The East Anglian v South Head to Head returned for the third year on the trot under an All Ford Capri format at the 1998 Spedeweekend on Saturday 4th July. By this point the East Anglian team were struggling to field a true banger team with several 1300 Stock Cars stars featuring among the ranks.
The first Heat began with EA410 Nutty putting away S66 Rogers. S194 Cecil who had featured well on the two previous occasions thundered an EA driver in. Several drivers went in all directions down the home straight including EA388 Emmo, S510 King Basher and EA256 Goudy. EA61 Flash jacked S46 Maverick and S221 Birdy did the same to EA127. EA426 Raymond attacked S84 Bleach. EA155 Kerrage set about S245 France who rolled on the shale. Moments later S320 Duell launched off of the curb on the scoreboard bend to go into a huge roll bringing the yellow flags out. Th restart saw EA385 Thurlow give a head on to the spun S510 King Basher. EA135 Mann stuffed away S414 Doom, with EA388 Emmo joining in and taking the Surrey Street Squad man onto the shale. S84 Bleach leant EA385 Thurlow into a parked car which was followed by EA9 Titch setting about S26 Bylett which triggered a track blockage on the turnstile bend. S84 Bleach attacked EA385 Thurlow once again. S194 Cecil jacked the empty car of EA285 Rose. EA426 Raymond turned S263 Pitt fence-wards. S264 Wellard spun World Champion EA33 Magic. The frantic pace of events continued with EA287 Gizmo spinning S700 Marco for the lead, but he was immediately dispatched by S207 Showtime. S700 Marco jacked EA135 Mann. EA33 Magic slowed to hold up S263 Pitt, allowing EA416 Smith to weigh in on the latter. The leading S207 Showtime attacked EA426 Raymond which allowed EA33 Magic to reel him and land a blow to hold him up enough to allow EA287 Gizmo to close down the Bashers man and follow him in to take the lead, although he cruelly expired himself. Whilst this was going on, S264 Wellard spun EA416 Smith, but the 1300 Stock Car World Champion swiftly rejoined to inherit the win ahead of S26 Bill Bylett and EA509 Darren Gray, with no other finishers.
Heat 2 started with early chaos as plenty of drivers went spinning. S237 Chubby was fenced hard down the home straight by EA256 Goudy. S245 France crashed out. EA61 Flash attacked S26 Bylett. Previous race winner EA416 had a pop at S206 Kingy but claimed himself in the process. S206 Kingy recovered to spin EA350 Kipper, as S108 Softie attacked EA426 Raymond. S320 Duell put away EA9 Easter. EA410 Nutty buried S66 Rogers hard. S108 Softie followed EA256 Goudy in hard on the entrance of turn 1 creating a decent wreck for the latter. EA9 Titch roared in with a revenge hit to S108 Softie which scuppered himself; EA472 Beast also weighing in on S108 Softie before the yellow flags came out to attend to Goudy. The restart saw S245 France attack EA385 Thurlow. S108 Softie set about EA61 Flash. S264 Wellard had a pop at EA410 Nutty, and S46 Maverick set about EA351 Thorley as the South team looked to assert their dominance. EA472 Beast fought back with a shot on S194 Cecil and EA350 Kipper spun aside S700 Marco as they looked to fight back. S700 Marco recovered to set about EA385 Thurlow which allowed S66 Rogers to home in with a tbone; S206 Kingy looked to finish him off by driving through him afterwards. The leading S194 Cecil spun EA509 Gray, allowing EA410 Nutty to remove the leader from contention. S66 Rogers took out EA467 Kingsnorth, whilst S183 Struddy weighed in on EA426 Raymond. S171 Oaky went in on EA426 Raymond for extra measures setting him up for a jacking from S66 Rogers. S320 Duell spun EA33 Magic setting him up for a head on from S46 Maverick. EA467 Kingsnorth diverted to the shale to deliver a head on to S264 Wellard. EA410 Nutty spun S66 Rogers and S245 France in one fowl sweep. S700 Marco dispatched S135 Mann down the back straight. EA385 Thurlow somehow managed to rejoin with the aim of holding up the leading S194 Cecil, but he quickly removed that threat to go on and take the win from S700 Marco. EA410 Nutty attacked S263 Pitt to round off the action on route to securing third place, being the only East Anglian to finish the race.
S194, S700, N410, S245, S66, S320, NOF
As with the previous year, the EA v South Head to Head featured a light-hearted Ramp Rollover Competition. EA224 Canham was the first up, and fluffed his first attempt, but completed a decent roll after doing another lap. S264 Wellard was South’s first man up and did a slight pirouette to get a decent roll. EA410 Nutty dome a proper barrel roll but he was outshone by S404 who completed a spectacular roll and drove off with some shale wheel-spin to complete another lap before limping over to the ramp to roll again. Next up was EA388 Emmo who took some savage flight and frantically beeped his horn as he was landing much to the crowds delight. S194 Cecil was next up in a Sierra which completed a huge roll through the air landing and doing a complete nosedive; Cecil getting out to a mass round of applause. EA467 Kingsnorth has a decent effort but was somewhat overshadowed by most of his predecessors. S414 Doom gave it a cheeky flick before connecting with the ramp to get a decent roll. At this stage the South had 610 points to East Anglians 550 so it was all too play for with the final attempts. EA224 Canham was up once again, looking to advantage on his average effort from earlier in the event. He completer a good roll taking a lot of distance but S46 Maverick countered that with some top distance as well to secure the spoils for the South. The final scores being South 720 points and East Anglia 660 points. Just as it seemed that the event had finished, (359) Geoff Bowen ran onto the track and jumped in the pace car flirting with the audience as if he were going to put it over the ramp but thought better of it and safely returned it to the centre green.
The DD commenced with EA410 Nutty driving through S263 Pitt. EA416 Smith dived at S245 France. EA350 Kipper gave a head on to S245 France allowing S414 Doom to attack the EA man. S455 Frankie jacked EA350 Kipper to end his day. EA332 homed in for a shot on S455 Frankie and was jacked in turn by S221 Birdy. EA41 Skoyles followed S700 Marco in on the turnstile bend as EA388 Emmo attacked S66 Rogers. EA472 Beast attacked S183 Struddy and took a front wheel shot himself from S26 Bylett. EA388 Emmo attacked S26 Bylett before the South turned on one another. S46 Maverick spun S26 Bylett, the latter responding with a reverse attack to S46 Maverick. EA388 Emmo tboned S46 Maverick which was his last attack of the day as the Southern trio of 183 Struddy, 245 France and 46 Maverick. With only the South team remaining, they set among theirselves with S320 Duell tboned S46 Maverick. S26 Bylett gave a head on to S46 Maverick and continued on to jack S700 Marco. S206 Kingy went on an assault firstly jacking S26 Bylett before attacking S320 Duell setting him up for a tbone a lap later. S245 France weighed in hard on S206 Kingy, with S183 Struddy driving through him aswell. 4 South drivers remained but nobody could strum up any form of power so the event was declared in favour of 206 Kingy and 183 Struddy.
