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After
almost a year of planning all the organisers from the
New Milton Jubilee fund asked for was good weather on
the day, but at 8am when hoards of helpers turned up to erect
the barriers they were greeted with dark skies, torrential
rain and deep puddles. After an hour the barriers were in
place and everyone retired to dry off.
At
10am the cars started arriving in parc ferme, on the
recreation ground, for scrutineering. Only one car failed
due to a rather wide turning circle which would have made it
impossible for the machine to negotiate the track's tight
hairpins. At 11am the gods finally smiled and the rain petered
out allowing the sun to shine. After marshal and driver
briefings the cars vacated parc ferme and headed out to their
pits along north Station Road with the track already drying
fast. As the track build team finished laying the bales it was
on with the slicks and out on track for a practice section
followed by a display from the New Forest Harley Owners Club,
who turned up despite the earlier drenching. AT 1.45pm thirty-three
amazingly different cars lined up on at the grid,
ranging from stunning throughbred racing machines (even one
built by an indycar team) to the downright wacky, most
entertaining being Scrappy Racing!
At
1.58pm the hooter blew and in seconds the track was clear for
Mayor John Mason to start the race.......3...2...1....go and
they were off, storming through the Rydal Chicane then a
hard right into the Gone Biking Mad! hairpin down by Bradbeers.
The snake of cars then headed back to the traffic
lights lead by the bright yellow Royce 2 car which was
setting a blistering pace. The first casualty had already been
left behind at this stage with the Spruce Goose, only
wooden car in the field, left on the line with a broken metal
component! After negotiating the left hander at Traffic
light turn the cars sped along Old Milton Road, round the
Bradbeers turn, doubling back to the traffic lights again
before another sharp right at Mitchells Corner and into
the pit straight. By now legs were tiring and most cars dived
into their pits for their first driver change. With
fresh legs they then powered up Station Road and into Tower
Turn, scene of many scrapes as drivers tried to corner too
fast, then they stormed down the main straight back to the
start line with the faster cars reaching very impressive
speeds. The Royce 2 team continued to dominate for the first
few laps but the more powerful Pattersons Banger was hot on
their heals and eventually managed to wind them in and
overtake, as commentator Mike Lingham-Wilgoss excitedly
reported on the manouvre. On lap 7 the second casualty the New
Milton Round Table - XGG car retired with a broken front
wheel. It was then down to their 2nd car "Cut 'n'
Shut" to carry the flag. For a full two hours the cars
continued to race around the track entertaining the crowd with
many spills and breakdowns. At one point the girls team car
"Pink Ladies" rolled at Gone Bike Mad! turn but
after the marshals had quickly righted the car she was off
again with nothing hurting more than pride. Meanwhile
Pattersons Banger held on to the lead but being closely chased
by the RHH Franks car and black Royce car. Only a couple
of laps down, Hill Billy Racing, Endangered Species, Pilleys
Pedallers and Wildfire 3 were all in the hunt for a podium
finish. And also a team of young lads in Crazy Frog
(guess the colour) were storming the junior section, well
ahead of many adult teams. With only a few minutes to go a
near disaster struck when one of Crazy Frog's wheels was
observed hurtling across the track, bouncing off another car
before coming to rest in the middle of the track. But after
some high speed repairs it was back on track to continue doing
battle.
Finally,
at 4pm, after two gruelling hours the chequered flag waved
leaving Pattersons banger to take the laurels, with RHH Franks
and Royce only one lap down in 2nd and 3rd. Crazy Frog
won the junior section with Powder Puffs 2nd and Arnewood
School's XL10 team taking 3rd only one lap behind.
Ringwood Mayor Danny Cracknell joined John Mason on stage to
present the winners trophies and medals to all who took
part and the celebrations were finished off in the traditional
way by letting everyone have a share in the fountains of
champagne.
See
you all in Ringwood next year for the British Pedal Car Grand
Prix!! |
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