1981



 

9th August 1981 - Swaffham - Derek Kisby Memorial

11 cars - holidays and strange things like getting married (congratulations Alf and Diane) accounted for a smaller field

Race 1 - Derek Kisby Memorial Neil Belsey, a comparative newcomer to Midget racing - previously mechanic to Geoff Hughes snr - made a very impressive start from the front of the grid with Jerry Pinny close behind. Mick Bonner started from the rear and came through very quickly to take se cond place on lap 4, relegating Pinny to third. Belsey was driving a determined race, but then his fire extinguisher broke free, and in trying to grab it he knocked off the ignition switch putting himself on the centre green, while Bonner went through to take the lead, with Pinny second and Hughes jnr third. On lap 11 Mike Clements was fourth when he went into a spin losing his place to Harry Sayell, but after rejoining the race Clements fought back to sixth.

Derek Kisby Memorial: 1st Mick Bonner, 2nd Jerry Pinny, 3rd Geoff Hughes Jnr, 4th Harry Sayell

Race 2 - Again Belsey took the early lead, and held it for 7 laps until this time a nut came off his suspension - again putting him out of the race. This left Pinny with the lead, closely followed by Clements. Bonner had only just started to close the gap when his throttle cable broke, and Hughes jnr was also sidelined, with a broken diff. Clements took the lead with one lap to go, but as he came up to pass a back marker Pinny went back to win, along with Malcolm Goodman, Clements finishing third, Don Bray fourth.

Race 3 - Again Belsey led away, but Bonner was determined to have another win and was in second place by lap 4, taking the lead five laps later. Eric Fretten, having being told off by his 'adopted' Swaffham mechanic for not trying, held fourth place, while Clements did another spin. Result: Bonner, Goodman, Belsey, Fretten.