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ROLLING THUNDER SHOW ROUND 2

Swaffham Raceway 29 March 2025

The second RTS meeting of the year attracted a decent entry of 51 cars on a cloudy but dry Saturday afternoon, and all of the seven classes on the bill laid on some close and entertaining racing. A few delays, mainly attributable to some of the growing field of Junior Screamers getting in a bit of bother, meant that the racing, on the day before the clocks went forward, ended under the floodlights.

First out, as usual, were the NINJA KARTS, of which ten turned up, although that was only half the grid from the previous Sunday’s Swaffham Raceway promotion. Tyrus Read and Oakley Mace contested the lead from the start, but they were caught at half distance by Frankie Read, who held on the front until Riley Lynn came through on the last lap, Riley winning from Frankie with Alfie Cole snatching third from Tyrus Read, Freddie Taber and Oakley Mace. Second time out Oakley took the lead from the start and was never threatened as the others battled behind him, eventually winning by around a third of a lap as Frankie Read took the close battle for second, from Alfie Cole, Freddie Taber and Riley Lynn.

Although Tyrus Read led the final away, Oakley Mace was soon in front and again proved too quick to catch. The chasing bunch got within sight of him by the end but it was another good win for Oakley, with a last corner sort out putting Alfie Cole in second from Riley Lynn, Freddie Taber and Frankie Read, who’d led the bunch into the last corner but was forced wide as they all swamped a lapped kart. Tyrus Read came in sixth from Olly Rainer, Daisy Mace and novice Riley Puplett, while Sonny Smith didn’t start the final.

The 1 LITRE HOT RODS fielded four cars including one newcomer having his second meeting, Jack Hesmer, another long distance teaveller from Hastings, with the ex-Archie Mucci Micra. Jack was very much on the pace as it took Harley Sagon half the first heat to catch him. With Harley on the outside, Freddie Chandler saw a gap on the inside to make it three abreast, but Freddie was the one who backed out of it as Harley took the win from Freddie and Jack, with Dom Thornton close behind. In the second race it took Harley a couple of laps longer to catch Jack, and even longer to get past him, but in the end it was Harley winning again from Freddie, Jack and Dom. The final followed the same pattern; again Jack led most of the way and Harley had to hang on round the outside for a few laps before finally getting his nose in front, by which time Freddie was in on the act. Harley ended up with a hat-trick of wins though, after a good day in his ex-Sid Pearl Micra, with Freddie, Jack and Dom close behind.

The JUNIOR SCREAMERS class, non-contact racing for Junior Banger type cars, along the lines of the old Angmering Junior Prods, has been growing and had its biggest field yet, with fourteen cars. Jaxon Skoyles’ Micra and Archie McCarthy’s Fiesta battled in the first race until it came under yellow flags with Tommy-Lee Jackson and Jodie Smith tangling. Archie led all the way from the restart, with Jaxon challenging all the way and Logan Wick’s Corsa chasing hard. The second race was initially led by Jodie Smith, but Jaxon Skoyles took over and led to the chequered flag, with Archie McCarthy coming from the back to snatch second from Blake Smith. The final was headed by Bentley Freestone’s Corsa until the reds came out with team-mates Tommy-Lee Jackson and Alfie-Lee Woolmer finding the fence. From a full restart Archie McCarthy was soon in front, holing off Bentley Freestone to the finish. Jodie Smith took third from Blake Smith, and then came Alfie Lovick, Jaxon Skoyles (from the back after his heat win), Dylan Rees, Jack Smith and Connor Broomfield, with Logan Wick dropping back after a trip over the infield kerbs. Austin Osborne and Finley Barton both dropped out after a few dramas.

First of the senior formulae to appear was the LIGHTNING RODS, with five starters including a very rare newly build car, a tidy Pinto-powered Sapphire in the hands of Stowmarket driver Nathan Tupper. Nathan’s first race in the class went rather well, winning by a big margin from Danny Sanderson, who passed the on-form Kev Goddard in the closing stages. Second time out Danny had a clearer run and caught Nathan with five laps to go, but Nathan fielded every challenge and won again. The final saw Nathan moved back to the yellow grade, but still he led most of the way, with Danny catching him and again having to work very hard to find a way by. This time Danny finally found a gap with a lap to go, and took the flag with Nathan still alongside him after a very impressive debut. Mark Collins gave chase in third, with Kev Goddard completing the finishers after Tyler Younger had problems all day with his smartly refreshed Sapphire.

The local MONDEO ROD class fielded eight cars, including Claire White getting on track for the first time, and had their usual close battles. Chris Peel and Pete Rawlings raced side by side for the lead in the first race, with the rest of the pack breathing down their necks until Rodney Thurgill got his nose on the inside and it all got too crowded, with Perte Rawlings bouncing off the fence. Eventually Matt Ford used the outside line to work his way to the front and took the flag ahead of Les Clarke, Colin Gilbert, Rodney Thurgill and Chris Peel. Second time out Chris Peel led until after halfway, when he was caught by Les Clarke just as they came up on Claire white, who’d started at the back. As they went three abreast Chris had a big lock-up and ran wide, with Les then leading the rest of the way and just holding off Colin Gilbert at the flag. Matt Ford, Luke Holdsworth, Chris Peel, Rodney Thurgill and Claire White completed the other places.

Chris Peel again led away in the final, but this time all the battling in the pack behind meant that nobody could catch him, and Chris took the win half a lap clear of the rest. Rodney Thurgill held off the main pack for a while, but in the end it was Les Clarke who came through for second, just ahead of Matt Ford, Colin Gilbert and Luke Holdsworth, with Rodney dropping to sixth.

The FWD HOT RODS, despite losing a few of last year’s regulars, had a seven-car field including one of last year’s Junior contenders, Ron Merritt, still in his 1-litre Micra, and not losing much ground at all to the bigger engined cars. James Scott’s Zetec-powered Fiesta made the early running in the first heat before Tom Sagon’s Corsa took it up. Chris Head’s Fiesta and then Chris Cole’s Puma both caught the leader, with Chris Cole sneaking inside to grab second, but Tom held on to win from Chris C and Chris H, with Leon Retchless’ Saxo right with him, and Mark Taylor’s 106 chased by James Scott and Ron Merritt for fifth.

Race two again saw Tom Sagon chasing James Scott before taking up the lead, immediately coming under pressure from the two Chrises. Chris Head completed lap after lap on the outside, constantly distracted by Chris Cole looking for a gap on the inside, with Leon Retchless coming up to join in. It took until the last lap for the battle to be resolved, with Chris Head finally nosing ahead on the back straight to take the win from, Tom, Chris Cole and Leon, with Ron Merritt this time taking an excellent fifth.

Ron’s Micra cut out early in the final though, as Mark Taylor led the early laps before giving way to Tom Sagon. Chris Head again made the outside line work and this time hit the front by half distance, going on to an unusually clear win, with Tom defending second until Chris Cole found a way by, to take second from Leon Retchless and Tom, with Mark Taylor in fifth.

The formula that Vince O’Connor christened SCRAPYARD SCREAMERS (non-contact Bangers) made a comeback with a team of three green cars racing among themselves to complete the programme. They each had a win with Colin Cator’s Corsa taking the first race, Elise Broomfield’s Ka the second and Kerry Thurgill in another Ka holding off Elise and Colin in the final.