Crashnet > Reports Index > PRI 2009 Index > Meeting 09/08

A late change to the meeting saw the addition of the SuperBangers to the programme to back up the third meeting in a row for the Lightning Rods.

Rookie Bangers
The Arena Essex Rookie Banger meeting on April 19 featured an idea that was tried successfully last October where all cars were instructed to paint their cars a single colour and take a randomly assigned racing number. As last year, this idea was enthusiastically received, especially by the unregistered drivers who outnumbered the PRI registered drivers.

Jack King challenged for the lead in the first heat and managed to get past Andrew Brackenberry on the last corner after pushing him wide on turn three in a race that saw plenty of spin action and quite a few wrecks too! Brackenberry had commanded much of the race from the front but couldn't quite hold on for the finish. Race two was halted early for a complete restart following a crash shortly after the three lap non-contact section had completed when Craig Stansfield had to be extracted from his car following an accident on turn four inside. Harry Stevens had pulled off the circuit in the early part of the abortive race but was able to repair the car for the complete restart ahead of Brackenberry, though the spinning and wrecking continued well into the race including a multiple ambush at the bottom of the home straight. The hits were just as vicious in the final, won by Brendan Hubbard in an eight car finish.

Things, of course, got even more vicious in the destruction derby that rounded off the afternoon, the event capped with a head on collision between Chris Whiteman and Jack King that left them with a dead heat win and, no doubt, a couple of stiff necks the following morning!

SuperBangers
The April 19 meeting at Arena Essex featured a surprise appearance in two races by the SuperBangers, a meeting dominated by former champion Steve Davies.

Davies took the lead off early leader Paul Foreman in the first race and sprinted away to victory. A spin mid race gave Paul Hunter and Chris Trickett a chance to move up and they spent the rest of the race fighting over third place behind Brian Jarvis, Trickett just nipping it in the closing stages. Davies again won in the second race, Jarvis running out of time as the race wound down after passing Hunter who had been in a promising position but was spun out on turn four in the closing stages.

Group A Hot Rods
A reasonable turn-out of Group A Hot Rods at Arena Essex on April 19 was dominated by Dave Lamb and some very tight racing.

Lamb took an easy win by a quarter in the first heat from Dennis Howes who just held off Dan Moulton for his best win of the season, Steve Gooch taking fourth in a race dominated by who could get past Gary Kirby who held onto the inside line so tenaciously that very few could get past outside to challenge early leader Lee Hall. Hall managed to hold the lead for far longer in the second heat, the race coming down to a three way battle between Hall, Howes and Moulton which eventually saw Moulton come past Howes to run outside Hall for the win with Lamb getting a last minute third behind Hall at the line. Lamb won the final but had to work very hard for the win, taking nearly half the race to finally find his way past Moulton, who was challenged by Gooch and Mark West but, near the end, Gooch was punted into the turn two fence. West later admitted this to the steward, Gooch reinstated in third in the result.

Lightning Rods
In their third appearance in as many meetings at Arena Essex, the Lightning Rods had a bit of a change on April 19 in that they raced for two races, using a drawn grid that was reversed in the second heat.

John Randall passed Georgie Boult early in the first race, Tony Gordon also passed for a brief second before Boult regained second with Dave Imber following for third, Gordon fading back to ninth by the end while Lee Morrow pushed Gary Greenland onto the centre field to keep Greenland back to fifth in the closing stages. Roger Dormer managed a flag to flag victory in the second race, the fight for second giving him a chance to put enough distance behind him to make it impossible for Greenland to get better than second after overcoming Ben Murray in the last few laps.

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© 2009 Chris Johnson (Crashnet) / Promotasport Raceways