Report: Mark Paulson

Halloween Carnival Night provided a great evening's entertainment for a packed crowd at the Adrian Flux Arena, King's Lynn on Saturday night (31 October). On track, 768 Calvyn Girling was crowned King of the Fens in the Unlimited Bangers after a heat and final win, while 382 Jack Foster Jr secured the 25-and-under Championship of Great Britain for the second time in his career. The Saloon Stock Car Final was won by 124 Ollie Skeels after 218 Jacob Downey had won the White & Yellow Grade Series Final. The programme was completed by Reliant Robins in which a destructive final ended with 3 Danielle Hewitt triumphant.

Unlimited Bangers

The fantastic 88-car turnout included seven hearses in the hands of 17 Kyle Overy, 174 Curtis Rathbone, 178 Kieran Bowman, 222 Matt High, 280 Simon Goodale, 280 Wayne Quinn and 282 Bobby Daniels. There were also a number of limos, including a typically smart Omega from 791 Nicky Young, while 811 Pete Winter turned heads with an unusual Ssangyong Rodius. 

Heat one doubled-up as the 25-and-under Championship of Great Britain. The packed grid of around 46 cars provided plenty of hits, including a stiff head on from 403 George Tickner on 328 Daniel Lathan. 790 Nathan Young led until just before a stoppage for a loose wheel, by which time 743 Kevan Barton was in front. Young quickly moved back ahead but was spun from the lead by twice former champion 830 Lee White who looked set to add a third title until retiring late on, handing the victory to 382 Jack Foster Jr from 757 Callum Gill and Young.

A pile-up on bend three eventually led to red flags in heat two. 133 Karly Day and 791 Nicky Young had been disputing the lead but Day dropped out and Young was spun out by 768 Calvyn Girling's Granada Coupe which went on to take the flag from 247 Lee Clarke and 673 Darren Fendley. Entertainers awards went to 221 Justin Riley and 282 Bobby Daniels whose hearse was set about by several.

Over 50 cars returned for the consolation, by which time the fog was getting denser, making it hard to see from one end of the track to the other. The biggest action came from a bend four wrecking train featuring 10 Ben Collins, 28 Neil Osborne, 266 Callum Hall, 339 Jack Garrod, 340 Wes Freestone and 779 Luke Allen. That earned Hall, Freestone and Allen entertainers awards, while the Yank-mounted 514 Charlie Taylor was also a recipient. 604 Ross Cooper also dished out a big shot when he t-boned 516 Jack Tickner after the latter had been reversed into by 198 Brandon Osborne. Out front, Day led until spinning. 318 Tony Citro motored through to take another win at the track, followed by White and 22 Dave Vincent.

The King of the Fens final featured the smallest grid of the night at 23 cars and proved to be a fairly quiet race. Nathan Young led almost the whole way until getting caught out on the road bend with two laps to go. That let Gill in front but he too got held up, allowing Girling to sweep through for the win. The winner then got pushed into a parked car on the run-down lap, and blasted over the back wheel by Nicky Young.

The fog had cleared a little by the time of the allcomers race in which 812 Lewis Winter delivered a huge follow-in on Barton, with 421 Nigel Riley, 339 Jack Garrod and 811 Pete Winter then piling before red flags came out to assist the younger Winter. 197 Joe Bowers was leading from Nathan Young and the order stayed the same thereafter.

Two-Litre Saloon Stock Cars

Yet another superb entry of Saloons featured 47 cars in action. Among them were a visit from 65 Michael Gibb, a try-out for V8 racer 184 Michael Boswell (in Carl Boswell's car), Banger driver 433 Ben Smith (in Daniel Lathan's car) and a FORDS fund-raising outing for 318 Darrell Page in the Deane Mayes hire car. There was also a first appearance at the track for 111 Andrew Arthurton and a first outing for more than a year for 298 Ian Elms, making a welcome comeback from injury. 

Heat one doubled-up as the White & Yellow Grade Series Final. 888 Shane Emerson built a big lead after 147 James Dexter had hit a marker tyre and delayed much of the field. Emerson's car was badly misfiring though and he was eventually taken out by 26 Tommy Barnes (a lap down), allowing 124 Ollie Skeels into the lead. Skeels then lost power and was overtaken with a lap to go by 218 Jacob Downey who went on to win from 312 Neil Payne and 304 Martyn Parker.

Heat two in the two-thirds format was again led much of the way by Emerson. Yellow flags were required when 512 Darren Barnett thundered into a marker tyre which had been moved into his path by 428 Lee Sampson. On the resumption, 360 Carl Waterfield removed Emerson, and 306 Daniel Parker hit the front, winning from 570 Simon Venni and 499 David Aldous.

537 Tom Alsop led most of heat three before spinning out. Downey again looked quick and had risen to third before pulling off, while 128 Craig Banwell was another going strongly in second before retirement. Through it all came Ollie Skeels to win from Sampson and Daniel Parker.

The final, run in fairly thick fog, was led in spells by Emerson and Alsop once again. The former again had no reward but Alsop continued to lead until the final bend when Ollie Skeels came through on the inside for another win. Alsop hung onto second and 386 Daniel Petters completed a lower grade 1-2-3.

Reliant Robins

The 14-car three-wheeler entry included a stunning Reliant Regal for 85 James Ellis. The points champion used it to scythe through the field and win heat one from the returning 702 Allen Cooper who went on to win heat two from 385 Roy Gedge. World of Shale Champion 553 Daniel Douglas completed the top three in both races. Douglas led a destructive final, contested in thick fog until taken out by 379 Peter Graham. That allowed 3 Danielle Hewitt to come through for the win, ahead of Gedge, with Douglas the only other finisher.