Bourne Southern Champion for 2008
30/07/2008
A nice summers evening with ideal racing conditions meet the 2 Litre Hot Rods at the Arlington Raceway to contest the 2008 Southern Championship. Included in the entry it was nice to see some of the drivers who went over to Nutts Corner raceway only three days ago to contest the 2008 world championships.

The first heat and the cars were let out on track and were stopped at the start finish line by the officals and this form the grid for the first heat. This saw Tristian Jackson on pole with Mark Constable alongside, Andy Owen and Chris Harvey on row 2 and Michael Pagden and Chris Lehec on row three. At the back saw Mark Paffey and Kyw Weaver. As the green flag fell both Jackson and Constable got away side by side and were like that for the first lap before Jackson got himself in front. Scott Bourne had moved his way up from 10th to the rear bumper of Lehec in 6th and after a couple of laps he had found a way past. The rest of the pack settled down as Jackson went on to take the heat win.

The second heat was a reverse of the first heat which this time saw Kym Weaver on pole alongside Mark Paffey with Blackford, Freeman, Kew and O'leary behind. Just before the green flag fell Kyw Weaver's car struck problems and had to leave the grid, leaving Paffey alone on the front row. At the green flag Paffey got away the quickest and took up the lead. Kew had got past Blackford and was now challenging O'Leary for position with Scott Bourne close behind. In the closing stages Jason Kew looked to be coming on strong but the the engine let go forcing him to retire. At the front however no-one was able to challenge Mark Paffey as he went on to take the win.

So to the final and young Scott Bourne takes up pole with Jackson winning the toss with Paffey to start on the front row, Michael Pagden joined Paffey on row 2. At the green flag Bourne takes up the lead with Paffey about 2 cars lengths behind and chasing. Paffey started to close and take a look at the outside line as the leading two pulled away. O'Leary was challenging Pagden but could not find a way past and the blue flags were waving. A couple of laps later and the steward decided to show the blue and white striped flag at Pagden which after a couple of laps O'Leary got past. At the front though diaster struck Paffey as the engine let go as like the engine in Blackford's car. It was not long before the same happened to Kym Weavers car as well, and we now had three cars retire due to the engine letting go. At the front though Bourne was now having to defend a challenge from Jackson but the challenge never really came and Scott went on the take the championship win with O'Leary coming home in third.

 
Paffey EA Champion for 2008
09/03/2008
Ipswich played host to the East Anglian Championships on a rather chilly Saturday night on the 8th March. 34 cars raced in reverse pre-drawn grids to qualify for the main feature race with some close racing.

Kym Weaver powered his way through in heat number one to an easy win. In the second heat Paul Wright started on the front row and beat Sean O'Leary away from the line to become uncatchable taking the win. So to the final and we saw heat winners Weaver and Wright on the front row, on row two was World Champion Mark Paffey with Kenny Coleman alongside, row three was British Champion Jason Wilks with lady racer Jemma Dendy on his outside. At the green flag Wright flew away from the line and looked sure to take the win. However in the closing laps Paffey got through the traffic and onto the bumper of the 43 car. As they came up to the back markers Paffey found a way through and with only a few laps to run he went on the take the win.

Heat 1: 209, 57, 75, 30, 503, 40, 56, 96, 304, 197
Fastest lap: 209 - 16.369
Heat 2: 43, 310, 130, 72, 60, 110, 3, 74, 199, 197
Fastest lap: 60 - 16.317
Final: 60, 43, 110, 209, 199, 40, 310, 57, 197, 75
Fastest lap: 60 - 16.185

Lap time information can be found on the myLaps website - click here

 
Hope on Top in Difficult Conditions
24/02/2008
A good turnout of 30 cars made the trip to a very greasy Wimbledon raceway for a domestic winter warmer meeting. There was some noticeable missing names including British Champion Jason Wilks, Jason Busby and a couple of others who are re-building the car for the 2008 season. Returns to the formula saw lady racer Jemma Dendy and Mike Pagden who is now racing the ex Lee Pepper car as he has moved into the National Hot Rods for this season.

Light showers in the evening meant the track conditions were very difficult as the grid formed for the first heat. As the green flag fell everyone got away but all seemed to struggle for grip on the greasy raceway. There were a couple of spinners including Mike Pagden and Scott Bourne. Terry Spooner was unlucky on the back straight tangling with the fence causing the race to be stopped. The last few laps were run but no-one could catch Mark Crome who went on to take the win, but was later docked for contact promoting Vic Hope to take the win.

The second heat and the light showers had not stopped but we still saw a full grid of cars on the raceway ready to race. Only a few laps had been run before Brett Collison got into trouble in the Plough Lane end of the track and then they all ploughed in including Jackson, Jones and Munday. Luckily they all managed to get to safety and the racing continued. There was little nudges and knocks but what could be expected in the difficult conditions. As the laps drew to a close former European Champion Kyw Weaver hit the fence on the back straight spinning the car and with out 1 lap left to run meant the red flags were out and local Lewisham based Martin Codling took race win.

So to the final and even with the difficult conditions and earlier incidents we saw a good field of cars on the grid. Earlier heat winner Martin Codling got tangled up with Phillip Blackford which resulted in him spinning out. The racing was much closer than before with cars three and even four a breast round the tight raceway with the unforgiving post and wire fence. Again there was a few spinners but they all settled down and at the front earlier heat winner Vic Hope had worked his way to the front and no-one was quicker enough to catch him and he went on to take the final win.

Heat 1: 3, 40, 566, 310, 56, 74, 308, 82, 72, 911
Fastest lap: 911 - 18.781
Heat 2: 30, 666, 3, 304, 503, 197, 308, 130, 56, 60
Fastest lap: 56 - 18.945
Final: 3, 130, 308, 503, 56, 60, 197, 69, 666, 22
Fastest lap: 308 - 19.263

Lap time information can be found on the myLaps website - click here

The 2 Litre Hot Rods next meeting is a one off special meeting at the Tipperary Motor Speedway in Ireland on Sunday March 2nd. The long, fast Rosegreen track should prove to be well suited to the 2 Litre Hot Rod class where English drivers Jason Kew, current World Champion Mark Paffey and former National Hot Rod World champion Malcolm Blackman will be joined on the grid by the best of the Irish drivers to do battle.