Spedeworth / Incarace would like to announce the final verdict with regards to the result of the Unlimited National Banger World Championship which took place at Foxhall Heath Stadium, Ipswich on Saturday 7th October 2017.

The final confirmed result allows us to now congratulate #59 Steve Bolton as the 2017 Unlimited National Banger World Champion.

It has been no secret that there has been controversy over the result of Saturday nights World Championship race and despite our previous announcement that #455 Ricki Finney won the race, further evidence has been able to be examined.

The World Final confirmed result is as follows:-

59 Steve Bolton
114 Liam Lake
455 Ricki Finney
143 Daniel Rose
215 Leonard Dunn
252 Gareth Griffiths
757 Callum Gill
326 Shane Lynn
284 James Head

Evidence has been used including manual lap scoring and video evidence from the stadium cameras and additional footage we have now acquired from Martin Hunt Videos which we have had to wait to receive.

The electronic lap scoring failed on the night due to technical issues and as a result could not be used as an accurate way to determine the result and the transponder result will not be published due to the inaccuracies.

The decision to announce the result that was declared on the night was taken based on the manual lap scoring and the stadium camera footage showing #455 crossing the line ahead of #59 however, what became evident following the additional footage was that #455 was involved in an incident which finished with #455 on the shale which is not visible on the stadium cameras and the manual lap scorers were also unaware of this incident therefore lap scored #455 within his declared position on the night.

Spedeworth / Incarace have spoken to Ricki Finney and would like to thank him for his attitude throughout this investigation and Ricki’s respectful return of the World Championship title which is to be awarded to Steve Bolton.

We have also kept Betfred aware of this investigation throughout and following the outcome Betfred have agreed to honour the bets which have been placed on #59 Steve Bolton.

Spedeworth / Incarace would also like to thank Steve Bolton for his patience over the last few days and like Ricki Finney, Steve’s attitude has been superb in awaiting the final result decision.

The Unlimited National Banger World Championship is always an exciting affair which can end in controversy as has been the case in 2017. A result needed to be declared on the evening but the event Stewards along with a protest from Steve Bolton which, Steve is entitled to do, launched this investigation as despite many people’s opinions, we as the promotion also want to achieve the correct result in the interests of the integrity of our sport.

As the promotion we obviously monitor social media and we have been made aware of certain comments that have been made towards Ricki Finney. To be clear, Spedeworth / Incarace motorsports made the decision to award Ricki Finney with the World Championship on the night of the event. The decision was not influenced by Ricki Finney or any other driver.

The above result is now declared as final and once again we would like to congratulate #59 Steve Bolton as the 2017 Unlimited National Banger World Champion and look forward to seeing Steve with the gold roof gleaming on his car for the next 12 months.