It’s always nice to be in at the start of something new, so when Mark Miller Motorsport announced the first Front Wheel Drive Hot Rod World Championship, we had no hesitation in adding it to our visiting list. It would also give us an excuse to revisit Swaffham Arena, one of our more local tracks, although somehow we’d not managed to get there for the last thirty years! Back in the 1980s, when we could regularly combine a Sunday afternoon at Swaffham with the Sunday night racing at Boston, one of Swaffham’s main attractions was its very strong independent Hot Rod class, which nurtured many a future National star. Fast forward 30 years and Swaffham’s been in the forefront of building up the popular, but fragmented, FWD Hot Rod scene.

Since our last visit, Swaffham’s been through many changes of promotion and management, but over the last few years its found stability and growth under the banner of Pete Gould’s Racequip concern, and after some time as an independent the track’s once more come under the ORCi umbrella this year. A lot of investment and work’s gone into the stadium recently and we found a very tidy and well run facility, to complement what was always a fast, relatively short, track, these days with tarmac over the original concrete surface, which lends itself to close and exciting racing.

That made it the ideal venue for this first FWD World Championship. The FWD formula took off briefly at Arena Essex but then struggled on with a handful of cars before the track’s demise. There are pockets of promising FWD racers dotted around the country, and of course big fields racing on shale at Scunthorpe, but Swaffham has become the home of the FWD tarmac racers.

FWD HOT ROD WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Mark Miller played his cards right in advertising the inaugural World Championship as open to any FWD race car as it then drew entries from a variety of backgrounds. With initial interest suggesting well over 30 entries might be on the cards, eventually 28 cars booked in, of which 18 actually turned up. These included Mark Miller himself with his beautiful, but rarely raced, Vauxhall Redtop-powered Mini; sadly water pump failure during practice meant that again we wouldn’t see Mark race. The other major disappointment was local star Luke Retchless with his immaculate 1600 8 valve Saxo. Normally ultra-quick and reliable, the Lotus-liveried car mysteriously cut out in his first practice run and gave more problems in Saturday’s “shakedown” races, so we didn’t see Luke on championship day.

Regular Swaffham racers were still in the majority. The very experienced Hot Rod racer Steve Brattan was in his well set up 1600 8-valve Tigra; effectively a Stock Rod with 200 extra cc, while his “spare” car, a 2 litre Redtop Corsa, was in the hands of Wayne Leedell. Norwich’s Chris Head fielded perhaps the most advanced car in the field, a Terry Hannam-built Zetec-powered Mk6 Fiesta, while Kevin Head was in an older shape Fiesta with a Blacktop Zetec. Another well turned out Zetec Fiesta was in the hands of Wes Graves. Long time racer Lee Fuller, these days running “just for fun”, had his Seat Ibiza with 1.6 8 valve VW power. From the Suffolk/Essex/Herts area came former Stansted Raceway champion Jason Cox with his 1.6 16 valve Citroen-powered Saxo, plus Pete Meekings in a 1.6 8v Corsa and Tom Meekings in an ex-Steve Tandy Redtop-powered Corsa. Former Arena Stock Rod star (among many other things!) Tony Rolfe had just acquired the very smart, but sometimes troublesome, ex-Mark Smith Corsa, with Redtop power. From further south came Dan “Morph” Wild, who’d ended Arena’s days as the man to beat with the ex-Charlie Sayers Vtec-powered Civic. It proved a long trek from Croydon for top RTS/SEGTO 1450 class racers Doug and Chris Constable, the father and son team fielding their 1.4 8 valve Corsas against the bigger engined cars. Buckinghamshire’s Liam Hanley pops up in all sorts of cars (most recently an ex-Alistair Murray Ginetta in Slick Cars) but was back in his familiar 1600 8 valve Citroen AX, which he’d grown from a Standlake Prod Rod. Last but not least, we had two entries from further north, Scunthorpe regulars Dean Petrow and Drew Fitzpatrick, both with 1.6 16v Corsas built to Scunny’s restricted rules.

So that was the first World Championship field. We can only hope the event gets established and can attract some Irish interest in future – after all, the Irish rather specialise in FWD Hot Rods. We’d love to see how some typical Irish Honda-powered Starlets might fare against the Vauxhalls, Fords and Citroens, although we suspect some of the quickest ones might struggle to adapt to ORCi rules. We’re particularly concerned that the FWD formula (although we’ve not actually seen any rule book) seems to be evolving towards are more defined formula rather than the open class that raced this year (for example a suggested minimum 1500cc might rule out any SEGTO 1450 spec cars and most of the Irish SOHC Hondas, and the proposed single tyre rule, with Yokohama 048s, might not be as tempting as the variety of secondhand slicks seen this year). But we can work on it!

Quite a few battled through the traffic to arrive in East Anglia on Friday, hoping for some practice time, but a full day of torrential rain put paid to that. Fortunately Saturday dawned fine and dry and, with racing scheduled to start at 5 pm, the pits were virtually full by mid-day, with a fine Speedweekend atmosphere building as the track remained open for practice all day, with a few surprise appearances including Jason Kew in his National Hot Rod Ginetta, bound for Buxton the next day, and Robert Harris (senior and junior) putting on a show with their V8 Stock Cars, dragged out of the garden after 18 months’ retirement.

The Hot Rods only had four races scheduled over the weekend. The World Final, over 50 laps, would start at midday Sunday from a pre-drawn grid, while a reverse grid 25-lapper would complete their weekend. On Saturday they had two “shakedown” races, with drawn and reversed grids, although these wouldn’t influence Sunday’s line-up.

From the front of the grid Wes Graves and Drew Fitzpatrick led Saturday’s first race away, but they both dropped back through the field as Wayne Leedell came through from the second row to win the fifteen-lapper, chased by an impressive Liam Hanley, with Kevin Head, Jason Cox, Steve Brattan, Dan Wild, Chris Head and Chris Constable tightly packed behind, while Tony Rolfe and Dean Petrow both hit problems. Luke Retchless was a welcome addition to the second race and found himself in a battle for second, some way behind runaway winner Steve Brattan. Chris Constable ended the race in a trail of oil smoke, taking second on the road but getting docked back to fourth behind Luke and Jason Cox, with Chris Head, Dan Wild and Doug Constable fighting for the next places.

The big day on Sunday brought a new dimension – just as cars were being readied for the scheduled pre-race parade and interviews by guest commentator Dave Lawday, an almighty storm hit Swaffham and in about 30 minutes the track was flooded. Sensibly the start was put back by half an hour (the very full schedule wouldn’t allow for any more), but with the sun coming back out and a brisk breeze drying the track, tyre choice was a dilemma. The amount of standing water counted against slicks, but would anyone’s wets survive 50 laps? To begin with the only cars lined up on slicks were Tony Rolfe and the two Scunny lads, none of whom had any choice. But as the others took their place on the dummy grid, Liam Hanley turned back to the pits for slicks, closely followed by Lee Fuller and Steve Brattan’s two cars. Had they done the right thing? 50 laps would tell!

The pre-race ceremonies were rushed through as the grid lined-up:

On the dot of 12.30 the cars moved off for three laps behind the pace car, and then nobody quite knew what was happening; were there another couple of warm-up laps or had the race started? Whatever, they were soon back under red flags as pole man Pete Meekings was stranded on the kerb entering the first corner, while the unlucky Dean Petrow was already parked on the infield with engine problems. Pete Meekings was towed off the kerb and, to the surprise of some, got his front row place back, and off they went for another go. This time the race was definitely under way, with Pete Meekings leading the way while Dan Wild and Tom Meekings moved up to challenge on the outside – and the slick-shod cars seemed to be getting nowhere. With around eight laps gone, Liam Hanley had pulled out, but Dan Wild hit the front and the Civic soon pulled out a big lead with a battle developing for second between Tom and Pete Meekings and Steve Brattan. By half distance, though, Dan was rapidly being caught again by Pete Meekings, who was being chased by Tom Meekings, Steve Brattan and Chris Head, with Chris Constable completing the top six, and everyone else lapped at least once by this stage. Doug Constable had retired after a spin, and a few laps later Lee Fuller was the third retirement, but with fifteen or so laps to go, Pete Meekings made his bid for the lead and Dan couldn’t keep the door shut any longer. Going into the last ten laps the complexion of the race changed as a tap from the lapped Wayne Leedell sent Tom Meekings spinning on the top bend. Tom lost a lap, rejoining just behind Wayne and a lap behind the now fourth placed Steve Brattan, but just as the three laps to go board was shown, a coming together at the far bend saw Tom, Wayne and Steve all involved, and with Steve heavily in the wall, and needing medical assistance, the red flags came out to end the race three laps early. Pete Meekings was the inaugural FWD World Champion, with Dan Wild second and Chris Head third. The premature finish meant some confusion over the lower placings but Tom Meekings still got credited with fourth. Chris Constable was by our reckoning one lap down, Tony Rolfe and Kevin Head two laps down,  down, Drew Fitzpatrick and Wes Graves three laps down and Jason Cox four laps down - but the official charts might tell a different story!

The reverse grid race saw just nine cars make the grid, but it proved the closest race of the weekend as Kevin Head started from the front and defended the inside line perfectly for the full 25 laps, keeping Wayne Leedell firmly on his outside, while Jason Cox  was always there on the inside. Wes Graves closed right up in fourth but the chequers waved with Kevin still in front and Jason taking second and Wes third as Wayne was docked two places to fourth. World Champion Pete Meekings made his way up to fifth from the back of the grid, while Dean Petrow and Drew Fitzpatrick both had engine blow-ups and joined Chris Head and Lee Fuller in retirement.

ROOKIE RODS AND STOCK RODS

There were just two supporting Hot Rod classes, but both provided splendid racing as they were fighting for their own Gold Roof titles. The ROOKIE RODS fielded fifteen cars on Saturday, with one dropping out but three more joining on Sunday. A closely matched group of local drivers, with what seemed to be a really good atmosphere among them, contested four reversed grid heats over the two days, followed by their final and an Allcomers’ race. The action started with a win for Reece Beldon, who took the lead from Sean Mattioli in the closing stages of the race, but the weekend’s form guide was written when reigning gold roof champion Michael Kent came right from the back to take a close second ahead of the borrowed car of Terry Hannant. The second race saw Michael Kent take a runaway win from pole position, while Nathan Culley held off Terry Hannant for second. It was back to the original grid for Saturday’s last race, under the lights, when Reece Beldon won again, with Terry Hannant, Nathan Culley and Michael Kent right on his tail. On a drying track, the Rookies’ last heat followed the Hot Rod championship race on Sunday, and Michael Kent secured his top qualifying spot by heading home Terry Hannant, John Madden and Nathan Culley.

Michael Kent went straight into the lead of the 20-lap final, pushed hard for the first few laps by Terry Hannant until Terry started dropping back and Nathan Culley took up the challenge. It couldn’t have been closer, but Michael Kent held on to retain his title, with Nathan Culley second and Dan Symonds coming through from the middle of the grid to take third, just ahead of Sean Mattioli, John Madden (docked a place), Reece Beldon, Terry Hannant, Connor Blake (in the only Nova among the field of Corsas), Robert Beldon, Shaun Chaplin and Jerran Sotiriou. Completing the finishers were Paul Young, Steven Jeffery, Shaun Aldous and Dave Sheldrake. Mark Horne and Lewis Wales retired and Daniel Bell was a non-starter.

Twelve cars made the Allcomers race, the only one of the weekend with a graded start. Robert Beldon quickly took the lead from the yellow grade and held on all the way, while Terry Hannant just took second from Shaun Chaplin and Dan Symonds, while gold top Michael Kent this time could only get to ninth.

The STOCK ROD field was about quality rather than quantity, with nine cars racing on Saturday and six on Sunday.  The three we lost were unfortunately three of the top contenders. Michael Benstead had problems in practice with his Corsa, quickly switched it for his Nova, and that too failed to complete a lap. Corben Lord dominated the first race from pole position, but disappeared after the second heat, while Andrew Richardson’s Nova, after leading for a while in his third heat, was also missing on Sunday.  Conner Shinn won the other three heats to take pole position for the Gold Roof final, which he led all the way, although he had George Simmons right on his tail for the full twenty laps. Defending champ Ben Elmer brought his smart Nova in third, while Surrey driver Simon Johnson made his journey worthwhile as his distinctive Nova Saloon held off Jack Storey’s Corsa for fourth. Aaron Newell, in his first ever meeting, performed well to come in sixth. From the back, Conner Shinn only took five laps to hit the front in the Allcomers, taking the win as Simon Johnson held off the rest for second, with Aaron Newell taking his first trophy in third. 

SUPERSTOX

First up was a real treat – the first time we’d seen the OLD SKOOL SUPERSTOX in action. Well, some of them anyway, as the field included a mixture of new build replicas with some original cars that we’d watched in the 1980s. Initially just programmed for Saturday, they were added to Sunday’s schedule as well, although a few drivers had other commitments and a couple had blown up engines, reducing Saturday’s thirteen cars (their best field yet) to seven on Sunday. Replicas and originals alike, every car was beautifully turned out and enthusiastically driven, making a really colourful spectacle.

Among the entry was 1974 World Champion Steve Monk – Steve had retired before we started watching Superstox in the ‘80s, but 45 years later, here he was, in a replica of his gold roof no 443 car, as competitive as ever. Another period driver was Brian Stacey, whose original Mini-bodied 242 car was driven by son Sam, alongside Brian himself in an almost identical car with a Fiesta (?) roof panel. Phil Howard was well-remembered as no 88 from PRI F3 days, out with a replica of his Neil Bee-inspired car. John Gray’s replica of his distinctive ex-Jim Welch 546 was now driven by Matthew Gray. And one that wasn’t a Superstox at all, but former BRISCA F2 star Steve Widdowson had been welcomed into the fold with one of a pair of cars he’d built for himself and his sponsor Alan Warriner in the early 90s, carrying Steve’s old BRISCA 635 number. Other cars that we think were originals were Neil Bee’s last 482 car, driven by Lee Southon, and the superb Ford Pop-bodied Mac MacCarthy car, built as a Short Circuit magazine project in the early ‘80s and raced for much of its career at Alwalton. This was now driven by Chris Butler, while Nick Mann also had a car with some Alwalton history. Maybe the oldest car in the field was the Bryan Kensett car from the mid-70s, in which Clive Beecham was having his first outing. Brian Gray’s classic Topolino-bodied BMC-powered car was from the same sort of era. Former RTS Pickup driver Colin Fuller was in a Derek Green replica from the late 70s while Darren Burkitt, also to be seen racing BRISCA Heritage cars, was in a superb replica of the always popular Gerry “Super” Cooper’s mid-80s 604 car.

The cars all looked fantastic, and they all performed well although Nick Mann’s car succumbed to a misfire on Saturday and Brian Stacey and Steve Monk were both sidelined by engine problems on Sunday. Phil Howard emerged in front of Saturday’s first race, chased by Brian Gray, Matthew Gray and Colin Fuller, who just held off Darren Burkitt. The second race saw Nick Mann build up a big lead, lose it to a mid-race caution, but still hold on to come home the winner as Steve Widdowson, Phil Howard, Matthew Gray and Steve Monk chased him down. Phil Howard was again on top in the third race, with Matthew Gray in second from Sam Stacey and Steve Widdowson.

The reduced field still put on a good show on Sunday, with Lee Southon leading most of the first race before Sam Stacey took it up to win from Phil Howard. Again Lee led the way in the fifth race (was this the final? We weren’t sure!) but Phil Howard again came from the back to win from Sam Stacey, Lee Southon and Clive Beecham. The last race, with Sam Stacey unfortunately having to start his long trip home, brought out just six cars but produced the weekend’s best battle. Chris Butler held on in front for two thirds of the race, with Colin Fuller, Lee Southon, Darren Burkitt and Clive Beecham all over him, and Phil Howard rapidly catching up from a half lap handicap to join in the fun. Colin’s outside line finally took him into the lead, but not for long as Phil Howard passed them all to take his fourth win of the weekend over Colin, with Chris hanging on to third.

The modern-day SUPERSTOX had a very strong 20-car entry, with over half the field made up of a massed invasion by Standlake regulars, joining several former Arena Essex runners. We’re not sure what the future holds for the independent Superstox, with BRISCA F2 now back racing at Swaffham, but there’s certainly the demand for the “Outlaw” class (Swaffham don’t actually use that name!) with drivers travelling from as far afield as Bristol and Manchester. The format was for a drawn, closed grid start for the four heats, reversed between each heat, with the fifth race being the “Gold Roof” final, starting in points order. The weekend would finish with a graded order Allcomers race.

Being in the middle of the drawn grid proved unlucky in the first race for Jess Webb, who was forced into the wall by the heavy traffic, collecting Terry Butcher, while Neil Moss and Sarah Rash joined the melee on the next lap to bring out the reds. From the restart, former Swaffham champion Michael Lee led all the way – until a classic last corner lunge by Ben Farebrother saw the Grimley gold top through to win from Andy Webb, Roger Mountney, Sonny Sherwood, Paul Webb and Gary Webb, while Michael Lee quickly recovered but crossed the line ninth, so close was the pack. The second race saw Dan Allen setting the pace from the front but he lost out as Paul Webb came through from seventh on the grid to take over, just holding off the on-form Ben Farebrother while Gary and Andy Webb held off Keith Walding, to make it three Webbs in the top four. The third heat brought Michael Lee back to pole position and this time he led all the way, with Ben Farebrother again slicing through from the middle of the grid to take second ahead of Paul Webb and Sonny Sherwood.

On Sunday Vince Foley was a non-starter but everyone else was still in action, with another great showing by the Standlake drivers bringing Gary Webb through to win the last heat from Paul Webb, Ben Farebrother and Andy Webb. Not surprisingly, Ben topped the qualifying points and lined up on pole for the Gold Roof final, but with Paul, Andy and Gary Webb surrounding him, and Keith Walding and Sonny Sherwood completing the top six.

Seventeen cars took the flag, with Neil Moss and James Trigg missing. Ben Farebrother led the early laps, before Andy Webb briefly hit the front only to be immediately passed by Paul Webb. Gary Webb moved up to second and was soon right on Paul’s tail, but Gary was having to work hard enough to match Paul’s pace and never managed a serious attempt to move him aside. Paul held on to take the win from Gary with Ben Farebrother third – so all three should now be racing under gold roofs representing Swaffham, Standlake and Grimley respectively! Hopes of three Webbs up front disappeared when Andy’s engine developed a nasty rattle towards the end and John Smith, after opting for a back of the grid start all weekend on a rare Superstox appearance, came through to fourth ahead of Michael Lee, Keith Walding, Terry Butcher, Sonny Sherwood, Roger Mountney and Stuart Langridge, with Rob Dobie and Jess Webb completing the finishers. Former Stock Rod man Rob Taylor was the first casualty in the race, later joined in retirement by Jordan Butcher, Sarah Rash and Dan Allen.

The Allcomers race brought out eleven cars and Roger Mountney led all the way, with the new champ Paul Webb coming through to second, in close company with John Smith and Ben Farebrother.

MINI SUPER TWOS

We hadn’t seen this formula since their last appearance at Arena Essex, a couple of years ago, and they’d certainly progressed, with strong fields of the stylish mini stock cars with their sealed single cylinder 420cc 15 bhp engines – everything about the cars is impressive except the engine noise! Last year the John Smith-inspired class added a Junior division (11-16 years old) and this weekend the Juniors had a ten car field. Leading every race away from the front of the graded grids was Violet Gibbs, and she was proving very difficult to catch. In the first race the pack engulfed her in the last two laps, with Reece Townsend winning from Danny Skipper and Eden Dodson. Second time out, Reece was the only one to catch Violet, Reece winning with Violet holding second from Ceeara Townsend. Heat three was a very close battle, with Violet again leading up to the last two laps when Ceeara took the win from Jack Rollett, Reece and Violet. In the fourth heat on Sunday we thought Violet held on to win, but we must have missed something as she was officially placed at the back of the field, with Ceeara winning again from Reece and Danny Skipper. The last heat saw Violet spectacularly launching over the kerbs and Reece won from Eden Dodson and Danny Skipper. The sixth and last race was the Gold Roof final, lined up in points order with Reece and Ceeara Townsend on the front row. Reece led the race all the way, but with Danny Skipper glued to his bumper throughout to claim a good second. Eden Dodson took third, chased by Ceeara Townsend, Reuben Dodson, Jacob Skipper, Jack Rollett, Violet Gibbs and Lulu Crowden-Murfin, while newcomer Rhyan Gibbs had his best run of the weekend after a few problems in the heats.

The senior racing for the Super Twos was fast and furious, with several well known names from other classes among the 17 drivers enjoying themselves in the little cars. Three of these were sharing cars with the Juniors. The first race saw Neil Soule lead most of the way before dropping down the order as Darrell Cook won with Brian Soule, Sean Pooley, Tristan Jackson, Paul Cook and Courtney Smith all crossing the line together. In the second race Neil Soule was again caught by the pack but this time held them all off to win from Sean Pooley, Tristan Jackson, Darrell Cook, Brian Soule and Paul Cook. In the third race Neil won again, with Darrell Cook and Tristan Jackson right on his tail.

After the graded starts on Saturday, Sunday’s two heats started from drawn and reversed closed up grids. Darrell Cook won the first heat after a good battle with Tristan Jackson, while the next few places scattered at the last corner, with Matthew Smith coming through to third from Tim Cotter. The second heat was led by Steve Slipper and former Autograsser Jack White before Sean Pooley came through to win from Tristan Jackson and Paul Cook.

The final was designated the English Championship, with 14 cars on the grid as Neil Soule and Jack White didn’t make it, along with Courtney Smith’s car, which we think now had a new driver at the wheel. This race was a battle all the way, with Darrell and Paul Cook and Tristan Jackson all taking turns in front, but in the end it was Tristan who took the flag ahead of Sean Pooley, Darrell Cook, Paul Cook, Matthew Smith, Kayleigh Glover, Tim Cotter, Neil Dodson, Nick Glover, Steve Slipper, Steve Wood, Rob Skipper and Peter Lewis.

NINJA SPRINTS

Swaffham has really taken over from Arena Essex as the spiritual home of the Ninjas and this time there were 41 karts lined up for their English Championship meeting - this title didn’t deter a strong Scottish contingent. With the help of timed qualifying sessions on Saturday afternoon, the more experienced drivers were graded into A and B groups, with the top twenty in Group A and eleven in Group B, while there were also ten novice grade drivers in their own races.

The NOVICES group saw a most impressive performance by Steen Rozier, who was in his second ever meeting, although he was already being closely watched, having been a winner at his first meeting. His trophy collection rapidly grew as, from his six races over the weekend, he won four, was second once, and only made one mistake, when he spun out of Saturday’s final heat. The other two races were won by Jenson Fish; Jenson matched Steen for speed, but found himself facing the wrong way on a regular basis. Sunday’s final, designated the East Anglian Championship, saw Steen take a dominant win, chased by Thomas Madden, Tyler Ellis, Max Constable, Riley Locker, Jack Jones and Jenson Fish, while Jayden Bishop, George Englestone and Steven Cayzer (the latest holder of the famous 380 number) were non starters on Sunday, after Saturday’s last race ended with a multiple pile-up after the chequered flag.

GROUP B distinguished themselves when, out of the eleven drivers on the grid, there were six different winners in the six races! The first heat went to Seamus Cushnaham from Charlie Hensby and Jake Ashby. Next time out, with a reversed grid, Hayden Radley was the winner from Lewis Riley and Dominic Garrod. Then the third heat gave Jake Ashby a close fought victory over Addison Sibley, Charlie Emmett and Charlie Hensby. On Sunday Hayden Radley looked set to be a repeat winner until he took a trip through the deep water sitting on the outside of the track after the morning’s storm; Charlie Emmett then took it up to win from Addison Sibley and Murray Hall. The final heat was won by Alfie Brown ahead of Charlie Hensby and Jack Baird. That meant that, before the final, every driver on the grid had claimed at least one trophy! The final, for another English Championship title, saw Alfie Brown spin out of the lead before Murray Hall took over to win from Charlie Emmett and Hayden Radley. Dominic Garrod took fourth ahead of a close bunch with Addison Sibley heading Charlie Hensby, Lewis Riley and Seamus Cushnahan, while Jake Ashby and Alfie Brown retired and Jack Baird was a non starter.

The top 20 qualifiers in GROUP A had two reverse grid heats before the English Championship final on Saturday. On Sunday, their first two races were designated East Anglian Championship qualifiers before an Allcomers race, with the same grid for all three races.

Toby Tyson was the first heat winner from Josh Parfitt and Aiden Garrad, while World Cup holder Bailey Millar charged through from the back to an impressive fifth place behind Finlay Kew. The reversed grid put Bailey at the front for his second race and it was no surprise when he was a runaway winner, with Lola Jackson hanging on for a good second place from Fin Hunter-Johnson. From pole position in the final, Bailey took the lead, holding off Josh Parfitt and Toby Tyson until in the closing stages they started lapping backmarkers and Josh grabbed the lead. It looked like Josh’s race until he ran slightly wide out of the last corner and Bailey Millar pulled alongside for a photo finish, the verdict being yet another championship title going to Scotland with Bailey, while Josh had to settle for another unlucky second place, with Toby Tyson third. Next up (approximately, from our unofficial notes!) were Finlay Kew, Thomas Percox, Fin Hunter-Johnson, Ellis Snow, Aiden Garrod, Kyle Wells, Charlie Soane, Demi Richie, Declan Dixon, Jack Pilgrim Lola Jackson, Jacob Jackson, Ollie Jones, Hayden Sampson, Tegan Davis and Daniel Nicholson-Howden, with Rylee Harvey the only retirement.

Although Sunday’s three races started from the same grid, they ended with three very different results. Nineteen cars started, with Finlay Kew having disappeared in the direction of Buxton. Tegan Davis led most of the first race, but in the end it was Fin Hunter-Johnson who held off Ollie Jones, Josh Parfitt, Jacob Jackson, Declan Dixon and, right from the back, Bailey Millar. Second time out Declan Dixon was the winner, just, from Jacob Jackson, and this time Bailey made it up to fifth, just behind Ollie Jones and Fin Hunter-Johnson, with Charlie Soane also in the battle. Tegan Davies again led most of the Allcomers’ race before being passed by Ollie Jones, but Bailey Millar was unstoppable and came through to end his weekend with a win, with a blanket finish for second down to about eleventh covering Toby Tyson, Ollie Jones, Charlie Soane, Daniel Nicholson-Howden, Josh Parfitt, Kyle Wells, Fin Hunter-Johnson, Ellis Snow, Demi Ritchie and Declan Dixon.

That completed a very full weekend of action, with six hours of racing each day, and 58 races in total. Saturday’s meeting didn’t finish until 11 pm, but that didn’t really matter as most of those who stayed at the track were up a lot later than that. With the delayed start it was a 6.30 finish on Sunday. The date for the second FWD Hot Rod World Championship has been announced as 15/16 August 2020, so that’s already in our diary! Thanks to Pete Gould and all the Swaffham Arena team for their welcome and for a superb weekend of racing.