Race Report from National 4x4 Show, Biggleswade, Beds –
August 21st/22nd
Have you ever seen a racing lawn mower attempt a mud-run!?
No? Then you should have been at the National 4x4 Show at
the Shuttleworth Collection in Bedfordshire last weekend to
see Chris Randall and John Parden take their respective mowers
flat-out into a mud-run that saw several 4x4’s get stuck!
All respect to both drivers as they both got further than
expected, and afterwards when they spent about half an hour
cleaning the mowers so that they could race again
Stuart Polkinghorne brought his new Lawnbug along, as did
John Parden who raced his newly built group 2 Roller for the
first time in an NWLMRA event this season. Some extremely
close racing provided a great spectacle for the show as crowds
of people flocked to watch the racing under unexpectedly good
weather
#31 Daz Whitehead’s lap of the track
“With it raining all week, Saturday’s track was
damp, but not particularly muddy. From the start line was
a long straight into a flat out gentle right hander. Then
it was hard on the brakes for a really tight left-right combination.
Next was a really short straight into another left-right combination,
and another short straight. This went into a medium speed
left hander onto the long back straight. Half way down the
straight was a left-right chicane, then another straight.
This took you to the last corner where it was hard on the
brakes for a hairpin left which was really bumpy, and over
the finish line for another lap…”
Round 14 – Saturday 21st August 2004
#27 Stuart Polkinghorne showed the potential of his newly
built machine in the Points Race with a lights-to-flag victory.
#31 Daz Whitehead came home second after opening up a small
gap to championship rival #96 Chris Randall. #69 Matt Randall
finished 4th ahead of #12 Martin Shaw. #11 Sam Shaw won Class
3 Briggs
Next up was the Grand Prix, and if anyone thought #27 Stuart
Polkinghorne’s pace in the Points Race was a fluke they
were in for a surprise as he lapped everyone in the 10 minute
race. This was basically a shakedown meeting for the new machine,
as Stuart looks towards his ultimate goal of winning the world
championships in September. Back to the race, and #31 Daz
Whitehead came home 2nd, a handful of seconds in front of
#96 Chris Randall and #69 Matt Randall. All three drivers
dropped a lap to #27 Stuart Polkinghorne. #12 Martin Shaw
dropped 2 laps while #11 Sam Shaw dropped 5 laps over the
drying track
Some non-championship races were held in the afternoon and
the wins were shared between #96 Chris Randall, #31 Daz Whitehead
and #27 Stuart Polkinghorne.
Round 15 – Sunday 22nd August 2004
The track had dried out over the course of Saturday’s
races and a track change was in order for Sunday following
the arrival of John Parden and Andrew Howard’s Group
2 Rollers. It still had the same start, through a flat out
right hander, and then it was into a very fast left, a tight
right, and a short straight before a really long bumpy left
hander that fed onto the back straight
The Points race was late due to a couple of technical problems
for some of the racers. However as the lights went Green,
it was #27 Stuart Polkinghorne who raced away to lead the
pack ahead of #96 Chris Randall, and #31 Daz Whitehead. Once
again #27 Stuart Polkinghorne went on to record another victory,
about 10 seconds ahead of #96 Chris Randall & #31 Daz
Whitehead, with #12 Martin Shaw crossing the line in 4th place.
#11 Sam Shaw won Class 3 Briggs, and #67 Andy Howard won Class
2 Roller
The second Championship Race of the day was for the Grand
Prix, and it wasn’t long before the speed of #27 Stuart
Polkinghorne had taken him into the lead of the race. However,
on lap 3 at the long left hander before the back straight
the #27 slowed slightly, and #31 Daz Whitehead and #96 Chris
Randall crashed into the back of it. #31 Daz Whitehead came
off worst loosing 2 laps after have to refit his drive belt.
#27 Stuart Polkinghorne dropped a single lap with his problems.
#96 Chris Randall only stalled his mower, and was able to
restart and take the lead. At the end of the race #96 Chris
Randall had covered 28 laps, one more than #27 Stuart Polkinghorne.
#31 Daz Whitehead crossed the line in 3rd place 2 laps down,
and just ahead of #12 Martin Shaw. #67 Helen Marshall completed
23 laps while #69 Matt Randall missed the start and only completed
12 laps
Some non-championship races followed and these were won by
#27 Stuart Polkinghorne, #96 Chris Randall and #31 Daz Whitehead.
The highlight of the event though had to be the attempt at
the mud-run which saw Chris Randall get about ¾ of
the way through it, while John Parden managed to get to about
the half-way point. Needless to say both mowers needed some
work to get back into running order, surprisingly the Group
2 was back up and running within a couple of minutes whilst
it took rather longer to clean out the carb and airbox on
the Group 3 machine
The Championship Standings after Round 15 are: ~
Class 4
#66 Mark Jaffe 11 points
#50 Phil Brooks 1 point
Class 3 Tecumseh
#31 Daz Whitehead 125 points
#96 Chris Randall 114 points
#69 Matt Randall 103 points
#12 Martin Shaw 87 points
#26 Robert Smith 45½ points
#27 Stu Polkinghorne 30 points
#27 Matt Heys 13½ points
#86 Pete Collishaw 13 points
#97 Mike Stark 8 points
Class 3 Briggs
#11 Sam Shaw 128 points
#18 Sheldon Webster 29 points
Class 2 Wheels
#24 Dave Smith 111 points
#7 Andy Little 109 points
#50 Phil Brooks 9 points
Class 2 Roller
#67 J Parden & Co 20 points
Grand Prix
#96 Chris Randall 268 laps
#31 Daz Whitehead 262 laps
#69 Matt Randall 254 laps
#12 Martin Shaw 246 laps
#24 Dave Smith 220 laps
#11 Sam Shaw 218 laps
#7 Andy Little 188 laps
#26 Robert Smith 116½ laps
#27 Stu Polkinghorne 69 laps
#22 Matt Heys 56 laps
#86 Pete Collishaw 53 laps
#18 Sheldon Webster 35 laps
#67 J Parden & Co 29 laps
#97 Mike Stark 19 laps
#50 Phil Brooks 16 laps
#66 Mark Jaffe 15 laps
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