Photos: Colin Casserley

Report: Mark Paulson

The BriSCA stock car season at the Adrian Flux Arena, King's Lynn, reached its conclusion with a crucial round of the Formula One Shootout and the Formula Two World of Shale. World champion #1 Tom Harris took his third final at the track this year as the Shootout's Final 6 were confirmed. In the F2s, #183 Charlie Guinchard overcame his World Final disappointment to scoop World of Shale honours, while local man #715 Scott Aldridge scored a heat and meeting final double.

BriSCA Formula One

A 52-car turnout included all eight remaining Shootout contenders, with the meeting set to determine the Final 6, as well as legendary eight-time world champion #53 John Lund. There were also nine Dutch drivers in action, three of whom being British-registered.

The action began with a 10-lapper for white and yellow graded drivers, including some of the large Dutch contingent. On a track made difficult after 12 hours of incessant rain, there were plenty of spinners. But former Ministox star #151 Joelan Maynard, making his first F1 appearance at the track, showed his class with a flag-to-flag win. Maynard led by almost half a lap at one stage but was almost closed down by #82 Karl Mosley. Dutch red top H40 Mark Tesselaar completed the top three.

Heat one proper featured the first group of four Shootout contenders among its 24-car field. And while #22 Lewis Hunter took over from #301 Mark Allen to take a dominant win, most eyes were on their battle. #410 Jelle Tesselaar briefly headed the quartet before tangling with #120 Casey Englestone and taking a big hit into the home-straight wall. #138 Dave Polley then got ahead of #515 Frankie Wainman Jr but, having passed #525 Nigel de Kock, he got push wide by the Dutchman and shuffled back, losing ground on the wet outside line. While Wainman and #217 Lee Fairhurst came through to second and third, Polley was heading for fifth behind de Kock, only to get spun by Englestone with a lap to go. He recovered to grab the last qualifying place in 10th.

World champion #1 Tom Harris took a dominant victory in heat two, relieving Maynard of the lead within a lap of restart. Fellow Shootout men #446 Joe Booth and #55 Craig Finnikin safely qualified in fourth and sixth, despite Finnikin losing a lap early on. But #16 Mat Newson was an early casualty. #259 Paul Hines and #166 Bobby Griffin filled the top three places behind Harris, as the imprssive Maynard slipped to ninth.

The two Shootout men consigned to the consolation had contrasting fortunes. While Newson came through to second, unable to dislodge leader #235 Bradley Blyth on the final bend, Jelle Tesselaar saw his hopes extinguished on the final bend. Tesselaar had pushed #12 Michael Scriven wide for third, but Scriven hit back at the start of the last lap to retake the position. Tesselaar responded with a big last-bend lunge but the pair hooked up and neither finished. It meant that Tesselaar could no longer overhaul Polley's points total and would not qualify for the Final 6.

When Booth was unable to take his place in the meeting final, it meant he could no longer catch Finnikin and was eliminated too. So the pressure was off in the final, with only pride on the night at stake. Fairhurst and Harris were the the men on the move and had risen to fifth and sixth within just two laps, after two early cautions. #166 Bobby Griffin relieved Maynard of the lead while it took Harris a couple of laps to get past Fairhurst. Harris chased down Griffin to take the lead well before half-distance, while Fairhurst followed soon after. They were untroubled from there, Harris completing a heat-and-final double from Fairhurst and Griffin in what became a rather strung out race.

In a grand national that ran flag to flag, the vast majority was led by Maynard. But he was closed down by Englestone who got into the lead with two laps to go. Maynard held onto second, while Mat Newson came through to third from the Shootout grade. #469 Jonathan Davison made it two white tops in the top four. Harris came through to 12th from the lap handicap, securing the King's Lynn track championship - and a £250 bonus - in the process.

BriSCA Formula Two

On World of Shale night, a terrific turnout of 80 cars included a very impressive 16 who had made the trip from Holland, 12 of whom were seeded to the big race.

The first race of the day was a 23-car last-chance qualifier. Polesitter #217 Sid Madgwick led away but was passed on the second lap by #801 Jack Cave, who cleared off into the distance for victory. Four-time champion #606 Andrew Palmer followed into second but Madgwick hit back and Palmer then slowed, dropping well down the order. On his track debut, #36 Adam Wilson ran third before also slipping back. As #77 Tom Earl charged into second, having initially dropped back from his front-row start, Madgwick spun but quickly recovered to remain in with a shout of claiming one of the six qualifying spots. Local man #43 Marcus Gilbert, #582 Tomson Streets and #464 Matt Linfield climbed into qualifying positions, leaving #795 Jason Clow, Palmer and Madgwick to battle over the final transfer place. Both Palmer and Madgwick passed Clow but the positions remained otherwise unchanged, leaving Palmer to qualify for a 21st World of Shale appearance.

A similar number of cars took part in a white-top heavy heat two. #205 Brandon Young and H449 Scott Verlaan had spells in front before hometown driver #715 Scott Aldridge charged past both with six laps remaining. Aldridge took a comfortable win from Verlaan, while new world champion #1 Luke Wrench made third.

The 39 qualifiers for the World of Shale were paraded to the crowd before taking their places on the grid and hearing the immortal words, "Drivers, start your engines," to a chorus of fireworks. Outside front-row man #47 Greg McKenzie was shown wide by polesitter #129 Charley Tomblin and dropped back as Tomblin shot ahead, with #346 Ashley England settling into second ahead of H129 Michael Schutter and #58 Charlie England. Early yellow flags were required to assist #136 Kyle Taylor who'd clobbered a marker tyre, while #24 Jon Palmer and H628 Jesse Storm had also tangled on the home straight. Schutter was slow away on the restart, which let the top two get a break and #183 Charlie Guinchard snatch third. When Ashley England clipped a backmarker it allowed Guinchard to get a run on him and move into second, with Tomblin now holding an advantage of about half a straight. Guinchard was whittling that down though and as Tomblin lost further time in backmarking traffic he closed in further. Perhaps catching the leader by surprise, Guinchard launched a lunge from some way back and hit Tomblin hard, then dumped him into parked cars with six laps remaining. After that, it was plain sailing for the silver top, while England was equally comfortable in second. #995 Michael Lund came through for third ahead of #113 Pat Issitt, #615 Josh Coleman and #7 Gordon Moodie who got caught up in a tangle in the first half of the race and lost ground. More fireworks accompanied Guinchard's success, and the emotional driver went to embrace father Mark before stating it was "redemption" for his controversial removal from the lead of last month's World Final.

With around 45 cars on track, the consolation was unsurprisingly action-packed, with multiple caution periods. #9 Harley Thackra came through to a comfortable victory from McKenzie after #271 Alex Butcher dropped out of second. #69 Ben Chalkley came out on top of a good battle with H595 Ramon Suurd, with the pair eventually split by H154 Kay Lenssen.

H806 Ryan Pauw led the early stages of the final, but was hit wide by #103 Jack Issitt, which delayed them both. That handed the initiative to Aldridge, but a stoppage was required when Pauw tangled with Madgwick and climbed the fence, with the car tipping onto its side. Pauw extracted himself and saluted the crowd after twice playing a starring role in the race. When the action resumed, Aldridge continued to control the race while #113 Pat Issitt, who had grabbed second, started to be shuffled back. H124 Wim Peeters, Greg McKenzie, #7 Gordon Moodie and Charlie Guinchard all demoted him before Peeters suffered a puncture and dropped back himself. Guinchard hit Moodie wide to take third, then got inside McKenzie for second at the start of the final lap, but he could not catch Aldridge who completed a maiden heat-and-final double.

The allcomers race was a big-money for Dash 4 Cash featuring a three-abreast clutch start. The first attempt didn't last long when Brandon Young's car went up the wall and tipped onto its side. The restart was perhaps even more chaotic, with pile-ups galore, but the race was able to continue. #336 Ben Cole escaped out front but was chased down by Michael Lund who got into the lead with four to go. Cole tried to retaliate but couldn't make contact and Lund charged to victory and a bumper pay packet. Cole's good run came to end when he spun out, but he still scooped the prize for best white top, with all other grades also having similar awards, along with one for best overseas driver H131 Rutger Veenstra.