NEWS
Men's Nationals 2008 and and home again
On the
Road 2007
Mens Nationals 2008
and home again
The trip to Javelin Park, Gloucester was exiting for all the drivers representing Spalding. Everyone who took part should be congratulated for their efforts and for flying the club flag. The heat results were as follows:
Class 1: SP21 Michael Winkworth 3rd, 2nd & 7th; SP24 Ashley Robinson 1st, 7th & 7th
Class 2: SP16 Bob Ellis 6th, 3rd, & 2nd; SP108 Bob Rolls 5th, DNF & 4th
Class 3: SP302 Simon Roose 6th, 7th & 3rd
Class 4: SP45 Will Dobson BF, 4th & 5th - the Black Flag following a ripped off exhaust on a tyre
Class 5: SP20 Terry Gooyear 8th, 7th & 2nd; SP105 Ryan Clarke DNF
Class 6: SP114 Stephen Pearsall 5th, 2nd & DNF - the DNF from a blown fuse (not Steve, the car!); SP252 Kev Gliddon 5th, 4th & 3rd
Class 7: SP25 Kenny Perry 8th, 5th & 7th
Class 8: SP8 Chris Pope 2nd, 4th & 1st - this got Chris through to the Final again where he added to his silverware collection with 3rd; SP29 Melvin Clayton 5th, 8th & 5th
Class 9: SP711 Mick Hardy 5th, 8th & 6th
Class 10: SP1 Bill Shaw 2nd, 1st & 2nd - with this solid performance Bill went through to the Final but broke a driveshaft whilst leading the re-run, particularly bad luck; SP504 Dave Veal DNF
Congratulations
again to all our drivers, now the planning for next year for everyone. So home for 10th August 2008 Meeting
Despite a lot of other venues being called off and the
downpour on Saturday our meeting went ahead and turned out to be excellent.
Although it seems unlikely we had to keep watering to keep the dust down!!!
It was very nice to see some new visiting drivers, we hope they enjoyed their
time with our club and hopefully we will see them all again.
Andrew Godfrey says thank you to everyone that helped
out over the weekend and he would like to say a big THANKYOU to Russ Thompson
from the
There were some very well turned out cars on our track
over the weekend, it is so nice to see so many of you making such an effort
with your race cars. That goes for our visiting drivers to, Class 7 looked
particularly good.
Anyone travelling to
Of course after that we have Ladies & Junior
Nationals followed by the last BAS event at St Neots, again good luck to all
our representatives.
Message from the Chairman
Again
the 20th July was a very successful meeting with some good racing. The numbers
were slightly disappointing but as there were other local clubs having
meetings this was to be expected.
Firstly I want to say a big THANK YOU to all the volunteers, it was brilliant to see so many of you on Saturday for track preparation. It makes it so much easier and quicker when there are a number of you instead of the usual handful, so thanks a lot and hope to see you all again for future meetings. My thanks also go to everyone that helped on race day. I want to say a particular THANK YOU to Sandra Secker. Sandra stepped in at the last moment to do race commentating as we didn’t have a commentator, and I have to say she did a very good job of it. Well done Sandra.
Chairman
(Andrew Godfrey).
Everyone on the committee would like
to say thank you to Robert Rolls of Frontline Autos for the recent contribution
towards new radios for the club. This is greatly appreciated.
Dash for Cash 08
Those who went to the BAS in Wales missed a great days racing:
If you want to see some of the action you missed go to http://autograssracing.com/ .
Again we were 'blessed' with heavy showers on the night before racing but on Sunday morning it was clear that the wind was going to dry things out well and we'd be watering before racing was only a few heats in. Thanks must go to all the hardworking Club Members who put in all the time and effort both before and on the day - the track was superb. Bob Ellis did a sterling job as 'supremo' for the day substituting a roller for his normal Class 2.
There were visitors from Trent, Cambridge, Concord Essex, Nottingham, St Neots, Sturton, Leicester, Pennine and Scunthorpe. Thanks for joining us and hope to see you all again.
Thanks also to the sponsors who are all acknowledged below:
CLASS 1 Sponsors STUART
ALAN SIGNS www.stuartalansigns.com/
T370 Michael Greaeves, SP102 Barry Thickpenny, SP551 Daniel
Pearce CLASS 2 Sponsor SIMON
ROOSE SN405 Jason Thomas,
ST27 Jason Mills, T55 Ben Green CLASS 3 Sponsors MCKENNA
AUTO SALVAGE
CA546 Adam Saint CLASS 4 Sponsors MASSEY O,BRIEN CARS
N174 Martin Hucknall, T199 Steve Olive, ST135 Andrew Wood CLASS 5 Sponsors DAVE
PARRIN CAR SALES
T53 Nigel Speed, T4 Jon Sims, SP105 Ryan Clarke
CLASS 6 Sponsors MACROART LTD www.macroart.co.uk
SP114 Steve Pearsal, SP73 Matt Tibbitts, SP252 Kev Glidden
CLASS 7 Sponsors FRONT LINE AUTOS
N118 Matt Duffell, C18E Trevor Martin
CLASS 8 Sponsors CLAYTON FABRICATIONS
C83E Barry Hathaway, SP92 Melvyn Clayton, SP98 Mark Wilson
CLASS 10 Sponsors ROFFS CATERING
ST113 John Houseman
CLASS 11 Sponsors SECKER SIGNS
ST474 Tina Hilton, SP57 Lisa Chenery, T55 Stacey Ryan
CLASS 12 Sponsors SPALDING AND DISTRICT AUTOGRASS CLUB
T4 Jayne Sims, SC78 Kate Dixon, SP578 Emma Hornby
JUNIOR SALOONS Sponsors C & L MOTOR TECH
SP15 Shannon Ellis, SP26 Rebecca Green, SN81 Nathan Saunders
JUNIOR SPECIALS Sponsors GODFREY MOTORSPORT
ST3 Oliver Hamp, SP31 Chamelle Clayton
LADIES CHAMP OF CHAMPS
ST474 Tina Hilton, SP57 Lisa Chenery, SC78 Kate Dixon
MENS CHAMP OF CHAMPS
SN405 Jason Thomas, N174 Martin Hucknall, ST27 Jason Mills
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Round
3 Sunny Scunny!
The
third BAS meeting of the year took place on the 12th & 13th
July at the
Saturday
was a very wet start but the track gradually dried out to give some fast and
furious racing. Sunday was blessed with sunshine mainly all day. Below is a list
of drivers that attended and their heat results.
Class
1 SP24 Ashley Robinson 4,2,1. SP27 Michael
Robinson 4,4,5. SP42 Luke
Class 2 SP16 Bob Ellis 1,BF,BF. SP54 Doug Moore 6,6,4.
Class
3 SP68 Malc Lefevre 6,7,7.
Class
4 SP70 Tom Godfrey 4,6,7. SP578 Martin
Johnson 8,6,6.
Class
8 SP8 Chris Pope 3,BF,2. SP50 Adam Veal
DNF,6,NS. SP92 Melvyn Clayton
4,DNF,4.
SP514 Richard Todd 6,5,2.
Class
10 SP1 Bill Shaw 2,1,2. SP32 Michelle Beech
6,DNF,7. SP504 David Veall 5,DNF,4.
Junior
saloons SP15 Shannon Ellis 4,1,2. SP79
Jordan Godfrey 7,8,7.
Junior
specials SP31 Chamelle Clayton 7,7,5. SP140
Sam Burbridge 7,5,5.
Ladies
Class
1 SP27 Debra Robinson 4,3,5. SP79 Marie
Godfrey 6,4,4.
Congratulations
to our “finalists” Class 1 SP24 Ashley Robinson finished in 6th
position; Class 10 SP1 Bill Shaw finished in 5th position; Junior
saloon SP15 Shannon Ellis finished in 4th position.
Luke Orrey would like to say thankyou to the Spalding members who helped him to fix his car on Saturday enabling him to get out in the 2nd & 3rd Heats.
The
second BAS meeting of the year took place on the 21st & 22nd
June at the Cwmdu track. This was a very well organised event with 596 drivers
signing on. The conditions on the first day were challenging as the track was
very wet and extremely muddy but by day two the track had dried out to give some
very good racing.
Well
done to all Spalding members that attended. Drivers at the meeting and their
heat results:
Class
1 SP24 Ashley Robinson 3,2,4. SP27
Michael Robinson 5,5,6.
31st
May & 1st June probably the biggest event in autograss racing.
This year the MAP attracted 747 drivers from all over the country including
drivers from
Class 1 – SP21 Mick Winkworth, SP24 Ashley Robinson, SP27 Michael Robinson, SP42 Luke Orrey, SP57 Carl Secker & SP525 Natasha Harwick.
Class
2 – SP16 Bob Ellis, SP54 Doug Moore & SP108 Robert Rolls.
A
very big WELL DONE to our vice chairman SP16 BOB ELLIS for winning his final to
become the MAP Class 2 champion for 2008.
Class
3 – SP68 Malc Lefevre
Class 4 – SP70 Tom Godfreys car Driven by Endaf Owens
Class
5 – SP20 Terry Goodyear
Class
6 – SP81 Chris Parkinson & SP252 Kevin Gliddon
Class
7 – SP25 Kenny Perry
Class
8 – SP8 Christopher Pope SP50 Adam
Veall & SP92 Melvyn Clayton
Class
10 – SP1 Bill Shaw & SP504 David Veall
Ladies
– SP27 Debra Robinson
Juniors
– SP15 Shannon Ellis
Well
done all of you in particular congratulations go to SP16 & SP27 Debra
Robinson for
qualifying for their respective finals.
Due to an unfortunate misunderstanding with the East Anglian League, the Spalding Committee have decided to cancel the Club's involvement in the Challenge for the 2008 season. Therefore the planned rounds at the Hurdletree Bank venue will now revert to Open Meetings with a general invitation, as always, to any travelling drivers who wish to take advantage of our hospitality and attempt to take away the 'silverware'.
Our
second meeting of the season again was well attended with 94 drivers signing on,
and visiting drivers again featured in the action.
Keeping
any eye on the unpredictable weather we were very fortunate, having heavy rain
forecast, in only having a slight shower which allowed everyone to have 3 heats
and then the finals.
Results
of the days racing can be seen on the results page.
Yet
again a great big thankyou to everyone that helps in any way at our meetings. Just
another reminder to keep the volunteers for marshalling rolling, if it wasn’t
for volunteers on the day then the racing wouldn’t be able to go ahead.
Opening Meeting 6th April 2008
Despite
the weather forecasting snow the meeting on 6th April went ahead in glorious
sunshine (although the wind was a bit cold) with a great turnout of 104 drivers
including visitors from:
Cambridge
, St Neots, Scunthorpe, Sturton, Trent and as far away as Invicta
The
track was in good condition thanks to all the hard work that had been put in. As
the day progressed even the water had to come out to dampen down the dust!!
The
entertainment was good, the racing fast and the desire to get points for the
Nationals inevitably led hard driving and to a number of rolls. Taking a tumble
were SP18, SP81, ST113 and Ladies SP108 & SP335. Thankfully no one was
seriously injured just a little shaken.
A good roll sequence of photos of SP18, Phil Clark, is available from Martin Anderson's website at:
http://autograssracing.com/ and look for April 08.
Unfortunately
the hold ups meant we ran out of time towards the end of the meeting and the
finals had to be cancelled. Results taken over the days racing are on the
Results page.
Champion of Champions
The Committee have decided to re-instate the Champion of Champions races at the end of each meeting with the 2 highest points scorers for the day from each Class (Reserves allowed).
However the Club Champion will be decided as last year with the 2 highest points scorers for the season from each Class racing at the last meeting of the year. No Reserves will be permitted for this event.
Spalding @ the NEC: 12 - 13th January
The Club were proud to be represented on the NASA Stand by Tom Godfrey's Class 4.
Looking forward to seeing it in action in the 2008 season.
2008 New Committee
The
Committee were elected at the AGM and names are now listed on the page.
Notable changes were that Kevin Pearsall has stepped back from his prominent
role as Chief Track Marshal - Lal Winkworth has taken up the pressure job - and
long term Chairman Ken Beales has stepped out of the Committee to give the new
Chairman Andrew Godfrey elbow room in the role. Ken has been a stalwart at the
Club for many years and has put in an enormous amount of work to ensure the
track was fit and that meetings have
taken place successfully. 
Hopefully he will
continue to provide that support but in the meantime, with new found freedom,
expect to see him out in the Class 10 on a regular basis.
Angela & John White have sent their
regards and best wishes to everyone at the Club. They are pictured above with
friends in their new home town of Veliko Tarnovo, the Old Capital of
Bulgaria. We're not jealous!
Nottingham Winter Series 2007
Congratulations go to Simon Roose and Malc LeFevre who came away with 1st and 2nd in Class 3 for the series - keeping the Club flag flying right to the end of the season.
Autograss @ "Motorfest" at Rockingham Motor Speedway
On the weekend of 15 & 16 September, the East Anglian and Fenland League Clubs were together for the Motorfest Event at Rockingham. We provided the Autograss display at the 5 arena, 700 driver event. We can all feel very proud of ourselves for how well we all worked together and how smoothly things ran for the whole weekend. Not only did we help to promote Autograss Racing, but we also held a very successful meeting.
Class winners for Spalding were: Class 6 – SP114 Steve Pearsall, Class 8 – SP8 Chris Pope and Class 10 – SP1 Bill Shaw. On the Sunday afternoon each Class winner was entered into a Champion of Champions race, the winner of which joined the other nine champions from the other motorsport disciplines and represented NASA Autograss in the King of the Rock Race.
Results for the Champion of Champions were: 1st SN265 Andy Lodge, 2nd SP8 Chris Pope and 3rd SP114 Steve Pearsall. Therefore Class 5 Driver SP265 Andy Lodge was put through. Unfortunately Andy finished well down the field, but still left with a share of the prize money we understand, well done Andy! It is hoped that this will be an annual event, so hopefully will continue. We also shared the track with the SEGTO (South Eastern Grass Track Organisation) Racers, who also have a Reliant Robin Class, so everyone was well entertained, even if they did not venture into the main complex! Superb photo’s from the event can be found on Autograss Review website: www.autograssreview.com
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Dash for Cash
Told you should come and join us:
"Went to Spalding yesterday, arrived Saturday night late, ferried into Spalding for the night life by club members about ten miles away (thank you very much). In the morning I woke up saw the track for the first time and first impressions were what have we come here for, looks small and had some wet patches which looked like bogs, but due to lots of hard work from the boys the track became mint and like a billiard table, it raced a lot faster than it looked. All the club members were very friendly and welcoming. Had loads of racing ,three heats and a final and an open. I would recommend a visit to this club and you will not be disappointed. Thanks very much for a great day cheers John." (John Gay - SS7)
"Here here!!! Fantastic day fantastic track very flat and fast, friendliest welcome you will receive anywhere, great weather and a total of 36 laps racing!!, what more can you ask for??!! well worth the drive up many thanks we will be back!" (Tom Ellis S33D)
Despite all the worries before, with the outfield still underwater 2 days before, it was a tremendous day, as the quotes from the visiting drivers on the Autograss Forum testify. Thanks must go to all the hardworking Club Members who put in all the time and effort both before and on the day.
There were visitors from Trent, Cambridge, Concord Essex, Nottingham, St Neots, Scunthorpe, South Devon, South Somerset, Sturton and York. Thanks for joining us and hope to see you all again.
Thanks also to the sponsors who are all acknowledged below:
CLASS 1 Sponsors SECKER SIGNS
T370 Michael Greaeves, ST72 Jason Mills, ST474 Jamie Hornby
CLASS 2 Sponsors MCKENNA CAR COMMERCIALS
SN404 Paul Thomas, SN405 Jason Thomas, T55 Ben Green
CLASS 3 Sponsors ENTERPRISE TYRES
SP68 Malc Lefevre, CA546 Adam Saint
CLASS 4 Sponsors MASSEY O,BRIEN CARS
C171E Ted Sparrow, SN348 Dave Digby
CLASS 5 Sponsors MASSEY O,BRIEN CARS
SC72 Martin Dixon, CA206 Peter Chapman, C95E Mark Shirley
CLASS 6 Sponsors BP GRASSING
SN296 George Tilson Smith, SP335 Ian Clark
CLASS 7 Sponsors MASSEY O,BRIEN CARS
SS7 John Gay, S33D Tom Ellis, SC444 Brendan Guest
CLASS 8 Sponsors IAN STAGG AGRICULTURAL CONTRACTOR
SP12 Andrew Hill, ST55 Barry Ashmore. ST514 Alyson Ostridge
CLASS 9 Sponsors TRM MOTORCYCLES
SP711 Mick Hardy
CLASS 10 Sponsor KEN BEALS (Club Chairman)
ST337 Alan Ostridge, SP141 Terry Burbridge
CLASS 11 Sponsors SPALDING AND DISTRICT AUTOGRASS CLUB
ST474 Kelly Hornby
CLASS 12 Sponsors DEWHURST TROPHIES
SC72 Kate Dixdon, SP335 Bev Clark
CLASS 13 Sponsor SIMON ROOSE (SP302)
CLASS 14 Sponsors DAVE PARRIN CAR SALES
JUNIOR SALOONS Sponsors S.VENNI TRANSPORT
N54 John Bowden, ST51 Ayrton Fretwell, SC773 Guy Beck
JUNIOR SPECIALS Sponsors S.VENNI TRANSPORT
ST3J Oliver Hamp
LADIES CHAMP OF CHAMPS Sponsors SPALDING AND DISTRICT AUTOGRASS.
EQUAL SC72 Kate Dixon
MENS CHAMP OF CHAMPS Sponsors GRAHAM BENNETT ADVANCED MOTOR SPORT
SS7 John Gay
Men's Nationals 2007
The following drivers represented the Club at the Men’s National Championships in Yorkshire and, as we have come to expect, did this small club proud:
Class 1: SP21 Carl Winkworth was in the silverware with 4th in the Final whilst SP57 Carl Secker after a DNF in the 1st Heat earned a 6th & 7th in the others
Class 2: SP16 Bob Ellis just missed out on a pot with 5th in the Final
Class 3: SP302 Simon Roose (first time at the Nationals) improved throughout the Heats with 7th, 6th & 5th whilst SP68 Malc Lefevre managed 7th, 8th & 5th
Class 4: SP70 Thomas Godfrey
(first time at the Nationals) suffered a 1st Heat DNF but then creditable 4th & 5thClass 6: SP114 Stephen Pearsall had 3 shots at leading his 1st Heat before sticking a conrod through the side of the engine and playing no further part
Class 7: SP25 Kenny Perry finished 5th, 5th and 2nd whilst SP4 Graham Bennett was Black Flagged in Heat 1 finished 3rd in Heat 2 then sold his car on Saturday night!!!
Class 8:
SP8
Chris Pope
must have been the favourite, being the only driver with 3 straight wins, but he
finished 2nd in the Final and SP29 Melvin Clayton
(first
time at the Nationals) missed
the 1st Heat then gained a 6th & 7th
Class 10: SP1 Bill Shaw after a 4th and 1st in the first 2 Heats had a DNF and missed out on the Final.
Congratulations to all our drivers but in particular to Chris Pope who disappointed himself - there's always next year for everyone.
Spalding on the Road 07
On 5th/6th
May, a contingent of Spalding Drivers went to the BAS (British Autograss
Series) 1st Round, which was hosted by the Wiltshire League on the Nationals
Track at Javelin Park. A reported
758 cars were there. The following
Spalding cars attended:
Class 1: SP57 Carl Secker,
SP21 Michael/Carl Winkworth, SP71 Daniel Godfrey, SP42 Luke Orrey
Class 2: SP16 Bob Ellis
Class 3: SP68 Malc
Lefevre
Class 4: SP45 William
Dobson, SP70 Thomas Godfrey
Class 7: SP25 Kenny
Perry, SP4 Graham Bennett
Class 8: SP8 Chris Pope,
SP98 Mark Willson.
Ladies: SP57 Lisa Chenery.
Best results were: Class 2, SP16 Bob Ellis, who achieved two 3rds and was leading the third heat but was black flagged. Did not qualify for the Class 2 final. Class 8: SP8 Chris Pope Had a clean sweep of three 1sts in his heats, but unfortunately finished outside the top runners in the class final.
On the Bank Holiday weekend of 27th and 28th May the following Spalding Drivers attended the North of England Championships hosted by the York Club.
Class 1: SP57 Carl Secker, SP21 Carl Winkworth, SP71 Daniel Godfrey.
Class 2: SP16 Bob Ellis,
Class 7: SP4 Graham Bennett
Class 8: SP8 Chris Pope
Class 10: SP1 Bill Shaw
Ladies: SP57 Lisa Chenery & SP4 (Unknown!!)
Juniors: SP78 Hope Godfrey.
For a small Club we can be very proud as we achieved some excellent results. SP21 Carl Winkworth (in the car he shares with brother Michael), walked away with the Class 1 title. SP57 Carl Secker narrowly missed out on a final place. SP4 Graham “Spanner” Bennett got 4th place in the Class 7 final, whilst SP8 Chris Pope scorched away with the Class 8 title, Class 10 saw SP1 Bill Shaw narrowly missing out on a final place. An unknown lady driver of SP4 Graham Bennett’s Class 7 saw another class win for Spalding in Ladies Class 7.
On
23rd/24th June another BAS
round was held near Tenby
in
Class 1: SP57 Carl Secker and SP71 Daniel Godfrey,
Class 2: SP16 Bob Ellis,
Class 3: SP68 Malc Lefevre,
Class 4: SP70 Thomas Godfrey,
Class 7: SP4 Graham Bennett and SP25 Kenny Perry,
Class 8: SP8 Chris Pope,
Class 10: SP1 Bill Shaw.
Ladies: SP57 Lisa Chenery.
A
huge CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! to SP16 Bob Ellis who won 3 out of 3 heats and the
Class Two final – brilliant!! A
somewhat mixed bag for everyone else, SP8 Chris Pope had two heat wins and broke
a chain in the third heat, putting him out of the final.
SP1 Bill Shaw had a third and a heat win, but the engine gave up during
the third heat. Well done to
all who made the long trip and here’s to
On Saturday and Sunday, 18th
& 19th August a small Spalding contingent made the trip to
Penhow Club, based near
On the August Bank Holiday weekend, 26th
and 27th August a large Spalding contingent went to the Fastest
Man on Grass Championships at Caenby Corner, home of Sturton Autograss
Club. The following drivers went
along:
Class 2 – SP16 Bob Ellis.
Class 3 – SP302 Simon Roose
Class 4 – SP70 Tom Godfrey
Class 6 – SP114 Steve Pearsall
Class 8 – SP29 Mel Clayton and SP98 Mark Willson
Class 10 – SP1 Bill Shaw, SP2 Ken Beals and SP141 Terry Burbidge.
Ladies – SP411 Donna Rankin and SP50 Jenny
Rutter.
22nd/23rd September saw a smaller than usual Spalding contingent ventured to Romney Marsh for the Invicta Kent round of the BAS series, which was the final round. Best results for the weekend, for Spalding was in Class 10, SP1 Bill Shaw making it through to the Class final, lying in fourth spot until a broken driveshaft forced retirement
