CHARLIE CLASS AT BRUM BASH
To the second city, and hot foot it if you may, for it was the time for the opening Wheels meet over at the spiritual land of the Balti, Birmingham. 49 Cars in the pits, but engine troubles befell a good half a dozen competitors, and with others with engines spitting and farting everywhere. 2 heats and a consolation format for the first time in eons was greeted with smiles all round. First heat went the way of 2014 Novice of the Year, Steve Gilbert (542) who came out on top of a 27 car heat from his advantageous Blue grade. The next heat was taken by Sy Harraway (83) in what commentator turned uber-anorak Dave Goddard reminded the crowd was a repeat of the opening Brum last year. That boy is a mind of useful/less knowledge, and it's not just F2. Having competed against him in a racing related quiz, I can tell thee, I couldn't beat him even with my teammates, G Oogle and Rick Epedia. However, that trend stopped in the consolation, as Lewis Geach (111) took the first Zetec tarmac win, followed home from similarly powered Chris Mikulla (522) and Tom Adcroft (768), making it a Zetec 1-2-3.
Final time, and like the tradition mentioned before, a white top final winner, and it was youngster from Buxton, Charlie Marriot (94) supersized his Skegness heat win by taking the final, only just as the king of the last benders, Mark Gibbs (578) attempted the mother of all them all. Luckily for the white grader, he didn't quite get there, and a career first final for Charlie.
FORSTER FIRST AT BARFORD
The North east drivers (well, whats left from Daztardly Kitson and Red Jeff's attempt to power control) got their opportunity to play with some homeward bound Scots, to make a 16 strong line up at the Barnard Castle track. And indeed, it was the Scots who invaded, and took top honours. Liam Rennie (3) took the first heat, at a track which he set a lap record at the tail end of last year. Chris Burgoyne (647) took the second heat and the grand national, however it was blue top Stephen Forster (652) who took the victory in a new TLF car. Another return to red for Forster, and the grid at Cowdie set to be top heavy again!
GILBERT GRABS PRIDDLE PRIZE
Soawakening to mist and drizzle was not what the doctor ordered. Neither was the fact that my phone had decided to lose signal, causing mass panic from nearest and dearest, including Alana, on trophy duties for Mike Priddle, whose fellow trophy girl, Sophie, threatened to kill me if I didn't bring the ginger winger up (Luv ya ginge!). We were greeted to a slight drizzle, grey skies at the track, despite a bit of optimism coming into Exeter, which made the opening races a little tricky.
I spoke to Mr Zetec, Matt Linfield (464) and said this was his weather. He was right, as after a tussle with fellow regenmeister Lewis Geach (111), he took the first heat. If heat 1 was a battle between yellow graders, then the second heat was a blue top battle. Youngster Steve Gilbert (542) battled with wily old veteran Richard Beere (254), and it was the youngster that took the win. The consolation promised to be a better race with drying track, and it was Lee Morgan (745) who took a flag to flag victory.
Final time and it was looking lively. The sun was out, and a busy grid meant one thing! Action. Morgan sped away again, hotly persued by Geach and Tom Clark (575). Clark broke away and set about the white ahead. Meanwhile, Geach's car throttle stuck open and flailed around the wall at incredibly high speed. After a period of extraction for Geach, he was off for a check up, and nothing more than bruises and stiffness the prognosis thankfully. With the restart Morgan soon gave way to Clark, but Gilbert was not too far behind. After a pile up caused by Linfield's oil (sump fell off - ooops!) Gilbert led, but Neil Hooper (676) in his new Motorworld steed was looking omnious in 3rd. However, Gilbert made the best of the tricky track conditions to seal an instant return to red, with Hooper pipping Clark on the line.
POINTS OF ORDER
Zetec vs Pinto.
Well for some, there is a lot of moaning about the Zetec. The more the moaning about the speed of the zetec versus the pinto, the sooner the later is likely to be restricted to keep the playing field even. Perseverance is key, and perhaps if a few more star drivers persevered with the Duratec back in the day, then they would be 3 realistic choices. The Pinto needs to die out naturally, and not kept on life support because of ulterior motives. However, it seems many are too quick to ditch the zetec, and maybe too quick to ditch the pinto too. My advice to anyone thinking about a switch- hold steady, wait til your pinto goes bang, then make the change. It took Brisca over 6 years to restrict the 1300, so no immediate fix is there, however the rule is there to be used if necessary. It is a completely different unit to the Pinto, and its there to keep the lifeblood of the sport - the lower graders - in the sport that we all love...
Testing. Maybe not just random drink test after a boozy Saturday night before, but maybe drug testing. I have smelt the particular whiff of a herbal cigarette at a track, and there are allegations that some have raced under the influence of Colombian Marching Powder too. A drug test is available to most employers now, and any narcotic can stay in the system for up to a week.
Don't forget both myself and Steve Linfield are on the latest episode of Stoxradio .... the latest episode at the top of this bar, or if your reading on the phone spreaker.com/stoxradio. Download the Spreaker App and listen to me at any time!
Right, onto the next weekend!!!
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