RECENT NEWS
All Reports written by Aaron Lee
With Additional Help with Information from Carole Longhurst, and others. Thanks

LONGUN TOP SCORER AT ROCKINGHAM

Posted on 10th May2005

Rockingham were host of the next round of vsr championship, with a good turn out of cars present, including all top drivers from keith white, to dave longhurst and colin gomm. The weather was very overcast in the morning and looked like the meeting would be a wet one, with all drivers keeping wet tyres near by. race 1 was at 10.30 and at 10 o clock the weather was still very overcast, never the less it held out for the start. after a successfully qualifying session dave qualified on grid position 2, with the 44 car of lea wood qualifying in pole position.

So on slick tyres the race begun at 10.30 as planned, Dave knew if he was to stand a chance the start was essential, he needed to get away from 44 from the beginning or he would get railroaded. so a warm up lap or 2 to get whatever heat they could find in the tyres, before we got ready for the rolling start. around turn 4 on a rolling lap and the green dropped, a blistering start by longhurst put him into the lead and taken the ground from 44 into turn 1, already making a lead. into turn 2, the hairpin, a few cars towards the back spun out as conditions were unbelievably greasy! things were sideways for everyone in the middle part of the circuit. As they crossed the line to finish lap 1, the 78 car of colin gomm suddenly went sideways one way, then the other and got into a worrying spin at the wrong side of 100mph! colin did a fantasic job of slowing the car down despite still hitting the hard concrete wall on the inside hard, colin was ok and walked away unharmed, so the race went on, dave pulled a huge lead out ahead of 44 lea wood in second who in turn had a huge lead ahead of baz johnson and keith white in 3rd and 4th, despite a worrying spin from 44 lea wood 2 laps from the end that was the result of the first race, not a huge amount of overtaking or action but certainly a happy race for team dlrd.

Team 78 got working straight away to get the car back out, with help from the 23 team as well. the accident had bent the torsion bar in two places and worse than that bent the whole rear axle! work soon got underway to take the axle off to replace to torsion bar, and although it didn't seem possible longun was determinded to straighten and re-use the back axle. so as work got underway on the car, dave unbelieveably striahgtened the back axle of the 78 car and in no time the car was ready for race 2!

So race 2 was reverse order so dave was well towards the back, the track had dried out some what and conditions were alot better, lee wood in 44 got a good early lead and pulled a huge lead out, dave got up to second position within less than 5 laps and started the chase after 44, looking to get close at some times but unfortunatly not getting close enough to make a move on the 44 car. a good scrap went on at the back between colin gomm and mick robinson with colin doing a fantastci job of holding the 52 car off. again not a really action packed race, but again a happy finish for team dlrd!

So silhouttes provided some success for dave for the day, supporting formula's were ascar scsa stock cars which with only 9 cars starting the meeting were very disappointing. Other supporting formula's were formula 3 single seaters which provided some good racing and lastly pickup trucks, which were fantastic, racing on the big oval at rockingham bumper to bumper, with 74 paul poulter being the main man of the day, both races for them were brilliant! with race 2 ending in a very fast and frightning crash for steve dance, whilst going for the lead from paul poulter the car stepped out of shape going very quick, i would imagine the car was going 120mph at least when the car went sideways and hit the concrete wall at a huge speed, smashing the near side of the car, dance was ok but doctors soon took him away for check ups in the medical centre. his words towards poulter were "he took me off the track" whether that was true or not is unknown but it certianly didn't look that way from the grandstand, never the less a brilliant meeting and luckily the weather held out for the day.

DLRD team members present were Chis and Linn hughes from west park contractors, Obviosuly dave and carole, aswell as steve and aaron lee and colin a julie in the gomm camp.

4TH PLACE IN BEST IN BRITAIN AS PAFF WINS!

Posted on 8th December 2005

A cold but luckily dry night at Plough Lane saw the D.L.R.D Team gather for the famous Best in Britain Race for 2005. A good entry of 2 Litre’s with nationals also there, as well as supers and stock cars so with a great selection of formula’s we were in for a great nights racing. So Race 1 for 2 litres saw Dave start very near the back and although he made good progress through the pack, he struggles to catch the front runners, the new inside line put in round the bends made the racing very tricky with absolutely no outside line what so ever. To be honest it affected the racing quality a lot and the only way to get past people was an inside line or a push to make an inside line, never the less the racing was very very fast and competitive.

So after a hard race 1 it was time for race 2 where Dave started nearer the front, albeit not in a wonderful place on the outside. So the race soon got underway, Dave struggled to get back into the pack after starting on the outside, after 8 or 9 laps of hard racing Dave finally found a gap to squeeze in behind Gemma Denby who was having a very successful nights racing doing very well to keep up with all the pack. So after a hard race for Dave with no outside line he was unable to make much more progress but still finished in a respectable 8th position. Winner was Mark Paffey ahead on Lee pepper.

So onto the final, the 2005 best in Britain, Paff was on pole and everyone’s favourite for a flag to flag victory, with Dave several rows back, so the race got underway with Paff going well from the off and pulling away early on, the scrap was for second with 110, 96 and 230 soon all battling, 230 looked quicker than 96 but 96’s car seemed t pick up by the half way stage in the race and he pulled clear of 230 with 110 racing in front of 96, so the order was 60, 110 ,96, 230 with pepper next to follow and the rest of the field. So Paff made some great progress through the backmarkers and went on to take a well deserved win, so well done to paff, second was Jason Wilks, followed by 96 and 230. The weather held off to be ideal racing conditions and it was a very enjoyable meeting for all the team.

Other races included good action to, High drama in the stock cars as many drivers went after Yarmouth man, titch mancini, with some load up’s in them, as well as tyrone’s massive follow in, followed by a roll on bend 3. Superstox was also good racing with jacko and car 60 making good progress throught the field, and Nationals saw team-mate Colin Gomm come hom in 2 nd place in the final but being docked a place down to 3 rd, but Colin Drove some great driving all night so well done to him to.

So racing comes to a close for 2005, Its been a fantastic year! A more relaxed approach to the racing for D.L.R.D and had some great results to go with it, Thanks to everyone’s support, so on behalf of all at D.L.R.D Have a merry Christmas and a happy new year, See you all at the tracks in 2006. :-D

3RD PLACE AT YARMOUTH!

Posted on 24th October 2005

A cold but luckily dry night was the conditions for the one off race meeting at Yarmouth, with no championship up for grabs and a bit out of some drivers ways, the turnout wasn’t the best it could be with just 9 cars turning up, im guessing the fence posts didn’t persuade to many drivers to go, but never the less the night provided some close and good racing.

So drivers present included 230, Dave Longhurst. 93, Richard Norman, 110 Jason Wilks, 60 Mark Paffey, 412 Mark Peck, 72 Gary Goodswen, 11 Graham Webster in his nice new fiesta and John Gray in the historic but still competitive starlet.

So Race 1 saw Graham Webster make an abrupt start and lead the early stages, but the threat looked to be Richard Norman from just 2 nd on the grid, Richard soon caught up and overtook 11, who soon got railroaded, trying not to scratch his nice new car. 230, 60 and 110 struggled from the back but soon come through the pack. Wilks in particular driving very skilfully through the pack, back up front it was still Richard Norman and Now Gary Goodswen fighting it out for the lead, The race soon come to an end though, with no Damage, no contact and a very competitive race, the star graders made it through the grid to around the 5 th and 6 th marks but doing well in the relatively small Yarmouth Track.

So Race 2 soon come on after the bangers and rookie rods had finished their races, with the grid staying as graded order it was 11 who lead the early stages with 93 Richard Norman on a stormer through the field, 110 was again well on the pace, 93 lead the race right up until the final stages where 110 took a nice inside line on the pit bend taking the lead and the win so well done to 110, 230 and 60 had a good dice with Dave eventually passing his place onto the very quick paff car. It was all on for a grid ordered start to the final so it was clear 110 was up for a front row start.

So onto the final with 110 racing off the front of the grid with paff and 93 close behine, 110 lead the start with a good lead being made right from lap 1, paff was soon through to 2 nd and trying his best to get on terms with 110, the two raced on although still half the length of a straight difference between them, back down the field Dave come through well to take 3 rd place but again it was still half the length of a straight down on paff. So as they crossed the line it was 11 who took the flag and a well deserved win, ahead of 60 mark paffey and Dave longhurst in 3 rd. All Drivers were very happy and enjoyed a good night racing with no upsets.

Present at the meeting were Dave and Carole, Steve and Aaron Lee as well as the regular D.L.R.D supporters from Leiston. (sorry didn’t catch your names). All of us enjoyed a good and very relaxed meeting.

So Ipswich next week is next on the cards for the 2 litres, one of the last big meetings for them this year so don’t miss it, I hope to attend so I should be able to report on it for you.

GOOD DAYS RACING AT SNETTERTON, TO ROUND UP A GOOD YEAR.

Posted on 18th October 2005

A warm, albeit Breezy day at Norfolk’s Snetterton track, set the scene for perfect racing conditions for the final round of the silhouettes. With Fabio the almost clear winning of the championship, and Keith White, almost certain for second and Dave safe for 3 rd. Other drivers present included Colin Gomm, which was nice to see him out in his purple flying colt and also great to see David Oates present in his rather perfect looking tigra.

So Qualifying saw the corrado’s beating the other cars and taking the first few positions in the grid, but Dave, Colin and Dave oates were all up there!

So onto Race 1, with it being a circuit racing I can only report on the race from the bend I was standing which was on the russells bend, before accelerating onto the main home straight. So a fast start and as the cars come round for the first time they all sorted themselves out into positions very well with the corrado’s on Fabio and mark jones leading the pack from keith white and the 44 TT. Dave was tucked in behind the TT Trying hard to get past. It took Dave a good 7 or 8 minutes to get past the 44 TT with a lot of sideways action coming off the russells bend and some serious kerb hitting to, but eventually he got past 44 and headed for a move on the 38 car of keith white, who by now had lost sight of the leaders. Dave soon caught 28 and a great move in russels saw Dave overtake the 38 car, that was as far as he was going but he did very well to get that position. Thurver back David Oates drove a brilliant race taking a sustainable 7 th or 8 th place which he was very pleased with, thurver back Colin Gomm also drove a Solid Race but into the last 2 or 3 laps he had an enormous shunt, to be honest, I didn’t see the accident, but it stuffed the whole near side front wheel right back into the dry sump and squashed the dry sump, shedding oil everywhere, a lot of bodywork damage to and that was colin’s days racing out the window, a great shame for colin as he was really going well and was up for a good position so a big loss there!!

So with other races on in the meantime the cars prepared themselves for race 2, which was lined up depending on thr drivers performance in race 1. So away they went and again 44 was in front of Dave from the start and Dave struggled, again to get past him. He eventually got past him but going into the bomb hole, goodness knows what happened and god knows how he held it but Dave did some big sideways stuff followed by some serious grass-tracking, luckily not doing to much damage, apart from snapping the front spoiler, but it certainly proved he hadn’t lost any skill in his grass-tracking from the previous years of his racing. So he then lost ground on catching the leaders and allowed 44 to get back past, the 230 car then seemed to slow up a little, whether it was something to do with the lack of front spoiler or whether something else was broken in his sideways stuff in the bomb hole we don’t know but It was s till a strong finish from him, but Fabio was the man who took the win yet again, so a big well done to Fabio, not just for the day’s racing but the whole season!!

Also well done to Dave for the brilliant 3 rd position overall in the Championship, a brilliant achievement for his first year at it, so well done dave

Team members present included Chris and Linn Hughes, great to see them again, as well as Jamie and Wendy in the David Oates team and Julie and Colin the Gomm crew. A good Days and Years Racing from the Silhouettes. Well done to all 3 of our teams!

DAVE CROWNED 2 LITRE HOT ROD EAST ANGLIAN CHAMPION

Posted on 18th October 2005

A Cold and Wet evening at Ipswich set the scene for the 2 Litre hot rods East Anglian Championship. Supporting formula’s were rookie bangers and national bangers, not an ideal selection of formula’s for the rod fans but 2 Litre’s were on first race, which saw Dave start right at the back and team-mate Colin Gomm starting at the back of the blue grade, just in front the red graders. Prior to the race Colin said his car didn’t seem to have enough power, It certainly didn’t prove that in the race where he made progress right from the off. The weather remained dry for this race, but reports coming down by text message from Arena, it seemed rain was on the way. Back to the race Colin made excellent progress to draw level with early leader, Daniel Wickens and came home to take a popular and pleasing win.

The next race for the 2 litres was race 8 so we had 7 races to waste time on, plenty of tea and plenty of chatting and the time soon passed, but during this time, the rain that was previously at Arena was now down at Ipswich, and it was coming down heavy. So the same line up for heat 2 with Dave at the back and Colin at the back of the blues, with both drivers as well, as others taking the right wide outside of the foxhall stadium. It paid off and Colin made again, fantastic progress, with Dave making even better progress from the back, come to the closing stages, saw the pair catching up with the leader, Jemma spun on the turn stile bend, causing a bit of confusion for some drivers but she soon rejoined the race. So back to the front it was now Dave leading from Colin and Paff and Pepper were coming up fast, Dave continued to lead but Colin Dropped back to 4 th place with pepper and paff in 3 rd and 2 nd, and that’s how the race finished, with all drivers being very happy, so it was one for Dave and one for Colin so far, it was still a successful evening.

So onto the final and the East Anglian Championship, with Colin on pole, with Daniel wickens up the front with him, and paff and pepper all in the front group, Dave was back at the beginning of group 2, in position 8 th or so, so still in good contention for a win. So the race got underway with Colin leading the pack away, The 230 car soon made his way to the front runners and give Colin a run for the lead, which he did and got past, with Paff going through with him. So with still half the race to run it was Dave leading from paff and Colin. With the man to watch being 110 Jason Wilks, starting on the back row of the grid and making good progress. As the last 3 laps come in it was still 230 and 60 with nothing to choose between them, Paff got past with 2 laps to go on the scoreboard bend but Dave was back past by the next bend. So as the last lap boards went out it was now or never for paff and a big push into the scoreboard bend pushed longun wide enough to get his nose in and paff took the lead, and the cars came into the turn stile bend for the final time, Dave give paff a push in order to regain the lead, they went over the line side by side with paff just pipping the win for 23 and 278, but an after race decision dropped paff back down to 2 nd and Dave took the win, from 60 and 278.

So a very successful, albeit Wet and very slow meeting for Both Dave and Colin, who between them took the most amount of spedeworth prize money they possibly could. The team members present were a bit thin on the ground with Chris and Linn Hughes busy so it was just Dave and Carole, Colin and Julie as well as Steve and Aaron Lee.

DAYTONA SERIES DRAWS TO A CLOSE AT WIMBLEDON

Posted on 14th September 2005

The Daytona Series for the 2 Litre Hot Rods finally came to a close as Wimbledon hosted the Final of the Series, with the winner, pretty much already decided, it didn't stop the drivers providing some very entertaining racing.
The Support Formula's were Superstox with there World Championship event being hosted, as well as the spedeworth 1300cc Stock Cars.

Race number 1 was for the 2 Litres, a half handy group of cars set off the line with the track greasy in places but drying all the time, Wilks was on pole in the 110 car, and he lead them away, Dave was back in 4th Position and making good progress through the field, until on the back straight Goodswen decided to get it all sideways, resulting in Dave having no-where to go but into the side, seeing goodswen spin out and Dave receive some near side front damage, making the front wheel rub on the body, meaning there was a lot of smoke being created. Never the less Dave was still pedal to the metal making the places he could. Daves luck soon come his way as there was a yellow flag situation on lap 9 or so, for 2 cars going off on turn number 3. This allowed Dave's front tyre to cool down. On the restart it was wilks that lead them away again and kept extending his lead to take the win, Dave ended up getting a decent place in the race, within the top 5 positions.

Superstox World Final was next up, with Jacko leading the race right up to the last 10 laps before going into the fence all by himself, giving the lead and the win to youngster 482 Jason Cooper.

Race 2 for the 2 Litres was also a cracker, with Dave starting near the back with Team-mate Gommy, Both Longun and gommy did a brilliant Job to come through the field, Main Focus in this race was a rather damaging crash for lady racer Jemma Denby as she clouted the wall on the Home Straight, Stewards believed it was 75, richard poulters fault, loading him up for the rest of the night.

So the Final for the 2 Litres was already decided but there was still a meeting final race to race for. After a long hard race, Dave made his was to 4th and went home with a smile on his face, with the Overall Daytona series Win going to Jason Busby, followed by Paul Jones in second. A big well done to Jason, he was well determinded to do all the rounds and get a half decent place and he got that so well done!

D.L.R.D saw a number of team members attend the meeting, including Dave and Carole, Chris and Linn Hughes, Barry Mitchell, with his Wife and Children as well Steve and Aaron Lee. It was a very enjoyable meeting for everyone.

DAVE GETS CROWNED ENGLISH CHAMP FOR THE 8TH TIME!

Posted on 29th August 2005

One of the warmest day's we have had this year set the scene well for a cracker of a meeting at Foxhall stadium on Bank Holiday Monday, the main event being the 2 Litre Hot Rod English Championship.

The cars were racing all in one race with over 20 cars present we were in for a good meeting, conditions were perfect for racing, support formula's were Stock Rods, Rookie Bangers, Stock Karts and a Caravan DD to end the days racing.

2 Litres first race was race 4 on the programme, with the cars starting in graded order, on pole was Payne in 18 and right at the back were the star graders, including Longun, Paffey and Randall. The race was an interesting one, with 18 leading the early stages as the star graders come through the field to catch up. With track temperatures being so high the tyres were going off alot by the half way point, so some drivers who didn't save their tyres in the early stages really suffered, Star grader Paul Wright being one of them! As the race went on the first suprise was the demise of Paffey, with a Camshaft problem, only just being missed on the home straight by the ex David Oates Machine, another suprise Retirement was again star grader, Weaver in the 209 car, with which i believe was a blown engine. As the race continued the retirements increased! 95 Mick Parker took the lead from 18 up the front and started to pull a lead. Randall was the next retirement, after going well for the majority of the race, the reason for retirement i am unsure. So Dave was the star grader all eyes were on as he increasingly made his way through the packed out grid on the outside, the laps ticked away very quickly and before we knew it the lap boards were out, Paul Frost was suddenly the man to watch as he challenged Parker for the lead, which he took in the closing stages, although a black cross was held above him for contact earlier in the race, Local driver Frosty did end up taking the flag but after a stewards enquiry was docked a place for the contact he made earlier in the race, moving Parker to the winning place, Dave eventually made a well deserved and earnt 8th Place.

So following 2 litres were bangers and stock karts, aswell as a good race from the stock rods, which saw Brett Hillard (son of national hot rod star Dick) take his first spedeworth Win so well done to him.

But onto Race 8, The 2 litre's heat 2. Another race where drivers were lined up in graded order, This time Randall was not out, neither was Weaver but a big well done to Paff on getting his engine changed in between races, a great acheivement.
Anyway away they went, again a fast start and 18 led them away. Dave was straight to the outside but lots of traffic meant the race for positions was hard work in the early stages, where cars were bunched up. Dave soon made ground on the star graders on the outside before being rail roaded after being held up by lady racer Jemma Demby, so Dave was back to square one, the back of the field. As the race progressed more people retired meaning Dave had the opportunity to make more places up. On lap 20 of the 25 a 3 abreast battle on the home straight looked damaging as Kew in 174 attempted to pass Jason Busby and another driver on the outside, with Kew cutting across in front of Busby leaving busby wiht nowhere to go but into the side of 174 sending 174 spinning and up on the kerb, bringing the yellows out in the last 5 laps of the race. 174 wasn't happy, giving Busby plenty of verbal and finally driving onto the infield very aggressivly. The race was soon going again, albeit with only a lap to run 95 was in front and went on to take the win, win 2 of the day putting him on guarenteed pole for the big race. Dave was a bit thurver back this time but still come back for another strong finish in 13th putting him on a handy 6th place for the big race.

So after a bit of chatting in the pits and a change of outside wheels, it wasn't long before the Rods were out for their feature race, the 2005 English Championship, reigning champ Paff was well down on the grid but the man to watch was Dave, Grid 6 with no Star graders in front of him, it looked good from the start. So after alot of messing about the race finally got going, Into turn 1 Dave took two cars leaving him only 4 cars to take, 3 of which he took on lap 2, leaving dave to just overtake 95 Mick Parker then that was it, by lap 10 dave was level with 95 on the outside with 95's tyres going off alot with each succeeding lap, on Around lap 12 Dave saw his chance as 95 left half a gap on the inside exiting the turn stile bend, Dave was wasting no time and was in the hole like a shot, making a sweet move down the inside of the 95 car, to 95's credit he give it all him Fiesta had to fight back at Dave but finally give in and dropped back to 2nd, So following this Dave led the pack away, Dave was driving more of a smooth race than anything, saving tyres and driving very well, taking a brilliant line around the Foxhall track. Thurver back Paffey was making brilliant progress up through the field, 82 Paul Jones caused a few problems for paff but paff soon cleared him and made his way to a creditable 6th position. Up front Dave was still sailing away at the front with all the D.L.R.D Team standing on the turnstile bend keeping their fingers crossed the car held off! Into the last 5 laps Dave had a few back markers to contend with, 57 Jemma nearly cut across in front of Dave before she realised she was being lapped and did the sensible thing and pulled to the outside to let Dave through, into the last lap Dave was cruising round with no back markers to worry about, a controlled drift off the last bend saw Dave take a fabulous win, The next 2 laps saw Dave power slide around the bends in celebration, He was extremely happy with his race win, as were all the team, its been months since the 2 litre has performed at its best, its been off the pace for weeks on end but all the hard work in getting the car going right again has paid off as Dave took home the English Championship for a record 8th Time, now no-one can say thats a bad acheivement!! what sounds even better is he won it 5 times in a row in the 90's!

So Many Congratulations to Dave, a well deserved win, which topped off a brilliant weekend for all the team!!

Many Thanks to all the team and fans for their support, Team members present included, Dave and Carole as ever, aswell as Chris and Linn Hughes and a return to Ex- Sponsor of Dave, Barry mitchell, with his wife and children, aswell as Daves team mates, Colin Gomm and partner Julie.

BRILLIANT RACING FOR THE SUPER SILHOUETTE'S AT BRANDS!
Carole Longhurst Reports...

Amazing!, stunning!, exciting!, awesome! Just some of the superlatives I heard used to describe the action at Brands on Sunday and from a spectators point of view I have to agree with every one.

22 cars lined up for the first race in a grid that included Ian Fewings out in his new Tigra and Scott Booth adding to the numbers in the No 3 Pontiac. With White, Hall, Longhurst and Luffarelli on the front of the line up, the first couple of laps were always going to be exciting and they certainly did not disappoint! The cars entered Paddock led by No 38 Keith White and No 8 Steve Hall with the silver Corrado of Luffarelli looking for elevation to third place in front of Longhurst’s Mitsubishi as they powered up the hill to Druids. They disappeared behind the trees with Luffarelli making a move up the inside but as they reappeared it was Longhurst who had managed to hold third position around the outside.

Lea and Greg Wood, both playing their jokers had mixed results with Lea puling out with a problem while Greg was just off of the front runners having a fair battle with the No 6 Tigra of David Oates and the slightly “Out of Sorts” No 52 of Alan Fisher.

A little further back Chris Brockhurst in his Peugeot No 89 was changing places with Chris Ayling in the No 80 Renault 5 and Mick Robertson in the No. 25 Mitsubishi. It was these separate skirmishes that made the race interesting right around the circuit.

Ian Fewings also played his joker on Sunday – quite a brave move considering that he was in a car that he had not used before. As the race progressed Steve Hall and Keith White pulled a few seconds away from the rest of the field but the action as Fewings, now in front of Longhurst’s red and yellow Mitsubishi and Luffarelli caught up with some of the back markers was enough to prompt cheering and shouting from the spectators in the grandstand! Just how Fabio went through the middle of two Pontiacs I have no idea but Dave Longhurst thought it was a good idea and copied the move to put himself ahead of Fewings red Tigra.

The cars sped up the hill to Druids and Longhurst and Fewings continued to swap places with little or no space between them until the red Tigra went rather too wide, took an excursion on to the gravel and out again - went right then left and ended up rather closer to the Armco than its driver would have liked. It was a hard crash that left the new car looking a little second hand and the driver nursing (not literally!) bruised anatomy from the crutch strap!

So after a race that had kept those watching on the edge of their seats the winner was Steve Hall ahead of White, Laffarelli, Longhurst, Oates and Greg Wood. Baz Johnson finished the winner of the VSR class ahead of Stephen Barnard.

Rob de Ville was on pole position for the second race with the purple Mitsubishi of Colin Gomm on the outside. The cars powered across the start line as the lights turned green and Gomm shot off like a rocket – pulling a very respectable gap in front of the second placed Alan Fisher. Hall had also made a lightening start in his Audi TT and quickly moved up through the field to take third spot after only a couple of laps ahead of 23, 2 Malcolm Harding, 37 John Farazmand, 70 Laffarelli and 4 Fewings.

Steve Hall was on a mission and overhauled Gomm’s purple Mitsubishi, with Longhurst emulating the move a few moments later. The pack tore down the hill from Druids in to Graham Hill when unfortunately Malcolm Harding was involved in an incident that left him across the circuit. Andrew Knight in his black Audi TT was on the scene almost immediately and collided with the stricken car following a hard shunt from Fewings who could not see the incident until too late. With Knights car unable to move the red flags were waved and the race brought to a halt. Both Harding and Knight had to retire from the race but Fewings managed to continue.

The race restarted and once again Hall took the lead from Longhurst and Luffarelli who were involved in a tremendous battle to take second position. Longhurst managed to keep the place, aided by White who came to join the party and kept Luffarelli occupied for a while. The flag dropped on Hall to take his second win of the day from Longhurst, White, Luffarelli, Alan Fisher and Ian Fewings who had made a remarkable recovery considering his involvement in the incident at Graham Hill.

The third race started in the reverse order of the finish of race two and this time it was Keith White who was the man on the move. It has to be said that the sight of the 19 cars streaming down to Paddock with hardly an inch between them certainly quickened the pulse of those watching. There were several interesting dices taking place as the race progressed although when White, Hall and Longhurst slotted in to the top three places they were rather spread out. Fewings had his sights set firmly on Longhurst and as he came out of the traffic and in to forth place he set off in hot pursuit.

As the race neared its conclusion Baz Johnson and Scott Booth were having a great tussle in the Pontiacs until a halfshaft failure led to both cars going off at Clearway, giving a disappointing end to what had been a good race for these drivers.

White managed to improve on his second and third positions from the previous races to take the win ahead of Hall, Longhurst, Fewings (despite another quick trip through the gravel) and Luffarelli.

It’s always a shame when any of the cars get damaged, we all know how much time and money goes in to maintaining them but hopefully repairs can be made in time for Mallory and we can look forward to more excitement!

SUPER SILHOUETTE'S GO TO ROCKINGHAM!
Carole Longhurst Reports...

It has to be said that driving in to the complex at Rockingham is pretty awesome and that description certainly fits the racing itself! Despite the inclusion of various twists, turns and chicanes the speed reached by the cars looked frightening enough to a spectator so I can’t imagine the feeling inside the cars!

The qualifying session was all about learning the circuit as it was new to all of the drivers (with the exception of Keith White who has raced an ASCar) but it certainly didn’t take most very long to get to grips with it.

18 cars lined up on the grid for the first race including Colin Gomm in the purple Mitsubishi Colt No 78 who has decided to migrate from the National Hot Rods. My biggest regret of the afternoon was not being able to see the technical part of the circuit from the roof of the garages where a lot of the action happened (yes I know I could have walked over to the grandstand for a better view but I was feeling a little lazy!)

The cars speeded towards the green flag with 70 Fabio Laffarelli, 38 Keith White, 8 Steve Hall, 79 Mark Jones and 23 Dave Longhurst taking the front positions. After a couple of laps it was interesting to note that different drivers excelled in different areas of the circuit. Some were extremely fast on the main part of the track but lost out on the centre section while others seemed to relish the more technical areas and use them to best advantage. Hall moved his silver Audi in to the lead in front of White, Longhurst, Laffarelli and the red Audi TT of Lea Wood. A good battle between Laffarelli and Longhurst then kept the spectators entertained until the silver 70 machine took the opportunity to power past the red and yellow Mitsubishi on the start / finish line.

No 2 Malcolm Harding and No 75 Steve Collison again had only bad luck and failed to keep going throughout the race.

The twists and turns took their toll and a couple of cars emerged with grass liberally covering the front of their cars and a position in the pack considerably lower that when they left the main circuit! Steve Hall and Keith White were two of the drivers who came to grief but it has to be said that Halls drive back to 6th position at the finish was superb. They crossed the line at the chequered flag with Laffarelli taking the win from Jones, Longhurst, Lea Wood, David Oates and the fast recovering Hall.

Race 2 again saw 18 cars ready to join in the fun, with the grid looking a little strange as Keith White took a position at the front as the result of a poor finish in the first race. The cars took off towards the first chicane and at one point there were four cars abreast! We held our breath but they all hung on and went on to the centre section without mishap.

Jonathan Hogarth driving the No. 61 Pontiac made a fabulous move in the middle section and came back on to the main circuit in the lead from White, 57 Tony Paxman, Hall and 89 Chris Brockhurst. A couple of laps later the red Corrado powered past 61 with Hall in tow to relegate the Pontiac to third place ahead of Mark Jones and Dave Longhurst. The front half a dozen cars continued to change places for the next few laps whilst a little way back 44 Lea Wood, 4 Ian Fewings, 80 Chris Ayling, 78 Colin Gomm and 6 David Oates fought over the lower places. It was an exciting race to watch with action all around the circuit – a little more excitement than the drivers appreciated when a bollard was deposited on the exit to turn 4 – not an ideal thing to hit whilst traveling in excess of 100 mph !

Mark Jones was the man who finally made a move and powered the yellow Corrado to the front of the pack. He was flying and took the flag having pulled a respectable gap from White and Longhurst who crossed the line side by side with only inches separating second from third place (If only the Colt had a longer bonnet!) Laffarelli took forth place from Hall and Brockhurst.

So did the drivers enjoy the experience? Well a quote from one driver as he extracted himself from the car, beaming from ear to ear was “That was the absolute ********. Absolutely awesome. ******* great!” Which I think roughly translated meant “Wow that was a really great experience! I definitely enjoyed that”

SPEDEWEEKEND 2005!

Posted on 5th July 2005

The famous spedeweekend took place at Ipswich on Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd July, the main event was the national hot rod world final, which took place on the Sunday, obviously without Dave racing. But the main event for the 2 Litres took place on Saturday evening, the European Championship, with Reigning european champion Weaver ready to defend his title. The format was 2 qualifying heats for every driver, the points from the heats determine where they are on the grid. Daves heats went well, or at least the first one did with the Colin Gomm borrowed car absolutly flying round the outside, getting Dave a very handy 9th position. Race 2 for DAve wasn't so lucky with the car sliding everywhere as he went into the bends, the obviosuy problem seemed that a half shaft had broke, but whatever the problem dave had to retire, leaving his points for the meeting final very low. The problem turned out to be the Fuel Pump (dummy fuel pump as the car has electric fuel pump) had completly snapped off leaving a whole in the side of the engine, throwing oil onto Daves tyres, resulting in the car going very sideways. So after all this, it left Dave 24th on the grid for the big race of the day. Pole position went to 96 Kevin Randall who was really flying in both races, he started as clear favourite.

So onto the big race of the weekend for the 2 litres, After a few laps setlling down the race finally got underway, with Randall leading them away, randall continued to lead until lap 30 ish, with wilks tight in behind him, Dave was making progress up the field, as cars dropped out of the race Dave gained another place. Comnig into the last 10 laps, kevin randall, stil the leader was passing backmarker 172 when 172's car finally give up and blew the engine, resulting in 172 going in very hard and 96 going in full chat with him, 172's car looked very badly Damaged, and 96's didn't look in too good shape either. Never the less 96 carried on racing after the restart with 110 jason wilks close behind, into the last 5 laps and jason saw his chane, and through he went, very smoothly and went to take the flag and a very popular win for Jason, he drove a fantastic race and well deserved the win, back down the order, Dave made outstanding progress to get into the top 10, which was very pleasing.

Onto Sunday where most drivers just raced the one race, there was 2 planned but the 2nd one had to be cancelled due to time restrictions. The race was won by irishman Andy Best with Dave getting a well deserved 6th Place, Following this race he gave the loaned car back to colin Gomm, luckily stil in one piece. Daves car was badly damaged a few weeks back and with Dave being on holiday, he has had no time to repair it, so at the moment it is with Chris Ludlow to have the chassis straightened, but it will beback soon, all repanelled, so something to look forward to.

As far as the rest of the weekend goes, Kwith Martin took a brilliant win in the National Hot Rod World. Phil Spinks drove a stunning race at the end of the meeting, to win himself £1000. Other Formulas that were exceptionally good were stock cars, which were very hairy and plenty of crashes in them. Superstox as ever fast and furious, and the Retro Hot Rods were also very impressive.

All went together well to result in an enjoable weekend for everybody

2 LITRE HOT RODS AT SNETTERTON!

Posted on 26th April 2005

A Saturday evening down at Swaffham in norfolk hosted the next round of the daytona series. A very healthy grid of cars set out with support formulas being the v8 stock cars, the Midgets and bangers.

After a quick practice Dave thought a change of diff would be the answer to get a bit more power coming out of the corners, that obviously couldn't be done before the first race so Dave stuck with the original diff, so in race 1 Dave started at the back of a large pack of cars, Dave made some progress and had a good tussle with the world champ Kevin Randall but no huge amount of progress was made, the wrong diff being in the car was the cause for the lack of power. So in between race 1 and race 2 Dave and his handy mechanic and racer himself colin gomm decided to get down to work and get the diff changed, and a huge credit to them, they did it with time to spare so a great acheivement by them.

So Race 2 came with Daves differnt differential to hopefully provide a bit more power, it all looked good until we got to lap 2 where Dave was on the outside of 43 Paul Wright and contact between the two caused Daves Steering rack joint to break seeing the end of his race, It was none of the drivers fault, it was one of them crashes where no one had newhere to go. So it was the end of race 2 for Dave.

So in between race 2 and the final there was still more repair work to do, Dave and Colin again together changed the steering rack, and a credit once again to them, they changed it all in good time. So with the differential and now the steering rack changed it was all down to a good final to top the day off, and it was. The race got underway and Dave made alot of very handy progress from mid grid, he managed to make his way right up to 8th position which is where he finished, the change of diff was without doubt the correct decision to make, so after an eventful day for team 230, it all turned out well.

Just a quick thanks to Colin for all the help on the spanners, he certainly had lots to do but both him and Dave did an excellent job to get the reapairs done, so well done to both them,

SUPER SILHOUETTE ROUND 3, SNETTERTON!

Posted on 10th April 2005

Round 3 for the super silhouettes/VSR was held at Snetterton on Sunday 10th April 2005, I made my first appearance to see what they were like. Overall i was very impressed!

The Format for the day was qualifying at 9am and then 2 races for the Super Silhouettes, one at 12.50 and one at 5.00, the gap in between was filled in with racing from porsche, formula ford and a few other circuit classes.

So Qualifying went very well for team 23 of Dave Longhurst, with dave gaining himself pole position in fine style, coming home for a very strong second place was the return of ex national hot rod driver, Fabio. 3rd place on the qualifying time was a very strong finish for number 4, Ian Fewins in a very pretty D.L.R.D powered 206. So with the grid decided at 9am it gave the drivers a good long wait before their first race.

It finally come round and after a good start Fabio took the lead from grid 2, although by the end of Lap 1 Dave had caught and got back past the Fabio Corrado. Immediate thing i noticed was that the stremline corrado's were alot quicker on the straights but come to the corner, Daves Mitsubishi stuck like glue, so thats where he made up his time! So following their battle that lasted several laps, Daves challenge wore off and Fabio took the lead and the ground from Dave. Dave hung on for 4th for a few laps before the yellow corrado of Mark Jones approached fast and Dave eventually had to give in to him aswell and Jones took Dave aswell, knocking Dave down to 3rd. the two corrados had a superb nose to tail battle up the front of the grid with jones giving it everything but fabio just refusing to give in. With the last few minutes of the race approaching, coming into the russel chicane of the track a very large metal ring shaped piece of metal was seen fly from the bottom of Daves car, and another piece, this time larger was seen come from the 23 car up the home straight, spectators, confused as to what it was took no notice and the race continued for the last 2 laps. Dave in the 23 car seemd to drop right back, the reason unknown at this time. The slowing of 230 give 48, Brereton the advantage to take Dave which he did with ease. So into the last lap, Jones now in the lead from fabio and brereton, and as they went over the line that was the order they finished, but as 348 crossed the line, suddenyl the car shot across to the left and was heading for the armco, and although he hit it, doing little damage it seemed, the question was, why did the car shoot across so suddenly like that, and secondly why was 23 Dave Longhurst goging at such a slow pace, well the whole story came out after the race.....

The 23 car of Dave longhurst had a rear disc brake shatter on him on the russel chicane which was the first piece of metal we saw, which then left the caliper hanging by the brake pipe, which eventually let go down the home straight, which left Daves caliper sitting on the start finish line. So the slowing down of the 23 car was obvious, he was left with no brakes! so did well to finish if anything!! The smoke some people saw from the 23 car was all related to this brake problem, the brake fluid was coming out where the pipe had destroyed itself and was spilling over the hot exhaust which is the reason for the smoke. So thats Daves problem revealed, but what about 48 Shane brereton's why did the car steer to the left on the finish line, well it all come clear, as the 48 car went over the start finish line he hit the caliper of the 23 car that had layed there for 2 laps, hitting this bent his link bar which holds the back axle in place, bending this caused the back axle to be unaligned, sending the car shooting into the armco. You will be glad to hear, no injuries were caused and both cars were repaired ready for race 2.

So onto race 2, the order for the grid was dependant on how they finished in the last race, meaning Dave who finished 3rd in the last race was put right to the back of the grid, he had alot of work to do and to be honest, i couldnt see Dave making it into the top 3 at all. Anyway the race got underway, an unbelievable drive by Dave, it made you blink twice to see if it was real, after 1 lap Dave had passed about 10 cars and was already 2nd! so following lap 2 he was in the lead, an amazing drive!! all he had to do now was hold it, with fabio and jones coming up fast, suddenly comnig down the home straight the Ian fewins car went out in a cloud of smoke, we all though it was a blow up but luckily it was jsut a blown head gasket. so high drama for him, but then suddenly down the back straight and round the esses for Dave, and he suddenly pulled the car off! What had happened to Dave's car was with all the curbs and juddering of the car, it had caused the link bar to bend, enough to twist the axle and offset it, pushing it onto the panel, admitedly Dave said he could have carried on, but he did the sensible thing and pulled the car up and didnt risk further damage. So a great shame for Dave in race 2 especially after the fantastic start!! But still he was smiling so thats all good!! Back to the race jones and Fabio had foudn their way up to 1st and 2nd again! they were dicing for position there again, coming out of russels 48 brerton had a minor spin but soon back in the race, so the 15 minutes was soon up and Jones it was who took win number 2 of the day, closely followed by Fabio, so a good day all round for both drivers! So well done to them!

So another round complete for the the super silhouettes, my first meeting for them, i was very impressed with the racing, very competitive and close, and the main thing is no contact or damage which is the great thing about the racing, the cars are no way slow either, they do shift round the circuits and the formula is very up and coming, get another 10 cars out there and it will be perfect racing!

Round 4 is held down in pembrey in wales, at the moment it is advertised as a two day event although that may change, but i will keep you posted, i definatly recommend you make an appearance to a meeting, hardly any crowds are there so great viewing spots and great racing!

If you dare look at my photography of the event, there are a few pictures in the gallery but i am no professional at photography

LONGUN LEAVES THE NATIONALS IN FINE STYLE!!

Posted on 7th February 2005

After 3 seasons in the nationals Dave Longhurst finally called it quits on Sunday, as wimbledon hosted the hot rod open championship, as you will see as you read on, Dave could not of dreamed for a better nights racing...

The new wimbledon start times of 5 o clock, meant things got underway nice and early. with the 3 non contact formulas of nationals, 2 litres and stock rods ruling the evenings entertainment. The race format was 2 heats and a final for all formulas. Race 1 was a very destructive race for the stock rods, involving one car hitting the fence post at full speed on the home striaght, despite the impact, luckily the driver was all ok. Once the race got settled down the stock rods provided some very good racing, which got the night set off to a very good start.

Following the stock rods was race 1 for the 2 Litres. Again fast and furious action from them, a clean first race saw 51 take the lead, georgie Boult, ahead of 197 micky Pagden, which is how the order remained for several laps. Thurver down the field, young gun 174 Jason Kew was making serious progress on the outside, driving very well, aslong with current World Champion kevin randall in 96. In the last few laps 197, Micky Pagden took the lead from 51 and took the flag and a very fine win! 51 came home for a strong second place in his very pretty looking corsa.

Race 3 was the first race for the Nationals, 16 cars were booked in and around that number raced, drivers included Longun, hillard, hunn, haird, steward, Gomm aswell as several visiting drivers, one of which included a very different, but impressive Hillman Imp. Anyway the race got underway with the grid being drawn from a hat and then the grid being reversed for heat 2, Carole helped Dave right from the start by pulling out 16th on the grid for Dave in heat 1, which wasn't good but the fact that he was pole for heat 2 was a good point. So the race got underway with 198 taking an early lead, one man to look out for was 278 colin gomm whjo started in a mid grid position, Dave was making good progress through the field, he came round bend number 4 trying to get past Dave hitchen when Hunn caught the back of the 230 car sending both cars into a fast and frighting looking spin, Dave go away quick from the crash, 639 touched the wall and was unable to move without assistance, therefore the yellow flags were bought out to clear the 639 car. 639 received a black cross for his actions but the race was soon underway. Andy Steward went off to take a fine win, followed by Colin Gomm,Dave was not far behind in 4th, which considering starting 16th was a great achievment. So all smiles round the 230/278 camp aftger round 1, and both drivers were well ready for round 2.

So as before Stock Rods and 2 litre Races provided some good, fast races. I missed the stock rod race due to being in the pits but 112 Charlie Schembri took victory in the 2 litre hot rods heat 2. 96 and 174 again the fastest men in the race and surely the ones to watch.

So onto Nationals race 2. With Dave on Pole, it took no rocket sciencetist to see who was hot favourite for this 1, but with Dick Hillard close behind, 31 give the 230 car a good run for his money, one highlight, albeit a sad one in thje race was a huge shunt on the back striaght for unlucky man, 639 Ricky Hunn. The car was well wrecked but luckily Ricky was all ok, which was the main thing. So after a stoppage for that incident the race got underway again, 230 this time got ahead of 31, which was different to before when 31 was ahead of 230, once the race got settled down the 230 car just pulled clearer and clearer and got a fine win into the bag, with 31 taking second and the 278 colin gomm car not to far behind also.

So Time for the finals, the time still only being 7 o clock we looked in for a nice early night . Stock Rods were the first final with all eyes on 168 and 447, after long battles for positions 168 was eventually spun by 213 into the scoreboard bend ending his race and the white grading man of number 5 come through to take the win, an amazing drive by him in a field which was by no means short of star grade drivers, so a big well doen to him!

Following this was the 2 Litre hot Rod open championship. with 96 on pole with 174 on the front outside, 96 got into the lead from lap 1 but 174 looked faster and more impressive around the outside, despite 96 squeezing 174 to the wall several times 174 hung on and tucked back for second place. and thats how the race finished with 96 being crowned 2005 hot rod open ahead of a ver impressive drive from 174 who in my opinion was driver of the day. One highlight that must be mentioned is the crash of number 50 toyota starlet of a visiting driver, a large amount of damage to the poor ole starlet which was a very smart car come the beginning of the meeting! Luckily no damage to the driver but the car did certainly look a bit nasty.

So now onto to the main event for most people for the day and certainly the main event for longun, not only the main but the last for longun in his national. So Dave got s good start from pole position and took a nice early lead, second place was taken by Daves team mate, Colin Gomm. So as the race progressed Daves lead got bigger and bigger and his line out of the bends got better and better, he was driving nothing less than a perfect race! he got through back markers like they were standing still and he really was very impressive! so after 3 years of racing the nationals, Daves carrer finally come to an end, a beautiful power slide off the last bend is one thing many people will remember his driving by, brilliant controlled driving and every bend is perfect. So Dave took the silverware home, with a happy gomm taking secondod and Donut coming home in a strong 3rd. So many congratulations to all drivers, especially Dave, and congratulations for his whole National hot rod carrer, he really has done the forumula proud, as all national hot rod followers will agree im sure.

My Thanks go to both Smiffyman and Keith Duke for some absolutly fantastic pictures from the event.

DAVES VERY LAST NATIONAL HOT ROD MEETING

Posted on 4th February 2005

As the weekend approaches fast, as does Daves very Last National hot rod meeting. Wimbledon hosts the traditional Hot Rod Open Championship this Sunday (6th Feb). The meetings involves both National Hot Rod spec cars, 2 Litre Hot Rods and Stock Rods. Being Daves last national hot rod meeting, he is going to concentrate on that and only race the one formula. Its a rare occasion to see the 3 top formulas on the track at one meeting so its gonig to be a very good meeting to go to, with what i expect will be a fairly good grid of cars for all formula's.

I am planning to go to the meeting myself so keep an eye out on the site for some updates of results and hopefully a few pictures to go with them to.

Finally just a quick note to Wish Dave the best of luck in his last meeting, and who knows he could even leave the forumla with a win aswell!

DISSAPPOINTMENT FOR 230 AT THE WINTERNATIONALS!

Posted on 3rd January 2004

A Dry Wimbledon set the scene well for the traditional Winternationals for the 2 Litre Hot Rods, an unusual starting time of 2pm meant things got fired up nice and early, supporting formulas included superstox, Lightning Rods and Rookie Bangers, all providing some action packed racing all day.

Race 1 for Dave was the 2 litres Heat 1, Race 3 on the programme, a good field of cars set out using the "all in" format. A grid chose out of a hat prior to the meeting left Dave on row 3 with a good chance of success. The race settled down after a start which included some close shaves for some people with the fence, with cars getting very bunched up coming out of the bends. Anyway early race lead went to 197 Micky Pagden, followed closely by the 51 corsa of George Boult, who in turn had 230 Dave Longhurst glued to his back bumper, despite the race having a stoppage and some chances for all drivers to change positions the leaders stayed as they were and that was the final result, a very good drive for Micky Pagden, and strong drives for 51 and 230.

Race 2 for Dave was 2 Litre hot rods heat 2 of the night With the grid being reversed from the grid of the first race, putting Dave more towards the rear of the field, but putting Paffey in the front row inside, leaving him as clear favorite from the start. Needless to say Paff drove a storming race to pick up the win. Thurver down the field Dave was making good progress from the off, he then got past paul jones cleanly before receiving several large pushes from the 82 car, forcing Dave to back off and hold his current position as apposed to gain higher ones. Following several laps of aggression from the 82 car, he then caused carnage into turn 3, wrecking several cars at the same time, although i didn't see any penalty given on track, i believe he was docked positions after the race. So Dave did well to hold his positions and 2 strong positions left him in a good place on the grid for the final.

So after some good finals in the other formula it was time for the main event of the day, the 2 Litre Winternationlals Final. Pole position sitter was 60 Mark Paffey, clear favorite from there, with 197 Micky Pagden alongside, Dave Longhurst in row 2 inside and 51 George Boult on row 2 outside, in row 3 was Paul Wright. On Row 4 or 5 outside was Colin Gomm, so some work to do for Colin but never rule him out! So the Green Flag dropped, it was a clutch start, from Row 3 Paul Wright suddenly shot up the inside of 230 into turn 1, using masses of aggression he throw the 230 car right to the outside, splitting the rim of the wheel on Dave's car giving him a puncture. The move by 43 was certainly not a hot rod move and looked very deliberate on the 230 car, the only reason i could see for this was retaliation for the best in Britain meeting where 43 claimed 230 took him out, despite the 2 cars not touching. What ever the reason for 43's tactics it ruined Dave's race, forcing him to retire on lap 2, and saw 43 receive no black flag or even black cross, i expect a post race review will see 43 penalised for his actions and if it was seen as retaliation by the promoters, retaliation in the rule book leads to a 10 month ban, so it will be interesting to see the conclusion to that one. Anyway the race went on with 60 Leading from 51 and 197 and 43. There were no dramas in the race, well at least not until the final 10 laps where we saw a huge blow up for number 30, taking 112, 77 and several others with him. luckily no injuries and not to much damage for anyone, and the race got underway very quickly. Following the restart the results stayed the same as it had all race, Thurver down the field Colin Gomm had a little spin in turn 3 but no worries for him, and the race finished with Paff winning from Pagden in 197 and Boult in 51, the finish to a good nights racing, although a disappointing way to end the meeting for team 230.

As Far as the other formulas went, Lightning Rods were more like bangers with heaps of damage in them, winner of winternationals in them was 314 Nick Farrer, well done to him, as far as Superstox go, not a huge amount of contact in them but the win went to Dave Pike in 454 followed by Jacko in 376. Lastly Bangers, i have no results but of the races i watched they were not short of the usual bang and smash.

No regular mechanics of Dave's were seen, but team members who attended included, Carole as ever, Barry Mitchell, with his wife and 2 Children, as well as some help coming from David Oates and his son and Steve Lee and Myself.

NEW YEAR, NEW SCENE FOR TEAM D.L.R.D

Posted on 3rd January 2004

Following 4 very successful years in the national hot rods, including winning the biggest event in his carrer Dave Longhurst has decided to step down from full time national hot rod racing. longun.co.uk can confirm...

No-one can deny that the standards of the racing in the nationals have declined in the past few months, the contact has become more frequent and therefore damage has become something you have to tackle on a regular basis, and it goes without saying damage in the nationals is no way cheap. For this reason Dave and the team have decided to keep the national car but modify it to race on the circuits under the formula of "silhouettes". I currently cannot give you to much information on the formula until i go to a few meetings and research into them more, the backbones of them are basically a national hot rod racing on a circuit, with the main change being on the head of the engine. The circuits they race at include Brands Hatch, Snetterton, Oulton Park, Mallory Park as well as several more. The formula sounds good, it has high prospects and certainly gives Dave the joy of driving on the circuits, and in his familiar car. He still wont lose contact with the 2 Litres, he will still be a regular racer in them as he already is, so the oval racing that Dave has made his name so famous in will still be well and truly alive.

The exciting move to the new formula doesn't stop there, we also have some other new faces joining him in the sillhouettes, one being Daves team mate Colin Gomm and another being a good friend of Daves, Former 2 litre hot rod driver, David Oates. So the formula certainly has its strong points, the season starts in March at Brands Hatch, once i have been there and seen that i will tell you a bit more about the formula and update you on fixtures, points scoring etc.

DISASTER AS D.L.R.D HAS THE BEST IN BRITAIN TITLE TAKEN AWAY FROM THEM!!

Posted on 11th December 2004

Shocking and very sad news come into the longun camp last week, over a week after Dave won the best in britain title, he had the win taken away from him and the win was given to Andy Steward.

The reason for the docking is apparently on the 3rd restart dave squeezed 911 to the wall, causing 911 to let off the gas giving him a clear disadvantage, we all have our own opinios of such incident as these but im sure you will agree, its not the sort of thing the longun would do and the fact the track was very greasy didn't even seem to be discussed when the decision was made. Not only that, if 911 was blocked by 230, albeit not on purpose, 911's actions in return were really not acceptable for hot rod racing, spinning the 230 car round and pushing him into every corning made daves race a real struggle. The fact that dave got docked for a minor incident and the spin and conditions were never even considered confuses me.

Anyway later in the week another story was released in The motoring news newspaper, the fact that andy steward won the race by disqualification Andy was not happy with, he said he doesn't want to win a race like that and Dave should have the win, therefore Dave has obviosuly appealed against the decision and although we are yet to hear a final confirmed result he should have a strong chance of gaining the in back. The fact 911 did a deliberate spin on 230 wasn't even looked at, which maked me feel its all abit unfair.

As soon as i hear confirmed results i will update the site and let you all know the verdict, in the meantime please let me know your thoughts! And just to add, on behalf of the 230 team, many thanks goes to Andy Steard for being an understanding guy and not jsut running away with the victory!

DAVE LONGHURST WINS 2004 NATIONAL HOT ROD BEST IN BRITAIN CHAMPIONSHIP....OR DOES HE?

Posted on 29th November 2004

Both nationals and 2 Litres headed for the suburbs of London to the wimbledon Stadium, competing for the historic and big event of the best in britain championship for 2004. Formulas aswell as both Rods were Stock Cars and Superstox, all providing some good racing for the fans, not without a lot of controversial incidents, with all fans leaving the meeting not knowing who the National Hot Rod Best in Britain champion was.

Anyway race 1 for Longun was the 2 litre heat 1 and the first race of the night, a good field of cars set out for it and with Dave starting mid grid a good position looked well likely fromt he start, the race got off to a good start with everyone getting into there stride very quickly, Paul Wright was our early leader but conditions were very tricky and slippery, the man making all the right moves was longun, coming through the field very quickly, he started as clear favourtite and after lap 3 looked a clear winner, never the less he had a good bunch of cars to get through. Suddenly Dave caught probably his biggest threats, in the shape of gary goodswen and ex leader Paul Wright, going into the home straight Dave was plastered on the outside with Goodswen on the inside, Suddenly the 72 car shot across the front of the 230 and hit the post very hard, doing alot of damage to the 71 Nova and bending the suspension bolt on Daves car, a stoppage was obviously in place, in this time Dave jumped out of his car and pulled the bodywork away from the wheel, the car wasn't right but it was still in one piece, Dave now had a huge amount of negatice camber on the outside wheel, not a huge problem though, so the race got underway very soon after, and Dave hit the gas and went for gold, he went around the outside of every car and took the lead, which he held right through until the end of the race, Race 1, victory one for dave, Our other man Colin Gomm was towards the back of the field making good progress finishing in about a mid grid position. After race talk was that Dave pushed 72 Gary Goodswen into the post, obvious answer to that, Dave didnt and wouldnt do anything of the sort, the 72 car literally came right across the front of the 230 car.

Race 2 for Longun was the national, starting alongside Gomm at the back, our men had to make it through the field, which didn't just contain nationals but outlaw hot rods aswell, making for some suprisingly quite competitive racing. Dave started at the back but within a matter of laps was in amongst the leaders, using the outside line very effectivly, that was until a scary crash on the home straight, seeing the 491 car of smiffy go into the wall backwards at a huge speed, luckily just missing the wall. Bringing out the yellow flags, the brave 491 wanted another go, so he came back for the restart, a bad move for Colin as we are soon to find out. The restart took place calmly with Dave making the last few essential places to take him to the head of the field, a classic drive and very impressive stuff from Dave, the scramble was mid grid, with 280 and 491 involved in it, suddenly down the back straight 280 put 491 straight into the fence post, the way 280 did this or the reason why im not sure but i can tell you one thing for sure it was a hugely hard hit, everyone watching felt the ground shake! the main concern was firstly to get all cars to miss it which they did and secondly the concern for the driver, the flags come out straight away, and walking away unharmed was Colin Smith, initial thoughts of Colins was to go after the 280 driver, luckily he kept calm and stayed back from the 280 car, it sure was a hard hit, the front spaceframe of the car very well bent up as you can see from the picture. The main thing was Colin was all ok and when going round the pits following the race he was still as ever smiling, So thats all good, and luckily no voilence broke out between Colin and the 280 Chris Ayling driver. The race saw a clear win for Dave longhurst, getting the meeting off to a great start, so 2 out of 2 so far.

Heat 2 for the 2 litres saw the heat dave did not have to race in, McCall starting on the front row with 941 looked an obvious win for him straight away, with gomm starting on row 2, Gomm drove an absolutly fabulous race! a move Colin wont forget is his round hte outside move on both 941 and 942, with gomm getting very close to the fence, a superb move by Colin, a well deserved win and his driving skilled proved that as he pulled out a clear lead following his amazing outside line move! So well done to colin, he did himself and the team proud. Putting him in a good place on the grid for the final.

Nationals were Daves next race, nationals were out for there last heat, only 2 heats for the nationals as the cars were all in. So with Dave starting at the back in the last one it was him and gomm on the front row for heat 2, the race got underway quickly and Dave immediatly took a nice comfortable lead, ahead of Gomm and Blackman, to be honest there was no huge drama in this race so Dave took a nice clear cruise win from Gomm and Blackman not far away from him, so another famous Longun Gomm 1, 2, what more could we expect, so 2 wins immediatly put Longun on Pole for the big race which was approaching fast on the now drying track, there was a distinctive dry line on the inside now, making the finals very changeable to the heats, But longun still had a 2 litre heat to do.

So Daves last heat approached, the 2 litre heat 2 for longun, he needed a strong place to secure his front rown start, and thats exactly what he had, he started well down the field, but a few very strong laps left Dave and Paffey both fighting it out together, both finishing in about 5th and 6th, this obviosuly put Dave directly onto the front row of the grid for the final, so 2 poles for the final and 3 wins out of 4 is no way anything to complain about!

So Finals time, the track drying very quickly and a dry line was now visable but still a greasy outside line was visable. so it was a tricky decision on tyres and driving tactics. Anyway the grid formed for the 2 litre final win Longun on pole from 197 Micky Pagden, as the started 197 got an electric start and took Dave off the line, there seemed more initial grip on that outside line. Never the less the race settled in and longun stayed with 197, who led for many laps from longun and paff, paff found a way past longun who looked as if he was struggling a little with the car, then came a stoppage for a rather nasty crash, fortunatly no injuries, and the race set in again, suddenly paff saw an inside line of pagden and dived in, as did longung and early leader in the 197 peugeot was railroaded straight to mid grid, so paff lead longun and mosely, then the 171 nova saw a gap past longun and took him so 60 lead 171 and 230 and as the closing stages approahed that looked like the final result and indeed it was, so a good race, not much damage and although daves car didn't perform quite as good in the conditions as it did earlier, still a wide smile from the longun, also a good result considering he was victor in the 2 litres last year.

Then came the big one, the feature race the 2004 National Hot Rod Best in Britain Championship with Longun on pole with 911 alongside and 278 closely behind. so a rolling start got them underway with Blackman steaming away in front of longun from which looked like a jump start but never the less the race carried on, 2 laps in the race was stopped and then restarted again 911 steaming away in front, until poor haird had a nasty shunt done on the scoreboard bend, luckily haird was ok but the race was again stopped, so the 3rd restart longung this time managing to stay in front as he went down the home straight sideways! 911 decided to use his bumper in every bend on longun, pushing him wide several time, longun just holding him off, 8 laps in 911 give dave a massive push into the scoreboard bend, longun strugglnig to hold on then got spun by the 911 car putting 230 the wrong way around and putting 911 in the fence rather hard damaging his car, and 911 pulling off and not a happy chappy, the race was brough to a holt and from the restart Dave held on for the win but no result was announced at the meeting due to the controversial incidents that took place on the track. Never the less i left the meeting with an unconfirmed result but i can now confirm that Dave has been given the win and rightly so as he was innocent throughtout the race, he got no black crosses or anything, despite 911 trying to appeal against the 230 car.

So albeit in a rather strange way d.l.r.d racing are now crowned 2004 national hot rod best in britains, not only is dave the best driver in britain he now has the championship title to prove it, and no one can say it was an easy win!

So the team attending included, Carole as ever, Chris and Linn Hughes back from there holidays, Barry Mitchell with his wife and Children, Myself and Steve Lee aswell as regular mechanics Cheesy, Cecil and Kevin, all doing a great job all night on both of the cars.

Aplogies for the lack of quality of picture it is only from my mobile phone but it give you an idea of house greasy and muddy the track was if you did not attend the meeting.

Posted on 20th November 2004

A New week, a new venue a new formula as the team headed east to ipswich this time for the 2 litre, much like Birmingham, the evening was very cold! at one point we had ice on the roof of the car, yes it was that cold! the support formulas were the monsterous power of the v8 Stock Cars as well as a big field of the rookie bangers, all provided a good nights racing.

One point i would like to mention is meeting another regular to our site, good to see you guys are still strong visitors and its nice when i meet people at meetings who know me through the site, so just a mention for him and his son who went to the meeting :-)

Anyway moving onto the racing side of things, Heat 1, Race 4 was the first race for the 2 Litres, a good field of cars, with the cars racing in the "all in" format. A reletavly quiet first heat to be honest, the main focus was mid grid where Dave Longhurst, Kyn Weaver and, Paffey were all making good progress, Dave doing a great job to fend off the 209 car who seemed to like tapping the back bumper of the 230 car. Dave eventually give in and let bout him and paff past, Paff soon dealt with 209 into turn 3, spinning the 209 car and putting him out of contention for that race, Paff received a black cross for his actions although i believe no penalty was held against him. Anyway Dave made his way up the field to end up in around the 10th place mark, which for a big field was nothing to complain about. One point to notice was our other main focus man, Colin Gomm, from the drop of the flag he meant business, and he meant it good a proper, he was flying, he went round 110 hjason wilks on the outside as if he was standing still, in my opinion he deserved a win, he held on to a top 5 position so many congratulations to Colin! No one can denie it was a fantastic Drive!

So the Pits were fairly quiet between races 1 and 2, with no bad damage to the cars. Heat 2 is were it all kicked off!

So the cars come out for heat 2, a clean start to the race, the race went well until the new comer orange corsa got spun out on the home straight, leaving the motor broad sideways in the middle of the homestraight, it was time to breathe in as a massive pack come flying round the bend, heading for the beautiful looking corsa, im afraid his luck had ended, the cars went everywhere, 330 went sideways in the wall, paff got a tank slapper, 209 was jacked up 72 went on the speedway shale, poor ole Colin Gomm headed to the outside of the parked orange car to try and avoid it but run out of room going into the hard armco at a very frightning speed, comnig to rest under the scoreboard, initial thoughts were a new wheel would repair colins mis fortune, unfortunatly, it wasnt possible so his car headed to the pits to be repaired, some how Dave missed the lot! he took to the speedway first, before getting nearly attacked there so he headed for the safety of the grass, where he came to a holt with not one scratch, he was all set for the restart, about the only car in the grid that was, but never the less, All drivers scrambled out of the cars out of there own will, no worried there, and although alot of damaged cars fortunatly no damaged people

After several minutes of clearing up the restart got underway, the race settled down after a few laps until drama on the home straight again, the 252 car of Dave hitchen come out of turn 4 and what failed i dont know but headed straight for the wall, very hard, doing tremendous damage to the front near side and spinning in the middle of the track right in front of Longun, how he missed that one aswell i will never know, it seemed Longuns luck was with him tonight. Anyway the race was stopped and luckily Hitchen was all ok, after a very large shunt, im guessing it was a track rod snapped or something even more severe?!?! who knows?

Following that clean up the race got underway once again, with the front runners suddenly nose to tail, 171 and 112 came together on the home straight once again, with 112 being turned into the wall, sending him facing towards the crowd, it looked like a burksfield/Longun incident all over again, i was ready for an overturn, luckily the 112 car sustained the 4 wheels on the ground and Charlie got out all ok, the red renault of dave payne also found himself imbended in the wall aswell, so at this point the race was bought to a close and the cars were taken in ready for the repairs ready for the final!

I went for a pit walk during this time to see some of the damage, a quick look at 252's car saw it was a sure hard hit! i then moved over to Colins, colin was already hard at work repairing his corsa, centre of one crash (orange corsa) has decided the damage was to much and put the car away and called it a night, Gomm worked flat out to get the car going again and well done to him ,he worked on his own and got the car back on the ground ready for a hard fight in the final! So excluding the odd few, most cars looked fit for the final.

So come to the final it was a good race, main drama was the 209 car squeezing colin hitch up to the wall, causing firstly a stoppage and then a disqualification of 209, which he didnt seem to happy with but fairs fair, it wasnt a legal move and did huge damage to the 172 nova. anyway the race settled down, 30 laps is a long way and all drivers did well, the front group were well bunched up with gomm going well, as well as the white nova of paul wright in 43, he ended up taking over the lead with 10 to run 2nd was still held by gomm, who drove once again a fantastic race, holding off both 115 and 60 right until the end when 115 got through on the last lap but well done to colin, he held paff off and picked up a well deserved 3rd, he in my opinion was by far, "man of the meeting" a good drive in every race and even when he fenced it he got it repiared and come back out for more, Dave finished rather far down the field in the final, although still a solid finish and im sure he will be happy he still has a one piece car considering the amount of times he took swift avoiding action. So well Done to our Boys, Dave and Colin, both had good meetings, and as ever still smiling despite the weather! Our congratulations go to 43 Paul Wright,not always you see him take a final win, although he is always there or there abouts, judging by his rather well controlled power slide at the end i think he was quite chuffed with himself, i certainly know his sister will be! So well done to him, a clean drive and a happy winner, what we like to see at the end of what was a very a cold 2 litre meeting!

NATIONAL HOT ROD 2005 WORLD QUALIFYING ROUND 8

Posted on 19th November 2004

The 8th Round of the world qualifying rounds was held at Birmingham Wheels, a tight, relativly small circuit, providing some good racing by the end of the night, but being National Hot Rods, it has its fair share of exciting and tense moments. The weather was dry but the track seemed very greasy and although no rain the weather was certainly proving to be winter time, with a frost by the end of the night!

Heat 1 was Daves first race, and he started right at the back of a good qulaity field, the lack of room made it difficult for Dave to make any progress, him and blackman started picking a few cars off and getting towards the end of the race, blackman and Dave approached the 59 simon bently car, a push from 911 saw Dave get pushed into the 59 car spinning him out, Dave suprisingly received a black cross for his actions, so come the end of the race 911 took the win but was docked 2 places for his actions, leaving 41 with the win and Dave in a strong 2nd Place, which boosted his points substantially. AHand shake from 911 to 59 sorted there problem out in a more sportsman like way, which we like to see in National Hot Rod Racing.

Heat 2 kicked off some moretense action, with Neil Smith starting at the back of one heat and pushing his way through in a very un racing like manner, causing cars to be puhsed to the wall and nearly cause some very nasty smashes, he used his front bunmper in a very handy way to get right up to 3rd on the grid, when he approached behind the back of the 348 corrado of Shane Brereton, Brereton being one guy no ones messes with, Unfortunatly Smith decided to push him aswell gonig into the bend, spinning the 348 corrado round, a very dirty move by 657, and 348 was not happy! 657 now lead the way 348 was a lap down and to the suprise of everyone 657 received not just no black flag but not even a black cross, im sure all the stewards can't say they didnt miss that, it was a clear spin by 657, never the less the race continued, and as the come into the last 2 laps 657 approached to lap the 348 car, there was sure to be trouble, and there was, coming into bend 1, 657 attemepted an outside line on 348 and 348 just took him to the wall, losing 657 the lead and although he escaped back to 6th it ruined his race, it must be said the crowd went wild, no one really agreed with his contact throughout the race, it was certainly not hot rod racing, 348 obviously received a black flag for his actions, but suprisingly 657 got nothing despite his earlier actions! some Biased views there i felt. The after race effects from this was 348 was loaded up, although he appealed and was allowed to race again.

Heat 3 was Daves second heat with 657 in this one as well for his second race. 657 Got off to a better start, but soon used him front bumper again, he got right through the field to challenge Andy Steward for his position, only to hit Donut flat out nearly spinning the 198 car, to the disguist of the crowd 657 got past 198, a lap later the black flag was shown to 657, and with a big cheer from the crowd he spun himself off the track on the back straight ending his race. The race continued and the win went to a well deserved Adam Scott in 119!

Next up was the final, things seemed to settle down in this race with 657 calming down with his contact alot! it actually turned into a brilliant race, especially between the top runners, 170, 230, 911 and 657. a great race between them right to the end, very entertaining and Dave really enjoying the race. Up at the head of the field Andy Donut Steward was walking away with the win, followed by 119 Adam Scott and coming home in a very strong 3rd was 94 World Champ Ricky Hunn in 639, best result for him for a while and great to see a great podium from the event!

So all in all a good meeting by the end of the night, despite all the tense heats, National Hot Rod Racing still has t much Unnecessary contact in my opinion, and i think the rules need to be changed and stamp down harder on those drivers donig it, including more bans! Lets see how the Rods perform at the historical Best in Britain in a week or so's time, see if them scary fence posts frighten some of the drivers off. Its always a great meeting so i look forward to it!

NATIONAL HOT ROD 2005 WORLD QUALIFYING ROUND 7

Posted on 25th October 2004

The 7th Round of the world qualifying rounds was held at Northampton although i didnt attend the meeting, secondary information explains the meeting was one to be forgotton by many drivers who went away with a not very happy attitude to hot rod racing.

Heat 1 went to Adam Scott, followefd by Carl Boardley on his return to racing last meeting, he is already making good progress, showing his skill from before is still well and truly there, following him was Hunn and Thompson.

Heat 2 saw a win go to Adam Scott once again followed by Neil Smith and Andy Steward. Dave coming through the field well to take a well deserved 9th position.

Daves "Team Mate" Colin Gomm come through to take a fine win in Heat 3, good to see him back in his winning ways in the nationals. Dave havin a stronger race, making his way through to 7th, gaining more valuable points towards the world qualifying points chart.

Come the final the weather was terrible, as was the track and all hell let loose, the race turned into a destruction derby! A number of very large crashes were included. one crash saw the demise of Blackman, Thompson, Boardley, Spinks, Hillard and Dave Longhurst all with very wrecked cars, luckily all drivers were ok, albeit not particularly happpy, but who can blame them?!?!

So an awful way to spend round 7, with alot of damage to alot of cars! and alot of unhappy drivers, not what we like to see after several good Ipswich Rounds, lets hope the series picks up in Round 8 and we can get rid of that unnecessary contact that still seems to be a regular thing in the world of national hot rods.

NATIONAL HOT ROD 2005 WORLD QUALIFYING ROUND 6

Posted on 17th October 2004

For the third round running Ipswich were the hosts of the next World Qualifying rounds, this round was round 6 so we are well into the series now. It was Foxhall sadiums 50th Birthday so as a treat for the stadium we had the BriSCA F1 stock cars supporting the nationals, with them two formulas on the programme and after a shower of rain a dry evening we were in for a good meeting!

Race one was heat 1 for the Nationals with Dave racing, from the back, other drivers to look for were the return of 119 starting on pole, with 198 again close to the front. other drivers to look out for included 230 and 657. From the drop of the flag 657 made a good start around the outside, although the front bumper seemed to come in quite handy for him as he battered through traffic, suprisingly not even a black cross! never the less he made his way up through the field to 4th with 119 and 198 running away with the glory with 115 very close behind, with Chris Haird driving a brilliant race! the leaders come around and lapped Dave who was still fairly well down the field, having a brilliant race with 639 in an attempt to get past 31, Dick Hillard, both drivers failing and Dick holding on to get the 10th place which he well deserved. A bit of confusion at the end of the race when the leaders took the chequered flag and a flag later stopped on the home straight, not realising other cars were still racing! Still a good start to the evenings racing!

In between heat 1 and 2 for nationals was the BriSCA F1 stock cars, these cars were awesome! sitting in the grandstand seeing cars that heavy and noisy coming past at that speed pushing and shoving is some experience to watch, the noise in the grandstand caused many people to put their fingers in their ears! Famous driver Andy Smith took victory on that race, there was a huge field of BriSCA's at the event, with talk of over 40 cars!

Dave had a good second heat leading to a strong finish in the Final, The Final win going to 115 Chris Haird, who drove an absolutly excellent meeting, many congratulations go to Chris, 2nd went to Neil Smith who worked his way through the field well, although again alot of pushing, yet again no black cross shown, i think Neil Smith went away from the meeting feeling lucky he had no penalty!!

Never the les a good meeting, more valuable points were gained by Dave and the BriSCA F1 Stock cars really set the stadium alive!

Well done to regular mechanics, Cheesy, Cecila and Kevin, other attending team memebers were, Obviosuly Carole, aswell as chris and linn hughes!

So happy 50th Birthday Foxhall Stadium!

NATIONAL HOT ROD 2005 WORLD QUALIFYING ROUND 5

Posted on 19th September 2004

Ipswich hosted Round 5 of the World Series for the nationals, with typical Suffolk weather leaving the driving on the borderline of wets or slicks. Anyway slicks was the answer for pretty much every driver and luckily the weather held off for the night, and actually came quite dry towards the end of the night.

Heat 1 for the nationals was in fact race 1 of the evening's schedule. With dave lining up at the back of the fairly large group of cars. Other star graders to note were Blackman, Hillard, Donut and Keith Woods. The conditions were tricky, but Dave flew through the field, Donut and Woodsy led the early stages, with Dave coming through the grid very quickly, with Blackman right on Daves back bumper, giving him many pushes into the turnstile bend, although not gaining any places, it wasn't making Daves race any easier, so a black cross was given to Blackman, which out of all honesty was nothing less than a fair decision.As the race progressed the dicing 230/911 battle made there way to 3rd and 4th with Keith Woods having the pressure put on him now, a wide exit to bend 4 saw keiths good race end as Dave found an inside line, Keith unsure where Dave was closed the door on Dave going inot bend 1 sending the 25 car in a spin in the tricky conditions. It was more of a mis-judgement by 25 than anything else, which 25 acknowledged. So into the last 2 laps, Dave still ahead of Blackman with Donut pulling clear in the lead, Ricky stayed in contention with the 230/911 battle, proving the Hunn talent was still well and truly there! So coming down the home striaght to collect the last lap board, a slower 55 car was coasting along the wall, Dave and Blackman taking quick avoiding action, how they both missed the 55 car and kept there cars on the tarmac i will never know, i expect it woke both drivers up though, with Dave concentrating on getting past 55, he missed the braking point for turn 1, overshooting the bend, allowing 911 to come through on the inside on the last lap, the result finished with 198 taking a clear, well deserved win, ahead of 230, 639 and 911 who was docked 2 places for the contact with 230 earlier in the race. 25 made a amazing recovery to get back to 5th ahead of 59 and 491. So a good race 1 for Dave.

Between heat 1 and 2 the 230 team got to work on preparing the car for race 2, a slight problem with the steering rack had to be repaired, just a quick turn of an allen key on the alloy housing cured that problem with no problems.So the car was all prepared for race 2, which approached fast.

Again Dave started at the back, and again a very good race, 657 was also out for this one and certianly one to watch.With donut taking the lead again ahead of 25, Dave coming through the field very promptly again, A brilliant scrap delveloped between 271, 170, 230 and 911, which was the main focus of the race. The win went to 198 once again, ahead of 25 followed by 657, who came on very strong over the closing laps, 4th was 170, with 271, 911 and 230 taking the other positions.

Heat 3 was the heat dave misse, another very good race with 402 taking a fine win, holding off a determinded effort from 657, 271, 170, 491, 59 and 115, was good to see Haird get a position this season with no end of damage in his corrado this season. A Bit of contraversery broke out between 170 and 31 with several different incidents in heat 1 and 2 rather annoying 31, and although i cant say i saw both incidents in full, his anger can be understood with 170 using very forceful driving. Luckily the trouble went no thurver than 170 driving into the pits in anger, the reason he got annoyed i dont know.

So all that left us with is the final, a storming race. Dave starting again very much at the back but coming through very quickly again after a rather slugish start, 911 seemed to come to an abrupt holt in the early stages, pulling his car off, a problem at the beginning may have been related to his retirement. 657 was the man to watch again, flying throgugh the field, althoughh the odd nudge was seen by many spectators, 198 led the field, that was until his engine blew in a big way down the home straight, luckily the oil was mainly on a straight so caused no huge problem in the race. A Brilliant battle was formed between 844, 25, 271 and 657, with 844 doing very well to fend off the approaching rodders, then all hell let lose in turn 4 when everything changed several laps later, with 271 ending in the wall and 657 ending in the lead. Hunn did well to get a well deserved 4th place, with 657, 844 and 111 in front and 59 and 230 taking 5th and 6th.

So another brilliant meeting, with all 3 results well in the top ten for Dave, putting him very high up in the points 657 is the danger man it seems! Well done to Dave, aswell as all the crew that attended the meeting including, Cheesy, Cecil, Kevin on the spanners, and Carole, Chris, Linn, Steve and myself in the Longun supporters club!

NATIONAL HOT ROD 2005 WORLD QUALIFYING ROUND 4

Posted on 19th September 2004

Ipswich were the hosts of round 4 of the 2005 world championship qualifying rounds. The weather was varied on the journey down with drivers wondering whether it would be a wet or dry meeting, come to the start of the meeting it was raining therefore it started a wet meeting on wet tyres. Supproting formulas were Stock Rods English Championship and V8 Stock Cars world Championship.

Race 2 was the first national hot rod race with Dave starting from the back, The races were rolled in due to the conditions and as the flag went down Dave made his move on the wide outside line, taking mutiple cars in laps, he was flying and by far the fastest man on the track, a crash between Neil Smith and Malcolm Blackman killed there chances of glory, Dick Hillard also involved, Dave was already up to 3rd before the half way point in the race, he was flying, but the saxo of 14 Phil Spinks blasted into the lead and was also going well! Dave got through to 2nd although didnt really seem to make much progress on the flying 14 car. coming into the last 5 laps 844 Billy Bonnar spun on the turnstyle bend, bringing out what all Longhurst fans wanted. A yellow flag, closing all the cars up, and allowing Dave to close right up to Phil Spinks, therefore a vitual start for Dave was essential, as the green flag dropped, dave was on the back end of phil spinks but Phil far to quick for dave and pulled clear once again with 3 laps to go. Phil Spinks took the win from a very good drive by Dave Longhurst. a suprise was to see Malcolm Blackman make his way back up to 4th! a good drive by him in the conditions.

Race 5 was heat 2 for the nationlas and dave was once again in this one, starting again at the back, Colin Gomm was also in this race, he loves the rainy conditions so certainly one to watch. Doughnut started very near the front and gt off to a good start to early lead, it was no suprise to see him lead the race throughout. Colin Gomm held on very well for second, following a strong che from Colin Smith in the closing stages, next in line was another very strong finish for Dave Longhurst, ahead of Blackman, Stimson and Thompson. The track was now beginning to dry very quickly with the rain stopping.

Race 8 was another national heat although Dave was not in this one. The win went to 657 Neil Smith who drove a fast race, early leader was Andy Stewardd set for win number 2, until the gearbox give up. Second went to a very good drive once again by smiffy in 491 ahead of once again, Steve Thompson who drove a very strong race oncea again.

The Final was the last race of the night and due to council restrictions the race was cut from 35 laps to 25 laps, therefore a rather short final race of the evening. Dave started very near the back once again, and made brilliant progress following 657 closely, who was making the holes and dave just follwoing though, until they both got a clear run and dave went to make a move on the 657 car, he made a very clean move on the inside of the 657 car on the home straight and took the position from 657. Thats was until they come down the home straight on the follwoing lap where 657 battered his way through inside of 230 which was a foul enough move, only to squeeze hgim into the armco, nearly causing the 230 car to have a crash, losing Dave lots of ground, amazingly the stewards on the race "missed" both parts of the incident and 657 continued with no penaly at all. The following lap Dave was stuck on the outside of a group of cars, this time 271 did the same move on dave, having dave heading for the wall on the home straight, although correcting himself, Dave had had enough of the fould driving anddropped back behind the fighting group, although no penalties for any drivers were issued. Anybody sitting on the homestraight would have clearly seen the foul move by both drivers but none of them getting any punishment. The win went to Scotsmen 844 Billy Bonnar, with 14 Phil Spinks in second, ahead of 111, 657, 911, 271, 491, 31, 170 and 230. A final that could have been good with driviers now on slicks, it was a shame it was cut down by 10 laps as we could have had some more place changing if it would have continued to the full distance.

So after round 4, a 2nd, 4th and 10th will put dave hopefully even higher in the points, he is currently holding the 2nd place spo