Report: Mark Paulson

Pics: Dave Bastock

A large crowd was treated to one of the most spectacular meetings of the season at King’s Lynn on Saturday night (22 October) as all three formulas put on a fantastic display of the very best that short oval racing has to offer. Ultimately Norfolk’s own Mat Newson claimed the BriSCA Formula One meeting final, but Leicestershire’s Nigel Green marginally extended his lead at the top of the Shootout standings with only one round to go. King’s Lynn local Willie Skoyles Jr retained his Driver of the Year crown in Two-Litre Saloon Stock Cars, while Hertfordshire driver Charlie Guinchard won the King’s Lynn Open in Ministox. But those mere facts do not do the racing justice. 

BriSCA Formula One Stock Cars

An excellent 47-car turnout arrived for the penultimate round of the Shootout series, including 11 of the 12 contenders for the silver roof. The racing they served up was absolutely top-drawer and could not have been a better advert for the sport.

A race for white & yellow graded drivers only kicked off proceedings as usual, fielding an impressive 24 cars. 76 Aaron Cozens led much of the way and received a reprieve when he spun with four laps to go. He had collected the spun 135 James Bailey and then lost control on the back straight, dropping to fourth, only for many more to pile into the unfortunate Bailey, bringing out the yellow flags. Going back a lap, Cozens was returned to the head of the field where he led away 415 Russell Cooper, 348 John Wright and 326 Mark Sargent on the restart. Sargent managed to shove both Wright and Cooper wide to take second and then profited when Cozens slowed and retired a lap later. The Spalding local went on to take the win from Wright and 372 Colin Goodswen.

The two heats that followed each tracked 21 cars. Lots immediately tangled on the opening bends of heat one, allowing 43 Adam Bamford to break clear, chased by yellow tops Sargent and 306 Ian Noden, while the five lowest-ranked ‘Shooters’ went at each other hammer-and-tongs, with 150 Mick Sworder just edging clear of the others. Bamford was running well but was caught and passed by Sargent at half-distance before dropping back, while Noden spun. Sworder and 217 Lee Fairhurst engaged in good scrap which ended when the latter tried to a find a way through on the inside, but only managed to clobber a marker tyre on the exit of the bend. He quickly recovered and would eventually finish third, with 212 Danny Wainman fourth after 16 Mat Newson retired with a puncture on the final lap. Ahead of them, Sworder attempted to hunt down Sargent, but could not do so, the ‘East Coast Legend’ picking up where he left off in the opener to claim his second win of the night.

As Wright led the early stages of heat two, the top six Shootout runners were attacking each other with venom. World Champion 1 Frankie Wainman was initially the first of them, but a slight tangle with 249 Joff Gibson allowed 318 Rob Speak up the inside. 2 Paul Harrison was then delayed in a coming together with fellow Shooters 4 Dan Johnson and 445 Nigel Green, among others, before yellow flags were required to rescue 480 Fraser Nairn, driving his father Colin’s car. By this stage, 104 Paul Spooner had taken the lead but he pulled off into retirement under the caution, allowing Wright back in front. On the resumption, Wainman and Speak continued their battle on the fringes of the top 10, before Wright ran wide, allowing 94 John Dowson Jr to take the lead. The 1/318 scrap caught up 390 Stuart Smith Jr and the trio traded many blows before Smith retired with a broken propshaft and Wainman pulled clear. He caught and passed Dowson with five laps to go as 84 Tom Harris worked his way into third and then also passed Dowson. The ‘Hitman’ made rapid inroads into Wainman’s lead and was nibbling at his back bumper for the final two laps. A big hit on the final bend didn’t pay off as Wainman managed to straighten up and find grip on the outside line, charging to the win from Harris, Johnson, Speak and Dowson.

The consolation, from which 12 more would join the 20 qualifiers from the heats in the night’s final, proved to be the quietest F1 race of the night, with just 18 cars taking to the track. After an initial aborted start, 196 Murray Jones charged to the front within two laps of the second attempt. Newson took over just two laps later and was followed through by Green who had done well to repair some hefty damage from his heat. Green edged inside to take the lead around half-distance and then eased clear to take the win from Newson and Goodswen. Jones dropped back with a puncture in the closing stages but managed to hold onto fourth.

Twenty-nine of the 32 qualifiers returned for the final in which the frantic opening laps were brought to a halt when 231 Danny van Spijker called for assistance. 293 Eliot Smith was leading the way, with Speak the leading Shootout runner from Wainman and Sworder, although none had made much progress at this stage. Sargent then took over at the front as he chased a hat trick, while the Shooters traded hit after hit after hit in some top-notch action. Sworder managed to break clear of that and followed Gibson past Sargent, before dumping Joff wide to take the lead. Gibson wasn’t backing down though and came back with a huge hit on the next bend to take them both out. That let Sargent back in front before Newson took over, with Harris, Speak, Johnson, Wainman and Green also chasing them down. Wainman retired with a puncture when another caution period was called after which Newson absorbed some terrific pressure from Harris. Despite racing a car designed for tarmac competition, Harris looked favourite for the win until his inside rear tyre ripped clean off the rim. He struggled manfully on but could only manage 12^th at the flag, his silver roof hopes probably terminally damaged. Newson then pulled clear to take the win from Johnson, while Green put Speak wide on the final bend to claim third and some crucial extra points.

The 22-car grand national provided more of the same hard-hitting action. Murray Jones ain impressed on his way to third, coming back at eventual victor Johnson at one stage. The big winners overall though were Johnson, whose win gives him some hope of repeating last season’s final round heroics, and Green, who spun Speak out on his way to second, to retake the points lead ahead of Belle Vue’s decider this weekend.

Two-Litre Saloon Stock Cars

Forty-one cars assembled for the Driver of the Year meeting which would also decide the destination of this year’s track championship as well as host the final of the White & Yellow Series. 

The latter was up first, with a 27-car grid. It was led away from pole position by 192 Robert Heanes before 22 Karl Petters pushed him wide to take the lead. Yellow flags were required after a pile-up on the back straight led to 270 Matt Fuller giving 126 Harry Barnes a hefty head-on. On the resumption, Heanes moved back into the lead and successfully fended off the attentions of the lapped 386 Daniel Petters who appeared to be trying to help his father’s cause. But Heanes’s efforts were to no avail when he retired with four laps to go. So Karl Petters came through to take the win from 525 Wes Starmer and 800 Scott Greenslade who profited when 733 Kyle Picton spun on the final bend.

Next, was the main race, for the title of Driver of the Year. Outside front row man 888 Shane Emerson dived inside pole-sitter 349 Michael Allard to take the lead at the start, with 6 Simon Welton, 420 Ivan Street, 499 David Aldous and Starmer completing the top six on the opening lap. When Welton spun Allard at the start of the second lap it handed Emerson a healthy lead, with 304 Martyn Parker moving into second from Aldous and the slightly delayed Welton. Emerson was carving through the back-marking traffic as his pursuers battled hard amongst each other, but Aldous gradually reeled him in and had taken the lead when the race was suspended just after half distance to assist Heanes. Another yellow flag period was required immediately afterwards when a big pile-up at the back end of the top six saw Waterfield heavily collected. A strange incident under the yellows occurred when 428 Lee Sampson charged around the track and ended up blasting into Karl Petters’s stationary car, apparently accidentally, and he was able to resume his position in the top 10.

When the green flag flew, Aldous put the hammer down as Welton passed Emerson and begun to hunt the leader down. He successfully closed the gap and moved into the lead as they negotiated backmarking traffic with four or five laps to go. Meanwhile, Allard was out of the picture and staring at the end of his hopes both for this race and the track championship. He appeared to take his frustration out on Martyn Parker, before getting spun by 570 Simon Venni and reconsidering his tactics. A few laps down, he rejoined with the leaders, seemingly intent on making sure that they, his major challengers in the track championship, didn’t score too many points. Whether Allard was going to be able to cause much trouble looked debatable, but Aldous wasn’t giving up on his own hopes of the DotY crown. Coming down the back straight for the final time, the gap to Welton was big, but that didn’t stop Aldous going for an almighty last-bend lunge. He connected heavily, taking both cars into the fence, and Allard saw his chance. He launched himself into the melee and also connected heavily, mainly on Aldous. In the ensuing confusion, 641 Willie Skoyles Jr came from seemingly nowhere to dive up the inside and take the flag, successfully defending the title he won last year. Emerson also managed to get through and claim second, with Welton reversing across the line in third. Aldous, desperately trying to quickly recover, spun his car around but clipped a marker tyre in the process, turning him directly into the path of Fuller for a huge, crunching head-on. Sadly, Aldous was knocked out in the incident. After some medical attention he was able to walk away, but his hopes of a record seventh consecutive track championship crown were over.

The points title was now a two-horse race, and Welton had an 18 point lead with only 20 left on the table. Allard was going to have to pull off something special. In the first allcomers race, some huge hits on the home straight led to an early stoppage and a complete restart. Banger graduate 127 Will Longford led the early stages but 360 Carl Waterfield soon took over and held sway until the flag. But behind him, Allard was charging. He scythed through the field but could not catch the former world champion and had to settle for second. But Welton had only lasted two laps and the gap was down to nine points with 10 up for grabs.

So, the last race of the season and all to play for. Fuller led them away before Greenslade took over, while Allard led the reds and was once again on a charge. Welton spun early and seemed almost subdued – could Allard pull it off? He had risen to third when Greenslade spun Emerson whom he had been battling with, so third became second, and as things stood the scores would be tied. Allard then moved into the lead and with it, the provisional track championship crown, but then Welton’s tactics became clear. He attempted to baulk the #349 down the back straight, which allowed Greenslade back into the lead, but Allard had only dropped to second, provisionally tying the scores once more. With only two laps to go, the gap to Greenslade was quite big but Allard continued to charge. Welton wasn’t done though and attacked his prey again on the final bend. Allard was delayed but managed to break free and charge to the line, only to find Venni alongside him. Behind a delighted Greenslade, they crossed the line in almost a dead heat, Venni getting the verdict by just two-hundreths of a second. And that was that – to his World Championship crown, Welton had added the King’s Lynn track championship, arguably the hardest there is to win in the sport. And what a way to do it, in a sensational finish after some of the most spectacular racing you are ever likely to see. It was a fantastic achievement from Welton had missed two meetings earlier in the season, and a superb effort from Allard who never gave up, and indeed Aldous, who wasn’t going to let them have it easy.

National Ministox

There was a very healthy 28-car turnout for the Ministox’s only national points scoring meeting of the season at the track, with the King’s Lynn Open title up for grabs. Every race produced some excellent action from the youngsters with 8 Catherine Harris, 152 Charlie Sworder and National Champion 1 Charlie Guinchard the standout stars. 

Sworder charged through for a comfortable win from Harris and Guinchard in heat one. Guinchard had a reprieve in heat two when a caution period allowed him to resume in front having just gone into the fence. After that, the top trio put on an excellent race. Sworder moved in front and Guinchard attacked, which only succeeded in letting Harris into second. Guinchard then worked his way past both and led for several laps under intense pressure from Sworder. The latter’s last-bend lunge took both wide, and allowed Harris through for the win.

The final, for the King’s Lynn Open, featured closed-up grades and saw Harris in front by the back straight of the first lap. The two Charlies moved past her though and battled for several laps until 291 Declan Cavanagh rolled and brought out the caution flags. The top three continued to battle throughout, and this time Guinchard prevailed, rising from third to first on the final bend.

It was more of the same in the allcomers, except that 282 Tomson Streets managed to lead home the battling Guinchard, Harris and Sworder to round off an excellent night’s racing.