Race Report from Kirkham, Lancashire – September 11th/12th
The final round of the 2004 NWLMRA Championship series was
held at a club meeting in Kirkham over the weekend. With many
titles still up for the grabs, there was everything to play
for. Drivers and mowers were pushed beyond the limit in the
quest for the ultimate prizes of being the 2004 NWLMRA Champions
#31 Daz Whitehead’s lap of the track
“The field was huge and we could have had half-a-dozen
different meetings going on at the same time! Once the paddock
area set up, it was time to look at the track. From the start
line was a very long straight that went on for about 400 metres
before turning into a flat-out, and very long right-hander
that went around a duck pond, and into a short straight. Next
up was a left-hander that could be taken flat-out before a
short downhill straight into an extremely tight left-right-left
chicane. This opened out into a medium straight, which climbed
back up towards the finish line and a tricky right hander
that picked up the main straight for another lap. Lap times
were around 45 seconds.”
Round 19 – Saturday 11th September 2004
With this being a club meeting, all the drivers were allowed
extra time to carry out any repairs left over from the previous
meetings. 9 drivers lined up for the start of the Points race.
As the lights went green, #31 Daz Whitehead got the best start,
to hold an early advantage but was quickly passed by #27 Stuart
Polkinghorne as the first corner approached. At the end of
the first lap #27 Stuart Polkinghorne led from #31 Daz Whitehead,
#96 Chris Randall, #69 Matt Randall, #7 Andy Little, #50 Phil
Brooks, #24 Dave Smith and #11 Sam Shaw. Lap 2 saw #24 Dave
Smith pass #50 Phil Brooks for 6th place, while the next lap
would see #96 Chris Randall pass #31 Daz Whitehead for 2nd.
Onto lap 4 and #96 Chris Randall stalled at the hairpin letting
#69 Matt Randall climb from 4th to 2nd after passing #31 Daz
Whitehead earlier in the lap. #7 Andy Little retired on Lap
4 with a broken chain, this put a severe dent in his Group
2 Wheels title ambition handing the Championship lead to #24
Dave Smith who cruised home for a class win. Other class wins
went to #50 Phil Brooks (Group 4) and #11 Sam Shaw (Group
3 Briggs). At the front #27 Stuart Polkinghorne won from #69
Matt Randall with #31 Daz Whitehead in 3rd place. #31 Daz
Whitehead’s 3rd place was enough to secure the Group
3 Tecumseh Points Championship
The Grand Prix followed, and again it was #31 Daz Whitehead
who got the best start. Once again he was quickly overtaken
but this time it was by #27 Stuart Polkinghorne, #69 Matt
Randall and #96 Chris Randall. Coming up to the chicane and
#69 Matt Randall went off the track and #96 Chris Randall
stalled. At the end of the first lap the positions were #27
Stuart Polkinghorne, #31 Daz Whitehead, #26 Robert Smith,
#50 Phil Brooks, #7 Andy Little, #24 Dave Smith, #96 Chris
Randall, #11 Sam Shaw and #69 Matt Randall. #69 Matt Randall
passed #11 Sam Shaw for 8th on lap 2. #96 Chris Randall was
charging through the field passing 4 mowers on lap 3 to move
from 7th to 3rd. #26 Robert Smith had a problem on lap 4 dropping
him to last place. Meanwhile #69 Matt Randall was also coming
through the pack climbing from 8th on lap 2 to 4th on lap
5. #26 Robert Smith retired on lap 5 while #69 Matt Randall
had another off, once again dropping to the back on the pack
on lap 6 before retiring with a puncture just 2 laps later.
#96 Chris Randall passed #31 Daz Whitehead for 2nd on lap
12, while #24 Dave Smith passed #7 Andy Little on the same
lap for 4th place. #27 Stuart Polkinghorne lapped everyone
in the field on his way to covering 14 laps, one ahead of
#96 Chris Randall and #31 Daz Whitehead. #24 Dave Smith and
#7 Andy Little both dropped 2 laps
Round 20 - Sunday 12th September 2004
For Sunday’s races, the last corner was tightened to
run into a medium straight, then a very fast left hander and
another medium straight before rejoining the old main straight
just before the duck pond. The made the lap longer, but better
ground conditions meant the lap times were pretty similar
to Saturday’s
The Points race was first up and from the lights #27 Stuart
Polkinghorne took the hole-shot to lead into the first corner.
At the end of the lap he still led ahead of #31 Daz Whitehead,
#69 Matt Randall, #96 Chris Randall, #50 Phil Brooks, #7 Andy
Little, #24 Dave Smith, #11 Sam Shaw, #67 Andy Howard &
#66 John Parden. Lap 2 saw #69 Matt Randall pass #31 Daz Whitehead
for 2nd, while #50 Phil Brooks retired. The single point awarded
for “dnfing” allowed Phil to win the Group 4 Points
Championship. On lap 3 #96 Chris Randall passed #31 Daz Whitehead
for 3rd place, while #66 John Parden passed #67 Andy Howard
for 8th place. #96 Chris Randall took 2nd place on lap 4,
while #31 Daz Whitehead took 3rd one lap later, both were
at the expense of #69 Matt Randall. #67 Andy Howard retook
8th position from #66 John Parden on lap 4. Onto lap 6 and
#31 Daz Whitehead took 2nd from #96 Chris Randall but these
positions were reversed again one lap later. #69 Matt Randall
passed #31 Daz Whitehead on lap 8 for 3rd place. At the flag,
#27 Stuart Polkinghorne had produced another dominant display
to win comfortably from #96 Chris Randall, #69 Matt Randall,
#31 Daz Whitehead, #7 Andy Little, #24 Dave Smith, #11 Sam
Shaw, #67 Andy Howard & #66 John Parden. #24 Dave Smith’s
6th place was enough to give him the Group 2 Wheels Points
Championship for 2004
The final 2004 Championship race would decide the Grand Prix.
#96 Chris Randall held a 4 lap lead over #31 Daz Whitehead
at the start of the race, and basically needed to finish to
win the Grand Prix trophy. #27 Stuart Polkinghorne led all
the way for another lights-to-flag victory covering 13 laps
in the process. #69 Matt Randall finished 2nd on the same
lap. #31 Daz Whitehead and #96 Chris Randall battled throughout
the race swapping places on laps 3 and 7 with #31 Daz Whitehead
eventually winning the race but loosing the battle as #96
Chris Randall’s 4th place finish was enough to guarantee
him the title for 2004. #7 Andy Little and #24 Dave Smith
both dropped 1 lap, while #50 Phil Brooks, #67 Andy Howard,
#11 Sam Shaw & #66 John Parden all lost 3 laps. #22 Matt
Heys completed just 2 laps
Several novice drivers were around over the weekend with
many of them producing some very impressive displays of driving
during the afternoon sessions over both days. A couple of
these drivers are talking about building new mowers for the
2005 season, which can only be a good thing for the future
of the sport and the NWLMRA
The Final 2004 Championship Standings are: ~
Class 4
#50 Phil Brooks 12 points
#66 Mark Jaffe 11 points
Class 3 Tecumseh
#31 Daz Whitehead 166 points
#96 Chris Randall 155 points
#69 Matt Randall 142 points
#12 Martin Shaw 106 points
#27 Stu Polkinghorne 80 points
#26 Robert Smith 46½ points
#22 Matt Heys 13½ points
#86 Pete Collishaw 13 points
#97 Mike Stark 8 points
Class 3 Briggs
#11 Sam Shaw 178 points
#18 Sheldon Webster 29 points
Class 2 Wheels
#24 Dave Smith 148 points
#7 Andy Little 141 points
#50 Phil Brooks 9 points
Class 2 Roller
#67 J Parden & Co 30 points
#66 John Parden 9 points
Grand Prix
#96 Chris Randall 353 laps
#31 Daz Whitehead 349 laps
#69 Matt Randall 338 laps
#12 Martin Shaw 298 laps
#24 Dave Smith 279 laps
#11 Sam Shaw 272 laps
#7 Andy Little 250 laps
#27 Stu Polkinghorne 158 laps
#26 Robert Smith 120½ laps
#22 Matt Heys 58 laps
#86 Pete Collishaw 53 laps
#50 Phil Brooks 45 laps
#67 J Parden & Co 39 laps
#18 Sheldon Webster 35 laps
#97 Mike Stark 19 laps
#66 Mark Jaffe 15 laps
#66 John Parden 10 laps
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