Champion Pope exorcises his demon Bandits
WITH the banger action in the Think Ford League at Aldershot raceway always exciting, the entertainment levels have soared recently with the explosive performances of current track champion Mark Pope, as he and Rob Haines face down the challenge of the Southern Bandits.
In recent rounds of the championship, the Bandits have somewhat upset the status quo, as they set about destroying Pope’s defence of his title this season.
Often the Bandits have outnumbered Pope and Haines, leaving the Spedeworth stalwarts frustrated at their progress in 2014.
After taking some punishment in recent weeks from the team in blue and yellow, the two rivals began to work together, slowly pick off the marauding quartet.
The tide had begun to turn at Arlington Raceway on Wednesday night, when first Haines took out Wayne Turner in the opening heat, and then in the final Pope slammed into Conlon.
At Aldershot raceway on Sunday, the pair continued to meet out their revenge. Already depleted as a result of Conlon sensibly resting an injury, the remaining trio of Bandits were given a lesson in brutality by Pope as he
lack
of thundered Turner into the wall on the pit bend.
Turner’s damagege was sufficient for him not to return, leaving the way open for Pope and Haines to finally capitalise on their driving abilities.
As Pope exorcised his ‘demons’, Haines scored 19 points on the day to take him back to the top of the table.
Superstox headline this Sunday, with their Southern Championship. With a championship and bragging rights on offer, these drivers will be pushing their cars to the limit. With what seems a very open race, this is set to be an exciting day for the Superstox!
The National
Bangers return for some Micro Madness! Most of these cars will be recognisable as cheap runarounds that you or someone you know may still be driving today. Despite their size, these cars produce big action all around the raceway and will conclude the day’s action with a fight to the finish, a last car running, Destruction Derby.
Also racing are the 1300 Stock Cars in Round 9 of the Print 4U Challenge Series. The dominant man in the formula, Ian Beaumont leads both the Series and also the National Points, and so will be the one to watch to see if he can continue his dominance at Aldershot.
Racing starts at 1pm.