ROUND ONE of the 2013 I Factor series took place at Birmingham Wheels Raceway on Saturday 6th April, with seven formulas and 21 races on the bill on a night, which certainly boded well for the rest of the series, writes Dave Goddard.

The Incarods were out in excellent numbers once again for their second meeting of the year, and it was Grimley regular and former Banger man 146 Ashley “Scrappy” Harrison who took a super opening heat with 51 Dean Brown and Hednesford hat-trick winner 76 Kev Hughes among those picking up damage. 398 Ryan Kembery took a quieter heat two before chaos reigned once more in the Final, 86 Darren Gallagher spinning and being collected by an out of control 624 Graham Bessant as Kembery raced to his second win well ahead of a smoky 4 Gage Ford and 214 Graeme Clarke.

The all new JASCARs made their full scale I Factor debut with a trio of drivers present, 2012 regular test driver 02 Dan Hughes winning heat one before 24 Corben Lord just held him off to take the second heat, a result repeated in the Final which saw Lord’s Jeff Gordon look-alike pip Hughes in a photo finish, newcomer 20 Zakk Squires third each time.

Defending champion 352 Alfie Dover scored a faultless hat-trick in the Junior Stoxkarts taking just a few laps to hit the front from a low grid slot each time, 997 Holly Hinckley his nearest challenger in the heats and 528 Robert Key in the Final while 324 Jordan Thackra was best of the clutch of newcomers despite a home straight tangle with 331 Mitch Beaumont bringing heat two to an early conclusion.

The senior Stoxkarts meanwhile were dominated by the lower graders, 229 Joe Higgins proving that his time in the Juniors was well spent as he dominated heat one before 58 Dex Linden led all the way in heat two heading home a white grade top five. The first three places were filled by white tops in the Final, Higgins on top again from rookie 46 Macaulay Joy and 353 Dave Sewell.

A sizeable grid of Modstox saw BriSCA F2 convert 400 David Sharp lead home his debut race in heat one, an over-exuberant attack at the start of heat two seeing him spin out as 156 Craig McInerney passed 255 Emma Alldridge to take the win after early pacesetter 751 Andy Swinfield lost a wheel. Sharp made amends in the Final as he held off McInerney and 15 James Woolley for his double.

The GP Midgets kicked off their season with a win for 10 Dave Bonser, the ex-Incarodder having ditched his Van Diemen-Ford in favour of a new Scorpion-Vauxhall. He had to settle for third in heat two as 46 Tom Keep in the Cheetah-Peugeot led home 31 Jonathan Pooley, the World Champion retiring from the Final as Keep completed his double.

Heat and Final doubles were clearly a theme of the night and there was another for 361 Steve Shaw in the UK Modifieds. Heat one saw him top an excellent four-way battle for the lead and take his first win at Wheels since graduating from Rebels, 28 Simon Panton taking the second heat and these two came first and second in the Final.