Report by Mark Paulson
Lincolnshire’s 477 Amy “Wino” Brown claimed the Lady Banger British Championship crown on another wet day at King’s Lynn on Bank Holiday Monday 7th May. The typical British bank holiday weather did its best to put a damper on proceedings as May seems to have started where April left off but the ladies certainly didn’t disappoint, while the Reliant Robins and Figure of Eight Bangers also kept the big crowd entertained.
The grid for the ladies’ British Final was to be based on points scored in the heats, so every race was important. To add a little spice, a white, yellow and blue grade race was added to the programme, meaning the lower graded drivers had a chance to steal a march on the stars and superstars of the formula. A fantastic 25 cars were in the pits, including very smart fresh Hondas for 95 Jade Harboard, 371 Toni Nurchre and 730 Marie Neale. 85 Kate Calver had an unusual Fiat, while 96 Amber Daniels as usual dared to be different in a much older motor previously raced by husband 282 Bobby, in full Mr Men colours – perhaps “Mr Mad” should have read “Little Miss Mad”?!
The lower graded race saw 18 cars take to the track and was claimed in commanding style by 988 Holly Atter, taking her first of two wins on the day. Calver’s Fiat was followed in to the pit bend fence, while the Street sisters – 444 Natasha and 4 Stephanie made the most of their new yellow gradings for second and fourth spots, sandwiching Nurchre on her debut. As the nig names joined the fray for the first heat proper, they weren’t able to prevent Atter taking the flag for a second time. The race begun with 969 Suzie Barrie being spun at the end of the home straight, connecting hard with a marker tyre and taking another couple of heavy hits to end her day there and then. The fantastic start to her career as a Trackstar registered driver, which has seen her move to the top of the points, was not going to be topped off with a title – at least not yet anyway. The 22-car field continued to serve up plenty of action, with 319 Jodie Grief caught stranded mid-track on a couple of occasions. Through it all Atter held on for her second win, this time from 345 Karen Lown and 257 Anna Piggot. Best of the superstars was reigning champion 369 Jane Allard in fourth.
By the time of the second heat, the heavens had opened and the ladies were faced with a very wet track. Another field of almost 20 cars still put on a good show though and they weren’t afraid to get stuck in. The rough and tumble led to Harboard finding herself in the fence on the exit of bend four and after taking a couple of hits, including from Allard, the yellows came out to check on Jade. After a brief sojourn she was able to walk away and allow the race to continue with Lown heading the pack. She was soon relieved of the lead by Neale however, only for 3 Danielle Hewitt to quickly dispose of her also and take up the running. But clipping a car on the road bend allowed Brown past who then showed impressive pace in the difficult conditions to romp to victory by some margin. Neale and Hewitt recovered for second and fourth respectively, while 661 Suzanne Lamb kept her nerve to take third.
Although she was unplaced in the second heat, her earlier successes clinched Atter pole position for the British Championship final, where she would start alongside Neale. Superstars Brown and Hewitt filled row two and looked to be a threat from there, while surprise package Lamb and Stephanie Street made up row three. Defending champion Allard had to be content with a fifth row starting slot but that was better than gold and silver roof holder 74 Caroline Garner, right at the back. With the track now starting to evoke memories of their races in support of the Unlimited Icebreaker a couple of months ago, just keeping out of trouble wasn’t going to be easy. But that’s exactly how Brown made it look as she roared straight into a lead which she was never to relinquish. Further back, Steph Street’s hopes ended as she hit the pit bend fence very hard for the second time in the afternoon but whilst the conditions were certainly tricky, the ladies generally coped admirably. After a nightmare in the heats, Garner showed her true colours to come all the way through into second, but by then Brown was long gone. Hewitt drove a steady race to third, ahead of Daniels and Lambe.
Congratulations to Brown, who after losing her gold and silver roofs at the end of last season, now gets to carry the sought-after black and white chequers of British Champion. The first time she can wear those colours is on an “away day” for ladies at Coventry on 26 May, the next stop on their road to gold.
The 1500 bangers were having their second meeting of the regular season at Lynn, but this one was a bit different – their annual outing on the figure of eight layout. There was a slightly disappointing showing of 23 cars in the pits, but you don’t need big numbers to make things interesting on the ‘Eight’! 11 cars took to the track for the “white-top whirlwind” which kicked off proceedings. Immediately 122 Scott Piggin was put away into the pit gate as the sharp corners formed by transition onto the regular track were proving tricky to negotiate. Exactly the same spot saw 217 Gary Langley deliver the biggest shot of the day – a monster follow-in of 557 Liam Jaggard’s Mk4 Escort, which saw some serious air-time. Langley, in a very smart Cavalier, won an entertainers award for that, while 5 John-Paul Pyle claimed another as he managed to take himself out of second (and last!) position on the final bend, having earlier put away 323 Shane Leeper. Surprisingly, most drivers managed to avoid trouble on the crossover, although 182 Ashley Watkinson was not so lucky, the debutant taking one square on. As the only survivor of the general carnage, 257 Jamie Neave took the flag.
There were 14 cars on-track for the first heat proper where they were faced with an increasingly greasy track as the rain came down. 345 Richard Lown, making a rare appearance, kept it brief by burying 611 Joe Geeves into the popular pit gate, ending both their races. Geeves’ Mad Hatters team-mate 390 David Gibson pulled off a similar move on 370 Mark French, while 601 Chris “Bling” Meddler did likewise on 90 Simon Chapman. The latter was a massive shot which earned Meddler an entertainers award. The crossover claimed its biggest victim yet as 399 Johnny Atkin and Neave came together, leaving Neave’s earlier race-winning car well bent! Up front, 337 Ashley Garrod raced to the win, with Gibson second and Bling coming home third as the only other finisher.
We were down to just 10 cars for the second heat where a first bend pile-up claimed a few more. 730 Deane Mayes, an early retirement previously, drove a controlled race on the slimy shale and looked to be running away with it until his car went sick. Gibson gratefully swept past, only for Garrod to nip through on the final bend to take the win, with his brother 338 Terry third. Just eight cars survived for the final and by now the conditions were pretty atrocious. On such a wet track the drivers were happy just to keep their cars moving in something resembling a straight line; with little action to speak of, Mayes raced to a comfortable victory ahead of Terry Garrod and 311 Gary Lown, on his comeback after serving a ban. A destruction derby rounded things off, with Mayes overcoming a concerted effort from the Garrods to again come out on top. The 1500s next see action in their East Anglian Team Championship in four weeks’ time.
Around 20 Reliant Robins injected some more light-hearted entertainment into the afternoon. Barely a lap went by in any of their races without one of the “plastic pigs” performing a rollover! Fresh from a pair of second place finishes on the same track in the Brisca F2s on Saturday night, 186 George Turiccki went one better by taking a brace of victories in the heats this time. And another F2 regular, 702 Allen Cooper – like Turiccki, a former World of Shale Champion in the F2s – took the spoils in the final on what was now an absolutely a sodden track. And while all that was going on you could be pretty sure that 385 Roy Gedge was either on his roof or about to be on his roof; a decent showing from the Reliants ahead of their next outing in early August.