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ROLLING THUNDER SHOW ROUND 5

Swaffham Raceway 10 May 2025

On a lovely sunny afternoon, the Rolling Thunder Show had one of its quietest meetings for a while, with just 40 cars in attendance, plus a couple of extra drivers sharing. With no visiting formulae this time, there were six classes on the programme and, although it was easy to blame the low overall entry on a clash with the biggest National Banger meeting of the year, just down the road at Mildenhall, the main problem was that some of the core RTS classes are struggling for support at the moment, despite the best efforts of the loyal supporters of each class. Even so, it was still an enjoyable and entertaining meeting for those who were there.

The FRONT WHEEL DRIVE HOT RODS have recently seen a few of their regular contenders move on or drop out and this time there were just four cars. Ron Merritt’s Micra was back with its 1.0 engine after an abortive attempt to upgrade to a 1.3, but it still set an impressive pace in each race. In the first heat Chris Cole’s Puma, after finally battling past Mark Taylor’s 106 and Tom Sagon’s Corsa, caught and passed Ron with a few laps to go to take the win, while Tom dropped out with a bit of smoke. Tom was back in action for heat two, and battled with Chris for long enough that, when Chris finally pulled clear in second, it was too late for him to quite catch Ron, who took a good win. In the final Tom had to work hard to get round the outside of Mark, with Chris looking for a gap to pass both of them, while Ron pulled away in the lead. By the time Chris had weaved through the two cars ahead, Ron was about half a lap away and so the little Micra came home to another excellent win, with Chris second and Mark third, after Tom slowed with a broken CV and a front tyre chucking all its tread off. For a four car grid, it had been really entertaining racing, although we hope to see the numbers increasing again soon.

The LIGHTNING RODS should have had six cars in action, but Russ Thornton’s Zetec threw a pulley in practice and ended up with bent valves. Kev Goddard, now in a very smart Sapphire, led each race away, but in the first heat Nathan Tupper was soon past, leading the rest of the way as Danny Sanderson closed up in second. Kev held off Mark Collins after Tyler Younger pulled off in the closing stages. In the second heat Nathan took an unchallenged win, thanks to Danny and Tyler tripping over each other in the early stages. Mark just beat Kev for second. The final saw Kev going really well in the lead, only being caught in the last five laps, and this time it was Danny Sanderson who took the flag, closely chased by Nathan, Kev and Mark, with Tyler having yet more problems before finally pulling off.

There was another four car grid in the JUNIOR 1 LITRE HOT RODS, but they enjoyed some very close racing. The two Chesterfield-based Micras of Josh Wright and Lawson Yates led the first heat away, but got into a tangle as they tried to fend off Hastings-based Jack Hesmer. Jack took over in front and ended up racing side-by-side with Harley Sagon until Harley finally got his nose in front to take the win over Jack. Next time out Josh Wright held onto the lead until Jack got ahead in the closing stages, with Jack immediately finding Harley on his outside again. This time Harley just edged ahead exiting the last corner to take the win over Jack, with Josh and Lawson also crossing the line side-by-side. The final again saw Josh holding off Lawson for the lead until Jack got past, with Harley having to work hard to pass the two Chesterfield boys. Finally Harley caught and passed Jack, and Harley just held on to win despite his engine blowing up as he crossed the line, with Jack second and Josh and Lawson as close as ever in third and fourth.

The NINJA KART entry was a bit down on recent meetings, after a busy few weeks at both the RTS and the Sunday Swaffham Raceway meetings. Nine karts turned up and were headed all the way in the first heat by Albie Santry, just holding off the rapidly closing Freddie Taber and Alfie Cole at the end. In the second race Albie quickly passed Sonny Smith to lead again, although this time Albie was caught just before the end and it was Alfie Cole who came out in front to win, with Albie just beating Freddie and Riley Lynn for second. In the final, Macie Dixon was first away but Albie Santry was soon in front again, as Freddie Taber, Riley Lynn, Alfie Cole, Olly Rainer, Frankie Read and Logan Dixon all battled over the other places. Albie was caught with two laps to go and although he held on well in front, Freddie just beat him to the line, closely followed by Riley, Olly, Alfie, Frankie and Logan, with Macie and Sonny taking the other places.

The class showing the most growth at RTS this year is the JUNIOR SCREAMERS, with twelve of the non-contact Junior Banger-type cars lining up, now racing from graded starts. Tommy-Lee Jackson’s Fiesta led the first heat away, challenged by the Suzuki Ignis of Charlie Hazelwood until the chasing pack caught them and Charlie was sent spinning onto the infield. Logan Wick’s Corsa emerged in front before the red flags came out as the Ignis ended up upside-down on the back straight. The result was called with Logan ahead of Tommy-Lee and the Corsa of Bentley Freestone. Second time out Tommy-Lee Jackson again held the lead until half distance, when Bentley Freestone took over, then holding on to win from Connor Broomfield’s Corsa, Archie McCarthy’s Fiesta and Logan Wick.

In the final Bentley Freestone was the first to catch and pass Tommy-Lee Jackson and Bentley then pulled away to a clear win as most of the field fought over second. Dylan Rees’ Corsa emerged at the head of the queue to take second from Archie McCarthy, Logan Wick and the Micras of Jack and Jodie Smith and Jaxon Skoyles. Connor Broomfield headed Blake Smith’s Micra, Tommy-Lee Jackson and Charlie Hazelwood in the Ignis. Completing the order, on her first outing, was Lacie Cunningham’s Micra.

The programme was completed by the adult version of the SCRAPYARD SCREAMERS, with five “micro” sized cars joined by a Mercedes E300 Estate fielded by Reuben Cunningham. Martin Broomfield’s Suzuki Swift came through the field to lead the first heat, but slowed up at the end, letting team-mate Kerry Thurgill’s Ka through to win, with Colin Cator’s Ka holding off Reuben Cunningham for third. Second time out Martin’s Swift held off Kerry for the win, with Rob Hazelwood’s shared Suzuki Ignis coming in third and the Merc putting on a good drifting display as it held off Elise Broomfield’s Corsa. For the final they were joined by Willie Skoyles Sr, giving Jaxon’s Junior Micra a try. After a caution when Colin Cator was spun out by one of his team-mates, Willie came through to lead most of the way, just getting re-passed before the end by Martin Broomfield’s Suzuki. Kerry Thurgill came third ahead of Reuben’s Merc and Elise’s Corsa, with the red flag flying at the end as the Ignis came to grief again.