Speak steals Steel City QR!

So the exiled pixie sends us another report with his missionary work in the frozen north. Frozen being an apt word, as Sheffield was cancelled due to the weather.... Here's Dave Crossman!

After a few weeks sweating over whether the Green Army were going to stay in the Football League. It was back to racing and the rearranged world qualifier in the home town of the Blades and the Owls.

It was a rare trip on my own thanks to Northern Rail and a lovely warm day. A quick trip to the restaurant bar to quench my thirst before a quick trip around the main pit area which included Chris Burgoyne (647) in a Bingley shale car.

On to the racing and what looked like an over watered track before the minis went out, looked about right when the 2's came out for their first heat of all in racing.

29 cars lined up and at the drop of the flag and Sir Rob (218) slowed on the first bend and pulled to the infield. Chaos started with cars going always and the yellow flags were soon out as Paul Hopkins (994) lost a wheel. 9 cars did not take the restart and those included Burgoyne and Sam Wagner (823). At the restart Andy Palmer (606) and Mark Simpson (871) were at the front of the reds with the pack being led away by Graham Morrison (881) and Barry Clow (597). Palmer soon spun away his chances followed by Morrison who was collected by the "Entertainer" Brett Townsend (710). This left Spedeworth convert Colin Aylward (151) leading from Simmo, who took the lead just before halfway. A few laps later Paul Wilson (925) overtook Alyward to take second.

After 2 heats from the Tractor Boys and lots of fence damage (F1's and rsj's there is only going to be one winner!) and the track crew attemping to pull one upright with an actual tractor (not a chance guys)

The 2's came back out on a track which had no shale on the racing line on the bends so the track staff watered the racing line. At the start Dave Massey (977) and Daz Shaw (377)  tangle on the start / finish line and Wagner pulled off again. Speak got out of shape coming off the last bend which caused the car of  Shaun Login (568) to veer into a post and come to a very sudden stop and a very badly damaged car. At the restart Oliver Iles (997)  heads Dave Harley (362) and Geoff Maskery (90). Travelling Burgyone made good progress up to 2nd and was followed by Rob Mitchell (905) both of whom were never going to catch Chaos, who took the win.

Onto the final and Sam Wagner's day got worse as the 823 car was a no show. The first start saw Dick Raymond (416) hit the fence hard then Steve Wycherley (662) hit the back straight fence and was collected by Burgoyne. The melee saw Speak's car out of control but narrowily missed it but Paul Wilson (925) was not so lucky. The restart William Clement (158) led the way from Maskery, Clow and Morrison.  Clow soon got into lead as 881 &90 clash soon followed by Simpson and Palmer. at halfway The 597 car started to leaving Robert The Great into the lead, with Rob Mitchell (905) and ex Superstox World Champ Colin Alyward (151) rounding out the top 3.

With just 11 cars for the GN and time going on, as I wonder if I will still have a train to catch,  it was never going to be as good as the rest of the meeting  Morrison led away but Burgoyne took a win making the miles worthwhile for the Scot.

If I kick up enough of a storm then we can get away with it!

Well a long winded day 5 hours for 13 races,  The dust was worse than the Mendip mist at times but on the plus side I enjoyed the track restaurant carvery and resonably price bar and air/con on a hot day.


Cheers for that Dave, he'll have a report from the first Speedweekend of the year!

Come What May!

So as April disappeared, the sun came out to play, and it was bledey 'ansom. New grades came into play and and it wasn't just Ayrton and Liam who were in danger of going from white to red in such a short space of time, as I hadn't dug out the factor 40 in time, and my arms and neck seared nicely as the steak on the BBQ I arrived home to on Monday night.
In glorious sunshine, it was pick up Lampy and go off through the valley of the windmills, and down into glorious Cornwall for your Mayday fix of stox. It was also 12 months ago, that en route to the same meeting, that someone rammed Das Golf up the backside....
It wasn't a good day for loud noises, after a drinking session with my mate on "Old Rosie" dirty filthy scrumpy! Feeling a little tender from abusing apples, I believed like Paul Butcher (189) that I could win the final!

There were a fair amount of cars in the pits on the Sunday at St Day, including a fair few visitors, including Bradders (886), the new king of comedy in the pits, Rich Mead (596) along with Jack Aldridge (921). Also in the pits, making a return to Saloons, were the Flying Jones Brothers, Murray and Todd, out to cause more mischief in the tin tops!

 

 

Thats scratched it....

So heat 1 saw this season's Mr Unlucky.... Matt Westaway (835) get away....followed by fellow Janner, the legend of the Lovetap Liam Rowe (605) in second, "fresh" from flying back from a mid season Janner Motorsport search for sun. I am told there are plenty of stories of what brother Ross got up to, which I am sure Sam Deeble (sister of Matt and Adam, daughter of Jeremy) will let out of the bag. What goes on tour, goes on Facebook!

Heat 2 saw a flop over, as Marc Rowe (526) tripped over track debutant, former Grimley track champion,  Danny Withers (437). Chris Mikkula (522) took the win, from his blue grade, and his vinyl tape effort at regrading as "a shit job"

The consolation was a good old fashioned affair, plenty of whites and yellows, a sprinkling of blues but no one else. Charging PJ Moss (979) strolled away, but it was the Dairy Farmer Andrew Bennett who got the cream, and took the consolation.

Not a Cabtec wing.

Final time and once again a lovely 30 car final meant only one thing.....carnage! With upgraded Ryan Hoskin (991) spinning on the toilet bend, in front of the new grandstand seating it started a chain reaction. Rich Thomas (599) collected the Cornish youngster, and Paul Butcher going over Dan Moss (797) like he was a boat going for launch. Rich Mead going in like it was last orders at the bar, and then the mother of all park ups occurred. One thought about the late Trevor Redmond, and that next time it would be pay and display on the top corner. Out came the red flags and along came the restart albeit without half a dozen or so starters. With the restart came another caution, as the downgraded Jay Tonkin (290) continued his tradition of at least rolling over once a St Day season, and usually when downgraded so it gets rid of the old foils! With the green finally rolling, Westaway took an early lead, pursued by a gaggle of blue tops led by previous final winner Ashley Rundle (116), Mikkula and Rowe. Indeed the Callington blue top caught the 835 machine and moved into a bit of daylight, only for Mikkula, now with superstars Bradbury (886) and James Rygor (783) for company. A good old fashioned scrap occured between those 3, and Rundle took full advantage gaining a car length or two, before taking the chequered and red roof for next weekend. Ever the case that if you are disillusioned with the sport, karma can pay back with rewards as the Harry Potter tribute act 2 his second final win at St Day in as many meetings! Rygor the Tiger rounded a incredibly satisfying day and sunny day with a win in the National

MONDAY...

A decent night's kip was what the doctor ordered from the Sunday, as thanks the apple abuse and general lack of sleep over the past couple of weeks, I was surprised and almost had a Hugh Grant moment as I checked my phone and it was 9:40am. Fuck. Fuckety fuck. If I'm to get to Bristol in good time, I'll need to be on the road by 10:30 at the latest. The Sh's done, it was time to do the pre flight checks. Oil, Check. Radiator. Check. Washer fluid, bit low, not surprising after the dusty St Day. Then the bonnet catch wouldn't go down. Cue much fiddling and scratching between me and dad, who joked that if it was a Vauxhall, then the bonnet would never be down, always up. Much mumbling about cars being unnecessarily tidied away and hidden (Dad works with tractors) later - the catch was closed, and off I went on my merry way. 11:10am. Fuckety, fuck, fuck, fuck. With a swish of the side parting and an awkward chatting up of an American film star in only the way that happens in Richard Curtis movies, it was onward. Very, very slow progress, as I joined the tide heading away from the Westcountry, as every caravan was causing chaos on the A30. I arrived at track at 1:05pm, five minutes after the scheduled start time, but there was one thing I could be assured of, that Bristol never runs on time!

The Rookies Reward saw a nice little battle between Matt Linfield (464) and Richard Beere (254) with the added incentive of a set of shocks donated by Shocktec. It was Linfield who took the win on the last lap from the veteran Beere. Heats went the way of Chris Mikkula and The Tiger, who once again made Bradders think if he had made a mistake in selling him his old car! After the newly nicknamed (see the Dominator) Dicky Pintof (254) made up for losing the Rookies and throwing away a large lead in Heat 1 with a spin, by taking the Consi.

Thunderpix pic.

Final time, and for the second meeting in a row, a large pile up brought out the reds. Jay Scott (686) tried to take off from Paul Moss (979), whilst Dan Moss (797) took to the Mendips Monorail as Matt Linfield (464) was given permission to fly....


When the race got going again, it was Jimmy Halfpintof (954) who led away his dad. Indeed Daddy Beere took the lead, just as the scrapping Bradbury and Hooper (676) fresh from moving house, which caused his absence from St Day. Races are often won and lost with a single move, and Bradders move on Hooper was telling and decisive, gaining the place and space to go on to yet another Bristol victory, reinstating him as one of the favourites for semi glory.

Jamie Avery(126) in the national showing again that the national points is an arse, by taking the win from Mikkula (522). Avery has been one of the stand out consistent red tops both home and away in the first grading period...

POINTS OF ORDER

Autospeed honcho Crispen Rosevear taking his camera out for the first time in eons. Past Life regression anyone? Or recapturing his youth. Will we be seeing Mr Rosevear growing a set of curtains next?

Come the next Bank Holiday, the opportunity to report at both the next St Day and Bristol is unlikely to happen unless time travel or rapid cloning happens in the next three weeks.
Now for the last couple of years there have been extraneous bank holidays tacked on for Royal celebrations which have solved this problem.

Westcountry drivers have no local meetings for 3 weeks, then bank holiday, bang bang bang with the meetings and boom nothing more then until the next Bank holiday, then another gap of 2 weeks. It seems total madness that both tracks attract the same drivers, and we are left with 2 sub standard meetings rather than potentially a classic.

From a promoters point of view, Bank Holidays are usually the biggest cash cow of getting an audience, and to Joe Public likes to go out on a Bank Holiday, and it's great entertainment, but from the drivers and spectators, we want to maximise race meetings and opportunities, especially in busy grading periods. Drivers also want to maximise there diesel budgets, and to get as many meetings they can from a Bank Holiday weekend.

The arguments are clear from the promoters that distance is a deciding factor, as you don't tend to see Bristol drivers at St Day or vice versa, but all seem to race Taunton. When there is a lack of meetings generally to compete with our Scottish and Midland brethern, to have a clash, which most of the top drivers will attend one or the other, plays right into the hands of uneven grading.

Bristol seemed very hesitant to bring out yellow flags for cars abandoned on the dip bend... Maybe the steward was asleep? Sad to say but Bristol is getting a bit of reputation amongst drivers as a damage track, and some, in these fiscally challenging times are foresaking Bristol in favour of more driver friendly tracks (aka Dull)

But wasn't it a blooomin lovely weekend. 2 ice creams and a BBQ, can't be too bad.

Cheers'n gone!

'O's Obby Oss Round Up! May the force be with you!

Happy May the 4th one and all....time for a few mini muses....

In the county of Cornwall we have some weird traditions to bring in the spring. Now the town of Padstow has reached major prominence in recent years thanks to chef Rick Stein, which ahs brought a summer influx of Alices, Tarquins and Jontys to the port. However, traditions continue in the little trawler town. One is a traditional fertility dance called the 'Obby 'Oss, which seems in the winter. It's said that if ladies of a childbearing age went underneath the 'Oss, they would often get pregnant soon after... probably a lot to be said about the men of Padstow that drove the 'Oss!

They also had Darkie day, which up until 2001, the locals blacked up their faces to celebrate a slave boat which was rescued. They then thought it might be construed as a bit racist!

Then you got the Furry Dance in Helston. It's also known as the "Floral Dance". As in Wogan. As in "I thought I could hear the curious tone........"

Moodie celebrates the win, the runner up takes the opportunity to check his prostate

SCOTTISH LOOKS GOOD

Now after the shock of an over 70 car meeting at Birmingham, Cowdenbeath is dangerously close to having a full format meeting on Saturday night for the Scottish Championship, for what is the first title this year. Will number 7 make it 7 Scottish titles? Will there be a shock winner? Come on it's Cowdenbeath!





DURA's HAVE MORE TECH

The much maligned Duratec engine now has more power due to the removal of the restrictor plate which should balance it up a bit, but yet no date of destiny for the removal of the Pinto... I think a 1995 situation will kick in eventually, when the Pinto will be restricted like the 1300 was, and lets bring the sport kicking toward the 21st century....

MINI PROBLEMS

Now if you're heading down into the Valley of Windmills to St Day, you might notice a few minis heading towards you... En route to many a stock car meeting with former travel partner Amanda, we would play the "Mini" game, also known as Yellow Car or Beetle game, where you shout Mini. Now Amanda would get excited and give me a thump in the arm.  Needless to say I forgot that on the May Day Bank Holiday, the annual Mini Riveria Run was taking place in Newquay, a kinda of less chavvy Run to the Sun. My arm was blue come the end as many of the little cars zoomed past on the old A30 on the Goss Moor as we headed to St Day. I used to own one, and you do get misty eyed whenever you see one. My old man had 3 when he started driving. So when we bought the car and drove it back from Newton Abbot, mum and myself followed in their car, and followed him nose to tail, but by the time we pulled into our yard, the mini was facing the other way. Sneaky handbrake and a smile as big as the Saltash Tunnel from father! Indeed it was in this car that I drove to my first meeting by myself. After finishing work, off to the Taunton Saloon World Weekend. Now anyone who has driven a Mini on the road knows, any lump or bump is felt. And there is no road lumpier or bumpier than the road from the track to Honiton. As I drove Lampy to get some beer for the weekend ahead, he drove back, and we weren't messing about! Another big smile! Minis were one of those cars that you felt everything in and could really abuse. I could bore you with a million scrapes and fun with my mini, but I won't!

FROM THE EAST THEY CAME

Well, they all came, technically, but St Day sees a spot of severe A30 driving for some drivers. Bradders (886) is down giving his RCE a spin round the D of Day. Then you have someone who has spent the last month working with Muppets (what he's been working at GMP #lol), stunt rigger extraordinaire and point watcher Rich Mead (596), and semi regular Rather Jack (921) is also down. With these foreigners coming down and the fact he nicked some of their World Points at Northprimoton, has Neil Hooper (676) signalled a period of hiding by his potential non appearance???

AND NOW TO HOGG THE LIMELIGHT

John Hogg (92) has got his red roof ready for the weekend. First time red roof, and a lovely sign job










See you round the Maypole......