Stock Rods 2008 World Final

(Report by Colin Adair)

THREE & EASY - BELL STRIKES GOLD AGAIN
Portadown ace Glenn Bell dominated the 2008 Stock Rod Championship of the World at Ballymena Raceway over the weekend of August 22 & 23 to clinch the coveted title for the third time. Bell , winner of the event in 2004 and 2007, qualified his Vauxhall Nova on pole position for the 40 lap showdown after Friday’s heats, then powered home half a lap ahead of the field in the final which was staged on Saturday evening. British Champion Stuart Fox chased hard, but had to be content with second just ahead of Enniskillen’s Stevie McNiece in third.

AUGUST 22 & 23 - Stock Rod World Championships
A total of sixteen visiting drivers, seven from the Republic of Ireland , plus five from Scotland and four from England, joined the twenty-seven competitors from Northern Ireland to contest the qualifying heats on Friday evening. The drivers were split into three groups and it was Groups A and B who took to the track for heat one. Craig Law and Fergus Bevan were paired on the front row for this one which had only just began when Scottish visitor David Philp was turned into the wall by William Laffin along the start/finish straight which brought the red flags out immediately. On the restart Stevie McNiece burst through from row two to take it up while Stuart Fox fought his way through from row five to second. Further back Keith Butler and Chris Gordon were involved in a great side by side tussle for sixth with a gaggle of cars holding a watch brief behind the pair. The battle finally came to a head when Butler ’s car was unsettled by some contact with JP Kilpatrick’s Vauxhall Nova which triggered an incident that sent cars scattering in all directions. One of the casualties was Micky McFall who retired with a flat tyre and two other pre-event favourites would fail to reach the finish line either as Shane Murray and Robert McDonald pulled onto the infield. Out front McNiece’s early advantage was steadily whittled away by Fox, but the local man managed to hold on for the win, with Fox close behind in second and young Steven Bolton an impressive third.

It was Groups A and C out for heat two with Colin Greer and Philp on the front row this time. Philp was quickly into the lead before the yellow flags were out when Gareth Bevan spun on Fisherwick bend. The race was only just resumed when the reds were out this time following a spectacular rollover for Southern visitor Gary Butler. On the restart Philp led from defending champion Glenn Bell, while all eyes were on a mighty scrap for third between Kilpatrick, Irish champion Victor McAfee and Murray. With no points from his first race Murray needed a high finish in this one and started to work his way around the outside of the pair. After gamely sitting it out on the wide line for a number of laps it looked like he just might make it too until Kilpatrick drifted wide exciting Suffolk bend and squeezed the #70 car up the wall and into retirement. Kilpatrick himself collected some damage in the collision and his eventful evening wasn’t over yet either as he pitched Freddie Laffin into the wall while trying to crawl around the final lap. Up front Philp was still comfortably ahead at the end with Bell a safe second and McAfee third. Fox recorded an impressive fourth place finish to go with his runner-up spot in race one and set the target for those completing their qualifying in heat thee.

It was Groups B and C out in the final qualifier where the first couple of rows got themselves in a tangle on the opening lap. William Laffin was in the middle of it once again and ended up in the Suffolk bend wall along with Matthew Moore, while 2001 champion Alastair Calvin produced a remarkable save to keep his car pointing in the correct direction, but suffered some car damage and lost a lot of places in the incident. Mark Barber avoided all the trouble to take it up from Dave Patterson, McFall, McDonald and Tony Lattka. Further back Bell swooped around the outside of McAfee to begin the chase after the leading group. Barber still held sway as the lap boards appeared, but now had his mirrors full of McFall and McDonald, with Bell and McAfee closing rapidly too. All five were together for the final tour, but Barber just held on from McFall as Bell nipped ahead of McDonald to snatch third. That eventually tuned into second as the steward docked Barber two places for blocking, handing the win to McFall.

The outcome of the qualifying heats saw defending champion Bell claim pole position for the final with British champion Fox alongside on the front row. McFall and McNiece shared row two with Barber and Raymond Harper on row three. The top ten were completed by Geoff Milligan, Greer, Kilpatrick and Lattka. Before the World final however there was a last chance qualifier to decide the final four qualifiers on the grid. No one would have expected Murray to be in this one before the weekend commenced, but the Randalstown ace made no mistake to book his place in the World final along with Brett Snodden, Freddie and William Laffin.

The track was still damp from earlier rain as Bell brought the thirty-four qualifiers around on the rolling lap at a steady pace for the forty lap final. The pole sitter immediately grabbed the advantage at the green flag as Fox darted into the inside to head McAfee and Barber. The front two were evenly matched in the early laps, but gradually Bell began to ease out a gap to his pursuers. The driver making most progress in the early stages was Alastair Bolton. The Ballymoney man revelled in the mixed conditions to quickly work his way from eleventh to sixth. Up front Bell saw his advantage disappear through the backmarkers, William Laffin in particular not helping the race leader as Fox and McAfee closed in on his back bumper. With that little hurdle safely negoiasted it wasn’t long before more trouble loomed on the horizon for Bell when Alan McCormack’s Vauxhall Nova disappeared in a cloud of smoke ahead of the leaders. Bell safely negotiated a passage through the haze with his lead still intact and calmly began the task of rebuilding his once healthy advantage. The next man in trouble was McAfee, a broken driveshaft on the Irish Champion’s Citroen Saxo forcing him to coast round into retirement. Bell was really putting the hammer down during the second half of the race in what was turning into a mightily impressive performance from the defending champion. Fox was still quite comfortable in second as McNiece and Bolton squabbled over third, while McDonald and Murray were making the best progress of those starting further down the grid. By the time the chequered flag fell Bell had stretched his lead to half a lap after an utterly dominant display of driving. If this proves to be Bell ’s final race in the Stock Rod formula then he certainly signed off in style with a drive that will long be remembered by everyone lucky enough to witness it. For Fox it was once again second place in the World Final, with McNiece holding of Bolton to claim the final podium position. Harper finished a solid fifth with Philp the top Scot in sixth. McDonald’s fine effort netted him seventh from a starting slot of seventeenth, while Murray topped that by making it to eighth after a superb drive from grid thirty-one. Kilpatrick put his heat troubles behind him to secure ninth and Lee Johnston rounded of the top ten on his World Final debut. There are not many World Finals that run from green to chequered uninterrupted these days and all the drivers deserve credit for playing their part in a good, clean race.

A twenty lap Allcomers event concluded the Stock Rod races for the weekend with the cars lining up in roof colours for this one. Fergus Bevan grabbed an early advantage ahead of Craig Law, Gareth Bevan and Brett Snodden. Bevan was displaying a good turn of speed and started to pull away from the pack which was now headed by Steven Bolton. The Larne man was still well clear entering the closing stages, but found himself immersed in back markers as the lap boards appeared which allowed Bolton and Snodden to close rapidly. The first three were now together with both Bolton and Sneddon looking for a way around the leader. Bevan would not be denied however and coolly withstood the onslaught to record a popular maiden victory and complete a great weekend of action from the Stock Rod class.

Friday 22nd August Official Results
Stock Rod Qualifying Heat One -  65 829 59 57 451 46 15 27
Stock Rod Qualifying Heat Two - 29 9 35 829 21 27 25 755
Stock Rod Qualifying Heat Three - 3 9 755 17 35 657 58 57

Saturday 23rd August Official Results
Stock Rod Last Chance - 70 232 50 52 56 379 5 851
Stock Rod World C/ship 2008 - 9 829 65 58 57 29 17 70
Stock Rod Allcomers Race - 88 232 59 57 39 21 58 27