Download - Whistlin Jack Smith - 5
Issue 4—Whistlin’ Jack Smith 1
WHISTLIN’ JACK SMITH
Hot Rod Racing
ISSUE 5: MAR 2012
National Hot Rods are back after
the winter break
New race cars
Peugeot 205 History—Part 2
2 Whistlin’ Jack Smith—Issue 4
March is when the short oval racing season gets into full swing especially the National Hot
Rods starting at Northampton. Alongside those early reports this edition also covers the sec-
ond part of the Peugeot 205 history that again has great input from former drivers.
Paul Ballard
WHISTLIN’ JACK SMITH
COVER SHOOT:
Hot Rods lining up in the pits at Northampton
INSIDE COVER:
The only time National Hot Rods raced at Aldershot in 2010
Issue 4—Whistlin’ Jack Smith 3
Contents
4 Classic Hot Rods 2012
5 Wimbledon reports
6 2L English Championship
8 The history of the 205 Hot Rod
OPPOSITE: National Hot Rods at the 2011 Spedeweekend.
Peter Ballard photo
FRONT COVER (top to bottom)
1—Ricky Hunn at Arena Essex. Keith Duke photo.
2—Daz Owen’s rental Classic Hot Rod. Daz Owen photo.
3—New English Champion Paul Wright
WHISTLIN’ JACK SMITH
Hot Rod Racing
ISSUE 5: MAR 2012
CONTENTS
4 News and Reports
Fords update
Northampton NHR WQR 10
New to the team
Serious overseas contender
Ipswich NHR WQR 11
14 Peugeot 205 History (Part 2)
CONTRIBUTORS:
Peter Ballard (photos)
4 Whistlin’ Jack Smith—Issue 4
10th March
FORDS update
Fundraising update
Over the quiet season we have
just a couple of items to report -
thanks to Mendips for their Din-
ner Dance raffle in aid of
FORDS; also to Nutts Corner
Oval starting the year with a col-
lection for us. We'd also like to
thank the Bears Banger Team -
collectable button badges are on
sale featuring every team mem-
ber priced at £1.49 with 50
pence being donated direct to
FORDS.
Help with fundraising
We're looking to recruit some
more regional helpers urgently
to help organise events, gener-
ate local sponsorship and coordi-
nate fundraisers on the day. Ar-
eas to cover are: South-East;
Anglia; Midlands; and North.
There are no set boundaries but
any help will be a big help to us
- no more than 5 tracks, one
event each, full support from our
Secretary including training.
You'll get free entry but we do
expect you to work for it! Please
contact Manuela on 0117
3851540 / 07870 383096 for a
friendly chat.
Analysis of injuries - the how
and the what
We have tried to keep figures
simple while drawing meaningful
data from them. It should be
noted that a sample of 19 claims
can only be regarded as an indi-
cator - next year's figures will be
more meaningful and we know
that many injured drivers did not
claim. Injuries we consider seri-
ous are potentially life-changing;
this includes all head or spinal
injury and internal organ dam-
age. Broken limbs are consid-
ered relatively minor although
not all are straightforward and
some need surgery and may re-
sult in a long recovery period.
In considering the type of impact
causing injuries we have broken
this down into forward and side-
ways; sideways includes a knock
or spin, forward includes (mainly
National Bangers) following in,
jacking trains and head-ons -
News and Reports
Issue 4—Whistlin’ Jack Smith 5
what counts is whether the force
on the driver is forward or side-
ways. Impacts are classed as
major, eg full in the door or fol-
lowed in, or minor, eg caught
between another car and the
barrier. It is not our place to
speculate on whether an incident
was deliberate or accidental.
Claims to date
· The total paid to date is 19
claims of which 2 are ongoing,
receiving a total of £10,515
· 3 of the 19 claims were from
non-contact formulae
· 5 of the 19 claims were for
serious injuries
This year we will be collecting a
lot more data. Drivers please
help us to get these figures if
you are unlucky enough to be
injured this year. Even if you
don't wish to claim, if you could
help us with this research it will
help us to help you in the long
term. There will also be a follow-
up call after a claim has ended
to evaluate the way claims are
handled and the longer term im-
pact of injuries.
11th March
Northampton - National Hot
Rods - WQ Round
After the winter break the Eng-
lish series resumed with World
Champion and points leader 911
Malcolm Blackman heading the
entry as the season embarks on
the second half road to Ipswich.
32 drivers arrived chasing the 20
available positions, though 482
Jason Cooper (20th going into
this round) was not present after
previously leading the points. On
the new car front, former Stock
Rodder 316 Paul Frost started
his National Hot Rod career in a
Tigra. Also out in new Tigra’s
were 72 Willie Hardie and 348
Shane Brereton who raced brief-
ly last year in his old Corrado.
278 Colin Gomm raced the ex-
Polley Tigra for the first time.
162 Car Waller-Barratt was still
racing his 206cc but now re-
painted in red. Both the Hunn
cars now in classic Ricky Hunn
colours of yellow with red bump-
ers.
Heat 1
734 Ralph Sanders led off the
race with Brereton. Brereton
tried the outside line but this al-
6 Whistlin’ Jack Smith—Issue 4
lowed 39 Terry Hunn to move up
to second place. This trio be-
came four when 339 Danny
Hunn closed in, both Hunn cars
tried the outside line but this al-
lowed Brereton back to second
place. 130 Andy Lane moved in
for a top 5 group and 10 Sam
Holland spun out of sixth place.
The two Hunn cars clashed going
into turn 3 which put D Hunn
into the wall (although was still
able to continue), from the back
303 Matt Simpson and 209 Kym
Weaver were closing in quick.
Simpson was only able to move
beyond Lane but it was a sign of
things to come from him during
this meeting. Lane finished
fourth but this position would be
later removed.
Res: 734, 348, 303, 209, 39 (x-
2), 116, 339, 60, 174, 278
Heat 2
Sanders turned pole into another
lead with 152 Shaun Taylor on
the outside. Taylor was bumped
sideways on turn 4, heading
down the home straight Lane
pushed 27 Mikey Godfrey off the
track and he crashed into the
infield banking. Running in sixth
place 67 David Brooks (who had
been one of the quickest cars on
track) had a big lock-up going
into turn one and that resulted
in a yellow flag.
The race resumed with Sanders
leading 74 James O’Shea and
Holland. Lane moved to the out-
side of 780 Mike Loosemore
which enabled 491 Colin Smith
on his inside. Smith moved up to
second place with Simpson
tracking his moves. With 3 to go
Smith and Simpson were on the
back bumper of Sanders, head-
ing onto the back straight Smith
clipped the inside kerb which put
the car offline and forcing him to
the outside. Smith took to the
outside of Sanders and cleared
him quickly with Simpson be-
hind. The next lap Simpson
barged inside Smith to put in
front for the final lap of the race.
Simpson was duly docked two
places while Smith was handed
the win. Whilst on the control
car Smith commented on his im-
Issue 4—Whistlin’ Jack Smith 7
provement being due to a new
engine and gearbox thanks to
his sponsors (next time Colin
mention those people/ compa-
nies!!). This was short lived as
he failed a tyre check due to not
logging them correctly which re-
sulted in a load-up. Lane was
also loaded-up for retaliation.
Res: 734, 74, 303 (x-2), 115,
14, 10, 72, 155, 780, 219
Heat 3
The quietest of all the heats Tay-
lor turned pole position into his
first win in the class. The only
significant movement being 60
Mark Paffey who charged around
the outside for third place.
Res: 152, 74, 60, 348, 39, 27,
555, 162, 116, 115
Final
Before the final race of the day
started there was a minute si-
lence for photographer Dave
'Smiffyman' Smith who had
passed away during the week.
A bigger field of National Hot
Rods around Northampton nor-
mally ends in carnage and God-
frey was sent out spinning on
turn 4 and Weaver on turn 2 at
the start. The cars was able to
move around the outside of the
Weaver machine but unable to
move the yellows were brought
out after a few laps. Sanders
had been leading with Taylor be-
hind, his attempts at an outside
move saw him slide into the
wide when he outbraked at turn
3. The top three of Sanders,
Brereton and T Hunn edged clear
of the pack but Simpson was fly-
ing from the back and easily
moved around the outside of all
3 as they hugged the inside line.
Simpson’s drive showed one of
the highlights of hot rod racing
however the main pack got
themselves into a muddle with D
Hunn, Holland and Loosemore all
facing the wrong way and
stranded on the straights and
116 Steve Burrows in the wall.
Res: 303, 734, 348, 39, 95, 72,
115, 31, 911, 60
8 Whistlin’ Jack Smith—Issue 4
14th March
New to the Team!
Spedeworth Motorsports is de-
lighted to introduce the latest
member our team. Mark Butler
has joined us to head up our
Sales & Marketing division and
has already made a positive con-
tribution by helping to secure
Sky TV coverage of the National
Hot Rod World Final - as well as
securing a number of new spon-
sorship deals. Mark has also se-
cured a major sponsor for the
National Hot Rod World Final -
as well as the majority of the
remaining races at Spedeweek-
end - opportunities do still exist
to become involved but these
are going fast! Mark has been a
fan of short oval racing for many
years and is also an example of
the many family connections in
our sport as Mark is the brother
of one of our Managing Directors
Janet Wood.
Mark has highlighted a number
of exciting and unusual sponsor-
ship opportunities and there is
something in our remit to suit
every business. So if you would
like to become involved with
Spedeworth Motorsports please
do not hesitate to contact Mark
on 01252 322920 or email
18th March
Serious overseas contender
Current South African Hot Rod
Champion Neville Loosemore
(racing under #11) will be racing
a brand new Spedeworth Fabri-
cations car at this year's
Spedeweekend at Foxhall Stadi-
um, Ipswich (IP4 5TL) and the
combination of Neville's experi-
ence and a state of the art rac-
ing machine should make him a
serious contender when the
green flag drops on the World
Championship Final - possibly
the first genuine SA contender
since Jesse Huggett.
Of course, such a huge logistical
operation could not become a
reality without the support of a
number of generous sponsors.
On behalf of Neville, we would
like to thank the following com-
panies for their support:
Issue 4—Whistlin’ Jack Smith 9
· Anderson Race Engines
· Quaife
· Tran-X
· Image Wheels
· Six-O Signs
· Paint Dynamix
· Questmead-AP (TBC)
· Corbeau Seats (TBC)
· Security Fencing (South Afri-
ca)
· Spedeworth Motorsports/
Spedeworth Fabrications
It is great to see drivers coming
from other nations making this a
genuine World Final. Don't miss
all the action at short oval mo-
torsport's biggest racing week-
end.
Thanks to the Spedeworth
10 Whistlin’ Jack Smith—Issue 4
31st March
Ipswich - National Hot Rods -
WQ Round 11
Although the days running up
the meeting has posed the pos-
sible problem of no fuel, all the
booked in drivers arrived for a
big 34 car entry including over-
seas drivers 66 John V.D Bosch
and 467 Winnie Holtmanns; plus
Irish duo of 874 Steven O’Shea
and father 74 James O’Shea.
Making his debut after a year
racing Slick Cars was 44 Dave
Garrett in the ex-Gomm 206.
Garrett had previously raced in
the 2 Litre Hot Rods and last
year had raced the ex-Gomm
Colt.
Heat 1
Starting at the front this time
was 160 Frank West and made
an early lead. 152 Shaun Taylor
was inside him before West spun
out on turn 4. A few laps later
348 Shane Brereton did the
same thing, unlike West who
was resting up against the fence
he spun the car around infront of
leader Taylor. Taylor swung
around the outside but Brereton
didn’t want to be put a lap down
and moved ahead once the lead-
ers had to navigate past Garrett.
Taylor had 734 Ralph Sanders
and 339 Danny Hunn following
his every move but none at-
tempted any challenge on him,
in the last few laps 10 Sam Hol-
land went spinning out of fourth
place and onto the shale track.
The battle for the points champi-
onship between 911 Malcolm
Blackman and 303 Matt Simpson
(who was now leading the points
chase now by 4 points going into
this round) was taking place half
a lap back but two sets of eyes
were required for this race.
Simpson had taken the early up-
per hand, but whilst battling
with 72 Willie Hardie, Blackman
moved past though the pair
spent most the race behind 27
Mikey Godfrey.
Res: 152, 339, 209, 162, 31,
174, 92, 74, 116, 911
Heat 2
67 David Brooks turned his front
row start into a lead. Brooks was
past the backmarking 874 Ste-
Issue 4—Whistlin’ Jack Smith 11
ven O’Shea quite easily but the
bigger pack behind struggled
with the slower driver. O’Shea
was able to keep a clean tight
inside line. 780 Mike Loosemore
was the first in trouble when he
was bumped aside through turns
3 and 4. 209 Kym Weaver
tagged the back of O’Shea and
sent the slower Fiesta into the
wall – he did pick a black cross
for this. Whilst these few chaotic
laps happened leader Brooks
had pulled off to end his night.
This put Sanders into the lead
with James O’Shea and 555
Gavin Taber now behind. God-
frey had another race finishing
the wrong way, this time the in-
cident slowed down 174 Jason
Kew but yet again the field ap-
peared to straighten up. Going
into the final few laps Weaver
put himself inside Taber for
fourth place who fell back on the
outside line. Simpson had by
now made good progress and
with Taber out wide took 6th on
the road, this however was to
become 4th place.
On the final lap with the compe-
tition out of sight J O’Shea tried
the outside of Sanders and was
able to get half way alongside
when the chequers fell. Sanders
though failed the weigh-in and
lost this win and the second
from the previous heat.
Res: 74, 10, 95, 303, 209 (x-2),
278, 115, 555, 100, 72
Heat 3
Taylor lead off from pole posi-
tion. There was an early spin for
92 Jack Blood who was collected
by 60 Mark Paffey. Paffey half
spun on turn 4 which blocked
the progress of 162 Carl Waller-
Barrett and 348 Shane Brereton.
Paffey retired while the other
two continued. Waller-Barrett re
-joined into front of Taylor as a
repeat of heat 1 but pulled clear
of the leader. Eyes were glued to
S O’Shea as the pack built up
behind him, 39 Terry Hunn did-
n’t move past instantly and 780
Mike Loosemore had the chance
to steal third place. Loosemore
didn’t capitalise and started
loosing places. From the back
the only driver making any real
12 Whistlin’ Jack Smith—Issue 4
progress was 115 Chris Haird;
Blackman and 14 Phil Spinks
spent too much time behind 155
Lee Pepper. Haird was able to
nick fourth place from 278 Colin
Gomm on the final lap, at the
front Taber stayed behind Taylor
who took win number two of the
night.
Res: 152, 555, 39, 115, 278, 95,
31, 100, 911, 780
Final
Things got messy as the green
dropped with 116 Steve Burrows
and 27 Mikey Godfrey making
poor starts from the second
block. 100 Dick Burtenshaw got
caught and was parked up by
the next corner. At the front
Taylor wasn’t making it hard for
the competition and easily let
Taber and T Hunn past. Looking
to the back of the grid Simpson,
Blackman and Haird circulated
the track as one but when the
competition queued up behind
the slower back-marking S
O’Shea there was a big shift as
Loosemore and J O’Shea tan-
gled. Blackman was now 5 plac-
es in front of Simpson and that
was soon the length of the
straight.
Weaving in and out of traffic
there was a real lack of blue
flags for Taber and T Hunn was
able to close up. Behind those S
O’Shea was once again sorting
out the drivers that could pass
and those that couldn’t. Weaver
crashed into the back of him
with 4 to run and that put 339
Danny Hunn into the wall as
well. As the final few laps ticked
past Taber sat behind 4 back-
markers and T Hunn was able to
move on his back bumper as the
final lap board became replaced
by the chequered flag.
Although a damaging race the
only noticeable disqualification
was for 72 Willie Hardie who
sent 10 Sam Holland spinning
out on the home straight.
Res: 555, 39, 152, 174, 911, 95,
115, 303, 14, 31
In the chase for silver (and ulti-
mately the English title) Simp-
son and Blackman both scored
Issue 4—Whistlin’ Jack Smith 13
35 points to keep the gap at 4
points. Haird outscored both
with 42 but is still over 30 points
adift of these. 95 Gavin Murray's
third and two sixth place is
enough to leap-frog Hardie into
the final group one position.
Sanders drops out of the top 20
and is replaced by 116 Steve
Burrows with Blood one point
adrift. Points to be officially con-
firmed.
14 Whistlin’ Jack Smith—Issue 4
Following on from the first part the history
lesson will continue. The 205 might look
very dated now to the modern cars but the
shape was perfect for a hot rod. Something
that I like is the fact the wheels look the
right size, not swamped in an oversized
arch in the Focus or Colt.
Starting off with the cars that have been
destroyed. The first ever SHP 205 was writ-
ten off at Aldershot with Mark Jones behind
the wheel, Ricky's last 205 (ex-Seager)
went as did the Clein/Kinane car in Ireland.
Adam Scott’s first 205 become a Corsa
which met its match at Wimbledon. So the
quest continues where are the others. Ad-
am Scott’s replacement car was another
205, he upgraded to a 206 later in the
year.
I owned the 205 of Adam Scott for a little
while, it was pretty much stripped but roll-
ing with the body work detatched. I sold
the car to Gary Thomas who I know passed
it on to Tick Steward who I believe still has
it sat in a lorry container!
CHRIS GOLDSMITH
Heading across the water (unlike part one)
starting in Northern Ireland Stevie Williams
has the ex-Skitmore Corsa (originally a
205). Alvin Doak has a 205, and son Stew-
205 History
Issue 4—Whistlin’ Jack Smith 15
art recently destroyed his Corsa which
started as a 205. Roger Peck’s British
Championship winning 205 went to Alan
Wilson but was barely raced. The fastest
205 ever though was John Steward’s car,
that became a Corsa and now is one of the
spare cars for the Woolseys.
Moving south Joey Butler first raced in the
Nationals with the ex-Andy Steward 205
which became a Corsa, likewise with Pat
Canavan who still races his. Welshman
Mike Oliver races the ex-Blackman car that
Des Stainer first raced, Mike did race an-
other 205 when he first joined the class.
Eddie Foott jnr possibly races an ex-Paul
Sheard machine. The Tipperary class has
some SHP 205’s, but this writer doesn’t
know how many.
A 205 that made it’s way to Ireland and
then back to England started with Ricky
Hunn (his fourth and final 205) in the late
90’s. Terry Grant used it to qualify for the
World in 1998, before Gordon Brown and
Robin Pickett raced it. This was an awe-
some car, Pickett surprised a lot of people
with it’s pace. That became a Saxo and
now youngster Mikey Godfrey has a chance
to show what he can do in the Nationals.
There was an ex-Cliff Butler left hooker
converted, Ricky used this then sold to Ian
Butler who sold it to Carl Boardley.
Ricky's final 205 which was an evo 2 was
sold to Terry Grant then to Robin Pickett
and is now a Saxo driven by Mikey Godfrey
think that was all of them from memory
might have missed one.
HUNN MOTORSPORT—nationalhotrod.com
16 Whistlin’ Jack Smith—Issue 4
The third 205 for Hunn once sold to Butler
was raced in the first year of PRI Hot Rods,
which preceeded Outlaws and ran to the
same specification as GMP with 2 Litre Pin-
to engines. Butler stepped up to Nationals
after a few months and Boardley made his
National Hot Rod debut with this car in
1999. The third driver to enter National Hot
Rods with the car was Neil Stimson, it was
repanelled as a 206. This article originally
quoted the car being sold to Alan Milford,
but this wasn't true. Milford possibly raced
the first 206 that SHP built, now in the
hands of Iain Grayson.
The one I raced I sold it to a guy called
Chris Selleck and now have it back.
NEIL STIMSON
Anthony Hawkins came through the Outlaw
system in the ex-Clack/Holtby 205 this be-
came a 206 but vanished after Hawkins
moved to the Pick-ups on the circuits.
Some of the 205’s did start on the long cir-
cuits but came back to the ovals, Mark
Skilton’s and Dave Fry's did as did the car
Nigel Pike campaigned up to 2003. Former
Ringwood racer Chris Brockhurst repanelled
his 205 as a 206 and now races with the
Silhouette series.
Issue 4—Whistlin’ Jack Smith 17
That car was built by Robin Pickett's me-
chanic, he built the car as a copy to Robin's
and made a good job of it too, we then
bought this car and sold it to Chris original-
ly it come with the ex 175 panel kit and
Robin's 205 kit, but I cant remember if
Chris had it or not, I remember Keith
Lynam coming down to our workshop to
clear out aload of old 205 panels when he
was racing.
JASON KEW nationalhotrod.com
One of the last 205 Nationals was that of
Keith Lynam, that resurfaced at Buxton.
Patsy Enright’s version is an Autocross ver-
sion.
Going back to another favourite car of
mine, Mick Collard's 205. The car almost
won the world out the box (that’s another
story). The white colour scheme copied the
Peugeot rally colours and looked very
good. That was an Autocross car and
changed to green and white the next year.
I'm pretty sure Duffy's car was bought by
Cyril Wilcox, complete with Peugeot engine
that had suffered from years of being sat
outside. It was used by Terry I think as
well. Maybe it was the same one used
around by Russell and a few others?
TIM MOODY
18 Whistlin’ Jack Smith—Issue 4
DIRECTORY CONTACTS
Atspeed 01268 77 33 77
Autocross Ltd 0118 97 97 999
AWS Racewear 01233 638 498 / 628 929 / 638 000
Dave Gosling Racing 01702 200 982 / 07758 637 797
Dumpsport Performance 01444 230 200
Hot Rod Racing: The Golden Years
Red 5 Panels 07752 572 309
Roy Scorer Illustrations
Tornado Motorsport 01283 732 540
whistlinjacksmith.co.uk
Duffy Collard's 205 was last race in anger by myself at Alwalton
Raceway (Peterborough) in 2001. The car is now sat in my work-
shop at home.
RUSS WILCOX
This may have given insight into a few more cars, but are some
like the ex-Peck car sitting in a garage idle, how many are gather-
ing dust in the back of a workshops? Were more written-off of
were they cannibalised for a newer machine? Anyone’s views are
greatly appreciated on this subject which I have written to the best
of my knowledge.