Not even an oil slick could deny Shaun Brooker from re-claiming the Superstox European title eighteen years after he first held it but it was only after a drama-filled race at Foxhall Stadium which had no less than three restarts following pile-ups, writes Kevin Wegg.
A drawn grid gave former multi- champion Jason Cooper a row five start, with Brooker right behind him and just for good measure, Scottish visitor and British Champion Stuart Gilchrist was behind him.

With a full field of thirty-two starters a first bend pile-up was almost inevitable and sure enough a spinning John Saunders took several with him including world champion Colin Aylward. Brooker made his way up to sixth by slipping past Cooper at the restart and the main Scottish threat evaporated as Gilchrist hit the fence and finished up being dragged around by Jack Hughes as the cars became inter-locked, yet he still had one last act to play when he limped on to the infield briefly slowing race leader Dave Smith in the process allowing Brooker to seize the opportunity. Smith has had a super season and after Cooper pushed him wide to claim second the youngster fought back bravely landing two hits but couldn’t quite make them tell. After another restart oil caught many out including Booker who drifted wide allowing Cooper back-in but it was short-lived and the manoeuvre was reversed. Yet another restart following spins on the oil by Sam Stacey and welcome visiting Dutchman Luud Laurijssen gave Cooper another opportunity but Brooker was in a class of his own and made no mistake. Defending champion Ben Marjoram’s magnificent effort from row fourteen deservedly earned him second place with just two laps remaining with only eleven cars eventually completing the course.

Commenting on his momentous win, Shaun Brooker said:
“To pick out grid position 11 was most unusual for me - I normally pick the late 20’s! With Jason in front and then Stuart in my mirror I didn’t expect it to be so easy to be honest, but the car was electric and did what I wanted it to. The scariest moments were the yellow flags - first one when I had a length of the straight lead and then the oil, but at the end of the day, it all went to plan!”

Diggy Smith made a welcome one-off appearance in the supporting heats managing to spin himself in both whilst former Hot Rodder Carl acquitted himself particularly well. There was chaos in the first mind with Dave Miles Junior left t-boned whilst Luke Hamilton received a monster hit after Laurijssen had nowhere to go. Jack Hughes went on to claim the win and Sarah Cooper did likewise in their last race using the bumper superbly to carve her way through the field.

Jason Kew took a mightily impressive brace in the National Hot Rods including the all-important final where he finished on the tail of the back-marking national points leader Jason Cooper. The record books now also show that Phil Spinks took a similar brace in the other two heats after the car of previous incumbent Colin Smith failed post-meeting weight checks. That was shame as he provided some of the best racing of the night, although there were many other fine supporting cameos too, with David Polley recovering from a shaky start in the first to register second and fourth in his other outings. Kym Weaver continued his steady progression in the formula with two thirds whilst Matt Simpson had one of his better Ipswich outings and looked right on the money keeping world champion Malcolm Blackman comfortably at arms’ length. Hopes of future Suffolk success were also boosted with an excellent fifth place in the final from Gavin Taber.