Maidment at Mendips takes Pink Prize...

As the muggy skies greeted the wakening souls on the Sunday, it was up for a bit of a dress rehearsal at Mendips, as Bristol once again turned pink once again. So pink, even Barbie would have said it was too much. But it was all for a good cause, as drivers gathered in aid of Cancer Research for the Pink Ribbon Trophy

Numbers were on the low side, but the spirits were high as the first event was the second running of the bike race, which was won by Barry Richards, which is very good considering he was a South African cricketer of the apartheid era! Sadly, Chris Bradbury missed the start for once, an inverse pringle if you will.

So with the numbers down, and despite the locals Rygor, Hooper and Fisher all on their hols, and most of the fellow semi finalists saving cars for the following week, locals were a little short on supply. But with newly crowned European Champion Barry Goldin (401), National Champion Tom Adcroft (768)and Steve Smith (299) all down on a reccie to see how the track handled. With insufficient cars, the traditional Rookies Reward was dispensed with, and 2 from 3 was deployed. Heat 1 saw Marc Rowe (526) and the yellow bound John Scorse (519) lead them away for quite some time. The gaggle of yellow tops which included Simon Edwards (430) and Nathan Maidment (935) caught the pack. A bit of traffic with a few to go saw Bradbury (886) catch the pack, and as the 1-6 entered the bottom bend, one man came out of the melee, and that was Bradbury. Marc Rowe (526) took the brunt of the hit and ended up parked at the bottom bendAn equally entertaining heat 2 soon followed, with Bradders sitting it out, and it was left to an impressive display from Barry Goldin who took the win after another white top charge from Jay Scott (686). After another long gap between races, which enabled pics to be taken of more very scantiliy clad ladies on the cars of Maidment, Adcroft and Goldin (reshoot), and for on this blessed of days, the bottom corner became blessed with a holy visitor, not Pope Higgy, but a rather large hole developed on the apex of the bottom bend.
After much head scratching between Messrs Chant and Bunter, the hole was filled rapidly than any municipal council would fill a hole of a similar size. How the hole got there is beyond explanation, or it could be a Mario Kart esque plan to get rid of a few competitors

During the ridiculous break for 2 banger and 2 special rod races, much merriment was made during the waiting. Most centred around the Maidment/TART area where a lovely barbecue and gazebo combo was set up. With burgers, sausage and cake on the agenda, something moist was needed to wet the whistle. Andy Maidment proceeded to get out a barrel of local firewater called Thatcher's Gold which went down a treat, especially with the ladies!

Heat 3 eventually lined up and whilst everyone else dosed off, it was that man Bradbury who took the heat win. After a short gap (enough for a Maidment Burger) it was all eyes on the final. Nathan Maidment (935) was pole yellow, and the race was led off, rather rapidly, by the ever improving PJ Moss (979). Moss led to just before halfway when Maidment took over. Behind, a blistering Bradbury start left many of the reds behind, but the Bradbury couldn't hold off the pack this time as the car seemed to lose speed. Maidment was long gone, and took the last 2 laps as an opportunity to showboat. The Pink Ribbon Trophy has increasingly special significance to Nathan. It's in memory of his late mum, Lesley who sadly fell foul of the Big C some 3 years ago. With all his family there, he got the donuts in, then got on top of his car. The lad was beaming a smile that could be seen for miles, and rightly so. Someone was definitely smiling down on him. Goldin and Bradbury rounded out the top 3. Most unlucky was Paul Moss (979) who was on for a nice high top 10 placing until he tripped over Richard Thomas (756) who's RCE looked somewhat truncated after the incident.

Bradders rounded off with the national, and we left at 6pm. Note to those travelling, there is only the Robins as support so the meeting might be a bit draggy, but it should be a good day full of action!

POINTS OF ORDER

After several pints of Thatchers Gold, the art of ordering KFC became quite a challenge to Bubble and Squeak (aka Alana and Steph, models extraordinaire), as they changed their minds on drinks.

Andy Maidment whilst getting dressed into his pink fishnets said it wasn't the first time this year he'd slipped into something more comfortable!

Scruitineering duo Colin Higman and Roy Dyke both hung around the Higman Passat parked in the bottom gate. "Listening to the Grand Prix" was the call of Mr Higman as he proceeded to look at the shoot before him. Mr Adcroft Snr had certainly a large smile on his face. However King Col of Menheniot proclaimed that I was a perve!

Perve or no perve, let's see who has a semi on next time!

WCQR Points - Old Skool versus New Skool

So with the rule changes what would have happened under 2012 rules??? The answer to the neigh sayers to the new rules, much the same.

	TOTAL	OLDSKOOL
886 Chris Bradbury	185	145
218 rob Speak	144	109
647 Christopher Burgoyne	132	97
1 Micky Brennan	117	87
100 George Macmillan	126	86
823 Sam Wagner	111	81
871 Mark Simpson	109	79
921 Jack Aldridge	117	77
401 Barry Goldin	116	76
178 Mark Dews	114	74
186 George Turrucki	98	73
768 Tom Adcroft	96	71
7 Gordon Moodie	89	69
3 Liam Rennie	97	67
270 Mark Gibbs	96	66
101 Kelvyn Whalley	85	65
480 Garry Sime	88	63
189 Paul Butcher	93	58
49 Paul Prest	78	58
126 Jamie Avery	105	55
38 Dave Polley	74	54
905 Rob Mitchell	69	54
488 Liam Bentham	82	52
315 Justin Fisher	80	50
222 Ayrton Mills	70	50
676 Neil Hooper	70	50
964 John Fortune	69	44
783 James Rygor	77	42
163 Craig Wallace	67	42
725 Paul Broatch	62	42
580 Alan Edmiston	57	42
290 Jay Tomkins	71	41
76 Chris Rowe	66	41
151 Colin Alyward	61	41
254 Richard Beere	85	40
977 David Massey	59	39
299 stephen Smith	59	39
380 Steven Cayzer	54	39
20 David Tagell	73	38
605 Liam Rowe	63	38
377 Daz Shaw	63	38
925 Paul Wilson	61	36
836 Dave Pannett	46	36
641 Dennis Middler	75	35
522 Chris Mikulla	59	34
817 Timothy Bailey	58	33
662 Steven Wycherly	52	32
615 Josh Coleman	47	32
854 Robbie Dawson	47	32
259 Simon Farrington	46	31
64 Marc Fortune	60	30
618 Ben Lockwood	59	29
995 Michael Lund	49	29
596 Ritchie Mead	63	28
866 Bob Griffin	58	28
169 Richard Stott	58	28
606 Andrew Palmer	48	28
302 Dale Moon	77	27
935 Nathan Maidment	62	27
291 Craig Tomblin	42	27
788 Stephen Mallinson	46	26
476 Ryan Wadling	75	25
136 Kyle Taylor	40	25
519 John Scorse	39	24
352 Dave Sansom	48	23
710 Brett Townsend	43	23
115 Mike Green	33	23
797 Dan Moss	52	22
225 Tony Blackburn	32	22
14 Mike Priddle	66	21
597 Barry Clow	51	21
700 Adam Rubery	46	21
339 Stuart Kelly	30	20
124 Ollie Skeels	49	19
761 Richard Bowyer	43	18
634 Paul Kitching	38	18
998 Graham Fegan	23	18
53 Phil Mann	72	17
154 Steven Green Jnr	32	17
997 Oliver Ives	32	17
963 Lee Carlin	27	17
393 Stuart Sculthorpe	22	17
890 Paul Rice	46	16
298 Jake Walker	41	16
59 Lee Dimmick	36	16
742 Nick Rogers	31	16
844 Darren Phillips	26	16
635 Philip Kitching	45	15
571 Darren Clarke	45	15
150 Mark Thoms	30	15
117 Thomas Bailey	30	15
682 Jason Cooper	20	15
297 Paul Bailey	39	14
102 Wullie Draeger	48	13
881 Graham Morrison	38	13
960 Adrian Whitehead	28	13
979 Paul Moss	57	12
575 Tom Clark	37	12
780 Chris Utley	37	12
722 John Broatch	32	12
448 John Wright	27	12
262 Robin Loxam	16	11
310 Greg Smith	15	10
362 Dave Harley	15	10
91 Brett Constable	34	9
219 Chris Mitchell	24	9
341 Drew Lammas	24	9
887 Neil Brigg	24	9
994 Paul Hopkins	24	9
145 Graham Mole	19	9
679 Kieron Howie	19	9
387 Jason Macdonald	19	9
199 Jak Marshall	19	9
686 Jay Scott	23	8
954 Jamie Beere	23	8
581 Daniel Fellows	18	8
398 Matthew Sayer	18	8
301 Charlie Whitfield	18	8
8 Peter Hobbs	13	8
867 Darren Cooper	13	8
538 Chevy Mills	37	7
13 Andy Ford	27	7
991 Ryan Hoskin	27	7
630 Justin Parker	22	7
798 Mark Sargent	22	7
449 Mark Dorrill	17	7
652 Steven Forstre	17	7
167 Bill Batten	12	7
624 Raymond Dick	12	7
458 Mark Meeds	12	7
544 James Rogers	31	6
184 Aaron Vaight	26	6
846 Ashley England	21	6
595 Jamie Young	16	6
67 Eddie Darby	16	6
202 Richard Hill	11	6
252 Rick Irving	11	6
391 Gregor Turner	11	6
236 Derek Scrigemour	15	5
583 Andy Bertram	10	5
H277 Ronald Claes	10	5
560 Luke Wrench	19	4
756 Richard Thomas	19	4
17 Paul Reid	14	4
258 Ryan Walker	9	4
305 Colin Gregg	9	4
H124 Wim Peeters	9	4
732 Daz Kitson	9	4
835 Matt Westaway	18	3
388 Ian Mallinson	13	3
695 Shaun Russell	13	3
801 Jack Cave	13	3
226 Billy Webster	8	3
366 Richie Kemp	8	3
693 Martin Hinchclife	8	3
526 Marc Rowe	22	2
158 Will Clement	17	2
430 Simon Edwards	17	2
627 Gary Sillifant	12	2
772 Kenny Mitchell	12	2
275 Mark Adkins	7	2
89 Brian Harrison	7	2
92 John Hogg	7	2
942 Gareth Hamar	21	1
22 Russ Alpin	16	1
650 Mark Kiff	16	1
116 Ashley Rundle	11	1
33 Andy Kaye	11	1
416 Richard Raymond	11	1
422 Ben Riley	11	1
528 Shane Hector	11	1
541 Luke Phillips	11	1
598 Jamie Taylor	11	1
758 Thomas Hollingsworth	11	1
909 Andrew Cattell	11	1
48 Ryan Morgan	6	1
379 Stuart Cayzer	6	1
431 Andy Gibbs	6	1
535 Simon Turner	6	1
56 Len Perkins	6	1
588 Matt Pettit	6	1
589 Colin Eardley	6	1
63 Ally Noble	6	1
71 Kevin Bruce	6	1
180 Danny Ward	15	0
185 Mark Foster	15	0
328 Andy Walker	15	0
34 Raymond Wincote	15	0
529 Paul Barker	15	0
90 Geoff Maskery	15	0
987 Sam Brigg	15	0
321 Holly Glen	15	0
547 Mark Bussey	10	0
120 Luke Loveland	10	0
242 Ben Bates	10	0
343 Stuart Yule	10	0
376 Darren Seneschall	10	0
396 David Johnson	10	0
421 James Trigg	10	0
464 Matt Linfield	10	0
537 Tom Alsop	10	0
555 Dave Bale	10	0
719 Colin Smith	10	0
724 Tom Peel	10	0
775 Keith Andrews	10	0
830 Andrew Bennett	10	0
851 Gary Smith	10	0
860 Andrew Brewin	10	0
869 Jason Dickens	10	0
137 Russ Chadwick	5	0
604 Jamie Conway	5	0
749 Ben Aimson	5	0
119 Nick Glover	5	0
122 James Allsopp	5	0
148 Gary Lusher	5	0
156 Pat Lines	5	0
19 Martin Ford	5	0
194 Jack Rutherford	5	0
213 Matthew Smith	5	0
23 Colin Johnston	5	0
238 John Moir	5	0
239 Richard Smith	5	0
251 Dave Main	5	0
283 Gary Allen	5	0
296 Wez Westwell	5	0
304 Chris Marley	5	0
372 Stephen North	5	0
383 Jack Brown	5	0
385 Barry Linley	5	0
420 Chris Kendall	5	0
423 Neil Darby	5	0
437 Danny Withers	5	0
470 Hayden Barrington	5	0
520 Jason Clarke	5	0
563 Keith Walding	5	0
568 Shaun Login	5	0
585 Jamie Bower	5	0
602 James Horwell	5	0
613 Alex Sloggett	5	0
631 Ron Ferguson	5	0
701 Dave Waterhouse	5	0
716 James Muckian	5	0
728 Karl Pilkington	5	0
734 Glenn Sanders	5	0
736 Scott Douglas	5	0
743 Lee Armstrong	5	0
757 Martin Chadwick	5	0
861 Ben Litherland	5	0
87 Paul Weekes	5	0
915 Jacklyn Ellis	5	0
917 Nigel Wiles	5	0
967 Aaron Pugh	5	0
H55 Johan Schoutan	5	0
244 Clive Buckton	5	0
153 Andy Cowan	5	0
224 Paul Dobson	5	0
694 Jonathon Davison	5	0
625 Michael Robson	5	0
407 Richard Mawdsley	5	0
359 Gary Wrench	5	0
557 Andrew Spence	5	0
512 David Hamlin	5	0
284 Jody Griffin	5	0
482 Dale Schenschall	5	0

Specially For Thick ***ts - cheers Den!

Semi 1		Semi 2
886	647	218	100
1	401	921	178
823	126	871	186
3	270	768	189
7	101	480	254
315	488	49	783
302	476	641	38
20	290	53	222
676	964	905	163
76	605	14	377
596	935	725	151
925	299	64	977
522	817	618	866
169	979	580	761

Bristol - who's got an unofficial SEMI ON!

List of all the qualified drivers for the 2013 World Championship Semi Finals.

Totally unofficial. If scores are tied then it is best score. If best score is tied, then its 2nd best score and so on.

HERE'S WHO'S GOT A SEMI ON!!!

886 Chris Bradbury	185
218 rob Speak	144
647 Christopher Burgoyne	132
100 George Macmillan	126
1 Micky Brennan	117 (31)
921 Jack Aldridge	117 (30)
401 Barry Goldin	116
178 Mark Dews	114
823 Sam Wagner	111
871 Mark Simpson	109
126 Jamie Avery	105
186 George Turrucki	98
3 Liam Rennie	97
768 Tom Adcroft	96 (33)
270 Mark Gibbs	96 (32)
189 Paul Butcher	93
7 Gordon Moodie	89
480 Garry Sime	88
101 Kelvyn Whalley	85 (30)
254 Richard Beere	85 (22)
315 Justin Fisher	80
49 Paul Prest	78 (33)
488 Liam Bentham	78 (26)
783 James Rygo	77 (19)
302 Dale Moon	77 (12)
641 Dennis Middler	75 (23)
476 Ryan Wadling	75 (14)
38 Dave Polley	74
20 David Tagell	73
53 Phil Mann	72
290 Jay Tomkins	71
222 Ayrton Mills	70 (35,15,15)
676 Neil Hooper	70 (35,15,13)
905 Rob Mitchell	69 (32)
964 John Fortune	69 (24)
163 Craig Wallace	67
76 Chris Rowe	66 (23)
14 Mike Priddle	66 (13)
605 Liam Rowe	63 (29)
377 Daz Shaw	63 (27)
596 Ritchie Mead	63 (15)
725 Paul Broatch	62 (26)
935 Nathan Maidment	62 (20)
151 Colin Alyward	61 (27)
925 Paul Wilson	61 (19)
64 Marc Fortune	60
299 stephen Smith	59 (30,18)
977 David Massey	59 (30,6)
522 Chris Mikulla	59 (19)
618 Ben Lockwood	59 (18)
817 Timothy Bailey	58  (25)
866 Bob Griffin	58 (14,14,13)
169 Richard Stott	58 (14,14,12)
580 Alan Edmiston	57 (30)
979 Paul Moss	57 (11)
761 Richard Bowyer	56
380 Steven Cayzer	54
102 Wullie Draeger	53
662 Steven Wycherly	52
797 Dan Moss	52
597 Barry Clow	52
995 Michael Lund	49
124 Ollie Skeels	49
606 Andrew Palmer	48
352 Dave Sansom	48
854 Robbie Dawson	47 (27)
615 Josh Coleman	47 (22)
259 Simon Farrington	46

Scrutineers under scrutiny

The disqualification of Richard Bowyer (761) and Adam Rubery (700) following the final at Buxton for technical infringements and their subsequent sanction free return less than week later has caused a veritable storm, mostly on twitter, which has highlighted a few problems within the sport.

For many years the rule of the scrutineer has been much maligned and considered inconsistent. There is a "CBA" attitude at some tracks, check to see you have 4 wheels and go vroom, where as other you get. The excellent Roy Dyke at Mendips is a great example. He would make sure overalls and helmets were to standard, sometimes would ask for bonnets to be removed, and also check on any rule changes. There are the pernickety ones like Adrian Blackwell, who will go through everything with looking at minutia, despite wearing shorts which contravene the fashion rulebook, and the wrong shade of white for legs.

When a car is found outside the rules, there is consistency problems for technical infringements. From the "don't do it again" approach taken with Rubery/Bowyer to the hung, drawing and quartering of Moodie, and then the Dreyfusian degradation of George Macmillan in the post race scrutineering in the World Final. What draws these things together, all these cars had been outside the rules for sometime and had gone undiscovered for quite a period of time. Fact remains, it is still the driver's responsibility, and if in doubt. consult a "wise sage" to see whether it will be legal. In the Rubery/Bowyer case, to have a car passed so many times when clear guidance was in place asks questions about the scrutineers. How did they get away with these infringements for so long?

How do we solve this? It's a bit of short term gain for long term gain as each Scrutineer should take a different approach to their jobs.

At the start of the season, a day is set aside in each region for a "Brisca" scrutineer to look at the each car with a fine tooth comb. With the rule book in one hand and the tape measure in the other, each and every car is given the once over. Without the once over, you simply cannot race. Then during the season if the car is modified (new axle, nerfs etc) it is noted in a kind of log book. Then when its presented at the track, the scrutineers can look at the changes and check to see everything is above board. If it hasn't been presented or a change has been made but not noted, then a permission to race ticket will only be allowed if the scrutineer is happy with changes. If a change is discovered, but not declared, then a mandatory month ban would be the case.

When its championship time, cars are to be presented before the start to parc ferme where all checks are done, tanks will be drained and new tyres to be given to all competitors. The car is to be presented to pass post race scrutineering. Its called making a level playing field and taking out a variant. All cars as they enter the track, should drive over weigh scales (allowing for a certain amount of tolerance). Then we can get a result every time.

Ultimately, its the responsibility of the driver to make sure that the car is clean, legal and decent, the scrutineer should be there to check that it is so. But without greater co-operation and consistency, events like this end up looking like a farce, and all respect for scrutiny is lost.

Yours, with a clipboard and measuring tape....cheers' n gone

Barford Bound.

With the world final qualifiers reaching a dramatic climax, it was rather surprising that the penultimate round was the only round so far not to run a full format. Even Hednesford and Crimond run a consolation and double point final this year. Yet, even with a few extra visitors our westcountryman in the North Country, Dave Crossman, reported in from a sunny Barfbados...

Cheers n gone! Rowe is all go go go

Micky finds Rennie hard to swallow

Twas a warm and sunny day as the Scots invaded Wimbledon , so we set off to Barford with some strawberries and a pot of smuggled in Rodda's (clotted cream) only to find half of the Scots stopped at Barford , and some south west regulars forsaking taunton .

With just under 30 cars in the pits we had a 2 from 3 format and all in final so Heat 1 included the longest traveler of the day, "Merlin" lookalike Liam Rowe (605), Clive Buckton (244) had a early spin as Dave Tagell (20) lead the way from Luke Loveland (12) with Garry Sime (480) making good progress from the very back ,part way through 120 pulls off with 5 to go 836 dave pannett leads from 49 paul prest and the under graded 641 dennis middler  and 480 in 4th and thats the way it stayed in an uneventful race 

heat 2 and with not whites in heat 1 and only 1 superstar we had 3 whites and 4 superstars !!

the green flag fell with only a 3rd of a lap between first and last ( Andy Chant would never allow that ) we had an early tangle for red tops 163 Craig Wallace and 184 Arron Vaight , 979 PJ Moss got the jump from 20 and 299 Steve Smith with 921 Jack Aldridge the first star to show but soon overtaken by 1 Micky Brennan as 49 took the lead from 299 and 20 , at halfway 49 leads from 299  1 836  and 3 but the stars were finding there way past 299 onto the last lap 49 had a good lead as 3 tried to pass 1 on the 2nd bend and spins him only for 1 to reverse and clamp the 3 car against the plating and they continued like that till they came to a stop at the begining of the start finish straight , so 836 took 2nd and 921 3rd.

Heat 3 and eyes were on 3 and 1 wondering if could be a start of a feud. 979 led the way from 120 and 224 , after a few laps 120 takes over the lead from 596 Richie Mead and 641 storming through to take the lead from 596 and 780 Chris Utley but at halfway 641 slows and pulls off  and 625 Michael Robson , in the end 3 takes the win from 1 and 596 

Onto the final and the 605 car was on the way home. They said they had the points they wanted and early starts at work on Monday, but I reckon Mother Rowe had them on a curfew. As they lined up 321 Holly Glen had a problem and is a non starter soon to be followed by 641 on the pace lap , as the very closely group pack approached the flag the green flag was not waved and the reds tangled at the first bend with 480 964 and 3 involed leaving 3 a non starter and 480 joining him on the pace lap 

as the race starts 120 span as 224 led from 694. Dawson and 163 made the break from the reds 3rd distance and 224 leads from 299 49 and 163 but 224 gets knocked into the back straight fence and is out .

With 3 to go 163 passed 49 for the lead and took the win with 836 taking 3rd 

Onto the GN and 866 Bobby Griffin spins early and 480 spins 1 out of the race as 299 leads from 596 and 49 who gets past the 596 car and the 3 car gets past the 596 late on 

So a good day for the jocks.  Roll on next weekend and the main speed week end of the year the reporting head will not be on as I enjoy the social side of the weekend....

Dave

Boys from Foy and Racing with Roy!

Greetings blog pickers....

Another glorious sunshine weekend and another shoot for the calendar, which you may have not been aware of and a spot of travelling and banter of the highest order was the highlights of the weekend.

Friday evening, and a glorious evening befell the south coast of Cornwall, as 2 car loads of girls and various camera equipment headed to Trenant, home of the infamous Moss family. With the family tradition of being good racers when the rains came (father Jeremy was a regular regenmeister), and with Dan's birthday being in April, the theme April Showers was developed. Cue the pits favourite Alana, Rebecca, with newbies Abii and Kristina. Also present was Dale Moon (302) who completed the March shoot.

So onto the lawn the cars rolled....

Abii and Kristina then proceeded to do the green shoot.

Then came the main event. April Showers. We had brollies, we had wellies. We had girls!We had a slight audience! We didn't have rain! Dale, PJ and Dan all got assistant roles. Handed a water pistol each they proceeded to get the rain. Handing a water pistol to cheeky funster Dale did not go down well with Alana, as the 302 pilot blotted his copy book with the red headed girl as he proceeded to squirt the lady with his weapon. As the buckets arrived and the girls got soaked even more, due to some low down scheming between photographer Nat Lampshire and Dan Moss...

Other spectators included Jeremy Moss and Mark Moon, former racer and now famed for being a "friend of Crispen". However, Mr Moon Snr, took a pride in a position and got a front row, even VIP seat in the action. As he became proclaimed as "moisture consultant" he then felt the need in his heightened status. A reconstruction is below.

After telling all the models to bring a spare change of clothes, it was Alana herself who forgot, and proceeded to shiver all the way to MacDonalds.

Saturday
After a spot of lunch and an extended period of relaxing, it was over to the laptop and a selection of results to update the highly popular "road to gold" page as live. I knew that plenty of questions would be coming that night, especially as some drivers were planning their journeys for the morning. My thanks to Stevie Kirk, and numerous over folk over at the Rob Speak facebook page, as both Allstox and Ftooz had internet silence when it came to results. I also arranged with Chris Mikulla (522) the details of the shoot that was going to take place the following day at Taunton. Meet by the old entrance and find a nice spot further up the road away from prying eyes. Meet you as close to 1030 as I can says I to Chris.

Sunday.
Up with the lark and on the road as soon as possible. I picked up Alana, who was running late and in the centre of Plymouth. Slow fast lane hoggers, a need to get some cash in Honiton, and we rocked up to Smeatharpe, nearly half an hour late thanks to the East Devon version of Bradley Wiggins and Victoria Pembleton weaving across the road riding two a breast. Fuck. All a bit of a rush, Rygor had arrived. Both Grace and Tia are ready, the camera is ready. Click, Click. Fuck. Batteries run out! Ok, says I, I'll just get the spares out of my bag. Open Bag. Ah fuck. They're in the charger at home. Fuck! So back in the car we go, past Vicky and Wiggo again, into Honiton and grab some double AA's and we go again. Stress less and it was away we go again! Thanks to Chris and The Tiger and most importantly to Grace and Tia, proving that stock car WAG's can be fun too!

With a lot of regulars at the Barford Qualifier or stranded with no tow vehicle, numbers were down. 34 cars still was very very good though and better than the qualifier.
Sadly, the hot weather brought with a bit of state of "meh". Simon Edwards (430) crossed the line first after a flyer of a start, as he became the latest on the Pringle list, and loaded up in protest. This gave Tom Adcroft (768) the win. Tom was down at Taunton because he couldn't go to Barford, some family disagreement or tuther. He was most impressed with Alana. "If you bring birds like that I'll come here more often". It became apparent that the rapidly improving John Scorse (519) in the Hybrid Higgy (ex Ross Rowe, built by the former pilot, Mike Lampshire, the Higster and to a much lesser extent, yours truly) and Gary Sillifant (627) were going to be hard to catch. Indeed it was Chris Bradbury who eventually caught the whites, somewhat at a canter. The consolation was won by a rejuvenated James Rogers (544), as many faster yellow tops fell by the wayside. A disconsolate Matt Westaway (835) was peeved off with a lack of power, and Matt Linfield (464) was scratching his head with the lack of power. 5 cars decided it was too hot to race and didn't make it out for the meeting final. Again, Sillifant and Scorse led them away, with Ryan Hoskin (991) in touching distance of the white tops. But for the Roy Goodman Perpetual Trophy, of which Roy, 84 years of age, turned up in flowery shirt befitting the summery day, one man took to the track with history on his mind. Bradders set on a 6 consecutive final win at Smeatharpe, a feat only matched by Bill Batten. He did win it, at a relative canter, from Scorse and Hoskin. Bradbury became the second driver in its 10 year history to win the rosebowl twice, following Chris Cuming. With Alana and I hanging around Bradders and Priddle, much banter was had. Mr 886 took great pleasure in winding up the easy to wind up Plymouthian lass, but Mr Bradbury Snr gave some consolation to Alana, giving her the flowers for the day. We then found in the boot of my car that one of the bottles of bubbly that was supposed to be for the April Showers shoot, had exploded. So, take the other 2 as a bonus. An incentive if you will. Alana was thirsty, so I got her one to drink, and gave one to Bradders for 6 in a row. As the national lined up, people were asking if the unthinable, a second maximum? Sadly, Sillifant and Scorse had other ideas, but it was Gary who was beaming, as he took his first ever win in F2, to suitable delight, and his dad Derek was smiling from ear to ear also. Meanwhile back in the pits, Alana was struggling to open her champers, so enlisted the help of mischeivous Mike Priddle, who proceeded to shake it up a bit and spray it over her. Schoolgirl error!
Having professed to her that I haven't been to a dull Taunton in a while, I took full responsibility for it being a bit dull, however the banter in the pits is becoming at a level which is making the racing enjoyable....

So hi ho hi ho, it's off to Skeg we all go. Not me. I have weeding to do, maybe watch a bit of cricket all things more exciting.

Ta fer now...