Sunday 27th January - Smeatharpe - Winter Open Report by BangerBash Just short of 50 drivers turned up for the Winter Open, a good entry but very disappointing considering nearly 40 drivers didn’t honour their bookings. Among the dominant Bluebird there was some cool machinery on offer with 1 Dave Thomas and 714 Paul Smalldon returning Cortina Mk5’s. 799 Gary Williams returned a lone Capri. The Posh Wash were the talking point though with 199 Jamie Wyatt, 133 Ben Wyatt and 28 Danny Caplin having a Mk3, Mk4 and Mk5 Cortina respectively whilst teammate 298 Sam Wyatt had a Lada Riva. Completing the line up was 262 Buddy James with a Mk3 Cortina Estate, 269 Rob Houghton with a smart Laurel and 96 Dave Tancock having a Humber Sceptre. Tank, Werzal, Bona and Buddy James took the oldest rarest awards whilst 7 Jamie Charles, 9 Kev Harris, 39 Bobby Janes and 336 Shannon Darke took the best presented awards. 22 cars out for Heat 1 and 147 Phil Purdy wasted no time in nailing 39 Bobby Janes. 714 Paul Smalldon put in a good shot to 452 Mike Reed Jnr as 799 Gary Williams piled into the back of Purdy. 239 Steve Carter picked up 225 Richie Edmonds and he ploughed into the back of Williams’ Capri. 989 Dean Arm latched onto 406 Chris Bridger and gave him an almighty follow in then things went quiet as 9 Kev Harris took the win ahead of 239 Steve Carter and 363 Sam Trim with only 6 finishers. 1st: 9-Kev Harris, 2nd-239, 3rd-363, 4th-265, 5th-508, 6th-987, nof Same again for Heat 2 and 262 assisted Tank into the wall and 290 Corbin Darke gave the Sceptre length. 133 Werzal then took out Darke and 247 Richard Sparkes spun out 28 Capgun. Werzal decided to turn round and make a lunge at Sparkes on the straight and done him passenger side, which earned himself a load up. 190 Steve Bailey hooked out 972 Glen Kendall and the latter took more punishment from 507 Paul Ashby. 372 Jay Matthews won this one from Paul Ashby and Pikey. 1st: 372-Jay Matthews, 2nd-507, 3rd-190, 4th-242, 5th-09, 6th-262, 7th-402, 8th-248, 9th-199, 10th-28, 11th-298, 12th-247 Only 15 came out for the Consolation (this would have been a good number had the track not been changed!!!) and 341 Andrew Jones picked up 451 Mikey Reed and followed him in flat out snapping the latter’s Bluebird. 989 Dean Arm, 972 Glen Kendall and TDT all found the wall before the red flags came out for Reed. The restart was pretty quiet but saw 252 Steve Bugler lead 80 Matt Nutley into a tractor tyre and Kendall nailed Nutspeed. 147 Phil Purdy wrapped up the action when taking out TDT and 519 John Scorse took the win ahead of Dean Arm and Boogie. 1st: 519-John Scorse, 2nd-989, 3rd-252, 4th-933, 5th-1, 6th-714, nof All 24 qualifiers came out for the final and Chopper hammered TDT’s Cortina and 987 Craig Lapping put away 09 Adam Elias. 298 Sam Wyatt used the Lada well by picking up 265 Stu Foster and 933 Ian Richards but unfortunately they went into Dave Thomas’ door. Pikey then piled straight into Disco Stu and backed off as Bona also nailed him. 262 Buddy James then followed 507 Paul Ashby into the dead cars. 987 Craig Lapping then took out Boogie but ended up nailing the tractor tire just as hard. 989 Dean Arm fended off 239 Steve Carter in a race long battle to take the win with 247 Richard Sparkes taking third then following in 714 Paul Smalldon on the run down lap big time. Jay Matthews then nailed Sparkes before Capgun trashed the latter big time just before the reds came out and amazingly Sparkes’ motor was still running! 1st: 989-Dean Arm, 2nd-239, 3rd-247, 4th-242, 5th-372, 6th-190, 7th-987, 8th-28, nof 20 returned for the Allcomers and Sam Wyatt attacked Mavis and Steve Carter then did Showman. 402 Filo planted 519 John Scorse into the wall as the lively Showman nailed the latter big time. 252 Boogie hit into the spun Capgun and Mavis gave the former a solid hit. A few laps later 989 Dean Arm followed in Mavis big time. 242 Ben Ellacott pulled off onto the middle and 987 Craig Lapping then gave him length, a move he got loaded for. Pikey lunged at Dean Arm before having their own private DD which unfortunately ended up on the middle and both got rightfully loaded. 239 Steve Cater went one better in this one taking the win with 147 Phil Purdy and 987 Craig Lapping following him home and only 5 finished. 1st: 239-Steve Carter, 2nd-147, 3rd-987, 4th-508, 5th-28, nof Just 9 for the DD including Ashley Kemble racing Pikey’s car and Billy Dennison racing Dean Arm’s car. From the off Kemble and Dennison had a head on and Sam Wyatt nailed the latter as Disco Stu and Carter piled into Kemble. Bona and Dennison then also had a head on and Showman and Stu both connected with Dennison. Showman then used gave Disco Stu another hit which saw the Lada start to snap. Ben Ellacott then finally hit Stu as Showman did the former. 147 Purdy delivered a good shot to Bona which wrecked the Cortina’s steering and Carter nailed Purdy. Sam Wyatt again impressed by giving a big hit to Purdy and the Lada snapped, but carried on moving. Carter then gave the seemingly unstoppable Lada again before having a head on with Nutspeed. Purdy the t-boned Showman before firing into Bona. Showman still managed another hit on Purdy before Carter gave a massive hit in the back of the Lada and it still kept running. Carter backed off and leathered Showman with a massive head on ending a stunning performance from the Lada. This left Purdy and Carter to exchange blows and they end with a head on leaving Carter as the winner. Last Car Running: 239 Steve Carter Car List: 1-Dave Thomas-Cortina Mk5* 7-Jamie Charles-Mondeo Estate 9-Kev Harris-Bluebird 9-Adam Elias-Bluebird* 14-Shaun Bissett-Bluebird Estate 19-Wayne Sinker-Bluebird* 28-Danny Caplin-Cortina Mk5 39-Bobby Janes-Bluebird 80-Matt Nutley-Bluebird 96-Dave Tancock-Humber Sceptre 133-Ben Wyatt-Cortina Mk4 147-Phil Purdy-Primera 190-Steve Bailey-Bluebird 199-Jamie Wyatt-Cortina Mk3 225-Richie Edmonds-Bluebird 239-Steve Carter-Bluebird* 242-Ben Ellacott-Primera 247-Richard Sparkes-Bluebird Estate 248-John Sparkes-Carina II 252-Steve Bugler-Bluebird* 262-Buddy James-Cortina Mk3 Estate 265-Stu Foster-Bluebird* 269-Rob Houghton-Datsun Laurel 290-Corbin Darke-Honda Prelude 298-Sam Wyatt-Lada Riva 336-Shannon Darke-Bluebird 339-Jamie Newland-Carina II DNR 341-Andrew Jones-Bluebird Estate 363-Sam Trim-Bluebird Estate 372-Jay Matthews-Bluebird 402-Phil Cleverly-Cav Mk3* 406-Chris Bridger-Bluebird* 444-Tim Sherratt-Bluebird 451-Mikey Reed-Bluebird 452-Mike Reed Jnr-Bluebird* 507-Paul Ashby-Bluebird 508-Steve Ashby-Primera 519-John Scorse-Bluebird 714-Paul Smalldon-Cortina Mk5* 718-Adie Brown-Cav Mk3* 733-Sam Warr-BMW Series 5 734-Kevin Donovan-Cav Mk3 799-Gary Williams-Capri* 905-Jason Ross-Cav Mk2 908-David Brown-Bluebird* 933-Ian Richards-Bluebird 972-Glen Kendall-Bluebird 987-Craig Lapping-Bluebird 989-Dean Arm-Bluebird Estate