by Mark Paulson
CRUNCHERS BREAK THE ICE
Davey Cox’s Crunchers won the 1500 Bangers annual Icebreaker team championship at King’s Lynn on Sunday 3 February. The foursome of 119 Davey Cox, 22 Dave Vincent, 572 Paul Scully and 717 Darren Pindar defeated 40 other teams who had travelled from across the country to lift the title on this, its ninth staging. For Cox, Vincent and Scully, it means they are now the current holders of both Icebreaker crowns, having won the 2012 edition of the Unlimited version under the guise of Team 22. They will defend that title in the three weeks’ time, on Sunday 24 February.
Click here to see the full results
Thankfully the rain held off on what was a chilly but otherwise fine winter afternoon. The entry of more than 150 cars provided action aplenty on track to keep the decent-sized crowd of onlookers entertained so that the cold was barely noticed. On the machinery front, there was little to write home about, but many squads went to the effort of turning out smart motors – not least the Scunthorpe Blue Crew who deservedly scooped the award for best presented team.
Each team was programmed to take part in four of the 11 heats, split into four for the first round of races, then three for the next, before two pairs of half-car splits. An all-in final completed the points scoring proceedings, before a destruction derby rounded off the day. That meant that most races had fields of 30-40 cars, with 46 on track for the final.
The first round of heats started with a slightly under-subscribed first race as some were still getting scrutineered. 338 Terry Garrod (Jackpot) and 776 Ady Groom (guesting for Mad Hatters Young Guns ‘B’) were both lively, with the Wild Boyz ‘A’ cars subject to a lot of punishment. 393 Pete Annells took the win and Groom the entertainers award as the Hatters got off to a good start. 83 Bobby Wilmer and 388 Emmerson Fairweather combined for 3rd and 4th spots, giving Team Mush an early points lead.
The second heat was livelier as 217 Gary Langley (Starky ‘B’) put in 226 Stuart Hinton (Demons) and then 269 Tom Morris (Stinkbridge ‘B’) got involved with Gladiators ‘C’. The Crunchers got their challenge off to a good start with Scully winning in his unfancied Escort and Vincent third, 57 Max Stott (Team Black ‘A’) being the meat in the sandwich. National Champion 601 Chris Medler (Starky ‘B’) claimed the entertainers award in this one.
A quieter third heat saw 229 Sean Riddell (Junkyard Mongrels) unable to live up to his previous record of three wins from three races at the Norfolk Arena, as he struggled to get his car moving. 807 Chris Murfin (Team Black ‘B’) took the win as one of the pre-meeting favourites – Norfolk N Good ‘A’ – could only manage a best placing of fourth with 257 Timmy Aldridge. 49 Marc Heilds (Green Army ‘A’) took the entertainers award.
Heat four proved to be the heaviest of the afternoon to that point as a massive pile-up immediately developed around the pit gate. 624 Jason Thurlow (Simple ‘C’) – who would prove to be in the thick of the action all afternoon – picked up the most damage. But amazingly all involved got going again before red flags were called so that 224 Sam Gowler (Smurfs ‘B’), who had taken a hefty hit on the road bend, could be attended to. Lady racer 255 Emma Aldridge (Turds ‘B’) attracted a lot of attention, being spun a few times before eventually being blown up by Thurlow, while the latter’s team-mate 141 Jake Stewart delivered a big t-bone to 17 Kyle Overy (Team Black ‘C’). Top 1500 racer 390 David Gibson (Mad Hatters Young Guns ‘A’) came through the carnage to take the win from Norfolk N Good ‘B’ pairing 26 Daniel Holmes and 145 Daniel Bullock, the latter also scooping the entertainers award.
The next round of heats began with the action stepping up another gear. 803 Gordon Hezzell (Dark Tribe), daring to be different in a Proton, was put into the pit gate fence, then 131 Ray Pursglove (Scunthorpe Blue Crew) fired 269 Morris into him, sending Hezzell straight back to the fence again, leaving the Proton somewhat shorter. 560 Andrew Milner (Gladiators ‘C’), 273 Andrew Webster (Junkyard Dogs), 22 Matt High (Simple ‘A’), 382 Jack Foster Jr (Team Black ‘A’) and Morris formed a big wrecking train on the exit of the power station bend before the red and chequers came out to give the Crunchers a 1-2 finish – Vincent this time heading Scully – and a significant advantage in the points, while Pursglove was the race entertainer.
Heat six saw 210 Callum McKee (Wild Boyz ‘C’) butt heads with 427 Dave Johnson (Team Mush) before Murfin, 279 Andrew Swallow (Junkyard Mongrels), F2 racer 921 Jack Aldridge (Norfolk N Good ‘A’) and 77 Russell Gill (Team Black ‘B’) formed a four car steaming train into the third bend fence. Murfin broke free and completed another lap before piling into the immobile Swallow very hard, bringing out red flags to attend to the latter. 730 Deane Mayes took the win to keep his Norfolk N Good ‘A’ squad in contention, while 747 Liam Hart of the Gladiators ‘B’ was named the entertainer.
The Gladiators ‘A’, Simple ‘C’ and Mad Hatters ‘A’ provided plenty of action in the seventh. Glad 549 Lewis Price kicked things off by putting in 143 Dan Rose (guesting for Simple ‘C’). Meanwhile the late arriving 340 Wes Freestone (Jackpot) added 26 Ben Fowler (Wild Boyz ‘A’) to the pile before 143 Paul Russell (Glads) was dumped into his own team-mate. Thurlow added 62 Craig Lovick (Cool Running) to the heap on the fourth bend. Simple’s 141 Jake Stewart took the chequered flag, only to be followed in on the run-down lap by 390 David Gibson, scooping the latter the race entertainer award; their respective team-mates, 121 Gareth Parker and 391 Ben Gibson then joined the train after the red flags had come out, earning themselves load-ups.
The third round of heats began with a win for 257 Aldridge, but 22 Vincent’s third place limited the damage, points-wise. Also scoring well were Team Black ‘A’ – late substitute 311 Gary Lown fourth ahead of 382 Foster fifth – in a race where the action was mainly limited to spins after 532 Chris Walsh (Gladiators ‘B’) had deposited Murfin into 04 Mickey Croft (Stinkbridge ‘B’). That was until 801 Jack Foster Sr (Team Black ‘B’) dumped 717 Pindar into the parked cars as the post-chequer red flags came out. 791 Nicky Young (Mad Mob) came home second and took the entertainers award.
The ninth heat was also relatively quiet save for World Champion 399 Jonny Atkin getting blown up on the home straight. His team-mate 390 Gibbo still picked up points for the team though, with second place behind a smooth drive for 960 Ross Winsor (Norfolk N Good ‘B’), his first win at Lynn. Entertainer of the race was 43 Nicky Bishop (Wild Boyz ‘A’).
Heat 10, and 601 Bling put in 532 Walsh before 119 Cruncher lived up to his nickname, dishing out some heavy hits to 791 Spud and Stinkbridge’s 282. That helped clear the way for Vincent to rack up another high scoring finish in second place, but with Mayes taking his second win of the day and team-mate 69 Johnny Wilkinson in fourth, the points were looking very tight ahead of the all-in final.
The last heat featured a massive follow-in from 390 Gibbo on 151 Steve Jones (Scunthorpe Blue Crew) before 149 Wayne Bailey (Wild Boyz ‘B’) blitzed 833 Carl Vaughan (Smurfs ‘B’), leaving the latter shaken and a red-and-chequer finish and giving Bailey the entertainers award. With the race featuring fewer cars on track, it allowed an easy run to the win for 960 Winsor ahead of team-mate 145 Bullock.
That 1-2 hauled Norfolk N Good ‘B’ right into contention with just the final to go, third on 57 points. Eight points ahead were their ‘A’ team counterparts, just a point behind the leading Crunchers. However, while each of the latter two squads still had four cars running, Norfolk N Good ‘B’ had just the pair, meaning it would take something special for them to overhaul the two teams in front. Also not out of contention were Team Black ‘A’, but pulling back a 21 point deficit would be a tall order.
And so for the 46-car final: immediately Norfolk N Good ‘A’s challenge started to unravel as Mayes was turned around on the back straight, taking several hits in the process. A red flag punctuated proceedings to attend to 666 Liam Gelsthorpe but on the restart NNG ‘A’ lost another runner with Jack Aldridge removed by Jake Stewart. After Wilkinson befell an almighty t-bone on bend one, it was down to Timmy Aldridge to carry their hopes alone and while he managed to bring his car home fourth, it wasn’t enough. Lown motored to the win, but second and third for Scully and Cox was enough to clinch the title for the Crunchers. The two Norfolk N Good teams held on to their second and third placings (that’s now three runners-up positions in the Icebreakers for the squad in their short history) while Team Black ‘A’ and ‘B’ were fourth and fifth respectively.
As ever, the day concluded with a destruction derby, where Wesley Starmer prevailed over the 50-car field, in his father’s car. It wasn’t enough to pull Team Black into the places on the day’s entertainment league – the all-action displays of the Mad Hatters Young Guns ‘A’ – sealing that title, ahead of the Scunthorpe Blue Crew – well deserved recognition for a rated display – and the Wild Boyz ‘A’.
Next stop – Unlimited Icebreaker XX, Sunday 24 February. See you there