NORTH WEST LAWN MOWER RACING ASSOCIATION
Race Report from the ‘Big Field’ at Kirkham,
Lancs – 10th/11th September 2005
The final Championship Races of the 2005 NWLMRA Season took
place under clear blue skies in the ‘Big Field’
at Kirkham over the weekend. Stuart Polkinghorne brought along
his mower to test in final preparation for defending his World
Championship Title. Scott Evans had been working on his mower
to make it more reliable after his drive problems at Barnard
Castle, while Daz Whitehead was trying out a new seat in a
bid to save weight from his machine and make it more comfortable.
Jason Whitehead had also been busy modifying his Standard
Mower to make it tie in with the expected rules for the new
class. Father-and-Son team, Dave and Robert Smith had their
mowers in the paddock, but decided not to enter any races.
Dave had mechanical problems, while Robert seemed to be lacking
enthusiasm
#31 Daz Whitehead’s lap of the track
“Saturdays track was very fast and started with a steep
and long downhill straight which went into a very fast but
rough left and right combination before another long straight.
Next was a tight right, which was very bumpy off line. This
opened into a very long and fast right around the duck pond,
which tightened slightly on exit, before a sharp but bumpy
left. Next was a short straight into a very fast and bumpy
right where you needed to be very tight to the inside to avoid
the worst bumps. This fed into a long uphill straight, then
it was a slight kink to the left before very hard braking
for a hairpin right and the start line. Gearing was critical
on this track, with the fastest laps being around 43 seconds
for the quickest drivers"
Saturday 10th September 2005
All classes ran together for the Points Races with a staggered
start. Group 3’s were first away with #96 Chris Randall
making the best start ahead of #31 Daz Whitehead, #69 Matt
Randall and #9 Scott Evans. Group 4’s were next away
with #100 Phil Davies leading from the line ahead of #4 Dave
Askew and #64 Mark Rostron. #7 Andy Little was the only Group
2 Wheels entrant, while #27 Stuart Polkinghorne joined the
race late and then retired after only 2 laps. Scott Evans
seemed to be struggling and looked to be extremely under-geared
for the track and he fell through the field to 7th place.
Phil Davies stopped with a problem on the 2nd lap, but later
rejoined to finish 8th. At the front Chris Randall had built
up a small lead over Daz Whitehead and Matt Randall. The #31
then suffered a puncture on lap 7, which allowed Matt Randall
through to take 2nd place. Chris Randall won the race, ahead
of his brother Matt. Daz Whitehead crossed the line in 3rd
place despite the puncture, ahead of Dave Askew, Mark Rostron,
Andy Little, Scott Evans and Phil Davies
The Grand Prix was next up with all mowers taking to the
start line. Once again, it was #96 Chris Randall had the best
start to lead the opening lap from #31 Daz Whitehead, #7 Andy
Little, #64 Mark Rostron, #4 Dave Askew, #9 Scott Evans, #69
Matt Randall, #100 Phil Davies and #27 Stuart Polkinghorne.
Matt Randall suffered a puncture on lap 2 and retired to replace
the wheel, before rejoining at the 5-minute mark. Matt then
completed 5 laps before retiring again, this time with brake
problems. Stuart Polkinghorne covered just 3 laps after suffering
fuel feed problems with his new engine. Phil Davies again
looked impressive as he battled through the pack from 8th
on lap 1, to 7th on lap 2, 6th on lap 3, 5th on lap 6, 4th
on lap 7 and 3rd on lap 10. Chris Randall built a comfortable
lead of almost 15 seconds to win the race having covered 14
laps. Daz Whitehead, Phil Davies and Mark Rostron all finished
on the lead lap. Dave Askew and Andy Little both dropped one
lap, while Scott Evans dropped 2
After the Championship Races had finished, the track was
altered to take out the duck pond bend. This resulted in lots
more bumps and ruts in the ploughed field. However, the racers
made the best of what was available and some excellent racing
took place throughout the afternoon
Sunday 28th August 2005
For Sunday, it was decided to run the track the other way
round. All mowers would take the start for the Points Race
and with Group 3’s away first, the holeshot was taken
by #27 Stuart Polkinghorne, ahead of #96 Chris Randall, #69
Matt Randall, #31 Daz Whitehead, #9 Scott Evans. #100 Phil
Davies led the Group 4’s away, ahead of #4 Dave Askew,
#64 Mark Rostron and #13 Jason Whitehead. #7 Andy Little was
the only competitor in Group 2 Wheels. Stuart Polkinghorne
slowed after 4 laps, while Andy Little and Mark Rostron would
both retire on Laps 6 and 8 respectively. Chris Randall took
the win in Group 3, ahead of Matt Randall, Daz Whitehead,
Stuart Polkinghorne and Scott Evans. Phil Davies was the first
Group 4 home, ahead of Dave Askew and Jason Whitehead
The final Championship Race of the year was the Grand Prix
and it was a classic. In the words of retired Chairman Eddie
Randall, “Now, that’s racing!!”. The Grand
Prix Trophy was still mathematically up for grabs between
Daz Whitehead and Matt Randall. #96 Chris Randall again proved
to have the best reactions to lead off the line ahead of #31
Daz Whitehead, #69 Matt Randall, #9 Scott Evans, #4 Dave Askew,
#100 Phil Davies, #7 Andy Little and #13 Jason Whitehead.
Constant overtaking between the lead 3 would see over 20 lead
changes throughout the race, with the drivers sometimes being
3 or 4 wide heading into some corners. Phil Davies was also
hanging in there for the opening laps, sitting close behind
the leaders. A late surge from Matt Randall allowed him to
pull a lead of about a second going into the last lap. With
both pursuants pushing hard the gap was down to nothing as
the drivers approached the final turn, however Matt held his
nerve to take the race win just ahead of Daz Whitehead and
Chris Randall. All 3 drivers covered 13 laps, as did Phil
Davies. Dave Askew dropped 1 lap, while Andy Little and Scott
Evans would drop 2. Jason Whitehead covered 4 laps
A series of non-championship races took place throughout
the afternoon. Stuart Polkinghorne won the 10-minute Horn
Race, which included a pit stop as he was running low on fuel.
Despite topping up his fuel tank, he managed to keep the race
lead for a comfortable victory. With Kirkham being a club
meeting, several drivers took the opportunity to swap machines
with interesting results. Mark Rostron rolled the #27 Lawnbug,
while both Phil Davies and Gordon Nicholls looked to be very
fast, if a little uncomfortable on the #31 Lawnbug. Daz Whitehead
tried out the #100 machine, while Mark & Andy Roston both
had races on the #4 John Deere
The Final 2005 Championship Standings are: ~
Class 4
#4 Dave Askew 151 points
#100 Phil Davies 109 points
#64 Mark Rostron 98 points
#8 Kev Grimer 49 points
#66A Mark Jaffe 18 points
#13 Jason Whitehead 8 points
Class 3
#69 Matt Randall 154 points
#31 Daz Whitehead 130 points
#96 Chris Randall 129.5 points
#11 Sam Shaw 103 points
#86 Ian Carter 53 points
#44 Sheldon Webster 49 points
#9 Scott Evans 32 points
#27 Stu Polkinghorne 16 points
#18 Josh Clarkson 13 points
#2 Mike Stark 7 points
#26 Robert Smith 1.5 points
Class 2 Wheels
#7 Andy Little 141 points
#24 Dave Smith 13.5 points
#25 Phil Brooks 9 points
Class 2 Roller
#12 Martin Shaw 98 points
#66 Andy Howard 26 points
#70 Roger Knowlson 10 points
#63 Andy Howard 6 points
Grand Prix
#31 Daz Whitehead 331 laps
#69 Matt Randall 312 laps
#4 Dave Askew 305 laps
#11 Sam Shaw 289 laps
#7 Andy Little 272 laps
#96 Chris Randall 271 laps
#100 Phil Davies 196 laps
#64 Mark Rostron 174 laps
#12 Martin Shaw 154 laps
#44 Cameron Hill 139 laps
#86 Pete Collishaw 119 laps
#8 Kev Grimer 93 laps
#9 Scott Evans 68 laps
#66 John Parden 63 laps
#18 Josh Clarkson 36 laps
#24 Dave Smith 26.5 laps
#2 Mike Stark 24 laps
#63 John Parden 21 laps
#66A Mark Jaffe 18.5 laps
#70 Roger Knowlson 18 laps
#27 Stu Polkinghorne 17 laps
#25 Phil Brooks 8 laps
#26 Robert Smith 5 laps
#13 Jason Whitehead 4 laps
Several NWLRMA racers will be heading down the World Championships
over the weekend of September 24th/25th. Good luck to all
those competing!
The next NWLMRA event will be the season finale 6 Hour Endurance
Race. The meeting will be held at Little Morton Farm, near
Retford in Nottinghamshire over the weekend of October 15th/16th
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