Race Report from Willingham, Lincolnshire – July 17th/18th
In celebration of Martin Shaw’s 40th birthday, a weekend
of racing was arranged in his local village of Willingham-by-Stow,
in Lincolnshire. The field was slightly unusual in that it
was about ¼ mile long, and only about 50 metres wide.
One of the main topics of conversation all weekend was the
local sewerage works, which were within spitting distance
of the paddock area! However, it didn’t affect the weekend
that much apart from the occasional smell that wafted over
in the breeze. The weather was also kind, with only a couple
of short showers on Saturday worth noting. Chris Randall was
on holiday and his mower was going to be driven by Stuart
Polkinghorne, while Robert Smith was also away, and that mower
would be driven by Scott Evans. #66 Mark Jaffe had also made
the trip up from Croydon to race with us for the weekend and
#50 Phil Brooks had brought along his new Group 4 tractor
#31 Daz Whitehead’s lap of the track
“It was a very fast track with many racers pushing their
mower’s gearing up over the course of the weekend. From
the start line was a short straight, which fed everyone into
a tight left-right-left-right-left double chicane. It was
incredibly difficult in the early stages of the weekend to
find a good line through here and the best line seemed to
be to go really slow in and then drive out of it. This wasn’t
always easy as the slower you went in, the easier it was for
someone to out-brake you. After the chicane was a medium straight,
that went into a fast left-right-left sweeping combination,
it required a really good line to make the best use of your
speed. Next up was a long open left-hander that went into
a fast right hander, before a stop-go, left-right chicane.
This opened out into a long straight, all the way back to
the finish line, which was half way round an open left hairpin”
Round 12 – Saturday 17th July 2004
10 mowers lined up for the start of the Points Race and as
the lights went green #31 Daz Whitehead and #96 Stuart Polkinghorne
got the best starts to head into the first turn side-by-side.
#31 Daz Whitehead out-braked his rival to lead from #96 Stuart
Polkinghorne, #69 Matt Randall, #12 Martin Shaw, #86 Pete
Collishaw, #24 Dave Smith, #7 Andy Little, #66 Mark Jaffe,
#11 Sam Shaw & #26 Scott Evans. Lap 3 saw #66 Mark Jaffe
pass #7 Andy Little for 7th place. The fast nature of the
track didn’t provide too many overtaking opportunities,
as most racers seemed to be driving really defensively through
the twisty sections. #31 Daz Whitehead took the race win ahead
of #96 Stuart Polkinghorne and #69 Matt Randall. #66 Mark
Jaffe was first across the line in Class 4, while #24 Dave
Smith won Class 2W and #11 Sam Shaw won Class 3 Briggs
Next up was the Grand Prix, and once again #31 Daz Whitehead
had the best start to lead from #12 Martin Shaw, #96 Chris
Randall, #86 Pete Collishaw, #69 Matt Randall, #7 Andy Little,
#24 Dave Smith, #11 Sam Shaw, #26 Scott Evans and #66 Mark
Jaffe. Lap 2 saw #96 Stuart Polkinghorne take 2nd from #12
Martin Shaw and #66 Mark Jaffe take 9th from #26 Scott Evans.
The action continued on Lap 3 with #86 Pete Collishaw taking
3rd, and #69 Matt Randall taking 4th both at the expense of
#12 Martin Shaw. #66 Mark Jaffe climbed through the field
to 6th passing #11 Sam Shaw on Lap 3, #24 Dave Smith on Lap
4 and #7 Andy Little on Lap 5. #69 Matt Randall took 3rd place
from #86 Pete Collishaw on Lap 9 while one lap later #26 Scott
Evans passed #11 Sam Shaw for 9th place. #86 Pete Collishaw
re-took 3rd place from #69 Matt Randall on Lap 15. #31 Daz
Whitehead won the race, followed by #96 Stuart Polkinghorne,
#86 Pete Collishaw and #69 Matt Randall, all completing 16
laps in the 10 minute race
Some non-championship races were held in the afternoon and
the wins were shared between #12 Martin Shaw, #31 Daz Whitehead
& #26 Scott Evans. A relay race was held and following
a very close finish, the team of #31 Daz Whitehead & #26
Scott Evans came from nowhere to win by a mowers length from
#69 Matt Randall & #66 Mark Jaffe
Saturday evening saw the NWLMRA invade the Half Moon Pub,
followed by a BBQ & Beer session at Martin Shaw’s
house. Needless to say, a good time was had by all!
The Championship Standings after Round 12 are: ~
Class 4
#66 Mark Jaffe 11 points
Class 3 Tecumseh
#31 Daz Whitehead 99 points
#96 Chris Randall 87 points
#69 Matt Randall 81 points
#12 Martin Shaw 67 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 99 points
#18 Sheldon Webster 19 points
Class 2 Wheels
#7 Andy Little 99 points
#24 Dave Smith 93 points
#50 Phil Brooks 9 points
Class 2 Roller
#67 John Parden 10 points
Grand Prix
#96 Chris Randall 196 laps
#69 Matt Randall 194 laps
#31 Daz Whitehead 192 laps
#24 Dave Smith 184 laps
#12 Martin Shaw 178 laps
#7 Andy Little 170 laps
#11 Sam Shaw 157 laps
#26 Robert Smith 116½ laps
#22 Matt Heys 56 laps
#86 Pete Collishaw 53 laps
#27 Stu Polkinghorne 19 laps
#97 Mike Stark 19 laps
#50 Phil Brooks 16 laps
#18 Sheldon Webster 15 laps
#66 Mark Jaffe 15 laps
#67 John Parden 6 laps
2 Hour Endurance Race – Sunday 18th July, 2004
The track was altered slightly was Sunday’s endurance
race, but this mainly involved widening to accommodate the
extra mowers that had turned up to race on the Sunday. A couple
of teams were using the race as a final test session for the
upcoming BLMRA 12 Hour Endurance Race while some drivers entered
the race single-handedly
The flag dropped at 1.00pm and all the drivers sprinted across
the track for a Le Mans style start. All the drivers made
a good clean start and at the end of the opening laps #31
Daz Whitehead was leading from #69 Matt Randall, both drivers
then set a very high pace and continued to lap the field.
#86 was involved in a battle for 3rd place with #24 and #8.
After 30 minutes #31 lapped #69, and the #69 promptly broke
down. This left the way clear for #31 to pull away from everyone.
At the end of the first hour #31 led, from #86, #69, #24,
#96, #8, #7, #12, #11 and #50
Into the second hour, and there were more problems more #69,
again running into belt trouble on a number of occasions.
#24 also had a problem, which cost some time but later rejoined
the race after running repairs. #7 retired from the race following
a roll! All this allowed #31 to pull even further away, with
#86, #96 & #8 also having good runs through the 2nd hour.
At the end of the race the chequered flag went to #31 from
#86 and #96
Results of Willingham 2 Hour Endurance Race
#31 Daz Whitehead 216 laps
#86 Team Yellowbellies 193 laps
#96 S Evans/S Polkinghorne 188 laps
#8 Green Stripe 187 laps
#12 Martin Shaw 170 laps
#11 Sam Shaw 151 laps
#7 The Stig 137 laps
#69 M Randall/M Jaffe 135 laps
#24 Dave Smith 132 laps
#50 Phil Brooks 11 laps
The next NWLMRA event is at Canwell Show on August 7th. However,
3 NWLMRA teams have entered the annual BLMRA 12 Hour Endurance
Race in Billingshurst on Jul 31st/Aug 1st. Visit www.blmra.co.uk
for information on the 12 Hour Race. For more NWLMRA information,
please visit www.nwlmra.org or speak to Dave Askew on sec@nwlmra.org,
0870 766 1986 or 07717 228936
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