Race Report from Round 1 at Ffrith, Flintshire, 1st/2nd
May’04
 The
opening rounds of the 2004 NWLMRA Championship Series took
place under sunny skies over May Day Bank Holiday weekend.
#26 Robert Smith turned up with his new mower, formerly driven
by Stuart Polkinghorne to both NWLMRA Championships in 2003.
#96 & #69 Chris & Matt Randall bought out their highly
renovated machines both sporting new engines. #11 Sam Shaw
was entering her first full season of NWLMRA Championship
racing, alongside her father #12 Martin Shaw. As usual, both
mowers looked in tip-top condition
#31 Daz Whitehead’s lap of the track
“From the Start Line, was a long straight, probably
150 metres. Needless to say it was flat out all the way into
a big long left hander which needed a good line, so you didn’t
let anyone sneak through on the inside while you were hard
on the brakes for the tight right-hander at turn 2. Coming
out of the bend was a short straight before an open hairpin
left. This was a crucial corner with 2 distinct lines. You
had to brake early and stick to the inside otherwise you ended
up spinning the wheels through the soft ground and loosing
a second looking for traction. Following this corner was a
deceptive right hander that you had to get just right, otherwise
your line was screwed for the last bends before the end of
the lap. Again, you needed to brake early, turn in and keep
it tight so that you could accelerate through the big left-hander
that followed. Next up was a tricky right-left chicane. This
was another area where it was all too easy to loose time,
so you had to be really neat through here. The chicane opened
up through a left hander (and a nasty dip that almost caught
a few drivers out) on the way over the finish line and back
onto the main straight. Lap times were around 35 seconds for
the quickest guys out there”
Round 1 – Saturday 1st May, 2004
First up was the Points race. As the lights went green all
the drivers got a good start but the best one was from #31
Daz Whitehead, who led from #96 Chris Randall, #26 Robert
Smith, #12 Martin Shaw, #69 Matt Randall, #24 Dave Smith,
#50 Phil Brooks, #11 Sam Shaw and #18 Sheldon Webster. Lap
two saw the first lead change as #96 Chris Randall dived through
to take the lead, also on the move was #24 Dave Smith who
moved up to 5th overall. #18 Sheldon Webster retired on Lap
4. There was another lead change on Lap 5 when #31 Daz Whitehead
re-rook the lead from #96 Chris Randall. #12 Martin Shaw moved
up to 3rd passing #26 Robert Smith. The leading pair fought
to the flag but the win went to #31 Daz Whitehead from #96
Chris Randall and #12 Martin Shaw. Class wins went to #24
Dave Smith (2 Wheels) and #11 Sam Shaw (3 Briggs)
The next race was the Grand Prix and another clean get-away
enabled #31 Daz Whitehead to open a gap after a couple of
laps. He held a gap of about 15 seconds over #12 Martin Smith
all the way to the flag. 3rd and 4th went to son-and-father
combination #26 Robert & #24 Dave Smith. Title hopeful,
#96 Chris Randall, retired after just 7 laps with a rear puncture
The afternoon saw some non-championship races and these were
won by #31 Daz Whitehead, #24 Dave Smith, #26 Robert Smith,
#96 Chris Randall and Stuart Polkinghorne driving #26
 Round
2 – Sunday 2nd May, 2004
The track was altered slightly for Sunday’s racing but
this mainly involved making the main straight longer. The
big news on Sunday was that Robert Smith had not turned up.
His mower would be raced by 2003 Champion Stuart Polkinghorne.
However, under club rules, this only allowed the #26 machine
to score half-points.
The points race was delayed while #24 Dave Smith made essential
repairs to his mower. Two non-championship races were held
with both victories going to #96 Chris Randall. When the Points
race finally arrived, all the drivers lined up and as the
lights went green, #31 Daz Whitehead stalled, giving #26 Stuart
Polkinghorne the early advantage. He was closely followed
by #96 Chris Randall. These two drivers swapped the lead on
laps 3 and 5, with #26 Stuart Polkinghorne eventually winning
the race by one second at the flag. #69 Matt Randall drove
to a lonely 3rd place ahead of #24 Dave Smith and #18 Sheldon
Webster, who both took class wins in 2 Wheels and 3 Briggs
respectively. #31 Daz Whitehead managed to re-start his mower
only for the engine to blow moments later
Into the Grand Prix and the warm conditions had improved
the track surface, reducing lap times by a couple of seconds.
This enabled #96 Chris Randall & #26 Stuart Polkinghorne
to cover 18 laps in the race. At the flag the two drivers
were separated by less than half a second, this time though
the win went to #96 Chris Randall. #24 Dave Smith took a class
win in 2 Wheels and stayed on the lead lap, which is enough
to give him an early Championship lead in the Grand Prix
Non-championship races followed in the afternoon and all
the wins were shared between #26 Stuart Polkinghorne and #96
Chris Randall
The Championship Standings after Round 2 are: ~
Class 3
#96 Chris Randall 18 points
#12 Martin Shaw 15 points
#69 Matt Randall 14 points
#26 Robert Smith 12 points
#31 Daz Whitehead 11 points
Class 3 Briggs
#11 Sam Shaw 19 points
#18 Sheldon Webster 19 points
Class 2 Wheels
#24 Dave Smith 20 points
#50 Phil Brooks 9 points
Grand Prix
#24 Dave Smith 35 laps
#12 Martin Shaw 33 laps
#11 Sam Shaw 29 laps
#96 Chris Randall 26 laps
#26 Robert Smith 26 laps
#69 Matt Randall 17 laps
#31 Daz Whitehead 17 laps
#50 Phil Brooks 16 laps
#18 Sheldon Webster 15 laps
NOTE – These scores are not corrected. Corrected scores
will be issued after Round 4 at Barnard Castle, 29th/30th
May’04
The next NWLMRA event is the North-V-South Challenge at Retford,
Notts. This is an open invitation event to all racers in the
NWLMRA and BLMRA and will feature a league scoring system
which will determine the fastest club in the UK
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