98 1600 Bangers gathered at Yarmouth Stadium on Easter Sunday, 17th April for a Gold Rush round. 36 Jamie Plane had a smartly presented Honda Civic, whilst 311 Mikey Fitzsimmons impressed with a tidy Ford Focus. 270 Brian Stanney also debuting a well presented Focus and 595 Drew Burdett had a smart Mk4 Vauxhall Astra; the latter rushing across to Yarmouth having already competed at Northampton earlier in the day for their Unlimited BWS event.
The first heat started with the usual ‘Yarmouth style’ push. 97 Jack Shepherd dispatching 40 Colin Jones Jnr fence-wards, also claiming 502 Luke Self. 544 Matthew Outhwaite got airborne, before 128 Dan Allen spun 08 Finlay Damon. 557 Lewis Sharman spun 502 Selfy, as 3 Harley McCarthy put away sister 13 Morgen. 108 Lewis Jefcote drove through 13 Morgen. 164 Jordan Murrell tboned 502 Selfy, and was collected by 914 Craig Jiggens. 379 Brandon Kevern went in on 914 Jiggens. Jiggens recovered only to get turned left on the exit of the pits bend a couple of laps later. 815 Tom Castle had a pop at 502 Selfy. 333 Brad Wickson spun 275 Joel Bond which caused chaos behind as 379 Iggle ran out of road collecting 914 Jiggens, and he was scuppered in turn by 3 McCarthy. 275 The Mole spun 502 Selfy. 115 Simon Kirby stuffed 275 The Mole into 13 McCarthy. 815 Castle and 594 Mason Burdett tangled along the home straight. 275 The Mole again set about 502 Selfy. 927 Kieran Whitmore and 333 Beachball combined to remove 97 Shep Jnr. 815 Castle spun 502 Selfy aside, the latter having a torrid time of it all. 108 Squeaky then removed 815 Castle in the same spot a lap later. The yellow flags came out on the raceway. 333 Brad Wickson counted down the remaining laps to take the win.
333, 352, 115, 594, 97, 330, 108, 08, 927, 145
The second heat begun with 784 Tommy Killick spinning 411 Reece LeGrice, before coming under fire himself from 823 Jamie Murrell. 355 Haydon Wood was turned around by 292 Harry Airey, with 60 Tim Crew and 477 Martin Harle crashing into him. 18 James Friston spun 436 Brett Wheeler. 730 Brandon Mayes went to spin 59 Tom Greenstreet to move into second place, but they became lodged together and ultimately retreated to the infield. 354 Josh Vowden, 36 Fathead and 682 Korben Quinn enjoyed a great squabble for second place, consistently swapping and changing positions. 15 Jack Maddox and 477 Harle had an off on the Caister bend. 59 Greenstreet spun 60 Crew. 267 Danny Grady took the win. (682 Korben Quinn inherited it after 267 duly got results taken off him for a later technical infringement)
682, 354, 823, 85, 414, 336, 292, 18, 512
Heat 3 begun with several coming together under the starter’s rostrum – 94 Jack Anscombe, 452 Harry Eyles and 138 Jason Smy all falling foul. 595 Drewboy leathered 138 Little Jay. 132 Robert James dumped a Focus into the tyres at the end of the back straight seeing the latter roll spectacularly and land on all fours. 311 Mikey shed a front wheel which brought the race to an early halt. The restart was very short-lived but featured a lot of action in a small space of time. 138 Little Jay failed to get going from outside front, which saw him get turned aside alongside 442 Tyler Ivins. 304 Harry Botfield’s throttle stuck open, seeing him bury himself at some rate of knots taking several in behind him. 79 nearly rolled, as the reds came out to attend to 304 Botfield. It was third time lucky as they restarted again. A few drivers came to grief on the pits bend. 132 Bobbles jacked 442 Ivins. 455 Micky Cornish punted brother 305 Alfie and 301 Jack Botfield wide to take third place as he made rapid progress through the field. 521 Jack Coveney raced into the distance to take the win.
521, 455, 83, 301, 90, 621, 385, 481, 409, 45
The Consolation races allowed a lifeline into the Wildcard Final for those with luckless heats. The first of which started with 297 Michael Barber not making it round to the start line. 274 Toby Bond spun 717 Harvey Devall Jnr. 270 Brian Stanney spun 544 Outhwaite. 297 Barber set about 541 Craig Hanrahan. 306 Mitch Hawkins had 355 Wood around on the pits bend. 275 The Mole spun 541 Hanrahan. The leading 730 Bubba was dumped on to the Caister end centre green by 544 Outhwaite handing the lead to 171 Jamie Strange. 325 Adam Wickson put the bumper in on 402 Albie Jenner, eventually spinning him. A sort out on the Caister bend resulted in 544 Outhwaite rolling spectacularly, with the race coming to a pause. 171 Strange saw the last few laps to take the win; 164 Murrell putting 236 Clyde Williams Jnr away for the minor places.
171, 36, 60, 325, 608, 160, 717, 275, 164, 541
The second Consolation race saw a few go off on the Caister bend. 784 Killick getting run into the doors of 595 Drew Burdett. 379 Iggle jumped up the back of 252 Kieran Wietrzyk. A push into the pits bend resulted in 517 Ben Sanders following 39 Ryan Knibbs in, although being a 1on1, the hit wasn’t avoidable. 311 Mikey spun 379 Iggle. The race remained relatively quiet with 305 Alfie Cornish taking the win. 3 McCarthy going in on 817 Toby Hodgkinson after the chequers.
305, 591, 13, 449, 311, 128, 3, 15, 138, 815
All three heat winners drew the front of the grid for the Gold Rush Wildcard Final. 97 Shep Jnr was the first casualty getting spun on the Caister bend. A sort out along the home straight saw 301 Jack Botfield, 18 Turkish, 594 Little Legs and 330 Wilkin all crash out. 325 Wiggles spun 449 Bradley Green which triggered carnage behind, as 90 Joey Holmes Jnr buried 512 Kieran Rowe and 481 Willis. 621 Gareth Parker went in on 90 Spud with the red flags coming out. The restart saw 512 Rowe immediately spin 301 Garfield. Another big push into the Caister bend saw several fall foul. 591 Aaron Morris spun 594 Little Legs which in turn sent 354 Sherman fence-wards. 236 Clyde Jnr put the bumper in on 85 Nathan Thurlow, before getting turned aside himself by 682 Korbs. 236 Clyde Jnr set about 608 Lenny Murkin, as 267 DannyG spun 08 Damon. 292 Harold spun 354 Sherman. 301 Garfield attempted an oppo attack on 682 Korbs but failed to connect on multiple occasions. The third attempt saw him connect with 292 Harold instead taking him out of the race. 85 Nath stopped 13 McCarthy on oppo. 608 Murkin jacked 13 McCarthy, with 08 Damon going in on Murkin in turn. 301 Garfield again attempted to stop 682 Korbs, missing again. 354 Sherman delivered a solid tbone to 301 Garfield, as 267 Danny Grady crossed the line to take the win. He was later deemed to fail post race scruiteneering, meaning his earlier win was discredited too. 60 Tim Crew inherited the win and the wildcard, from 414 Jimmy Craig and 171 Jamie Strange.
60, 414, 171, 409, 385, 354, 311, 682, 455
The clutch start Dash caught several drivers off guard with several early casualties. 138 Jason Smy spun 481 Willis. 354 Sherman and 274 Bond crashed out on the Caister bend. 591 Morris spun 138 Little Jay. 817 Bean attacked 355 Wood on oppo. 730 Bubba spun 355 Wood into another oncoming oppo attack from 817 Bean. 138 Little Jay ran 274 Bond head on into 817 Bean. 355 Wood drove into 817 Bean on the infield. 3 Bunda spun 45 Adam Ricketts. 145 Luke Cornish removed 40 Jonesy. 145 Cornish then got turned aside by 3 Bunda and 414 Craig as they battled for the lead. 414 Jimmy Craig took the win, delivering a well-timed last bend lunge to dislodge 3 Bunda to take the win.
414, 730, 352, 3, 385, 481, 306, 409, 591, 165
