row. Diggy lead before Billy found a gap but this didn't last for long as Diggy re-passed and pulled clear. Behind them Boyd had moved through again from mid-pack, his attempt on passing 339 Ben Furness for third spun out Furness but Boyd collected damage and pulled off.
Res: 416, 616, 314, 636, 781, 398, 340, 339, 452, 351 (x-2)

Final
Diggy made the most of pole and was leading going into the first corner, Billy wasn't away so well and had lost out to 314 Wayne Farrer who had started on grid 3. Lap 2 going into turn 1 the main pack ran wide, Billy Smith made up two places to take second place. After this the race became very quiet (perhaps using grades would have made a better race), Boyd moved past Farrer and Eyles for third before a yellow for Brazier who had put himself into the fence. At the restart Boyd got inside Billy Smith, the pair raced side by side for a lap until Smith got back infront. With two to run 633 Rob Gamble spun out Farrer to take fourth on the road. The cars were spaced apart when they crossed the line but the result needed the stewards assistance as Billy Smith and Gamble both had black crosses. Smith was docked two places but Gamble escaped.
Res: 416, 445, 633, 616 (x-2), 452, 351, 636, 730, 339, 398

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