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25th April 2004, Buxton, report
by Gavin Terry
Harold Lowe got his 2004 season off to a flying
start in the 2nd round of the AWS Racewear sponsored Grand
Prix Midget Championship, at Buxton on Sunday 25th April.
He won the final taking home the Simon Pashley Memorial
trophy. The day also belonged to Andrew Bilby who took
two heat wins and a 3rd in the final, boosting him to the
top of the point's championship. 12 cars turned up for Buxton
on what turned out to be an extremely hot day. Amongst them,
and making their 2004 season debuts were, Rod Pashley, out
in his Mk VII Dastle; Mark Hodges, out in Gary Jones' old
Westfield, and therefore also making his front-engined car
debut after years of racing an Arrow. Also on track were;
Harold Lowe who won the 2003 point's championship at this
track last season and Evan Stone in his stunning Cheetah.
The first heat saw Andrew Bilby make a flying
start from the front row of the blues, quickly taking the
lead from Evan Stone after the first lap. Mark Hodges had
also made a good start, leading the reds, from Rob Sayell
who was close behind. However when the throttle stuck open
on Mark's car on the approach to the last behind, he was forced
to brake sharply, dramatically locking up all 4 wheels. This
wasn't enough though and he understeered at speed into the
Armco, also collecting Rob Sayell who was unfortunately caught
on the outside of Mark at the time. Both cars were badly damaged
and the race was stopped to clear the track. The restart had
closed the pack right up, with Harold Lowe piling pressure
on Andrew Bilby in the remaining few laps. World Champion
Andy Collins also managed to pass Ez Walker for 3rd after
Ez experienced oil pressure on the last lap. Andrew Bilby
won, from Harold Lowe, Andy Collins, Ez Walker, Neil Clarke,
Barry Goldsby, Evan Stone, and Rod Pashley.
The second race saw Andrew Bilby and Harold
Lowe once again making flying starts, with Harold following
Andrew through the pack of blue and yellow graders, both eventually
passing Evan Stone who had been leading. Andy Collins was
also chasing hard and making his way through the field, having
started from the back of the grid. He eventually passed Steve
Terry who had made his way up to 3rd, after going round the
outside of Dave Smith. The race looked to be between one of
Bilby and Lowe, who had pulled out half a lap from the rest,
until Lowe pulled out with engine troubles. This handed Andrew
Bilby a comfortable victory, and a second heat win. Andy Collins
was 2nd, followed by Steve Terry, Dave Smith, Evan Stone,
Barry Goldsby, and Barry Mayfield. There were only seven finishers,
with Ez Walker, Rob Sayell and Mark Hodges not starting, and
Harold Lowe and Rod Pashley retiring.
Evan Stone was the early leader in the final,
and was able to keep the blue graders at bay for a lot of
the race. It took a fast moving Harold Lowe to finally find
a way past the Cheetah, where he took the lead and started
to build up a healthy gap. Rob Sayell, who miraculously made
it out for the final after a big Sayell team effort to repair
the damage from heat one, was also making his way through
the field, eventually finding his way into 2nd. A pack collision
midway through the race had the domino effect, with Andy Collins
coming off worst and brushing against the wall. Steve Terry
also looked Armco bound but was just able to stop in time.
Despite Rob Sayell's best efforts, nobody was able to catch
Harold Lowe, who took a comfortable win. Rob Sayell came across
taking a well-deserved 2nd after all that hard work in the
pits. Andrew Bilby, Neil Clarke and Dave Smith made it past
a quick Evan Stone to take 3rd, 4th, and 5th respectively,
with Stone 6th. Andy Collins and Steve Terry recovered well
to round off the top eight despite both picking up some slight
car damage. Harold took home the Simon Pashley memorial trophy,
and also an Aurora Bearings in association with Racers Hardware
voucher, who had supported the meeting.
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