Fifty years to the very day the Superstox celebrated their unique anniversary with a world final that will be long remembered not only for the breath-taking action but also for the broad grin on Colin Aylward’s face as he emotionally lifted the illustrious trophy aloft amidst wild scenes of celebration writes KEVIN WEGG.

This was always going to be a nail-biting thriller with the first turn likely to be crucial and for defending champion Ben Marjoram it certainly was as he was dramatically spun out by the fast-charging Steven Jackson. It could have been so different though for at the first time of asking both he and race leader Jason Cooper had escaped the predicted chaos only for a multi-car smash on the back straight to bring things to a complete halt. After a ten minute recess for repairs and Marjoram’s early taste of cold steel in the restart he was by no means the last as the front bumper was being used like it was going out of fashion such was the desire amongst the entire field to have their name engraved beside win number fifty. It was a majestic display of bumperwork with some truly absorbing scraps at the sharp end. Disaster soon befell former champions Cooper and Shaun Brooker though who got all tangled up at high-speed down the home straight with Dave Miles Junior flying across the pair of them as they all crashed out. Woodbridge-based youngster Alex Meadows saw his chances evaporate with a big engine blow-out which also caused a few to spin on the spilled oil. After his sensational bumperwork early on Jackson was now out front and looking like a man on a real mission, however Colin Aylward managed to get up the inside only to be held up, thus allowing Mark Smith through. A classic duel between Jackson and Smith then ensued as the lead changed hands twice on the same lap before the caution flag was out for the stranded Ben Munford. On the restart Jackson gave Smith such a hard hit when the flag dropped that he dropped down to fourth only for the Yarmouth night club owner to bounce back and dislodge third-place Billy Smith with such force that he in turn hit Nick Smith who rolled on to his side. Yet another race stoppage saw the cars reassembled in the order they were before the previous restart giving Smith another chance to get away and this time he did so with Aylward dislodging Jackson at the second attempt. With what turned out to be the championship-winning blow Aylward then dislodged Smith who promptly went on to have yet another titanic battle for second with Jackson which the latter won. That skirmish also allowed founding promoter Les Eaton’s grandson Ryan to take up what turned out to be a fitting third place finish as a desperately unlucky Smith blew up before he could fight back when a rostrum place was no more than his courageous efforts deserved. There was still time for one last twist in the tale as the rapid Daz Kitson - from almost the rear of the thirty-six car field – looked all set to complete the seemingly impossible and grab a top three spot only to mis-time a huge lunge at Eaton and thus had to be content with a still impressive fourth place finish.

The first of their sponsored support races saw the magnificent Eaton Family Trophy – reputedly worth £1,000 – go in convincing style to Dave Miles Senior as the yellow grade drivers took the first three places, then history was made again in the Bob Nicholls Motorcycles Trophy race when another yellow top, Sarah Cooper (Thetford) hit the front early on and promptly stayed there in convincing fashion to record her first-ever Ipswich win. This helped make up for brother Jason’s bad luck as he again crashed out, this time spinning in almost synchronised fashion with the equally-unlucky Marjoram. Jason went on to have the very profitable “last laugh” though when in the unique “Dash-for-Cash” climax - featuring fifteen cars lined up three abreast plus the world champion – he took all of the £1,000 booty up for grabs!

In the National Hot Rods, Steve Burrows was a class apart winning both a heat and the final by big margins and he would have made it a hat-trick had his motor not have gone sick when he was well clear in his second heat with just four laps to go. Tony Moss and Lee Pepper were both good value for their wins with Colin Gomm also showing great composure round the outside to record two impressive second places.