Report Mark Paulson:
Four Trackstar drivers made the relatively short to trip to Great Yarmouth on Sunday 5 May for the 1300 Saloon Stock Car English Championship. None managed to pick up a trophy but 344 Ross Fisher came close, putting in another fine performance in his debut season, whilst on the receiving end of some rough treatment.
Fisher finished fourth in the main race, having led at one stage, before being pushed back. He felt the full force of the World Champion's bumper throughout the night – 79 Barry Radcliffe delivered crunching shots to the back of the 344 machine in every race. In the first heat, Fisher hit the front early on, despite his newly acquired red grade starting slot, and was leading comfortably when absolutely blitzed by the lap down Radcliffe. Spedeworth silver roof 713 Ian Beaumont took the win.
Second time out, Fisher was again well-placed in the top five when Radcliffe repeated his earlier very heavy hit, despite having a car between himself and the TSR youngster. Meanwhile, Trackstar's lady driver 653 Gemma Rainer went onto two wheels when she clipped 10 David Carr-Burstow and very nearly rolled, but just held on to it. Moments later, she was at it at again at the other end of the track, this time performing a complete barrel roll, before landing on her wheels. She was all set to carry on but the yellow flags had just come out for a nasty incident which led to a long delay while Carr-Bustow was cut out of his car; thankfully he was later confirmed to be unscathed, but the race was called early with 67 Dan Rosenthal the winner. Rainer was classified 10th, repeating her heat one finish, with those two results being the only top-tens for Trackstar drivers to that point.
In the final, Fisher used his own bumper to good effect to pass early leader 88 Jason Scopes but was unable to build an advantage and 171 Adam O’Dell caught and passed him in his smart new Corsa. O’Dell went on to take the win and the title as Fisher once again bore the brunt of Radcliffe’s bumper – a move that allowed 415 Jamie Blackman to sneak through to the third, leaving Fisher in fourth.
It was still a good result for the young gun, while Rainer also provided plenty of entertainment with her never-say-die attitude to racing. Mention must also go to 119 Scott Clarke and 802 Richard Clarke who both also travelled east to represent Trackstar.