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Race Reports
2012
STOP PRESS - Sold my grass track Mini sad! so no more racing at CWR (for the time being)
Sunday 8th July, St.Day - Fancy dress parade
My fancy dress was as a chef complete with mixing bowl of flour. Ryan Hoskin drove me round with a few other passengers climbing on board. Oh! the flour didn't make the trip - it got splashed about on everyone (lots of it on big bruv Andrew who stupidly chose to sit behind me)
New roof colours today with Steven starting at the back for a change and me back amongst the reds again. Heat 1 was a bit hectic and I came in 5th after apparently spinning James Flint into the fence. The Steward had a word in my ear for this naughty. Heat 2 James got me back and so we were even but because of this spin I only managed 9th. Steven meanwhile was spun out by Sam which left him without any points this heat. In the Final I ended up 6th still higher than Steven giving me top points scorer for the reds. Today was better for me but disasterous for Steven with only 3 points.
Friday 22nd June - New Ministox grades announced
Up to silver stripe - 942 Steven Gilbert and down to red 903 (me - to be expected), 946 Emily Hector down to yellow and up to yellow 901 Cameron Lawrence.
Sunday 17th June, Taunton
Lets forget today's points with a 6th, 9th and a little better 3rd in the Final. Tom Cadby had a high speed roll on the back staright in the Final which was put down to Joe getting carried away with a bit of an ambitious move resulting in his exclusion.
Monday 4th June, St.Day
Today's main attraction was bus and coach racing as well as my second outing as silver stripe holder. In heat 1 I just managed a 3rd after a lucky spin on Toby right on the finish line. Heat 2 I got 4th with the Final - a not very good - 6th. Main rival Steven Gilbert had a good day out with a 2nd and two wins which pushes him up to points leader. Starting at the back and getting lots of points is proving a very hard task.
Sunday 29th May, Taunton
Today is the third visit in a row for Ministox and a big day for Bangers (British Championship) It's also the first one where I start at the back of the grid as Silver Stripe - points leader. This means a lot of work to get to the front and it's not going to be easy. Heat 1 I managed a 3rd behind Steven 2nd and a maiden win for white top Jack Clegg. Heat 2 I ran too wide on the last bend - I think I was about 2nd or 3rd, which dropped me down to 5th at the flag. The Final I came in 4th - not too bad ending the day with a points tally of 21.
Wednesday 9th May - new Ministox grades announced
Up to Silver Stripe 903 (me), up to Red 932,935, down to Red 977 (previous Silver Stripe holder), down to Blue 907, 946, down to Yellow 936.
Monday 7th May, Taunton
Weather trying hard to rain but it didn't come at the right time for the racing! Heat 1 I came in 2nd. Heat 2 was not good after changing a few things and slipping on oil spill from Joe's cracked gearbox I came in 5th. The Final was another close call which I enjoyed coming in 2nd again behind Sam who just squeezed through on the inside on last lap. Scored 24 points which is fine.
Sunday 6th May, St.Day
Siamese bangers today for Andrew who was on top steering together with Chris Hoskin (Ryans dad) down below on the throttle and brakes. Just days before and with both cars bolted together the clutch in the Mondeo started to slip. Major efforts to split the cars get it down to us (from Liskeard) lift out the engine and replace faulty parts just in time for the big day. There were three races and we didn't come last is all I can say!! Heat 2 we (Andrew/Chris) were pushed over - they don't roll over due to their height. No one hurt - all had a great day and plan to do it again next year.
Sunday 22nd April, Taunton - The Reg Thomas Memorial Ministox Trophy meeting
Caught in a very heavy rain storm on track dring practice which left us all soaked. Heat 1 still wet but went well as I took a win with Joe very close behind and Sam Moore finishing 3rd. Heat 2 went exactly the same way. The 15 lap Final was a great race with me and Sophie both fighting for the win. On the last bend I helped Sophie a bit which pushed her wide and let me through to the flag. Steven G came from nowhere to a 3rd place. Really pleased to win this trophy as it's the first major win I've had. Also pleased to get another two out of three fastest race times. Waiting for points to be confirmed but think I'm points leader. Back at Taunton in two weeks time.
Sunday 8th April, St.Day
What did we do? Much better today and well in the points scoring 28 from a possible 30. Came second in heats 1 & 2 and won the Final. There's more! Managed to claim two fastest times out of three! Great day!
Monday 26th March new Ministox grades announced
New Ministox grades out today. Up to silver stripe: Kieran Bradford, Up to red: Emily Hector and Ben Sillifant, Up to blue: Tom Cadby and down to blue: me and Joe Marquand.I was expecting this after the last two poor meetings.
Sunday 25th March, Taunton
No visiting drivers today which left all the points to Autospeed drivers. I had a disasterous first heat and did'nt score at all. Heats 2 & 3 totalled only nine points. Not good enough!
Saturday 10th March, St.Austell
Very pleased to be asked to 'Show & Tell' my Ministox alongside three other race cars at the Cornish Market World near St.Austell. Next to my car was F2 star Neil Hooper, then Stock Rod star Neil Truran and at the far end the gold roofed car of Saloon Stock Car World Champion Eddie Darby. Two very pretty Autospeed trophy girls were also there to hand out our race fixture list and leaflets. Really brilliant day! See pic right............
Sunday 13th February, St.Day
Ryan Polley Incarace champion paid Autospeed a visit today. Once he got the car settings to his liking he took a win in the Final. I only managed four points today which is crazy after such a good first meeting at Taunton.
Sunday 29th January, Taunton
Main attraction today was the Winter Open for National Bangers. Weather pretty bad - sleet turning to snow. Heat 1 I came 4th. Heat 2 after a couple of re-starts following crashes I took the lead two laps from finish and held to win. The Final was in worsening conditions but still managed another 4th place giving me highest points of the day. Great start!
Sunday 1st January, Birmingham Wheels
Yes New Years Day and started out at 5.30am!!. A good turn out of Ministox - in fact 25 ish racing. My best race was heat 2 when I came in 7th. The Final was a very wet track and getting dark. Always fun to race here but the journey back was always going to be a lo-o-o-ong one.
2011
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Winners trophy for the Final - see this race on You-Tube (click on link below)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iv30t_zU2FY |
For the beginning of the season I raced from red top grade until a few poor meetings dropped me down a grade to blue top. My first race of the season was at Smeatharpe in the Final and on a very wet track I managed to snatch a very close victory from Joe and Ashley - see pic left. This win and an improvement in points, lifted me up to red grade again and there I can happily say I stayed for the rest of the season.
Andrew had a go in the senior hot rods on grass but never really got sorted and missed his Ministox formula. He eventually gave the hot rods up after a bit of an argument with the farmer’s fence.
I raced in the junior Minis on grass and won the Cornwall Championship – see pic upper right. But in September racing in a charity meeting and with a passenger alongside me, I did a massive roll. Oh I need to mention I was racing against Andrew (who’d borrowed a car) and we both were trying to get into the pits bend at the same time – I lost!! See pic right and view the 'WAR' / video on U-Tube. |
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Towards the end of the year I was holding second place in the Autospeed points championship and for a treat Dad took me to compete in the Oval Racing Circuit Ministox Championship at Arena Essex. Didn’t do too well but the experience will not be forgotten. The following week we did the London Open at Wimbledon which was another last minute surprise. Andrews raced here a few years ago but that was a far more brutal meeting coming away with lots of work. That was usual for Andrew anyway! I finished off the year joint second in the championship after Steven G. caught me up by surprise. Our positions rested on the final race of the year as I was behind Steven on points that day. Luckily I grabbed that extra bit of speed needed securing joint second place. Good friend Ryan (who was passenger in 'that roll' on grass) took the points championship by a big margin.
I start 2012, my last season in Ministox, as a red roof again. I’ll keep you up to date when time allows – bye for now. |
2010
This year has been a very busy time with lots of race meetings for us both. Andrew finished his MiniStox career at Smeatharpe (near Taunton) in January due to upper age limit of sixteen. This was a sad day as he loved this formula. He decided to build a grass Mini racer and return back to Cornwall Raceways for a last season as their age limit is seventeen. I'm continuing with AutoSpeed and MiniStox this year. If I can save enough money I might buy Andrews car as a spare.
As the year progressed I finally saved enough money to buy Andrews car which was a good move as shortly afterwards my number one car got crunched a bit and so left me Andrews car as backup. Just can't afford to miss a meeting - points are very hard to come by.
May Bank Holiday weekend saw Andrew roll out his new grass racer down Cornwall Raceways - back where we both started racing. It was like he hadn't been away. He won all his four races! This was a taster for the following meetings which he looked forward to. Come the South West Championship in July he provided a superb display of driving winning all his races and the Championship. Meanwhile back at home he'd been building a Mini Clubman grass racer which was given a run out for the next few meetings and once again he proved a winner.
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At the end of the season his impressive points tally won him the 'Junior Mini 2010 Points' title and to top off this he also won the overall 'Champion of Champions' title being highest points scorer of all the formulas racing there. Andrew receiving this award from Clinton Bray, son of Dougie - raceway promoter, at the presentation evening in November.
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Meanwhile I kept slugging away in MiniStox. At the end of our year I came seventh overall in the points championship. Not too bad as there were a lot of new drivers with quick cars this year. One high spot to finish on - I was up graded to 'red top - star grade driver' to start the 2011 season.
To finish off 2010 we did a trip to Birmingham Wheels raceway just as a treat. The track was great and I enjoyed it very much. The racing was evening time and under floodlight which was different for me but really exciting. We plan to get up there again in 2011. |
