Arena Essex Raceway - Meeting 04/25 Sunday, August 8, 2004 Crashnet > Reports Index > PRI 2004 Index > Meeting 04/25

National Bangers Brian Orgles Memorial SuperBangers Ministox

Ministox
It's always good to see someone taking to the circuit well on their debut, so when Jack Woodroffe got the main trophy for the day in the Ministox on August 8 at Arena Essex, it was something special. The day wasn't too bad for the younger Roy Laybourn either as he picked up two winners' trophies.

Laybourn was an easy winner in the first heat with Lee Middleton chasing in second and Danny Stevens in third, whilst Jack Harrington, disqualified during the heat, still mounted the pace car at the end in honour of his previous weeks' efforts which had earned him the Kent Championship. Luke Armiger managed to thread his way quickly through the field to take the second heat, Scott Waite and Rob Hull taking the other trophies for the heat in a race that was stopped quickly at the end due to some major contact which also led to a couple of penalties for drivers down the order. Alfie Lee was the consolation winner, pulling away from the field with Paul Scully in second and Reece Laybourn surviving to take third. Harrington was unlicky again in this one, this time after a crash with Dan Melluish near the end.

The white tops got a bit of a jump on the start of the final, the other grades hanging back which gave them all the more to do once the green flag went down. Woodroffe had control before half way, and put enough distance in to give him a chance of survival, the field catching up by the closing stages. The race certainly did not go without incident, some of the more experienced and enthusiastic drivers letting their emotions get the better of them, but by the end it was all down to Waite trying to catch up. Try as he might, the race ended before he could make a decent attempt at the lead, so Woodroffe took the final trophy, Waite settling for second with Dan Weeks third. Laybourn then repeated his performance from the first heat in the helter-skelter race, keeping back markers safely between him and second place Harry Stevens, with Armiger third. Craig Upson was awarded a water tank for his efforts during the meeting.

National Bangers
The 2004 version of the Brian Orgles Memorial for the National Bangers at Arena Essex, held on August 8, was as well attended as ever and the eventual winner was certainly a popular one, that being Jack Overy who took the race inside the last lap after only scraping into the final from down the order in the consolation.

The day started well for the Laybourn family as, hot on the heels of the Ministox win by young Roy, Steve pulled off a win in the first heat in a race that also featured Paul Whiteman who had already been busy that weekend in the West Country, as the red cross on his roof showed. Steve Laybourn was ahead for much of the race, though he was pressured towards the end by Malcolm Fuller and was wrecked on turn one after crossing the finishing line, hence the use of Roy the elders' car to get back to the start for his trophy. The wreckage on turn one, however, affected the second heat which followed immediately after, more than one car spinning in the remains of the wrecked cars' spillage. Jason Jackson won this one, denying Rob Farrington whilst Overy got down to some unfinished pink bashing, seriously wrecking former Cream driver Phil Stevens by the pit gate. Lee West won the heavily contested consolation, just nipping it ahead of Chris Worthington on the last corner with defending champion, Jimmy Randall, in third.

There wasn't much of a wait for action in the final as Mark Rowlands bounced his car off Mark Want and rolled onto his roof, wedging the car on the fence and stopping the race as Billy Lee rolled down the home straight the wrong way to protect the prone car, while Want came off in the centre. Want needed some medical attention but Rowlands emerged unhurt to an ovation from the spectators, though neither was able to restart with the rest of the field. Once Mick Bradbury had pulled his trousers up, the starter sent the rest on their way. The race developed early on into a family struggle, with Steve and Roy Laybourn holding the front of the race. With cars dying all over, Roy took the lead as Steve, whose car had been giving some trouble at the start anyway, dropped back and out. With five laps to go, Laybourn had about five seconds on Overy, but the gap was closing. On the last bend, Overy put the bite on Laybourn and drove home to take the pretigious trophy, Laybourn finishing second ahead of Jackson and Whiteman. Boxer made up for it by winning the Rawlins 2000 Qualifier, the last car award split between Harry Rawlins and Billy Lee as they killed each in a final head-on.

SuperBangers
Formula sponsor Steve Davies kept his position on top of the Davies Preparation Drivers' Championship for the SuperBangers at Arena Essex by a heat and final double at the August 8 meeting. he easily outpaced the field in the final from the back of the grid, Nigel Carroll following him home in second from Tubbs Butler. Chris Trickett managed to win the Sprint race after finishing second in the first race.

Last car: 2 Billy Lee/57 Harry Rawlins

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Also see Matthew Bull's website for more pictures from this meeting!

© 2004 Chris Johnson (Crashnet) / Promotasport Raceways