Superstox World Final Report
As reported earlier, Nick Smith’s impressive and thoroughly deserved victory in a brand new Elite racer was something else and climaxed yet another crackin’ season for the Spedeworth Superstox Gromit (and indeed all concerned!) with one of the most sensational, action-packed World Finals of all time, writes Kevin Wegg.
It’s been quite a while since I last visited Wimbledon but I’ll be returning again real soon as the super-fast raceway lent itself perfectly to the open-wheelers and presented a large, appreciative with enough crashes, dramas and hard-luck stories to fill a library!
The whole field and indeed those unlucky enough not to make the line-up deserve huge respect for their efforts on the night which started sensationally with the demise of Steven Jackson who limped out on the rolling lap with a broken half-shaft. A home-straight pile-up ripped the front bumper off the Ben Munford chassis and snared Dave Miles Jnr too, with a ten minute break given to repair damage.
Jason Cooper was one of many putting on a gutsy display all night often on the receiving end but bouncing back every time and was suitably rewarded at the flag with a third place finish. Shaun Brooker meanwhile would have been grateful for any sort of finish that involved keeping all for wheels on the ground, as it was he went flying in to the home straight fence and very nearly put himself in contention for a place in the Olympic high-jump team as he came so close to clearing the top rope! As it was he was left buried in the fence at right angles but thankfully none the worse for wear as the contenders were whittled down to twenty-seven.
Scotsman Stuart Gilchrist failed to do himself justice at the European title dust-up at Ipswich after suffering engine problems early-on however he went back over the border with a new army of fans after a one-man show that simply oozed entertainment if not an interesting interpretation of where the inside line is! He exchanged several elbows with defending champion Colin Aylward and eventually took it up only for Ryan Eaton to hit fresh air after a push from Ben Marjoram and then Chopper dramatically retook it with an impressive heave-ho.
Richard Raymond was soon added to the casualty list bringing out the yellows and gave Gilky another chance to re-define the inside line for which he received a black-cross and despite severely testing his status on Chopper’s Christmas card list, the gold-roof holder was not about to be beaten that easily. After a terrific Eaton/Gilky scrap the event took on something of a ‘flying display’ with first Cooper hitting the tyres on the scoreboard bend and taking off then Gilky – just when he looked like he might at the very least get on the rostrum – decided to out-do Cooper, clipped the tyre and rolled it over and back on to all fours! Rewind a few moments and things had definitely looked like they were all going Chop’s way until the mightily impressive-looking Eaton started to surprisingly reel the HCD owner in. Eaton slipped past as smoke started coming off Chop’s back wheel, which later transpired to be water coming from the radiator hose which was hitting the rear tyre.
Nick Smith meanwhile had been quietly going about his business and was ready to snare Eaton, putting the bumper in hard as they entered the scoreboard turn. Measured to perfection the title was now his to lose but he made no mistake and punched the air with immense glee as he went round the final two turns.
SUPPORT RACES
After Jordan Aylward was spun a ten car pile-up ensured in the first of the heats, Ady Robinson limping out with a front end that looked more like a boomerang! Michael Robinson had made sensational progress to get up to fourth place at one point in the world final only to drop back to a still-impressive tenth after the car started to run out of fuel and once again he was out of luck when all set for his maiden victory in the opening heat only to limp out with a puncture when well clear. Copper took an emphatic victory with Steven Jackson taking the second heat to gain at least some consolation for his earlier heart-ache and the efforts of Shaun Brooker’s team to repair the damage and get him out were duly rewarded with a heart-warming top three finish. Ryan Eaton meanwhile became the unofficial ‘bridesmaid’ for the evening with a hat-trick of second places under-lining the amazing progress he has made this season – surely a future champion-in-waiting? Just to add a final pinch of “spice”, Ben Munford’s crew had again worked miracles to get the car back on track although Matt Sole must have wished they hadn’t after ending up in the fence twice courtesy of Ben’s refurbished front-end and this looks like a battle well worth keeping an eye on when they return for the next instalment!….