Mildenhall September 29 2001
Saloon Stockcars World Final and National Bangers

The 20th annual staging of the Saloon Stockcar world final attracted some 53 cars to Mildenhall, the field including some 13 Scottish drivers, two Irish 7 two Dutch for some international flavour. After months of speculation defending champion Diggy Smith stuck to his guns & did not race. He was joined on the absent list by 001 Phil Morgan (injured), 654 Paul Soper (injured), 602 Russ Williams (suspended), 401 Steve Webstar (retired) & 120 Adrian Lowman allowing in four reserves. 

The night kicked off with a 25 car last chance qualifier in wet conditions, following the days earlier rain. 199 James Pye was sun early on by 420 Ivan Street who went second behind 799 Willie Davie as 715 Andy Woods & 721 Glenn James became early spinners. As Pye collided with countryman 942 Derek Calvin. Street now led from 441 Phil Martin & Davie as 187 Richard Dickerson hooked out 357 Walker Laing. Martin crashed out along with Calvin & 150 Andrew Parrin with 51 Paul Licquorice now second behind Street as Calvin spun 37 Kevin Fulton who was collected by Dickerson. Licquorice now led from Street & Dickerson who again removed Laing as did James on Pye before the luckless Martin was spun by Davie who was taken out in turn by 688 Paul Ford. 6 Horry Barnes tragically retired while lying 5th & looking good for a world final place as 140 Andy Meen took out fellow Ministox graduate Parrin. Dickerson went second as Street spun, but Dickerson was then taken out himself by Martin. Licquorice took the flag, celebrating by spinning 377 Mick Oslar. Street the runner up, a lap down with the remaining world final places going to 500 Steve Royston, Woods, 64 Mark Whybra & Meen. 

A full compliment of 34 cars lined up for the world final with 499 Dave Aldous now promoted to pole with National champion 402 Shaun Webstar alongside. The first spinner was H10 Dave Martens, quickly followed by 777 Alan Ainsle as Aldous grabbed the lead with Webstar & 511 Craig Barnett in tow, Barnett making a great start from the third row. Licquorice flicked out 104 Matt Horwell & Meen did the same to 246 Lindsay Wilson as 677 Eddie Darby hit the wall. Barnett meanwhile grabbed the lead from 126 Willie Barnes, who quickly punted Barnett wide to take it up. 603 Wayne Peckham went third with a recovered Webstar & Aldous next from 43 Karl Gilbert. 651 Barry Jones was the next casualty as Horwell sun H2 Roy Verstappen, which slowed Peckham as Barnes crashed heavily into the sun 562 Trevor Gray wiping him out. Webstar took it up with 399 Darron Atkins second as the lively Horwell spun 17 Kenny Purdie as the reds came out for an injured Gray. After a length delay in which the roof of Gray's stunning Anglia had to be cut off we were back underway for the second half of the race with the lead four of Webstar, Atkins, 368 Steve Santry & 256 Kev Gooding remaining unchanged for a couple of laps, before Atkins made his move & Webstar spun. But Atkins lead was short lived as Santry sneaked through to take it up as Gooding spun also from contention promoting 229 Robert George & Whybra who soon leapfrogged Atkins for second & third, by which point Santry looked to be home & dry. Then the race changed dramatically, with the one lap board waiting, Barnett spun 8 Peter Hunter & 71 Gordon Alexander causing a pile up on the exit of the pits turn. Santry somehow found a way through but lost most of his momentum, George got held up & lost second, but Whybra came through like a bat out of hell. Into the final lap & as Santry struggled to regain speed, Whybra was closing but he couldn't make it & a last bend lunge proved fruitless. Santry taking the title from Whybra, George & a recovered Webstar. 

33 drivers returned for the first all comers race with 93 Adrian Haddon spinning Horwell at the start only to be taken out himself by Barnett as Woods led from Laing & Street, who spun Oslar as 2 Paul Tuppen hit the wall & was collected by Ford. Alexander removed Horwell who was belted head-on by the leader as Verstappen & Parrin joined the list of spinners as did Laing at the hands of Gooding. 8 Pete Hunter was now second from Royston & Street as George spun Aldous & the luckless Horwell was taken out by 126 Barnes. Street removed Tuppen en route to going second, Tuppen then pounded by a recovered Aldous as 126 Barnes went into second from Whybra & Barnett. Darby took out Gooding as Barnett buried Ainsle hard handing fourth to Gilbert. Whybra leapfrogged 126 Barnes for second as Woods took a fine win. In a dramatic finish for third, Gilbert spun 126 Barnes, who was spun himself by Darby, Gilbert hanging on for third, Barnes spinning across the line in fourth with Darby having to settle for fifth.

The night concluded with 29 cars in the second all comers with Verstappen taken out by Royston early doors as did Licquorice on Meen while Street led from Ford & Woods, who soon passed Ford for second as Barnett rammed Hunter hard. Royston moved into second before Street, spinning Woods en route as Street went out handing Royston the lead from Atkins & Parrin as Haddon spun Hunter where upon he took a savage Banger style blitz from Barnett. Hunter retaliated with a hit of his own, but Barnett settled it with a second massive hit, bringing out the reds for a shaken Hunter, who was otherwise OK. By the time the reds appeared Atkins had taken the lead, but he pulled off on the rolling lap so Royston retook control as Gilbert spun Darby & Woods did likewise to Street before George burst through & into the lead as Martens spun 213 Dougie Wilson. Gilbert got the better of Parrin for third & then bested Royston for second as George won from Gilbert with Alexander piping Royston for third on the last lap. 

Last Chance qualifier: 1) 51 Paul Licquorice 2) 420 Ivan Street 3) 500 Steve Royston 4) 715 5) 64 6) 140 7) 441 8) 377 9) 272 10) 721
World Final: 1) 368 Steve Santry 2) 64 Mark Whybra 3) 229 Robert George 4) 402 5) 399 6) 500 7) 71 8) 140 9) 43 10) 256
All comers one: 1) 715 Andy Woods 2) Whybra 3) 43 Karl Gilbert 4) 126 5) 677 6) 229 7) 441 8) 402 9) 71 10) 256
All comers two: 1) George 2) Gilbert 3) 71 Gordon Alexander 4) 500 5) 917 6) 369 7) 150 8) 241 9) 511 10) 104

The last domestic Banger session of the year at Mildenhall drew a very disappointing field of just 44 cars including a handful of visitors from PRI, Trackstar & Spedeworth. Car wise 64 Richard Shearing & 99 Ritchie Ahern returned Mk1 Granadas as did 149 Colin Mace with a Triumph with three large Volvos including a 740 for 002 Wendy Brinkworth. 

24 cars for the opener with 207 Lee Weekes (Sierra) in a world of trouble at the start as he was pounded by TSR's 154 Stephen Heyward & 483 Sarah Futcher (Sierra Est) allowing 243 Robert Boswell to connected with a T-bone on the latter as 115 Gary Rose buried 576 Colin Aldred. 23 Dave Stafford (Cortina) met the similarly mounted 23 Dave Stafford on the nose as the luckless Futcher was clobbered by 158 Shane Davies as 149 Millie gave 243 Batty a T-bone & a pile up formed on turn three in which Rose took hits from 46 Brian Phillips (Sierra) & Heyward. Stafford enjoyed a head-on with the Cavalier mounted 56 Phil Coe allowing Davey to home in for a revenge blitz on Stafford. Futcher's rough ride continued with head-ons from 35 Peter Lewis (Volvo) & Batty as Rose buried the Volvo of 901 Ian Nicholls. Ahern clashed head to head with a spun Batty as Lewis concluded the event with a follow in on Phillips as Davies took the chequered from 22 Dave Vincent with Heyward third for TSR & 348 Sonny Sherwood (Est) & Ahern 6th & 7th for PRI.

A lower grid of 19 cars came out for the second heat with European champion 33 Gary Magewick (Cortina) burying 2 Martin Brinkworth (Cortina) at the start as 119 Davey Cox homed in on Shearing who fired back to bury 819 Stephen Crisp (Sierra). 251 Mark Webb (Est) hit the inner wall hard, knocking one of the concrete blocks over as Shearing continued his lively ways burying 249 Matt Frost. The luckless Crisp took further hammer from 159 Darren Scarrow as a recovered Webb blasted Spedeworth young gun 383 Andy Chisholm (Cortina) & later on 30 Mark Hurrell (Est). 002 Brinkworth treated 383 Chiz to a head-on before 249 Frosty landed a hit to end the race on damage magnet Crisp. The leading 147 Andy Davies was taken out on the last lap handing 396 Graham Hyla (Cortina) the win from 33 Magic & a recovered Davies.

The final was an all comers race & drew a large field of 36 cars with Hurrell blasting Stafford from the off as did 300 Tom Marston (Est) on 776 Michael Aldred & 158 Davies did likewise on 214 Marcus Ballard (Capri). Brother 147 Davies scored similarly on Chiz as a pile up formed on the pits turn, claiming several in which Marston landed a T-bone on 576 Aldred. Seconds later 119 Cruncher delivered hit of the night with a stunning T-bone on Marston by the pit gate, Cruncher following it up with a second T-bone assault delivered to 82 Carl Scarrow. The leading Hyla was then spun & was terminated by a head-on from 158 Davies handing 348 Mushy the spoils from Shearing & PRI man 602 Billy Lee. Ahern took 4th, making it a good result for PRI with Chiz 9th for Spedeworth .

The night concluded with a 16 car Accumulator qualifier, which was very roddy, Magic burying Cruncher, triggering a back straight pile up, in which Rose took some punishment from the traffic as Heyward fired up the back of Chiz rearranging the back of his Cortina. Lee romped to a trouble free win as 129 Scott Locke (Est) spun Heyward for second & the last place in the Accumulator final. Mushy took third for PRI but a 4th was enough to seal Vincent victory in the Accumulator points with Chiz 6th & Heyward 7th for the visitors. Magic ended the entertainment by turning round to steam a spun Crisp. 

Heat One: 1) 158 Shane Davies 2) 22 Dave Vincent 3) 154 Stephen Heyward 4)46 5) 129 6) 348 7) 99 8) 149 9) 214 10) 115
Heat Two: 1) 396 Graham Hyla 2) 33 Gary Magewick 3) 147 Andy Davies 4) 64 5) 82 6) 30 7) 776 8) 249 9) 251 10) 2
Grand Final: 1) 348 Sonny Sherwood 2) 64 Richard Shearing 3) 602 Billy Lee 4) 99 5) 129 6) 776 7) 30 8) 147 9) 383 10) 249
Accumulator: Lee 2) 129 Scott Locke 3) Sherwood 4) 22 5) 64 6) 383 7) 154 8) 2 9) 119 

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