Report by Mark Paulson
Will Longford and Daniel Holmes were crowned Kings of the Fens at the Norfolk Arena, King’s Lynn on Saturday night, 5 October. Both the Unlimited and 2-Litre (non-Mondeo) Bangers were contesting their annual autumn title race, while the 25-and-under Championship of Great Britain was also on offer, won by Lee Clarke. The 2-Litre Saloon Stock Cars were also on the bill, with David Aldous once again proving to be the man to beat.
Unlimited Bangers
Well over 50 Unlimited Bangers present in the pits meant a full format meeting. Top car was the extremely well presented Ford Granada Mk2 limo of 811 Pete Winter. There were unlimited debuts for 182 Ashley Watkinson and 757 Callum Gill, the latter in a super-smart Lexus.
Heat one was for those drivers aged 25 or under and thus doubled up as the young drivers’ annual Championship of Great Britain. Just under half the cars lined up in graded order but using a closed-up grid. 27 Will Longford (Jaguar) raced into a clear early lead as reigning champion 382 Jack Foster Jr spun himself out and 514 Charlie Taylor blitzed 8 James Jackson. 925 Aaron Preece, in a huge Lincoln Town Car limo butted heads with the spun 739 Jason Moore as 382 ‘Chubby’, having given up on his title defence, put in 724 Jordan Race, before walloping him again next time around. Out front, Longford was being hunted down by the very pacy 247 Lee Clarke. The latter eventually moved ahead with three laps to go and held on to add the British Under-25 title to his World of Shale won at the same track just weeks earlier. Longford was second, well clear of 572 Paul Scully , last year’s runner-up, in third.
The remainder of the entry, nearly 30 cars, were in heat two. 791 Nicky Young, in yet another smart Omega, moved ahead of the leading 82 David Norris just as the latter was put very hard into the pit gate by 43 Nicky Bishop. 791 ‘Spud’ stayed in front to win from 21 Jason Colbert and 269 Dean French.
Around 25 cars returned for the consolation, where three of the Wild Boyz team and Watkinson all piled in hard on the exit of bend four early on. 27 Jake Fowler spent the rest of the race trying to remove himself from the rear of Watkinson’s Volvo. The pace of the race slowed as most cars left running were hobbled, 533 Richard Coe taking the flag from Gladiators team-mate 206 Phil Milner and 313 John Cullingford.
The qualifiers-only King of the Fens race raised 28 cars and saw Longford repeat his earlier blistering start as he raced away, pulling out a big gap. This time he was able to build a large enough lead to maintain it throughout as he went on take his first title. 268 Bradley French was second throughout, while further back, Clark once again looked the fastest in the field. With a normal graded-order start he had to come from a little bit further back this time though, and without any stoppages was only able to make it as far third by the flag. He still appeared happy with that though, celebrating by blasting 185 Polly Reade’s parked-up Volvo on the run-down lap.
A similar field returned for an all comers race, with Coe this time building a lead at the front. 851 Adam Storr’s well-used limo took over before slowing, allowing 280 Simon Goodale, 86 Alec Savage and Scully to pass. Savage fought his way ahead and took the flag but was found to be a lap down, handing the win to Scully from Goodale and Foster.
2-Litre Bangers
A decent-sized entry of 35 non-Mondeo 2-Litre Bangers meant the races were all-in and so the title race was contested first. After a complete restart, Doncaster’s 312 Brad White hit the spun 888 Lloyd Stark on the nose before he had a good battle with 26 Daniel Holmes at the head of the field. White however slowed with a lap to go, allowing 26 ‘Hacker’ to win easily, with White holding on to second and 511 Jack Licquorice third. Further back, 392 Sam Baines put 412 Callum Lacey heavily away, in an all-Bluebird match-up. It left the latter’s car in a very sorry state and he provided much amusement by dragging out for the next race, only to think better of it and pull out, saving it for the DD.
The remaining two all comers races were both won by the outgoing KotF champion, Kettering’s 396 Graham Hyla. The action kicked off in the first when 90 Simon Chapman was spun by the pack on the back straight and blitzed over the rear wheel by 83 Bobby Wilmer. It continued with a big wrecking train on bend four involving one of the Cruickshanks brothers, 557 Paul Bowen, 119 Davey Cox, Baines and 376 Jason Farthing. A fire on board Cox’s machine led to red flags, after which just nine survivors were left. Hyla pulled away to take the win, surviving a late scare with the backmarking 13 Nigel Burcham in the process. White was again second, from 280 Simon Goodale.
The second all comers saw 338 Terry Garrod’s Focus administer a big head-on to nemesis 566 Tony Pallett’s Calibra, before White delivered an absolutely massive blitzing to the former. 370 Craig Gray, Lloyd Stark, White and 313 Scott Elden all went in hard by the pit gate, as Hyla once again eased to the win, this time from 88 Lyndon Stark and Goodale again third.
2-Litre Saloon Stock Cars
Another big turnout of 38 stox and another masterclass from track champion-elect 499 David Aldous as he added another pair of wins to his hat trick last time out. That doesn’t tell the full story though.
As is cutomary, events kicked off with a race for the lower grades. 591 Aaron Morris spun 404 Rovert Bulldeath from the race lead on the last bend but that wasn’t the last of the action. 130 Joe Gladden went in with a huge, kamikaze lunge at Morris and pulled it off, taking the win and leaving his victim in third with a burning carb for his troubles. 220 Casey Englestone sneaked through for second in the melee.
The first heat proper saw action all over, with 304 Martyn Parker an early spinner in his brand new car. The spun 356 Anthony Filby attempted to reverse across the track to safety but didn’t pcik a big enough gap and was clobbered very hard by Englestone, leading to waved yellow flags. They were well-timed, as a heavy marker tyre had just been whacked on to the racing line elsewhere on the track. 23 Lee Pearce led the field away but Gladden pushed him aside to take up the running. Meanwhile 499 David Aldous had been making good progress from near the back. He moved ahead with one lap to go, but Gladden fought back. He moved inside on bend two and then slowed the 499-car on the back straight, allowing the lapped 349 Michael Allard to nip inside. Aldous lifted off to cut back inside but Gladden was gone, securing an impressive win and denying Aldous what would have been his fourth consecutive victory at the track.
A caution period for 317 Dwayne Powell with three laps to go in heat two left his race-leading father 417 Fred facing an onslaught on the restart. Surprisingly, Aldous, well-placed in around seventh, was caught out and spun, while a huge crash on bend two left 156 Darren Goudy on his side against the fence. An early conclusion was called and so Fred held on for the win, from Pearce and 730 Deane Mayes.
An all-action start to the final resulted in former World Champion 360 Carl Waterfield facing the traffic on the home straight and an early caution called. Fred Powell once again led the restart before Pearce moved ahead. But Aldous was picking the field off by ease and soon took over out front. From there he showed a clean pair of heels to everyone, his blistering pace eventually giving a margin of victory of just over half a lap. 128 Craig Banwell was comfortable in second, while Peace held on for third.
Aldous once again carved through the field in the all comers race. He had a good battle with Waterfield, revelling in his blue grade starting slot, before moving clear for another comfortable win with Waterfield second and Pearce third.