NORTH WEST LAWN MOWER RACING ASSOCIATION
Race Report from Wollaton Steam, Notts. ~ Apr 30th-May
2nd
The opening Round of the 2005 NWLMRA Championship series
finally got underway after a long off-season. With the changes
in rules, many drivers were eager to see how their new engines
would match up to their rivals. There were also four new machines
facing their first weekend of racing. These belonged to Mark
Roston, Kev Grimer, Phil Davies & John Gill
#31 Daz Whitehead’s lap of the track
“The area was a little small once all the paddock was
claimed, but we made the best of what we had. Saturday’s
track started with a downhill straight, which went into a
right-left-right chicane to slow you down before a long fast
right-hander that was really slippy and quite bumpy. This
opened out into a short uphill straight, before a hairpin
right, next was a very short straight, and an open hairpin
left. This was a really tricky bend and seemed to be causing
no end of problems. Next we climbed the hill and went through
a long sweeping left, before a tight right that opened out
back onto the main straight. Lap times on Saturday were around
33 seconds for the leading drivers”
Round 1 – Saturday 30th April 2005
Due to the number of mowers and the size of the track, it
was decided to run separate class races for the Championship
Points. First up was Group 4, and these were joined by Andy
Little, as he was the only entrant in Class 2 Wheels. Being
in a separate Class, Andy was allowed to start before the
rest and cruised to an easy 10 points. In Group 4 however,
it was more of a battle as Dave Askew on #4 failed to make
the start. #100 Phil Davies took the lead from the lights
and never gave it up but he was closely followed by #8 Kev
Grimer and #64 Mark Roston. Mark eventually got past Kev on
Lap 7 to take a well-earned 2nd place. Kev came home third,
ahead of Dave Askew who joined the race for the final 4 laps
Group 3’s were next and off-season rule changes meant
that there would now be only one class. #69 Matt Randall was
the only driver not to change engines over the winter, and
it looked to be the right decision on Saturday as he led from
lights-to-flag to clinch the win from #96 Chris Randall. #31
Daz Whitehead came home third ahead of #11 Sam Shaw and #44
Sheldon Webster
The Grand Prix followed with all mowers racing together.
#100 Phil Davies got the best start and led the opening lap
from #31 Daz Whitehead, #96 Chris Randall, #44 Cameron Hill,
#11 Sam Shaw, #7 Andy Little, #4 Dave Askew, #8 Kev Grimer
and #64 Mark Roston. #69 Matt Randall dropped out after 3
corners with mechanical troubles. #96 Chris Randall went from
3rd to 1st on Lap 3 where he controlled the pace and went
on to record his first win of the year, covering 18 laps in
the 10 minute race. Other drivers on the lead lap were Andy
Little, Daz Whitehead and Dave Askew. Mark Roston, Sam Shaw
and Phil Davies all dropped 2 laps, while Cameron Hill dropped
3 laps, and Kev Grimer finished 4 laps back
Round 2 - Sunday 1st May 2005
The track was run the opposite way on Sunday with the start-line
moved down the bottom of the main straight
As per Saturday, the Group 4’s had a separate points
race, and were once again joined by Andy Little. Again, Andy
started early and cruised to another 10 points. Dave Askew
and Phil Davies both had problems in their race, as firstly
Dave retired on Lap 1, and Phil missed the start due to his
engine not running properly. This left Mark Roston and Kev
Grimer to battle it out for the win. It eventually went to
Mark who finished a handful of seconds ahead of Kev for his
first race win
The Group 3’s were joined by the sole Group 2 Roller
of #66 Andy Howard. Needless to say, Andy won his Class! The
Group 3 race was very close with #31 Daz Whitehead eventually
taking the win after coming back from 4th place on Lap 4.
#86 Pete Collishaw finished 2nd, Matt Randall was 3rd after
rolling his mower out of the lead on Lap 6. Chris Randall
was 4th ahead of Sam Shaw and Sheldon Webster
The Grand Prix followed with 10 mowers taking the start.
At the end of the first lap, the order was #86 Pete Collishaw,
#66 John Parden, #31 Daz Whitehead, #7 Andy Little, #11 Sam
Shaw, #8 Kev Grimer, #64 Mark Roston, #44 Cameron Hill and
#96 Chris Randall. #100 Phil Davies and #69 Matt Randall both
retired without completing a single lap. The race was won
by Pete Collishaw, who was closely followed by Daz Whitehead
and Andy Little. All 3 drivers completed 19 laps. Sam Shaw,
Mark Roston and John Parden all finished 1 lap down. Chris
Randall was 2 laps down and Cameron Hill dropped 3 laps
Round 3 - Monday 2nd May 2005
Bank Holiday Monday saw most competitors stay over for a
third day of racing, but the Points race was combined as a
large crowd had gathered to watch the racing. Once again,
#7 Andy Little was the only competitor in Group 2 Wheels,
and he picked up an easy 10 points. Dave Askew won the Group
4 battle as Phil Davies gradually dropped back throughout
the race. Chris Randall won in Group 3 as both he and Matt
Randall passed Daz Whitehead on the exit of the last corner
of the last lap when Daz’s engine cut out after suffering
from fuel starvation. Daz recovered to take 3rd in class ahead
of Sam Shaw and Sheldon Webster
Next up was the Grand Prix with a fantastic battle between
Matt Randall and Chris Randall. Chris eventually won, taking
the lead on lap 5 on his way to covering 23 laps. Matt Randall
was the only other driver to remain on the lead lap. Dave
Askew, Daz Whitehead, Andy Little and Sam Shaw all finished
1 lap down. Phil Davies covered 19 laps, and Cameron Hill
covered 18 laps
It was a great weekend, despite heavy rain bringing Monday’s
racing to a premature end. It’s fair to say that several
mowers suffered from a few teething problems, but these should
be ironed out over the next couple of races. Everyone seemed
to win a race too at some point of the weekend, with some
excellent handicap races allowing drivers to push to the maximum
at all times. We also enjoyed a good crowd with some very
enthusiastic spectators cheering drivers on (some more than
others!)
The 2005 Championship Standings after Round 3 are:
~
Class 4
#4 Dave Askew 10 points
#100 Phil Davies 10 points
#64 Mark Roston 10 points
#8 Kev Grimer 9 points
Class 3
#69 Matt Randall 10 points
#96 Chris Randall 10 points
#31 Daz Whitehead 10 points
#86 Pete Collishaw 9 points
#11 Sam Shaw 7 points
#44 Sheldon Webster 6 points
Class 2 Wheels
#7 Andy Little 10 points
Class 2 Roller
#66 Andy Howard 10 points
Grand Prix
#69 Matt Randall 23 laps
#96 Chris Randall 23 laps
#4 Dave Askew 22 laps
#7 Andy Little 22 laps
#11 Sam Shaw 22 laps
#31 Daz Whitehead 22 laps
#86 Pete Collishaw 19 laps
#100 Phil Davies 19 laps
#44 Cameron Davies 18 laps
#66 John Parden 18 laps
#64 Mark Roston 18 laps
#8 Kev Grimer 14 laps
The next NWLMRA event will be at Bentinck Miners Welfare
on Sunday 8th May
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