The World’s End - A preview of the final PRI World Championship
Preview by Jordan Hollands
The World’s End
This Sunday, the Arena Essex Raceway will host its final National Banger Championship of the World before the venue shuts at the end of the season. The PRI World Final is the oldest of all the National Banger World Finals – and although in recent years, the Spedeworth World Final has become ‘The one to win’, no one can deny that the PRI World Final is the true National Banger World Final.
From Autospeed we have 45 ‘Lips’ Anthony Crowshaw who has been around the National Banger circus for years but has never really had the luck in any of the big title races. His biggest win came in 2005 when he won the European Championship at Warneton. Also representing Autospeed is the DWO duo of 162 Brett Ellacott and 190 Steve Bailey ‘Pikey’. Brett is another driver who has been around Banger Racing for many, many years and is a former winner of this event – winning This year will be the 48th running of the event which has had some big-name winners over its long and prestigious history, including the late Mark ‘Polo’ Boulden, 617 Carl ‘Jack’ Overy and 331 Jason ‘Boxer Jack’ Jackson. It has been a notoriously hard race to win with many drivers turning it around and taking out the ‘star drivers’, kick starting many team wars that the venue has become famous for over the years, whether right or wrong.
It has seen many big hits and pile ups over the years - who can forget 617 Jack Overy’s one man wrecking mission during the 2009 final in which he took out many drivers, including most of the Condoms. It would be 188 Matt Fuller who would survive a last lap attack by one of the Blue Crew to win from the back of the grid after qualifying via one of the last chance races earlier in the afternoon.
It took 331 ‘Boxer’ many attempts to win the big race, which is quite shocking when you consider how many races Boxer has won at Arena. He was a two-time Spedeworth World Champion before he had even won the PRI World Final, securing the 2006 World Championship before retaining it in 2007 – the last World Final race to be held at Plough Lane’s Wimbledon Stadium. It was in 2007, where many thought‘Boxer’ would finally win the race he had been longing to win for a while, however Ian Beaumont had different ideas and took the Midnight Runner driver out whilst he was leading on the entrance to turn three with an enormous head on. It would be some six years later until ‘Boxer’ finally got the win, taking the chequered flag in 2013, before winning it again in 2016.
Speaking about the World Final win in 2013, ‘Boxer’ admitted, “It was a good feeling because I tried to win it so many times when it was my home track.” Speaking about this year’s World Final, ‘Boxer’ added, “Everyone in the race has a chance of winning it.”
Last year, the numbers were not great with around forty cars taking part. The World Final race itself was a destructive affair with some big hits going in on the Pit Bend – with 415 Scott Cornish and 145 Luke Cornish causing some havoc on opposite. 331 ‘Boxer’ was leading the race by a comfortable margin and it was looking more and more likely that he would secure his third PRI World Championship – that was until 271 Dean Goodearl pushed ‘Boxer’ out wide were he was hit over the rear left wheel by 418 John ‘Hitman’ Harris before meeting 592 Mark Marchant on the nose. 74 ‘Scratchy’ Adam Hitchcock came through the wreckage on the Pit Bend to win the World Final, a surprise winner to many but also a deserved winner.
This year, four former World Champions will take to the grid in the shape of 10 Paul Whiteman, last year’s winner, 74 ‘Scratchy’ Adam Hitchcock, 162 Brett Ellacott and 331 Jason ‘Boxer Jack’ Jackson. Like the last few years, at the time of writing, the booking list is not the biggest, but there are still some big names booked in who will all want to be crowned the last ever PRI World Champion.
it in 2002 with a Mk2 Granada. Brett is also a three-time Autospeed World Champion, winning it in 1998, 2011 and more recently in 2015 all at Taunton. In 2011, Brett also won the BBA English Championship at Mendips with a Ford Mondeo, before going on to secure the Supreme Championship at Mildenhall in 2012. His DWO teammate ‘Pikey’ is also a very accomplished driver with many titles to his name, although he has never won the PRI World Championship. He is the reigning Autospeed World Champion, a title he will defend in October, which he has also won twice with the first one coming in 2009. The Westcountry star has also won the 2Ltr World Championship twice in 2009 and 2013, both held at Hednesford winning it in a Ford Mondeo. In 2010, ‘Pikey’ also claimed the Champion of Champions title at Birmingham. In 2011, he also proved he could do it on the shale by winning the Trackstar World Final at Kings Lynn in 2011. Bearing that in mind and also the fact that a Westcountry man took the title last year, it stands a very good chance of doing the same on Sunday.
Representing Spedeworth is multiple Champion and World Champion 331 Jason ‘Boxer Jack’ Jackson and 570 Jordan Cumming. ‘Boxer’ is a two-time PRI World Champion, three-time Spedeworth World Champion, two-time Autospeed World Champion, and the 2018 2Ltr National Banger World Champion. ‘Boxer’ has also won the Firecracker, Champion of Champions, the BBA Supreme Championship and the BBA World Cup amongst many others. He is a very accomplished driver which has made him all the more ‘pantomime villain’ in recent years – something which he loves to play up too! Also, given his impressive CV, in big Championship races, it has also made him a target for some drivers. In the last two Spedeworth World Finals, ‘Boxer’ has been taken out head on as well as in last year’s PRI World Final. However, as long as he can keep it clean and can stay out of trouble, it would be hard to bet against ‘Boxer’. Jordan Cumming is the son of 57 Stu Cumming or ‘Dino’ as he was better known. Jordan has had an impressive last couple of seasons but has never really troubled in any of the big races. He is a driver with not many enemies and with that in mind, I think he can be there or thereabouts come the Chequered Flag on Sunday afternoon.
Trackstar will be represented by 248 Jamie Blything, someone who I must admit I don’t really know too much about. However, being from Trackstar, he is probably a reliable betto be more involved with the crashing rather than the racing. Trackstar are yet to announce their second seed but with some very impressive drivers on their books, we could have a Trackstar victor. It would be great to see 247 ‘Bro’ Lee Clarke get the second seed seeing as he has won the Trackstar 2Ltr World Final for the past two years in similar cars to what will be racing Sunday. If ‘Bro’ does get the second seed though, he may have his hands full with a certain Westcountry team who race in Blue…
Mildenhall Stadium will be represented by 78 Lee Macey, someone who I feel like has been around for years now… no offence Lee. He is someone who I associate as more of a crasher rather than racer. He hasn’t done as much racing as he used too but can is still more than capable of putting in a good performance.
The PRI drivers have normally been out-shadowed in recent years of the World Final, especially by the Spedeworth drivers. However, Arena do still have some very capable drivers, especially number 10 Paul Whiteman and 271 Dean Goodearl, two drivers who have both become World Champions with Paul winning the PRI World Final in 2007 and Dean winning the Autospeed World Final in 2005. Both drivers have also been at the centre of team wars at Arena, more recently in the war between the Midnight Runners and the Blue Crew in 2008 and 2009.
Dean Goodearl will be joined by fellow Money Team teammates 123 Tony Hutton, 141 Garry Lee, 267 James Steele, 449 Bill Crittenden, 592 Mark Marchant, 599 Matt Butcher and 623 ‘Tricky’ Ricky Hutton. All of these drivers are more known to enjoy the crash rather than the cash. It was The Money Team who put on a fantastic show at the World Final last year, battling with the Cream Team and the Midnight Runners. Who can forget the massive wrecking train on the Pit Bend with the Midnight Runners of the Pre-90’ Roy Rawlins Testimonial in which it was 267 James Steele who was victorious via last car running after everyone else had piled into the wreckage. So, if anyone was going to turn it around or go for the crash on Sunday, I wouldn’t bet against any of The Money Team, especially 623 ‘Tricky’ or 123 Tony Hutton.
Speaking of the Cream team who have sort of disbanded since the World Final last year, they will be represented by 61 Dan Reid who loves a crash and 552 ‘Blacknuts’ Karl Douglas who can race as well as he can crash. Both have been racing at Arena Essex for many years, crashing their way through team wars and racing their way to victory. It’s hard to say what either will do on Sunday but it’s definitely worth keeping your eyes out for both of them.
Some of Arena’s better hopes come in the shape of 364 Bradley Lee and 348 Sonny ‘Mushy’ Sherwood. Bradley has only just moved out of the Junior Bangers but adapted quickly to the World of National Bangers. In 2017, he won the National Banger Micro World Series Final, winning many races during the Qualifying process. ‘Mushy’ is another who has been racing at Arena for many years, and has won many races too, not just at Arena but all over the country. He won the Figure of Eight World Final at Wimbledon in 2008 – the last one ever held there before it was moved to Northampton in 2009. In 2006, ‘Mushy’ also won the Incarace World Final at Hednesford in a Vauxhall Cavalier. The year before, he was also victorious in the BBA English Championship. He is also a three-time British Champion, winning it in 1997, 2001 and 2005. In 2006, ‘Mushy’ also won the Supreme Championship at Mildenhall. He was also victorious at the 2008 Champion of Champions event at Birmingham. ‘Mushy’ is one of very few PRI drivers to win major Championships elsewhere. However, he has also been at the entre of many big crashes, especially in the height of the Bad Company and Gladiators rivalry.
Arena will also be represented by 157 Dom Hall, 212 Dave Daws, 240 Charlie Korpiela, 242 Ricky Korpiela, 312 Jodie Cheeseman, 384 John Golden, 506 Danny Mitchell, 577 Alfie Lee and 990 Callum Sealy. The Korpiela’s are always up for a crash and are never afraid of getting stuck in either, so I’m expecting them to be involved in some sort of way on Sunday. 312 Jodie Cheeseman is more known to be racing in the smaller cars but will be racing in bigger cars on Sunday. Jodie is set be the only female on the World Final grid, but she won’t let that bother her. She has been well involved in the action at Arena the last few seasons, specifically in the micro National Banger World Series and in the PRI Bangers where Jodie actually won the Caravan DD earlier in the season. 384 John Golden always has a smart car and is another who isn’t afraid to get stuck into the action. 577 Alfie Lee is another driver who likes to crash but is also more than capable of getting a good result, especially if he stays out of trouble. 157 Dom Hall, 212 Dave Daws, 506 Danny Mitchell and 990 Callum Sealy could all be ‘dark horses’ for the big race on Sunday as they are all very quick and good drivers.
There are also some big names just looking to get onto the grid via the last Chance race including 82 Ben Beasley, 284 James Head, 305 Alfie Cornish, 347 Dave Bull and 887 Rob Browning. There is also a returning driver booked in to in the shape of two-time Spedeworth World Champion 158 Shane Davies. Shane stepped away from Bangers in around 2011 and 2012 moving into the National Saloon Stock Cars where he enjoyed some Championship success. In 2016, he stepped away from racing altogether but has made a few random appearances – namely at the Spedeworth World Final last year at Ipswich and more recently at the Dave ‘Kingy’ King Memorial Weekender at Mildenhall. And now, Shane is returning to Arena, a track where he has enjoyed a lot of success in the past and also enjoyed many crashes. It will be great to see him race again on Sunday.
Even if the numbers aren’t that great, I’m sure Sunday will be a great meeting and even if it’s not, it would seem wrong to moan or have a dig about it given the circumstances surrounding the track and its closure at the end of the season. I’d like to wish all drivers the very best of luck for Sunday and may the best man win!
The full list of winners can be found below with special thanks to Paul Toward:
1971 - 341 Kevin McAuley - Harringay - Mk2 Consul
1972 - 2 John McGirr - Harringay - Austin A55 Cambridge
1973 - 327 Peter Miles - Harringay - A60 variant
1974 - 327 Peter Miles - Harringay - A60 variant
1975 - 237 Brian Boulton - Harringay - A60 variant
1976 - 237 Brian Boulton - Harringay - A60 variant
1977 - 28 John Govier - Harringay - A60 variant
1978 - 300 Bill Smith - Harringay - A60 variant
1979 - 69 Terry Betts - Harringay - A60 variant
1980 - 420 Tony Wise - Arena Essex - A60 variant
1981 - 28 John Govier - Crayford - A60 variant
1982 - 489 Dave Sanderson - Arena Essex - FSO 125P
1983 - 608 John King - Crayford - A60 variant
1984 - 9 Trevor Jones - Arena Essex - A60 variant
1985 - 257 Les Mapp - Arena Essex - A60 variant
1986 - 33 Tony Wade - Arena Essex - Mk4 Cortina
1987 - 17 Steve Taylor - Arena Essex - Mk1 Granada
1988 - 35 Dennis Whiteman - Arena Essex - Mk1 Granada
1989 - 17 Steve Taylor - Arena Essex - Mk1 Granada
1990 - 96 Kev Wilsher - Arena Essex - Mk1 Granada
1991 - 17 Steve Taylor - Arena Essex - Mk2 Granada
1992 - 345 Gary Sheldon - Arena Essex - Mk1 Granada
1993 - 55 Chris Whiteman - Arena Essex - Mk2 Granada
1994 - 9 Vince Wolf - Arena Essex - Mk2 Granada
1995 - 50 Ian Cadman - Arena Essex - Mk2 Granada
1996 - 249 Mark Boulden - Arena Essex - Mk2 Granada estate
1997 - 146 Alan Trickett - Arena Essex - Mk2 Granada
1998 - 418 John Harris - Arena Essex - Mk2 Granada estate
1999 - 37 Phil Hudson - Arena Essex - Mk2 Granada estate
2000 - 99 Richie Ahern - Arena Essex - Mk2 Granada
2001 - 147 Andy Davies - Arena Essex - Mk2 Granada
2002 - 162 Brett Ellacott - Arena Essex - Mk2 Granada
2003 - 147 Andy Davies - Arena Essex - Mk2 Granada estate
2004 - 998 Wayne Cottrill Jnr - Arena Essex - Mk2 Granada
2005 - 188 Matt Fuller - Arena Essex - Mk2 Granada
2006 - 49 Billy King - Arena Essex - Mk2 Granada estate
2007 - 10 Paul Whiteman - Arena Essex - Mk2 Granada
2008 - 617 Jack Overy - Arena Essex - Mk2 Granada
2009 - 188 Matt Fuller - Arena Essex - Mondeo
2010 - 294 Lee Hughes - Arena Essex - Mondeo estate
2011 - 294 Lee Hughes - Arena Essex - Mondeo
2012 - 49 Billy King - Arena Essex - Mondeo
2013 - 331 Jason Jackson - Arena Essex - Mondeo
2014 – 2 Georgie Lee - Arena Essex – Mondeo
2015 – 415 Scott Cornish -Arena Essex – Mondeo
2016 – 331 Jason Jackson – Mondeo
2017 – 74 Adam Hitchcock – Mondeo
This Sunday, the Arena Essex Raceway will host its final National Banger Championship of the World before the venue shuts at the end of the season. The PRI World Final is the oldest of all the National Banger World Finals – and although in recent years, the Spedeworth World Final has become ‘The one to win’, no one can deny that the PRI World Final is the true National Banger World Final.
From Autospeed we have 45 ‘Lips’ Anthony Crowshaw who has been around the National Banger circus for years but has never really had the luck in any of the big title races. His biggest win came in 2005 when he won the European Championship at Warneton. Also representing Autospeed is the DWO duo of 162 Brett Ellacott and 190 Steve Bailey ‘Pikey’. Brett is another driver who has been around Banger Racing for many, many years and is a former winner of this event – winning This year will be the 48th running of the event which has had some big-name winners over its long and prestigious history, including the late Mark ‘Polo’ Boulden, 617 Carl ‘Jack’ Overy and 331 Jason ‘Boxer Jack’ Jackson. It has been a notoriously hard race to win with many drivers turning it around and taking out the ‘star drivers’, kick starting many team wars that the venue has become famous for over the years, whether right or wrong.
It has seen many big hits and pile ups over the years - who can forget 617 Jack Overy’s one man wrecking mission during the 2009 final in which he took out many drivers, including most of the Condoms. It would be 188 Matt Fuller who would survive a last lap attack by one of the Blue Crew to win from the back of the grid after qualifying via one of the last chance races earlier in the afternoon.
It took 331 ‘Boxer’ many attempts to win the big race, which is quite shocking when you consider how many races Boxer has won at Arena. He was a two-time Spedeworth World Champion before he had even won the PRI World Final, securing the 2006 World Championship before retaining it in 2007 – the last World Final race to be held at Plough Lane’s Wimbledon Stadium. It was in 2007, where many thought‘Boxer’ would finally win the race he had been longing to win for a while, however Ian Beaumont had different ideas and took the Midnight Runner driver out whilst he was leading on the entrance to turn three with an enormous head on. It would be some six years later until ‘Boxer’ finally got the win, taking the chequered flag in 2013, before winning it again in 2016.
Speaking about the World Final win in 2013, ‘Boxer’ admitted, “It was a good feeling because I tried to win it so many times when it was my home track.” Speaking about this year’s World Final, ‘Boxer’ added, “Everyone in the race has a chance of winning it.”
Last year, the numbers were not great with around forty cars taking part. The World Final race itself was a destructive affair with some big hits going in on the Pit Bend – with 415 Scott Cornish and 145 Luke Cornish causing some havoc on opposite. 331 ‘Boxer’ was leading the race by a comfortable margin and it was looking more and more likely that he would secure his third PRI World Championship – that was until 271 Dean Goodearl pushed ‘Boxer’ out wide were he was hit over the rear left wheel by 418 John ‘Hitman’ Harris before meeting 592 Mark Marchant on the nose. 74 ‘Scratchy’ Adam Hitchcock came through the wreckage on the Pit Bend to win the World Final, a surprise winner to many but also a deserved winner.
This year, four former World Champions will take to the grid in the shape of 10 Paul Whiteman, last year’s winner, 74 ‘Scratchy’ Adam Hitchcock, 162 Brett Ellacott and 331 Jason ‘Boxer Jack’ Jackson. Like the last few years, at the time of writing, the booking list is not the biggest, but there are still some big names booked in who will all want to be crowned the last ever PRI World Champion.
it in 2002 with a Mk2 Granada. Brett is also a three-time Autospeed World Champion, winning it in 1998, 2011 and more recently in 2015 all at Taunton. In 2011, Brett also won the BBA English Championship at Mendips with a Ford Mondeo, before going on to secure the Supreme Championship at Mildenhall in 2012. His DWO teammate ‘Pikey’ is also a very accomplished driver with many titles to his name, although he has never won the PRI World Championship. He is the reigning Autospeed World Champion, a title he will defend in October, which he has also won twice with the first one coming in 2009. The Westcountry star has also won the 2Ltr World Championship twice in 2009 and 2013, both held at Hednesford winning it in a Ford Mondeo. In 2010, ‘Pikey’ also claimed the Champion of Champions title at Birmingham. In 2011, he also proved he could do it on the shale by winning the Trackstar World Final at Kings Lynn in 2011. Bearing that in mind and also the fact that a Westcountry man took the title last year, it stands a very good chance of doing the same on Sunday.
Representing Spedeworth is multiple Champion and World Champion 331 Jason ‘Boxer Jack’ Jackson and 570 Jordan Cumming. ‘Boxer’ is a two-time PRI World Champion, three-time Spedeworth World Champion, two-time Autospeed World Champion, and the 2018 2Ltr National Banger World Champion. ‘Boxer’ has also won the Firecracker, Champion of Champions, the BBA Supreme Championship and the BBA World Cup amongst many others. He is a very accomplished driver which has made him all the more ‘pantomime villain’ in recent years – something which he loves to play up too! Also, given his impressive CV, in big Championship races, it has also made him a target for some drivers. In the last two Spedeworth World Finals, ‘Boxer’ has been taken out head on as well as in last year’s PRI World Final. However, as long as he can keep it clean and can stay out of trouble, it would be hard to bet against ‘Boxer’. Jordan Cumming is the son of 57 Stu Cumming or ‘Dino’ as he was better known. Jordan has had an impressive last couple of seasons but has never really troubled in any of the big races. He is a driver with not many enemies and with that in mind, I think he can be there or thereabouts come the Chequered Flag on Sunday afternoon.
Trackstar will be represented by 248 Jamie Blything, someone who I must admit I don’t really know too much about. However, being from Trackstar, he is probably a reliable betto be more involved with the crashing rather than the racing. Trackstar are yet to announce their second seed but with some very impressive drivers on their books, we could have a Trackstar victor. It would be great to see 247 ‘Bro’ Lee Clarke get the second seed seeing as he has won the Trackstar 2Ltr World Final for the past two years in similar cars to what will be racing Sunday. If ‘Bro’ does get the second seed though, he may have his hands full with a certain Westcountry team who race in Blue…
Mildenhall Stadium will be represented by 78 Lee Macey, someone who I feel like has been around for years now… no offence Lee. He is someone who I associate as more of a crasher rather than racer. He hasn’t done as much racing as he used too but can is still more than capable of putting in a good performance.
The PRI drivers have normally been out-shadowed in recent years of the World Final, especially by the Spedeworth drivers. However, Arena do still have some very capable drivers, especially number 10 Paul Whiteman and 271 Dean Goodearl, two drivers who have both become World Champions with Paul winning the PRI World Final in 2007 and Dean winning the Autospeed World Final in 2005. Both drivers have also been at the centre of team wars at Arena, more recently in the war between the Midnight Runners and the Blue Crew in 2008 and 2009.
Dean Goodearl will be joined by fellow Money Team teammates 123 Tony Hutton, 141 Garry Lee, 267 James Steele, 449 Bill Crittenden, 592 Mark Marchant, 599 Matt Butcher and 623 ‘Tricky’ Ricky Hutton. All of these drivers are more known to enjoy the crash rather than the cash. It was The Money Team who put on a fantastic show at the World Final last year, battling with the Cream Team and the Midnight Runners. Who can forget the massive wrecking train on the Pit Bend with the Midnight Runners of the Pre-90’ Roy Rawlins Testimonial in which it was 267 James Steele who was victorious via last car running after everyone else had piled into the wreckage. So, if anyone was going to turn it around or go for the crash on Sunday, I wouldn’t bet against any of The Money Team, especially 623 ‘Tricky’ or 123 Tony Hutton.
Speaking of the Cream team who have sort of disbanded since the World Final last year, they will be represented by 61 Dan Reid who loves a crash and 552 ‘Blacknuts’ Karl Douglas who can race as well as he can crash. Both have been racing at Arena Essex for many years, crashing their way through team wars and racing their way to victory. It’s hard to say what either will do on Sunday but it’s definitely worth keeping your eyes out for both of them.
Some of Arena’s better hopes come in the shape of 364 Bradley Lee and 348 Sonny ‘Mushy’ Sherwood. Bradley has only just moved out of the Junior Bangers but adapted quickly to the World of National Bangers. In 2017, he won the National Banger Micro World Series Final, winning many races during the Qualifying process. ‘Mushy’ is another who has been racing at Arena for many years, and has won many races too, not just at Arena but all over the country. He won the Figure of Eight World Final at Wimbledon in 2008 – the last one ever held there before it was moved to Northampton in 2009. In 2006, ‘Mushy’ also won the Incarace World Final at Hednesford in a Vauxhall Cavalier. The year before, he was also victorious in the BBA English Championship. He is also a three-time British Champion, winning it in 1997, 2001 and 2005. In 2006, ‘Mushy’ also won the Supreme Championship at Mildenhall. He was also victorious at the 2008 Champion of Champions event at Birmingham. ‘Mushy’ is one of very few PRI drivers to win major Championships elsewhere. However, he has also been at the entre of many big crashes, especially in the height of the Bad Company and Gladiators rivalry.
Arena will also be represented by 157 Dom Hall, 212 Dave Daws, 240 Charlie Korpiela, 242 Ricky Korpiela, 312 Jodie Cheeseman, 384 John Golden, 506 Danny Mitchell, 577 Alfie Lee and 990 Callum Sealy. The Korpiela’s are always up for a crash and are never afraid of getting stuck in either, so I’m expecting them to be involved in some sort of way on Sunday. 312 Jodie Cheeseman is more known to be racing in the smaller cars but will be racing in bigger cars on Sunday. Jodie is set be the only female on the World Final grid, but she won’t let that bother her. She has been well involved in the action at Arena the last few seasons, specifically in the micro National Banger World Series and in the PRI Bangers where Jodie actually won the Caravan DD earlier in the season. 384 John Golden always has a smart car and is another who isn’t afraid to get stuck into the action. 577 Alfie Lee is another driver who likes to crash but is also more than capable of getting a good result, especially if he stays out of trouble. 157 Dom Hall, 212 Dave Daws, 506 Danny Mitchell and 990 Callum Sealy could all be ‘dark horses’ for the big race on Sunday as they are all very quick and good drivers.
There are also some big names just looking to get onto the grid via the last Chance race including 82 Ben Beasley, 284 James Head, 305 Alfie Cornish, 347 Dave Bull and 887 Rob Browning. There is also a returning driver booked in to in the shape of two-time Spedeworth World Champion 158 Shane Davies. Shane stepped away from Bangers in around 2011 and 2012 moving into the National Saloon Stock Cars where he enjoyed some Championship success. In 2016, he stepped away from racing altogether but has made a few random appearances – namely at the Spedeworth World Final last year at Ipswich and more recently at the Dave ‘Kingy’ King Memorial Weekender at Mildenhall. And now, Shane is returning to Arena, a track where he has enjoyed a lot of success in the past and also enjoyed many crashes. It will be great to see him race again on Sunday.
Even if the numbers aren’t that great, I’m sure Sunday will be a great meeting and even if it’s not, it would seem wrong to moan or have a dig about it given the circumstances surrounding the track and its closure at the end of the season. I’d like to wish all drivers the very best of luck for Sunday and may the best man win!
The full list of winners can be found below with special thanks to Paul Toward:
1971 - 341 Kevin McAuley - Harringay - Mk2 Consul
1972 - 2 John McGirr - Harringay - Austin A55 Cambridge
1973 - 327 Peter Miles - Harringay - A60 variant
1974 - 327 Peter Miles - Harringay - A60 variant
1975 - 237 Brian Boulton - Harringay - A60 variant
1976 - 237 Brian Boulton - Harringay - A60 variant
1977 - 28 John Govier - Harringay - A60 variant
1978 - 300 Bill Smith - Harringay - A60 variant
1979 - 69 Terry Betts - Harringay - A60 variant
1980 - 420 Tony Wise - Arena Essex - A60 variant
1981 - 28 John Govier - Crayford - A60 variant
1982 - 489 Dave Sanderson - Arena Essex - FSO 125P
1983 - 608 John King - Crayford - A60 variant
1984 - 9 Trevor Jones - Arena Essex - A60 variant
1985 - 257 Les Mapp - Arena Essex - A60 variant
1986 - 33 Tony Wade - Arena Essex - Mk4 Cortina
1987 - 17 Steve Taylor - Arena Essex - Mk1 Granada
1988 - 35 Dennis Whiteman - Arena Essex - Mk1 Granada
1989 - 17 Steve Taylor - Arena Essex - Mk1 Granada
1990 - 96 Kev Wilsher - Arena Essex - Mk1 Granada
1991 - 17 Steve Taylor - Arena Essex - Mk2 Granada
1992 - 345 Gary Sheldon - Arena Essex - Mk1 Granada
1993 - 55 Chris Whiteman - Arena Essex - Mk2 Granada
1994 - 9 Vince Wolf - Arena Essex - Mk2 Granada
1995 - 50 Ian Cadman - Arena Essex - Mk2 Granada
1996 - 249 Mark Boulden - Arena Essex - Mk2 Granada estate
1997 - 146 Alan Trickett - Arena Essex - Mk2 Granada
1998 - 418 John Harris - Arena Essex - Mk2 Granada estate
1999 - 37 Phil Hudson - Arena Essex - Mk2 Granada estate
2000 - 99 Richie Ahern - Arena Essex - Mk2 Granada
2001 - 147 Andy Davies - Arena Essex - Mk2 Granada
2002 - 162 Brett Ellacott - Arena Essex - Mk2 Granada
2003 - 147 Andy Davies - Arena Essex - Mk2 Granada estate
2004 - 998 Wayne Cottrill Jnr - Arena Essex - Mk2 Granada
2005 - 188 Matt Fuller - Arena Essex - Mk2 Granada
2006 - 49 Billy King - Arena Essex - Mk2 Granada estate
2007 - 10 Paul Whiteman - Arena Essex - Mk2 Granada
2008 - 617 Jack Overy - Arena Essex - Mk2 Granada
2009 - 188 Matt Fuller - Arena Essex - Mondeo
2010 - 294 Lee Hughes - Arena Essex - Mondeo estate
2011 - 294 Lee Hughes - Arena Essex - Mondeo
2012 - 49 Billy King - Arena Essex - Mondeo
2013 - 331 Jason Jackson - Arena Essex - Mondeo
2014 – 2 Georgie Lee - Arena Essex – Mondeo
2015 – 415 Scott Cornish -Arena Essex – Mondeo
2016 – 331 Jason Jackson – Mondeo
2017 – 74 Adam Hitchcock – Mondeo