Spedeworth - News

Foxhall Stadium opened it’s doors to a very special season which sees the 50th running of the Superstox World Final and the promise of another crackin’ season from the open-wheelers already getting my pulses racing. On this occasion however it was equally encouraging to see the pits positively bulging with entries in all three formulas for the 2010 opener and plenty of exciting, full-bloodied racing throughout, writes Kevin Wegg.

The Historic Saloon Stock Cars had the privilege of getting things under way to an impressive start with a superb thirty car entry. Stephen ‘Grizzly’ Adams took the honours for the first spin of the year as his vintage 1950’s Wolseley got no further than the first bend and was then promptly hit hard by Chip Howland. That set the tone for some entertaining racing throughout the evening as long-distance traveller Willie Irvine from Bournemouth christened his Ipswich debut with a race win after hounding leader Ian Hall for a couple of laps before spinning him in time-honoured fashion coming out of turn four. His 100E looked particularly rapid and also netted him heat two a feat which Wayne Farrer emulated in the twenty-nine car Lightning Rod entry. He took full advantage of his yellow grade start to gradually reel in and pass early leader Darren Wells who belied his white grade start to set an impressive pace. Proceedings were brought to an abrupt end when Jordan Spavins spun out of turn four causing a seven car pile-up with top PRI performer Gary Greenland suffering considerable damage as too Richard Warner. Wells again looked quick when leading in the second heat but a fatal twitch coming out of turn four left a gap up the inside for Farrer to seize which Wells was unable to resist and promptly spun out. A similar fate befell Spavins with disastrous consequences for Jason Gibbs who managed to miss him only to slam in to the armco for yet another declared result. Farrer was on for a hat-trick in the final however the handicap of starting from the blue grade for this one proved too much thus opening the door for Wells to gain revenge. He was looking good too until the back-marking Warren Farazmand re-joined the race in front of the leaders giving Wells a dilemma – should he try and pass on the inside or outside? He chose the latter, clipped the fence in the process and allowed Lee Skoyles who was breathing down his neck to take full advantage in an exciting climax.

A fully-subscribed and whopping sixty-three car entry got the Banger racing season off to an explosive start with two massive pile-ups on the home straight, one of which saw Luke Parker smashed from pillar-to-post on two occasions. Scott Piggin needed brief attention from the medics before Steen Rozier led them in to a thrilling last lap. Jason Neale was flying in a car that had an equally impressive paint job and went in hard on both Rozier and second-placed Michael Lane to take the flag. Unfortunately a post-race check not revealed illegal tyres but also that Michael Allard had somehow evaded the race radar and was eventually accredited with the win. His luck changed dramatically in race two when he completed one-and-a-half heart-stopping rolls at speed yet fired the car up again after it was pushed back on it’s wheels and wanted to start again! Almost unnoticed John Parrott had crashed at the same time further round the bend and unfortunately needed the assistance of the fire brigade to cut him free after trapping his leg and also injuring his back. This resulted in a forty-five minute delay thus causing the cancellation of both the Banger and Stock Car finals due to Council time restrictions but the good news is that John is in good spirits and talking of returning to racing at Yarmouth in a couple of weeks time which might be a tad ambitious but shows you can’t keep a good Banger man down for long!

With the new season looming fast, Paid Practice resumes at Yarmouth on Sunday 7th + 21st March at 10am till 12-30pm.
£15 Per Car Spedeworth Reg Drivers and £20 for other ORCi Reg Drivers.
No Need to Book just arrive and Pay on the Day.

Calling all drivers! If you intend on racing at either of the practice dates you do need to book in by 5pm Wednesday 17th February. If there is insufficiant numbers for the 20th February contact Formulas night, this will be cancelled and added to the 27th February non-contact night, which at the moment is also short on numbers. Contact the office on 01252 322920 to book in.

Stock Rods have now been added to Wimbledon Stadium on Sunday 28th February, 5.30pm Start. Bookings are being taken through the Southern office on 01252 322920 on a first come basis as we are having to limit the bookings due to pit space.

We ask all interested drivers if they can book in through the office on 01252 322920 for the respective dates (20th February - Contact) and (27th February - Non-Contact) so we know how many cars to expect so that a running order can be drawn up. £30 per driver, Fully Marshalled, Open to all formula's (with suitable silencers) and licensed and day licensed ORCi Drivers. Bar & Catering facilities will be provided and admission is free for Spectators.

The ORCI would like to inform Lightning Rod drivers that Nylon/Poly suspension bushes have not been amended in the 2010 rules.

They are not allowed to be used, only standard rubber bushes, and competition and Cosworth types are still not allowed.

Spedeworth have been approached by a film making company to help in the making of a forthcoming Audi commercial. They are after Heritage/Thora type Stock Cars.

If you are intrested please contact Kevin Stickley at the Aldershot Stock Car office on 01252 322920 Monday - Friday 9am - 5pm

We require Safety Marshals, Lap Scorers, Pace Car Drivers, Pit Marshals, Start Marshals & Breakdown Drivers. To work as part of a team at Aldershot, Wimbledon, Arlington, Ipswich & Yarmouth.
Full training & safety equipment supplied, Must be available regularly.

I am please to confirm that the Wheelspin Magazine Spedeworth Drivers of the Year award winners are now known, and the awards are ready to be presented at a Spedeworth meeting in the near future. Nominees in each of three categories were put to the readers in the December issue, and the number of votes received by the Jan 10th deadline was signicantly higher than last year, which was the first time the contest was held

Once again, Jason Cooper was the "Peoples choice" for the top award, his blend of skill, speed and sportsmanship giving him the award for the second year, in which competition in his chosen formula was tougher than ever. The Young Driver award, for drivers up to 16 years old who, was the closest contested category, and Robert Gamble's succesful transition to senior racing during 2009 stood him in good stead, while Shaun Taylor's debut year in Stock Rods and strong campaign in the Polleysport / Yokohama series, obviously impressed the voters.

Wheelspin's editor Paul Huggett and competition organiser Matthew Shippam are very pleased with the interest shown. "It's a chance for drivers families, supporters and fans in general to become involved and get behind their favourite driver" said Paul, adding "Although the old South v East Anglia rivalries are still a welcome factor on the Spedeworth racing scene, there were many diehard Southern fans in agreement with the folks in Norfolk and Suffolk about our overall winner, and we congratulate Jason on being the stand-out man for another year.Both Robert and Shaun did a terrific job in their first season racing in new classes, which obviously did not go unnoticed on the terraces. We'd like to thank everybody who voted, and appreciate their efforts and those of all the other drivers involved who didn't get the award ths time"

At time of writing. Civil War 11 is going to be at HEDNESFORD HILLS RACEWAY on SATURDAY 23rd JANUARY 2010 with a 1pm Start Time.

Reports from our caretaker over the weekend are that the snow has disappeared largely thanks to the rain so it's looking good for Saturday.
The forecast is for more snow on Wednesday but rain on Thursday & Friday so hopefully it will do no harm.

To answer a couple of questions people have asked both at the Autosport show & on the forums:-
The Reason why the meeting has to be on the Saturday afternoon is because we do have a curfew of 6.30pm on both Saturdays and Sunday with the exception of National Weekend and Firework meeting when we have a special agreement with the council which is not possible for Civil War as the 2 dates we are entitled to run later are already taken up.
We know this is not the ideal for everybody but re-scheduling a meeting never is. Every effort has been made to ensure as many people as possible could come to the new date without clashing with other promotions and splitting both the crowd and driver base which upsets everybody.

The prices for Civil War 11 are:- £12 Adults, £6 Children (Aged 5-15, Under 5's go free) & £30 Family Tickets (2 Adults & up to 3 Children) An additional £6 is charged for perimeter parking or behind the Bromford Bar as well.

Cash ONLY on the gates! Sorry No advanced tickets available.

Competitors Gate will open at 9am.
Spectators Gates will open at 10am.

For new visitors the postcode for Hednesford Hills Raceway has CHANGED. It is now WS12 1BF and the full track address is:- Hednesford Hills Raceway, Reservoir Road, Hednesford, Staffordshire, WS12 1BF

Up to date information on Civil War by phone is available on 0121-357-7328 until 5pm on Friday 22nd January. After this time you can contact the raceway directly on 01543 422046 & if there is no reply there will be a recorded message giving you the information.

It has been decided that the Northern Army shall be in the top pits (nearest the track) & the Southern Army will be in the bottom pits.

I would also like to remind EVERYBODY (Drivers & Spectators) that if you are travelling to Hednesford on the Friday or early Saturday morning PLEASE DO NOT PARK ON THE APPROACH ROAD LEADING UPTO THE RACEWAY OVER FRIDAY NIGHT!! We now have a controlled gate system at the end of the approach road which is in agreement with the council (to prevent fly tipping and prevent damage to both the raceway and the common land throughout the year). It means that there is NO PARKING near the raceway like last year. The only parking on the approach road now is in front of the houses and parking there causes us (INCARACE) a lot of problems with complaints off of local residents and the council.

For people who are planning on sleeping in transporters etc Friday night the closest place to the raceway is Hednesford Town Centre Car Park. (If you approach the raceway and turn RIGHT normally onto Reservoir Road, if you go straight over the cross road and down the hill and turn right at the traffic lights the car park is 200yds on the left.

The Approach road gateway will be open at 7am on the SATURDAY MORNING and then you will be able to gain access straight up to the raceway Main gate & Competitors Gate at the top of the hill which keeps the locals on our side.

TRACK VIEW/INSIDE PARKING
Since we're in the middle of a cold snap inside parking for spectators will fill up VERY quickly so if you want a space on track view or down behind the bar please come early. Once track view is full we can still accommodate a few cars inside the raceway if you would like to be near your car but again this will fill up quickly.

Please park your cars close together (a doors width apart) to allow for us to safely get the maximum number of people inside the stadium.

That all said final preparations are once again well underway for Civil War 11 and it is looking to be another cracker of a meeting to finally kick off the 2010 season at Hednesford Hills Raceway.

Adam Leslie
INCARACE

Spedeworth would like to announce that the meeting on the 7th February at Wimbledon will be an Open meeting for all ORCI Licence Ministox drivers and light contact (Nudge and Spin) is permitted at this meeting.

Bookings are now being taken at the Spedeworth Office on 01252 322920 Monday - Friday 9am - 5pm.

As with previous years, qualification for the Spedeworth National Banger World Final will be via both attendance points and race points accumulated during the season.
There are currently no plans to repeat the 'Wild Card' rounds of 2009 as it was not felt that these added anything to the meetings at which they were available.
Qualification starts at the London Open at Wimbledon on 28th February, and the last points round will be at the Unlimited Aldershot Open on 3rd October, 3 weeks before the World Final at Ipswich which is on 23rd October.

World Qualifying Rounds
At the following 6 meetings, points will be available on all races at the meeting on the top 10 finishers in each race as follows - 20-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1. There will be no race points available at any other meetings.
Wimbledon (Unlimited) - 14th March
Ipswich (u1800 No Mondeos) - 24th April
Arlington (Unlimited) - 19th June
Yarmouth (u1800 No Mondeos) - 18th July
Ipswich (Unlimited) - 21st August
Aldershot (Unlimited) - 3rd October

Destruction Derby Points
At the following 6 meetings, there are points awarded 15, 10, 5 to the last three Spedeworth registered runners in the DD:
Wimbledon (u1600 London Open) - 28th February
Aldershot (u2100cc) - 11th April
Ipswich (u1800 No Mondeos) - 24th April
Ipswich (u2100) - 12th June
Yarmouth (u1800 No Mondeos) - 18th July
Arlington (u2000) - 24th July

Attendance Points
Southerner Attendance Points
Southern based drivers will be able to accumulate attendance points at the following meetings:
Sun 28 Feb - Wimbledon - London Open u1600 (10 points)
Sun 14 Mar - Wimbledon - Unlimited (10)
Sat 20 Mar - Ipswich - Raid u1600 (10)
Sun 28 Mar - Aldershot - Aldershot Open u1800 No Mondeos (10)
Mon 5 Apr - Arlington - Big Vans Diesel only (10)
Sun 11 Apr - Aldershot - u2100cc Help for Heroes Charity Meeting (15)
Sun 18 Apr - Aldershot - u2000cc RWD (no Granadas / Volvos) (10)
Sat 24 Apr - Ipswich - u1800 No Mondeos (5)
Sun 2 May - Aldershot - Pre 75 Unlimited / u2000cc (5)
Sun 16 May - Wimbledon - u1800 No Mondeos incl Fig.8 race (10)
Mon 31 May - Arlington - u1400 4-a-side teams (10)
Sun 6 Jun - Aldershot - Unlimited Southern Championship (10)
Sat 12 Jun - Ipswich - Hurricane u2100cc (10)
Sat 19 Jun - Arlington - Unlimited World Qualifier (5)
Sat 3 Jul - Ipswich - u1600cc 4-a-side teams (Spedeweekend) (10)
Sun 4 Jul - Ipswich - All Jaguars 'Big Cat Cup' (Spedeweekend) (10)
Sat 10 Jul - Arlington - Micro Madness (5)
Sun 18 Jul - Yarmouth - u1800 No Mondeos Summer Open (10)
Sat 24 Jul - Arlington - u2000cc (10)
Sun 1 Aug - Aldershot - Unlimited Barry Collins Trophy (10)
Sat 7 Aug - Arlington - A60 Amble Pre75 u1650cc (no Cortinas / Capris) (5)
Sun 15 Aug - Aldershot - Big Vans Diesel only (10)
Sat 21 Aug - Ipswich - Unlimited Volcano (10)
Sat 4 Sep - Arlington - Unlimited Arlington Championship (10)
Sun 3 Oct - Aldershot - Unlimited Open (10)

East Anglian Attendance Points
East Anglian based drivers will be able to accumulate attendance points at the following meetings:
Sun 28 Feb - Wimbledon - London Open u1600 (10)
Sun 14 Mar - Wimbledon - Unlimited (10)
Sat 20 Mar - Ipswich - Raid u1600 (15)
Sun 28 Mar - Aldershot - Aldershot Open u1800 No Mondeos (10)
Sun 4 Apr - Yarmouth - Micro Madness (15)
Sun 11 Apr - Aldershot - u2100cc Help for Heroes Charity Meeting (15)
Sat 24 Apr - Ipswich - u1800 No Mondeos (15)
Sun 16 May - Wimbledon - u1800 No Mondeos incl Fig.8 race (10)
Sun 23 May - Yarmouth - Big Vans Diesel only (15)
Mon 31 May - Arlington - u1400 4-a-side teams (5)
Sat 12 Jun - Ipswich - Hurricane u2100cc (15)
Sat 19 Jun - Arlington - Unlimited World Qualifier (10)
Sat 3 Jul - Ipswich - u1600cc 4-a-side teams (Spedeweekend) (15)
Sun 4 Jul - Ipswich - All Jaguars 'Big Cat Cup' (Spedeweekend) (15)
Sun 18 Jul - Yarmouth - u1800 No Mondeos Summer Open (15)
Sun 1 Aug - Aldershot - Unlimited Barry Collins Trophy (10)
Sat 7 Aug - Arlington - A60 Amble Pre75 u1650cc (no Cortinas / Capris) (5)
Sat 21 Aug - Ipswich - Unlimited Volcano (15)
Sun 3 Oct - Aldershot - Unlimited Open (10)

The winner of the 2010 National points in Stock Rods and Lightning Rods at both Spedeworth and Incarace leading up to the World Final will qualify for the 2011 South Africa tour and race a 2.0 Hot Rod.
A top competitive car will be supplied, accommodation supplied for driver plus one.
You will have to find your own flight money and damage money. Damage will be charged at trade price as it is done in house.

Spedeworth wish to announce some rule changes for the Superstox in 2010 which will apply from the 1st March 2010

Inside Weight Rule The left hand side maximum side weight must be 52.5% at any time - this will be weighed without the driver in the car.

Exhaust Rule The price limit will be kept the same as 2009. Exhaust manifolds are free, but they must be positioned outside the main chassis rails on the offside of the car where the complete exhaust system must be positioned. The silencer must be of the following type: A Simpson MS500.

Chassis ironwork & rollcage The seat must be securely fitted to the centre of the chassis and not leaning side to side & attached to the roll cage at shoulder height. And it would be recommended that any part of the rollcage around the drivers head should be padded. Tyres 4 Old tyres and 1 new tyre per meeting, except on wet meetings where it maybe the stewards decision, just because the tyre is marked it will not be classed as a second hand tyre this will be a scrutineers decision.

Spedeworth wish to announce some rule changes for the 2.0 Hot Rods in 2010 which will apply from the 1st March 2010.

Front/Rear bumper
The bumper must be minimum thickness of 5mm.
Cylinder Head
The centre camshaft cap maybe re-enforced.
Tyres
4 Old tyres and 1 new tyre per meeting, except on wet meetings where it maybe the stewards decision, just because the tyre is marked it will not be classed as a second hand tyre this will be a scrutineers decision.
Sometime during the 2010 season we will be going back to the soft compound Hoosier tyres but you will be able to use both compound for the rest of the 2010 season. (Date to be confirmed).
Head Lamp Aperture
The rule about the Head lamps must not be boxed has now been removed from the rules for 2010. The rule now states that headlamps must be blanked off with metal(0.5mm maximum thickness), or fibre-glass and must be hollow at the rear for scrutineering purposes.
This is just to keep all drivers and teams informed should they already be making preparations for next year.

We have been informed by the GRA that refurbishment work has begun on the Mick the Miller Stand which will therefore now be closed to the public until the beginning of March. At that time it is anticipated that the main grandstand will close and facilities transferred to the Mick the Miller Stand.

Security staff are being instructed with immediate effect that in terms of food being brought into the stadium no bag searches are to take place on future events, and that only very obvious amounts of food and drink such as cool boxes etc will be stopped at the doors.

When the main stand closes in March the burger van in the car park will return as all the facilities in the main grandstand will of course disappear.

Sunday sees the chequered flag fall on the final meeting of the year at Foxhall Stadium (1pm start time.) This year promoter Spedeworth really have saved the best till last with a Banger extravaganza taking in over 140 cars for the Final of the Peter Brown Developments backed Ipswich Banger Championship. A quick glance at the points chart shows that its still wide open with any of the top five drivers still able to claim the title after the 9 rounds are complete. Joe Palmer (Woodbridge) holds the local hope for a victory, he is in fourth spot just 15 points behind series leader, Kent star Barry Arnold. A special Banger outing is also on the cards for former World Stock Car World Champion the likeable and ever popular Arron Morris from Binfield. Now add in to the mix the fact that this is the final meeting of the year and the ongoing feud between the two big local teams has been brewing all season, and they are both booked in in big numbers for what could be the big end of year showdown between Jason Thurlow’s “Team Simple” and Dave Canhams “Cheetas.” Fireworks are guaranteed when these two teams get together so these drivers alone will probably be worth travelling to see.

For many race fans the formula of the year has been Superstox, from the NEC show back in January with a large number of new cars on show it looked like a great season was ahead and they certainly have not failed to deliver. Massive grids of cars all year and some fantastic racing with the big names not getting things all thier own way in 2009. New World Champion Ben Marjoram is racing along with Thetford star Jason Cooper and Bury based Matt Carberry. Look to these star drivers for the wins this weekend as Foxhall is the place where a top driver in this high speed class can really shine. 2010 sees the 50th running of the Superstox World Championship, it first held at Foxhall back in 1961 and returns to its birthplace for the Golden Anniversary next October.

Spedeworth’s budget formula, the Rookie Rods make a rare Foxhall apperance to contest their Longtrack Championship. After a busy local Summer season at Great Yarmouth the Rookie Rods look forward to an outing on the wide open expanses of Foxhall. Southern traveller Alex Crane challenged for honours at every meeting at the Norfolk venue and will be one to watch at Foxhall. Local eyes will be on Henry Goodchild (Ipswich) who looked strong last time out in his Fiesta.

The 2010 racing season at Foxhall kicks off on Saturday 6th March with the usual 6.45 start time.

Just to clarify that on Sunday at IPSWICH RACEWAY 13th DECEMBER, at the ROOKIE ROD LONG TRACK CHAMPIONSHIP.

The Only Tyres Permitted for use are the Tyres In The 2009 Rule Book, that are.

175/70 x 13 Kingpin Pacer (not soft road compound).

175/70 x 13 Yokohama AA01 A.Drive T rated.

Colway Remoulds.

Mud and Snow/Apine versions are not permitted. Tyre Buffing is Permitted. Tyre softner is not Permitted. These Tyres are available from Hoosier Tire UK,They will be in Attendance on Sunday At Ipswich,if you wish to Pre-Order Tyres.

Please Place Your Order 01293 - 863 579.

Despite the fact that none of the senior formulas were on the bill and the track was saturated after heavy rain Foxhall Stadium once again served up another superb oval racing experience with plenty of jaw-dropping overtaking and incidents galore writes KEVIN WEGG.

Best race of the day was probably the first Stock Rod heat with Shaun Taylor(Leiston) and John Bowring leaving the proceedings in a high-speed spin. World champion Stuart Fox was soon challenging Smyth for the lead and dared to try the treacherous outside line. He bravely tried several times to pass with no joy then as they entered the final lap two backmarkers had a coming-together allowing Fox to sneak through. Back-marking Kim Carter then continued to confuse things as the scrap for the lead continued resulting in Smyth charging up the inside only to be thwarted at the finish line by a gutsy drive by Fox who later revealed he had damaged his drive shaft and punctured his radiator in the earlier clash!

Carter made a much better fist of it in the second heat with a win as Smyth made the most of his front row start in the Best in Britain final after shaking off pole-sitter Andy Sturt and credit goes to youngster Dean O’Dell who dived up the inside of Fox and gallantly held on for third place.

Lightning Rod racing is often famed for spectacular crashes and sadly there was a big one for Chas Farrer after he hit the stranded Adrian Offord, resulting in a lengthy delay and a trip to hospital for the likeable veteran. Andy Brown was one of the first to smash high-speed in to the armco before Diggy Smith drove superbly in the wet to take a fine heat win. Smith wasn’t so lucky next time out when he was spun and collected by the unfortunate Steve Santry who had a dreadful afternoon. Warren Farazmand had a great battle with Ian Atkinson which he finally won before another crash ruined Farazmand’s chances in the final with cars spinning everywhere as Harry Skoyles made his way up from the back to take it.

The 2010 Superstox World Championship next year will be the 50th running of the Championship. In preparation for this event Spedeworth's Christer Earrey would like to track down all the former Superstox World Champions that are still with us. Of course those that are still around the raceways he knows but would really like to get in contact with those that are not seen around the raceways these days.

If you are, know or are related to a Former Superstox World Champion, Christer would very much like to hear from you with their contact details. Christer can be contacted via e-mail at: christer@spedeworthea.co.uk or via the Ipswich office number on 01473 612423.

After three big Banger meetings in a row Foxhall Stadium reverts to some non contact racing this weekend, regular race goers may like to note that this penultimate meeting of the season will start at 1pm on Sunday afternoon.
Its a three formula lineup headed up by the Stock Rods who are racing for the end of season “Best In Britain” title. With bookings limited to 40 cars and all cars racing in all races there is going to be plenty of action despite the non contact status of the Stock Rods. Great news came this week with the news that newly crowned World Champion, midlands based Stuart Fox, has booked in to race and take on the established big names from Spedeworth such as Andy Sturt and Uxbridge star Stuart Smyth. Local interest will be in rising Colchester driver Lee Close, he has had a good summer campaign mainly at Great Yarmouth Stadium and has chalked up a few wins during his first year on the ovals. Lee has gone well at Foxhall on his previous meetings here and could be one to watch for a race win this time although perhaps not in the big race. Not quite so local are the travellers of the formula with the top three from Scotland making the journey down for the weekend and Alistair Calvin who is coming all the way from Northern Ireland in a effort to take yet more silverware back across the Irish Sea. Stock Rods have long provided a great breeding ground for some of the more elite classes Ipswich based National Hot Rod World Champion Carl Boardley found his feet in this formula some ten years ago along with Gavin Seager who went on to become an established championship winning name on the long circuits taking victory in the Pick Ups Racing series last year.
The ever popular at Foxhall Lightning Rods are back to round off their season at the track where they really are at their very best. This one make Sierra 2.0 ltr class lives on thanks to its reasonable costs to race and availabilty of cars and spares, although given that the Sierra went out of production some sixteen years ago one has to wonder as to when the cars will start to dry up and we have to look for a replacement. Meanwhile, they are here this Sunday with top man Harry Skoyles (Heacham) booked in fresh from a win at Wimbledon last weekend. Not sharing his good fortune at the South London track was the East Anglian pairing of Kieth Miller (Norwich) and Harwich driver Richard Warner, they clashed in heat one with Miller rattling the home straight fencing very hard in a crash which saw both cars damaged beyond repair on the night, there was no doubt who Miller blamed for the crash either so watch for the action if these two have repaired their cars in time for Ipswich. Local support for Ian Wright (Cransford) is always in evidence at his local track along with Essex based Terry Rollings who is driving well in his return to the sport this season. Cambridge and Bedfordshire seems to be the spot to live in the Lightning Rods, look out for Biggleswade Father and Son pairing Richard and Jordan Spavins and the ever popular Chas Farrer who always brings the most vocal and enthusiastic support whenever he races.

Spedeworth would like to announce that the top 36 drivers have qualified for the Long Track Championship at Ipswich Stadium on 13th December.

Booking are now being taken at the Spedeworth office on 01252 322920 - Monday - Friday 9am - 5pm.

212 John Smith

251 Lee Ribbans

59 Carl Mann

141 Ross Charlton

24 Alex Crane

706 Darren Terry

267 Dan Vick

144 Lee Evans

308 Ian Loome

187 Ted Symes

761 Matthew Smith

114 Nathan Welch

245 Brad Hudson

19 Shaun Wegg

105 Karl Baker

687 Dean Miller

55 Jessica Warner

537 Billy Clarke

366 Gary Knott

6 Henry Goodchild

5 Malcolm Burton

73 Bryan Smith

608 Ricky Wareham

712 Elliott Wilkins

23 Terry James

303 Paul Francis

16 Daniel Baldock

44 Chris Hill

3 Shaun Thouless

83 Lloyd Mullins

131 Richard Frost

148 Dave Dewey

380 Sam Arthurton

306 Simon Williams

92 Jamie-Lee Potter

13 George Martin

Foxhall Stadium was rocked to the core last Saturday as the Unlimited Banger World Final rolled in to town with a huge entry of cars and spectators too boot writes Kevin Wegg.
With fifty-five cars from across the UK, Ireland and Holland having already secured their place on the grid, three last-gasp qualifying heats featuring a further one hundred plus cars was a tasty o'dourves before the main feast. Only the winner of each would join them so it was cut-throat from the off. As with the previous meeting, turn one again saw plenty of action with Sam “Showman” Wyatt picking his way through the carnage for an invaluable win. He went on to prove that was no fluke with a magnificent showing in the final as too the winner of the second heat Phil Cullen. Regular Southern raider Steve Anscombe showed superb car control to land the final grid position despite having a slow puncture. His luck ran out when it came to the big race itself however with the engine expiring in a cloud of steam. Lady luck had already determined grid positions via a public draw which gave the winner of the qualifying points series Dave King - making his fourteenth appearance - a very promising position on row five. Last year’s points winner Carl Gould had a stunning paint-job but couldn’t match it on track whilst defending champion Dale Hughes was on row nineteen which proved to be too much once the green flag dropped. A surprisingly clean start on a damp track was red flagged when Skegness driver Chris Murfin needed help. With the field whittled down to just thirty-five for the restart Lee Hughes once again took it up, whilst figure eight world champion Carl Overy was making superb progress and got up to second place until Paul Tompkins pushed him wide. Hughes was positively flying though and appeared to have it in the bag until the previously retired Wayne Cottrill re-joined the race and took him out. “Winkle” (Tompkins) couldn’t believe his luck and despite nearly falling foul himself to a backmarker kept it together to take the gold crown for the first time in eight attempts from a challenging row twenty start – respect! Full marks go to Wyatt and Cullen who managed a magnificent third and fifth respectively, the latter only just making the grid at all after hastily replacing his engine before the start!
In the two events for Allcomers, the Essex Gladiators were put to the sword in the first with Dan Oliver hit so many times by Liam Cracknell, Steven Bugler and finally Buster Godden that his rear wheel ended up just behind the driver’s headrest. Glyn Platts took that from thirty-five starters then Kyle Overy led the second forty-two car event from start to finish despite Andrew Davies holding him up on the very last bend resulting in the following pack actually bundling him across the line sideways! The Gladiators got their revenge in the DD mind with Simon Smith landing the final blow.

It’s always been billed as Oval Racings biggest night out. For the second year running the National Banger Unlimited Championship Of The World comes to Ipswich. Foxhall Stadium on Saturday (start time 5pm) will be a mecca for fans of National Banger racing from all over the UK and mainland Europe. One thing that is for certain is that this years World Final IS going to be one big night out with 180 cars booked in with 58 drivers making it into the big race. At the end there can only be one winner and he will carry the coveted gold roof, which will in fact be sprayed onto his car on the night, for the next 12 months.

Can you honestly pick a winner? While there are top drivers in the Bangers who can claim the lions share of wins in any season there is also a massive element of luck involved on a Championship race such as this. It is vital to stay out of trouble and it can be so easy to become involved in another drivers accident and see an early end to your race. Dave “Kingy” King from Burgess Hill who has topped this years qualifying series says “I cant remember how many World Finals I’ve done now, but it must be nearer to 20 than 10, back in the early days I went crashing and never got in the top 4, last year I still got stuck into a few other cars and still managed to get fourth” So could Dave predict a winner? “You cant predict anything in this race to be fair, you could have the fastest car on the night and be flying, but one touch from another car and you are out of it, lady luck has got to be with you a little bit if you are going to win it” continued Dave who has been busy in his Sussex workshop preparing a Mk2 Granada for the big race.

East Anglian Banger fans have got a few drivers to cheer for 2008 points champion Carl Gould (Norwich) will be looking to do well along with Caister driver Danny Sutton and fellow Yarmouth regular Michael Allard. Defending champion Dale Hughes (Ashford) can never be discounted and it would be no surprise to see him get a back to back win, which whilst rare has been done before, most recently by Essex star “Boxer” Jack. This is a true World Championship with several foreign entries. Dutch Champions Jeroen Muller, Evert Dijk and Arjan Vornink will be making the trip across the North Sea and all the way from Nutts Corner Raceway in Northern Ireland we welcome Davy Patton.

This is going to be one the biggest gatherings of Bangers in the UK this year and as ever the wide and varied array of cars will be eagerly awaited by fans arriving at Foxhall. As usual the Mk2 Granada will be considered the tool for the job, although they are becoming hard to find now with clean examples changing hands on ebay for a lot more money than you would want to spend on a Banger. The real keen drivers still manage to get there hands on a MK1 Granada with the Coupe model being the most sought after, it is rumoured that there will be three Coupes racing at Foxhall this weekend. As always expect Jaguars aplenty and a good sprinkling of hearses, limousines and American cars.

Promoters, Spedeworth Motorsports are urging spectators to get to Foxhall early and to follow the special direction signs if approaching from the A12 end of Foxhall Road.

Plans are now underway for the annual Stock Market event taking place at NIR. We are expecting a strong turnout this year for both buyers and sellers as people are certainly trying to beat the credit crunch and pick up a bargain or two.

Why not start putting saleable items to one side ready to make a few pounds for Christmas or simply more money to spend on racing! It is amazing what people will buy, you may consider it useless but to a new racer it could be a worthy purchase.

Last year we opened the pit gates later to reduce the amount of inter trader selling and this worked very well giving buyers the opportunity to snap up the bargains when the gates open to the public at 10a.m. on the dot.

This market is open to any formula, feel free to bring along your car and place it up for sale where you will have genuine people looking to buy all in one place.

If you are building a new racer over the winter, come along and visit trade stands and pick up all your hardware so that you can keep busy in the garage over the closed season, instead of waiting for parts to arrive in the post.

It is also an ideal opportunity to purchase Christmas gifts for your racing partners. With plenty of racewear stands in attendance plus traders selling all types of merchandise, lots of excellent gifts to fill those stockings

There will be lots to see and do, and as always the NFR Two Seater FI’s will be in attendance and for anyone who hasn’t taken part in the white knuckle experience now is your chance – blow away the cobwebs with the NFR team!

The track will be available for anyone to test a car (any formula) simply sign in at the pit office (cost £15 per driver).

We understand that people are on a budget so we have held Stand Prices for yet another year. Sellers can click here for a list of prices, and the gate price is still only £5 with children and OAP’s free. Alternatively if you have any questions you can email StockMarket2009@aol.com or call 07855 442 667

Please note the date for this event is the 22nd November. Gates open to sellers at 9.30a.m. for set up and 10a.m to buyers.

Turn one at Foxhall Stadium became something of a “Bermuda Triangle” with car after car entering but failing to emerge for turn two as the annual Firework Gala night featured a crescendo of crashes, smashes and bangs of one sort or another writes Kevin Wegg.

The best part of eighty Bangers took to the track with some stunning paint jobs to match the occasion, most noticeably from Ian Wright and Chris Watling. Neither were rewarded with any success however, Wright proving something of a target whilst Watling performed a double side-over-side roll-over after clipping John Parker and just to add salt to the wound his own team-mate Simon Rose accidently skidded in to the roof of the upturned car! Thankfully Watling walked away smiling as was Southern raider Phil Hampton who comfortably took the win. His grin was bigger still after the final although it was to be short-lived. Previous to that the first bend had seen a monumental pile-up in race two which just seemed to keep attracting more and more victims as Ken Wyatt completed another roll-over just for good measure. Appropriately enough for the evening Ashley Whitman roared around like a rocket for the win and like Hampton started at the back in the all-in “Fireball” final. Fifty-one cars started and again another turn one smash took its toll. Ashley Reed was looking good for the win until just clipping a backmarker and spinning himself out. Leading Southerner Steve Anscombe was making the most of his pole position start until Hampton went past in the closing stages. Anscombe’s motor was by now puffing badly and he managed to slow the progress of the chasing Michael Mills sufficiently to ensure Hampton was unchallenged during the run-in to the flag. It was all in vain though as video evidence showed Hampton was actually a lap down. Scott Piggin took the Allcomers race – which made up for losing a wheel in the first when well clear – which also saw the Mendlesham pairing of Liam Reach and Duncan Briggs sorted in no uncertain terms. A short, sharp but entertaining DD featured an amazing hit administered by Darren Parrett whose car was already bent like a banana but managed to hit Sean Parrett so hard he rolled in the process! Mike Nicholls took another DD scalp dishing it out to all-and-sundry.

It was good to see Darren Jones on-hand to present the trophies for the Fireball as part of his benefit meeting with his old team HMS Wreckers proudly out in force too. Eleven year old Jack Phipps did likewise throughout the evening with each race generously sponsored by local companies who kindly donated their money directly to the Thomas Wolsey School which Jack attends.

There was a good turnout of Historic Stock Cars including John Dodge in a first-for-the-formula Austin A40. Sadly it failed to start in race one whilst both Oldings and Gordon Coull got tangled early on and failed to make up the ground. In fact they were rather subdued all night, not so Steve Hillier who drove superbly to bring the once-familiar sight of an MG Magnette home to victory. Things went downhill after that for after being upgraded for the next race he tangled with Jason Blossom and was left stranded on the home straight. Terry Sandom then hit the stricken car so hard it punctured a huge gaping hole in the passenger door. Max Cawthorn took the honours meaning that just for once a Triumph hadn’t ruled the roost but despite Nick Dellar hitting the front in his Magnette in the final it wasn’t to be and in the end it was a Triumph 1-2-3 for Paul de Paiva, Gary Madgwick and Colin Matthews.

A simply stunning firework display with a host of all-new effects rounded off the best night’s family entertainment you’ll find anywhere in East Anglia!

Following the meeting that took place at the Holiday Inn in Brentwood on Wednesday 28th October a decision was made regarding tyres.
Deane has come back from South Africa and i would like to apoligise for the confusion caused. Any new tyre can be used which is freely available from a tyre dealer with a maximum price of £25 inc VAT.
With immediate effect until 31st May 2010 any new tyre from the list below can be used which are available from most Stapletons Tyre Services which you can contact on 08702 414 414 or you can e-mail them at dealership@stapletons-tyres.co.uk to find your nearest tyre centre.
It was also agreed that during this trial period if there was a particular tyre which proved fast or to have supply problems then it would be prohibited after consultation with the drivers.
Below is the list of tyres selected under £25 all prices include VAT.
175/70 R13 Primewell PS850 82T - £22.95
175/70 R13 Tracmax F102 82T - £23.82
175/70 R13 Triangle 82H TR928 - £24.47

It’s Gala Night at Foxhall Stadium this Saturday Night (note the earlier start time 6pm) and this means its Bangers, Stock Cars and Fireworks on the menu for what is one of the towns biggest nights out. Foxhall Gala Night has grown over the years into a tourist attraction rather than a race meeting and promoters Spedeworth Motorsports are urging people to get to the stadium early and to follow the special direction signs if approaching along Foxhall Road from out of town.

Entries for the Bangers have now topped the 70 mark including Steve “Cecil” Anscombe who is travelling up from the south coast, Steve will be bringing a truck full of cars which he has built for temporary drivers from the south to swell the grid. As ever there will be plenty for the local Ipswich fans to cheer for with a big entry of local drivers. Michael Mills from Bucklesham is booked to race and Jono Phipps (Aldringham) having a go on the track, which makes a change from being behind one of the video cameras, which is his usual role at Foxhall. The ever present and it seems ever expanding “Team Simple” will be out for a crash or two on Gala Night, the “Simple” guys are always good value for money when ever they race and seem to take just as many hits as they dish out, with Sean Parratt from Nacton often a prime target, he will trying his hardest to make sure he is not on the receiving end this time and that he is not a “expired Parratt” by the end of the first race! The usual ever present crop of Ipswich drivers including Chris Watling, Jamie Hadleigh, Michael Lane and Andrew Hill will all be here for this bumper bending night of crashing.

Drivers are being encouraged to present some well painted cars for Gala Night, there will be a smart car parade with prizes for the best presented cars before the meeting starts.

Continuing with the contact theme there will be three races for the Historic Stock Cars, so if you are one of those who says “Stock Car racing is not like it was…” these are for you, because these cars wind the clock back to the 1970’s with Triumph 2000’s and MG Magnettes being the order of the day. Nick Dellar from Kesgrave being possibly the most successful of the MG drivers, his car being a replica of the 499 Bob Studd car from the mid 70’s. The ones to beat at the moment in this class seem to be the Olding brothers from Middlesex, they took the lions share of the spoils the last time these cars raced which was two weeks ago at Great Yarmouth. The Oldings are both racing Triumphs which probably have the edge on the MG’s in the handling department and are clearly quicker than the Cortinas in a straight line.

There is a bumper Spedeworth firework display as well and the evening will end with a mega Destruction Derby where the winner is quite simply the very last Banger which can still move under its own steam! A real fight to the finish which should be around 10pm.

'Stock Car Racing is Magic' Issue 1 is now available from spedeworth raceways and is a superb pictorial looking back at the 'Cross In Hand Raceway' and with over 200 photos, many never published before, will stir many memories of the excellent and sadly missed track down in deepest East Sussex.

The pictorial has been created and published by Dean Cox and Dave Baldwin (Graphics by Dave), and produced not only to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Spedeworth next year, but just as importantly, a tribute to the memory and life through the lense of 'Fred Buss', one of spedeworths photographers of the late 60s up until his retirement around 1980.

A donation from every copy of 'Stock Car Racing is Magic' will go to Cancer Research, and whilst published earlier than planned, more issues are designed and ready for publication with issue 2 due out at easter next year, featuring more classic photos from fred's collection covering Arlington, Wimbledon and Spedeweekends from those memorable days.

Dean Cox and Dave Baldwin hope you will support and thoroughly enjoy this fantastic trip down memory lane, the cost of each issue available at £2.50

With ‘The Undertaker’ appropriately racing a hearse the Unlimited National Bangers “Spooktacular” provided a seasonal display of hard-hitting action at Foxhall Stadium with the bodies of many cars duly despatched to their final resting place considerably shorter than when they started writes KEVIN WEGG.

Derek “The Undertaker” Caton from Dunmow was racing the three hundred and thirteenth car of his illustrious racing career but it was clearly unlucky as he was buried in the motorised mayhem that followed. Matt High from Lowestoft didn’t appear to have a ghost-of-a-chance in his already battle-weary hearse however the youngster offered spirited resistance appropriately enough and was good value despite being a tempting target. First casualty of the night was Carl Frost in the superbly presented vintage Rover P5 with Sonny Sherwood landing a big hit on the ultra-stretch limo of Charlie Taylor. Paul Tompkins took a comfortable win whilst Carl Gould had to work considerably harder in the second. He made up a huge deficit in his unusual Toyota Supra to catch long-time leader Justin Garmin on the last-lap and land a telling blow going in to the final bend to snatch a thrilling victory. Thirty-five starters for the final with Frost once again on the receiving end of a big hit as another superb ending unfolded with Tompkins making it a ‘double’ by coming all the way from the back to pass Karl Totham on the very last bend. High brought his hearse back from the dead more than once in the allcomers race before Gould ultimately finished him off and Kyle Overy smashed the field decisively to win the Destruction Derby in style.

Lone white grader Derek Spall (Dallinghoo) led away both Stock Rod heats until yellow-grader Mike de Paiva (Bournemouth) showed a remarkable turn of speed to easily win the first followed by another convincing victory in the second. Alan Thorndyke took full advantage of de Paiva starting from the back of the blue grade in the final, hitting the front after passing Lee Close (Colchester). De paiva was still carving his way through the field mind and was up to third as the race entered the start of what proved to be a dramatic last lap and a quarter. Coming out of turn four Thorndyke just caught the rear of Close - causing him to momentarily twitch - as he made his move up the outside to start the final lap. Close fought gamely not to lose second place as well to de Paiva and just edged it during the run-in to the flag.

Fans of Banger racing in East Anglia will think all of their birthdays have come at once with Saturday nights meeting at Foxhall being the first of three big Banger outings in a row at the popular Ipswich raceway. It’s the Halloween “Spooktacular” and the earlier start time of 6.00PM will allow some time for a parade of cars before the racing, no, that should read crashing starts at 6.45.

Big names with big cars are booked in to race with 50 entries at the time of writing with multi champion Jack Overy with his “Team Black” and the “Barton Boys” making the trip across from the midlands. 2008 World Final qualifiers Daniel Sutton (Yarmouth) and Carl “Gouldy” Gould (Norwich) will be looking for honours on the night, but there will be plenty trying to stop them including the Dutch trio of Dijk Evert, Derk Dunnick and Hendrik Domine. Always popular with Banger fans are the southern pairing of Paul “Winkle” Tompkins (Basingstoke) and Alan “Jethro” Hunt up from Reading. Big Banger meetings such as this often attract some special cars and its these that the fans flock to see. Expect a good number of Granada Mk2’s to have a final night of glory at Foxhall, the Granada still regarded as THE tool for the job when it comes to proper Banger racing. We can probably expect a hearse or two and there are rumours of a couple of limos coming to race. Derek Caton’s WI Engineering team are known for turning up with a fleet of something special, although exactly what is often a well kept secret until the night. Volvos are getting popular with the drivers now and Yarmouth regular Barry Beevor has one prepared for this weekend. Local hopes this time are with Ipswich Father and Son pairing Duane and Steven Collings and Carl Frost making his National Banger debut.

Keen supporters will be form watching at Foxhall, with the National Banger Unlimited World Championship just two weeks away at the same track there could be some strong opinions formed as to who could be the men to watch, as next time these drivers meet at Foxhall there will be the coveted gold roof at stake.

Stock Rods have been added to the line up this time out for an extra late season meeting. The two big names in the formula are the established pairing of Stuart Smyth (Uxbridge) and Andy Sturt (Ashstead). Very much on form man Dean O’Dell from Ampthill could well be one for a win with very good form all through the Summer. As usual a good local entry is always guaranteed in the Stock Rods, Shaun Taylor (Leiston) will be hoping for a change of fortune from his last Foxhall outing when he went home with a lot of damage to his new car, its all straightened now but was still not 100% at its last race at Yarmouth two weeks ago. Woodbridge drivers Paul Frost and Derek Spall are booked to race but probably the best bet for locl honours could go the Colchester based Lee Close, still a newcomer to the formula Lee has a lot of oval racing history in his family and is proving himself to be a good competitor in this non contact class.

Spedeworth are sorry to announce that the 1300cc Stock Cars have been withdrawn from the National Banger World Final Meeting.
This is due to the recent low turn outs at meetings and the large number of National Bangers wishing to race at this event.

Classic use of the bumper in the 1300 Stock Cars ensured that the destiny of their World Championship title nestled in several hands before the flag finally came down at the Foxhall Stadium writes KEVIN WEGG.

With defending champion Mark Whybra sitting this one out, pole-sitter and much-fancied Daniel Wenn seemed a likely winner and duly took it up from a field of thirty-eight starters until fellow Norfolkman Simon Welton had other ideas, going in so hard up the inside that he took Barry Radcliffe along with him as well. Radcliffe it was that took up the running before Marty Colliver added to the growing list of race leaders. The race was stopped when Simon Berry was winded following a clash with Radcliffe and Gary Aylward was another to retire as Colliver led the bunched field away from the restart. Welton half spun Colliver going down the back straight then found a gap on the inside only for Colliver to wrestle it back gamely. Again Welton tried the inside once more and in a carbon copy half spun Colliver again. The plucky Southerner was having none of it and fought back brilliantly as they jostled side-by-side down the back straight ending with a last-ditch attempt on Welton which didn’t quite come off. It was a terrific effort which also cost him second place ultimately as Wenn slipped through. The back-marking Danny Colliver made a somewhat dubious attempt to remove the race leader which Welton did well to fend off and deservedly took the flag with Wenn simply unable to close the gap.

Welly’s crew also deserve praise for a delightful show of glee, carrying their hero shoulder high down the back-straight to rich applause from a good-sized crowd.

Commenting on the win which he now adds to his earlier European title success Welly said:

“It’s been an unbelievable year! I just didn’t see this win coming myself. Even when I saw the last lap board I just thought no, I can’t believe I’m going to do it.”

Credit too for Wenn who was booed by a very small section of the crowd – presumably Whybra’s fan club! – who had this to say:

I got a good start and can’t ask for any more. It was good fun – better luck next year perhaps!”

Well done lads, a proper Stock Car race with excellent bumperwork and I just loved the never-say-die attitude of all concerned – same again next year will do nicely!

In the two support races, Welly’s car was suitably endowed with a gold roof and he showed he really was in a class of his own on the night, taking the first from the back of the field – surely something of a record? Terry Kinsella took several big hits in this one when spun on the back straight and then Carl Gould had his “veg” well and truly diced when spun on the home straight and hit very hard indeed by Jamie Blackman. I’ve heard the expression “pocket billiards” before and I think Carl brought new meaning to the expression such was his public attempt to ease the obvious pain he was in! Starter Lynne Cooper was full of sympathy and commented that his good lady would have to play tiddlywinks on her own that night! And Gouldy was still smiling… nay, wincing! New balls please……

Great bumper-work again from Radcliffe and Colliver pleased the purists like me with Radcliffe just failing after a tremendous dive in to the last bend whilst Colliver was unlucky to get disqualified after losing his exhaust when well placed. Welton looked set for a unique hat-trick after bursting through early on only for Gary Aylward to set about Luke Harwin which unluckily snared Welly as well. Becky Osborne took a very big hit on turn three which brought out the yellows and it transpires that she has broken two ribs, not to mention some nasty bruises so we wish her a speedy recovery. Pete Beldom led the restart with just three to go and Radcliffe once again ‘gave it large’ going in to the final bend; got inside Beldom but kicked out the rear end just too far in the process and spun himself out, Beldom just holding on it.

Great stuff from the Stockies but thankfully clashes in the National Hot Rods were few-and-far between compared to their near riotous efforts last time yet there was still no shortage of full-on commitment. Thirty-seven cars were split in half over four heats and produced some great action. Colin Smith won the first by the proverbial mile however all eyes were on a simply stunning drive from Carl Boardley in the Tigra whose outside passes were something else all night. A clash with Phil Spinks when dicing for second had some assuming he would be penalised but the Steward thought otherwise and he took a well earned second spot. Andy Steward simply couldn’t make his spirited outside passes on the leader stick in heat two which had Stu Carter also profiting from the outside line as he easily succeeded where Steward gallantly failed. Doughnut made it count in the third heat to take up the lead before Smith passed him and he retired soon after.

The black cross was again used liberally by the Steward for contact in this one and such was the clamp down all night that race results were only given well after videos had been studied and studied again! Colin Smith was one of those on the receiving end who despite crossing the line first was subsequently docked two places for contact. Boardley was another to receive a cross in their last heat yet he carried on regardless and overtook just about the entire field on the outside to once again win in style with no punishment forthcoming at race end. Must give credit to Mike Godfrey who drove really well and smoothly all night to gain a thoroughly deserved fourth place in this and the final – good on ‘yer sport! Talking of finals, their 35 lapper featuring twenty-eight cars was a perfect end to a red-hot display from the rods. Early drama saw Stu Carter spin himself but he got a lucky reprieve when James O’Shea got out-of-shape taking Chris Haird and Dick Hillard with him, the latter being unable to join the restart. Haird subsequently made it and took a fine third in the process whilst Carter was also passing well but at the real business end all eyes were once again on Smith and Boardley who were both absolutely flying around the opposition to finish in that order and cap a terrific session from both formulas.

We would like to inform all Junior Rod drivers that the formula has been withdrawn from Northampton on 25th October due to lack of car entries.

Spedeworth would like to apologise on making this decision and to the drivers that were booked in for this event.

We have now got a stock of Superstox steel wheels.
You can either get these from Spedeworth on 01252 322920 or from George Polley Motorsport.
Rear Wheels
8 X 13/Back Depth,100mm (4") are £60 inc VAT
Front Wheels
5.5 X 13/Back Depth,97mm (3.8") are £57 inc VAT
5.5 X 13/Back Depth,66mm (2.6") are £57 inc VAT

Due to a shortage of National Bangers booking in for the Halloween Spooktacular meeting at Foxhall Stadium on Saturday 31st October, Spedeworth have added Stock Rods to the Fixture. Drivers need to book in via the Southern Office for this meeting on 01252 322920.

Stock Car action hits Foxhall Raceway this Saturday night (18.45 start time) and it’s a big one with 36 Stock Cars booked in to do battle as the once a year World Championship returns to Ipswich. Big news at the moment is the fall out between current Champion Mark Whybra and fellow Norfolk star and potential winner this year Daniel Wenn. These two, arguably two of the best in the formula, engaged each other in an increasingly bitter battle at Yarmouth Stadium a month ago which ended up with Wenn running Whybra into the fence very hard in an action that many felt was to hard and left Wenn facing action from the governing body. That action has not been forthcoming as this is a tough sport and the fencing was deemed to be fair if hard and many are hoping that the battle will really come to a head this weekend in the big race. Looking at possible winners, Wenn and Whybra along with Simon Welton are tipped to take the honours for East Anglia with the likable Aaron Morris (Bracknell) looking to repeat his World Final win which he last won in 2007. A local win, if its going to come, could possible go to Martlesham garage owner Simon Berry, another driver who has held the title before when he took the win at Swaffham raceway back in 2003. There is plenty for local supporters to cheer for with Woodbridge drivers Kevin Thurlow and Mark Bloss racing, Ipswich represented by Gary Fincham and Jason Wilkins and Barry “Bear” Jones flying the flag for Felixstowe. Remember though Stock Car racing is a full contact sport, so anything can happen, and usually does, very often the driver in 6th or 7th place on the grid can have a big say in the final result as it’s those drivers who can be responsible for a big push into the first bend. This race has thrown up a few surprise winners over the years so the gold roof could well end up at the end of the evening being sprayed onto the roof of just about any of the cars on the grid.

On Wednesday 28th October 2009 there is a meeting to discuss the formula for next season. It is for anybody with an interest in this formula i.e drivers past and present, car builders,or any drivers considering a change to this Formula. We will be discussing all the rules, car construction, racing fixtures, and anything else as a group you wish to discuss regarding the formula.

This is your chance to voice your opinion, the meeting will be held at the Holiday Inn, Brook Street, Brentwood,(M25 Jcn 28) at 7.30pm.

To all 2.0 Hot Rod Drivers it is regrettable that the race meeting scheduled for Sunday 8th November at Hednesford has had to be cancelled. The Hot Rods have been withdrawn from this meeting due to low turn outs at the previous meetings held at this venue. We apologize to all Drivers that have already booked in for this meeting.

We are holding a discussion evening on Tuesday 20th October at 7.30 pm in the Trackside Bar (downstairs) at Yarmouth Stadium. The purpose of this evening will be to discuss with drivers and teams our plans and your suggestions to improve our racing in 2010.

This will be YOUR opportunity to put YOUR views forward, now is the chance to have your say!

Deane Wood and the teams at both Spedeworth and Great Yarmouth Stadium are committed to seeing a successful racing season in 2010, which is probably going to present us all with similar challenges in life as did 2009.

Please try and come along, but if you are unable to attend and there is a matter you would like raised at the meeting please email us at nick@spedeworth.co.uk

Please could we ask you to “spread the word” about this meeting as we would like to try and attract drivers who are not currently racing with us.

Three abreast racing from the 2.0 litre Hot Rods provided some thrilling action at Foxhall Stadium and the on-set of rain for their final served merely to ensure a truly storming finish writes KEVIN WEGG.

Gavin Botfield had problems from the start in race one as he crawled away from the line and may have wished he had pulled off there and then as a few laps later he clashed at high speed with Jamie White although it was the latter that ended up with most damage. Martin Codling subsequently joined them after spinning and slamming backwards in to the Armco none of which worried race winner Charlie Schembri. On that occasion he kept Brendon Smith at bay but roles were reversed in heat two where early leader Rob Ashman was sent spinning after contact with Smith however the Steward ruled that Ashman had cut across when trying to defend his position. Gary Goodswen tried desperately hard to make several outside passes stick without success something that proved much more fruitful for him and many others in an exciting feature final. Despite the track being very wet there were numerous passes both inside and outside with Paul Wright claiming second after surprisingly get up the inside of Goodswen and then repeating the move on Schembri to hit fresh air. Further down the field Sam Holland was making terrific progress as too Mark Cooper who in a thrilling contest just edged out Mark Paffey as they crossed the finishing line.

Despite a small turnout from the 2.0 litre Stock Cars Steve Anscombe showed just how it should be done with the bumper as he made his way up to second in style. Saxmundham-based Nik Jarvis comfortably took the win though and the second race as Anscombe was shuffled nicely by Davy Evans who promptly got his revenge a few laps later. Diggy Smith was showing a return to form with second in that one and stamped his authority over the final with Jarvis having retired to the infield. Just to emphasise how tricky the wet conditions now were both John Smith and Evans spun themselves out when well placed after trying to spin backmarkers.

No such problems in the Bangers where a wet surface just added to the fun. Four-a-side team racing pitched Jason Thurlow’s Team Simple against Dave Canhamball Express’ Cheetahs team and sure enough there were some lively exchanges. Simon Berry took race one using his normal classy 1300cc Stock Car skills to good effect for Team Simple. Canham landed a meaty hit on Thurlow in heat two after a turn three pile-up also claimed Sean and Darren Parratt. It was still all to play for going in to the final until a one-two for the Welly Tops ensured they took top honours. A Destruction Derby was added to the programme and was probably the best of the year with some superb hits notably from late entry 407 who in turn received a large portion from Thurlow. Credit goes to Darren Parrat who somehow kept his wreck going only to be hit hard again as Adam James won it in style with a telling blow on Ben Naughton – smashing stuff!

Anyone expecting an incident-free race evening at Foxhall Stadium last Saturday was in for a rude-awakening as the supposedly non-contact National Hot Rods set about each other with gusto. Writes KEVIN WEGG.

The tone was set when the car of Tam Rutherford caught fire in the pit lane coming out for heat one resulting in a delayed start to proceedings. All was relatively quiet as Tim Pullen took the flag but that was very much the calm before the storm as a big crash involving half-a-dozen cars on the back-straight brought out the red flags in heat two and with it the loss of Southwold’s Gavin Murray and Matt Simpson from the restart. Ipswich-based world champion Carl Boardley was among several embroiled in a similar crash later in the race with Jeff Simpson avoiding the carnage to take the spoils.

Whether it was something in the coffee or a very early Halloween rehearsal we will never know as the horror continued in heat three with yet another back straight crash this time involving Luke Armiger and Lee Wood. Both re-started at the back from where Armiger promptly helped Wood towards fence for one reason or another thus causing another stoppage. Willie Hardie actually crossed the line first but was dropped two places for contact, Mark Willis duly inheriting the win.

After several stoppages throughout the meeting the Council finish-time curfew was getting ever-closer as their Grand Final got underway. Yet another crash caused the stoppage of this one also and with no time left the result was declared. Just for good measure Carl Boardley was disqualified after twice falling foul of the Steward.

Despite their smaller engines it would appear the Stock Rods know how to have a good crash as well despite also being a non-contact formula. Heat one saw Harry Palmer take out the second-placed Lee Close (Colchester) which preceded a large coming-together at half distance that claimed several victims including the extremely unfortunate Shaun Taylor(Leiston) who was debuting his brand new car. Sadly it was so bent that they might just have to build another. Jimmy Galloway took the only English win on the night as two welcome Scottish visitors took over possession of the laurels from that point on. Matthew Woodcock had a big crash in heat two only to be emulated by Graham Moreton and Scott Billman as Davy Philip took the flag. Philip and fellow countryman Galloway were nose-to-tail in the final at one point until Philip developed an engine mis-fire after nudging Galloway and subsequently pulled off leaving Philip to take the “Foxhall 500” title back over the border.

First held at Foxhall Stadium in 1961 the prestigious Superstox World Final produced a major upset last weekend at London’s Wimbledon Stadium when Ben Marjoram (Peterborough) took the title for the first-time. Hot pre-meeting favourite and defending champion Jason Cooper(Thetford) clashed with Shaun Brooker to end both their chances, whilst Mark Carberry (Badwell Ash) waved the Suffolk flag well by coming home third behind Essex driver Nick Smith

This Saturday at Foxhall Stadium a three formula line up featuring both contact and non contact racing as the Hot Rods, Stock Cars and Bangers come to town.

In a change from the normal line up the Bangers are racing in a team challenge, 4 drivers per team and its local honour at stake with Jason Thurlow’s “Team Simple” entering two teams, will they take each other on or will they unite to pay attention to Dave Canham’s “Cheetahs?” The later looks more likely after their last coming together back in August which saw some good hard racing, and with this meeting being a team event this big local rivalry will guarantee to be very entertaining. Up from Essex are “Harwich Wreckers” and back for some more action are the Ipswich based team “No Mates” who will go head to head with the “Mendlesham Mafia” the fearsome “Gypsy Crew” and John Tills “FLP Team” If this were a betting sport, Team Simple would probably be the ones to put your money on, and there is every chance that the silverware will stay in Ipswich, in fact not to far from Foxhall Stadium.

The 2.0 Hot Rods race at Foxhall in a round of the Hoosier Racing Tire backed series, after 10 rounds it looks like a Southern lockout with just one East Anglian based driver in the top five. Danny Fiske from Diss is the solitary local driver at the busy end of the points chart, and he is in third spot, Sam Holland (Brighton) is holding on tightly to second place with East Grinstead’s Chris Harvey heading up the series which reaches its conclusion at London’s Wimbledon Stadium in November. While Harvey looks fairly well placed to win the series, although mathematically he can be caught, its still all to play for the remaining six drivers to battle for the runners up spots to claim the trophies and prizes of Hoosier Tyres. The above mentioned drivers are for sure the ones to watch but Foxhall can throw up some surprises. Others to watch are the ever present former World Champion Mark Paffey and constant challenger Paul Wright (Greenford.) Local honours along with Fiske could well go to Harleston driver Gary Goodswen who is fresh from a triple win meeting at Great Yarmouth just two weeks ago. Goodswen was totally dominant on the night taking easy wins in both heats and then taking the annual pit stop challenge final as well. While Goodswen probably would like a repeat of his night just up the coast Rob Ashman (Huntingdon) will certainly not, Ashman has been burning the midnight oil since that meeting after smashing his car into the barrier in the second heat sustaining heavy frontal damage, no doubt he will still be smiling at Foxhall as he hopes for a better night this time.

If you like contact then the 2.0 Stock Cars will be the ones to look out for, full contact in heavily ironed up Ford Sierra’s with the rules making sure that the handling is a little unpredictable, always a recipe for plenty of car and fence crashing action. Young “Spud” Gamble from Hethersett made his debut in this formula here just a few weeks ago and he is already mixing it with the top drivers and will for sure be one to watch, as indeed he was in the Ministox, and he is still not old enough to drive on the road! Local star George Morphy always one to put on a show, and never one to know when he is beaten, as he showed last time out at Yarmouth when despite loosing a wheel and the entire front suspension on his car he was determined to carry on until he had exacted his revenge on the driver who put him in the fence, defiantly one to watch here.

This meeting will also see advance tickets on sale for the annual Gala Night and Banger World Final later in the year.

Spedeworth Fixture dates are now at an advanced stage and with the current car shortages effecting the Banger divisions we value the opinions and concerns of the drivers who pay out a lot of money for their own enjoyment as much as the spectators. With this in mind we will be holding an open forum at Foxhall Stadium on Monday 12th October @ 7.30pm for both National and Spedeworth Banger drivers to discuss the type of meetings to be satged at Foxhall in 2010. This forum is open to Drivers past and present, registered with Spedeworth or elsewhere and supporters are also welcome to attend. We hope this will be of benefit to all drivers who have got an interest in racing at Foxhall next year and we can come up with a number of race meetings that will interest both drivers and fans alike.

Just a reminder! 2010 Spedeweekend is being staged over the weekend of July 3rd and 4th. For those of you who are looking to camp or caravan we have once again negotiated the use of Trinity Park (formerly known as the Suffolk Showground) Sadly, in 2009 we experienced damage at the site and disturbance to a horse show which was also taking place at the venue on the Sunday morning. This behaviour very nearly cost us the use of this venue for 2010. This is coupled with the fact that there was also a disturbance at Orwell Meadows which resulted in the Police being called. As with Trinity Park, the owners of Orwell Meadows considered their position with regard to Spedeweekend campers. Spedeworth have held discussions with both Trinity Park and Orwell Meadows and assured them that these were isolated incidents and will not be repeated in 2010. Please don’t let the minority spoil it for everyone, and lets look have a great time next July!

On Wednesday 14th October 2009 there is a meeting to discuss the formula for next season. It is for anybody with an interest in this formula i.e drivers past and present, car builders,or any drivers considering a change to this Formula. We will be discussing all the rules, car construction, racing fixtures, and anything else as a group you wish to discuss regarding the formula.

This is your chance to voice your opinion, the meeting will be held at the Holiday Inn, Brook Street, Brentwood,(M25 Jcn 28) at 7.15pm.

If you wish to speak to anyone prior to this meeting you can contact Ray Wood at Spedeworth, Cecil on 07976 904560 or Mark Almieda on 07840 849523.

A three formula line up at Foxhall this Saturday evening (6.45 start time) which will really please the fans of non contact racing in a meeting which features the World Championship for the Grand Prix Midgets, National Hot Rods as they reach round five of their 2010 World Championship qualifying series plus the Stock Rods “Foxhall 500” race sponsored again by M & R Travel of Woodbridge.

Turning first to the Grand Prix Midgets, one of the original oval classes these open wheeled specially built cars are in fact considered to be the fastest racers on the UK oval raceways, at one time the midgets drew large grids and had the large crowds of the 1960’s and 70’s on their feet with their close wheel to wheel racing. As the years went on many of the Midgets supporters turned to the Hot Rod classes as they related these to the cars which they had in their driveways. The Midgets live on however with a loyal band of drivers from all over the UK, still a competitive formula and still enjoying visits to Ipswich where they will put on a great show on the wide open expanses of the Foxhall tarmac as they compete for the top honour in the formula, the World Championship. Defending his title he won at Foxhall last year is Jonathan Pooley, not quite the dominant force he was in 2008 but still one of the men to beat, and one who will be keen to hold on to his title and salvage something from 2009. Worth keeping an eye on is Coventry star Steve Young, a former British Champion and a quick driver on the bigger tracks, as is Philip Retchless with his very fast “Cheetah” car. Cliff Bunn could well have a say in things in the big race, runner up last year in both the World race and the national points chart he feels he has a point to prove and will be looking for the top slot in both championships this year.

The Annual M & R Travel Foxhall 500 sees a welcome return to Foxhall for the Stock Rods. After a busy summer season at Yarmouth and Eastbourne the drivers will be eager to race on a longer track, and maybe settle a few scores still outstanding! Carl Waller-Barrett and Peterborough’s Mark Shinn clashed last time out at Yarmouth which ended in a wrecked car for Shinn which he jumped out of chasing his rival on foot along the raceway to discuss things further! Leading driver Stuart Smyth (Uxbridge) is always good value at Ipswich and he will be buoyed by his fourth place in the World Final in Scotland last week. Local drivers Steve Abbott and Derek Spall from Woodbridge will be racing, Derek needing to remember that he is in a non-contact class and not his usual Banger. Climbing the points chart quite quickly is Essex driver Lee Close, from a racing family, Lee is the son of 1980’s Hot Rod star John Close who is guiding his son through his racing career. If he follows his fathers advise he will probably end up at the top of the class and will no doubt progress into the faster Hot Rod classes.

In Stock Car racing luck can either help propel you to glory or the unforgiving fence and for Ross Eaton it was thankfully the former for as he was presented with the Superstox National Championship trophy at Foxhall Stadium last Saturday his front outside tyre was noticeably deflating with a puncture! Writes KEVIN WEGG.

Rewind to earlier in the evening and Eaton – Grandson of former long-standing Promoter Les and son of former World Champion Mark – had been completely out of it in the heats. The first was particularly lively with the lead changing hands several times. John Saunders applied the necessary force to take it whilst Jason Cooper missed out when charging through as he gained a puncture when going over the bumper of Sean Smith. A large oil spill around much of the circuit caught out several cars in heat two although race leader James Colclough was not to be denied from the restart as he charged away once more.

Saunders’ chances of adding the title race to his collection quickly evaporated in the main event when he spun as Mumford took up the running only to be overhauled by Eaton. Kevin Croxon was definitely a man-on-a-mission and determined to improve upon his earlier third place in heat two as he used the bumper to carve his way through the field and up to fourth. With just two to go Daniel Rutterford was the next to be treated by the clincial Croxon but he over-cooked it, they went wide and Rutterford was able to regain third place. With just one to go Croxon dished out the same medicine and appeared to have got the dosage right this time only for Jason Cooper to give him a taste of his own but it was not quite enough to deny Croxon a healthy and deserved rostrum finish. Full marks for impressively smooth drives go to both Eaton and Mumford, something the potential young ‘stars of tomorrow’ in the Ministox would do well to follow.

At just eleven years old (the minimum age for the formula) Lee Messenger drove like a master to lead race two after Dereham’s Lee Banwell had taken the first. Lee was not able to hold on to it as Norwich driver Kyle Picton went one better than he did in the opener by taking the win. With the grades closed up for their Long Track Championship final the star grade drivers had a better chance of making it to the front and it helped produced their best race of the night with James Meadows, Adam O’Dell, Tyler Collison and Oliver Skeels all fighting over the spoils. Woodbridge driver Meadows really put the cat amongst the pigeons when he hit Collison hard who in turn caused Skeels to roll on to his side. O’Dell led once again from the restart though to take it as Meadows once again used the bumper superbly to take a fighting second.

Although slightly quieter than of late the Bangers were still good value as Chris Watling’s highly unusual choice of steed, a Honda CRX, positively propelled him to victory in the first race only to do likewise straight in to the fence on lap one in the second! Steen Rozier took an easy win in that one and then came from the back in masterly fashion to take the final as the leaders perished on the final run-in to the flag.

Just to let all MINISTOX DRIVERS know that we have decided to move the 2009 LONDON CHAMPIONSHIP at Wimbledon Stadium from Sunday 11th of October to Sunday 6th of DECEMBER, the meeting on the 11th of October will still feature MINISTOX but will not be a Championship, this will still carry normal domestic points.
The Meeting on 6th December is now re-named, THE LONDON OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP.

Get your Motorsport year off to a flying start by visiting The Oval Racing Experience at the NEC Birmingham.

The Oval Racing Experience takes place on Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th January 2010, in Halls 9 and 10 of Autosport International, and covers all aspects of grass roots motorsport including oval, autograss, drag and off-road racing.

With its own Main Visitor Entrance and easy access to the Live Action Arena Paddock, regular exhibitors already booked for 2010 include Spedeworth Motorsport, Incarace, The National Autograss Sports Association, Santa Pod, BriSCA F1 and F2.

The ever popular Oval Racing Spectaculars held in the Live Action Arena on Saturday at 6pm and Sunday at 4.45 pm will include:

BriSCA F1 Stock Cars
National Autograss Class 7s and 8s
Hot Rods
Stock Rods
BriSCA F2s

The Oval Racing Experience and the Oval Racing Spectacular are integral parts of Autosport International 2010, which is now recognised as the biggest motorsport show of its kind in the world.

Tickets for the show can be booked online at www.autosport-international.com or by calling the ticket hotline on 0844 579 3188. Please quote ‘Oval’ when calling if you would like to attend the Oval Racing Spectacular.
Prices:
Tickets to the show, including entry to the Live Action Arena Adult £29.00 Child (5-15) £14.50
Paddock Pass tickets available at Adult £35.00 Child (5-15) £17.50 This includes entry to the show, VIP seats and fast track entry to Live Action Arena performance of your choice, exclusive access to the Paddock Area built backstage in the Live Action Arena where up to 5.30pm each day you will be able to see the cars up close, talk to the drivers and have the opportunity to see watch extra performances from the side lines.
Platinum Club ticket at £100 which includes champagne and canapés in VIP enclosure at top of Live Action Arena plus many extras. Check out the Autosport website ticket page for fully details.

The Oval Racing Experience 2010 and The Oval Racing Spectaculars 2010
are organised for Haymarket Exhibitions Limited by:
WALTHAM SERVICES EVENTS LIMITED Moulsham Mill, Parkway, Chelmsford, Essex, CM2 7PX
Tel: 01245 491702 Mobile: 07860 255312 Fax: 01245 344172
Email: info@walthamservices.co.uk Website: www.walthamservices.co.uk

Spedeworth would like to announce the top 36 drivers have qualified for the World Championship at Wimbledon Stadium on 27th September.
Any drivers who are not on this list can race in the 2 support races and there is a reserve list should not all the place be taken.

482 Jason Cooper
69 Shaun Brooker
60 Ben Marjoram
23 Matt Carberry
51 Colin Aylward
376 Steven Jackson
161 Billy Smith
151 Nicolas Smith
4 Daniel Rutterford
123 Dave Miles Jnr
116 John Smith
17 Ryan Eaton
391 Jonathan Field
40 Stephen Sutch
565 Daniel Smith
36 Kevin Croxon
124 Dave Miles Snr
416 Mark Smith
95 John Saunders
21 Sean Smith
22 Mark Kelman
114 Eddie Edmonds
136 Pip Williams
426 Richard Raymond
41 Lisa Kerry
383 Gary Hewish
58 Luke Hamilton
176 Alexander Meadows
540 Brett Wesbroom
2 Andy Collins
602 Dale Fewings
118 Ross Eaton
612 Garry Sparkes
314 Jason Barraclough
393 Dean Hummerstone
266 Paul Burksfield

Just a note to say Kenton Walker is comfortable and doing fine after his crash at Birmingham on Saturday night he has broken 3 bones in his left leg / foot and one in his right and is being kept in hospital under observation for the concussion and bruising sustained in the incident. Although he is very groggy we are pleased to say he is ok, also he will be in hospital for a period of time He has access to a computer so if anyone wants to leave a message for him on Oval Race Forum or Ovalchat we are sure it would it would bring a smile to him.

Also the Walker Family have asked us to pass on their thanks to all the Racing and Medical Staff who were fantastic on the night.

ON BEHALF OF EVERYONE AT SPEDEWORTH, WE WOULD LIKE TO WISH KENTON A SPEEDY RECOVERY AND TO LET HIM KNOW WE ARE ALL THINKING OF HIM.

Yarmouth Stadium, Sunday 27th September has had Rookie Rods added to the meeting and the Bangers are now Under 1300cc Back to Basics Bangers. Following the success of the Micro Madness meeting to the 'back to basics' rules we will again implement the following:

Radiator in original position
Bonnet tied shut at the front
Doors tied shut, no door bolts
CURRENT DRIVERS DOOR PLATE RULES APPLY

Triangular corner plates or straps may be used to secure the rear of the bonnet by bolting or welding (1/8”thick). Plates or straps must be placed no further than 12” across or down from the back edge and side of the bonnet.

There is no contact allowed between any cars on the circuit for the first 3 laps. The Starting Marshall usually waves a green flag after the completion of the three laps to inform you that light contact can occur. Turning cars fencewards will not be permitted at this meeting.

Foxhall Stadium, Saturday 3rd October is now a 4 a-side Team Event replacing the Ipswich vs Norwich 2nd Leg Team Event. Teams must be entered through the Southern Office.

Yarmouth Stadium, Sunday 4th October & Sunday 11th October will also be run to under 1300cc 'Back to Basics' build specifications.

This Saturdays three formula line up with a 6.45 start time, sees one of the oldest championships in oval racing, the Superstox National Championship come to Foxhall. Originally scheduled for the Spedeweekend back in July this race had to be postponed due to a race stopping crash in the opening laps that left Stephen Jackson requiring medical attention along with a lot of damaged cars. The promoters took the decision to cancel the race and re-run it this weekend. The search for a possible winner will bring the usual names to the fore with the Superstox on form man Jason “Super” Cooper still the one to beat in this high performance, but still contact formula. Cooper from Thetford has an impressive CV, twice winner of the World Championship and winner of every other major title in the formula during the past couple of years, as well as maintaining his place at the head of the points chart. With the 2009 World Championship just three weeks away at Wimbledon Stadium in London this meeting could well give some pointers as well as being a good warm up for the big race. General opinion is that if Cooper finishes the race he will be the winner, but it’s that IF that is the key word, remember this is a contact formula and Cooper has been winning everything lately which has not exactly made him popular with some of the other drivers. Past experience in these big Championship events says that even the favourite will often be “disposed of” in the early laps. A definite possibility for the National (and indeed the World) title is Matt Carberry (Badwell Ash) winner of the European title here at Foxhall last month and running the same latest generation HCD built car as Cooper. Carberry is the one most likely to topple the established order. A good dark horse for the race could also be Ben Marjoram, always in a smartly turned out car he has enjoyed a successful Summer season at Yarmouth Stadium despite a roll over after a clash another former World Champion Gary Sparkes, who, at the time of writing was not booked in but will probably be at Foxhall and as ever when it comes to a major Championship could well be in the places although an overall win looks unlikely for Gary this time.

Ministox make their only visit of the season to wide open expanses of the Foxhall Raceway for the annual Long Track Championship. Traditional home for these cars is on the smaller ovals such as Eastbourne and Great Yarmouth where they have enjoyed a very busy and entertaining Summer season, and bear in mind that these drivers are all under sixteen years old, so spare a thought for the dads who have to put them back together every week and transport the cars from race to race. Its from this summer season that we look to potential winners of the Long Track race, there are two drivers to beat right now, Ollie Skeels from Wisbech and current points leader and son of former Stock Car driver Steve O’ Dell, Adam O’Dell from Bedford being very much the man to watch. Local eyes could well be on Tuddenham driver Dan Rose, Dan has not done so much racing in his Mini this season as he prepares to move into the adult classes later in the year, but on his day he was quick, especially round his local track where he took a win in one of the qualifiers for this race back in 2007. The third generation of his family to be involved in oval racing Dan will probably be among the action at Foxhall, all under the watchful eye of his Grandfather Mick who drove at Foxhall back in the pioneering days of the 1960’s. Watch out for another emerging local talent, the likeable James Meadows from Woodbridge, always present no matter where the minis are racing, there seems to be no halfway with James, he either seems to win or crash, another driver though who is being expertly guided by his Father Andrew, and will for sure be one to watch here and in the future as he moves into the adult classes in the coming years.

The Peter Brown backed Ipswich Track Championship is now approaching those crucial closing stages and it’s still Chris Medler who leads the table, but its still all to race for with just six points separating the top three and Ipswich driver Michael “Millsy” Mills in third place. Simon Rose who is really racing locally as he comes from Kesgrave is well placed in sixth spot and is still a contender for the top three when the points are all added up at the last round in December. There may still be a few local rivalries to sort out from August Bank Holiday Monday, so this could well be the time to settle a few debts or maybe let them simmer a while until later in the season!

Foxhall Stadium was positively bursting at the seams as a massive Bank Holiday crowd lapped up the glorious sunshine and the hugely entertaining racing from three contrasting formulas, writes KEVIN WEGG.
V8 Stock Cars provided the motorised grunt and a couple of lively talking points for good measure. Stock Car racing is by definition a hard contact sport and this was underlined in heat one when Bury St.Edmunds based Dave Arnold used the front bumper to remove Simon Turner who in turn hit the stricken Rob Beale. Bill Chance took the spoils in both that one and the second heat which will be remembered more though for Peter Scott Junior launching himself in to the rear of Malcolm Burton who clattered the armco at speed. Burton was none too pleased but as with the earlier incident in heat one the Racing Steward was unmoved. With the field consequently reduced for the East Anglian Championship final, points leader Peter Scott Junior looked poised to capitalise until inexplicably smashed in to the fence at the end of the home straight with no-one else around him. Dave Arnold was going well after taking third in heat two but could not catch Daryl Harris who was racing his father’s car whilst Chance came fourth.
Despite the absence of several top names in the 2.0 Hot Rods their opening heat had an exciting finish with four cars nose-to-tail, Marc Crome just failing to get up the inside of Kevin Down. Crome took the lead on the opening lap of the second and this time he was on the receiving end of a last-gasp lunge from Graham Fulker which did not quite come off, however Crome was dropped one for contact earlier in the race. Crome’s afternoon tailed off completely when he retired in the final as Jemma Dendy and Danny Fiske (Diss) had a great side-by-side scrap further down the field. Fiske won that skirmish and was then involved in a further classic last lap battle which saw Paul Jones roar between both Fiske and Damon Wellman. Three abreast they roared in to the final two turns with Jones just getting past Fiske for a brilliant third place.
A good field of forty-eight Bangers produced the usual mayhem with several cars out in the team colours of “The Canhamball Express” and “Simple”. Dave Canham had the first laugh with a second place in the first with a delighted Simon Rose just fending him off. HMS Wrecker Denver took a big hit on the drivers door in the second then Dean Hillier was blitzed later to bring an early end to proceedings, both thankfully walking away as Canham’s grin became even bigger with a heat win. He started at the back for the final which was stopped early when Adam Jones received a big hit. Kelvin Banthorpe, Joe Palmer and Steen Rozier then enjoyed an enthralling high-speed scrap for the lead which changed hands several times before Palmer reigned supreme. Despite the grumpy Race Steward trying to prevent the Banger Caravans entering the arena due to the mess they leave behind he was thankfully unsuccessful and the crowd lapped by the truly smashing ‘curtain fall’ to the afternoon accompanied by Cliff Richard’s classic “We’re all going on a summer holiday”. Used caravan anyone – one not-so-careful owner?

August Bank Holiday Monday at Foxhall (2.30 start time) sees three formulae line up for two rounds of season long championships for the bangers, 2.0 Hot Rods and the East Anglian Championship for the mighty V8 Stockcars. For caravan lovers everywhere there is the annual caravan Destruction Derby, always a popular event which sees the mass destruction of a good number of cars and caravans.

The 2.0 Hot Rods are in town racing in round 9 of their Hoosier Racing Tire backed season long championship. As the series gets closer to its conclusion many would say thet the points chart has a different look to it with may of the bigger names in Hot Rods racing way down the points chart from where they would expect to be found at this stage. So with names like Malcolm Blackman, Mark Paffey, Jason Wilks and Paul Wright lower in the points its some of the newer emerging stars in the formula who are starting to shine. Chris Harvey (East Grinstead) heads the chart with Brighton’s Sam Holland just behind him. Local interest is strong with Danny Fiske (Diss) well placed in fourth and set to pounce on third place this weekend, the Fiske name will need no introduction to Superstox and Hot Rods supporters who were about in the mid 1970’s and it really is good to see Danny at the busy end of the points chart. Fresh from a heat and final win at Great Yarmouth last weekend the ever present Chris Crane is booked in from Farnborough, well placed in the points Crane always goes well in his Tigra at Foxhall. Carl Pye from Yarmouth is also racing and if he can avoid the watchful eye of the steward could well go back up the A12 with a good haul of points.

Bangers have reached round seven of the Peter Brown backed Ipswich Banger Championship, and its still Chris Medler who heads up the points, as he has done since round two back in April. Very much a local racing series, now running for over 15 years it’s a series that the local drivers like to well in. Dovercourts Adam James is well placed to take the points this time and with a little luck he could well improve on his current fourth place. Michael Lane (Lavenham) is down in the points but with his experience is another driver looking to gain this weekend as the rounds are starting to run out. Always value for money are the “Simple” pairing of Ipswich drivers Gavin Ward and Jason Thurlow, never a pair to shy away from the action and sometimes controversy they will for sure be worth keeping an eye on. The Banger caravan race is what many will be at Foxhall to see and a good entry of caravans is expected for this annual wrecking festival, which can often take the Foxhall Stadium team 3 days to clear up as the caravans disintegrate all over the raceway. Look out for caravans big and small as the mayhem develops and remember, you need to be towing something if you are to win the race!

The big V8’s make a welcome return to the Foxhall oval, which with its wide open bends suits the power of these cars. Local hopes for a local win in the feature race will be on Harleston star Colin Goodswen, he has been quick at the other Spedeworth raceways over the summer and has a good record at Foxhall as well as plenty of local support. The Scott father and son pairing are always a hard act to beat, with son, Peter Jnr possibly the fastest man in the formula right now just as his dad was 6 or 7 years ago. Sandhursts Pete Blomfield is due to race and his car is another with a good Foxhall record, Pete has two cars and there is often the chance of a surprise guest driver on the night in his spare car. These cars are hard to master, a former world champion in 1300 Stock Cars Aaron Morris describing his outing in the V8’s as an “interesting experience” While the cars are strong and very powerful their unsophisticated suspension and steering can make them quite a handful and the drivers who race them are some of the most experienced old hands on the UK’s oval raceways.

104 Joseph Parker
106 Daniel Parker
111 Matthew Abbott
113 Dave Crouch
120 Casey Englestone
124 Oliver Skeels
126 Kyle Picton
128 Craig Banwell
149 Todd Payne
165 Benny Randell
166 Matthew Naughton
167 James Meadows
171 Adam O'Dell
172 Bryson Walker
173 Kenton Walker
175 Tyler Collison
177 Lee Banwell
197 Reece Swatman
198 Brandon Osborne
282 Ross Tyler
308 Alec Hanney
322 Thomas Fox
358 Jake Swann
381 Lee Messenger
391 Jake Banwell
392 Reid Murray
501 Jordon Murray
960 Dale Moon

Contrary to what some drivers may have heard there is NO practice at Hednesford Saturday but there is practice for 2.0 Hot Rods on Sunday at 1.00pm.

Saturday night at Foxhall (6.45 start time) offers good old fashioned Stock Car racing, the return of the National Hot Rods plus the arrival of something completely new on the UK short ovals, NASCAR style American Type Stock Cars.

Under the Foxhall lights the American Style Stock Cars will be spitting fire from their exhausts and spectators will see the brake discs glowing red hot as the V8 cars make their debut on the UK’s short oval raceways. They have raced at Warneton in Belgium and many have seen them at the superb 1 ½ mile oval at Rockingham near Corby. Sadly the Rockingham venture didn’t work out and the teams were left seeking raceways to use in this country. Teaming up with the CAMSO V8 cars at Warneton and enjoying some outings on the UK at Lydden Hill in Kent. Spedeworth promoter Deane Wood has worked hard along with circuit racing champion and former Hot Rod star Rod Birley to bring the spectacle of these cars to two of his raceways, Ipswich and Hednesford in the Midlands. Eighteen cars are booked to race on Saturday with UK drivers being joined by the top drivers from Holland, Belgium, France and USA. Racing this year has been really close, the championship is wide open with two drivers tied on points at the top. 2007 Points Champion Jean Vasseur (France) and Belgiums Xavier Vandermeersch may be leading but they are looking over their shoulders as the man in third place is Englishman Gary Ellis. Interestingly Gary learned his craft on the UK short ovals, just like Foxhall so should be one to watch this weekend.

National Hot Rods return to Foxhall for round two of the 2010 World Championship qualifying series with Ipswich based four times World Champion looking forward to another successful qualifying campaign. The much talked about Boardley Racing Mercedes SLK has so far proved on the pace but troublesome having set a blisteringly fast time in the Thunder 500 race at Foxhall in June…..and then falling apart! The team used the trusty Tigra to win the World Title and again the Tigra was the weapon of choice at Hednesford Raceway two weeks ago when Boardley took the National Title as well, so its Tigra or SLK decision time in Boardleys Blakenham HQ.

This meeting will see the return to the ovals of the ever popular Mark Willis who will be racing his new Peugeot 206 CC. Mark has built the car himself in his Iver workshop and is widely tipped to do well in the formula which is dominated by factory built cars from the likes of World Title winners Ludlow and English Champions Haird Motrorsport. Willis, who’s Father Dave was a star back in the 70’s and 80’s, has raced in a variety of Oval formulae since starting his career in the Ministox in 1981. He went on to the long circuits and raced in the Eurocar Series back in the 1990’s and spent a season back on the short ovals with a self built Corsa before going into the Pickup Racing Series at Rockingham where he won their Championship in 2004. Willis said from his home this week “I’ve had a great time with the Pickups and enjoyed every minute of my time on the circuits, but Im really looking forward to getting back into the swing of things on the short ovals, you cant beat the friendly atmosphere that you get there.” Willis is testing his new car during the week, either at Northampton or Arena Essex “So long as all goes well and we get no disasters in testing we will be at Ipswich on Saturday” added Willis. Either way the likeable Mark Willis will be a welcome addition to the grid on Saturday, which now has forty drivers booked in to race. The points chart is currently headed up by Matt Simpson who is not an unfamiliar name is the busy end of the chart, with the two top names of Boardley and Haird currently placed outside the top sixteen. However, come next July expect the status quo to be restored with the addition of Colin Smith in his awesome BMW Z4 and the previously mentioned Mark Willis challenging at the head of the points.

Fans of contact racing will be pleased to see the 1300 Stock Cars back at Foxhall after being one of the star attractions at Spedeweekend last month. Martlesham garage owner Simon Berry took two wins then along with a couple more at Yarmouth Stadium over the summer season so should go well on the night. Fellow local drivers also enjoying a good run this summer are the Woodbridge pairing of Kevin Thurlow and Mark Bloss. Also racing is Washbrook racer Gary Fincham, racing on a budget Gary is always keen to put on a show and along with his pit crew, always enthusiastic about his racing. Up from the south is former World Champion Aaron Morris, who is always good for the action when he starts mixing it with the local boys.

Spedeworth would like to announce that the Ministox meeting at Great Yarmouth on 16th August will now be an East Coast Challenge Cup Open Meeting and Norfolk Gold Cup Series Round 9. This meeting will be open to all licenced ORC Ministox drivers and will be Light Contact Only. There will be free practise on the sunday between 11am - 3pm. Bookings can now be made at the Spedeworth office on 01252 322920

Escort Mk3 1980-1986        1297cc
Escort Mk4 1986-1990        1297cc
NO MK 5 Escorts
NO Orion or Escort Saloon derivatives, Hatchbacks only.
Fiesta Mk 2         Kent-Valencia Engine 1298cc
                           CVH Engine 1298cc
Fiesta Mk 3         Kent Engine 1289cc
Fiesta Mk 4         Kent-Endura Engine 1299cc
No ZETEC Engines

We will do all we can to accommodate small cars at this meeting even if the engine cc is slightly above 1200cc.
BUT PLEASE CHECK WITH US FIRST.
Phone Nick on 07917 717828 if you are unsure about a car which you are planning to use.

Radiator in original position
Bonnet tied shut at the front
Doors tied shut, no door bolts
CURRENT DRIVERS DOOR PLATE RULES APPLY

The following twenty six Spedeworth Stock Rods have qualified for the Southern Championship which is to be held at Arlington 26th August.
447 Stuart Smyth
168 Andy Sturt
171 Adam O'Dell
666 Paul Rice
115 John Madden
500 Kim Carter
162 Carl Waller-Barrett
87 Steven Abbott
418 Patrick Smith Jnr
472 Steven Phair
313 Jamie Bowring
163 Jason Pickett
77 Andy Owen
280 Luke Stonehouse
152 Shaun Taylor
381 Richard Pope
4 Matt Ovenden
213 Graham Moreton
31 Charles Jowers
116 Michael Madden
8 Stuart Bibby
72 Jimmy Galloway
14 Garry Lusher
101 John Bowring
91 Wayne Leedell
110 Kevin Wareham
We would like to ask that all drivers book in as soon as possible for this event by calling the office on 01252 322920.

Spedeworth would like to announce and extra fixture for Junior Rods at Northampton on 25th October
This will be an open meeting and race cars must be of the minimum weight of 650kg and NO Yokohama tyres are permitted and maximum tyre size must not exceed 165.
Booking are now being taken at the Spedeworth office on 01252 322920

Years ago Peasenhall proudly held grass track Stock Car which helped raised thousands of pounds for charity and whilst the track is sadly long gone the village has once again hit the headlines with local resident George Morphey completing a unique hat-trick at Foxhall last Saturday writes KEVIN WEGG.

In a formula where contact is very much the name of the game such a feat is virtually unheard of especially when starting at the back yet this is precisely the challenge Morphey overcame in style each time. The wet conditions may not have suited many but a new set of tyres before the start certainly helped as Morphey skilfully showed the others the way home. Near neighbour Niki Jarvis from just up the road at Saxmundham looked as though he might take the first heat though at one point after leading for quite some while before eventually coming third, whilst Morphey’s cause was helped considerably in the other two heats when ex-Ministox racer Robert Gamble and James Morris both spun whilst fighting for the lead before Colin McAllister and Martyn Bell fell out on the speedway track.

Despite the rain the Lightning Rods were positively hossing around all evening although for Cransford (Woodbridge) driver Ian Wright things started brightly enough before crumbling away at the end. He had a good dice with Michael Gabriel in the first heat which the latter took after a brave outside burst in the challenging conditions. In race two he appeared to be forced fencewards suffering front end damage only to be subsequently hit in the rear afterwards for good measure. A yellow flag late in the race bunched the field and then it all kicked off with Danny Day impressively turning the tables on Gabriel and going round his outside before repeating the dosage on Paul Strawson to take it up. He was now coasting it when inexplicably on the very last bend he spun himself out and was left stranded in the middle of the track as the chasing pack went in all directions, Steve Santry profiting most with an unexpected victory.

Santry almost bagged himself a pair in the final but it was Day that once again showed a superb touch to blast his way around the almost swamp-like conditions and this time there was no such mistake as he took a richly deserved win with Santry second.

For sheer slap-stick entertainment the Van Bangers were simply ace in their first heat. Twelve entries is indeed a small entry yet despite that they all got stuck in – literally – with Chris Smith from Martlesham in sparking form. He brought the house down as he attacked everything in sight with his former ambulance and eventually the roof on that also collapsed down to nothing. Out he came for the second with nothing but the roll cage over his head which later had a large golf umbrella strapped to it for the final! Amidst the motorised mayhem there were three different winners with Jason Nicholls notably taking a win having never previously troubled the lap scorers during his Banger career. A Nicholls double was duly completed when Mike won the DD to the delight of crowd, his mighty Ford bus proving to be one bus stop too many!

Yarmouth Stadium will host the 'Last Chance' World Championship Wildcard Round on Sunday 18th October @ 6.30pm.

This is for Under 1800cc National Bangers (No Mondeo's) and is open to all Promotions and temp drivers.

There is a £1000 Prize Fund split to reward the Racers and Entertainers as well as Furthest Travelled, etc. And this will be worked out nearer the meeting.

Due to the shortage of Vans we have decided that any Petrol Van, including V6 powered, will be permitted to race at Foxhall on Saturday 1st August. The only stipulation on these Vans will be that they will have to start behind the Diesel and slower petrol Vans and they will not be racing for any prize money.

We will be allowing dizzy guards / cam belt covers provided people are sensible with them and they are only there for protecting the dizzy / cam belt and do not strengthen the van. In other words you need to make them sensible or they will have to be removed! Selected petrol vans including V4 powered engine swaps are also permitted - this is to let some of the old slow stuff out and anyone wanting to bring a petrol van has to clear it at the office first. V6 powered Vans are not permitted at this stage.

Spedeworth wish to announce that the Rookie Rods and Superstox will now be racing in an extra fixture in support of National Banger London Open Championship to be held at Wimbledon Stadium on 16th August at 5:30pm Start time
We do expect to have a minimum of 60-70 National Bangers, and we already have 50 booked in for this event and these will be split in their first races
Booking can now be made for Rookie Rods and Superstox at the office on 01252 322920 and National Bangers can also contact us on that number to request a booking form for this event.

Spedeworth wish to announce that the figure 8 Banger racing at Aldershot on 16th August has been cancelled and will now be normal oval banger racing.

After drawing grid position number eleven, it is doubtful if anyone was envisaging anything other than a European Championship title win in the Superstox for Jason Cooper at Foxhall Stadium last Saturday, yet it is easy to forget sometimes that this is Stock Car racing and anything can happen and often does, writes KEVIN WEGG.

There was soon action aplenty as Paul Burksfield landed a telling blow on the fast-charging Mark Kelman to end his chances. Kevin Croxon went off at a blistering pace and raised many eyebrows in the process as he overtook Cooper with ease. Up front Ryan Eaton and Matt Carberry were enjoying a great battle that swung first one way then the next but ominously Cooper soon re-took Croxon and was up to fourth with much of the race remaining. Following a re-start for the stricken Glen Stittle, Cooper took full advantage of the close order and hit fresh air just one lap after the green flag had fallen again. Yet another major title seemed destined for Thetford until late in the race Pip Williams got caught out when Kevin Croxon was charging back through the field. With Williams now a back-marker, Cooper routinely went up the inside until an anything but routine move by Williams saw him forced on to the speedway track where he lost vital seconds allowing Carberry to once again regain the lead and hang on for the most unlikely of victories. The trophies were presented by Steven Jackson who is thankfully well on the mend following his nasty crash at Foxhall during the Spede Weekend, with Cooper managing to control his car well on the shale to receive the runners-up award, if somewhat bitter sweet.

In the following two races all eyes were on Cooper to see if he would exact revenge on Williams. A clean pass in the first and solid but fair use of the bumper in the second meant all remained civilised as the Miles family inherited mixed fortunes in both. Dave Jnr took both races in style whilst Dave Snr picked up a load of damage in the second. Billy Smith completed a spectacular roll back on to all four wheels in the same race then despite a wrecked wing simply carried on as if nothing had happened.

Ipswich Banger Championship leader Chris Medler was on the receiving end of a very big passenger door hit by Chris Watling in their first heat although it was Ipswich Community Radio DJ Phil Pritchard who tested the fence first. Harwich racer Steen Rozier drove smartly to take that one with Michael Hewitt passing Chris Watling for the win with the Ipswich driver promptly rolling for good measure. Another Ipswich driver Jake Stewart needed attention in their final with Watling getting some consolation for his earlier spill by being awarded the win.

The guesting, light-weight Legend cars found the super-fast raceway particularly testing with the yellow flag raised on numerous occasions. Former Superstox pilot Daniel Holden put his track knowledge to good use by claiming heat one and the British Championship final. That was also their best race of the night with the first three nose-to-tail as they crossed the line, Ipswich driver Michael Walmlsey taking seventh in that one to add to his third in the opening heat.

Unfortunately due to a fault with the computer decoder equipment, the lap times for the Superstox and Oval Track Legends were not recorded at this past weekends race meeting at Foxhall Stadium. We apologise for the inconvenience and the fault is being investigated.

After the non stop party two weeks ago that was Spedeweekend 09 the Foxhall fixture list settles down this Saturday with a 6.45 start time, and its a double header all action Championship night with Banger action as well.

The Superstox make a welcome return the fast Foxhall bowl to contest their European Championship, it will be race one of the night and the grid will be drawn out of the hat which will mean that it really will be a wide open event for anyone to win on the night. Looking for possible winners will show up the usual list of names with Jason Cooper still at the top as he looks to defend his European crown. Challenges could well come from ex World Champion Shaun Brooker who has taken some wins at Yarmouth over the Summer and as long he steers clear of trouble often looks good around Ipswich. Young hotshot Billy Smith from Pulham in Norfolk is tipped by many as a champion of the future, still not old enough to drive on the road he drives like an old master on the track and already has several wins to his credit since graduating from the Ministox class earlier this year.

One top driver missing from the grid this week is Steven Jackson (Harleston.) still recovering from a big crash at Spedeweekend last time out, many race fans have been following the likeable drivers recovery, from his home this week Jackson said “My car is all fixed and ready, but im not 100% yet, there are still a few aches and pains from the crash, so we have decided to give Foxhall a miss, although I will be there and it will be good to catch up with everyone” The multi formula World Champion plans on making his racing return soon “Yarmouth on 30th July I think” added Jackson “I will be raring to go by then, and thanks to everyone for all the good wishes, it meant a lot.”

Whoever is in front at the end of the 30 lap feature race will be a deserving winner as the Superstox are boasting full grids of cars wherever they race in the UK and the question they are all asking is “Can anyone stop Cooper?” Maybe this race will start to give some answers.

Bangers have reached round 6 of the Peter Brown backed Ipswich Banger Championship. Chris Medler (Cawston) still holds the lead, although not by a very big margin. Local hopes as far as the Championship is concerned lie with Michael Mills from just down the road at Bucklesham. The top points scorers are all very close and one good meeting could change everything at the head of the table, with another local hope Chris “Patio” Watling from Woodbridge well down the table its just as well as he looks to increase his points tally this weekend. Another Woodbridge driver, Derek Spall is booked in, although not so high up the points chart Derek can still gain some valuable points this weekend. The Ipswich Banger Championship always produces some good racing and with it several local rivals have been known to clash, 2009 is no different and given the fact that it has been 2 months since the last round there are still some outstanding scores to settle.

Legends race at their first of two Foxhall meetings during the season. The British championship is up for grabs this week and with Legends master Derek Hales away on vacation its all to play for the rest of the pack. Son Ian is possibly the name on many lips as the man to take the honours although Norfolk based Dan Holden took both his heats and the final at Birmingham last time out so he is one to watch. Legends cars are known for being difficult to handle in the wet due to the hard compound of the tyres, so if the threatened rain does appear the whole championship could be thrown wide open, although Holden is regarded as the “rain master.” Qualifying in the heats to get a good grid slot in the final is going to be of paramount importance, so the heats could well produce the best racing of the night.

Spedeworth are delighted to announce that the following 36 drivers have qualified for the European Championships to be held at Foxhall Stadium, Ipswich this Saturday July 18th as a result of being the top 36 points scorers who wish to race. This race will be the first Superstox race of the evening and will be an out of the hat draw for starting positions

Bookings are still available to other Superstox drivers for this event, however, they will only be able to race in the 2 support heats. Drivers booked in for the support heats so far are:

Any other driver wishing to book in for the support heats may do so by calling the Spedeworth Office on 01252 322920.

The format for this years' Lightning Rods World Championship on July 25th/26th has now been changed, following discussions with the ORCi.
16 drivers will be pre-seeded through to the World Championship qualifying heats. This will be split as follows - 6 Northern Ireland, 3 Incarace, 3 Arena Essex, 3 Spedeworth and 1 Tipperary.
All other available drivers on the day will compete in two reverse grid pre-qualifying heats, from which a further 16 drivers will progress to join the 16 seeded drivers in the World Championship qualifying heats proper.
The pre-qualifying heats will take place early in Saturday's race programme, with the main World Championship heats taking place later on Saturday night.
The 32 drivers who compete in the main World Championship qualifying heats will therefore be guaranteed their place in Sunday's 32-car, 50 Lap World Championship Final.
Any driver of blue grade or above may travel to compete at the meeting. Could I once again ask that all visiting drivers be booked into the Spedeworth Office by 11.00am on 01252 322920 by Wednesday July 15th at the latest.

“FOURmidable” – Ipswich based Carl Boardley literally blew the field away in the National Hot Rod World Final held at the Foxhall Heath Raceway yesterday to become the first driver ever to win four titles in a row and in the process once again underlined his masterly domination of the ever-popular non-contact racing class, writes KEVIN WEGG.

Roared on by thousands of expectant race fans the “local boy” once again delivered the goods in some style to ensure the annual racing party went off with a ring swing yet it was by no means plain sailing with no less than four restarts in a race which was punctured by edge-of-the seat drama throughout.

Having already answered one question by electing to run with his tried-and-trusted Vauxhall Tigra Boardley went on to emphatically signal his determination to hold on to his title by setting the fastest lap time to claim pole position with a blistering 14.47 second run. Alongside him on the front row was former champion Malcolm Blackman (14.6) with Points Champion Chris Haird (14.62) and Matt Simpson (14.69) behind.

Boardley simply scorched away at the start of the 75 lapper though, pulling several lengths clear by lap two and that decisively set the tone for the rest of the race. Irish hopes took an early knock when Wayne Woolsey retired right at the start and he was soon followed by John Christie. A broken half-shaft wrecked Haird’s bid, whilst separate crashes for Ralph Saunders; the other Ipswich hopeful Jay Austin; Phil Spiinks and the particularly unlucky Dick Hillard soon whittled the thirty-four car field down before Saunders crashed again to bring about another stoppage. Each time Boardley had to keep his cool and do it all again from the restart which he promptly did and his record-breaking win never really looked threatened, with only Matt Simpson visibly gaining ground at one point only to subsequently drop away.

Further down the field interest had quickly focussed on an epic charge by Southwold driver Gavin Murray who had driven superb to get up to fourth place and the tail of Malcolm Blackman. An incident down the home straight saw Blackman go spinning out and sadly Murray was later disqualified from the result for contact, despite the Suffolk driver being adamant that Blackman had cut across him. Boardley has had more than his fair share of controversy on the big occasion but there were no such problems this time as he deservedly crossed the record-breaking finishing line more than the length of a straight clear of eventual runner-up Glenn Bell from Northern Ireland who just scrapped past an ailing Simpson in the closing stages.

Exclusive Boardley Quotes (ran out of words in the report!!):
“It feels real good – I need to carry on for another year now!

“Very happy for my family and the team – without their help and the wife putting up with me being in the garage so much I wouldn’t be out here!”

How did he account for that blistering acceleration?
“It’s about being confident and comfortable in the car. We’ve used the same car for the last five years now, just trying a few new bits & pieces each time but always returning to the same basic settings.”

Boardley went on to explain that during each restart he had to remind himself to simply chill out and be methodical and of course a win next year would equal Ormond Christies record of five title wins:
“I can’t think about that yet – I’m going to enjoy this one first!”

SUPPORTING FORMULAS
Mark Paffey may have taken a fairly comfortable win in the 2.0L Hot Rod British Championship on Saturday but a blanket finish in their “Revenge” final saw a blanket finish with Richard Poulter awarded the win after the plucky Jemma Dendy was subsequently penalised two places for contact.

Legal contact was very much in evidence in the 1300cc Stock Cars who were superb all weekend with a massive pile-up in their National Championship which involved the best part of thirty cars! Simon Berry from Martlesham emerged unscathed to blast his way to the front early on to record a popular local win, his second of the weekend. Their larger-engined two litre cousins were just as lively in their Golden Helmet event with Spedeworth Promoter Deane Wood rolled down the home straight. Another big pile-up in the restart was then followed by an incredible corner-cutting dive up the inside of race leader Shane Davies by Billy Smith on the last corner which Davies did remarkably well to hold. Although Smith was a lap down the crowd loved it and the excitement wasn’t just limited to the contact formulas. Contact may not be permitted in the Lightning Rods but Irishman Stephen Emmerson spun the back-marking John Randall in their British title shoot-out as he frantically tried to hold back the chasing Dale Atkins. That was to cost him dear however, for Randall re-joined in front of him and proceeded to sufficiently bulk him thus allowing Atkins through.

After providing great racing all weekend the Superstox National Championship was cut short when first Sarah Cooper rolled and then Steven Jackson (Harleston) was on the receiving end of a an incredibly high-speed smash having previously hit the fence by the pit-gate, sadly resulting in a trip to hospital.

Jack France used his experience wisely in the Historic Stock Cars as he completed a clean sweep in the formula by taking all three races over the weekend including the “Bob Studd Trophy”.

With time running out the National Hot Rod final was cancelled and it was left to the Bangers to round off another thrilling racing weekend with the big, beefy Yank Tanks, Limos and Hearses. Credit to Danny Sharman (Suffolk) for a monstrous stretch limo that kept coming back for more, whilst Lee Clarke (Bungay) and Luke Parfitt (Hempnall) treated fans to one of the most bizarre sights ever – that of Parfitt’s Hearse being overtaken on the last bend only for it to accelerate and actually win a sprint to the line!

Spedeworth would like to thank all the drivers who put on a fantastic show at the Yarmouth Raceway last night. We had 28 drivers giving there all in a hastely arranged 4 a-side Team event to which Team Carlsberg were the victors in a keenly thought contest. Well done to all the participants and we appreciate your efforts and look forward to welcoming you back to Yarmouth very soon.

Malcolm Blackman decisively nailed his intentions to the National Hot Rod World Final mast with an emphatic victory in the “Thunder 500” at Foxhall Stadium last Saturday whilst fans of Ipswich-based Carl Boardley will have to wait until the big weekend itself – now just a week away on July 4/5 – to find out exactly which car the defending champion will use after an evening of mixed fortunes, writes KEVIN WEGG.

On a night when the Hot Rods and the visiting V8 Brisca F1 Stock Cars thrilled a large crowd with fast and furious racing throughout, Colin Smith powered away with heat one for the nationals as two of the fancied runners for the gold roof shoot-out recorded wins in the other heats, namely Irishmen Gary Woolsey and John Christie. Perhaps significantly both were racing the new-to-the-formula Mercedes SLK, as was Boardley. He dropped back early on and his first heat but then started to claw his way back, recording a creditable fifth place – more than pleasing for it’s Foxhall debut. That was as good as it got however after the car spluttered to a halt in his second and missed the final altogether. Malcolm Blackman drove an inspired race to take second in his opener whilst another title contender Matt Simpson did likewise for third. An impressive charge from the back in the next netted Blackman fourth to earn him a front row final start which he duly won in style whilst points champion Chris Haird kept his hat firmly in the world title ring with second place.

Over forty Brisca F1 entries meant a two-thirds format which worked perfectly generating incredibly fast yet hard racing with liberal use of the front bumper essential if progress was to be made . Even then the star men at the back of the field really had their work cut out as the lower grade drivers made the most of their head start to take all three heats. There was some great action along the way too with Dutch visitor Geert Jan Keijzer having a thrilling scrap with second-placed Chris Bonner throughout and only just missed out with a last bend lunge, Rich Masterton just taking heat one. Dean Whitewell took the second before Chris Bonner went one better and won his next heat as Matt Newson recorded the best result for the stars so far with a third place. Andy Smith was flying after fitting a new set of tyres and looked likely to take the final until he become involved in several skirmishes along the way and ultimately had to settle for third behind previous heat winner Bonner and Luke Davidson. He came good in the Grand National though which also saw Bonner denied a hat-trick when he was unceremoniously planted in the unforgiving armco.

Spedeworth Motorsports are committed to improving the numbers of Bangers racing at Great Yarmouth. At the meeting on Sunday 21st June we consulted with a mix of drivers as to the measures which we could put in place to see an improvement in car numbers through the Summer. Several positive ideas were put forward some of which we will put in place over the coming weeks.

One of the main issues which drivers spoke to us about was the combined cost of racing week on week during the busy Summer season. Deane is fully aware of the financial challenges involved in running a race car as he has been there himself over the years and he has decided to deal with the cost issue straight away. During July and August and through to the meeting on 6th September there will be no charge, apart from the £1 ORCi levy, for Banger drivers (including Ladies Bangers) to race at Yarmouth, this also applies to temporary licences. Deane will actually be sponsoring these meetings himself. This applies to Sundays and the forthcoming Thursday series starting on 9th July. All we ask in return is that drivers book in advance with the Aldershot office either by phone or email.

If you turn up on the day without booking in, you will be allowed to race, however the following fees will apply £15 for registered Spedeworth Banger drivers (regardless of meetings attended), £15 for ORCi registered National Banger drivers and £20 for temporary licenced drivers.

The Thursday series will permit cars up to 1800cc and this will now also apply to all Sunday meetings throughout August.

Thanks to the drivers who supplied the feedback. The other issues which we spoke about have been passed on and are now being looked at by Deane.

Pre 1980’s Meeting
We would like to clarify the situation with MK3 Escorts at the above meeting. The MK3 Escort was launched at the Motor Show in October 1980, therefore it does not qualify as a pre 1980 car. No MK3 Escorts will be allowed to race at the meeting on 12th July.

Saturday night offers one the “must see” meetings at Foxhall Stadium (6.45 start time) as the two principal formulae in oval racing get together for the annual Thunder 500 sponsored as usual by Cattermoles Garage of Ipswich. The mighty BRISCA Formula 1 Stock Cars make their once a year visit to Foxhall along with the National Hot Rods with a multi-national entry for what is regarded by many as the warm up for the World Championship which is now just two weeks away.

The 2009 qualifying series will go down in history as the closest ever, 9 drivers at the final qualifier at Northampton 2 weeks ago could still realistically win the English points title on the morning of the meeting, by tea time it was all over and East Anglian star Chris Haird (Newmarket) came out the victor on the day with Ipswich based triple World Champion Carl Boardley in third place in his Tigra. Boardley was back at Northampton the following Wednesday testing his new Mercedes SLK and plans on giving his new challenger its debut on his home track at the Thunder 500. Team boss Richard Boardley said “Considering the SLK was brand new we were pleased with its performance, we made a few adjustments on the day and we’ve got one or two more to do back in the workshop, but overall we are pleased with the new car” Boardley would not be drawn however on whether the SLK will be the car he defends his world crown with or whether the very developed and much trusted Tigra will be the tool for the job at 12 noon on July 5th as he bids for a record breaking 4th consecutive win. “That will be Carl’s decision alone after the Thunder 500” he added. Many Boardley fans are hoping that he will stick with the Tigra as he seems so perfectly dialled into the car as his performance at Ipswich 4 weeks ago showed when he was clearly in a league of his own.

National Hot Rod supporters always say at this time of the year “never discount the Irish” and at the time of writing no less that 10 drivers are booked in from Ireland including the much fancied John Christie and the likeable Tom Casey. Continental entries from the Netherlands and Germany give a truly international flavour. The Thunder 500 has been known to throw some pointers to who will win the World over the years, its also given some very false alarms as well, but as ever watch Boardley, Haird and Matt Simpson, John Christie and Gary Woolsey from Northern Ireland and probably Mark Heatrick from south of the border. Colin Smith from Essex will also be at Foxhall with is outstanding BMW Z4, this car seems well suited to Ipswich and many regard him as the “one that got away” as far as World Final qualifying is concerned, but if he keeps his form surely he is one to watch when the 2010 qualifiers kick off in late July at Birmingham.

For many race fans, BRISCA Formula 1’ are “proper” Stock Cars, very much a northern based class these incredibly powerful single seat cars epitomise all that hard charging Stock Car racing is all about, plenty of contact, plenty of power, often racing on short shale raceways and dedicated followers who have made their favourite drivers into household names. All those big names will be in Ipswich this weekend, Frankie Wainman Jnr from Selsden current grading points leader, unbeaten in the points since 1996 and the fact that he has only been crowned World Champion twice in that all conquering career only goes to highlight what a rough tough formula this really is. Matt Newson, fresh from his win at Knockhill in the Scottish Championship last weekend and Dan Johnson from Worksop, current European Champion and one of the emerging young guns of the sport are both appearing.

BRISCA racing is something that runs in the family, given that Frankie Wainman Jnr has his brother racing as well as a multi champion Father and Lechlade’s Michael Scriven is the third generation of his family to grace the ovals in the premier class. Completing the big family names is Craig Finniken, son of 1990 World Champion Bert Finniken. A familiar name to Spedeworth supporters, Carlos Perez, is well placed in the star grade. Ivan Pritchard from Long Eaton races his self built car, a former European Champion he took victory in the first 2 finals of the season, so he is certain to be one to watch. Late additions to the line-up include World Champion Andy Smith who won the coveted title at Foxhall last September and he is joined by his brother Stu Smith Jnr who is the reigning British Champion. There are also some visiting Drivers from Holland which highlights how much the Brisca enjoy the visits to Ipswich. Another thing we can be certain of is that when the BRISCA Formula 1 Stock Cars come to Foxhall they absolutely fly on the wide open expanses of the Foxhall bowl and quite what they will make of the new grippy track surface is anyone’s guess.

Spedeworth are delighted to announce, on behalf of INCARACE, that the Lighting Rods will now, once again be racing as part of the National Weekend at Hednesford on August 1st & 2nd for the Nick Farrer Memorial Trophy.
This is as a direct result of a number of drivers who have been travelling the length and breadth of the country in support of their formula at other promotions as well as Spedeworth and, as such, INCARACE have decided that this event should be open to those drivers who have travelled to other promotions and helped to build the formula back up and persuade INCARACE to add the formula to that weekend.
The following Spedeworth drivers have qualified based on their travelling exploits at other promotions this season:
445 Craig Boyd
781 Neil Wollington
355 Mick Walker
351 Richard Spavins
730 Mike Daniels
411 Richard Warner
452 Adam Eyles
637 Warren Farazmand
We do understand some drivers will be unhappy about the qualification criteria for this event, however, as this is an INCARACE meeting the criteria has been set as they see fit.
We do understand that Spedeworth drivers travel extensively throughout the season - these exploits and the points earned go towards qualification for Spedeworths big events (i.e. Spedeweekend) and as this is an INCARACE event it is felt that the drivers who have helped to build the formula back up at INCARACE deserve to race.
We do apologise if this does upset anyone but INCARACE/Spedeworth believe that this is the fairest way.
We would remind all Spedeworth drivers who have not qualified for this event that the Lightning Rods will still be racing at Ipswich on Saturday August 1st.

Earlier in the season Diss-based driver Danny Fiske appeared to have divorced ‘Lady Luck’ such was his ghastly run of high-speed smashes. Fortune smiles on the brave though and it all came good last Saturday, at least for some that is, writes KEVIN WEGG.

Top attraction were the National Bangers with a good field of forty-eight cars and Steve Mayes got the town of Diss off to a good start with a fine win. Most used this first race as a warm-up for the annual “Hurricane”, which started with a large pile-up and effectively ended the hopes of last years points champion Carl Gould. John Seex and Marty Eighteen both received huge hits, none of which affected the leader Lee Clarke though who was looking good until current world champion Dale Hughes sniffed the scent of an unlikely victory. Starting from the back the Kent-based driver had masterfully carved his way through the field and just managed to land a hit on Clarke going in to the last bend, causing him to ricochet off a parked car. It was so nearly a spectacular victory but there was one final twist though as Clarke was dropped two places for jumping an earlier restart thus Hughes’ efforts had not been in vain. Luke Parfitt followed up his second place by going one better in the meeting final later.

Spedeworth wish to announce that we will not be accepting any further applications for Mechanics licenses this year from drivers who have already registered.
Mechanics License Applications will still be accepted from newly registered drivers.

Spedeworth wish to announce to all drivers and fans that the Figure of 8 Racing scheduled for June 21st at Aldershot Raceway has been cancelled.
This fixture will now be a normal oval fixture for the Bangers.
Spedeworth would like to apologize for any inconvenience caused. Any drivers who wish to alter their bookings (or book in for the oval racing session) should contact the office as soon as possible.

Spedeworth would like to announce the format for the Superstox British Championship to be held this Sunday at Aldershot Raceway on Sunday June 14th.
Due to the number of cars wishing to book in for this event it has been necessary to change the format from previous years.
The cars will be split and race in 2 out of the 3 qualifying heats.
The top 30 cars will qualify for the British Championship Final which will be the last race for the Superstox on Sunday and the grid for the Championship race will be decided by a public draw as the cars enter the circuit for the final.

Congratulations to Spedeworth National Banger star 247 Lee 'Bro' Clarke who won the BBA English title at Buxton on Sunday 7th June.
Lee won the title from a quality field of drivers in horrendously wet conditions, spinning Autospeed man 190 Steve 'Pikey' Bailey out of the lead in the closing stages.

A three formula line up at Foxhall Stadium this week catering for just about every taste in oval racing, non contact 2.0 Hot Rods, Historic Stock Cars for the nostalgia lovers and for the bash and crash brigade it’s the “2009 Hurricane Trophy” for the National Bangers.

Close to 40 Hot Rods are booked in at the time of writing as the last chance to race at Foxhall presents itself before the British Championships at Foxhall on July 4th. The obvious big names, Malcolm Blackman (Iver) and Mark Paffey (Havant) are the two who as always will be the ones to watch, but with a quality field racing then win or loose it will be a delight to watch them carve their way through the field to any of the top places. So, who may finish in front of them? Paul Wright from Greenford always shows well at Foxhall and his Nova is so often just perfect around the wide bends that this circuit offers add in fellow southern stars Mark Cooper and Gavin Botfield and never discount the often forceful Carl Pye from Yarmouth and this meeting looks like having all the ingredients of the championship itself. National Hot Rod star driver Dick Hillard is making a welcome appearance in the class, who knows, is he testing a car for his son Brett to make the move from Stock Rods into? If this is the case then Brett would surely make a big impact on the formula as he follows in his Fathers footsteps on the ovals.

For the nostalgia fix the Historic Stock Cars make their second appearance of the season at Foxhall. A real look back to the 1970’s and its so hard to pick out a winner as just about every race throws up a new one. The historics are in danger of becoming “Formula Triumph” as the Triumph 2000 has become the car to have if winning races is on the agenda, which is a bit of a shame, as while there were a few of them about in the late 1970’s they never really dominated the formula like they do now. Very strong local interest here with Dave Taylor (Elmsett) and Ipswich driver Mervyn Lockwood both expected to race along with Nick Dellar who lives so close to Foxhall that he can almost see his house from the stadium, the likeable driver from Kesgrave still persevering with his MG Magnette he built as a tribute to his boyhood hero the late Bob Studd. Gordon Coull makes the trip all the way up from Eastbourne in his Cortina GT one of the many southern travellers who are regulars at Foxhall.

The National Bangers are back for the traditional hard hitting Hurricane Trophy meeting. These big National Banger meetings always attract the biggest of the big names in Banger racing, so they are not for the faint hearted drivers! Former points Champion Carl “Gouldy” Gould (Norwich) will be here alongside Champion Dale Hughes and the great showman, Northfleets Shane Davies. The ever popular “Kingy” is making the trip up from Brighton along with “Tricky” Richard Flockton who both have good records of wins at Foxhall. Locals will cheer for Gareth Parker from Ipswich as he enjoys another National Banger outing at his local track. Its an under 2100cc meeting so it looks as if the ever popular Mondeo will be the car of choice alongside the usual selection of Granada’s, Volvo’s, Vectra’s, Cavaliers and assorted Japanese offerings.

Two major talking points - at either end of the racing spectrum - dominated the conversations as a huge Bank Holiday crowd left the Foxhall Stadium wondering just what will happen next, writes KEVIN WEGG.

This was the first time the National Hot Rods had set foot on the tarmac oval since the bends were re-laid and early on in the proceedings it looked like the plan to add more grip to the outside line had not been overly successful with even “pass master” Phil Spinks unable to tame the circuit. Ipswich driver Carl Boardley was undaunted though and simply purred round the outside of half the field before passing second placed Andy Steward as if he was standing still. He couldn’t quite catch Luke Armiger but he went one better next time out with an even more impressive display. This was after he had passed four cars on that same outside line in just one lap to move up to fourth, then proceeded to literally blast his way to the front, once again passing Steward only this time it was for a hugely deserved win. With the cars racing in a two-thirds format it was another Ipswich driver, Jay Austin, who showed similar panache to Boardley to get up to second, narrowly failing to catch Tony Moss on the run in to the flag. The scene was duly set for the final showdown with all leading protagonists present, as it was Tony Moss and Colin Smith clashed whilst chasing Armiger to allow Colin Gomm to take second then first in quick succession and he was promptly away in to the distance. Boardley struggled to get past Malcolm Blackman before an outside burst once again paid dividends and it sets up a very intriguing prospect indeed as their world title shoot-out hits Ipswich on July 4/5.

The de-railing of Dave Canham, the “Canhamball Express”, was the other major topic of discussion in the contrasting Banger formula. Following his customary heat win in the first race of the day he was spun in the second and had been stationary for a short while before Gavin Ward hit the rear of his car flat-out. Canham was briefly unconscious after a mega-hit, thankfully walking away after coming round. This was yet another chapter in a long-running saga which is set to rumble on over the coming weeks and no doubt keep the crowd on the edge of their seats throughout. Barry Arnold profited most to take the flag which he matched in the final but only after race leader Chris Watling had been sent spinning and then promptly rolled backwards, clipping a tyre on his way which duly rolled him over!

It is now Tuesday and we only have 14 Historic Stock Cars booked in for this Saturday at Ipswich.
It would seem that there is a distinct lack of interest on the part of the Historic Stock Cars in racing at Ipswich and as such Spedeworth have decided that if there are not sufficient numbers booked in for the event this Saturday then the formula will be dropped from Spedeweekend.

Following a successful trial meeting at the Hednesford Raceway we will be allowing cam belt covers/guards provided people are sensible with them and they are only there for protecting the cam belt and do not strengthen the van. To encourage a few more entries it has been agreed to allow PETROL VAN AS WELL AS THE ORIGINAL DEISEL VANS as first scheduled on this fixture. They must be No Larger than the Escort type Van or Similar.

Spedeweekend is fast approaching!

After the excellent turnout last Saturday at Ipswich - it is certainly clear that some drivers loved it - and some didn't.

As usual the Superstox will be ALL IN at Spedeweekend.

We would like to ask drivers what they feel the car limit should be set at for this event - we would like DRIVERS ONLY to answer this and include their name and race number in their response.

John Earrey cut his commentating teeth describing the all-action exploits of open-wheeled Stock Car racing back in the sixties and some forty years on the Superstox turned out in magnificent numbers – together with the Hot Rods and Bangers - to proudly honour the undisputed ‘Voice of Foxhall’ with a hard-hitting display that took no prisoners, writes Kevin Wegg.

Forty-five Superstox swarmed in to turn one for their first outing, with Brett Wesbroom clashing at high-speed with Ben Munford early on. Unfortunately for Munford there was worse to follow as he was involved in an even more serious pile-up in heat two with Woodbridge youngster Alex Meadows. Both needed lengthy treatment from St. Johns, although the unlucky Meadows still managed to wear his customary smile despite suffering a nasty leg injury. Despite the magnificent efforts of Wesbroom’s pit crew to get him back out for heat two his return was short-lived, but his Essex counterpart Nick Smith was flying to add a win to his earlier third place, whilst previous race winner Billy Smith didn’t fare nearly so well pulling off with problems. Those problems were not nearly so painful as the ones that be-set Dave Pike however in the final, who hit the first bend armco with bone-jarring force having tangled with John Smith. There was a real scrap for the lead after the restart, with credit going to lone novice grade driver Glen Stitle for not giving up without a real fight, but in the end it was Jonathan Field who added a win to his earlier third place.

Nearly eighty Bangers put on a superb team-wrecking fest, many going to great lengths with the paintbrush to honour John. Danny Coleman produced a text-book Stock Car manoeuvre to spin long-time leader Gary Madgwick in the first heat, with Gary’s brother Dave not faring much better, catching fire in spectacular fashion one race later. Dave ‘Canhamball’ took that one as Martin Smith was hit from pillar to post. Darren Yates took the last heat after a helping hand from Dean Baker before a huge pile-up sorted out most of the field in the final, allowing Michael Lane to take full advantage. A crowd-pleasing five-car follow-in signalled the start of the Destruction Derby, Mike Nicholls gleefully grabbing the spoils.

There was a maiden race win for Lee Munday in the opening 2.0 Hot Rod heat as he led from the flag. He nearly made it a double in the second when he eventually got the better of Ian Sutton and bit huge chunks out of race leader Matt Well’s lead but couldn’t quite make it. If that was impressive then their final was truly special. Munday hit the front early on but Malcolm Blackman was making great strides. With just three laps to go there was surely an impossible gap between him and Munday, but as the last lap board came out he was already on his outside and suddenly past, with Sutton also literally squeezing through with the fence looming ever-larger to snatch second place in a thrilling run-in to the flag. Superb entertainment and as John Earrey always used to say: “So long as we know.

Due to the ongoing project to reduce noise levels as part of the ORC's wider Health and Safety initiative, two Stock Rod drivers will be racing with different silencers as an experiment this Bank Holiday Monday at Ipswich, they are:
447 Stuart Smyth - Simpson Silencer
168 Andy Sturt - Edwards Motorsport Silencer
The performance of these silencers will be monitored - please note that the drivers will earn their National Points for this event as normal.

Following massive demand for bookings from the Superstox for Bank Holiday Monday May 25th at Arlington Stadium, Eastbourne, Spedeworth are pleased to announce that we have now able to accept a few more bookings and accommodate all drivers who have requested a booking.
Could all drivers and teams please note that the heats will be split into two thirds format.
TO ALL DRIVERS, TEAMS & FANS - We will be starting the meeting at least ten minutes early due to the number of cars and races so PLEASE ARRIVE EARLY
We would like to thank the owners of Arlington Stadium for their co-operation in giving us the extra pit space that has made this possible.

Spedeworth wish to announce some possible rule changes for the Superstox in 2010:
Inside Weight Rule
We are looking into introducing an inside weight rule to the formula which will be a MAXIMUM of 52% with the driver in their car.
Exhaust Rule
The price limit will be kept the same as 2009. However, there will be no chrome or polished exhausts and they will come straight out the side, over the top of the chassis & straight down the offside of the car with a minimum height from the ground (this height to be confirmed at a later date).
This is just to keep all drivers and teams informed should they already be making preparations for next year. These rules will more than likely be coming in from January 1st 2010.

Spedeworth wish to request that drivers make a greater effort to book in prior to race meetings. The programme is sent off at the start of the week for meetings that weekend and the lists can often look poor compared to the actual numbers that arrive on the day of the meeting.
If the situation does not improve; Spedeworth will have to consider taking away complimentary tickets for those who fail to book in.
This applies to ALL formulas.
Please note that bookings are accepted roughly two months in advance (with the exception of Championship events).

It is with regret that Spedeworth announce that former Ministox racer Joe Tandy, aged just 26, died in a car crash yesterday afternoon.
The former Ministox racer who went on to become the 2005 Formula Palmer Audi champion and team chief at JTR, was involved in an accident with a box lorry at a junction near his Bedfordshire home early Wednesday afternoon and was pronounced dead on the scene while his friend was pronounced dead at hospital.
Joe began his career in Ministox at the age of 11 and went on to win the World and National Ministox Championships in 1998, aged 15, and successfully defended his National Championship a year later.
Joe was always proud of where he began his racing career and the success he went on to have on the circuits just shows what a great start Ministox can be to a career in racing.
Spedeworth wish to send their heartfelt condolences to the families of Joe and best wishes to the others and thier families involved in this tragic accident.
Funeral details will be posted when we receive them.

The once familiar tones of A Walk In The Black Forest will ring out around the newly resurfaced Foxhall Raceway this Saturday evening as oval racing gathers to pay its annual tribute to one of it’s most respected and likable characters whose career spanned 4 decades. John Earrey, Commentator, PR man or Stadium Manager what ever of the reason people remember him for, he is still regarded by most Stockcar and Speedway fans as quite simply…. “the best there was.” John retired in 1999 not enjoying the best of health, he was however a regular visitor to Foxhall for his beloved Stockcar and Speedway racing until his untimely passing in 2003.

Saturday’s meeting sees a line up that John would have loved, Superstox, 2.0 Hot Rods and he would have had plenty to say about the Bangers with 13 teams doing battle on the raceway.

Fresh from his victory at Great Yarmouth 2 weeks ago newly crowned English Champion Mark Smith will resume his on track battles with World Champion Jason Cooper and bitter rival Daniel Rutterford, many supporters still not convinced we have seen the end of their duelling. Former World Champion Steven Jackson seems be spending a lot of his time involved in other peoples accidents right now, going out of the English Championship on lap 1 with bent steering he will be looking for a deserved change in fortune at this meeting. The Superstox with their race suspension will be certain to make the most of the resurfaced Foxhall bends, Spedeworth’s Christer Earrey adding “We needed to encourage an outside line around Foxhall, the only way to go was to replace the 25 year old track surface which had done really well, it should be a great leveller for all the drivers over the next few meetings”

The Hot Rod drivers will also be pleased to have a chance to try out the new track surface which should show them at their best. A quality field with a lot of drivers making the trip up to East Anglia including former World Champions Mark Paffey (Havant) and Malcolm Blackman (Slough) alongside rising star and former Ministox pilot Scott Bourne. Local eyes will be on the third former World Champion racing in this class as Harleston’s Gary Goodswen takes to the raceway alongside the ever hard charging Carl Pye from Yarmouth.

If you like your racing rough and tough, 13 teams of Banger drivers with six cars in each team will meet to claim the honour of the John Earrey trophy. Team Simple, Team Carlsberg, The Shy Boys, and HMS Wreckers, the team names say it all, a turnout of some 78 drivers including the controversial Ipswich star Dave Canham, still with a few scores to settle from his last outing here and the ever popular Danny Sutton from Caister. Stock Car drivers Mark Bloss (Woodbridge) Simon Berry (Martlesham) with Aaron Morris from Bracknell and National Hot Rod Star Jay Austin all making guest appearances on the night to do battle with some of local Banger racings big names, Chris Bailey and Mike Nicholls.

Without fail this annual meeting always serves up all that’s best about Stock Car Racing in the UK, just the way John used to like it and present it. Don’t forget Grandad!!

Thankfully lightning didn’t strike twice for Essex driver Terry Rollings when he powered his Lightning Rod to victory in the final at Foxhall Stadium to make up for the heartache of having the same victory snatched from him in bizarre circumstances on his last visit, writes Kevin Wegg. On that occasion a mystery oil patch on track wiped him out which was all the more galling as all his prize money goes to the Myeloma cancer charity. No such losers this time thankfully, although he did manage to plant it in the wall when well clear in one of the earlier heats, thus even he must have felt that a final victory was never going to happen! Heat one winner Jimmy Rix failed to bag a pair when he was dropped one place by the Steward down to second position in heat two for not holding his racing line, hence long-distance traveller Warren Farazmand from Surrey gleefully took the spoils. Danny Day from the Midlands-based Incarace promotion chased Rix over the line in the first but went one better in heat three but in the end no-one could catch an understandably delighted Rollings in that feature final.

There is nothing to match the mighty roar of a V8 engine and with a seasons-best twenty-three cars on the grid for their first visit to Foxhall this year the open-wheeled monsters were able to put on an impressive show. Cambridge driver Dave Arnold was testing a brand new self-built car at the Foxhall practice session back in March and although he had problems with the engine that night, everything was purring beautifully when it really mattered and he bagged the first two heats in style. A hat-trick would have been the icing on the cake but it was the white grader Rob Scott who drove the race of his life to talk a flag-to-flag victory with the normally invincible Peter Scott Junior in second - his best result of the night.

Plenty of fun and games in the Bangers with Paul Fellgate from Woodbridge hit so hard in the first heat that it required a fork-lift truck to remove his car from the track! John Parker from Felixstowe completed a crowd-pleased double roll-over as Dave Canham took a customary heat win in style by putting both fellow Ipswich based-drivers Sean Parratt and Gavin Ward away big-time. Canham didn’t have it all his own way though as the wins were shared around, with Yoxford’s Gary Foreman taking heat two and Adam James from Dovercourt the final.

Spedeworth recently took tyre samples from a number of Superstox & 2.0 Hot Rods. For the record the samples were taken from the following cars:

Spedeworth are delighted to announce that all tyre test results were ALL CLEAR.

Please note that there is an error at the front of the Spedeworth Fixture Book. On May 24th it states that the Lightning Rods will be competing in their English Championship. THIS IS INCORRECT. The Lightning Rods will in fact be competing in their East Anglian Championship.

Spedeworth would like to wish the 6 Stock Rod drivers representing Spedeworth at this weekends European Championship at Tipperary a safe journey there & back and all the best for their racing efforts!
The drivers travelling are:
18 Terry Meenehan
72 Jimmy Galloway
168 Andy Sturt
180 Mark Renwick
447 Stuart Smyth
500 Kim Carter
Hopefully, they will enjoy their weekend, after all, it's a long way to go!!!

It has come to our attention that the rules regarding Gearboxe/Final Drive have been mistakenly omitted from the 2009 Rules.
The rules concerning Gearbox/Final Drive are as follows:
The only gearboxes permitted for use are the single rail, 2.0 Litre Cortina type 4-speed gear boxes, including 4-speed P100 and 1600 Sierra/1600 Cortina. It must be fitted as manufactured.
a) Gears must not be changed or altered, i.e. no removal of gears or components, and no straight cut or close ratio gear sets.
b) The only exception is that the gear change assembly may be altered; this may include part of the tailshaft housing associated with the gear change only. Aluminium bell housing are permitted, unmodified. A clutch is required and must be operated by a pivot arm from outside of the bell housing.
c) Differentials may be free or locked only; the use of limited slip, power lock, torque twist, torque bias or any type of competition diff is not allowed.
NOTE - The 5 speed Sierra box may be used and the above rules will apply. The MT75 box is not permitted.

Spedeworth are delighted to announce that the top 25 drivers who have qualified for the 2009 English Championship are as follows:
60 Mark Paffey
308 Mark Cooper
306 William Reed
199 Scott Bourne
96 Kevin Randell
911 Malcolm Blackman
43 Paul Wright
204 Carl Pye
310 Sean O'Leary
110 Jason Wilks
197 Michael Pagden
304 Danny Fiske
6 Graham Fulker
209 Kym Weaver
75 Chris Crane
82 Paul Jones
300 Tristan Jackson
162 Paul Trimmer
8 Damon Wellman
303 Gavin Botfield
40 Kenny Coleman
503 Chris Harvey
30 Martin Codling
72 Gary Goodswen
160 Richard Poulter
Bookings are being accepted by the drivers listed above for this event - if you have not already booked in please contact the office on 01252 322920.

The big guns roll into Ipswich this week as Foxhall Raceway stages its first outing of the year for the mighty V8 Stock Cars. Part of a three formula line up, the V8 drivers like to make the most of a visit to Foxhall with its long straights and wide open bends which show these V8’s at their very best. Numbers of cars have been an issue for this formula over recent years, and 12 to 14 cars is just not enough, especially round Foxhall, the promoters and drivers have worked hard over the Winter months to ensure growth for the future and the result is a record breaking 26 cars booked in to race this week at Ipswich. Top of the points driver David Burton (Enfield) and the Romford pair of “flying Scotts” in their immaculate cars are booked to race alongside Russ Williams who is returning from a racing sabbatical of 3 years. Among the Winter makeover for the V8’s was the building of a rental car. Top driver Pete Blomfield and his engineer Colin Trollope are the men behind the project which has made a race ready car available on an arrive and drive basis, this week the car is being driven by Superstox racer Ryan Eaton from Winnersh, no stranger to the ovals Ryan is the Grandson of Spedeworth founder Les Eaton, he is looking forward to his first outing in the more powerful open wheeled class. Many drivers in the V8’s live in the home counties but there is still local interest with Colin Goodswen (Harleston) Simon Hogg and near neighbour Sean Driscoll both from the Bury St Edmunds area racing at their local track.

The annual Peter Brown Developments backed Ipswich Banger Championship reaches round 3 this week with a Norfolk driver in the lead, Cawston’s Chris Medler at the head of the table with local drivers Michael Mills (Bucklesham) and Paul Felgate (Framlingham) just behind him. Woodbridge hard hitter Chris Watling appears to be dropping back down the table after a top four finish in 2008, he will be wanting a reverse in his fortunes this time out and if he can just finish in the points each race he will be challenging to get back to the top of the chart. With the good turnout of cars we will see “all in” racing which even given the scale of Foxhall usually see plenty of action.

Completing the line up are the ever popular all Sierra Lightning Rods, racing in a round of the countrywide Polleysport series a good entry of over 30 cars is expected. Current series leader is Adam Eyles (Lopcombe) but local eyes will be on Harwich star Richard Warner who is just 9 points behind him in 3rd place. All the big names are due George Morphey (Peasenhall) and always good for some action Craig Boyd from Cambridge, action and often controversy is not usually far away when the lightning Rods visit Foxhall, this field could well ensure business as usual.

Ipswich-based World Champion Carl Boardley will be on the grid at Foxhall Stadium to defend his National Hot Rod World title on July 5, but if his fortunes last Saturday are anything to go by anything could happen writes Kevin Wegg.

Another excellent entry of cars contested three qualifying heats and there were plenty of talking points along the way with Luke Armiger and Chris Haird having a big impact, the latter needing lengthy attention from St. Johns. Colin Smith made history by recording the first-ever race win for the BMW Z4, but then promptly ran out of fuel whilst leading the next on the very last lap! It looked as if Ralph Saunders would triumph again after his brace a fortnight ago as he pressed Smith hard for the lead in the next heat, but a shunt from behind damaged his bodywork and he limped home instead with smoke pouring from his tyre. Gavin Murray from Southwold took a fine third place but that was to be his best-of-the-day as it all went horribly wrong in the final. Prior to that the plucky Mikey Godfrey had led them all away and gallantly held on until Smith had finally got past as the rest struggled to do likewise. Smith consolidated his lead, but there were bigger looming as Murray and Boardley clashed at high-speed going down the back straight with both spinning and losing valuable world qualifying points in the process.

Spinning is very much the requirement in the ironed-out Stock Cars and a pleasing sprinkling of new drivers and cars resulted in contrasting fortunes for world champions past and present as former title holder Aaron Morris and Simon Welton were both sent spinning in unison as the flag fell to start race one. Star-of-the-day was undoubtedly spectator-turned-racer Jay Wilkins from Creeting St. Mary, who was taking part in only his third-ever meeting and had never raced at Foxhall before. He led all three races, securing a hugely deserved second place in heat two and winning the admiration of all concerned, which is quite some feat for someone whose only previous racing experience was at the wheel of a go kart! Dennis Sutton took a brace of wins and looked a good bet for the final but got held up early on. Pete Beldom did all the hard work to push aside the leaders and hit the front only to be thwarted by a puncture before Luke Harwin struggled to get past Jason Wilkins cleanly and only actually succeeded in opening the door for world champion Mark Whybra who doesn’t need a second invitation.

Bob Bridgman generously presented the trophies and did likewise for the non-contact Rookie Rod East Anglian Championship, Lee Ribbans taking a flag-to-flag win but only after John Smith made him work all the way trying all avenues to pass thus ensuring an exciting finish.

Spedeworth are delighted to announce that there are currently a fantastic 25 V8 Stock Cars booked in for next Saturday night May 2nd at Foxhall Stadium, Ipswich.
This is an excellent turn out and is actually more than the formula attracted at last year’s world final and is a credit to all the hard work from the drivers and teams to get more cars on track. Turnouts of this level are what are required from the formula consistently to show them at their best for the spectators and they are sure to be doing their best to impress next week!!!
The list can be found on the Spedeworth forum by following this LINK

Spedeworth’s Foxhall Stadium still require an assistant pit marshall for the 2009 season. Must be fit, alert and able to work as part of a team. An interest in Stock Car racing is not necessary. Good communication skills are a must. Please apply to christer@spedeworthea.co.uk or at the Ipswich Office Mon to Fri 10 – 5, 01473 612423.

At Easter fans of National Hot Rod racing were relishing the prospect of a run into the World Finals with just 74 points separating the top twelve drivers in the qualifying series. Fast forward two weeks and the National Hot Rod circus rolls into Ipswich for the second time in 2009 for round 13 sponsored by Peter Carter Transport, and just 40 points separating the top 12 drivers. Over the Easter holidays the Ludlow World Series raced at Northampton and Ipswich, Local World Champion Carl Boardley raced his Tigra and did just what was asked of him as he collected a good haul of points to lift him to tenth in the points, and more importantly just thirty points adrift of that all important place close to the front of the grid at Foxhall in July. Given the fact that Carl is currently averaging 18.5 points per meeting as he climbs the table it looks likely to see him keenly placed for the big race, and in any case it would be long shot to bet against him from anywhere in the top ten where he now finds himself.

The top eighteen points scorers in the English series qualify for this years World Championship race and that top sixteen is looking more or less settled, with Steve Thompson (Scunthorpe) likely to slip out of the top 18, business commitments giving him a lack of racing this year and Essex driver Luke Armiger looking vunerable for the drop. The vultures are hovering in the shape of veteran Jeff Simpson and relative newcomer Jason Kew who would be delighted to qualify in his first year in the premier formula. Suffolk drivers looking safe apart from Boardley are Southwold’s Gavin Murray and fellow Peugeot driver Chris Haird along with Ipswich’s Jay Austin in his 206.

1300 Stock Cars and the budget Rookie Rods provide the support racing this week, they are being sponsored by local racing supporter Bob Bridgman. Bob, from Capel raced on the circuits in his younger days until family commitments and more latterly illness curtailed his days on the track, Bob is however a regular visitor to Foxhall and has decided to sponsor the two support formulae racing, giving the drivers a shot at some very welcome extra prize money. For the Rookie Rods its all about the East Anglian Championship and the chance to race on the large Foxhall oval. Henry Goodchild (Witnesham) is probably the best bet for a local win, but watch out for a “southern raid” as drivers from as far away as Brighton are heading up the A12 determined to take the East Anglian trophy back home with them, many feel they will, it will be up to Goodchild and fellow local drivers Terry Mayes from Monk Soham and Norfolk’s Shaun Wegg to try and stop them.

Stock Cars provide the rough and tumble with a few scores to settle as the season starts to settle into its summer racing. World Champion Mark Whybra from Norwich is never shy from any controversy, and if he can’t find some, he will usually manage to make some for himself. Former World Champions Aaron Morris (Bracknell) and Martlesham’s own Simon Berry, who just seems to keep blowing up engines at every meeting are booked in, these two alone will ensure that the action will come thick and fast on the night.

National Hot Rod racing roared in to Foxhall Stadium for the latest round in their World Qualifying series and it is fair to say there was more than just the odd egg cracked during this very lively Easter offering, writes Kevin Wegg. All twenty-nine entrants contested two qualifying heats with Ralph Saunders (Devon) taking full advantage of his group one starting position to take comfortable wins in both, but it was far from cosy for the rest with the immaculate new Mercedes SLK of Andy Holtby; the BMW Z4 of Colin Smith and the unfortunate Colin Gomm all in the wars. Phil Spinks blasted around the outside of one-time leader Mikey Godfrey to earn a good second place and so the scene was set– could anyone stop Saunders making it a hat-trick in the East Anglian Championship final?

Saunders hopes were soon dashed as he got caught on the difficult outside line and dropped steadily back whilst Godfrey hung on gamely for several laps until he was spun out with Darron Lewis promptly receiving a black cross meaning a possible penalty at race end. A huge pile-up on the back straight caught out reigning world champion Carl Boardley and six others, with Jay Austin (Ipswich) and Malcolm Blackman both receiving damage. On the restart the back-marking Luke Armiger caused all sorts of problems for the leaders with Tony Moss the biggest loser. Darren Lewis nosed ahead in the shakedown only for Phil Spinks to deservedly inherit the title for his never-say-die efforts all afternoon when Lewis was dropped two places by the Steward as his earlier misdemeanour cost him dearly.

A mega entry of Superstox necessitated a two-thirds heat format but the action still came thick and fast. Ryan Eaton pushed past the leading Paul Burksfield only for Marjoram to cooly slip past Eaton at the same time to take the first. In heat two the veteran John Saunders pushed aside the plucky Jack Hughes to hit the front as World Champion Jason Cooper nudged his way past Jonathan Field for second. With just one lap to go Saunders was surely out of range but a fantastic effort from the champion saw him land a blow on Saunders’ rear bumper which the Reading driver just held for a brilliant victory. Youngster Billy Smith (Diss) took his first win and was looking good in the all-in final until a blown engine decided otherwise. Another big crash - again involving the luckless Nick Smith - whittled down the field and with Saunders and Cooper both spinning and Marjoram too far back, it was wide open with Paul Burksfield duly making up for his earlier disappointment. Daniel Rutterford and Mark Smith continued their feud, both ending the race in the fence to conclude a thrilling all-action session from the open wheelers.

In the Bangers Chris Watling helped himself to a win before rolling Kevin Buckley spectacularly in the second with Kelvin Banthorp and Gary Foreman taking the other race wins.

It has come to Spedeworths attention that the rules on Superstox brakes have been omitted. To clarify the ruling - the following rules apply:

BRAKES - Must operate efficiently on all four wheels and can be of any type. Biased braking is permitted, but aluminium calipers ae not permitted. Four pot brake calipers are not permitted. Competition pads may be used. Only steel discs or drums are permitted. (Drilling of disc/drums is permitted)

Due to a shortage of numbers to the Ipswich Team this meeting has now been postponed until such a time there can be enough numbers raised. Sorry for any inconvenience for drivers who may have painted their cars in the team colours but Bangers will still be racing at the Yarmouth meeting on the 26th April for a domestic session. Drivers who wish to race at this meeting will need to book in through the office in the normal manner. All bookings have been transferred to this domestic event - if you do wish to change your booking; please contact the office

Spedeworth’s Yarmouth Stadium still require another Scrutineer and an assistant pit marshall for the 2009 season. Must be fit, alert and able to work as part of a team. Good communication skills are a must. Please apply to christer@spedeworthea.co.uk or at the Ipswich Office Mon to Fri 10 – 5, 01473 612423.

Due to huge demand for Superstox bookings (46 booked in at this time) for what is a domestic event, Spedeworth would like to announce that the Superstox will be racing in two-thirds format for the heats to try and reduce the risk of damage so early in the season. If any other drivers do wish to book in please contact the office before Thursday April 9th at 5pm on 01252 322920.

For many fans of oval racing, Easter is when the season really gets going. If your formula is the oval’s premier non-contact formula then all roads lead to Foxhall on Monday afternoon when the National Hot Rod World Championship qualifying series rolls into town. Backed by Haird Motorsport, round 12 of 16 in the series sees just four points separating the top four drivers with Matt Simpson from Langley in Berks heading up the points. Suffolk drivers are holding their own with Southwold’s Gavin Murray in second place and Chris Haird from Newmarket chasing him in third. The last round held two weeks ago at Aldershot raceway saw Mark Fuller “do a Brawn” and win a heat and the final on his first meeting in the formula. Unlikely as it is that Fuller will make the World Final grid at Ipswich in July, he has taken a huge haul of points so far and could well do the same on Monday from his front of the grid starting slot. Ipswich based World Champion Carl Boardley initially appears to have it all to do as he is currently back in 12th place, some 74 points behind Simpson, but do the maths and its easy to see that given a couple of good meetings he could easily be in the top group come July. Carl is close to having his new Ludlow built Mercedes SLK race ready, but will be racing his trusty Vauxhall Tigra on Monday. Team boss Richard Boardley said “The SLK is nearly ready, but we blew a head gasket at Aldershot last time out so the engine has had to have a rebuild, and we’ve been busy with that.” Scotland’s Willie Hardie has tested his SLK at Knockhill but is still undecided as to whether to bring it to Foxhall at this crucial stage in qualifying. Fellow traveller from north of the border James Jamieson is booked in to race. His new transporter getting almost as much attention as his race cars at the NEC show in January where it was delivered direct from Lehel. If you don’t want to see the racing, it’s worth a trip to Foxhall just to see Jamieson’s new transporter! Former World Champions Malcolm Blackman and Glastonbury’s Colin White are also due to appear, with White now appearing to be devoting more time to his National Hot Rod racing now that the big V8 ASCAR series seems to be struggling on the circuits. Some say so he should as they feel that he could still be a winner of a fourth World title if he can get on the grid again this year.

High speed contact is provided by the Superstox, always a great spectacle around the fast Foxhall oval. It’s business as usual with Jason Cooper still the man to beat in his beautiful HCD machine, and the feud between Norfolk star drivers Mark Smith and Daniel Rutterford still ongoing, if their clash at Wimbledon Stadium last week is anything to go by. If the two of them can get together on Monday, forget watching the leader and just focus on these two as they will probably end up driving straight to the scene of the accident. There is one person who may change the order in the formula, and he is booked in to race, remember this name…… Billy Smith. Still only 16 years of age, eldest son of multiple champion Diggy Smith who is guiding his son’s career. Billy showed no fear as he attacked World Champion Jason Cooper at Wimbledon on the last lap of the meeting final two weeks ago. It was textbook stuff as he launched his car at Cooper going into the last bend, and it was probably only Cooper’s skill that kept him in the lead to take the chequered flag on the night. There seems to be a lot of scores to settle at this early stage in the season, Foxhall on Monday could well see a few debts paid.

Spedeworth would like to announce details regarding the Slick Cars scheduled to appear at Aldershot Raceway on May 31st.

Any Super Rod, Outlaw Hot Rod, National Hot Rod or any Saloon type of car (including Grass Track Hot Rods) on slick tyres will be welcome to race at Aldershot on May 31st. Drivers - if you are not registered with the ORC - you will have to fill in a temporary license form on the day. Everyone will pay to come in. Anyone wishing to book in for this meeting should contact the Spedeworth Office on 01252 322920.

We are also delighted to announce that a further Slick Car fixture has been added for Hednesford Hills Raceway on July 12th.

Heavy metal rocked the Foxhall Stadium last Saturday as the Saloon Stock Cars made their usual hard-hitting season debut with the Lightning Rods and Bangers also adding their own brand of head-banging to send the crowd home with more than just a few talking points, writes Kevin Wegg.
After two fast but relatively incident-free heats, things really came to life in the Stock Car final with Mark Almeida riding the wall and bringing out the waved yellow flags. With the unusually quiet Diggy Smith (Diss) already out - merely adding to the misery of his spin in race two – it was earlier heat winner and lone white top Dean Watson that led them away again only for Daniel Langley to land an impressive hit going in to turn three. His bold move was only briefly successful though as both cars drifted wide following the impact allowing Shane Davies to dive inside both of them and take it up. With Steve Anscombe in hot pursuit anything could happen and promptly did but in the surprising shape of the backmarking Billy Smith instead who got between them and lunged at Davies going in to the very last bend. With the prospect of a hasty introduction to the armco beckoning, Davies’ heart must have been in his mouth as the fence loomed ever closer, but he held it brilliantly and in the sprint to the line deservedly held it by inches as the cars crossed the line three abreast.
An impressive thirty-two car line-up for the first non-contact Lightning Rod heat - with two more unable to start - had all the makings of a lively encounter and sure enough the door panels started to take a beating when Ian Wright (Cransford) hit the stationery Alex Brigden; rejoined and only succeeded in blocking the path of the unfortunate Nick Cook, with Benn Warren suffering both front and rear damage in the resulting shemozzle. Warren Farazmand had the pleasure of an early bath for that one only and there was yet more drama later as Paul Brown and Steve Santry tangled causing Neil Wollington to clip them and fly backwards in to the fence.
There was contact of a different kind in race two as Michael Lane (Lavenham) and Gary Legrice (Norwich) got out of their cars and indulged in a spot of pushing and shoving on the centre green following an on-track spin. One might have been forgiven for thinking that the meeting was sponsored by ‘Liquorice Allsorts’ such was the variety of mouth-watering action on offer and the final was no different when clear leaders Terry Rollings and earlier heat winner Ben Newman were tripped up big style by a mystery oil spillage which claimed them both. Andy Brown made no mistake from the restart and roared away, although at the flag Adam Eyles and Gary Greenland were visibly gaining.
Once again the Bangers served up another crash-happy fest, Kevin Buckley receiving a very hard, but accidental, drivers’ door hit by the pit gate. Jake Stewart had a big coming together which ending with him perched high and dry whilst fellow Ipswich driver Dave Canham finished the race in style by deliberately executing a handbrake turn to cross the line first in reverse! Another huge crash by the Starter’s rostrum signalled an early stoppage in heat two, which was later halted again for another big smash. Harwich driver Steen Rozier had a spectacular engine fire to hot things up still further in the final, which Ipswich driver Chris Watling seemed set to win until the back-marking Eric Pearson decided otherwise and spun him out leaving Michael Mills (Bucklesham) to inherit the win with previous heat winners Chris Medler and Dave Canham taking the other significant places.

Two out of the three formulae racing at Foxhall this week will officially please the fans of contact racing and the third formula being the Lightning Rods may just do the same! While Lightning Rod racing is non contact there is always plenty of action on the raceway as the one make series for Sierra’s gets underway with a round of the Polleysport/Yokohama Tyre Championship. Lightning Rods appear to be at a crossroads present as promoters and drivers look to decide where the formula will head in the coming months. The Sierra went out of production in 1992, straight rust free Sierra’s are now hard to find, add in the fact that the formula needs to move with the times and the Mondeo appears to be logical progress, but it is a front wheel drive model, and with many drivers wanting to retain the exciting handling of rear wheel drive maybe the formula needs to look towards BMW 3 series, Mercedes C Class and Alfa 156 for suitable cars. But for now its still the Sierra, and it’s still the same names at the top as the Lightning Rods make their 2009 Foxhall debut. Richard Spavins from Biggleswade is probably the biggest threat to local stars George Morphey, and Ian Wright who both come from the Framlingham area, with Harry Skoyles getting in on the action as well along with Lavenham’s Michael Lane the silverware could well end up with any of these four drivers. Following in his Fathers footsteps is Craig Boyd from Papworth, an ex kart racer, his early career was guided by Graham Boyd, himself having been a successful sort circuit racing driver.

The Bangers are back competing in Round Two of the Peter Brown backed Ipswich Track Championship. Following a bruising Round One its Barry Arnold all the way up from Ashford who leads the points with Felixstowe’s John Parker hot on his heels, and with 2008 Championship placeman Chris Watling ending up on his roof at the last meeting and failing to score any points its all to drive for as this series gets well underway. James Bugg from Martlesham Heath makes his racing debut at just 16 years old driving a Skoda, he plans to bring plenty of support to his local track and will be happy just to take his car home in one piece at this stage in his racing career.

The usual heavy contact is expected from the fully ironed up 2 Litre Stock Cars. Spedeworth’s newest formula already has a reputation as a place not suitable for the faint hearted! Many of the drivers will travel up from the South for this meeting as the formula has gained a strong following at Aldershot and Wimbledon. Local eyes will be on the aforementioned George Morphey who is racing in both the Stock Cars and Lightning Rods on the night.

Sunday 26th April at Yarmouth Stadium, Saturday 3rd October at Foxhall Stadium

To enter this event you must be Spedeworth registered and you must be willing to participate in both legs of this event. If you are closer to a Norwich postcode you will be entered into the Norwich Team and likewise if you are closer to Ipswich you will be in the Ipswich Team.

Colours are Norwich - Yellow Cars/Green Roofs. Ipswich - Blue Cars/White Roofs.

To join a team you can sign-up at either the Yarmouth or Ipswich Race offices or by e-mailing me at christer@spedeworthea.co.uk

On the wrong end of yet another high-speed smash at Foxhall Stadium last Saturday race fans are beginning to wonder if Diss-based 2 litre Hot Rod driver Danny Fiske trod on a black cat before dropping a mirror at some point in the distant past but he wasn’t the only one in the wars during another thrill-a-minute meeting which ended with the Steward studying video evidence to determine the victor of the 2009 East Anglian Championship title, writes Kevin Wegg.

With just two all-in qualifying heats to determine the championship grid it was a full compliment of thirty-five that entered the fray including Belgian visitor Christof van Dekerckhove but his Foxhall debut ended in disaster when he stalled following a jammed throttle and was hit at full race speed by both Danny Fiske and Jemma Dendy. In a barn-storming finish Malcolm Blackman roared impressively round the outside of Martin Codling to take second before Jason Wilks made his move up Blackman’s inside but couldn’t quite hold it, Paul Wright taking full advantage.

Richard Poulter steered his brand new Citroen Saxo to take a ‘flag-to-flag’ (after being towed off during a practice spill) as Chris Harvey spun out at high-speed following close attention from Richard Norman and it’s fair to say they weren’t swapping early Easter greetings after the flag.

Mark Cooper showed his hand early in the final diving up the inside of pole sitter Paul Wright; couldn’t quite hold it and Jason Wilks made hay trying the same move, hitting daylight after making slight contact. ‘Winternationals’ winner Wilks was duly black-crossed by the Steward meaning a possible penalty at the end but he rapidly pulled away regardless. Mark Paffey's slim chances of defending his title disappeared after Blackman got too close, with the former returning the ‘kiss’ then Blackman had similar fun with Richard Poulter, a black-cross being the only reward for his overly-amorous advances. In an exciting finale Wilks crossed the line first with Wright on his tail but with that possible penalty pending, the video evidence was duly watched; watched again and studied once more before the drivers themselves agreed the result should stand without penalties.

Former Ministox star Jimmy Galloway took two impressive heat wins in the Stock Rods, with Patrick Smith Jnr. taking the other after a great dice with Matt Ovenden in a race where Shaun Taylor (Leiston) was another to spin out at speed, this time Gavin Pike being the culprit.

The returning Paul Frost (Woodbridge) collected the stranded Richard Pope at the start of the final with Jimmy Galloway threatening to make it a hat-trick but he had a coming-together with Charles Jowers, Patrick Smith Jnr. duly claiming the bigger of his two wins on the night.

Nearly fifty Bangers served up their trademark fun and games, including a roll-over for Chris Watling (Ipswich) before the aptly-nicknamed Caroline “Dizzy” Tillett (Diss) went one better and completed a jaw-dropping double roll-over. Chris Medler nicked that one on the last bend and took the second with more to spare in a race that saw the most spectacular and high-speed roll of them all after Jake Steward (Ipswich) clipped the fence.

A three formula line up provides the action this Saturday at Foxhall Stadium as the 2009 season shifts into second gear with the East Anglian Championship for the Spedeworth 2.0 Hot Rods. Their first championship to be contested after the Winter break which has only seen a handful of meetings, and most of these have been at London’s Wimbledon Stadium, which, while it is a wonderful arena for spectators provides a very different raceway from the wide open expanses of the Foxhall tarmac where the Hot Rods can really shine with its long straights and wide bends. Mark Cooper from Wimbourne took many of the spoils over the Winter with great performances in the Best In Britain Championship and a race win at the Winternationals held on New Years Day, he normally goes well at Ipswich but so do all the other big names in the formula, Malcolm Blackman, Mark Paffey and another Winternationals winner Jason Wilks all regular Foxhall victors. Interest in the formula is strong following the launch of several new cars at Autosport International at the NEC in January, Richard Poulter from Farnham has already tested his new Citroen Saxo at Ipswich and Arena Essex and reported that he is pleased with it considering it is “straight out of the box.” A lot of eyes will be on two cars seen at the NEC, Higham driver William Reed in his brand new Haird Motorsport built Corsa, and Marc Crome is his beautiful Ludlow prepared Saxo, two of the many drivers who are now contracting race car builders to build their cars for them as the sport becomes more technically advanced. Interesting to note that there will be three former World Champions racing at the meeting, Blackman, Paffey, and Harleston’s Gary Goodswen plus the son of a World Champion from many years ago, it was 1975 when Derek Fiske won the Hot Rod World Final ending Barry Lee’s domination of the formula, and now Son Danny has the famous number 304 on his doors, how great it would be to see the Diss driver take the East Anglian Championship trophy back up the A140 to add to the Fiske trophy collection. The girls are represented as ever by Gemma Dendy from Dorking who has had a few bumps at Ipswich over the years, but she can be quick on her day. For anyone who thinks that motorsport is just for the guys, keep an eye on Samantha Holland up for the day from Brighton with her brand new Vauxhall Corsa for her first outing in the Hot Rods. Sam cut her teeth racing in the all contact Stock Cars and she was not just there to make up the numbers, leading the points Championship and tipped by many as a potential winner of the World Championship back in 2005, after a break from racing she is now back with her superbly prepared car, which, once she gets it dialled in will for sure be a race winner.

Back for another Foxhall season is the Ipswich Banger Track Championship, backed now for over 20 years by Peter Brown Developments this keenly fought season long championship will see an increased prize money pot from Peter Brown who has always keenly supported the local banger scene at Ipswich. Chris Medler from Cawston will start as defending Champion after a bruising campaign in the 2008 series. Ever present Ipswich Banger Championship names are Andy Hill and racing stalwart Derek Spall from Woodbridge. Foxhall Stadium Manager Christer Earrey said “Its great to get another Ipswich Banger Championship off the ground, and we are grateful to Peter Brown for his support for yet another year, this Championship always gets more tense as the season draws on, so the end rounds can be very keenly fought, and get a bit rough!”

Support racing is completed by the Stock Rods, a great non contact formula if the budget does not run the full budget needed for the Hot Rods. The drivers to beat here are the ever fancied Stuart Smyth from Uxbridge, Graham Moreton and Ashsteads Andy Sturt, the chances are that anyone who can finish in front of any of these three will be a race winner on the night. Kim Carter will be hoping for a better night than he enjoyed at the annual Foxhall practice night three weeks ago, after driving all the way up from the south coast he blew his engine in spectacular fashion after just a handful of laps, back this weekend with a new engine he is a potential winner no doubt. Local interest is strong in Stock Rods with Woodbridge driver Paul Frost back after a break from racing and Leiston’s Shaun Taylor taking a break from operating the on track cameras at Foxhall and getting on track himself for the evening. Stock Rods are sponsored this weekend by Nick Ovenden Plant Hire.

With a booty of over £2000 on offer it was no wonder National Banger drivers flocked from far-and-wide to contest the season opener at Foxhall Stadium, Ipswich last Saturday and a good-sized crowd lapped up a thunderous display of hard-hitting action from the word go writes Kevin Wegg.

Fifty cars for the opening heat duly served notice of what was to come and with a huge posse of drivers from the Essex-based Gladiators on hand we were guaranteed action. Despite a dusty surface the action came both thick and surprisingly fast with Ipswich driver Chris Bailey on the receiving end of a high-speed t-bone. At the flag it was first blood to the Gladiators with 'Mental Mark' Munson victorious. A fresh batch of cars for heat two - making it a very impressive total entry of 94 for the evening - saw the first roll-over of the year courtesy of Jon Murrell. Carl Gould - who topped the world championship qualifiers last season – managed to thread his way through the motorised mayhem to take the flag.

It was all-in for the big money 'Raid' final with a cool £500 to the winner alone and with seventy cars on the raceway it became something of a headache for the lap-scorer but certainly got the season of to a highly promising start with a final to remember for years to come. Cars were smashing in to the unforgiving fence all round the circuit with Richard Flockton and James Simpson both on the receiving end of huge hits but there was also some good racing to go with it as Luke Parfitt took up the running. After a good showing in his heat the Norwich driver looked set for a big pay day but Southern-based raider Dave King had other ideas and used his wealth of experience to slip up the inside and take the lead which he eventually managed to cling on to.

Yet more loot in the "Dash for Cash" event gave mechanics every incentive to try and repair all manner of damage but for some it was all in vain with a mega pile-up on the famous turnstile bend after Gladiator Samuel Keep was left facing the wrong way and the rest piled in. Early race leader Roy Gedge managed to avoid that one but wasn't so lucky when he encountered another 'car park' on turn one and then Ipswich driver Jason Thurlow picked up Southerner Richard Flockton and rode him round the armco with a predictably destructive outcome for the latter! Parfitt took some consolation for his earlier defeat with a fine win.

A no-nonsense start to the Destruction Derby quickly reduced the field with the Gladiators once again dishing it out but got as good as they gave, although you have to admire their never-say-die attitude as Samuel Keep's wrecked car literally 'crabbed' down the home straight at speed in to the nearest moving car. Daniel Sutton managed to miss most of the early action and claimed the spoils on a night when the Bangers alone gave the crowd full value-for-money.

As it was, the Historic Stock Cars - featuring saloon cars from yesteryear - were a perfect racing accompaniment with twenty-four cars on the grid. It's amazing that drivers keep finding such vintage motors, let alone get them fit for racing and Mark Kerry from Clacton-on-sea was another new addition to the ranks with a superb-looking Mk1 Cortina as too Tom Chapman. Both started brightly enough in heat one before Londoner Danny Colliver charged through using Ipswich driver Kevin Turner as a battering ram to take the lead. Mark Nottingham then gave Colliver the heave-ho to force his way through and another Ipswich area driver Dave Taylor made it up to second to complete a Triumph model 1-2-3.

It has been noted that some Ministox cars are being built with DOUBLED IRON WORK on the front BUMPERS between the Front Bumper and Engine. This is not allowed and any cars built with this must be rectified immediately.

Racing for the 2009 season kicks off in two stages at Foxhall Stadium in Ipswich. Stage one being the annual practice night that took place on Saturday night with over 80 cars in attendance for an organised track practice session. All of the Spedeworth mainstream formulae were present and despite the economic gloom that seems to cloud everything at the moment there were plenty of new cars on show. Many race fans had hoped to catch a glimpse of the new Ludlow built Mercedes SLK National Hot Rod which was unveiled at the NEC in January, Willie Hardie from Scotland had hoped to bring the car to Foxhall to practice, however business commitments kept him north of the border for the weekend, Ipswich based World Champion Carl Boardley has however taken delivery of his Mercedes SLK chassis, and his team are planning a work schedule to ready the car for the race track. Carl was at Foxhall with his world beating Vauxhall Tigra and set the fastest time of the night at 14.96 seconds on lap 49 of 96 that he completed on the night. Compare this time on a cold February night against his World Final front row setting time of 14.74 set on a warm July day last year and it looks as if the Ipswich star is still going to be the man to beat in 2009.
If it looks like business as normal in the National Hot Rods, then it’s the same in the Superstox, World Champion Jason Cooper bringing both of his HCD built cars to Foxhall and setting a faster time in his brand new car than he did in his 2008 car which seemed unbeatable all year anyway. Richard Poulter bought his brand new Citroen Saxo along and reported that he was happy with it considering that it was “straight out of the box.” So, all in all a great way to blow the cobwebs off Foxhall after the winter, Stadium Manager Christer Earrey said “despite the gloomy economic news, and following on from a great NEC show in January, it really is great to see so many drivers with new cars for the new season, Stock Car racing seems to be bucking the trend! It looks like we are in for a good year here and at our other raceways.”
This week has seen Foxhall being readied for the start of the 2009 racing season, the leaves are swept up, the bar and diner is stocked, a few licks of paint here and there and the fifty fifth season of Stock Car Racing gets underway on Saturday night, the 7th of March with the usual 6.45 prompt start time, and it’s the usual Ipswich Raid to start things off. As ever the Raid has attracted an impressive entry of over 90 cars from far and wide. Local eyes now doubt will be on Mike Nicholls and Chris Bailey, neither of whom have a particularly good record in this race, however they are bound to be in the centre of the action when it comes to the crashing. Long distance travellers include Dave “Kingy” King up from the south coast, no doubt buoyed by his fourth place in last year World Championship which was held at Foxhall, points champion Carl “Gouldy” Gould is due down from Norfolk to do battle with the likes of “Nutty” Whayman, world star Shayn Winsor and “Flash” Totham from Tiptree. Previous winners of the Raid include former World Champion Keith “Maverick” Painter and 2008 World Final runner up and 2007 Raid Winner Deane Mayes. All looking good so far, now throw into the mix the fact that Michael Allard is making the trip down from Yarmouth and former Raid winner Sonny Sherwood is booked in, along with the Gladiators race team and we could well see a resumption of the bruising battles which have taken place through 2008 as Allard and Sherwood show no fear in taking on the Essex based Gladiators. Support racing from the Historic Stock Cars sees all the established stars at Foxhall. This formula is gaining particular support from race fans that are over 40 as they bring back the memories of the racing as it was, (and many say should be!) back in the 1970’s. Plenty of contact, non stop action all the way, 2009 gets underway at Foxhall, 25 meetings, 4 World Championships over the year, plus the great 2 day event in July. Fixture lists are available at Foxhall from this weekend.

We are on the look out for Part time Staff to join our Race Team on Meeting days, In particular at our Southern track at ARLINGTON Nr Eastbourne.

We require a person to train as Start Marshall; you must be actively mobile and very fit with an element of flair and enthusiasm for this front line position. Must be able to work Bank Holiday Monday Afternoons and Wednesday evenings from Late May till September, full training will be given to the suitable applicant.

Also we are always looking for part time staff to train as safety marshals and Pit and Security Staff, For these above post’s please apply to Ray Wood or Deane Wood at the Spedeworth South Office Monday to Friday 9 to 5, 01252 322920 or deanewoodexport@aol.com

Spedeworth are delighted to announce that the 2L Stock Cars will be making their debut on the shale at Manchesters' Belle Vue Stadium on Sunday October 11th at 3pm in support of the BriSCA F1 British Championship.

The meeting will count for National Points. There will be no prize money, however, all drivers will receive start money for this event.

Unfortunately, due to weather, we are going to have cancel the Heartbreaker/John Heynes Memorial Meeting. John Sargentson had a machine in all day yesterday and managed to get the track cleared but all the pits and spectator area is under 4/5 inches of snow and ice still. And all the water, throughout the premises, is frozen so we would have no running water toilets or anything.
We have had to make the decision early as it is not fair to you drivers and spectators to leave the decision until the last minute in the hope of the weather warming up. I hate cancelling meetings but I just feel that we have got no choice but we are going to have to run it next Sunday February 22nd with a 1:30pm start time so any drivers wishing to cancel could they please let us know.
Once again sorry for this as I hate cancelling meetings.

Deane Wood (Incarace/Spedeworth)

Winners of the 2008/9 Wheelspin Magazine Spedeworth Drivers of the Year awards voted for by the readers are as follows:

Any Drivers wishing to attend this Practice Night are asked to book in through the Head Office so we can allocate time slots for each and every Formula wishing to take part. Each Driver pays £30. We also remind Drivers that this event is eligible to full 2009 ORC Licenced Drivers & ORC Formula's that are fitted with approved silencers. Day licences would need to be pre-approved through the Head Office prior to the date. The pit area is open from 4.30pm with the practice sessions starting at 6.00pm.

2008 Banger World Champion Dale Hughes heads the all star driver line up invited to race at the NEC, Birmingham in January 2009.

For the first time ever, full on Banger Racing will be included in the Oval Racing Spectaculars at Autosport International Live Action Arena, NEC Birmingham on Saturday 10th at 6pm and Sunday 11th at 4.45pm January 2009.

The twelve car line up not only includes the present World Champion but also three previous champions together with an array of former national and regional champions.

Dale Hughes won the title at the World Final held at Ipswich on Saturday 15th November.

The three former World Champions:
158 Shane Davies, 47 Andrew Davies and 418 John Harris

Will be joined by the following drivers:
77 Steve Davies, 294 Lee Hughes, 363 James Bully, 203 Darren Nash, 36 Brian Jarvis, 71 Steve O'Dell, 171 Dean O'Dell and Roy Rawlins.

The Oval Racing Experience and the Oval Racing Spectacular are integral parts of Autosport International, which is now recognised as the biggest motorsport show of its kind in the world.

Tickets for the show can be booked online at www.autosport-international.com or by calling the ticket hotline on 0844 579 3188. Please quote 'Oval' when calling if you would like to attend the Oval Racing Spectacular.

Ticket Prices:

Tickets to the show, including entry to the Live Action Arena at £29 Adult £19 Child.

Paddock Pass tickets available at £35 Adult £25 Child. This includes entry to the show and Live Action Arena on priority padded seating, access to the new Paddock Area built backstage in the Live Action Arena where up to 5.30pm each day you will be able to see the cars up close, talk to the drivers and have the opportunity to see watch extra performances from the side lines.

Platinum Club tickets at £100 which includes champagne and canapés in VIP enclosure at top of Live Action Arena plus many extras.