Dover Sunday June 8
National Bangers British & Masters QF, Hot Rods Masters QF & Super Rods Masters QF

Dover on June 8 doubled up as the second Masters qualifier and penultimate British qualifier for National Bangers and attracted a brilliant turnout of 40 bangers to the valley including a handful of welcome Mildenhall visitors with variety supplied by two Capris, two Volvo estates while 6 Steve Humphreys returned his Granada Coupe and 328 Ivan Hughes debuted a Mk1 Granada. 

007 Dangerous Dill turned out a superbly presented Granada estate 

The first heat attracted 18 starters with 253 Dave Brazier hitting a spun 841 Frank Williams head-on with the latter recovering only to get put in by 007 Ian Laws which also claimed the returning 234 Adrian Jones who fired back to jack Williams before he copped one from 365 Mick Harden with 267 James Steel competing the train with a roof bender to Harden as a spinning 158 Shane Davies was belted by 24 Ian Mallion who continued to launch 20 Andy Burbridge's Mk1 Capri into a full roll on the bottom bend. Williams then did a psycho lunge on 007 Dangerous Dill but fenced himself flat out as the leading 211 Barry Franklin made the mistake of passing 360 Ian Nicholls who followed him in flat out on the last lap, Brazier's empty car taking the brunt of it leading to a frantic scramble to the line with 53 Dave Palmer and Mallion tangling to allow Davies to slip through for the win from Mallion, 102 Steve Burrows and the recovered Palmer and 211 Bazza. 

One more for heat two which kicked off with 71 Adrian Fyer (Capri) putting in 120 Shane Burbridge as 266 Ray Williams targeted 18 Rob Burbridge while 117 Steve Macey fenced 80 Anthony Pemberthy and 266 Slippery continued to pound Rob Burbridge. 814 Mark Millen gave Fryer the bone as the luckless Rob Burbridge was buried by 328 Badger who took a T-bone from 437 Mark Chilvers as a result. The struggling 120 Fat Bloke took one from Fryer before 80 Chancey picked him up and followed him in while Badger and Fryer went head to head as 758 Tony Buffer (Volvo est) was assaulted by Slippery while Chilvers scored on 81 Lee Greenwood. Macey won from 364 Sean Winchester and Chilvers.

16 starters for the consolation with 77 Gareth Brett in his first race and wasting little time as he hammered 4 Robin Miles while Badger did the same to Harden and 380 Trevor Wright buried Dill, the latter taking a hit from Millen before Dill and 380 Shaky met in a stiff head-on. Steel put Harden in twice with the latter getting some stick from Millen as well before Badger sent Miles into the banking. 77 Flippa won from 473 Mark Nicholls and 81 Numb Nut.

211 Bazza evened the score with 360 Ian Nicholls with their monster head-on in the final

All 23 qualifiers came out for the final Flippa got the ball rolling by putting Chilvbers in as Badgers buried Ian Nicholls on the back straight setting him up for a massive pay back head-on from Bazza as 31 Andy Nicholls was put in by Numb Nut and clobbered by 12 Cliff Baldock as a result triggering a giant turn four pile-up which claimed almost the entire field. In the middle of it Davies treated 1 Fred Drayer to a bone as Millen fired up the back of 123 Mick Parsons and 220 Andy Thacker and Baldock met on the nose. Parsons then weighed in on Numb Nut but felt the force of Flippa as a result while 234 Mr Migy was put away by the lively Flippa and 502 Kayleigh Dighton (Volvo est) ran Macey in hard but then took a shot from team mate Millen. 6 Shagga and Flippa met on the nose as Mallion put away Baldock while Shagga continued to stuff Slippery before Flippa turned round to meet Parson head-on with Shagga blitzing Parsons who continued long enough for Flippa to stick it to him on the bottom bend. Winchester took the win from Davies and Palmer who grabbed third after Numb Nut threw the spot away to treat Baldock to a head-on after the Red Team man tried to stop him on the previous lap with Burrows then joining in to attack Numb Nut which spilled after the reds. 

123 Mick Parsons took a battering from 77 Flippa and 6 Shagga in the final

The top three in the Banger final, 158 Shane Davies (2nd), 364 Sean Winchester (1st) and 53 Dave Palmer (3rd)

Quite a decent field for the Accumulator and DD with Palmer starting the race by walling 52 Charlie Neale and Fryer with the latter continuing to have a big head-on with Burrows which snapped his Capri superbly as Winchester took his second win from 31 Andas and Mr T. The DD then began in explosive action with Flippa giving Chilvers a simply epic T-bone which sadly left him with an arm nasty, Steele then trashing Flippa with a fierce hit as 120 Fat Bloke and Neale went head to head and Millen jacked the latter which left Millen, Chancey and Mr T the Ant Hill Mob duo pummelling Mr T into submission before turning on each other with several hits until only Millen had drive and he took the win.

Major damage for 71 Adrian Fryer and 77 Flippa after the DD

Heat one: 158 Shane Davies, 24, 102, 53, 211, 6, 234, 360, 4, 267
Heat two: 117 Steve Macey, 364, 437, 502, 123, 220, 12, 31, 266, 81
Consolation: 77 Gareth Brett, 473, 81, 266, 814, 1, 328
Grand Final: 364 Sean Winchester, 158, 53, 220, 81, 234, 24, 328
Accumulator: Winchester, 31, 220, 814
into DD: 814 Mark Millen from 80

The Hot Rods were again well subscribed with just under 40 cars for their second masters qualifying round with 68 Tony Martin spinning early on in the 29 car opener before 5 Barry Boakes went out on the bottom bend and his car was collected by 78 Jimmy akhurst as 61 Ken Hollamby led the way with 38 Lee Preston in chase and 73 Nigel Pyman and 43 Warren Lee-Brown traded third. 20 Micky Dunn spun at the end of the back straight and lost places as 47 Peter Skiggs moved into third but then lost the spot to Lee-Brown as the stricken Boakes car was collected by Skiggs, 29 Geoff Bunting and 32 Darren Clarke as Hollamby recorded a faultless flag to flag victory from Preston and Lee-Brown.

22 cars started the second heat with Boakes leading briefly before retiring which handed 100 Steve Tilley the advantage but it was all for nothing when 58 Lee Punter rolled onto his roof on the bottom bend bringing the reds out for a complete restart. 51 Colin Boswell led them away before loosing his spot to 70 Garrie Martin with Boswell spinning and falling out of the places with 2 Fred Drayner moving into second as star grade duo 87 Robin Miles and 54 Jason Blackford went out on the bottom bend. 34 Steve Emptage got the better of 11 Sam Topley in the fight for 9th before the latter pulled off as Clarke past Drayer for second. Garrie Martin raced to the win with 16 Chaz Goldup having a late surge for second with Drayer getting the better of Clarke in their battle for third. 

The final heat also had 22 cars with Dunn the pace setter from Lee-Brown and 81 Kev Neale as 57 Clive Port had a close look at the inner banking before the race was stopped for a rolled 82 on the exit of turn four. Lee-Brown was an early spinning on the restart and Preston duly took the lead from Pkiggs and Port before Skiggs took out and the stricken 59 Nathan Port was collected by Neale and 21 Dave Chalinor. Dunn moved into second as Skiggs started to slow and Dunn took it up and went on for the win. 34 Steve Emptage continued his fine early season form taking second with 55 Kevin May just beating Skiggs on the line for third. 

20 of the 23 qualifiers returned for the final which was also stopped after a couple of laps for a big home straight pile-up which was triggered when a spinning Skiggs was collected by 4 Paul Grace with Drayer going in hard before the rest followed. 33 Stephen Fry led them away when things resumed with Skiggs and Pyman in chase as Clarke hit the fence hard on the back straight after a tangle with Garrie Martin. Skiggs started to drop off with Pyman going second and Dunn third before 75 Mark Glisson moved into third spot. Dunn then fought back to second as Glisson got past Pyman to stay third with Emptage closing in but it was young gun Fry who held on for the flag from Dunn and Glisson with Emptage just missing out on the trophies finishing fourth while Miles was the top red grade driver in fifth.

The big three in the Hot Rod final, 
33 Steve Fry, 20 Micky Dunn and 75 Mark Glisson

Heat one: 61 Ken Hollamby, 38, 43, 33, 4, 70, 73, 79, 20, 75
Heat two: 70 Garrie Martin, 16, 2, 32, 75, 50, 100, 55, 34, 8
Heat three: 20 Micky Dunn, 34, 55, 47, 54, 87, 58, 38, 43, 15
Grand Final: 33 Steve Fry, 20, 75, 34, 87, 100, 55, 54, 73, 47

Round four of the track championship and the second masters qualifier attracted 20 Super Rods with a full compliment for a hectic opening heat which started disastrously when 18 Glenn Cook spun and was collected by 25 Lee Fowler and 86 Dave Sharp with the latter ramming Fowler which led to some heated words between the two when the race was stopped after 28 Mark Jackson collected the stricken 25 car, Fowler and Sharp loaded up as a result. 41 Peter emson led the restart with 7 Chris Reeve working his way into second while 10 Paul Bunting got the better of Cook for third with the latter then spinning and getting collected by 17 John Lingham as a result. Reeve then managed to get the lead from Emson with 77 Mark Shinglton getting the better of Emson but he couldn't catch Reeve who ran away for the win from Shingleton and Emson with 12 Kev Hickey just coming out on top in a thrilling battle for sixth with 217 Steve Powell and 88 Jason Anderson.

Down to 15 cars for heat two with Emson again leading the way from 11 Graeme Shilling while Shingleton made a strong start and quickly got into second and then took the lead after going round the outside of Emson as Shilling spun after an altercation with 26 Dave Davies which hampered Powell. Anderson moved into second and engaged in a brilliant race for the lead but could not get the better of Shingleton who took the win with 359 Paul Pring cruising to third while Hickey came out on to top in the fight for fourth, Miles, Powell and 24 Gary Hall finishing 6th, 7th and 8th from the back.

The field was cut to 13 for the final with Emson leading from 21 Jim Anderson and Jason Anderson with the latter quickly going second while Shingleton also moved up. Jason Anderson then went wide on the bottom bend and Shingleton moved up but then cruelly went out with mechical gremlins promoting Jim Anderson to second before he lost the spot to Davies who soon grabbed the lead with Hickey moving into second as Emson slipped to third and moved further down as Pring moved up. Miles then moved into third and joined Davies and Hickey who were already having a brilliant fight for the lead but come flag fall it was Davies who held on from Hickey and Miles with a late surge for Powell earning him fourth.

The top three in the Super Rod main event, 12 Kev Hickey (3rd) 26 Dave Davies (1st) and 85 Jack Miles (3rd)

Heat One: 7 Chris Reeve, 77, 41, 86, 17, 85, 12, 217, 88, 66, 24, 359
Heat Two: 77 Mark Shingleton, 88, 359, 12, 14, 85, 217, 24, 66, 17
Grand Final: 26 Dave Davies, 12, 85, 217, 14, 24, 41, 88, 21

Another fine days racing at Dover. The bangers produced their best bash in the valley so far with a cracking days racing which was a great mix of big hitting and fast racing with a fierce DD to end things on. The Hot Rods were in good form despite numerous accidents while the Super Rods provided their best race of the season with their brilliant final. 


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