Reigning World Champion Carl Boardley deservedly walked away with the “Driver of the Day” award courtesy of “Six-o-Signs” and Mark Paffey who described him as the ‘class of the field’ but he actually finished the National Hot Rod final in the fence as his on-going spat with Matt Simpson boiled over amidst claim and counter-claim at another Foxhall three-formula fiesta, writes KEVIN WEGG.

On their last visit Boardley again ended in the armco when he clashed with a Simpson only this time it was Jeff’s son Matt that had large sections of Boardley’s home crowd up-in-arms. Quite as to who was to blame may never be known however it had all started well so well for Boardley who was back to his best with some superb outside passes and a great dice with Chris Haird. It was not enough to overhaul Steve Burrows though who romped away from the front for the win only to be disqualified following post-race weight checks on the car. It was the turn of Andy Lane to show impressive pace around the outside in heat two although it was his inside pass on race leader Chris Harvey that earned him a black cross when Harvey slid out of contention but he held on to his race win regardless. With a bumper entry and a two-thirds format the good-sized crowd had to wait until heat three before Boardley met the Simpsons. There were no cartoon capers on this occasion though as Matt got held up behind Scotsman Willie Hardie allowing Boardley to blast impressively round the outside of both and then Andy Lane as well for good measure to take fourth, as Dickie Burtenshaw took the honours. Boardley had grabbed centre-stage thus far, plus left and right for that matter with a scintillating display only for it literally to come crashing down around his ears in a highly-charged finale. Having got past Matt Simpson early on he then allowed him and Steve Thompson to re-take him which was to prove costly. Meanwhile Dubliner James O’Shea boosted his chance of making the world final grid by hitting the front and staying there as Boardley bided his team behind Simpson before switching to the outside line as they rounded turn four. Disaster struck as Boardley clouted the wall and limped out with considerable steering and suspension damage as the inquest immediately started on the terraces as to just who had hit who. All eyes quickly turned to a previously impressive Colin Smith who suddenly spun sideways down the home straight hitting the fence at high-speed and then bouncing backwards just as quickly in to it causing massive damage in a spill which ironically involved Simpson as well. Edge-of-the-seat drama then for the fans and undoubtedly big box-office fare for their next mouth-watering showdown on June 19, not to mention their winner-takes-all shoot-out on July 4th – you simply ‘gotta be there people!

A thirty car Lightning Rod entry wasn’t to be over-shadowed either producing excellent support with a classic Nascar-esque finish in heat one as commentator Nick Knowles so brilliantly described it. Adie Offord got off to a brilliant start from the outside to lead the field in heat one only to spin allowing fellow white top Clint Brazier to take it up and he gamely held on as a pack of sixteen cars licked at his heels for a thrilling five lap burn-up. Heat two was fruity to say the least with a plethora of black crosses for illegal contact which all went bananas on the last lap when long-time leader Ben Furness appeared to spin on his own banana skin on turn two only for new leader Lee Skoyles to be sent spinning by David Burton on the last turn who then had his grape crushed when promptly dropped two places as a result, thus handing the fruit cocktail to Andy Brown. His chances of winning the final mind were dashed when he collided with Adam Eyles who suffered considerable damage. Brazier couldn’t hold back the tide this time either and succumbed with just three laps to go as Simon Hopcroft-Lopez and Steve Santry pressed relentlessly and Brazier was also pipped for third on the line by Luke Stonehouse. Special praise goes to Santry who thoroughly deserved his success after suffering huge amounts of damage in the last few weeks and he only picked his engine up from Leeds the previous day!

Fifty Bangers for race one and they were just as good with one of their best showings all year. Chris Filby and Daniel Wenhold both needed attention after a very bruising, all-action start and there was a huge hit by Jason Thurlow on Joe Palmer who surprisingly got it out for the next race. Dave “Canhamball” Canham looked as though he was running on rocket fuel such was his blistering pace and he coasted it. Starting from the back in heat two he was going well again until points leader Simon Berry decided he’d seen enough and took him out. Dan Harvey took a comfortable win yet Canham was not to be denied in the final pushing Michael Hewitt wide on the last bend to win majestically. The unofficial prize for entertainer of the day though goes to visiting driver Roger Fuller whose antics in his Honda Civic were truly memorable – quite how it was still moving after having the back end hit I don’t know how many times was simply amazing. A cracking end to a quite brilliant Bank Holiday Bonanza!