2004

Ez Walker in winning form!

Ez Walker won the opening meeting of the 2004 AWS Racewear Grand Prix Midget season. He managed to hold on to take a heat win and the Casa Cup final. Steve Terry took the other heat win. The first meeting of the season saw a mediocre turn out of 15 cars, and it was interesting to see what work and dealings had been done over the winter break. Barry Goldsby was out in his newly built Stealth, taking the Stealth count to 3, interestingly one being red, one white and one blue, the colours of the union jack! Multi-Championship winner Rob Sayell was also out in his rebuilt and pristine Dart after a seasons break. Newcomer Barry Mayfield was also present, boosting the grid numbers and adding a white grade to the grid, in the ex-Mark Hodges arrow. Last seasons Points Champion, Harold Lowe, was unable to attend.

The first race saw Daz Rycroft make an excellent start from the front of the reds, although the race was red flagged, as Barry Mayfield hadn't got off the line. The restart saw Ez Walker and Rob Sayell both making good starts. Steve Terry took the early lead, with a fast moving Ez Walker chasing hard for the lead, eventually taking it after a dive up the inside of Steve. Rob Sayell soon found is way to 3rd place, about half the length of the straight behind the leading pair. However a spin from Gary Bonner had also caught Andrew Bilby and Andy Collins out. The result was waved yellows, closing the field up for the final four or so laps. Rob Sayell was able to move into 2nd at the restart, and right up behind Ez. Rob piled on the pressure for the remainder of the race, however he was unable to pass a cool-headed Walker who kept his nerve and didn't put a wheel wrong to take the win. Rob took an extremely close 2nd, with Alan Buckland in 3rd. They were followed over the line by Steve Terry, Daz Rycroft, Dave Smith, and Andrew Bilby, with Andy Smith rounding off the top eight.

Andy Smith took the early lead in the second heat, before a charging Steve Terry and Gary Bonner found their way past. Rob Sayell was also, once again, picking his way through the field and moving into 3rd. Gary Bonner and Rob Sayell did find their way past Steve Terry, however an incident between Daz Rycroft, Andy Smith, and Barry Mayfield, on the same lap caused the red flags to be brought out. Since there were only 3 laps remaining the race was declared a result from the lap before the incident. This gave Steve Terry the win, from Gary Bonner, Rob Sayell, Alan Buckland, Andy Collins, Dave Smith, and Andrew Bilby.

The Casa Cup final was run over more laps (20) which looked to favour the drivers from the back of the grid, notably Rob Sayell after two quick performances in the heats. The rain had also started to come down, just enough to make the track damp, and persuade most drivers to change to wets. Steve Terry was the early leader from the yellows, with Ez Walker soon taking second place and closing on Steve. A sideways moment from Steve gave Ez all the opportunity he needed and he slipped up the inside into the lead. Steve was hanging on in second until a flat rear right tyre put him out of the race. Neil Clarke, renowned for his ability to drive in the wet conditions, had been rapidly moving through the field after a good start from the front of the reds. He was able to get close enough to Ez to put some pressure on, but once again Ez kept his nerve and took the win. HE was followed over the line by Neil Clarke, from Rob Sayell, Gary Bonner, Andy Collins (who drove brilliantly after he had opted for slicks), Andy Hinch, Andrew Bilby, and Barry Goldsby. By Gavin Terry