Report: Mark Paulsom
Pics: Damien Widdows
A huge crowd was present to witness one of the best meetings you’ll ever see when King’s Lynn played host to the Saloon Stock Car British Championship and Unlimited Banger War of the Worlds on Saturday night, 24 June. After a fantastic contest, it was 158 Shane Davies who lifted the British crown, while Team Black and Team Sowter/Filmer won the points and entertainers’ league sections respectively of the War of the Worlds.
Two-Litre Saloon Stock Cars
The biggest turnout for three years at King’s Lynn – which really is saying something – and the largest entry anywhere since last year’s World Final, of 58 cars, rolled into the Saddlebow Road venue for the British Championship which – in a departure from recent years – was to be held all in one night. Saturday nights, under the lights, with a packed grid of cars: it doesn’t get much better.
Among the entry were five Scotsmen, including defending champion 85 Kyle Irvine, hoping to improve his chances of retaining the crown by using the Banwell hire car, and 38 Barry Glen on track debut. Kieran McIvor made the trip across the Irish Sea, and Dutchman H250 Gert Hoekman was another welcome first-time visitor – at least in the Saloons. 28 Ian Govier was the South-West region’s sole representative, while 29 Alan Hooker was another track debutant, 51 Andrew Shipp was making his first appearance in the formula, and 126 Harry Barnes had his first outing of 2017.
Each driver was allocated three of the five heats, with each race therefore fielding over 30 cars to make for non-stop, hard-hitting action. At the scene of his 2009 world title success, 360 Carl Waterfield laid down an early marker with a pair of impressive performances to win the first two heats. In the opener, he made rapid progress from his blue grade start and was already second by the time of a mid-race caution period. Waterfield quickly picked off 2 Luke Dawson on the resumption, and went on take a comfortable win from 217 Sid Madgwick and 158 Shane Davies. Ominously for the rest though, Waterfield suggested his car wasn’t yet working to its full potential on the loose surface.
It was a similar story in heat two. Waterfield won from father-and-son duo 304 Martyn and 306 Daniel Parker but still wasn’t entirely happy with his car. The race was called a couple of laps early after some licks of flame escaped 349 Michael Allard’s spun car, but was most notable for the resumption in hostilities between world champion 6 Simon Welton and the Barnes brothers, aided by their nephew 161 Billy Smith. Smith and 131 Timmy Barnes had a couple of nibbles at Welton, but when Welton spun Barnes out, it only allowed Smith onto his tail. After Smith’s lunge at the #6, Welton latched onto the back of his attacker but was prevented from dispatching him hard when Harry Barnes got in the way. Round one: stalemate, to be continued.
Heat three’s early laps were led by 19 Darren Mansi, either side of a couple of caution periods. After the second, 733 Kyle Picton moved ahead before being passed by Daniel Parker. Picton held on for second, with 730 Deane Mayes third, while on this occasion it was 270 Matt Fuller who provided the fireworks, taking a wall-of-death ride around the perimeter before crashing back to earth and resuming.
Govier’s weekend was finished in heat four when he clobbered a marker tyre head on after it was knocked onto the track, and was deflected head on into the wall. That brought about the first of two yellow flag periods, after which 570 Simon Venni relieved 350 Tommy Parrin of the lead. Welton followed him through, having shrugged off Smith’s attentions and carved through the field, while 220 Casey Englestone was third. Waterfield shadowed Venni across the line, and although he was a lap down in 11th position, he still looked well-placed to secure pole position with one heat left to run.
The final heat provided a comfortable win for Smith, with Timmy Barnes following him home. “Got to qualify for the championship to stop him properly,” laughed Smith in explanation for the apparently different approach in this one. Welton still managed to be delayed by 26 Tommy Barnes – albeit inadvertently after a spin for the latter in his smart new car – before suffering another spin and ending up down in 14th place.
Daniel Parker’s seventh position in the final heat meant he missed out on pole position by just a single point and so would start on the outside of Waterfield on the front row, with 525 Wes Starmer (with consistent finishes of fourth, fifth and seventh to his name) and Mayes on row two. 641 Willie Skoyles Jr looked a threat from row three, but there were plenty more equally capable of challenging among what became a 36-car grid after Madgwick joined Fuller as a non-starter due to brake problems.
Waterfield made the best start but was relieved of the lead by Mayes on lap two, with the national points champion then pulling out a slight gap, with Waterfield in turn building a small margin to Allard in third before Welton took that position. But after a few laps, Mayes was spun out of the lead by the backmarking Venni, ending his chances.
Waterfield therefore returned to the lead, with Welton second and Starmer third. That didn’t last long though, as having spun out of contention early on, Smith decided to drop further back, seemingly intent on causing trouble for Welton. The world champion clearly thought that attack was the best form of defence and launched himself at his nemesis. It didn’t quite work as planned, with Welton taking himself into the fence and rolling his car on top of those of Smith and 538 Jake Swann. He’d sacrificed his shot at another major title and had little to show for it other than damage to his car.
That inevitably brought about a suspension to the race, with Waterfield at the head of the queue having a buffer of four lapped cars between himself and Starmer, with Davies now up to third. Waterfield made the most of it by immediately pulling clear, while Davies and Allard moved into second and third, enjoying a good battle which ended when Davies spun Allard, promoting Daniel Parker to third.
Into the second half of the race, Waterfield was looking in an extremely good position to claim only his second major title, but it all came crashing down in an instant. The out-of-contention Mayes spotted his opportunity to exact revenge for a banzai move from Waterfield that had removed him from the lead of the World Final at Mildenhall two years earlier. Revenge was sweet as he treated the Ely man to a wild ride around the fence to change the course of the race. Mayes was walloped in turn by Venni – who rode the fence as a result – and Smith, but as far as he was concerned, it was job done. With yellow flags out once more, Waterfield knew the score and was gracious enough to shake the hand of his attacker.
So now it was Davies in front from Parker, with a few backmarkers between them and the well-recovered Allard in third. Parker moved ahead with six laps to go, and looked set to add the senior British crown to the under-25 version he already holds – until another twist with just over a lap remaining. Smith spun in front of the leaders, delaying Parker and allowing Davies to nip past. Parker managed to nip back inside on bends one and two though and they came down the back straight side by side. But Parker, thinking he’d cleared Davies, edged wider and ended up spinning himself across the bows of the #158. He managed to pull himself back out but Davies was away and gone, the new British champion. In the confusion, Allard ended up crossing the line backwards in second, with 149 Jamie Sampson beating Parker to the line in third, from almost the very back of the grid.
“That’s my first ever win at King’s Lynn,” exclaimed the delighted victor. “What a time to do it. We’ve been working on the car [performance] on shale.
“He [Parker] flicked across the front of me. I managed to ease off so he didn’t go left – I didn’t really want to take him out but it worked out for me.”
It was a spectacular end befitting of a truly great race – or, in all honesty, a truly great six races.
Unlimited Bangers
Not to be outdone, the huge turnout of 99 Unlimited Bangers also put on a fantastic display of action, although there were a few quieter races among their seven heats of which each team of six cars was able to contest three.
The first heat was one of the quieter races, and was won by 830 Lee White of Team Mates. Things moved up a gear in heat two which included the explosive combination of Team Black, Team Grey & Black, DWO and the Shunters on track together. Entertainers awards were claimed by 116 Mark jan Klok and 901 Rik Kuiper (both Team Drive-Inn), 174 Curtis Rathbone and 514 Charlie Taylor (both Shunters) for their part in a terrific wrecking train on the back straight, while 180 Mark Foster (Team Grey & Black) was on the end of some rough stuff, including a t-bone delivered by 114 Liam Lake (DWO). At the head of the field, former champions Team Black got off to a good start with a 1-2 for 617 Jack Overy and 67 Rickie Beasley.
Heat three was another quietish race, won by 22 Dave Vincent (Team 22) and highlighted by a head-on between 298 Toby Dean (Mad Hatters) and 9 Tom Jordan (Team Jackpot). Taylor earned himself another entertainers award in heat four for his on-opposite performance alongside team-mate 132 Robert James, while the Dover Boys’ 673 Darren Fendley took the win.
Heat five was full of action, with Team Sowter leading the way. 209 Tom Waller t-boned 662 Dalton Smith (Orange & White), while 883 Jack Filmer and 388 Taylor Sowter both went on opposite to pull off some big hits and earn themselves entertainers awards. The race was won by 757 Callum Gill of defending champions VS Massive, with team-mate 326 Shane Lynn second, boosting their hopes of retaining the crown.
The penultimate heat was quieter, except for the already well-wrecked Foster continuing to take punishment in his banana-shaped Volvo on the road bend, with 239 Steve Carter (DWO) among those involved, while 188 John Reeves (Dover Boys) took the win from Overy and Beasley, which put Team Black into the points lead.
White took his second win of the day in heat seven, despite being attacked on opposite by Jack Filmer, with the action highlighted by a pile-up on the back straight which featured several big hits, and then what was effectively a DD on bends three and four in the restarted race.
With just the final to go, Team Black led by two points from Team 22, with Team Extreme nine further back and the Dover Boys also still well in contention. The all-in final proved to be an epic. With 58 cars on track it was always going to be chaotic and so it proved. A wrecking train developed on bend four, including Carter getting air time with a massive shot on 275 Joe Morgan (Grey & Black), which quickly developed into a full track blockage. Car after car after car piled in without holding back in a first-class display of wrecking. Eventually a way through was found on the inside but it soon got blocked again, and still the hits kept piling in. Inevitably, red flags were required eventually but not before the crowd had been thoroughly entertained. 103 Jack Deacon (Team Black) was awarded the win, to clinch the title for his team, with Shane Lynn second as the only other car deemed to be still running.
With the meeting now well past curfew, and a DD having effectively taken place in the final, the official DD was cancelled, but not a sole was disappointed after a terrific night’s entertainment that saw Team Sowter scooper the event’s entertainers league.
War of the Worlds Final Points Scores
Team Black - 75
Team 22 - 57
Team Extreme - 48
Dover Boys - 45
VS Massive - 42
Team Mates - 36
DWO - 28
The Late Boys - 27
Team FOC - 23
Blooz Boyz - 16
Team Sowter-Filmer - 8
Team Jackpot - 5
Team Drive-inn & HJB - 4
Team Grey & Black - 4
Wild Boyz - 2
War of the Worlds Entertainer Points
Team Sowter-Filmer - 85
Shunters A - 45
Team Drive-Inn & HJB - 35
DWO - 30
Wild Boyz - 30
Team Grey & Black - 25
Team Jackpot - 25
Team Extreme - 20
VS Massive - 20
Team 22 - 10
Team FOC - 10
Team Mates - 10
Blooz Boys - 5
Mad Hatters - 5
Team Black - 5
Team High - 5