Stock cars all in for year's final event

The Norfolk Arena hosted the last Stock Car racing session of 2006 on Sunday. when more than 125 competitors turned out for a event featuring the BriSCA F1 and F2 Stock Cars plus the youngsters of the National MiniStox Club.

Unusually, the BriSCA F1 Stock Cars ran to an all-in format with all available cars taking part in each of the four races staged.

This meant that the races were the busiest F1 events seen all year at the Norfolk Arena, but the quality of the star-graded drivers shone through, with Steven Cayzer (Saffron Walden) winning the chaotic opening heat before Matt Newson (Norwich) skilfully avoided a major pile-up in the second heat to win by a big margin.

In an entertaining final the top men got to the front rapidly and it was former world champion Murray Harrison (Kettering) who led for most of the way.

However, his progress was interrupted by traffic in the later stages and another former world champion in the shape of John Lund (Clitheroe) was able to reel in Harrison to bury him into a parked car on the last lap and steal a popular victory with the crowd.

Frankie Wainman Jnr (Silsden, West Yorks) was the runner-up and Mick Harris (Chipping Norton) completed the podium in the main event.

The closing Grand National event saw Bradford's Ian Stirk put on an excellent display in which he was passed, but then fought back and regained the lead on two occasions to take a rare victory.

The BriSCA F2 entry included no less than six of the 10 SuperStar drivers in the UK and even tempted two drivers from Belgium to make the session a more than fitting end to the year.

The opening event was for the Shale Masters Title and saw selected drivers take part in the big-money race which was won by world champion Gordon Moodie (Kennoway, Scotland) after he had managed to catch long-time leader Steve Wycherley (Spalding) in the closing moments of the race.

The first ordinary heat of the afternoon was all about Martyn Pearson (Liversedge), who parked his car upside down on the home straight after tangling with two other cars, which brought about a race suspension although the driver was not as damaged as his car.

Martin Ford (Sheffield) motored on to a convincing victory once the race was resumed.

Spalding's Carl Issitt won the second heat of the afternoon, which was equally hectic. The consolation race saw even more mayhem, with Pearson returning to the track after working hard to repair his car only to collide with another competitor and see wheels ripped from his car and more serious damage inflicted.

Spalding's Craig Tomblin lost the lead when he came into contact with Sjars Bekker (Belgium), who lost a wheel to bring about the second stoppage of the race.

Castleford's Daz Shaw was the first across the line of just 12 finishers in a race that started with 26.

The F2 Final continued the trend of a lively afternoon, with Graham Mole (Lincoln) bringing about the first stoppage of the race when his car was hit and immobilised on the racing line.

Boston's Mark Clayton then performed a stunning wall of death trick that left him quite literally up on two wheels hanging off the top of the track's perimeter fencing.

It was a case of third time lucky as the race reached its full distance, with victory going to James Joyce (Burton on Trent), ahead of Saffron Walden's Stuart Cayzer and Bolton's Barry Goldin.

The Grand National event fully reflected the nature of a hard day's racing with just 20 of the original 65-car entry managing to come out on track, but they still provided plenty of spectacle, with Moodie smashing the lap record four times on his way to winning the race.

The under-16 drivers of the National MiniStox Club turned out in good numbers and put on a lively show with their age not putting them off from using plenty of bumper to force their way through.

Ryan Harrison (Kettering) won the opening heat before the second race saw a stoppage when Georgia Neachell (Leicestershire) finished up on her roof after a heavy clash with Billy Webster (Leeds).

Daniel Wainman (Silsden) snatched the victory in the last bend of the race once Georgia had been rescued.

The final was a hard-fought affair with five drivers involved in a raging battle for second place for most of the race.

Wainman finished up in the wall following a push from Joe Booth (Huddersfield), who then went on to finish second.

Webster came home in third, but both he and Booth all of them were a long way behind Ike Parkinson (Lancs) who was well clear when the chequered flag fell despite only being in his third-ever race meeting.