Race Report from South Witham Gala, Lincolnshire –
June 26th/27th
Race 5 of the 2004 NWLMRA Championship series took place
under intermittent showers over the weekend of June 26th/27th.
Mike Stark and Martin King made their first visits of the
season to the NWLMRA as both are busy preparing for the upcoming
BLMRA 12 Hour Endurance Race. Stuart Polkinghorne has still
to finish his new mower but while he is away Daz Whitehead
and Chris Randall have been busy racking up lots of points
and race wins as they look towards clinching this years Championships.
Martin & Sam Shaw had chosen to attend a motorsport show
in Sheffield, which they had pre-arranged before the date
for this meeting was set
#31 Daz Whitehead’s lap of the track
“South Witham always provides us with a great little
track, the natural slope of the ground helps to create an
interesting course which tends to include a couple of really
tricky off-camber corners. From the Start Line was a bit of
a straight, just long enough to get sorted out for the first
corner, which was an open hairpin left. When it was dry it
was a good corner, but the damp conditions made it really
tricky. Next we had a short straight into a long and fast
but tight right hander. This tightened on the exit before
a short straight then a really fast left hander, followed
by a medium left. By now you were travelling downhill into
the trickiest corner of all, this was a very tight off camber
left hander that had loads of space and loads of lines. It
was vitally important to get out of here before everyone else!
If you got out first you could choose your line for the blast
to the flag, which involved a fast right-left combination,
then you climbed the hill before a flat out left hander back
onto the main straight for the finish line and another lap…”
Round 10 – Saturday 26th June 2004
#31 Daz Whitehead got the hole-shot to lead from #96 Chris
Randall, #69 Matt Randall, #7 Andy Little, #97 Mike Stark
and #24 Dave Smith. Half way around the first lap #96 Chris
Randall stalled, dropping him from 2nd to last place. #69
Matt Randall was the main benefactor as he moved up to 2nd
place. Lap 3 saw #24 Dave Smith pass #97 Mike Stark for 4th
place, but just one lap later the positions were reversed
again. On Lap 6 #97 Mike Stark continued his charge through
the field taking 3rd place from #7 Andy Little. The final
lap saw #96 Chris Randall pass #24 Dave Smith and #7 And Little
for 4th place. The race win went to #31 Daz Whitehead who
crossed the line about 8 seconds ahead of #69 Matt Randall
and #97 Mike Stark. #7 Andy Little held on to win Class 2
Wheels
As the Grand Prix started, the heavens opened, but once again
#31 Daz Whitehead got the best start to lead from #69 Matt
Randall, #97 Mike Stark, #96 Chris Randall, #86 Pete Collishaw,
#24 Dave Smith, #7 Andy Little & #22 Matt Heys. Lap 2
saw #24 Dave Smith pass #86 Pete Collishaw for 5th place,
while just 2 laps later both #7 Andy Little and #22 Matt Heys
had also found a way past the #86 machine. The first retiree
was #22 Matt Heys who dropped out on Lap 7 with engine problems,
this promoted #86 Pete Collishaw to 7th. #96 Chris Randall,
who finished the race with no brakes, passed #97 Mike Stark
for 3rd on Lap 8, and #69 Matt Randall for 2nd on Lap 11.
#31 Daz Whitehead won the race by about 5 seconds, with #96
Chris Randall, #69 Matt Randall, #97 Mike Stark & #24
Dave Smith all finishing on the lead lap. #7 Andy Little and
#86 Pete Collishaw both dropped a lap
The NWLMRA were then invited into the Village Hall for a
quiz and beer drinking competition, both of which they won
with ease!
Round 11 – Sunday 27th June, 2004
It was decided to run the Championship Races in the opposite
direction, so the track was unaltered. #31 Daz Whitehead who
was having slight clutch problems still managed to get the
best start to lead from #69 Matt Randall, #86 Pete Collishaw,
#96 Chris Randall, #7 Andy Little & #24 Dave Smith. The
only position change came on Lap 5 when #96 Chris Randall
took 3rd place from #86 Pete Collishaw. #31 Daz Whitehead
crossed the line in 1st place about 2 seconds in front of
#69 Matt Randall with #96 Chris Randall back in third place
despite racing with no brakes. #7 Andy Little won Class 2
Wheels from #24 Dave Smith by half a second
#31 Daz Whitehead won the Grand Prix despite a slipping clutch,
from #96 Chris Randall who had no brakes. The first ‘healthy’
mower crossed the line in 3rd place and was driven by #69
Matt Randall. These 3 drivers covered 20 laps. #86 Pete Collishaw
headed home in 4th closely followed by #24 Dave Smith and
#7 Andy Little all one lap down
Martin King turned up for the afternoon fun races, which
were won by #31 Daz Whitehead, #96 Chris Randall and #31 being
driven by Chris Randall
The Championship Standings after Round 11 are: ~
Class 4
#66 Mark Jaffe 1 point
Class 3 Tecumseh
#31 Daz Whitehead 89 points
#96 Chris Randall 80 points
#69 Matt Randall 73 points
#12 Martin Shaw 60 points
#26 Robert Smith 43 points
#27 Matt Heys 13½ points
#27 Stu Polkinghorne 10 points
#97 Mike Stark 8 points
#86 Pete Collishaw 7 points
Class 3 Briggs
#11 Sam Shaw 89 points
#18 Sheldon Webster 19 points
Class 2 Wheels
#7 Andy Little 90 points
#24 Dave Smith 83 points
#50 Phil Brooks 9 points
Class 2 Roller
#67 John Parden 10 points
Grand Prix
#96 Chris Randall 179 laps
#69 Matt Randall 178 laps
#31 Daz Whitehead 176 laps
#24 Dave Smith 169 laps
#12 Martin Shaw 163 laps
#7 Andy Little 157 laps
#11 Sam Shaw 144 laps
#26 Robert Smith 110 laps
#22 Matt Heys 56 laps
#86 Pete Collishaw 37 laps
#27 Stu Polkinghorne 19 laps
#97 Mike Stark 19 laps
#50 Phil Brooks 16 laps
#18 Sheldon Webster 15 laps
#67 John Parden 6 laps
The next NWLMRA event is at Glossop Carnival on July 3rd/4th
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