Old School Road to Gold

There were a few moans that the new system for the World Champs isn't exactly going to produce a world class field. So for arguments sake, here's how the 2013 points chart would look if it was under 2012 rules.....

886 Chris Bradbury	145
647 Christopher Burgoyne	97
218 rob Speak	90
100 George Macmillan	83
823 Sam Wagner	81
871 Mark Simpson	79
401 Barry Goldin	75
186 George Turrucki	75
768 Tom Adcroft	71
921 Jack Aldridge	67
178 Mark Dews	65
3 Liam Rennie	63
270 Mark Gibbs	62
101 Kelvyn Whalley	61
189 Paul Butcher	58
905 Rob Mitchell	54
315 Justin Fisher	50
676 Neil Hooper	50
222 Ayrton Mills	50
1 Micky Brennan	48
480 Garry Sime	42
580 Alan Edmiston	42
126 Jamie Avery	41
290 Jay Tomkins	41
76 Chris Rowe	41
151 Colin Alyward	41
7 Gordon Moodie	41
254 Richard Beere	40
488 Liam Bentham	39
977 David Massey	39
380 Steven Cayzer	39
783 James Rygor	38
377 Daz Shaw	38
964 John Fortune	37
925 Paul Wilson	36
522 Chris Mikulla	34
259 Simon Farrington	33
605 Liam Rowe	33
662 Steven Wycherly	32
854 Robbie Dawson	32
615 Josh Coleman	32
49 Paul Prest	30
995 Michael Lund	29
641 Dennis Middler	28
606 Andrew Palmer	28
291 Craig Tomblin	27
725 Paul Broatch	27
788 Stephen Mallinson	26
476 Ryan Wadling	25
136 Kyle Taylor	25
302 Dale Moon	24
519 John Scorse	24
597 Barry Clow	23
710 Brett Townsend	23
352 Dave Sansom	23
163 Craig Wallace	23
115 Mike Green	23
797 Dan Moss	22
890 Paul Rice	22
14 Mike Priddle	21
817 Timothy Bailey	20
339 Stuart Kelly	20
935 Nathan Maidment	19
997 Oliver Ives	19
64 Marc Fortune	19
761 Richard Bowyer	18
634 Paul Kitching	18
742 Nick Rogers	18
998 Graham Fegan	18
154 Steven Green Jnr	17
963 Lee Carlin	17
393 Stuart Sculthorpe	17
298 Jake Walker	16
59 Lee Dimmick	16
844 Darren Phillips	16
635 Philip Kitching	15
150 Mark Thoms	15
117 Thomas Bailey	15
682 Jason Cooper	15
700 Adam Rubery	14
102 Wullie Draeger	13
596 Ritchie Mead	13
881 Graham Morrison	13
979 Paul Moss	12
575 Tom Clark	12
169 Richard Stott	12
571 Darren Clarke	12
722 John Broatch	12
448 John Wright	12
387 Jason Macdonald	12
38 Dave Polley	11
262……	11
20 David Tagell	10
866 Bob Griffin	10
225 Tony Blackburn	10
362 Dave Harley	10
310 Greg Smith	10
124 Ollie Skeels	9
341 Drew Lammas	9
91 Brett Constable	9
887 Neil Brigg	9
219 Chris Mitchell	9
994 Paul Hopkins	9
145 Graham Mole	9
679 Kieron Howie	9
954 Jamie Beere	8
686 Jay Scott	8
8 Peter Hobbs	8
398 Matthew Sayer	8
867….	8
991 Ryan Hoskin	7
538 Chevy Mills	7
13 Andy Ford	7
630 Justin Parker	7
449 Mark Dorrill	7
798 Mark Sargent	7
652 Steven Forstre	7
167 Bill Batten	7
624 Raymond Dick	7
53 Phil Mann	6
846 Ashley England	6
544 James Rogers	6
595 Jamie Young	6
184 Aaron Vaight	6
67 Eddie Darby	6
391 Gregor Turner	6
202…..	6
252…	6
236 Derek Scrigemour	5
H277 Ronald Claes	5
583 Andy Bertram	5
305 Colin Gregg	5
560 Luke Wrench	4
756 Richard Thomas	4
17 Paul Reid	4
H124 Wim Peeters	4
258 Ryan Walker	4
835 Matt Westaway	3
780 Chris Utley	3
695 Shaun Russell	3
801 Jack Cave	3
388 Ian Mallinson	3
226 Billy Webster	3
366 Richie Kemp	3
693 Martin Hinchclife	3
526 Marc Rowe	2
158 Will Clement	2
430 Simon Edwards	2
772 Kenny Mitchell	2
627 Gary Sillifant	2
199 Jak Marshall	2
89 Brian Harrison	2
92 John Hogg	2
275…	2
650 Mark Kiff	1
942 Gareth Hamar	1
22 Russ Alpin	1
33 Andy Kaye	1
416 Richard Raymond	1
422 Ben Riley	1
541 Luke Phillips	1
598 Jamie Taylor	1
909 Andrew Cattell	1
960 Adrian Whitehead	1
321 Holly Glen	1
343 Stuart Yule	1
116 Ashley Rundle	1
528 Shane Hector	1
301 Charlie Whitfield	1
379 Stuart Cayzer	1
431 Andy Gibbs	1
535 Simon Turner	1
56 Len Perkins	1
581 Daniel Fellows	1
588 Matt Pettit	1
63 Ally Noble	1
71 Kevin Bruce	1
758 Thomas Hollingsworth	1
589…	1
299 stephen Smith	1
297 Paul Bailey	0
618 Ben Lockwood	0
328 Andy Walker	0
529 Paul Barker	0
185 Mark Foster	0
242 Ben Bates	0
376 Darren Seneschall	0
396 David Johnson	0
421 James Trigg	0
464 Matt Linfield	0
537 Tom Alsop	0
719 Colin Smith	0
775 Keith Andrews	0
860 Andrew Brewin	0
90 Geoff Maskery	0
34 Raymond Wincote	0
555 Dave Bale	0
724 Tom Peel	0
869 Jason Dickens	0
987 Sam Brigg	0
830 Andrew Bennett	0
180 Danny Ward	0
119 Nick Glover	0
122 James Allsopp	0
148 Gary Lusher	0
156 Pat Lines	0
19 Martin Ford	0
194 Jack Rutherford	0
213…..	0
23 Colin Johnston	0
251 Dave Main	0
283 Gary Allen	0
304 Chris Marley	0
383 Jack Brown	0
423 Neil Darby	0
435 Steve Temple	0
437 Danny Withers	0
470 Hayden Barrington	0
520 Jason Clarke	0
547 Mark Bussey	0
563 Keith Walding	0
568 Shaun Login	0
613 Alex Sloggett	0
701 Dave Waterhouse	0
716 James Muckian	0
734 Glenn Sanders	0
743 Lee Armstrong	0
851 Gary Smith	0
861 Ben Litherland	0
915 Jacklyn Ellis	0
917 Nigel Wiles	0
H55 Johan Schoutan	0
631 Ron Ferguson	0
238 John Moir	0
757 Martin Chadwick	0
728 Karl Pilkington	0
967 Aaron Pugh	0
602 James Horwell	0
87 Paul Weekes	0

Not a great deal of change, but I can see why the promoters have done it. Qr attendances are up on last year, a new enthused bunch of travellers, more sensible scheduling. Downsides, a lot of fancied runners could fall before the semi stage.

Will it be repeated next year?

Camera. Action, Lights - How The West Was Won

Good evening Pilgrims...
It's been a busy old time at the blog, with plenty of things going on. Namely, since we last spoke, plans for a charity calendar raising funds for Macmillan are well underway. It's a charity dear to my heart, they supported our family when my Grandad was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and were there supporting right to the end. Too many people we know are diagnosed with this
awful disease, and it's my thing to help those that help those poor buggers that get the dreaded C every year.

FRIDAY 22nd JUNE
Went for a beer with the Janners, Rowe Bros, in the People's Republic of Camborne, with Somersetians Mike Priddle(14) and Chris Mikulla (522). Fat was chewed, and names were bounded about, and Ross was abused about his new under the thumb status, from brother Liam, who was quite lairy!

SATURDAY 23rd JUNE
Practically followed 522 home to Weston, as went to go and see some friends who have have just had a new born. It was heaving, and taking the wrong roundabout, ended up on the sea front just as the Weston Air Show was under way. Highlight of which was the Red Arrows, but I was on a taxi run for one of Lamp Club Juniors, who'd come back from her hols in Bulgaria. Whilst on the A38, I get a phone call from the cousin saying that the flight was early, due to the Red Arrows needing to take off. A nice spot of dovetailing!

SUNDAY 24th JUNE
So off to St Day for the first of the 2 qualifying rounds. A few travellers including Sam Wagner (823) who was on a Westcountry world tour, miles from his Darlington base! Bill Batten and Neil Hooper were still in Emergency Ward 10, so Saloon World Champ Eddie Darby took the Batten car out for a spin (or 2!). Heat 1 went the way of the yellow top Dan Moss (797), five years on from when his father Jeremy took the major race (it was raining!), with a last bend punt between Mikulla and Richard Beere (254) saw Beere take it on the line. Heat 2 was a bit more brutal, but it was semi St Day regular Jack Aldridge (921) who took Heat 2. With a few big name local casualties the Consi was a lively affair. Nathan Maidment (935) was out in the Stephen Gilbert (soon to be 542) car as his was/is without motor. He led away Dale Moon (302) with the pair of them trading places. I thought to myself, there's gonna be tears in a minute! Fortunately, it was the nearest man to the track, Liam Rowe (605) who took the consolation, avoiding any young gun hiccups. Final time and it turned out to be a fairly lively one, with some controversy. After a trip up for Russ Alpin (22) over and out, rolling, brought out the cautions. Mark Gibbs (270) led them away, and Rowe broke away from the reds. Meanwhile further back, a little feud that had been brewing in the heats between Justin Fisher (315) and Dave Sansom (352). However Sansom waded in on Fisher, taking Paul Moss (979) as collateral damage in an assualt of huge magnitude. Moss ended up in the ambulance with a severely bruised foot, and Sansom ended up trailered, pending further Board of Control action. After this incidient the racing turned into a game of cat and mouse, as Rowe hunted Gibbs, as going into the final corner saw the opportunity for a nudge, but thought better of it as it was just too close.... Wagner rounded out the top 3 and proclaimed that he was going to persuade his dad to move down here so he could race here as he loved the track so much! For Gibbs it was an impressive win, and a return to blue, as the Staffordshire driver didn't potter about. The GN saw a good blue top battle between Paul Rice (890) and Jamie Avery (126) which the latter took the win.


MONDAY 24th JUNE
The Monday between QRs sees the "emmets" usually frequent a beach somewhere. But as the opportunity arose to take some pics for the calendar it was awesome. Sam Wagner (823) was the first such driver to offer his car to a girl in a bikini. Sadly, the shot we wanted wasn't available without too many prying eyes, jobsworth attendants, so a trip on the moors was the cry. The Cornish village of Minions on Bodmin Moor was the destination. Not exactly Fistral Beach, and certainly not sunny.  Meet Becky, she's a runner up in Miss Cornwall and budding model. And a trooper, must come from the fact that she's also a Young Farmer. The poor lass near enough froze, as she posed and pouted around the Darlington driver's car. His sister Janis had more layers on to compensate!




Later on, in St Austell, at the Neil Truran BBQ, Barry Goldin's non appearance at the World QR at St Day meant that the crown of Brisca F2 BBQ Champion passed to Micky Brennan, combined with sous chef Sam Wagner...

taking the Micky!

TUESDAY 25th JUNE

Care in the Community gets sexy....Perfect advert for Santogen Gold

Bradders wins the race but Higgy comes first!

Stock car on a school night. Can't beat it. I say school night, it was more like day, as I picked up model Alana, from her house in Plymouth and trundled up for the extended practice session. With a selection of outfits and paraphenlia, Alana was up for it, so we decamped in Priddle's truck and approached firstly Speaky (218) and parked beside him Chris Burgoyne (647). I needed to approach both, so we got the pictures. Now, naturally Alana, was nervous, bedecked in her gold jumpsuit, but not as nervous as I, as I suddenly regressed into my 14 year old self, and went, "That's Speaky" and got a little awe struck. So I approached him shook his hand, congratulated him on saving the driver from the Ipswich fireball, and talked business. Alana then approached the car, and we shot, only to be interrupted by car building legend Higgy, who the Tyldsley legend shouted, "Don't get too close Col, you'll have a heart attack!". Needless to say, some real good shots where taken, including Justin Fisher on arrival, who asked if we needed a hand.  After shooting Micky Brennan's car also, racing was about to start, with Jo Polley-Goldin and Barry Goldin being stuck on the M5 and requested the second heat to Autospeed via twitter. However Barry lined up for heat 1, which was a fairly pedestrian affair, with Bradders looking mighty fine, storming to victory. Heat 2 was as busy as the M5 on a summer Saturday. Jay Tomkins (290) took the lead and with Paul Butcher (189) for company. However when traffic was in front of him, the wily old Gloucestershire based veteran found his way through better. The consolation saw a win for Dale Moon, fresh from equalising the scores in the food feud with Ben Goodard, who's chips ended up on the tarmac.

The Gentlemen's Favourite with the Ladies Favourite!

30 car feature final time, I do think they missed a trick by not having a 36 car final, 12 from each wouldn't have made much difference, but it white top John Scorse (519) in the old Ross Rowe car (one partly built by me, those secondary bumper fixings are my babies) who sped away. Butcher reeled in the white top and soon after, Bradbury stormed away to an impressive victory, sounding a warning shot across the boys of his golden rivals, equalling Bill Batten's run of 5 back to back Taunton wins. Butcher took second, with Scorse holding out for an impressive 3rd, with St Day final winner Gibbs rounding out a profitable points journey. The national saw Brennan and Rowe break from the pack, but Bradbury passed the Cornishman to take a near perfect evening which slashed his World Final odds to a point that if there was betting, Paddy Power would be paying  out and to open a book on what colour underpants Crispen Rosevear would be wearing...(1/6 purple 3/1 black 7/1 somebody elses!)

It certainly was one of the busiest meeting I've ever been too as i was rushing around with Alana in tow, so I ought to say a few thank yous to Grace Oliver and Mike Priddle for the loan of they vehicles for Alana to get changed in. Thanks go to Barry, Rob, Micky and Chris for the loan of their cars, and for Alana, who dealt with the wolf whistles and banter most impressively. She was really gutted that there was no parade lap.
However, wasn't it nice to be home in bed at a reasonable time. They were super quick and efficient with the meeting turnaround...

5 Gold Wins!!!!

Clarity in the Fog of Misinformation

Not many people know that my trade actually is a journalist. Didn't last too long as I thought I was the next Nev in call centre world. During my training, we would have to react to breaking news, and in one scenario that we had, we had mock breaking news of a sinking ship of the Mannacles just off Land's End. We had to coordinate the response, take in evidence, eye witness reports, quantify the evidence and check it, verify and then add to the picture. We had counter rumour, and "eye witness" reports, which we, as cub reporters, over reacted too.

We were told about the "fog of war". In the moments after any event, details become sketchy. I remember just after the Twin Towers, they was a plane crash in Queen's, a suburb of New York, which killed all on board. The BBC stayed with plane crash, but the American Networks (Fox, NBC, CBS et al) went the whole hog. Terrorist atrocity, let's get Osama, war on terror, let's see what's happening in Afghanistan. It transpired to be a tragic accident, but the over reaction fed on hearsay and rumour made a laughing stock of the American media at the time.

With the advent of social media, we get information much much quicker. Look at 20 years ago, you'd have to wait a month to find out who won that Long Eaton final. With this social revolution, the ability to skew a story is very much more easier to do. Facebook and Twitter are useful tools, but they have made the fog of war even more foggier. Everyone is an on the spot reporter, you only have to look at the amount of footage that becomes available an incident. So much Chinese whispers gets passed on from the first hand and bastardized. The actual information can get skewed and become exaggerated.

And when that person is the biggest name in the sport, all sorts of rumours, conjecture and bullshit can take place. So when Gordon Moodie (7) required medical assistance after a throttle stuck open at Taunton on Sunday during the GN. As the majority of his fans weren't there, the information forthcoming was based on what had been passed on twitter and facebook. Indeed, I was a 40th wedding anniversary shindig, and my thanks to the legendary Mr Commenstarter Andy Chant, was relaying information back to me. Now, hand on heart, I'm not the biggest Moodie fan, but no driver should get injured doing the sport that we all love. Now, Gordon is blessed with a lot of fans, some of them real fundamentalists. It was fun to see the fallout on Facebook and twitter, with the sketchy information, and people guessing and speculating, and the conspiracy theorists even trying to blame Speaky for it! Indeed, Mike Priddle and Andy Maidment had to go online to request (on Gordon's behalf) to basically shut the "flip" up and let Gordon get better.  Had this had have happened at Cowdenbeath, I doubt the reaction would have been so bad. It seems that all the drivers need to employ media agents to deal with the speculation and nonsense. As long as the statements don't get as long as Adrian Blackwell's long winded ones used to be on Roger's site....

Everyone hates Hear'say that's we've forgotten all about it, and they all act in Emmerdale and Corrie now...

Statements like this one keep people informed and stop the Hearsay.

"At Smeatharpe on Sunday 16 June, BriSCA F2 National Points Champion 7 Gordon Moodie suffered a severe cut to his right foot, when he crashed out of the Grand National.

Moodie was taken to hospital, in Taunton, where he was detained overnight.  X-rays revealed no broken bones.  He is set to have an operation under general anaesthetic on Monday 17 June, to help to repair and heal the cut, and is set to spend a second night in the hospital.

Autospeed with Gordon a speedy recovery, and will endeavour to provide further updates as and when available" 

An excellent example of how to stop rumour and getting 2 and 2 and making 4, instead of 7. Even such sports like cricket have been the subject of rumour, with England being alleged of ball tampering, following the match against Sri Lanka, when a ball was changed by the umpires because it was out of shape,  when a simple statement from the ICC could have stopped any rumours there and then. So well done Autospeed. Most importantly though....




So, get well soon Gordon, and don't pick the scabs...

It was such a crazy weekend of big incidents. Coming off the news of legend Bill Batten's (167) serious work based injury, came Graham Fegan's (NI998) monster roll at Nutts Corner, and the rare sight of a F1 bending like Beckham with a huge one for Messrs Finnikin, Newsome and Johnson at Buxton, can we have a nice and glorious pain free weekend please?

A Points of Order Special- Full Moon!

This is why he is the Ladies' Favourite, seen here working his charm on ex F2 driver, Sarah Bowden

Much can be said for the proclaimed "Ladies' Favourite" Dangerous Dale Moon (302). The young Cornish Lad has been making a stake to be one of the characters that surrounding the Westcountry scene.

Dale is a growing lad, however recently, the Snozal based youngster's sustenance has been scuppered by various current and former racing colleagues.

After polishing off a footlong hotdog at Crasharama at Taunton, laden with tomato sauce and mustard, Dale set about a spot of afters. With it being a hot but somewhat blustery day, Dale picked up an ice cream. A deluxe one. Top of the range with sprinkles and everything. Disaster was to strike. 

Saloon Driver come human beanstalk Ben Goddard (995) grabbed young Mr Moons' super duper 99 ice cream with extra sauce and sprinkles and shoved it towards Moon's face. In the ensuing melee that followed, fellow Ministox alumnus Goddard, grabbed the cone and broke it away at the stem, leaving Dangerous with just a handful of crushed wafer as the frozen desert ended up on the deck, much to the hilarity of all around.

Now Dale is one of a gorup of Mid Cornwall based drivers who after putting their stock cars away, go go karting. Be it St Eval, St Erme or the new favourite Plymouth Karting, on the site of the old Toshiba Factory, Dale, usually along with Messrs Westaway, Bassett and the Moss brethern, burn up the track in the quest to set lap records. Of course, like any half decent roadtrip, food is required for the trip home. So off to the drive thru KFC goes ex F2 now National Banger driver Darren Wade. As driver he puts in the order. Wadey decided to switch his sauce on his KFC Supercharger to the "2Hot4U" rather than the somewhat calmer Sweet Chilli option.It was indeed too hot for Mr Moon, who proceeded to abandon said chicken burger.

So if you see Dale, give him what you can, looks as though he could do with something to eat....

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......