2008 RACE REPORTS

added - 7th October, 2008

BUXTON RACEWAY
Sunday 5th October, 2008
Round 13 - BUXTON CHAMPIONSHIP

BUXTON CHAMPIONSHIP WIN FOR MARK DEWS
Mark Dews (78) narrowly mastered a win for the Championship final on Sunday
surrounded by Mike Walmsley (182) and Ian Hales (6). From second place and
in such a confined space, Mike took a late lunge to the outside of Mark's car at
the start of the last lap. The move was brave but didn't pay off and Ian came
home for second place, reducing Mike to third. The race was stopped with 13
laps to go for Russ Bull (100) who blew his engine, glazing the track in oil on
turn three.
Strangely enough, both heats were stopped with 13 laps to go and it was the
thirteenth round on the 2008 season. Superstition didn't get in the way
unfortunately for Trevor James (7). The lucky numbered car did a corkscrew
roll in the first heat causing the stoppage and Mike went into the wall with
Nathan Nicholls (16) in heat two causing that stoppage.
Steve Stretton (15) did a repeat performance from last years meeting and won
heat one. Jeff Pritchard (808) was determined to lay challenge to Steve's win
and pulled to the outside on the last bend for an exciting finish. They both put
too much power down out of the bend and Jeff finished the race in second but
backwards over the finish line.
Heat two nearly saw a race win for Stu Blyth (35) until Peter Blundell (156)
caught up with him and moved into the lead in the closing laps. The top three
cars, after every Legends race, are checked by the Techinical Inspectors and
Stu's car was found to be 'too long' therefore taking him out of the result.
Mark was promoted to second place finish and Jon Evans (11), another heat
winner from last year, was moved into third.
A warm welcome during the day went out to Mike Worrall (50) - the newest
addition to the Rookie club. Mike, the mechanic for Image Wheels driver Harry
Nicklin (75) decided to take the plunge and bought the ex #76 car from Darren
Smith a few weeks ago.

TRACK FACTS
:: Car Count - 20 cars
:: Fastest Lap - 156 PETER BLUNDELL in the Final, lap 11 - 17.298 (52.029mph)
:: Weather Conditions - Dry and warm

RESULTS
Heat One : 15, 808, 78, 100, 6, 156, 182, 23, 95, 105, 75, 16, 35, 77.
DNF 7 accident (rollover, retired for rest of the meeting), 11 accident (spun with 35),
19 accident (in 7's rollover), 161 accident (in 7's rollover), 50 retired. DNS 20 late arrival.
Heat Two : 156, 78, 11, 161, 6, 100, 20, 95, 105, 15, 75, 808, 23, 182, 50, 77.
DNF 16 accident (with 182), DISQ 34 technical infringement.
Final : 78, 6, 182, 161, 95, 16, 75, 808, 11, 23, 105, 77, 50. DNF 15, 19 and 35 retired,
156 and 20 accident (oil on track).

added - 15th September, 2008

BOVINGDON RACEWAY
Sunday 14th September, 2008
Round 12 - SPEDEWORTH BOWL III

It's nearly the end of the race season and the number of cars on the grid seems to be getting low.
Round 12 at Bovingdon produced only 21 cars, the second lowest turnout this year. The lowest
was at the European Championship last weekend which only saw 14 cars on the Warneton track.
The good weather was present at Bovingdon and made for some good racing. Legends are
renown for 'under performing' in the wet. In the States they simply don't race if it rains! It was
Paul Fiore (516) that got the day off to a good start with a flag to flag victory. He nearly got pipped
at the post by Dan Holden (161). In fact, as the top six cars crossed the finish line, they were all
locked in their own battle. It got quite hectic watching third man home, Dave Baker (5) fend off Ian
Hales (6) into fourth. In turn, Mike Walmsley (182) only just finished fifth by fighting off Darron
Lewis (285) and all of this in a matter of just over one second!
Heat two turned out to be a bit of a stock car race with a lot of contact. It was a total restart after
the first lap. Dave, however, cruised home for a win over Trevor James (7) but a black cross had
gone out to Dave. They also went out to Andy Hankin (55) and Darron. Derek Hales (8) also
received the black cross for an incident which caused Ricky Wilkes (20) to quickly divert to the
infield. Luckily, he kept the car and Ricky mangaged a finish.
Paul received the dreaded black cross in the third heat for contact on Stu Blyth (35) but pulled in
anyway to the centre track along with Stu. Kev Hughes (105) was holding on tight to the lead until
Dan came on the scene. In a moment, the 105 car got in a spin and Dan took up the lead closely
followed by the Hales posse.
Three cars were unfit to start the final. John Hudson (65) had engine problems, Stu had no brakes
and Terry Pullen (77) had his rear axle severely shifted after hitting the wall backwards in the
opening lap of heat three, causing the restart. Ian took a superb win in the final from Dan. They
both raced impeccably, along with Dave, through the traffic to show just how good Legends racing
can be.

TRACK FACTS
:: Car Count - 21 cars
:: Fastest Lap - 6 IAN HALES in Heat One, Lap 3 - 15.217 (46.599mph)
:: Weather Conditions - Dry and Sunny

RESULTS
Heat One : 516, 161, 5, 6, 182, 285, 7, 2, 55, 105, 11, 65. DNF 95 retired, 35 accident (retired).
Heat Two : 5, 7, 16, 19, 55, 2, 285, 266, 182, 20, 95. DNS 77 and 23 accident on first lap caused restart. DISQ 8 contact on 20.
Heat Three : 161, 6, 8, 19, 20, 11, 16, 266, 105, 23. DNF 516 retired after black cross, 35 accident.
Final : 6, 161, 5, 7, 285, 19, 182, 8, 20, 16, 11, 516, 55, 266, 2, 105, 95, 23.

added 9th September, 2008

WARNETON SPEEDWAY, WARNETON, BELGIUM
6th & 7th September, 2008
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP

DAN HOLDEN IN FOR EURO CHAMPIONSHIP WIN

Norfolk's Dan Holden (#161) took home the 2008 European Championship title from Belgium at the weekend, his second major title this year after winning the British Long Track Championship at Mallory Park back in May. Defending Champ, Ian Hales (#6) featured as runner up to Dan and Trevor James (#7) came home for third.
Results from the qualifying heats on Saturday put Derek Hales (#8) on pole for the big race next day. Handling problems in the opening laps of the European final put him into a spin and later pressed him to retire.
By the end of the first lap Ian had taken the lead but got into trouble when overtaking Richard Poulter (#98). Their cars touched and got 'locked' together giving Dan ample room and opportunity to race off into the lead and win the European Championship title for 2008.
Within the first few laps Trevor lost his bonnet but raced on, keepin on the low side of the track while the others stayed mostly on the high side.
After the main race, Legends had two more heats and a final set out on the programme in which to race a team event. And with all 14 cars fit to race, they were split into two groups - The Young Guns and The Old 'Uns. The Young Guns soared into the lead after the first heat and with only Trevor representing The Old 'Uns in the final it was a 'walk over' win for The Young Guns at 2,720 points to 1,190.

TRACK FACTS
:: Car Count - 14 cars
:: Fastest Lap - not available
:: Weather Conditions - Mostly wet!

RESULTS
Saturday 6th September
Draw for Heat One Grid (Reversed for Heat Two): 156, 2, 78,
15, 161, 808, 33, 6, 98, 266, 8, 16, 7, 20.
Heat One : 78, 6, 161, 8, 156, 33, 16, 7, 20, 98, 808, 266, 15, 2.
Heat Two : 8, 20, 6, 7, 16, 78, 156, 161, 808, 33, 15, 266, 98, 2.

Sunday 7th September
European Championship Grid : 8, 6, 78, 20, 161, 156, 16, 7,
33, 808, 98, 266, 15, 2. (20 started at the back of grid - loose wheel on warm up lap).
European Championship Final : 161, 6, 7, 156, 78, 16, 33, 15, 2, 266, 98. DNF 808 handling, 8 handling, 20 retired.
Team Racing Heat One : 78, 156, 6, 161, 7, 33, 16, 15, 2, 266, 8. DNF 808 retired, 98 retired. DNS 20.
Team Racing Heat Two : 161, 7, 78, 16, 156, 15, 2, 98, 266, 808, 8. DNF 6 retired. DNS 33, 20.
Feature Team Racing Final : 78, 161, 16, 7, 98, 266, 2, 156. DNS 6, 8, 15, 20, 33, 808.
THE YOUNG GUNS Team : 2, 16, 78, 98, 156, 161, 266 - 2720 points
THE OLD 'UNS Team : 6, 7, 8, 15, 20, 33, 808 - 1190 points

added - 13th July, 2008

BIRMINGHAM WHEELS
Saturday 12th July, 2008
Round 9 - Triple Crown
Championship II

GUESS WHO'S BACK?..........
SHAKEY'S BACK!
STEVE DAKIN IS BACK TO HIS WINNING WAYS
Steve Dakin returned to Birmingham Wheels last night after a two meeting ban.
He soon made off with a win in heat one and later, went on to win the feature
final from pole position.
White graders featured high in the heat results. Harry Nicklin (#75) and Jeff
Pritchard (#808) took a second and third respectively to Shakey in heat one and
Darren Smith (#76) won heat two from Jeff. In heat three, Simon Rourkes (#60)
featured as runner up to Pete Amas (#33).National Points leader, Ian Hales (#6) started way back in the third pack of the grid for the final.  A DNF from heavy accident damage sustained in the third heat nearly kept him from gridding at all! Once the flag had dropped, he immediately went to work on gaining a high finish.
It was 'mission accomplished' when he came home for fourth to Russ Bull (#100) second and Martin Lamb (#52) third.

TRACK FACTS
:: Car Count - 36 cars
    :: Fastest Lap - 99 STEVE DAKIN in Heat 1, lap 13 - 15.416 (52.237mph)
       :: Weather Conditions - Dry

OFFICIAL RESULTS
Heat One : 99, 75, 808, 614, 156, 74, 100, 64, 52, 182, 35, 161, 7, 55, 242, 15, 105, 77, 95. DNF 11, 60, 22, 2, 516, 285. :: all accident damage except 11
Heat Two : 76, 808, 100, 99, 266, 6, 33, 677, 161, 182, 52, 78, 114, 64, 19, 74, 77, 95, 16. DNF 15, 23 both retirements.
Heat Three : 33, 60, 19, 105, 76, 156, 55, 266, 75, 78, 16, 35. DNF 6, 677, 114, 242, 285, 2, 23. :: 6 rule infringement (got out of car during stoppage), 677 accident damage (hit inner wall on turn 3), 114 retired (front bumper loose), 285 retired (noisy exhaust), 2 retired after accident with 75.
Final : 99, 100, 52, 6, 76, 33, 161, 114, 64, 242, 60, 75, 78, 55, 266, 677, 35, 16, 74, 105, 95, 77. DNF 156, 182, 808, 19. :: 156 brakes, 182 front suspension, 19 misfire.

added 8th June, 2008

ALDERSHOT RACEWAY
Sunday 8th June, 2008
Round 7 - Spedeworth Bowl II

A large turnout of 34 cars were all eager to try out the new track at Aldershot today. It was Oval Track Legends first meeting and it was local driver, Paul Fiore (#516) who 'looked to be at home' in a comfortable first heat win from Jeff Pritchard (#808). Kev Hughes (#105) was out in a fresh car, having recently acquired the ex#9 car of Stu Wright and came home in third. Peter Blundell (#156) was still carrying the misfire from round 6 and recorded a DNF. Newbie, Steve Jay (#95), made a good start for a 19th place finish in his maiden heat, which couldn't have been easy in what seemed to be a hectic race! Trevor James (#7) punted Derek Hales (#8) out in an accident in the second half of the race, leaving Derek stranded on turn 3 until the chequers went out to Paul.
Heat two produced a fresh winner in Richard Poulter (#98), taking his second career win in Legends. Paul maintained only a second place finish but the result is under investigation for Richard may be deemed at fault for Pete Amas (#33) not finishing. They both got caught up in an incident on the fourth turn when negotiating round a backmarker. Darren Smith (#76) hit the wall hard on turn 3 with only a handfull of laps to go and was unable to repair the car for the final. In heat three, from last place on the grid, Ian Hales (#6) drove through for an' eventual' second place finish, only just taking fourth man, Mike Walmsley (#182) over the finish line. Trevor went all out to win the heat three and only just beat Ian coming out of the last bend. Robie Jukes (#22) was in second but got his car wide. Ian was quick to clear through the incident but Trevor just pipped him to the post leaving Robie in third and Mike fourth.
By the rules, only 24 cars could go to the grid in the feature final won by Ian, his third points final win this season. Paul had earnt pole position but was overtaken by second place man, Trevor and Russ Bull (#100) in third, for a fourth place finish. Martin Heath (#242) soon broke through from the back of the second pack but lost valuable places by taking to the infield to avoid trouble with loose cars on the home straight. Martin's low finishing result of 18th is under investigation as his car 'missed the loop' on the transponder readings in the evasive action which put him a lap down.

TRACK FACTS
:: Car Count - 34 cars
:: Fastest Lap - 6 IAN HALES in Heat 2, lap 5 - 14.585 (75.530mph)
:: Weather Conditions - Hot, sunny and dry

OFFICIAL RESULTS
Heat One : 516, 808, 105, 100, 33, 64, 7, 76, 20, 242, 52, 285, 19, 60, 677, 22, 77, 169, 95. DNF 8, 156 misfire. DNS 4 misfire, 614 engine problems.
Heat Two : 516, 6, 182, 64, 8, 19, 242, 16, 161, 2, 65, 266,
5, 105, 23. DNF 33 accident, 76 accident. DNS 156 misfire,
4, 74, 614. DISQ 98 contact on 33. :: 76 retirement from the
meeting.
Heat Three : 7, 6, 22, 182, 677, 2, 16, 52, 285, 98, 161, 20,
65, 266, 808, 5, 23, 100, 95, 60, 169. DISQ 77 contact on 60.
Final : 6, 7, 100, 516, 182, 242, 285, 22, 19, 20, 161, 52,
808, 2, 16, 266, 65, 98, 8, 64, 33, 677, 105, 5. :: Result went
under investigation - 242 missed transponder reading.

added - 26th May, 2008

NORTHAMPTON INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
Monday 26th May, 2008
Round 6 - Northampton Championship + Triple Crown C'ship I

Thirty one cars were out to race in yet another wet meeting. Dan Holden (#161) had his heat one win removed for contact when challenging for the lead from Nathan Nicholls (#16) giving Dean Thompson (#19) a surprise win. Peter Blundell (#156) had the threat of engine gremlins during practice but held onto a fine win from Ian Hales (#6) in heat two. Steve Dakin (#99) got all shook up again, but this time with Martin Heath (#242) in the second heat. Mike Walmsley (#182) got clear away in heat three but Nathan was on a mission and snatched the win for some much needed points after suffering a DNF in heat one through accident damage. 24 cars lined up for the feature final won by pole sitter Ian. Peter had the misfire again but kept running until Dan collided with him and now the incident is under investigation. Darron Lewis (#285) kept the pressure on in the points chase by closely following Ian home. The pace in the final was quick and only the top eight cars finished on the same lap.

TRACK FACTS
:: Car Count - 31 cars
:: Fastest Lap - 6 IAN HALES in Heat 3, lap 12 - 18.715 (37.91mph).
:: Weather Conditions - Wet

OFFICIAL RESULTS
Heat One : 19, 285, 52, 78, 7, 20, 22, 74, 677, 65, 76, 105, 266, 23. DNF 808, 516, 60, 16, 5. DISQ 161 contact on 16.
Heat Two : 156, 6, 74, 65, 182, 19, 11, 78, 33, 2, 64, 5, 105, 23, 266, 169.
DISQ 242 contact on 99. DISQ 99 loaded up.
Heat Three : 16, 6, 285, 161, 182, 52, 677, 33, 11, 156, 20, 64, 2, 22. DNF 60 516.
Final : 6, 285, 161, 19, 78, 52, 16, 11, 65, 20, 242, 74, 182, 677, 33, 2, 64, 22, 105, 266, 23. DNF 156 engine problem, 5, 60.

added - 5th May, 2008

HEDNESFORD HILLS
Sunday 5th May, 2008
Round 5 - Hednesford Championship

SHAKEY GETS A HAT-TRICK - #99 Steve 'Shakey' Dakin was unbeatable today at Hednesford! It was only #677 Adam Marshall that got a look in for the other heat win. The Hednesford Championship feature final was won by Steve in superb style, closely followed over the finish line by #1 Des Chandler and #52 Martin Lamb.

TRACK FACTS
:: Car Count - 33 cars
:: Fastest Lap - 6 IAN HALES in the Final, lap 15 - 15.168 (59.335 mph)
:: Weather Conditions - Sunny and dry

RESULTS
Heat One : 99, 1, 161, 6, 677, 156, 60, 242, 19, 16, 20, 98, 11, 65, 45, 10, 2, 74, 77, 105. DNF 614, 169. :: 169 & 77 accident East Bend on lap 2, full restart.
Heat Two : 99, 52, 1, 76, 182, 8, 6, 78, 285, 20, 98, 16, 75, 10, 266, 74, 169. DNS 33 engine, 2 cylinders. DNF 242, 100, 7 accident on back straight.
Heat Three : 677, 52, 266, 100, 33, 78, 8, 285, 161, 11, 7, 45, 65, 2, 75, 156, 77. DNF 614, 105, 60, 182. :: lap 2, 182 hit turn 1 infield bank, 60 blown diff, 105 & 614 accident on West Bend.
Final : 99, 1, 52, 6, 8, 285, 161, 20, 242, 156, 677, 11, 266, 16, 614, 7, 65, 75, 2, 77, 74, 169, 105. DNF 33, 10, 45, 19, 78, 98. DNS 76 brake problems. :: 78 hit West Bend infield, penalised over safety issue and lost all points on day.

added - 27th April, 2008

BOVINGDON
Sunday 27th April, 2008
Round 4 - Spedeworth Bowl I

It was no surprise that Richard Poulter (#98) took his first race win from the front row in heat one, despite the pressure laid on by Pete Amas (#33) through three restarts!
Peter Blundell (#156) deserved the win in heat two with a nifty move on Dave Baker (#5) in the penultimate lap and Russ Bull (#100) bagged two excellent wins in heat three from Blundell and dominated Ian Hales (#6) for a win in the final.

TRACK FACTS
:: Car Count - 29 cars
    :: Fastest Lap - 100 RUSS BULL in the Final, lap 21 - 15.171 (46.740mph)
       :: Weather Conditions - Heavy rain, slow to drying

RESULTS
Heat One : 98, 33, 5, 614, 100, 11, 20, 6, 22, 182, 266, 242, 16, 23, 74. DNF 76, 285, 64, 516, 19. :: maiden win for 98, 64 hit wall head on near pit gate, 76 and 285 clashed out of turn 2 (ripped front right off 285 car).
Heat Two : 156, 11, 5, 16, 8, 45, 65, 182, 2, 7, 161, 266, 74, 169, 105. DNF 19, 516. DISQ 242 contact on 19. :: forced retirement on 19, back bumper hanging off
Heat Three : 100, 156, 6, 45, 22, 7, 161, 8, 20, 2, 65, 23, 169. DNF 614, 33. DISQ 98 contact on 33. :: forced retirement on 33, front bumper hanging off, 614 lost wheel on back straight after collision, finished head on in wall near pit gate.
Final : 100, 6, 156, 8, 5, 20, 45, 242, 7, 161, 16, 65, 182, 266, 19, 2, 105.
DNF 23, 11, 33, 169, 516, 98. :: accident 105 and 2 on inside of turn 3 brought the red flag out.

added - 16th March, 2008

BIRMINGHAM WHEELS
Saturday 15th March, 2008
Round 1 - BIRMINGHAM CHAMPIONSHIP

A rain drenched track didn't attract too many smiles last night for the first championship round of 2008. Low visibility and low speed didn't make for the best racing and the drivers were only really able to follow the little red light in front. The neon lights on Dave Baker's wheels looked good though and would even be the envy of the cruisers on Landor Street! There were a lot of new liveries on old cars and a lot of new drivers - 7 in fact, including the lady racer Rachel Dawson and also former National Hot Rod driver J J O'Riordan from Dublin.
Martin Heath sped away for wins in heats one and three. He didn't mess about in the feature final either as he went straight into the lead but fell back through the placings when the half shaft broke. Amazingly, he finished 12th!
Heat two saw Dan Holden open his account in the points chase and increased his standing with a third place finish in the final.
It was Darron Lewis, in a Lechler Coatings car, that splashed through the atrocious conditions to win the Birmingham Championship feature final. Red grade and Legends star driver, Ian Hales drove well throughout the night for some good results from the back of the grid and featured as runner-up to Lewis in the final.
Richard Stagg earnt some good results in the heats and qualified well for the championship final but suffered disqualification on lap 20 through a loose exhaust.

TRACK FACTS
:: Car Count - 31
:: Fastest Lap Time - 242 MARTIN HEATH in the Final, lap 3 - 18.960 (38.935mph)
:: Weather Conditions - Wet throughout the night

RESULTS
Heat One : 242, 6, 20, 99, 78, 15, 76, 33, 2, 182, 266, 60, 23, 169. DNF's 516, 45, 100, 22, 114,161.    516 scratched through heavy damage    161 suffered a misfire    182 highest rookie finish in 10th.
Heat Two : 161, 285, 19, 6, 52, 98, 99, 15, 7, 76, 16, 64, 22, 5, 182, 210, 10, 60. DNF's 20, 156. :: clean and tidy start, most drivers choosing to go high and wide, 98 highest rookie finish in 6th, 161 cured misfire.
Heat Three : 242, 19, 5, 285, 7, 78, 52, 16, 64, 2, 33, 114, 266, 10, 23. DNF's 169, 98, 210.   :: 169 throttle cable broke on the last bend in the final lap
Final : 285, 6, 161, 99, 19, 52, 7, 20, 16, 98, 5, 242, 64, 182, 10, 266, 60, 169, 23. DNF's 15, 78, 100, 210. DISQ 2.

added - 24th March, 2008

HEDNESFORD HILLS
Easter Monday 24th March, 2008
Round 2 - EASTER CHALLENGE

There were four different winners in Oval Track Legends today at Hednesford - Steve Dakin (99) in the first heat, Russ Bull (100) in the second, Damian Wright (114) took the third and the feature final was an exciting finish for a win by Ian Hales from Tim Hudson (64) coming out of the last corner. Ian now leads the National Points after two rounds.
Tim Hudson had the best results on the day with the highest points tally of 525 which puts him up from 10th to 5th place in the National Points Chart.

TRACK FACTS
:: Car Count - 32 cars
    :: Fastest Lap Time - 6 IAN HALES in the Final, lap 3 - 15.360 (58.594mph)
       :: Weather Conditions - Snow, slow to drying

RESULTS
Heat One : 99, 64, 242, 45, 114, 161, 6, 100, 8, 52, 614, 2, 33, 677, 20, 16, 266, 7, 10, 75. DNF 516, 98. :: 75 and 33 both spun and rejoined, 98 loose wheel on track, race called 3 laps early
Heat Two : 100, 64, 242, 78, 156, 8, 285, 45, 16, 7, 19, 808, 2, 266, 75, 77, 74, 169, 60. DNF 76, 99. :: 77 spun on Turn 4 from 3rd place, 99 and 76 both retired after hitting wall on turn 3, 76 scratched
Heat Three : 114, 161, 6, 78, 285, 614, 33, 20, 19, 52, 516, 677, 808, 60, 74, 77, 169. DNF 156, 10, 98.
Final : 6, 64, 114, 8, 285, 161, 242, 614, 19, 16, 7, 20, 516, 808, 677, 45, 2, 266, 74, 169. DNF 33, 52, 99, 156, 60, 75, 100, 77. DISQ 78 loose back bumper. :: 33 bonnet flew off, restart after 52, 8, 45 and 77 all spun off, only 52 retired

added - 13th May, 2008

MALLORY PARK
Sunday 11th May, 2008
BRITISH LONG TRACK CHAMPIONSHIP

TRACK FACTS
:: Car Count - 24 cars
:: Fastest Lap - 1 DES CHANDLER in Heat 2, lap 6 - 39.166 (91.916mph)
:: Weather Conditions - Hot and sunny

RESULTS
Heat One : 6, 1, 161, 156, 8, 78, 16, 10, 242, 22, 20, 5, 808, 60, 7, 15, 66, 75, 266, 45, 105, 23, 2. DNF 52 engine.
Heat Two : 78, 1, 6, 161, 8, 22, 242, 66, 16, 10, 266, 7, 5, 808, 15, 45, 60, 75, 105, 2, 23. DNF 156 blown engine.
BRITISH LONGTRACK CHAMPIONSHIP Final : 161, 6, 1, 22, 8, 16, 10, 242, 5, 808, 66, 60, 75, 15, 266, 45, 105, 23, 2. DNF 78 puncture.

No one would have ever dreamt that such a fantastic days racing at the
Mallory Mile would end in the nightmare that occured when Des Chandler
(#1) had the accident in the final race of the day. Not surprisingly,
messages of good will for Des have come in from all corners of our sport
wishing him a full and speedy recovery. A thought that should be echoed
again now.
The racing saw Legends really stretch their legs through the heats and final
and all three of their races produced close finishes and, at most times, they
finished three abreast!
Dan Holden (#161) came through for the British Long Track Championship
win from pole sitter and early leader Ian Hales (#6). Des took the lead from
Ian on lap four and Mark Dews (#78) soon came in for the lead too, along
with Dan, then all four drivers diced for top spot. At the end of lap 10, the
chequers went to Dan but by only 0.070 of a second from Ian. Des took
third and Robie Jukes (#22) raced his posh boots off for fourth!
Ian set the best lap time of the final with 39.483 seconds. Mark
unfortunately retired two laps from the end with a broken valve on a tyre.

added 22nd June, 2008

ARENA ESSEX
Sunday 22nd June, 2008
Round 8 - Arena Championship

NEWS FROM ARENA ESSEX TODAY AIN'T BAD!
TWO OUT OF THE THREE MARSHALLS WIN IN THE HEATS.

Lee Holden (#266) held 'em off well in heat one for his first win of 2008. Jeff Marshall (#74) got clean away from the front of the grid to win heat two and his son John (#614) had no problems to win heat three from Richard Stagg (#2). Lee piled on the pressure to the back of the #2 car to no avail. 'Staggy' held the inside line perfectly to make sure Lee didn't get by. Accident damage in heat three to the front of the Ian Hales (#6) car, after and accident with Dean Thompson (#19) into turn 3, meant that Ian couldn't continue. Ian's bad luck continued in the final when he got tagged and suffered another non-finish.
It was good news in the final though for Richard Poulter (#98). He revelled in taking his first feature final win and the Arena Championship title after recently loosing his heat win at Aldershot earlier this month through a stewards enquiry.

TRACK FACTS
:: Car Count - 33 cars
:: Fastest Lap - not available at the moment
:: Weather Conditions - Dry, Sunny

OFFICIAL RESULTS
Heat One : 266, 98. 100, 2, 65, 64, 114, 7, 20, 52, 6, 161, 8, 33, 242, 182, 35, 74, 23, 95. DNF 156 accident damage, 60 spun and retired. :: flag to flag victory for 266.
Heat Two : 74, 64, 98, 242, 614, 161, 285, 114, 78, 19, 20, 11, 5, 16, 182, 35, 105. DNF 77, 156 accident in opening lap (both retired from meeting). :: first Legends career win for 74.
Heat Three : 614, 2, 266, 677, 16, 33, 100, 52, 7, 78, 5, 8, 285, 19, 11, 105, 23, 55. DNF 95 forced retirement (loose bonnet), 65. DISQ 6 car unsafe due to accident damage. :: debut for Rookie 55.
Final : 98, 614, 64, 114, 52, 20, 161, 100, 266, 285, 16, 8, 2, 677, 78, 33, 11, 35, 182, 65, 19, 7, 74. DNF 242 accident, 5 hit wall, 6 accident. :: race called 5 laps early (oil on track).

added - 4th August, 2008

HEDNESFORD HILLS
Saturday 2nd August and Sunday 3rd August, 2008
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

NO STOPPING DAKIN TAKING THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Steve Dakin (#99) won yesterdays National Championship at Hednesford from pole sitter Ian Hales (#6) in a race littered with accident damaged cars and a driver - Team Cordec's, John Marshall (#614) in hospital with a suspected fractured vertebrae. News should come through later on John's condition and hopefully he is ok. It's not the first National Championship win for Steve. In 2004 he was handed the win from Matt Simpson, now a National Hot Rod star, after his car failed a technical check. This year it was different story, Steve won the title proper after leading it for the duration and despite a first bend accident with Ian, which nearly put them both out of the running. Ian restarted at the back of the field and clawed his way through for a fantastic 2nd place finish. Mark Dews (#78) had looked good for second place, having followed Steve through a majority of the laps but Ian's rampage through the field meant he came home in 4th. Drive of the day should go to Richard Wilkes (#20) for taking a podium 3rd from qualifying 17th on the grid. He had his head down throughout the race and managed to avoid the accidents to earn his personal best result in a major Legends championship.
Sunday's championship race was not the best and the Grand National was even worse as it was abandoned after only four laps through yet another pile up which brought the red flag out, the loss of 3 cars and Martin Heath (#242) given the black flag. The restart saw a terrible jump start from Russ Bull and the Race Steward 'pulled' the race.
To change the record, the track record for Hednesford set by Ian in 2006 at 15.130seconds was finally broken on Saturday in heat four by Russ at 15.101 (59.360mph). A record that has stood for two years must be worth noting and credit to Russ for breaking it.
And to close on a good note, Des Chandler came to the Sunday meeting to watch the racing and take a stroll through the pits. From those he chatted with and to those who realised his situation, he would like to thank you all. ''It was a good day and I would like to thank everyone for helping me out and chatting. It has really helped me and Paul Gerrard's work throughout the day was marvelous, you've all been great!''

TRACK FACTS
:: Car Count - 31 cars
:: Fastest Lap - 100 RUSS BULL in Heat 4, lap 10 - 15.101 (59.360mph)
:: Weather Conditions - Mostly Dry

RESULTS
Heat One : 6, 285, 161, 78, 8, 242, 156, 99, 614, 19, 16, 7, 64, 677, 74, 55, 76, 15, 77, 65, 105. DNF 100 accident, 52 accident.
Heat Two : 99, 114, 64, 11, 16, 100, 52, 7, 6, 808, 614, 285, 20, 65, 15, 75, 76, 60, 77. DNF 266 accident (damage rear bumper), 161 mechanical, 156 accident (damage front bumper), 95 puncture.
Heat Three : 8, 19, 285, 6, 99, 20, 156, 64, 808, 11, 78, 242, 266, 55, 114, 15, 74, 677, 95, 105, 75. :: 677 opted to start at back of grid.
Heat Four : 100, 242, 78, 7, 16, 11, 114, 52, 8, 20, 161, 77, 614, 19, 74, 75, 266, 808, 55, 95, 105. DNF 677. :: 74 lost bonnet.
NEW TRACK RECORD - RUSS BULL 15.101 seconds, lap 10 - 59.360mph
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP Final : 99, 6, 20, 78, 242, 7, 808, 266, 285, 55, 75, 105, 95. DNF 15. 74 accident (hit wall). 16 retired.
114. 19 and 52 accident (home straght). 64. 614
accident (inner wall of turn 1). 156 (spun and retired).
77 (spun and retired). 8 and 100 accident (West Bend).
11 accident (inner wall of turn 1). DNS 65.
GRAND NATIONAL (All Comers) : 105, 95, 15, 65, 75,
7, 55, 20, 64, 156, 100, 78, 266, 77, 11. DNS 16, 6.
DISQ 242 contact. :: RACE ABANDONED AFTER
4 LAPS.

added 18th August, 2008

NORTHAMPTON INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
Sunday 17th August, 2008
ROUND 10 - ARTHUR BRIGHT TROPHY

STEVE DAKIN WINS THE 2008 ARTHUR BRIGHT TROPHY

The seventh annual running of the Arthur Bright Trophy was won at Northampton International Raceway yesterday by the recently crowned National Champion - Steve Dakin (#99). Team Lewis Thompson had a cracking day too, Darron Lewis (#285) featured as runner-up in the trophy race followed closely home by Dean Thompson (#19). Angie Bright and children were at hand, along with Des Chandler to present the trophies to the top three.
Leading rookie, Mike Walmsley (#182) took hold of the lead in the closing laps of heat one from Paul Fiore (#516) and National Points leader, Ian Hales (#6) crashed with Mark Dews (#78) to render Mark's car in the pits for the rest of the meeting with front right wheel damage.
Trevor James (#7) mastered a good win from Jon Evans (#11) in heat two and Steve, from way back in the red grade, took third in the closing laps from Mike.
Darron's win in the third heat earnt him the highest points score for pole in the feature final. He also recorded the fastest lap of the day in the first heat (15.614seconds) and to cap it all, he found enough energy to race a car in the Banger formula!

TRACK FACTS
:: Car Count - 23 cars
:: Fastest Lap - 285 DARRON LEWIS in Heat 1, lap 10 - 15.614 (46.11mph)
:: Weather Conditions - Dry, Warm

RESULTS
Heat One : 182, 156, 285, 100, 64, 55, 19, 7, 6, 95, 5, 2, 35. DNF 78 accident (front right damage), 20 accident.
Heat Two : 7, 11, 99, 182, 20, 161, 114, 95, 65, 2, 266, 100, 23. DNF 105 accident (hit wall on Turn 4).
Heat Three : 285, 99, 19, 6, 64, 161, 55, 266, 35, 11, 23. DNF 5 accident (spun on Turn 2), 114, 516, 65.
Final : 99, 285, 19, 182, 100, 64, 6, 161, 7, 11, 516, 5, 114 (docked 2 places - jump start), 95, 35, 23. DNF 65, 266, 55 engine blow. DISQ 2 (taking helmet off during race). :: 516 opted to start at the back of the grid

added - 20th July, 2008

IPSWICH RACEWAY
Saturday 19th July, 2008
BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIPMARTIN LAMB SPRINGS OFF WITH THE BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIP

Without Ian Hales (#6) being able to defend the British
Championship due to a previous engagement, came a new winner
of the 2008 title. Martin Lamb (#52) started from 2nd on the grid
and won through to take home his first major title in Oval Track
Legends. It was close racing in the first few laps between Martin
and pole position man, Russ Bull (#100) until the cars touched
coming out of the fourth turn and Russ hit the wall forcing him to
retire, leaving Martin to flee off into the lead like a Spring Lamb! It
must have been a huge disappointment for Team #100 after
qualifying so well. Mark Dews raced well for a second place finish.
He was unable to keep up with the leader through defending and
fending off the attentions of third place man, Daz Lewis (#285).
In the qualifying heats, Daniel Holden (#161) took the win in heat one but was disqualified after post race checks by the Tech Inspectors for the car being 'too long'. The race win went to local man, Dave Baker (#5) from Felixstowe without the joys of a lap of honour but some extra points to qualify him a well earnt 5th on the grid for the big race.
Legends legendary Trevor James (#7) took a flag to flag victory in heat two from stablemate Nathan Nicholls (#16).

TRACK FACTS
:: Car Count - 26 cars
:: Fastest Lap - 100 RUSS BULL in Heat 1, lap 4 - 16.244 (85.324mph)
:: Weather Conditions - Dry

RESULTS
Heat One : 5, 100, 8, 114, 52, 78, 182, 75, 285, 65, 60, 64, 2, 105, 98, 55, 266, 7, 33, 16, 95. DNF 11 accident, 23 spun and stranded, 99 blown engine. DISQ 161 from race win - car too long. DNS 19 fuel problem.
Heat Two : 7, 16, 64, 285, 52, 78, 182, 100, 161, 60, 2, 98, 8, 33, 5, 75, 266, 65, 55, 105, 23. DNF 95 accident , 11, 19 spun. DISQ 114 loose front bumper. :: RACE CALLED 3 LAPS EARLY, flag to flag victory for 7.
BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIP Final : 52, 78, 285, 114, 7, 16, 161, 182, 55, 105, 266, 98, 5, 75, 33, 23. DNF 8, 64, 65, 2 and 100 accidents. :: RACE CALLED 2 LAPS EARLY.

added 28th August, 2008

HEDNESFORD HILLS
Monday 25th August, 2008
Round 11 - Triple Crown III

Star driver Daz Lewis (#285), the main contender to leader Ian Hales (#6) in the National Points Championship, made off with a commendable win in heat one followed closely home by defending Champion, Russ Bull (#100). Ian now looks to have a strangle hold on the title having cleared another 80 points over Daz with good results on the day, including a win in the final.
Dan Holden (#161) had a day he would rather forget. He suffered damage in the first heat after an accident with Mark Dews (#78) on the East Bend to only just finish and totally lucked out in the third heat when Mike Walmsley (#182) went between him and
brother, Lee Holden (#266). To top it all, he didn't make it out into the final,
despite all the hard work from the team to get the car repaired and may well
now have to wave goodbye to ever leading the points in 2008.
Heat one was also bad news for British Champion, Martin Lamb (#52) when he
nearly took the car on a roll over. The wall on the West Bend stopped him from
actually rolling it but the front end of the car suffered heavy damage and the
impact moved the chassis considerably. To add to the woes, by the car landing
on its roof and bouncing back again, it cracked a lot of the cab fibreglass and
means he may be out for the rest of the season.
Martin Heath (#242) dropped to the blue grade for Hednesford and took a good win from Paul Fiore (#516) in heat two, only managing to take the lead on the last corner of the penultimate lap.
The third heat was a terrific win for Oval Legends newest Rookie - Andy Hartwell (#55). Since starting in Legends at Arena Essex on 22nd June, Andy has progressed to the white grade from the Rookie ranks at the back of the grid. His maiden victory on Monday was nothing to be sniffed at either as he had to fend off Legends first ever driver, Trevor James (#7) all the way. He must have thought that the chequered flag was never going to drop!

TRACK FACTS
:: Car Count - 28 cars
:: Fastest Lap - 99 STEVE DAKIN in the Final, lap 13 - 15.207 (59.183mph)
:: Weather Conditions - Dry

RESULTS
Heat One : 285, 100, 22, 65 (docked one place - contact on 22), 20, 808, 78, 266, 156, 64, 75, 95, 77, 5, 161, 19. DNF 23 accident, 52 accident, 516 engine problems.
Heat Two : 242, 516, 55, 19, 6, 182, 22, 64, 11, 5, 65, 33, 7, 156, 285,
105, 75. DNF 77, 99 both retired.
Heat Three : 55, 7, 6, 33, 99, 78, 20, 266, 11, 182, 808, 242, 105, 95,
23. DNF 100 engine, 161 accident. :: maiden win for 55.
Final : 6, 285, 242, 78, 20, 99, 55, 182, 11, 22, 19, 7, 33, 808, 266, 5,
65, 105, 75. DNF 77 accident (front bumper off), 23 retired, 156 retired, 95 accident
(back bumper off).

added 9th September, 2008

WARNETON SPEEDWAY, WARNETON, BELGIUM
6th & 7th September, 2008
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP

DAN HOLDEN IN FOR EURO CHAMPIONSHIP WIN

TRACK FACTS
:: Car Count - 14 cars
:: Fastest Lap - not available
:: Weather Conditions - Mostly wet!

added - 13th July, 2008

BIRMINGHAM WHEELS
Saturday 12th July, 2008
Round 9 - Triple Crown
Championship II

added 8th June, 2008

ALDERSHOT RACEWAY
Sunday 8th June, 2008
Round 7 - Spedeworth Bowl II

added - 26th May, 2008

NORTHAMPTON INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
Monday 26th May, 2008
Round 6 - Northampton Championship + Triple Crown C'ship I

added - 14th April, 2008

HEDNESFORD HILLS
Sunday 13th April, 2008
Round 3 - MIDLAND CHAMPIONSHIP

HEDNESFORD HILLS on Sunday brought out five late starters to the season. Bob Clayfield (#66) and John Hudson (#65) both dusted the cobwebs off their cars. Des Chandler's brand new car, reminiscent of his F1 livery, made its first competetive appearance. Paul Smith took to the seat of the Chevy Coupe shared with Peter Oakley for his first meeting as Race No.110, (Peter races the same car using No.10) and Race Car Direct introduced Kev Hughes, from Burgess Hill, in the lease hire '34 Ford Sedan.
Russ Bull (#100) took the chequered flag in heat one but was disqualified following post race checks because the car was 1/16" (corrected 27.04.08) too long and Darren Smith (#76) was given the win.
Mark Dews (#78) got away from Martin Heath (#242) and Ian Hales (#6) in heat two for a victory.
The same three were locked in battle for the Midland Championship feature final, which saw Martin win through for the 2008 title.
The third heat was a smooth run out and trouble free win for Paul Fiore.

TRACK FACTS
:: Car Count - 37 cars
:: Fastest Lap - 6 IAN HALES in Heat Two, lap 16 - 15.132 (58.317mph)
:: Weather Conditions - Dry

RESULTS
Heat One : 76, 65, 78, 242, 6, 99, 77, 266, 16, 161, 1, 7, 19, 66, 52, 677, 5, 614, 22, 75, 23, 110. DNF 169. DISQ 100 technical infringement. DNS 98 carb trouble. :: 169 spun on Turn 3, stranded on the 'rumbles', 614 spun over the finish line.
Heat Two : 78, 242, 6, 516, 65, 20, 22, 156, 19, 182, 285, 64, 7, 2, 60, 75, 74, 110. DNF 77, 66, 33, 105. DISQ 8 loose front bumper. :: 7 and 285 spun and locked together on West Bend taking 77, 33 and 66 in too, 8 loaded up for not responding to the Black Flag (caused by intermittent problem with Raceceiver unit), debut meeting for Rookies 105 and 110.
Heat Three : 516, 20, 100, 156, 5, 33, 76, 285, 1, 2, 161, 614, 16, 677, 182, 266, 98, 60, 74, 169. DNF 105, 64, 99, 52, 23. :: 52 blew engine, 23 hit wall on back straight and collected 99, 64 caught up in same accident and stopped at the end of the back straight, 105 in the wall on Turn 2.
Final : 242, 78, 6, 285, 156, 20, 516, 1, 65, 7, 182, 19, 677, 98, 33, 75, 266, 76, 74, 110, 105. DNF 16, 169, 161, 5, 100, 2, 614, 60, 64. :: 614 and 2 ended up in the wall on back straight, 100 and 5 clashed (landing 5 on the ramp) 161 glanced the wall on the West Bend and parked it on Turn 3, 76 and 16 spun on Turn 1, all traffic cleared the incident

update - 7th November, 2008

NEWS & REVIEWS OF THE 2008 SEASON
FOLLOWING SUNDAY'S MEETING AT
HEDNESFORD HILLS, 2nd NOVEMBER
THE FINAL COUNTDOWN OF 2008.

IAN HALES IN A CLASS OF HIS OWN
On Sunday, Ian Hales (6) claimed the National Points Championship for the second time. It was back in 2001 when he last won the title but in 2008 he was definately in a classs of his own.

Daz Lewis (285) looked to be in the same class after the first round at Birmingham Wheels on 15th March by taking the first lead in the Points Chart.
Just one week later, for round 2 at Hednesford, Ian caught up and overtook Daz to stay at the top.

After the third round, Martin Heath (242) featured at the top with Ian on equal points but from round 4 onwards he never had to look back.

DAN HOLDEN TAKES TWO IMPRESSIVE WINS
Dan Holden (161), British Long Track Champion and European
Champion, put in an impressive performance in the final round
of the season at Hednesford on Sunday.

After a second place finish in the second heat to Ian Hales (6), a
splendid win in heat three by half a lap and fastest lap of the day,
Dan had planted the 161 Holden Plant Hire car firmly on pole for
The Final Countdown feature final.

Ian started alongside in position two with National Champion
Steve Dakin (99) in position three. Dan had a lot of work to do to
reclaim first place from Ian on the first lap and then shake off
Steve in the second half of the race. He did it though and had
enough spare time to pull out an extensive lead in the closing
laps. As in heat three, by the time the chequered flag went out,
Dan was half a lap ahead of the field.

The Norfolk based driver, from just outside Norwich, summed up his performance. "I'm happy with what I've done today" and added "I've had a great year really!"

NEWS FROM THE FINAL COUNTDOWN
When all is said and done about the outstanding
success of Ian Hales (6) winning the 2008 National
Points Championship by over 1300 points and the
impressive performance from Dan Holden (161) on Sunday to finish
second in the standings, there was a battle going on between Dean Thompson
(19) and Richard Wilkes (20). Valuable points were needed by Deano to catch
Wilko and reach the dizzy heights of fourth place, culminating in Wilko
actually clinching it by 115 points.

Team mate to Deano, in the well prepared Lechler Coatings cars and 2006
Rookie of the Year, Daz Lewis (285), finished third in the points but quit the
formula a month ago and sold his car on to Race Car Directs' rookie and
recently promoted red grade driver, Andy Hartwell (55).

The quality driver ability of Ipswich's Mike Walmsley (182) has featured him as
a rookie in the red grade for a while and top of the Rookie Championship table
since round 3 at Hednesford in April. Although Sundays meeting was not a
good one for Mike, he was streets ahead of the rest of the rookies and finally
got to take home the 2008 Rookie of the Year title and a well deserved 6th
place finish in the National Points Championship.

Peter Blundell (156) escaped carnage on a greasy Hednesford track Sunday
to polish off a nice win in the first heat. Trevor James (7) had been out front
but went into the wall via Martin Heath's (242) heavy braking into turn one.
Jon Evans (11) got caught up in the accident too and a black flag went out
to Martin deemed to have caused the pile up and he is now detained by the
Race Steward for reaching 20 'bad boy' points and faces a two meeting ban
at the start of 2009.

Mark Dews (78) drove brilliantly in the feature final to start 17th on the grid
and finish fourth when so much was happening around the track. Derek Hales
(8) received a black cross for contact on Hales Jnr and several cars spun
including Hales Jnr again in the closing laps. Ian cited that poor visibility
through a different screen was definately to blame and he'll be leaving it at
home next year when he gives chase to the 2009 Championship again.

Two good looking cars appeared in the pits at Hednesford and are likely to be on show at the Autosport International Show in January. The cars belong to Peter Oakley (10) and Paul Smith (110). Peter's car hasn't been seen since taking heavy damage from the crash at Mallory Park in May when Des Chandler (1) was injured. It was good to see them both out at Hednesford as Paul had shared the #10 car with Peter but has recently bought Bob Clayfield's (66) car. Both cars have been prepared immaculately as team cars in orange, black and silver.

The #5 car of Dave Baker was sold recently to Branson Poyner from Worcestershire. Branson was welcomed by all the Legends drivers on Sunday as he squeezed in his first rookie meeting in at the back of the grid. He now amounts to the fourteenth rookie to be welcomed into the series in 2008.