Report by Mark Paulson
Pictures by Damien Widdows

The curiously named ‘17 Eggs’ team were victorious in Sunday’s 21^st Unlimited Icebreaker at the Norfolk Arena, King’s Lynn on 19 January. And arguably it was something of a ‘curate’s egg’ of a performance, as all their points were scored by two drivers – 148 Ian Redden and 474 Matty Threkeld. They were joined in the squad by 67 Mark Whittaker and 800 Tom Hannah, beating off the challenge of 25 other teams in a closely fought contest. For Thelkeld, it was a third success in the biggest team championship in Banger Racing, while Whittaker had also taken the title before. 382 Jack Foster Jr, a member of last year’s winning Team Black ‘A’ squad, this time led his Team Grey & Black ‘A’ squad to second, while 912 Kieran Greenway produced a stunning performance to take Riff Raff to third overall, despite being the only member of the team present. His cause was aided by winning an epic final in which only two cars were classified as finishers.

The weather was relatively kind on this the Icebreaker’s earliest ever staging date. For although there was a lot of unforecast rain overnight and on the morning of the meeting, it held off during the racing and Buster Chapman did an excellent job of preparing the track surface.

As always, the turnout of 94 cars included a number of very special motors. Top marks to the Dark Tribe who excelled themselves with four limos – a Senator for 52 Steven Dean, Mk3 Granada for 229 Kenny Welsby, Lincoln Royale for 516 Eric Dean and Volvo 740 in the hands of 803 Gordon Hezzell – and were thoroughly deserving of the award for the team with the best material. Other limos included another  740 for Candy Floss’s 81 Ashley Bell (used),  a used Granada Mk2 for Scotsman 880 Neil Naismith (The Mob) and a smart Mk2 Granada for 411 Daniel Pegg (Gypsy Crew). The latter team also turned out a Mk10 Jaguar for 372 Barry Overland, an early XJ for 273 Kevin McClagish and the increasingly less common Mk2 Granny for 312 Tom Reynolds. 313 John Cullingford (Bad News) wielded another Rover P5 but perhaps topping the bill was Greenway’s sublime Rolls Royce, on its original 6.9-litre V8.

The teams were split into three for the first round of heats which all raised around 30 cars. The first took place on a still very wet track, which led to many taking themselves into the fence. 8 James Jackson (Team Mad max) was blitzed early on by 602 Shaun Cooper (Aftermath), while 89 Joe Barratt (Predators ‘C’) followed in 230 Dean Mouljourd (Mr Men). 129 Jon Brook (lastminute.com) and 357 Paul Read (Mr Men) were on the receiving end of similar visits to the wall, courtesy of 390 David Gibson and 13 Pieter Leistra (both Predators ‘C’) respectively, while Gibson went on to have a set-to with 382 Jack Foster Jr (Team Grey & Black ‘A’). Out front, 331 Jason Jackson was well clear as he looked to emulate his astonishing four-from-four wins at this meeting last year. That was until 282 Bobby Daniels (Mr Men) managed to spin him on the final bend, handing the win to the limo of 229 Kenny Welsby (Dark Tribe), while Jackson recovered to second and Cooper was named the race entertainer.

That race improved the track surface no end but the second heat was relatively quiet. 180 Mark Foster (Team Grey & Black ‘B’) and 312 Tom Reynolds (Gypsy Crew) both looked very fast on their way to first and second , while 779 Luke Allen scooped the race entertainer award.

In the final heat of the first set 148 Ian Redden (17 Eggs) hounded the race-leading 348 Sonny Sherwood (Black Rats) and then took advantage of them coming up to lap 79 Ricky Twell (Predators ‘B’) to move in front. He pulled away until clipping the parked car of 521 Ashley Riley (Bears ‘A’) which allowed 348 Mushy back in front. 148 Shorty had almost caught him again but it was the Black Rat who took the win, with no race entertainer named.

With very few teams bringing home more than one car in the points, it was the Bears ‘B’ that took an early lead in the overall standings, courtesy of third, fifth and sixth places in heat one for 207 Michael Woodward, 726 Kalin Dawe and 266 Callum Hall.

Standings after first round of heats: Bears ‘B’ 19 points; Gypsy Crew 15; Team Grey & Black ‘A’ 13; Wild Boyz ‘A’ 13; four teams 12.

Just a two-way split for the next round of heats, with both again featuring around 30 cars. In the first, 13 Peewee seemed to attract a lot of attention as his Predators team and the Wild Boyz all got stuck in. 188 John Reeves, a late substitute for Team Grey & Black ‘A’, won but with neither of his big-name team-maters, Boxer and Chubby, making the flag, the squad didn’t extend their score as much as they might have hoped. 267 Martin French (lastminute.com) was second and 280 Simon Goodale (Bad News) third, while 779 Munch helped himself to a second race entertainers award.

The next proved to be the most lively race of the day so far. With the back straight immediately heavily congested, 803 Gordon Hezzell’s limo was turned around by the pack and hit hard on the nose by Paul Read. Several others piled in, leaving Read’s Vole severely shortened and its driver a little shaken. With Sherwood also taking a big hit near the pit gate, the red flags came out. In the restarted race, Matty Thelkeld was passed by team-mate Ian Redden for the lead, before both got caught up with lapped runners and spun. That allowed 807 Chris Murfin to take up the running but he got tangled in the melee that ensued after team-mate 17 Kyle Overy was blown up on the home straight by 579 Gary Beecham (Mr Men). But the team didn’t lose the race lead, as it was Mark Foster that emerged in front. He was then hunted down and spun out by the classy Redden who drove superbly to lead home Threlkeld and bag some big points for the team, with Bears ‘A’ duo 521 Ash Riley and 321 Kieran Fry the only other finishers and Beecham named the race entertainer.

Standings after second round of heats: 17 Eggs 30 points; Team Grey & Black ‘A’ 25; Gypsy Crew 22; Bears ‘B’ 19; Bears ‘A’ 15;  two teams 13.

The final pair of heats raised slightly smaller fields, but there were still nearly 30 in the first and over 20 in the second. Bell kicked things off by blasting 611 Joe Geeves (Predators ‘C’) over the rear wheel before being put in by the lively 388 Steve McGrath in an act of Predators revenge. The Irishman also did Jack Foster Jr, who had spun early on before dishing out another shot on Bell, who would claim the race entertainer award. Bell’s team-mate 222 Matt High was also wasted while another member of Candyfloss, 185 Polly Reade, demonstrated again that she knows how to win races, comfortably taking the flag ahead of Greenway and 86 Alec Savage, who importantly kept the points ticking over for the Team Grey & Black ‘A’. Reynolds did likewise for the Gypsy Crew in fourth.

The next race, heat 7, had the smallest car-count of the day but still saw a fair bit of action. 325 Arron Preece (Black Rats) couldn’t get his car running and abandoned it on the home straight where it was blasted shortly afterwards by 209 Tom Waller (guesting for Predators ‘B’) who probably didn’t realise it was empty. Waller went on to delay the leading Redden, but the latter still recovered for second, and with Threlkeld fifth the team scored good points again. Which is more than can be said for Team 22, one of the pre-meeting favourites, who were having a ‘mare. Father-and-son duo of 372 Martin and 572 Paul Scully never made it on track, while 119 Davey Cox expired in his first outing. So it was left to Vincent to uphold the honour of the twice former winners and he followed fourth in his first outing with a win in this.

Standings after final round of heats: 17 Eggs 45 points; Team Grey & Black ‘A’ 33; Gypsy Crew 29; Bears ‘B’ 28; Candyfloss 25;  Black Rats 20.

And so onto the final, and although 17 Eggs held a healthy advantage, there were still plenty of points on offer. A massive 48-car field took the green flag and initially it looked as though the Gypsy Crew may offer the biggest challenge, with Reynolds and McClagish running very well at the head of the race, with action going on all around. But all that would change when an absolutely massive pile-up started developing on bend four. The track soon became completely blocked as more and more piled in, in epic fashion. A few managed to punch their way through, but were pretty crippled by the time they came round to re-join the throng from the back. Pushing and shoving continued for some time before red flags eventually came out when 273 Mad Mouse signalled for aid. With most motors absolutely totalled, just 12 made the restart and most of them were struggling to move. Greenway had somehow managed to keep his Roller running well though and brought it home for the win. With 180 Sparky shown the red cross, that left 421 Nigel Riley as the only other finisher. His score hauled the Bears ‘A’ team into sixth overall, while amazingly, Greenway had lifted Riff Raff to third, single-handedly. But with no other teams scoring, that meant the top two stayed as they were, with 17 Eggs crowned champions from Team Grey & Black ‘A’.

Result:

The day ended with the traditional DD, featuring an impressive 18 cars, with the Bears proving very lively. 321 Kieran Fry would outlast the rest to be the eventual winner.

Supporting the main event were an invited field of 20 Junior Bangers. Their races were dominated by the Green brothers, 334 Josh and 834 Ben. After Josh led a 1-2 in a destructive race for white, yellow and blue grade drivers only, Ben won heat one proper from 119 Ben Cox. Further back, 382 Tom Foster looked fast and aggressive on his first outing at the track. Ben Green led home another brotherly 1-2 in heat two, before both were on the receiving end of some rough action in the final. That was won by 123 Keiran Gray from 93 Luke Nieuwenberg and 51 James Licquorice, with a slightly early halt called to assist 33 Brad Rouse, who after a little attention, turned out to be fine.

The actions continues in just two weeks’ time with 1500cc version of the Icebreaker. An unbelievable entry is currently booked to race so it certainly looks like one not to be missed.