03/07/2005 - Arena Essex - Non Ford Bangers Thanks to Steve and Daniel Stacey for this report. There were 55 cars in the pits for today’s non Ford meeting & ladies qualifier round 2. The best car on display was a Vauxhall Chevette for 201 Ronnie Boy. There were 19 cars on track for the ladies qualifying race, 330 Danielle Laybourn made a great start in her first drive going very fast, but unfortunately her race was short lived with the car losing a front wheel. The first action was 506 Toni Larkin being t-boned by 737 Sharleen Mitchell. 462 Joanna Hewitt hit the wall hard after a shove from 201 Nicola Smith, with then Smith being jacked by 260 Ashlie Clift. 121 Janet Browne walled 505 Theresa Hepherd & they also had a head-on. 121 Browne then spun 504 Anna Fair & also followed-in the 506 car of Toni Larkin. 32 Stacey Smith then walled 155 Serena Cook. 543 Dawn Telfer then t-boned 737 Mitchell & also spun long time leader 327 Sharon Worthington, Telfer was then on the receiving end being t-boned by 453 Carol Clarke, with Clarke  being walled by 327 Worthington. The last action of the race was 121 Browne t-boning 11 Angie Barber, the race won by 326 Tracey Woolner to complete another lively Ladies Race. Results:- 1st 326 Tracey Woolner, 2nd 32 Stacey Smith, 3rd 543 Dawn Telfer, 4th 327 Sharon Worthington, 5th 190 Sarah Murphy, 6th 121 Janet Browne, 7th 260 Ashlie Clift, 8th 11 Angie Barber, 9th 453 Carol Clarke, 10th 505 Theresa Hepherd 25 cars on track for heat one, new Gladiator 179 Jamie Phillips started the race by t-boning 329 Dean Theisinger. 498 Jason Curtis was followed in by 36 Del Waterman with 249 Jimmy Harding giving Waterman the same treatment. On the pit bend 761 Ken Hollaby jnr was t-boned by 179 Phillips, then a spun 250 Carl Howard attempted to give Hollanby a head-on, but unfortunately t-boned him over the drivers front wheel dangerously close to the drivers door with Hollanby knocked out on impact. The red flags came out but 189 John Poulton rolled himself unaided before the race was stopped. On the re-start 51 Colin Boswell t-boned 106 Phil Pratchett. 249 Harding then had a head-on with 353 Andy Crawford. 550 Rob Farringdon taking the win in his Nissan Sunny. Then after the red flags 353 Crawford gave a stationary 249 Harding a big follow-in, to avenge the earlier hit. Results:- 1st 550 Rob Farringdon, 2nd 567 Gary Brown, 3rd 116 Mark Want, 4th 415 Paul Hawkes, 5th 246 Andy Spooner, 6th 177 Darren Jones, 7th 51 Colin Boswell, 8th 106 Phil Pratchett, 9th 353 Andy Crawford, 10th 249 Jimmy Harding. Down to 16 cars for a quiet heat 2, 60 Steve Laybourn followed in 504 Ben Hamilton, with Hamilton also being hit by 183 Paul Hunter. 453 Ivan Clarke was then walled by 326 Mark Woolner. 60 Laybourn then followed-in 396 Kev Harland. The last action of the race was 49 Billy King overtaking 326 Woolner on the last lap for the win. Results:- 1st 49 Billy King, 2nd 326 Mark Woolner, 3rd 32 Mark Ruskin, 4th 183 Paul Hunter, 5th 539 Michael Outen, 6th 549 Phil Smith, 7th 543 Mark Telfer, 8th 456 Nathan Roberts, 9th 505 Dal Hepherd, 10th 490 Ian Knight There was a slightly bigger grid of 18 cars for the consolation race, 329 Dean Theisinger was spun into 176 Paul Carter early on. 339 Alan Waters had a head-on with 60 Steve Laybourn, Laybourn then having another head-on with 504 Ben Hamilton allowing Hamilton’s team mate 506 Tony Fair to give Laybourn another head- on. 179 Jamie Phillips then gave 339 Waters a big follow-in on the pit bend. 506 Fair then gave 60 Laybourn another head-on. On the exit of the pit bend 346 Kirk Bodnar t-boned 174 Dave Osborne with 267 Steven Carter t-boning Bodnar. 453 Ivan Clarke took the win in his rapid Orion. Results:- 1st 453 Ivan Clarke, 2nd 589 Simon Smith, 3rd 395 Stephen Hale, 4th 36 Del Waterman, 5th 249 Jimmy Harding, 6th 323 Sam Rigby, 7th 498 Jason Curtis, 8th 267 Steven Carter, 9th 506 Tony Fair Next we had the final with 25 cars competing. On the QE2 bend 249 Jimmy Harding hit 506 Tony Fair. 106 Phil Pratchett then hit 506 Fair very hard but rolled himself in the process, but landed on all four wheels. On the pit bend 498 Jason Curtis was walled hard by an unseen driver. Leader 453 Ivan Clarke was given a big t-bone by 456 Luke Roberts on the QE2 bend. Then on the pit bend 415 Paul Hawkes was walled by 249 Harding, Harding struggled on but Hawkes got revenge by first following him in then t-boning Harding. This allowed 116 Mark Want to follow-in Hawkes, with Want backing up then repeating the dose. Whilst this was happening 49 Billy King took his second win closely followed by 549 Phil Smith. Results:- 1st 49 Billy King, 2nd 549 Phil Smith, 3rd 183 Paul Hunter, 4th 567 Gary Brown, 5th 326 Mark Woolner, 6th 550 Rob Farringdon, 7th 395 Stephen Hale, 8th 589 Simon Smith, 9th 32 Mark Ruskin, 10th 539 Michael Outen Next up was the Rawlins race into DD with 17 cars racing, the only action of the race was 174 Dave Osborne t- boning 36 Del Waterman, with Waterman then t-boning 179 Jamie Phillips, the race being won by 549 Phil Smith. Onto the DD with just 4 drivers up for it, all Gladiators. After a bit of cat & mouse, 267 Steven Carter t- boned 589 Simon Smith which allowed 179 Phillips to follow-in 589 Smith. On the pit bend 267 Steven Carter & 174 Osborne had a head-on with 179 Phillips giving Osborne a big follow-in. 267 Steven Carter & 589 Smith had a couple of head-ons with only Smith pulling away to take the last car award. Results:- 1st 549 Phil Smith, 2nd 326 Mark Woolner, 3rd 567 Gary Brown Last car running 589 Simon Smith Overall an average meeting that had its moments. 249 Jimmy Harding & 60 Steve Laybourn were lively in their races, but star of the day was 179 Jamie Phillips with a series on big hits on his Arena debut.