Fixtures - reviews of recent meetings

Fixtures - Review of recent meetings



Monday, 7 May - Rookie Bangers BLUE CAR DAY inc Ladies Race plus Ministox, Stock Rods/Group A Hot-Rods & 1300 Stock Cars
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Beckie Clarke dominated the Ladies race that kicked off our Bank Holiday Monday fixture. Despite starting at the back of the grid, Beckie passed the early leader, Rebecca Weeks, within a few laps and pulled out a healthy lead. When testosterone was added to the mix, the action took a leap forward and Ray Rumbold and Kerry Millen took most of the punishment in the first of the regular Rookie Banger heats. David Cheeseman took the win in style. Darryl Theedon made it through the bigger grid of heat two for another of his regular wins. Sam Waters took a lot of damage in this one, most of it whilst sat prostrate on the exit of turn four as the rain started to fall. The 'all in' final saw a huge grid of cars get quickly decimated by some heavy action, particularly on the back straight where Scott Parry was trashed and Ray Rumbold's already badly damaged car suffered further misery at the hands of Jamie Harding. Ron Hammond went in heavily on the bit bend and needed attention, which brought the race briefly to a stop. After a scrappy restart, which saw the single file until the green flag rule completely going out of the window (much to Clerk of the Course Henry's disgust!) several cars bit the dust in the confusion. Tony Hutton almost rolled his car after a spin on the pit bend whilst Kieran Whitmore raced to the win. In the Destruction Derby, Paul Korpiela marked a successful return to Arena Essex with a win over James Avison. There were some other good performances with Micky Hamer in particular dishing out some big hits and also getting on the receiving end in a big way. Grays Declan Salmon marked his retirement from the Junior Mini Stox class with a heat and final double. The one race that he didn't win was perhaps the race of the day, with Dan Newman just beating Liam Aspin and Salmon to the flag in a blanket finish, all three having traded places several times over the closing laps. Aspin, visiting from the RDC promotion, was enthusiastic about his first visit and was saying his car performed well on the tarmac - having exclusively raced shale up until that point. Meanwhile Salmon, now aged 16, moves into the adult Superstox open wheel class at the Saturday night Rolling Thunder Shows at this very venue. With father Glenn a former World champion in the class, it is a logical move for the youngster. Declan's Mini has already found a buyer - Reid Murray giving it a run at Mildenhall last week. Karl Douglas won the first heat in the SuperBanger category in the borrowed Nathan Roberts car, his own having suffered damage in a high speed shunt earlier in the year. Rain made the second encounter a sideways affair with Brian Jarvis making the most of it to take the win. Douglas was the winner of the final after Jarvis became embroiled in a fine battle with Lee West for the runners up spot. Finally the Group A Stock Rods saw the best days racing ever for perennial trier, Dennis Howes. Howes won heat and final whilst the other heat went the way of Steve Gooch, who was fastest on the day, but lost too much time making his way from the back of the grid in the other races to catch the speedy Howes. Enjoy today's sport here at Arena. The Bob Kitchener memorial is the main race for the National Banger boys. I came on the scene here at Arena a little too late to see Bob race but I recently saw footage of him on youtube from a rollover competition where he rolled all the way from the Speedway track and OVER the pit gate! That must have been something to see in the flesh, so to speak. Several of our top Banger racers in all likelihood will be up at Hednesford today competing in the 2 Litre Banger World Final, so it could be a surprise name who comes through for the trophy, although Darryl Theedon looks a good bet having decided not to go championship chasing today. Certainly several of the Gladiator team are booked in up there, most hoping to qualify through the support races, but Simon Smith is automatically in the main race, as is Cream Team regular Jack Tuffen. Good luck to both of them, although there won't be any promotional goodwill between the two if they happen upon each other in that race! The other man we remember today is Dave Meningen. Now I did see Dave race for quite some time and it will be nice to see the Eastchurch Autos people back here at Arena again, including his long term team mate in the Lightnings, Pat Kenneally. Enjoy your day. Photo captions: Local lass, Beckie Clarke dominated the Ladies race a fortnight ago Micky Hamer dishes out the damage int he Destruction Derby Hamer was also on the receiving end of the damage too Paul Korpiela shows the style that won him the Destruction Derby Karl "Blacknuts" Douglas battles with the wheel in his SuperBanger on the way to victory Blanket finish in the Mini Stox with Dan Newman winning this one. It was 566 Declan Salmon however who won his last ever Mini final


Monday, 7 May	Rookie Bangers BLUE CAR DAY inc Ladies Race plus Ministox, Stock Rods/Group A Hot-Rods & 1300 Stock Cars
Sunday, 22 April	National Bangers plus Super Bangers, Ministox & Lightning Rods ORC English Championship
Monday, 9 April	National Bangers plus Supreme Q/R 1 for Lightning Rods, Stock Rods/Group A Hot-Rods & 1300 Stock Cars
Sunday, 8 April	Rookie Bangers plus Super Bangers, Brisca F2 Heritage Stock Cars & Ministox
Sunday, 25 March	National Bangers plus Lightning Rods, Stock Rods/Group A Hot-Rods & 1300 Stock Cars
Sunday, 11 March	National Bangers plus Lightning Rods, Stock Rods/Group A Hot-Rods & Ministox
Sunday, 26 February	Open Shakedown featuring National Bangers, Overs (Unlimited) and Unders (2L) plus Superbangers and 1300 Stock Cars
Sunday, 20 November	ORC Championships for Banger Teams, 2L Saloon Stock Cars and Ministox
Sunday, 6 November	Firecracker XX - The Unlimited Open Banger Meeting of the Year plus Gigantic Fireworks Display
Sunday, 30 October	National Bangers Olly Moran Memorial plus Ministox and Lightning Rods Supreme Championships

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