Sand Racing Report August 16th 2008

The two most sort after trophies were included in this meetings programme of events which should have been held under bright sunny skies on an August afternoon but instead was held under grey skies more akin to late autumn. For the car drivers there was the challenge of making their vehicles last for 20 laps to claim the Victoria Trophy which is more then twice the distance of their normal 8 lap races whilst the bike boys were racing to be crowned King of the Beach. Besides these races there was the usual mix of championship & other ongoing trophy races but with no juniors on this programme (all racing in Jersey) there was little time between races for any repairs.

After a delayed start & practice racing got under way but the first car race was red flagged after 2 laps as Ricky Le Cheminant in his Formula Kawaski single seater style racing car spun in the wet bend & got stuck in a hole in the sand & with little body clearance was unable to move without being towed out, Ricky was able to start the second race but broke a drive shaft on this pretty little car. In the next race for production saloons Doug Le Fevre who had had to rebuild the front suspension after it had collapsed 2 meeting ago also got no further then the wet bend before a CV joint broke. After a couple of more races it was the big one with every car that was still running out on the start line. First man away Graham Jehan in the oldest car present a Mk1 Mini fitted with a 1275 motor had an almost 2 lap lead before the next group of drivers were sent on their way with the quicker cars having to wait a further two laps before they could start. As their fuel tanks were not big enough to hold enough fuel for the whole race both Ian Shorto & Trevor Le Page had to make fuel pit stops which dropped them out of the running, meanwhile Graham was still pacing his way around the track & though 4 other cars got onto the same lap he held out for a good win for a competitor who has raced this car off & on for many seasons.

The Bike boys had 2 championship races to settle themselves in before their main race of the afternoon. Stoke based rider Daniel Winterton was over to defend his title but already we had lost one of the likely contenders for this crown as Mike Clarke going for a second practice start during practice at the beginning of the meeting tried this one in 2^nd gear, unfortunately there was too much power so that the front wheel came up into the air & the bike flipped with Mike landing heavily on the hard sand, though the Ambulance was called Mike was able to walk into it for a check over though was left badly bruised. Come the race it was reigning

Sand Ace champion Anthony Queripel who having raced quietly in the first 2 races took the honours beating Daniel into 2^nd place with Dave Cleal taking 3^rd spot, the other main challenger Anthony Bougourd dropping out with bike problems

It was then back to normal racing with a couple of flying lap races included for both cars & bikes, defiantly a first for the cars, unfortunately by then the 2 leading cars of Ian Shorto (holed sump) & Trevor Le Page (loose axle) were unable to take part so Simon Carre in the newly acquired ex Ben Batiste Z Bird followed by the 4 wheel drive saloons of Paul Guymer & John Le Page. First out for the bikes was the Club’s Bike Captain Phil Ferbrache on the only Motocross bike present followed by Daniel Winterton (who was excluded for running outside of the course) & Anthony Bougourd.

The last of the August Meetings will be held on 30/8/08 at 11.45am.