| Race report by Oli Meggit |
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The Pro Stock class had the championship poised between Xrayâ™s Zak Finlay, and Tony Broad. Tony would essentially need to TQ and win the remaining two meetings and hope Zak failed to make the podium at least once. Zak obviously wanted to get the championship wrapped up at this event, though, and set the fastest time in the opening qualifying round, ahead of Tony and Xray's Reece Hodges. Reece has shown speed all year but never quite seemed to challenge those top two drivers, but clearly had found a new turn of speed as he then took his Xray to the fastest times in rounds two and three. Tony took second in round two ahead of Zak, whilst in round three Darren Lee snatched second and Jon Seals (Xray) third. This left the final round to decide the pole position, and Zak returned to form to top the time sheets, importantly also setting the fastest qualifying time to secure him the top spot. Reece would line up second on the grid and Tony third, his championship hopes now hanging by a thread.
As the A Final got underway, Zak and Reece appeared to build a small lead over Tony in the opening lap, before things went from bad to worse for Tonyâ™s championship hopes. An incident on the second lap saw Tony retire his car from the race, effectively meaning that regardless of the result, Zak would have done enough to take the championship crown in five minutes time. But that didnâ™t slow Zak at all, as he and Reece built up their lead over the chasing pack. Reece constantly sat within one second of Zak, but it seemed he couldnâ™t get quite close enough to challenge for the win. Behind, Jon Seals and Ben Putt engaged in a race-long battle for the final podium place, which Jon managed to hold despite intense pressure from Ben. Back up front, Reece suddenly found more speed in the final minute of the race and closed the gap to Zak, lap by lap. With Reece now just a few tenths of a second behind, Zak made an uncharacteristic mistake on the final lap of the race, and rolled his car through the tight S-section. Reece needed no further invitation and nipped through to take the lead and as the buzzer sounded, crossed the line to be the only driver to make the extra lap. Reece therefore took the win to cheers from the spectators, and Zak completed the Xray teamâ™s celebrations by clinching the championship title. |
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| Pro Stock A final result |
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1. Reece Hodges â“ XRAY T4
2. Zak Finlay â“ XRAY T4
3. Jon Seals â“ XRAY T4
4. Ben Putt
5. Ashley Wiffen
6. Richard King
7. Mark Buonaiuto â“ XRAY T4
8. Dean Gibbs
9. Darren Lee
10.Tony Broad |
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The Stock class could also see the championship title wrapped up at this event, with Jimmy Maddison having a perfect score from the rounds he had attended so far. Jimmy had now made the switch to VBC Racing, and chose the EWS as the event to make his debut with the new car. In round one of qualifying, it was Zen Racingâ™s Gavin Clinch who set the pace with his ARC, ahead of the XRAYs of Darren Tickner and Nathan Morgan. In round two, Jimmy had got his new ride sorted and topped the timesheets from Nathan and Darren, whilst in round three it was again Jimmy from Nathan, but with Mark Trinder in third. The final qualifying round again saw Jimmy fastest once again, with Darren second and Colin Gardiner (XRAY) third.
This left Jimmy on pole for the A Final, ahead of Gain, Nathan and Darren.
In the A Final, Jimmy took off to an early lead. He continued to build his lead lap-by-lap, whilst behind a strong start from Nathan and Darren saw them battling for second. Both fell by the wayside as the race progressed, leaving Gavin to get back to second, and Colin Gardiner to complete the podium. Out in front, Jimmy had a commanding lead, ending up three-quarters of a lap ahead of everyone else, taking both the A Final win and wrapping up the overall Stock Championship. |
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| Stock A final result |
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1. Jimmy Maddison
2. Gavin Clinch
3. Colin Gardiner â“ XRAY T4
4. Mark Trinder
5. Darren Tickner â“ XRAY T4
6. Richard Clarke
7. Leyton Foster
8. Matthew Worton â“ XRAY T4
9. Dominic Skinner
10.Nathan Morgan â“ XRAY T4
In the Modified class, XRAY was also represented by James Hart, Matthew Winyard, Nathan Winyard and Alex Brocklebank. |
| Modified A final result |
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1. Elliott Harper
2. Chris Grainger
3. Paul Pinkney
4. James Hart â“ XRAY T4
5. Kyle Branson
6. Matthew Winyard â“ XRAY T4
7. Nathan Winyard â“ XRAY T4
8. Alex Broklebank â“ XRAY T4
9. Matthew White
10.Ben Cosgrove
The series concludes with Round 6 in March where the modified title will be decided |
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