Standlake 24^th July 2005 1400cc Micro Banger teams of four              Report By Bill

Team abbreviations: Bedrock (B), Devils ‘A’ (DA), Devils ‘B’ (DB), Equalisers (E), FBI (F), Havoc Magazine (HA), Howell Boys (HO), Ifor’s Engines (I), Little Bear (L), Musketeers (M), ‘O’s (O), Phoenix (P), S.I.D (S), Usual Suspects (U), Yoyos (Y).

A healthy 58 car turnout for this annual event divided among the above 15 teams including Y266 Tony Drake who had hauled a used Nova all the way from Weymouth after finding his local dirt track had cancelled due to the inclement weather. There was a mixed bag of baby bilge on offer proving the merit of widening the net from solely Metro/Fiestas though DB691 Shifter’s tidy mk1 version of the latter was arguably the pick of the crop.

Heat 1 (28 cars) - The conditions caught many people out in the opener including L225 Little Bear (Fiesta) who put himself in, B73 Nik Wheeler another finding the wall when O564 Mr Splat (Sunny) used him for a cushion to soften a F85 Little Tricky (Cherry) follow in. B71 Mr Tea (Kia Pride) blasted DA573 Beanie’s Reno 5 whilst O482 Owen Spiers (used Mazda 323) went on a solo Devil hunt. He had plenty to choose from as both sides were out in this one, his spree eventually being halted by FBI’s Little Tricky, Spiers replying with a head-on before bailing out. HO850 John Howell ran Shifter in finishing the mk1 though Shifter possibly had the last laugh as he buried his steed into HO851 Bode’s Fiesta causing much damage to the latter. DB578 Bert (Micra) arrived to blast “Daddy” Howell before mystery reds brought the race to a premature conclusion, DB126 Casey’s flying Mazda 323 taking the win from F2 Jon Bricknell’s Sunny and Mr Tea.

Result: DB126 Dave Case, F2 Jon Bricknell, B71 Gary Yeandle, L225 Charlie Barrett, DA575 Paul Tritton, DA606 Liam Weedon

Heat 2 (26 cars) - The second heat was all about HA155 Demolition. He began a superb one man wrecking show by running U479 Preston Parker in ending the latter’s day though Havoc team mate 617 John Gould (Fiesta) copped shots off S17 Robert Whiting (Ibiza) and P248 Foxy Dave, E117 Tony Woodcock’s Uno in turn then hitting the latter. A lap later Dem was at it again, firstly assaulting U478 Philip Steele before following him in adjacent to his stricken team mate, M132 Alfie (Micra) with nowhere to go clattering into the latter before Dem completed a hat trick of follow-ins, Y69 Caney (Nova) the victim on this occasion. Whiting removed Alfie before Dem concluding by burying Whiting (all four turn one follow-ins on successive laps) before winding S34 Little Stonk’s Micra out. M133 Karly (Cherry) then biffed Little Stonk and easily evaded S790 Little Dodgy’s (Pony) attempted retribution as P582 Steven Tustian (Clio) commenced what proved to be a good outing in the bangers, taking the win ahead of I537 Mitch and HA77 Bass (Colt).

Result: P582 Stephen Tustian, I537 Mark Mitchell, HA77 Steve Beasley, M32 Antony Walker, M133 Karly Day, S790 Ryan Rowland

Heat 3 (24 cars) - It may have been heat three but this was also E116 Coops (Sunny) first race. He dismissed Drake before careering head on into the armco whilst Woodcock leaned Y82 Pom’s Micra out. Casey leaned on U480 Stena Lovatt as Bert removed L290 Armco Andy only to be crashed by HA529 Daz Krauesslar. Team mate Bass notched up the win ahead of the consistent Bricknell with early pacesetter Casey 3^rd.

Result: HA77 Steve Beasley, F2 Jon Bricknell, DB126 Dave Case, F70 Steven Hart, Y110 Derek Tyler, P582 Stephen Tustian

Heat 4 (27 cars) - L600 Jase (Uno) began the fourth by parking I547 Iain Beattie’s Colt in the fence and then hooking Beanie out. He followed this up by removing Dodgy before coming under attack from I622 Ifor’s Nova with L152 Chris Sargent blasting the Pony whilst Howell blew S316 Big Ears up. DA50 Tezza (Pujo 205) ran Splat in though teammate Boomer fared less well as he was fenced by Stonk. Mitch was all the while in front, heaving E457 Aaron Hawes’ Fiesta aside along the way whereupon Karly blasted the latter as DA575 Tritt (Colt) removed O750 Rock’s Sunny, Mitch indeed collecting the win but only just from M6 Mark Holdsworth (Sunny) with the aforementioned Tritt 3rd.

Result: I537 Mark Mitchell, M6 Mark Holdsworth, DA575 Paul Tritton, M32 Antony Walker, M133 Karly Day, I622 Ifor Evans

Heat 5 (20 cars) - F70 Steven Hart (Mazda 323) commenced the penultimate head leathering Big Ears only to be wound out by Coops though he bounced back quickly to remove I624 Simon Phillips’ Ibiza. Karly bounced Tricky round the wall before Coops took a nibble at the FBI youngster but it was M32 Trigger who finally wound Tricky round, Trigger then doing likewise to Ifor. Karly then blew Dodgy senior up with a storming blitz, the reds out quickly as Doris was clearly unconscious. Unfortunately due to uncalled for actions by a minority of S.I.D “associated” onlookers the promotion had no other option than to load the team up, Doris meanwhile oblivious to it all fortunately came to after a whiff of the smelling salts. He then examined the rear of his car and quoted to his credit that not only was it a fair shot but also a damned good hit! (what a shame others couldn’t have done likewise) A somewhat subdued restart saw Beanie tangling with Mr Tea allowing F27 Gemma Brooks a free hit on the Devil as Mitch recorded back to back wins, celebrating with a shot on the lady racer whose better half Bricknell completed his hattrick of 2nds, Tritt keeping his side in with a shout with his second 3^rd place.

Result: I537 Mark Mitchell, F2 Jon Bricknell, DA575 Paul Tritton, F70 Stephen Hart, M6 Mark Holdsworth, M133 Karly Day

Heat 6 (22 cars) - After a slow start the last heat livened up when DB576 Simon Hadland (Micra) tangled with O207 Compo’s Golf before he hooked HO103 Keith Heron’s Civic out and then had another pop at Compo. Hadland made a bit of a mess of this and was duly blown up by Rock though Casey was quick to home in on the latter as elsewhere HO852 Jay (Micra) buried Krauesslar. Tustian motored to his second flag to flag win ahead of Bert and Bass which meant that going into the double points final, at least six teams were in with a shout of the money.

Result: P582 Stephen Tustian, DB578 Bryan Tritton, HA77 Steve Beasley, Y110 Derek Tyler, HO103 Keith Heron, DB126 Dave Case

Final (33 cars) - The rain had now abated and Armco Andy got the main event under way, thumping Lovatt while Bert spun Hawes with Mr Tea clattering into the latter. 133 (now piloted by Trigger) connected with Mr Tea and then laid siege to P151 Stuart Timms’s Charade as Bricknell removed leader and fancied runner Mitch, letting Holdsworth through to take up the running. Mitch was quickly back in action pumping Armco Andy heavily into the wall as Tricky spun Casey. Ifor t-boned 77 (driven by birthday boy Matt Cadle), Boomer took Pom out before meeting Hawes on the nose and then saw the race out with a shot on Brooks. Holdsworth maintained his lead to flag fall, Tritt removed Bricknell to take 2^nd which elevated Mitch to 3^rd but with the lively Trigger next over the line it meant victory for the Musketeers who finished on 36 points, Ifor’s Engines ten points adrift with FBI and Devils ‘A’ joint 3^rd on 21 points.

Result: M6 Mark Holdsworth, DA575 Paul Tritton, I537 Mark Mitchell, M32 Antony Walker, P582 Stephen Tustian, DB126 Dave Case

Demolition Derby - A good field of thirteen for the DD began with Howell jacking 573 (driven by Billy Kerry), Jay too landing a shot on the Reno, Howell then blasting 27 which I think was being driven by Robert Whiting (and certainly not as pretty as Gemma!). Timms blasted Jay before Kerry turned it round to meet 27 in a stonking head-on which stopped the pair of them. Bricknell came under fire from both Trigger and Boomer before Steele lined Boomer up for a mild head-on from Rock. Bricknell then pulled out on Boomer but popped a shaft ending his day while Rock engaged Tustian in a stiff head-on. Jay then blasted the latter but copped a biggie off Boomer with Steele arriving with a bone on Jay. Boomer then engaged Rock in a hefty head-on which left Tustian’s Clio the last one mobile and thus declared the winner.

Result: 582 Stephen Tustian

Bill