Photos: 1 - 14 Kevin Wickham, 15 - 35 Damien Widdows, 36 - 48 Major Gilbert
Report: Mark Paulson
On a night packed with action and drama, Norfolk local #306 Daniel Parker recovered from being left hanging off the wall in his final heat to fight off defending champion #116 Diggy Smith and win the Saloon Stock Car European Championship. Brighton visitor #321 Kieran Fry won the main event in the ‘Old School’ two-litre Bangers, but it was #400 Kevin Shinn who stole the show. English champion #23 Lee Pearce won a lively 1300cc Stock Cars final.
Two-Litre Saloon Stock Cars
The year’s biggest turnout of nearly 50 cars were in action, with the red-and-yellow chequered roof up for grabs. Included among them were two mainland Europeans in the form of H868 Bart Wouters and track debutant H390 Mikael Maas. Seven drivers made the trip from Scotland but only one travelled from the formula’s other main region, the south-west. There was a seasonal debut for #573 Marty Lake, but #155 Danny Drage’s attempt did not make the track.
All drivers were programmed in three of the four qualifying heats to decide the European Championship grid. The first was won by #391 Jake Banwell, making the most of his demotion to the yellow grade, after early spells in front for #19 Darren Mansi and Maas. Banwell was followed home by #214 Tom Yould and UK champion #349 Michael Allard. Smith’s title defence did not begin well when he spun among the first-lap melee and again later in the race. After what looked a relatively comfortable victory, Banwell told Matt Black, “There’s no such thing as an easy race but it’s always good to get one under your belt.”
Smith’s challenge got back on track with victory in heat two, which was brought to a dramatic conclusion. #502 Tyler Bloomfield, on his first Lynn appearance of the season, and #192 Robert Heanes had spells in front before Smith dived inside Heanes for the lead on the freshly watered track after a restart. He was followed through by #399 Cole Atkins and #131 Timmy Barnes, with Barnes then passing Atkins. Behind them, a quartet of cars were enjoying a great scrap. Scotsman #600 Barry Russell was battling hard with #730 Deane Mayes, followed closely by #428 Lee Sampson and #306 Daniel Parker. Sampson used the bumper on Mayes and his momentum sideswiped Russell into the wall; Russell’s car then rode up the wall in a manner common to any hard-hitting contest at the track, but this time the machine’s momentum carried it over the top of the steel plating. A few metres of catch-fencing enveloped the car as it stopped, thankfully without injuring Russell or anyone else. The race was declared with Smith winning from Barnes and Atkins.
After the hard-working track crew very quickly effected repairs to the fencing, the action continued in heat three, with Russell given a warm round of applause as he entered the arena. After being spun by world champion #157 Max Stott, Russell recovered to sixth at the flag in a race won by Atkins from Allard and Parker. Long-time leader Bloomfield brought his car home fifth, behind #888 Shane Emerson. With his qualifying heats complete, Atkins’s points tally was almost unassailable, and would clinch him pole position for the big race.
He would be joined on the front row by Smith who took his second win of the night in heat four, but only after son-in-law-to-be #389 Ryan Santry was docked two places for jumping a restart – ironically, the same offence that had cost Smith the English title five weeks earlier. Santry had quickly hit the front while the red tops focused on spinning each other. Parker was one of those in the wars, being sent up the wall and causing a caution with four laps to go. Smith was also a spinner but recovered well and just headed Yould and Barnes across the line in a tight finish.
Yould’s brace of second-place finishes was rewarded with the coveted inside row two starting slot, with Allard to his outside and Barnes and Parker on row three. #570 Simon Venni, always a threat in championship races at King’s Lynn, and Santry looked strong contenders from row four, ahead of Banwell, Bloomfield and English champion Mayes.
After a burst of fireworks on the call of ‘Gentlemen, start your engines,’ Atkins and Smith led the field around before the on-track fireworks kicking off. As the front-row pair got away cleanly, with Allard slotting into third, Yould immediately blew his chances by spinning himself out on the watered track. Only two laps could be completed before the first caution, required after the delayed Banwell had been heavily collected by the leaders.
The restart, which was delayed by positional queries from Barnes and #56 George Boult Jr, was led away by Atkins from Smith, Allard, Venni, Emerson, Parker and Mayes. Allard was the man on the move, getting inside Smith for second, then repeating the move on Atkins a lap later. Both Smith and Atkins then slipped further down the order as Parker worked his way into second and Venni also moved forward, although Smith quickly hit back at the #570 machine.
Parker set about closing the gap to Allard, and managed to do so, spinning the #349 car out on the exit of the road bend. With Allard getting collected in the resulting chaos and then Boult suffering a heavy head-on, yellow flags were called with just four laps remaining. Parker and Smith had three lapped runners between them and Atkins in third, and we looked set for a repeat of the closing stages of April’s English Championship.
Parker judged the restart well and opened a small gap, but Smith’s car was perfectly suited to the dry track conditions. The veteran closed onto the relative youngster’s tail with a lap to go and sized him up on the back straight for a last-bend lunge. Having been in exactly the same position – and lost out – at the English, Parker threw his car in deep, running wide into the fence. Smith’s lunge still took him into the side of Parker’s car, but it didn’t spin, and cost Smith his momentum as the back end stepped out. Parker kept his foot in and roared around the fence to take a narrow win, to cheers from the crowd and another accompaniment of fireworks.
It had been another spectacular finish and Smith was magnanimous in defeat, warmly congratulating his younger rival as both beamed from ear to ear. Emerson managed to demote Atkins to fourth and complete the trophy placings, with Stott driving an impressive race to fifth having failed to score in the heats.
FWD ‘Old School’ Two-Litre Bangers
While a few down on the anticipated numbers, the Nissans and Vauxhalls still put on a fine show, highlighted by Bluebird specialist #400 Kevin Shinn’s one-man wrecking spree in the final.
Shinn begun the main event by following in the almost-equally lively #119 Davey Cox (Cavalier), then did the same to #388 Taylor Sowter and #556 Matt Tillow (both Primeras). Shinn completed another lap before blasting Tillow again and, with a Bluebird that was looking pretty snapped, managed another lap and then blitzed #785 Dom Ambrose (Primera). Rarely are so many big shots dished out by one driver in a single race. The epic performance was completed by Shinn being on the receiving end of big hits from #138 Jason Smy (Primera) and Cox. #321 Kieran Fry (Primera estate) took over from early leader #329 Michael Carter (Primera) to win the race from #828 Jordan Sharpe (Primera) and Calibra-mounted #26 Paul Lovick.
Until then, Shinn’s meeting hadn’t really gone to plan, even in the 1300cc Stock Cars where he was doing double duty and managed a best result of fourth in heat two. The opening Banger heat was won by the Bluebird of #601 Chris Medler from resident commentator #974 Alistair Oxby’s Cavalier, with entertainers’ awards going to #78 Lee Macey (who followed in #234 Alan Jackson’s Bluebird), #182 Reece Tingle (who used his Bluebird to blitz Macey’s example) and Lovick, who’s attempt at taking out Medler on the last bend succeeded only in putting himself into a parked car.
Shinn wasn’t programmed to race in heat one, but his heat two hardly got started either as he broke his steering immediately and took himself into the wall, taking shots from Lovick and #113 Dan Wright while immobile. Cox livened up proceedings by following in the smart Primera of #320 Paul Seymour, who also earned an entertainers’ award for a similar move on Oxby. Tillow claimed the win by spinning out #43 Luke Maynard’s Primera on the final bend.
Cox again starred in a quieter heat three, by following in #112 Brad Wright, while #51 James Licquorice turned his Cavalier around for a head on with Maynard in a race led from start to finish by Cornish visitor #842 Jack Perkins.
The night ended with a destruction derby that was a slightly slow burner, won by Ambrose after enjoying some hits with #165 Ben Randell (Calibra) and #757 Callum Gill (Primera), who had already been black-flagged for lack of contact.
1300c Stock Cars
A late addition to the programme, the smaller stock cars still raised 37 cars for a two-from-three heat format.
Yellow top #191 Luke Leedell was the man on form, winning both his heats. He took the opener, for white and yellow graded drivers only, by nosing inside long-time leader #760 Robert Spinks with two laps to go. Spinks had already been shown a black cross, so dropped to fourth behind #276 Stephen Walden and #40 Jake Stringer-Adams, after jumping a restart following a stoppage for #690 Jack Wilkins’ home-straight roll.
Leedell’s heat three win came after catching and passing long-time leader Walden, while #317 Lauren Overy clinched third from #42 Carl Morgan on the final bend.
In between times, #681 Dan Moore won heat two, passing Stringer-Adams with two laps to go, and fending off his retaliation, with #241 Beau Southgate third. One-time world champion #333 Dan Weavers was in the wars, being thundered into the home-straight marker tyres twice in quick succession.
A hat-trick looked on for Leedell in the final but, as he scrapped with Spinks, #23 Lee Pearce caught the pair. The Spedeworth driver tried following Leedell past Spinks, but tipped the #760 car in the back-straight wall and a big rollover. Pearce took the lead on the restart and was followed through by fellow Spedeworth man #167 Jimmy Morris. The latter attacked Pearce, which allowed Leedell and #81 Brad Quincee to join in. Under pressure from Quincee, Pearce went deep into the final bend, and just held on to win from Quincee and Leedell. Morris dropped to sixth behind Overy and #303 Jacob Bromley.