Report: Mark Paulsom
Pics: Damien Widdows
Day two of the midsummer speedweekend at King’s Lynn featured the Steve Newman Memorial for both two-litre and 1300cc Stock Cars, as well as a domestic session for 1500cc Bangers. 570 Simon Venni retained the trophy in the two-litre version, while 161 Billy Smith was untouchable in the 1300s and local man 757 Callum Gill was again top of the pile in the Bangers.
Two-Litre Saloon Stock Cars
Forty-four cars survived the previous night’s action and they were joined by two more, H945 Jeroen Hoes (who had focussed on the Bangers the night before), and 351 Lewis Byron who didn’t make it on track for what would have been his first appearance of the season.
The standard meeting format was deployed to split the cars by grade for two from three heats. The opener, for whites and yellows, was led almost the whole way by 2 Luke Dawson. However, he lost out in the closing stages to 888 Shane Emerson, only to then spin Emerson out on the exit of the final bend. Dawson took the win from 161 Billy Smith and 350 Tommy Parrin.
While 214 Tom Yould opened up a big lead in heat two, 360 Carl Waterfield continued his fine pace from the previous night to carve through the field, catch and pass Yould. But when he caught the man who ended his hopes in the British championship – 730 Deane Mayes – Waterfield seemed unsure what to do. He nosed inside a couple of times without completing the move to put Mayes a lap down, and that allowed 570 Simon Venni and 306 Daniel Parker onto his tail. They both nipped past, but Waterfield did manage to spin Parker out on the final lap to take second behind Venni, with Yould holding on for third.
Waterfield and Venni tangled early on in the 40-car heat three. Smith and Parrin exchanged the lead for a few laps until Smith broke clear, but it all went wrong after a messy restart was called back by the steward. The drivers failed to take notice of the yellow flags then didn’t react fast enough when they were replaced with reds either, so the race was abandoned and declared void. Smith wasn’t happy, demonstrating on the track and then running up to race control to make his point.
Young Billy Newman led out the field for the Steve Newman Memorial final in his Junior Rod, with sister Charley displaying the trophy from holder Venni’s car. Yould led the opening laps, either side of an early caution period. He briefly lost out to Emerson, but hit straight back when 149 Jamie Sampson pushed Emerson wide. But with five laps to go, both Venni and 220 Casey Englestone moved ahead. Although not in contention for the race, Smith and 6 Simon Welton might have had an impact on the result with the next chapter in the ongoing feud. Smith pulled off the infield directly in front of Welton, who duly obliged by dumping the pink machine into a marker tyre. However, that brought the marker tyre onto the track in front of the leaders. It pushed Venni wide but he managed to hold on to take the victory and become the first man to win the shield twice, with Englestone and Yould completing the trophy positions. Unwisely, Smith jumped out of his car and berated Welton as Billy and Charley Newman came onto the track to present the trophies, but that failed to put a dampener on proceedings as the children named Waterfield as their driver of the meeting. It was a deserved reward after he had shown a terrific turn of pace throughout both days, and had been happy to dish out hits and take the rough stuff in the right spirit.
The action was completed by an allcomers race which was dominated by the two in-form white graded drivers (they both rise to blue in July), Yould and 182 Lewis Gallie. Yould led until a lap to go when he was spun out by 157 Max Stott, which let Gallie in for the win from 131 Timmy Barnes and Mayes.
1300cc Stock Cars
There were 35 of the smaller cars in action, including another trip from Scotland by 631 Peter Low, as well as a number of drivers making their first appearances of the season at the track. One of those was 191 Luke Leedell, debuting a smart new car.
The 1300s’ heats were also split by grades – and that was the only way 161 Billy Smith was going to be beaten. After 324 Mark Lathan took a comfortable win in the W&Y opener, Smith came through from the back to win heat two, exchanging a few blows with erstwhile leader 276 Stephen Walden in the process.
Smith also won heat three in a much closer contest. 2 Ellie Dawson led most of the way, with a big scrap developing for second behind her, from which 702 Allen Cooper emerged as the main challenger. He reeled Dawson in but couldn’t pass her, and that allowed Smith a sniff of victory. He moved into second with three laps to go, then dumped Dawson wide into the parked machine of 444 Natasha Wales (in a completely fair move, it must be said) on the final bend to take the win.
Leedell built an early lead in the Steve Newman Memorial final before being held up by 43 Danny Denniss. That allowed 312 Jake Burgess to attack and move into the lead. By this stage Smith had risen to third and looked odds on for a hat trick, but he begun to get nibbled at by the pack and dropped away a bit, slipping to fifth when a caution period was called for. After that, Leedell and Burgess dropped back as 781 Scott Sparrow took the lead from 23 Lee Pearce. Smith moved into second with four laps to go, then managed to pull off a last-bend lunge for the win. Sparrow and Pearce filled the trophy positions.
“Everyone’s so close, speed-wise, now,” said Smith. “You’ve got to have a bit of luck to get through. The yellow flag didn’t help but we got there.”
1500cc Bangers
The Banger entry also mustered 35, for an all-in format. 551 Brett Jackson held of the similarly Vauxhall Astra Mk4-mounted 769 Ben Englestone most of the way in heat one, but when he lost a wheel it meant a red-and-chequered finish. With the result going back a lap, Jackson could perhaps count himself fortunate to keep the win from Englestone and 757 Callum Gill.
Heat two was a relatively quiet affair led from start to finish by 514 Charlie Taylor, with Gill second this time from 330 Karl Jones.
Gill then completed the set of trophy positions by winning the final, turning the tables on Taylor who was second. The first half of the race had been lively, with several drivers piling in on the road bend. That led to a race stoppage, and an injury to 171 Andy Frost – we wish him well for a speedy recovery. Not many were left for the restarted race which was relatively quiet, as 311 Garry Lown followed home Gill and Taylor.
A lively destruction derby rounded off proceedings. Taylor and 340 Wes Freestone gave each other a head on, but it was 337 Ashley Garrod who finished them off to take the win.