Spedeworth Southern brought the top drivers in the National Hot Rod, 2.0 Hot Rod, Superstox and Stock Car formulae to London's Wimbledon Stadium for a thrilling shootout to decide the 'Best in Britain' in each formula on Sunday, November 28th.
The mighty Stock Cars set the scene for the night's title races with a show of powerful driving and extremely heavy use of the ironwork in conditions that were far from favourable, due to the evening's rain. Despite the track conditions the drivers never lifted their foot from the throttle and fans were treated to a race with plenty of lead changes, a spectacular rollover from 191, Aaron Morris and a last minute lunge for the flag, which gave the title to 46, Paul Aylward, ahead of the current English champion 305, Billy Wood
The 2.0 Hot Rods faced equally daunting track conditions, which the drivers in this non-contact formula faced with equal bravery and driving skill. The race proceeded at full speed with the cars inches from each other and at times three abreast around the famous Plough Lane track. Inevitably, with so little room for error a massive crash brought the race to a halt. On the restart the early leader 197, Mickey Pagden saw his chances of glory fade as he was overhauled by 60, Mark Paffey, who went on to win the event ahead of a very hard charging 171, Wayne Moseley and 230, Dave Longhurst.
The ever-popular Superstox were next up to decide the champion in their formula. Once again the drivers battled less than favourable conditions to deliver an excellent race. The bumpers were put to good use and Superstoxs were sent spinning off the track in plumes of water and shale from the inner speedway track. The lead was swapped throughout the race with drivers who were holding pole position finding themselves blasted into the safety fence by the pursuing pack. As the race wound down 60, Ben Marjoram pulled into the lead and held it to the chequered flag, ahead of 136 Pip Williams, and 17, Ryan Eaton.
The final title race for the night saw the powerful National Hot Rods take to the track. Although the track had dried off considerably it was still far from perfect for these incredibly powerful machines to navigate. No one gave any quarter, however, with the result that several crashes and restarts edged the promoters ever closer to the council imposed racing curfew. When a final and very hefty crash occurred on the home straight the race was declared, with the official result pending a video inquiry at the time of going to press.There will be more action at Wimbledon Stadium on December 12th at 6pm when the Metro Bangers are joined by the V8 Stock Cars and the incredible Siamese Racers (Metro on top of a Ford Sierra) at Wimbledon Stadium, Britain's finest stock car racing circuit.
