Race Report from Canwell Show, Staffordshire – August
7th/8th
Canwell Show is only a one-day event but many racers made
a full weekend of it, despite racing only taking place on
the Saturday. Hot sunny skies graced race-day, as did the
inevitable clouds of dust. Luckily, the ever-so-slight breeze
was blowing away from the main show, so this allowed some
exciting racing to continue without any track modifications
taking place through-out the day
#31 Daz Whitehead’s lap of the track
“Canwell Show always provide us with a massive area,
and the track design is pretty much free to suit whatever
we want to do. So, from the start line was a long straight,
into a very tight left-right-left chicane. There was really
only one line through here so it was important to get your
braking right. If you braked too late, then it was difficult
to hold your line through the right hand part of the bend.
After the chicane, the left hander opened out into a medium
straight, followed by a tight left-hander. Next up was another
short straight, and a very fast and tricky left-right-left-right
combination that you could take flat out if you got it right.
This led onto a long straight, and then it was a hairpin bend
back onto the main straight and over the finish line…”
Round 13 – Saturday 7th August 2004
9 drivers lined up for the start of the Points Race at 1pm.
As the lights went green, #31 Daz Whitehead managed to pull
a big wheelie but he did enough to keep control and get to
the first turn ahead of #96 Chris Randall. At the end of the
first lap though, #31 Daz Whitehead went wide at the hairpin
and this let #96 Chris Randall through to take the lead, which
he kept to the flag to record his second Points victory of
the season. #31 Daz Whitehead finished about 5 seconds behind
in second place, with #69 Matt Randall in third. #50 Phil
Brooks retired on Lap 5. #7 Andy Little won Class 2 Wheels,
while #18 Sheldon Webster won Class 3 Briggs. However, #11
Sam Shaw’s second place finish was enough to guarantee
her the Class 3 Briggs Championship for 2004
As usual, the next race was the Grand Prix and confusion
seemed to reign from the start. Some drivers seemed to be
half-asleep when the lights changed and this allowed #69 Matt
Randall to take an early lead, followed by #96 Chris Randall,
#31 Daz Whitehead, #12 Martin Shaw, #7 Andy Little, #24 Dave
Smith, #18 Sheldon Webster and #11 Sam Shaw. There was an
accident at the end of the lap 1 involving #96 Chris Randall
(who rolled), #31 Daz Whitehead and #12 Martin Shaw. This
allowed #69 Matt Randall to pull further into the lead whilst
these drivers rejoined the race. Both #31 Daz Whitehead and
#96 Chris Randall had to make swift repairs to stop their
mudguards from rubbing on there respective front tyres. At
the end of Lap 2 the positions were #69 Matt Randall leading
from #7 Andy Little, #18 Sheldon Webster, #24 Dave Smith,
#12 Martin Shaw, #11 Sam Shaw, #96 Chris Randall and #31 Daz
Whitehead. Lap 3 saw #31 Daz Whitehead climb to 6th place
at the expense of #11 Sam Shaw and #96 Chris Randall who had
to have a quick pit-stop to make more repairs to his machine.
Onto Lap 4, and #24 Dave Smith went to 3rd, while #31 Daz
Whitehead went to 4th, relegating #18 Sheldon Webster to 5th
and #12 Martin Shaw to 6th. Lap 5 saw #24 Dave Smith take
2nd and #31 Daz Whitehead take 3rd, pushing #7 Andy Little
down to 4th position. #12 Martin Shaw also passed #18 Sheldon
Webster for 5th place. Onto Lap 6 and #31 Daz Whitehead took
2nd place from #24 Dave Smith, meanwhile #96 Chris Randall
took 7th from #11 Sam Shaw. 3 laps later, and #96 Chris Randall
was in 6th place ahead of #18 Sheldon Webster. Onto Lap 10
and #96 Chris Randall went past #7 Andy Little and #12 Martin
Shaw for 4th place. It took until lap 14 for the #96 to gain
another place, this time it was for 3rd place at the expense
of #24 Dave Smith. #31 Daz Whitehead took the lead of the
race on Lap 15 ahead of #69 Matt Randall. At the flag, #31
Daz Whitehead won the race from #69 Matt Randall, and #96
Chris Randall, all 3 drivers covering 22 laps. #12 Martin
Shaw and #24 Dave Smith both dropped 1 lap, while #18 Sheldon
Webster lost 2 laps. #11 Sam Shaw lost 3 laps, and #7 Andy
Little dropped 4 laps after retiring near the end of the race
whilst in a comfortable 5th place
Some non-championship races were held in the afternoon and
the wins were shared between #96 Chris Randall, #31 Daz Whitehead
and #11 Sam Shaw. The drag racing challenge returned at this
event, and the final result saw a tie between #96 Chris Randall
and #31 Daz Whitehead, both drivers finishing with 12 points,
#69 Matt Randall was 3rd on 11 points, with #7 Andy Little
4th on 9 points
The Championship Standings after Round 13 are: ~
Class 4
#66 Mark Jaffe 11 points
#50 Phil Brooks 1 point
Class 3 Tecumseh
#31 Daz Whitehead 108 points
#96 Chris Randall 97 points
#69 Matt Randall 89 points
#12 Martin Shaw 74 points
#26 Robert Smith 45½ points
#27 Matt Heys 13½ points
#86 Pete Collishaw 13 points
#27 Stu Polkinghorne 10 points
#97 Mike Stark 8 points
Class 3 Briggs
#11 Sam Shaw 108 points
#18 Sheldon Webster 29 points
Class 2 Wheels
#7 Andy Little 109 points
#24 Dave Smith 102 points
#50 Phil Brooks 9 points
Class 2 Roller
#67 John Parden 10 points
Grand Prix
#96 Chris Randall 218 laps
#69 Matt Randall 216 laps
#31 Daz Whitehead 214 laps
#24 Dave Smith 205 laps
#12 Martin Shaw 199 laps
#7 Andy Little 188 laps
#11 Sam Shaw 177 laps
#26 Robert Smith 116½ laps
#22 Matt Heys 56 laps
#86 Pete Collishaw 53 laps
#18 Sheldon Webster 35 laps
#27 Stu Polkinghorne 19 laps
#97 Mike Stark 19 laps
#50 Phil Brooks 16 laps
#66 Mark Jaffe 15 laps
#67 John Parden 6 laps
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