MEETING REVIEW

Friday 13th June '08

BriSCA F2 Stock-Cars, Gp2 Lightning-Rods, Junior-Rods

& Stock-Rods

BriSCA F2 Stock-Cars

The action in the F2’s began in practice when Thompson’s car clipped one of the revamped rumble strips on Fisherwick bend and was launched onto two wheels. The car performed a balancing act before smashing squarely in to pit gate and landing on its side. Suffice to say the rumble strips were given a wide berth by everyone for the remainder of the meeting...  Thompy made it back onto track for heat one at the wheel of his older RCE car as Lawrence Kincaid led away the grid of eleven cars. The white roof held sway for a number of laps before Conor Hughes took over in the closing stages. Craig McConnell was closing in quickly however and with three laps to go nipped inside Hughes to snatch the win. Kincaid was the hare again that the rest had to catch in heat two, as the Grattan brothers versus McConnell battle continued to rage in the red grade, Gary Grattan losing out on this occasion when the #917 car went for a wild ride onto the wall at the exit of Fisherwick bend. At the front Kincaid was proving a tough act to catch as the white roof kept his head down and reeled of a number of consistent laps. Davy McCrory made some inroads towards the finish, but Kincaid was still comfortably ahead at the flag to register his first ever win at Raceway. The final commenced amidst a swirl of cement dust laid down after the Group Two final, but McConnell and Denver Grattan were still able to find each other through the haze. The pair swapped hits once again until Denver misjudged one attack at Suffolk bend and clipped the unfortunate Conor Hughes instead putting both cars out on the spot. Thompson meanwhile had quietly moved up to second place and soon relieved Kincaid of the lead to finish the evening on a much better note than it had started. Kincaid and McCrory crashed out on Suffolk bend in the final laps as McConnell and Gavin Fegan followed Thompson home in second and third. 

Stock Rods

A total of thirty-one cars took to the track for the second World qualifier at Raceway. Heat one was only started when the yellow flags were out to remove the stranded car of Gordon Arbuthnot from the exit of Suffolk bend. Craig Law led them away again until Geoff Milligan swept through to continue his good form with another convincing win. Arbuthnot was in the wars again during heat two necessitating another caution period. On the restart it was Matthew Moore leading from Milligan and Law, but that advantage was short lived as Milligan quickly nipped passed with Raymond Harper and Shane Murray following through in his wheel tracks. A grandstand finish looked in store until Milligan’s car went sick in the closing laps and Murray took full advantage to claim a fine win from the red grade. The final started with a bang for William Laffin who mounted the wall at the start / finish line bringing out the red flags. Attempt two didn’t get much further with a car stalled on the back straight, but at the third time of asking the field got away. Milligan’s Vauxhall Corsa was back on track for the final and soon battling for the lead with Law, while Murray and JP Kilpatrick were making good progress from the red grade. Milligan eased around the outside to go ahead and put in a polished performance to collect the silverware for the second week in a row. Moore completed a good night’s work with a solid second place while third on the road Kilpatrick was docked two places by the steward, a similar penalty also imposed on Darrell Hanna at the finish. Alastair Calvin and Murray were promoted to third and fourth with Kilpatrick classified fifth and World Champion Glenn Bell in sixth.

Group Twos

Jerome Doherty and Stephen McCreight battled hard for the lead of the twenty–six car opening heat before Stewart Nicholl dashed passed both on the wide outside to take the win. Raymond Dallas tried his hand out front for a while in heat two until Doherty had a go at leading this one as well. He appeared poised to made that advantage stick this time too, but ran way too hard into Suffolk bend on the final lap and Mark McLaughlin seized the chance to nip through and steal his first win of 2008. Owen Cunning, final winner last week, was locked in a battle with Philip Doherty and Nicholl for the lead of the final until they were all brought under caution with Nigel Doherty stranded on the exit of Suffolk bend. Doherty made his move at the restart and squeezed through a gap on the inside of Cunning at Fisherwick bend. Nicholl followed the new leader through, but could find no way passed Doherty who held on for his first final win. Nicholl settled for second with McCreight in third.

Junior Rods

The seventeen car first race developed into a battle between two of the youngest drivers on the grid, twelve year old Glenn White and eleven year old Andrew Gamble. White managed to keep his nose ahead all the way to the flag, with Gamble close behind. Julie Ann Gamble recorded her best result to date in third. Michael Robinson made a good start to race two and found himself at the head of a four car battle with Anthony McIvor, Jason Harkness and Curtis Greer. When McIvor’s car stuttered to a halt exiting Suffolk bend the rest were momentarily delayed and that little break was all Robinson required to confirm his victory. Harkness followed across the line in second with Greer third and Caleb Howard in fourth.

MEETING SPONSOR

Thanks goes to meeting sponsor Declan McFerran of DmAc Coachworks, Declan is responsible for some impressive transporters than can be seen in the pits and can be contacted on (028) 25882742 to discuss any requirements, work can be done on Tippers, Beaver tails, Dropsiders, Box bodies, Curtain siders and Motorsport Motorhomes, so if you require any work done don't hesitate to contact DmAC Coachworks for a top class job.

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