2008

May 18th Hednesford European Championship

On a nice dry, if cool day the midgets were racing for one of the four major championships they hold annually. The Cheetah remains an outstanding car, winning the race, lapping every other car on the track, not forgetting of course, the abilities of the driver, Jason Carnwell. His luck changed though, in the first of the two heats, Jason's axle broke with his wheel coming off and the pace car coming out until the wheel was retrieved, this obviously meant he could not make it out for the last race. Drivers carry a large amount of spares but it does not usually stretch to carrying spare axles, just in case! Second and third places were taken by the Pooley brothers from March, Cambridgeshire, with Jonathan taking second place and Daniel the younger brother claiming third place. Not to be outdone, dad Gordon came home in fifth. The family went on to do a hat trick between them in the next race with Daniel taking first, Gordon second and Jonathan third. The final race of the day however proved a little different for the trio with Daniel not making it onto the track because of engine problems and Gordon pulling onto the centre after just one lap with Jonathan going onto win.

New driver Gary Grimsley unfortunately had a head gasket blow in the European ending his racing for the day, but Gary will no doubt have his car repaired and out again at Buxton as he has already shown a keen interest in the club gaining confidence with every outing.

Another two brothers who race midgets are Geoff and Cliff Bunn from the midlands area. Geoff had the better day of the two with a 4th, 8th and 7th positions, while Cliff failed to get into points position, with his car having engine problems in the second race of the day and not making it out for the third and final race.

Neil Clarke in his new machine, nicknamed the 'Barbie Car' because of it's pink colour, is making inroads to getting the set up right with getting two points scoring positions on the day. Andrew Bilby it would seem has found and rectified the problems he was having last time out with his clutch, which drew his previous meeting to a premature close. Andrew gained points in every race at Hednesford and drove three good races. Steve Brattan's car did not seem to like the size of the oval and struggled to gain the few points he scored on the day, as did Allen Herbert. Steve Young, another man of the midlands as usual drove well and gained credible points.

The European contingent came in the form of Toni Scheepens from the Netherlands, who the club are always very pleased to welcome. Klaus Kilianski from Germany was expected as well but unfortunately he could not make the trip. Klaus and his brother Josef have not managed to rectify the engine problems they were having last time they were over at Bovingdon in April.