For the fifth year running, the Unlimited National Banger UK Open Championship raised a triple figure entry of cars, which as I said in my preview last week, is no mean feat. There were some nice cars in attendance too including two lovely Rolls Royce’s from 146 Steve ‘Vossy’ Voss and 67 Rickie Beasley. 77 ‘Patch’ Beasley and 239 ‘Nemesis’ Steve Carter had two very nice Jaguar XJ6’s and 100 ‘Mr Messy’ had a tidy 420 Jaguar. 388 Taylor ‘Lump’ Sowter had a smart yank Hearse and 884 Tom Filmer also had a smart Yank. 733 Ricky Stroud turned out a beautiful Chrysler Cordoba. 421 Nigel Riley and 221 Justin Riley of the Bears had two big yank estates. 154 Tim De Paiva had a fresh Ford Granada mk2 saloon and 762, Michael Perry tuned out a stretch limo version.
Of course, there was a selection of modern machinery on show too, most of it being used stuff. However, there were some grand paintjobs on hand, including: 222 Matthew High who turned out a very nice looking modern Jaguar, 246 Aston Burt also turned out a beautiful Jaguar but was once again plagued by engine issues which kept him from racing. Also turning out a nicely painted modern Jag was 660 Gavin Dampney who was also representing ‘Caged!’ on the bonnet, so thanks to Gavin for that. 572 Paul Scully ‘Squirt’ had a tidy Ford Scorpio limo. 632 Callum Reed and 932 Rhys Reed turned out a nice Mercedes saloon and estate car respectively. 360 ‘Jackstar’ Jack Reynolds had a Taxi which ended the night well squashed! So, unlike most Unlimited meetings today, Saturday night saw a varied array of machines on hand with some of the sport’s hardest hitters! With no rain in the air, track conditions were near perfect for what was looking like being a cracking meeting.
Heat 1
A field of somewhere within the region of the mid-20’s gathered for Heat 1 of the evening including 146 Steve Voss in his gorgeous Rolls Royce. 114 Liam ‘Lakey’ Lake followed in the 241 car of Liam Cracknell on turns 3 and 4. A couple laps after, the number 100 Vauxhall Omega was jacked on the exit of turn 4 after he got caught up with 315 Dan Osborne who was lurking on opposite in his Toyota Previa. But before ‘Vossy’ mounted his attack, the Omega was hit slowly in the rear end by 254 Steven Ryan. 820 ‘Maggot’ Martin Perkins span the 648 Jaguar of Jamie Smith on the entrance to turn 3 hitting the armco on the outside. 382 Danny Hunt raced to victory in heat 1 of the night.
Race winner: 382 Danny Hunt – Best Entertainer: 146 Steve ‘Vossy’ Voss for that crunching shot on the number 100 Vauxhall Omega.
Heat 2
A similar sized field took to the track for Heat 2 of the night which included the very lively 733 Ricky Stroud in his Chrysler Cordoba. John Picton was spun over on turn 4 by 43 Luke Maynard before receiving a stiff shot from 240 Rob Setters. 43 Maynard was then hit by 732 Danny Stroud on the exit of turn 4. 160 Jamie Warr was spun on the exit of turn 4 and received a hard shot over the front left wheel by 733 Ricky Stroud in his big powerful Cordoba. 883 Jack Filmer jacked the 92 Ford Scorpio estate creating a bit of air time on turns 1 and 2 before Jack drove slowly into the turns 3 and 4 armco without any steering as a result of that great hit! 341 Andrew Jones then followed in 55 Dan Reeves hard into the turn 3 and 4 armco to celebrate his heat 2 victory.
Race winner: 341 Andrew Jones – Best Entertainer: 883 ‘Chunk’ Jack Filmer for that awesome jack up on the Ford Scorpio estate on turns 1 and 2.
Heat 3
The third heat saw the two big yank estates out for the Bears driven by 421 Nigel Riley and 221 Justin Riley. A big push into turns 3 and 4 caused a small pile up. 77 ‘Patch’ Beasley came around to deliver a stonking shot to 41 Paul Pentecost of the Bears who was then hit in turn by 521 ‘Ace-Ash’ Ashley Riley. ‘Patch’ tried to get free from the Bears car but couldn’t as he frantically spun the rear wheels. 421 ‘Nutty’ Nigel Riley then went on opposite clipping the 380 Jaguar of ‘Leeful’ Lee Hopkins. Meanwhile, ‘Patch’ had managed to escape from the Bears car but was now facing oncoming traffic with no where to go. 221 Justin Riley then came around to give him a head on and Nigel Riley then hit the ‘Patch’ Jaguar over the rear right corner. Nigel Riley wasn’t done there though as he continued to go on opposite but couldn’t quite locate his target. 252 ‘Boogie’ Steven Bugler then gave the Nigel Riley yank estate a small head on.
Race winner: 762 Michael Perry in his Ford Granada mk2 stretch limo – Best Entertainer: 521 ‘Ace-Ash’ Ashley Riley for delivering a great hit to ‘Patch’ in 77.
Heat 4
A field of an equivalent size to the other three gathered for heat 4 with 67 Rickie Beasley out in his Rolls Royce. Another big push going through turns 3 and 4 caused a small pile up on the exit which was red flagged due to a fire. The restart saw 162 Brent Shaw ‘The Viking’ spun on the entrance to turn 3 before receiving great hit by 323 Dean Kelly in his yank. 67 Rickie Beasley then turned it around on turns 3 and 4 as 323 Dean Kelly reversed causing a crunching crash between the pair. 275 Jonny Tomlinson then jacked the 67 Beasley Rolls. Beasley then turned it around to deliver a head on to the Tomlinson Previa.
Race winner: 717 Jack Tuffen – Best Entertainer: 67 Rickie Beasley for that incredible one man wrecking display.
Consolation 1
This time, the push occurred into turn 1 where 523 John Swanborough was spun and was then met head on by 205 Alex Ganter who was then subsequently jacked by 664 Dominic Bowden in his modern Jag. 831 Shane Fry was then spun out on the entrance to turn 3 and jacked by 664 Dominic Bowden. Liam Cracknell in car 241 then followed in 221 Justin Riley and span him out. 103 Jack Deacon then turned it round to deliver a hit to the rear end of the 221 Justin Riley car. 222 Matthew High done a half spin on the exit of turn 4 and was hit over the front right corner by 521 ‘Ace-Ash’ Ashley Riley. Jack Deacon then hit the 221 car on the rear for a second time.
Race winner: 208 PJ Collins
Consolation 2
For the second race in a row, the push occurred going into turns 1 and 2 with 28 Fred James and 241 Liam Cracknell going into a half spin before 380, Lee Hopkins was pushed into the driver’s door of Cracknell by 878 Matt Prior. Prior was then jacked by 221 as Jack Filmer then waded in. 352 then went in on the 221 Jaguar and was then hit over the rear left wheel by 162 Brent ‘The Viking’ Shaw. The red flags then came out for an injured driver. The restart saw 28 Fred James spun on the exit of turn 4 and was then t-boned in the passenger side by 883 ‘’Chunk’ Jack Filmer before getting jacked by 884 Tom Filmer. The red and chequered flags were brought out to check on James in 28.
Race winner: 257 ‘The Water-Boy’ Timmy Aldridge
UK Open Final 2017
A big grid of cars took to the track for the qualifiers only 2017 UK Open Championship sponsored by S. Metal Recycling. 725 Simon Bye and 252 ‘Boogie’ Steven Bugler met head on at turn 4. ‘Boogie’ was then hit by 239 ‘Nemesis’ Steve Carter. As ‘Boogie’s’ car came across the raceway, it blocked the path through. 133 ‘Werzal’ Ben Wyatt had no where to go and he was hit by 364 Nathan Olden. 884 Tom Filmer and 890 Pavarotti met head on as Pavarotti was then jacked by 341 Andrew Jones. Tom Filmer then took out Steve ‘Vossy’ Voss in 146 on opposite causing a momentary track blockage. Race leader 717 Jack Tuffen pushed his way through the wreckage with a little help from the chasing pack as the route was cleared once again. 341 Andrew Jones then went into the 364 Olden car at great speed causing the Mercedes estate to completely fold down at the rear. Weirdly, Andrew Jones was then jacked by team mate 239 Steve Carter ‘Nemesis’. Apparently, Carter thought Andrew Jones was ‘Boogie’ and that’s why he went in on him! The red flags then came out for 632 Callum Reed who took a stiff T-bone through the passenger doors over on turns 1 and 2, best wishes to Callum on his recovery! The restart saw Andrew Jones go on opposite and collected 382 Danny Hunt who was spun out as was 617 Jack Overy. The rest of the race was ‘roddy’ until 333 Charlie Randell picked up 572 Paul Scully and followed him in on turns 3 and 4 collecting 222 Matthew High on the way through too.
2017 UK OPEN CHAMPION: 717 JACK TUFFEN – 2nd place: 2 Georgie Lee – 3rd: 240 Rob Setters
Allcomers into DD:
With the curfew nearing, the allcomers was reduced to five laps. 765 Jeremy Andrews was followed in by ‘Leeful’ Lee Hopkins on turns 3 and 4. 278 Sean Brokenshire then followed in 224 Mark Alexander into the turns 3 and 4 armco at high speed with 252 Nemo Llewellyn going into the 224 Alexander car a few seconds after. 760 Joey Reynolds won the race. The DD started off with the first action coming from the infield of turn 4 with 341 Andrew Jones jacking the 380 Jaguar of ‘Leeful’ Lee Hopkins as 278 Brokenshire weighed in on 360 Jack Reynolds ‘Jackstar’s’ Taxi. Steve Carter ‘Nemesis’ then went in on 103 Jack Deacon as a pile up formed on the infield at turn 4. 160 Jamie Warr then went in on 278 Brokenshire. ‘Nemesis’ reversed out of the pile up and was subsequently attacked by 154 Tim De Paiva. 814 Mark Millen then attacked the 154 car and pushed it into the ‘Nemo’ Toyota Previa putting it on two wheels. ‘Jackstar’ then fired into 814 Millen as 278 Brokenshire was attacked by ‘Nemesis’ again. Millen and ‘Jackstar’ couldn’t come un-stuck after their earlier hit and made their way round to turn 3 where ‘Nemesis’ ploughed in on ‘Jackstar’s Taxi. ‘Nemesis went in again before Andrew Jones hit the Taxi of ‘Jackstar over the rear left corner finishing it off. ‘Nemesis’ then met 278 Brokenshire with a head on, on the home straight. ‘Nemesis’ continued and then got stuck on the inside armco of turn 4 to then receive a revenge jack up by team mate Andrew Jones in 341.
Race winner: 760 Joey Reynolds – DD Winner: 341 Andrew Jones
Overall, I thought it was a fantastic night with plenty of great crashing and some seriously fast racing. Well done to all drivers, pit crews and officials for a great night. Again, I would just like to send my best wishes to 632 Callum Reed and anyone else who was injured Saturday night.
Lastly, as this will be my last report of 2017 (probably), and I want to thank everyone for the support this year and wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
See you at an oval in 2018!
