Mildenhall Stadium Saturday March 13 2010
National Bangers British QF, Saloon Stockcars and Ministox

The Saturday night season at Mildenhall blasted off in trademark fashion with the first National Banger British qualifier attracting a fine field of 106 cars on March 13. The entry was boosted by visitors from PRI, Incarace, TSR and Autospeed, 239 Steve Carter putting in many miles from his west country base as part of a four strong Midnight Runner field. They were outnumbered though by the Aftermath who boasted seven while Thattadoo raised five. On the car front the Mondeo was the most popular mount with 796 George Chambers’ Sierra the sole RWD motor. Several made the effort with the paint brush, 105 Billy Standing, 160 Perry Willings (Cavalier), 162 Rob Wheatley, 402 Albie Jenner, 507 Danny Fisher, 510 David Wilding, 511 Helen Licquorice, 538 Jake Swan and 912 Kieran Greenaway all parading smart motors. 

The awful weather of the winter meant a titanic amount of work had gone into the raceway prior to the meeting, work continuing until just a few hours before the meeting with the main concern area being the inside of the pit bend. While the outside two thirds of the track was in great condition, the inside line remained very soft, especially on the pit bend where it was about a third of the track wide. And as the night wore on this became increasingly rough and boggy, sending many drivers airborne and catching many drivers out but it did create some very unusual racing lines and gave the night a somewhat different character. 

Just over 30 cars for the opening heat and amazingly given all the rain of the previous weeks, the first problem of the night was of dust, mostly coming from the concrete on the inside. In the smog, 77 Martin Wilkins hit the spun 160 Pez on the nose while 415 Scott Cornsh bundled 21 Jason Colbert into 68 Oly Wilkins. 405 Shane Tilley then squeezed 162 the Jackal into the fence by the start line rolling the latter onto his roof to bring the reds out immediately. The race resumed with Oly Wilkins T-boning the spun 291 Jay Giddings only to be fired into the wall by Greenaway in turn. 22 Dave Vincent (Bluebird) took a wild lunge at 100 Callum White as 77 House met 328 Daniel Latham on the nose and was T-boned by 100 Captain Cock in turn, the latter then whacking 442 Sean Crittenden over the rear wheel. 46 Wayne Packer hit 711 Luke Wesson over the front wheel as 44 Ray Elbourn collected Latham and found the wall. 510 Tit meanwhile turned round to hit Elbourn on the nose as 837 Martin Wesby attacked 83 Paul Apps setting the latter up for a T-bone from 326 Shane Lynn with Cornish blasting 326 Ratty in turn. 547 Tony McNeil (Primera) wrapped things up with a head-on to the spun Wesson as Greenaway registered a maiden win from Wesby and Colbert. 

34 cars for a better second heat which began with 603 Jon Cooper running in 64 And Woods well as 239 Steve Carter attacked 382 Jack Foster Jnr (Bluebird). 313 Brett Osbourn attacked 180 Mark Foster before 730 Dean Mayes hit the spun 8 Dale Woolnough head-on, the latter then having 239 Nemesis buried into him by 237 Gary Nash. 525 Wes Starmer buried the luckless 382 Chubby with 88 Ash Burton hitting the latter head-on as a pile-up formed around them on the pit bend. 603 the Younger Hitman also laid into the Team Black young gun as 465 Andy Scarlett (Bluebird) hit 928 Emmerson Prime, a train forming behind them with 237 Nasha, Osborn and Nemesis all firing in to force a way through the blockage. 708 Jamie Nottingham was the next to nail Chubby before the race turned quiet for a couple of laps. The leading 602 Shaun Cooper hassled 730 Deano as 72 Billy Bond (Cavalier) leaned the Younger Hitman in and 602 Mr Moody span 208 Jimmy Randall (Cavalier) into the blocks. Despite leading Mr Moody continued to put it about as he ran in 19 Joe Mullarkey (Carina estate) as a revenge seeking 208 Finger turned round and T-boned Moody. The latter began his final lap but on the last bend he was more intent to square the Finger up for a wicked head-on which handed 465 Nine Inch the win from 116 Nat Cohn (Cavalier) and Osbourn. 

The final heat raised 35 starters and a frantic start saw Tilley hit the spun 780 Darren Barnes (Corolla) head-on to cause an early pile-up which also claimed Chambers and 559 Ben George. 682 Paul Sparrow meanwhile stuffed 200 Wayne Holton as 205 Kieran Briddock stuffed Tilley and 535 Matt Ford into the aforementioned Chambers and Barnes. 159 Darren Scarrow (Bluebird) homed in for a solid hit on Tilley as 61 Karl Totham piled 141 Andy Neal (Bluebird) into the luckless Barnes. 20 Andy Burbridge (Primera) buried 755 Martin Crabb as 507 Ben Rogers (Cavalier) hit 424 Cookie on the nose only to be nailed in turn by Tilley while new RDC signing 345 Craig Hewitt crashed into the concrete. 244 Colin Burnham treated 381 Craig Upson to a head-on as Rogers met 345 Chewy head-on on the back straight, the former then suffering a brief flash fire. This went out in time for 200 Skippy to deliver a Thattadoo revenge ht as 205 Koonta attacked Ford. It was the latter two who supplied the only action in some quiet final laps, the Cowboy first burying the Yard Monkey before delivering a big hit on the road bend just as the reds were shown. 61 Flash took the win ahead of 417 Dan Davey and 124 John Chaplin. 

A massive field of 48 for the consolation and it was by far the race of the night. 180 Sparky again by attacking lone Cream Team pilot 552 Karl Douglas as Cookie hit 59 Ben Jackson on the nose as 604 Ross Cooper stuffed 787. A massive pile-up began to form and the majority were only too happy to weigh in with some big hits to be found. 85 James Ellis piled 788 Dan Burton into the blocks as Nottingham followed in 547 the BFA to reduce room on the outside. Apps nailed 19 Dove Toe Joe and 27 Terry King (Bluebird) buried Prime. 148 Ian Redden (Bluebird) nailed Nottingham in the midst of the heap, the latter taking further abuse from 673 Darren Fendley. 107 Michael Seex meanwhile nailed 74 Matt Hill as Giddings buried 132 Rob James and Barnes was the next to hammer Nottingham. Sparky picked up 107 Seexy for a shot as the track now became completely blocked. The hits continued as 128 Andy Shipp gave the luckless Nottingham a wicked shot only to take an equally big package from Ellis in turn. Jackson meanwhile dumped Oly Wilkins into the heap as 148 Shorty turned round and took one on the nose from Latham. 525 Wes hit the latter in turn with the former doing a lap to then give Pez a roof bending hit at the end of the back straight. Pecker homed in for a hard hit on Jenner as 67 Rickie Beasley blasted Dove Toe Joe hard. 101 Ian Norris rattled the BFA into the wall as the Younger Hitman weighed in hard on Ellis and Nottingham rallied back to ram Tit head-on. Elbourn attacked Giddings only to then be dumped into the heap by Pecker as Sparky hammered Nottingham. Giddings blasted the Runner in turn with Pecker nailing him in turn and 132 Bobbles completed the train. Cooper meanwhile rammed Wes on the nose, Seexy hitting the latter over the rear wheel as he escaped the heap. Pecker T-boned Wes as well and Sparky did the same to Cooper. Seexy meanwhile reeled off the remaining laps to take the win from 348 Sonny Sherwood and Pecker, Sparky the only other finisher in a quality affair. 

Just shy of 30 cars for the final with Seexy running Colbert into the pit gate hard at the start as 101 Richard Rayner found himself under attack from Cornish, 124 the Rook and 116 No Luck Nat. Colbert bounced back only to be fenced again, this time by Nemesis as the equally luckless Rayner was buried by 17 Kyle Overy. Bond hit the spun 539 Danny Allen over the rear wheel as 88 Ace Ash stuffed the Rook, Davey later planting Sparky into the latter. Seexy span Greenaway for the lead, the latter hit head-on by 20 Baldy as Allen rejoined from the infield to hit Sparky on the nose. This allowed Davey to blast the Runner as Cornish followed in Bond nicely. Seexy motored to the win after a good scrap with No Luck Nat who had to settle from second, 617 Jack Overy finishing third from the back with 682 Sparra Boy fourth, also from the back. 

A fine field of 40 for the Accumulator qualifier which kicked off with the game Nottingham blasting Ford as a pile-up filled the road bend. Woods buried Koonta as Sparra Boy ran in Nottingham on the pit bend, the latter then taking a savage hit from team mate Cornish. 17 the Little Chief connected with a hard T-bone on the spun Koonta before Wesson buried 552 Blacknuts head-on into Ford. Nemesis laid into the Cream Team man in turn as Tilley did a spectacular ¾ roll on the back straight to bring the reds out straight away and a complete restart was ordered. The restart saw Latham run in Licquorice as the Little Chief blasted Wesson and 67 Sonny Black followed in Skippy. The game Wesson was punished by both 348 Mushy and Nemesis as Skippy turned round to T-bone Latham. Wesson bounced back to do the same to Blacknuts with Sparky hitting the latter as well only to come under fire from 381 Shrug. 26 Daniel Holmes (Cavalier) also turned round and hammered Skippy with the latter then meeting Hill in a meaty head-on. 538 Swanny Junr stuffed Sparra Boy as Chubby and Mushy laid into 26 Hacker. Rayner and Wesson enjoyed a head-on with Shrug hitting the former in turn, Nemesis doing Shrug a second later on opposite. Overy came through for the win from Licquorice and Mushy and the DD began. Both Nemesis and Sparky pounded Shrug with T-bones, the former then administering a head-on while Sparky moved on to hammer Wesson. Ellis meanwhile blasted Mushy only to take a big hit himself from Overy with Sparky also attacking the TSR man. Nasha laid into Chubby on opposite as Overy now gave Shrug a big hit. Sparky and Overy then continued against the flow to give Ellis hard hits as Shrug met Chubby on the nose only to take one in turn from Sparky. A solid head-on from Overy finished the game Shrug before Chubby hit uncle Sparky on the nose. Overy hit the latter over the front wheel but a head-on from the Runner finished Overy leaving the Fosters to settle things. A series of stiff head-ons between Chubby and Sparky eventually left just the latter running and he celebrated his DD win with a solid hit on his nephew, Overy voted the best entertainer. 

Heat one: 912 Kieran Greenaway, 837, 21, 210, 415, 22, 539, 511, 711
Heat two: 465 Andy Scarlett, 116, 313, 88, 101, 239, 730, 708, 604, 72
Heat three: 61 Karl Totham, 417, 124, 303, 20, 617, 17, 370, 682, 159
Consolation: 107 Michael Seex, 348, 46, 180
Grand Final: Seex, 116, 617, 682, 303, 511, 239, 17, 465, 61
Accumulator qualifier: 617 Jack Overy, 511, 348, 85
Into Destruction Derby: 180 Mark Foster from 382

The opening round of the Saloon Stockcar track championship raised a decent field of 26 cars including lone west country visitor 120 Shane Brown while young gun 389 Ryan Santry made his track debut and former Banger British champion 731 Barry Wade made his track debut in the former. 

All out for the opener with 311 Steve Newman spinning 641 Willie Skoyles Jnr as the drivers tried to get familiar with the unusual track conditions. 499 Dave Aldous removed 156 Darren Goudy as 19 Karl Stubbers made the early running only to then lose his speed handing 13 Lee Petters the edge. This triggered a chain of lead changes as 728 Kris Woods took over only to be quickly passed by 912 Andi Newman as a small pile-up formed on turn three where several were caught out by the tricky track. 127 Steve McMillan span 420 Ivan Street who was then collected by Brown while Newman had Goudy around and 149 Jamie Samson fired 305 Nigel Parker into the wall hard. Woods meanwhile challenged and took the lead only to then spin on the treacherous pit bend which also claimed Newman and handed Sampson the lead and he celebrated his position by spinning Santry. Aldous then braved the sticky inside of turn three in a wild lunge at McMillan, Parker and 570 Simon Venni to go fourth. Brown then stuck the bumper in on Parker which in turn fired Aldous wide and the former moved himself to fourth, Aldous then spinning from contention as Sampson raced to the win from brother 428 Lee and 115 Scott Aldridge.

Just one missing for heat two which began with 22 Karl Petters leaning Stubbers into the wall as Skoyles Jnr span Newman. 191 Shaun McMillan led the way as Clayton span Goudy. Brown fired Clayton into the fence a second later as 369 Andy Santry hooked out 311 Steve Newman and Woods span into the blocks. 191 Mucker enjoyed a healthy lead over Parker as Aldous removed Street while Parker lost some time when the back marking Steve Newman squeezed him into the wall. However he was then gifted the lead when 490 Ian Jarman removed Mucker as elsewhere Wade span Jamie Sampson. Lee Sampson and Wade then tangled and wound up on the infield as the new leader Parker took a big lunge at McMillan. 508 Lee Green had Karl Petters around as the recovered Lee Sampson sent Skoyles into a half spin. Wade continued to flick around Karl Petters as Parker raced to the win from Skoyles Jnr and Aldridge, McMillan delivering the final action when he span Lee Sampson. 

Down to 20 for the final with early spins for Aldous and Skoyles Jnr while Andi Newman had Lee 
Petters out leaving Ryan Santry to make the early running from Parker and Mucker. Woods had Karl Petters out, the latter recovering only to then be spun by Aldridge. Parker moved into the lead with
moved into second ahead of Woods, Jamie Sampson and Venni. Woods span Karl Petters as the race hit half way, Mucker still ahead of Andi Newman but now Jamie Sampson was third ahead of Venni, Woods and Lee Sampson. Jamie Sampson was soon into second as Goudy took a big lunge at the determined Karl Petters. Lee Sampson attacked 219 Luke Grief as Mucker lead the cars into the final five laps but couldn’t hold on the whole way, Jamie Sampson barging past with three to run and racing to the win, Venni hauling himself to second in the final stages but Mucker did well for third.

10 of the 12 qualifiers made the dash for cash with a hectic start seeing Parker spin Jamie Sampson as a road bend pile-up quickly formed. Mucker made the running as behind Skoyles Jnr span Lee Sampson for second. Grief and Clayton traded bumper shots on the back straight as Skoyles Jnr prised the lead away from Mucker. Grief had Clayton around as Brown moved into second but could not get close enough to Skoyles Jnr to connect with his last bend lunge and the latter took the win and the £100. 

Heat one: 149 Jamie Sampson, 428, 115, 120, 18, 305, 570, 311, 490, 731
Heat two: 305 Nigel Parker, 641, 115, 219, 127, 120, 156, 369, 570, 420
Grand Final: Sampson, 570, 191, 18, 219, 728, 912, 641, 428, 156 
Dash for Cash: 641 Willie Skoyles Jnr, 120, 115, 728, 149, 428

Round two of the Ministox track championship raised a strong field of 26 cars, 300 Casey Englestone and 362 Andrew Milner making their debut as RDC registered drivers while 344 Ross Fisher showed his newly painted car for the first time at Mildenhall. 

All in for heat one with 309 Ray Petty attacking 304 Jo Parker as 392 Reid Murray made the running while 317 Bryson Walker had 327 Mick Maskall Jnr around. 350 Thomas Parrin and 390 Karl Morris suffered spins before the reds came out to attend to 332 Sophie Bright who was stranded on the back straight. A complete restart was ordered with 392 Speedy again making the running as Walker again span Maskall Jnr as 383 Shane Harvey moved into the top spot. 355 Sid Magewick attacked 322 Thomas fox as Morris suffered a spin and 376 Stephen Hackett put the bumper in on 303 Lewis Jefcote. Fisher moved past Speedy for second as further down Engleston put the bumper in on Hackett to take fifth but revenge was swift when Hackett fenced the former. 356 Georgie Boult Jnr put the bumper in on Fox as Hackett removed the luckless Maskall Jnr. 383 Chimp meanwhile raced to the win, Fisher scored a maiden trophy finish in second and a late charge from Hackett saw him finish third. On the line Boult Jnr just beat 316 Sam Dace for sixth.

23 cars for heat two with 360 George Barber spinning Walker into the blocks as Speedy again made the running while Parrin yet again suffered an early spin. Speedy had Morris as a back straight push saw Chimp spin Dace with the latter getting a real hiding from the pack to bring the reds out. The race saw soon back underway with the unusual racing line on the pit bend resulting in a big push in which Fox was thundered into the fence hard by the pack behind causing a pile-up which claimed Parrin, Parker and 302 Jordan Murray. The race continued with Fisher leading from Speedy as Milner removed Noughton, the latter recovering only to be spun again by Speedy who had now taken over up front as a now struggling Fisher was fenced by Magewick. Boult Jnr span 306 Daniel Parker as Walker took over at the front and raced to the win, Magewick firing Speedy wide for second and Petty just getting through for third in the final stages. 

Down to 18 for the final and again Speedy made the early running, the order from the off seeing 303 Squeeky in second with Walker wasting no time in rocketing to third. 382 Tom Foster suffered an early spin as Walker moved into second ahead of Englestone and 352 Connor Spall with Noughton soon after moving into fifth. Englestone span Spall in their battle for third but this allowed the rapid Boult Jnr to slip past as Speedy continued to lead at half way ahead of Walker, Boult Jnr, Englestone and Noughton. Noughton has Englestone around in the race for fourth as Walker span the back marking Murray inside the final five laps. Boult Jnr moved into second but came under attack from Squeeky which allowed Walker to reclaim the spot but Speedy was long gone and took a fine flag to flag win. Walker was second but was dropped three places for failing to start the race at the back of his grade having won the earlier heat and so Boult Jnr and Noughton filled the trophy spots. 

Heat one: 383 Shane Harvey, 344, 376, 366, 355, 356, 316, 322, 306, 392
Heat two: 317 Bryson Walker, 355, 309, 392, 306, 356, 352, 366, 350, 360
Grand Final: 392 Reid Murray, 356, 366, 309, 317, 355, 306, 350, 344, 302

A most entertaining start to the season with all three formulas delivering some good action and not a bad race among the 13 race programme. All these despite far from ideal racing conditions which while tricky did create a unique and somewhat memorable raceway. 

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