NATIONAL HOT RODS
Haird inherits victory in Hednesford thriller
Organiser: Incarace When: October 14 Where: Hednesford Hills Raceway Starters: 26.
A meeting which started out promising very little at the cold and rain-swept Cannock Chase track turned into a real cracker, with the final perhaps the race of the season.
Four cars staged a magnificent fight for the lead, the quartet eventually being led home by Shane Bland, only for him to fall foul of the tyre logging rules once again to hand the win to Chris Haird.
As the field set off into the pouring rain for the opening heat, it was Ivan Grayson who seized the lead but with Lee Pepper hard after him when he’d overtaken Peter Elliott. Pepper quickly went to the front, although his run was interrupted by a yellow flag thrown when Lewis Shelley and Andy Lane had a home straight coming together.
Third man Terry Hunn got the jump on Grayson at the restart and was soon on terms with the leader, but the pair were only able to enjoy their private lead dice until another yellow closed the field up again. That brought fast mover Bland into the equation, the European champion nipping past Hunn three laps from home and then Pepper as they took the last lap board. The race finished early with another multi-car incident bringing about premature red flags.
Grayson got away well again in the second race but had James Meadows filling his mirrors soon after the start. Grayson fell back as Meadows briefly took charge before Hunn rushed up to challenge him, the Mazda driver hitting the front just before another bout of yellows were brought on by Chris Crane smacking the wall.
As the rain stopped, on the restart Hunn used a really wide line to gradually edge away from the rest, even yet another caution period failing to trouble him on his way to the flag. Meadows hung onto second with Kym Weaver home in third.
Following a false start to the final, when several cars crashed or spun, a single-file restart sparked off a real nail-biter of a race.
Bland shot away at the front with Haird zapping past Rob Mcdonald to slice into third and then second when Hunn ran wide. With Mcdonald following Haird through and Billy Wood soon relegating Hunn as well to go fourth, the scene was set for a no-holds-barred scrap to the finish.
Bland and Haird diced for the lead, with Haird alongside several times without being able to make the pass stick, allowing Mcdonald to catch up and join in. These three went at it flat out, with Haird still trying to make an outside pass and Mcdonald attempting to bypass the others by going even wider. He eventually ducked under Haird instead as they passed half distance but then slid wide at the East bend allowing Haird by again and Wood too as he’d now arrived on the scene to complicate matters still further.
Then it was side-by-side place swapping every yard of the way with positions changing hands almost every bend and no one taking the non-contact rule too seriously. Haird eventually managed to put himself back ahead of Mcdonald three laps from home – Wood following him through – the multi-world champ then attacking Bland’s lead yet again to finish about half a car length down as they raced under the chequers.
It was only after Bland’s car cruelly failed post-race scrutiny that he eventually lost the victory, handing the laurels to Haird.
Results
Heat one: 1 Shane Bland (Vauxhall Tigra); 2 Lee Pepper (Peugeot 205cc); 3 Terry Hunn (Mazda RX-7); 4 Rob Mcdonald (Vauxhall Tigra); 5 Kym Weaver (Vauxhall Tigra); 6 Chris Haird (Vauxhall Tigra); 7 James Meadows (Ginetta G40R); 8 Ralph Sanders (Vauxhall Tigra). Heat two: 1 Hunn; 2 Meadows; 3 Weaver; 4 Billy Wood (Vauxhall Tigra); 5 Bland; 6 Pepper; 7 Gavin Murray (Vauxhall Tigra); 8 Jason Kew (Ginetta G40R). Final: 1 Haird; 2 Wood; 3 Mcdonald; 4 Kew; 5 Carl Waller-barrett (Vauxhall Tigra); 6 Murray; 7 Hunn; 8 Colin Smith (BMW Z4); 9 Kenny Purdie (Vauxhall Tigra); 10 Ivan Grayson (Vauxhall Tigra). Standings: 1 Kew 198; 2 Mcdonald 183; 3 Murray 180; 4 Haird 175; 5 Wood 162; 6 Weaver 150.