With the season now in full swing after a busy and at times controversial Easter weekend of racing at Foxhall the 2.0 Hot Rods make their first visit of the year to Ipswich for the East Anglian Championship. 2010 is an important year for the 2.0 Hot Rods as Foxhall is the venue for the World Championship in July as part of the annual Spedeweekend. Current top of the points driver Mark Paffey from Havant will be looking to extend his lead, always quick around Foxhall, and in fact winner of the World Championship last time it was held in the Suffolk raceway. Chasing him hard is Farnhams Chris Crane in his fast looking Tigra, Crane is a consistent driver and has maintained his spot close to the top by regularly finishing in the the top five rather than taking a lot of race wins. Top local driver is Gary Goodswen from just up the A12 in Halesworth, Gary is currently fourth in the points and seems to be enjoying a real purple patch right now, it will remain to be seen whether his season has peaked to early or if he maintain his current form through to the World Finals. Further local interest will be in Carl Pye (Great Yarmouth) Diss based Danny Fiske and Mark Peck from Ixworth, the former is very quick around his home track in Yarmouth in his unique Peugeot 106 which on its day can prove unbeatable in this formula which is dominated by Vauxhalls Nova and Corsa. So there is a genuine chance that the East Anglian Championship could well remain in East Anglia with the main threats coming from Paffey and Crane along with fellow southern driver Mark Cooper. Brightons Samantha Holland will be making her race debut in her striking new Vauxhall Corsa, she was planning to race the car at Aldershot a couple of weeks back but a jammed throttle in practise put an end to her days racing with a few repairs needed to the brand new car.

Keeping with the non-contact theme the ever popular Lightning Rods are back at the wide open expanse of Foxhall where they can really shine. Based on the 2.0 Ford Sierra all cars have similar power and handling which gives close and competitive racing. Locally it’s Harry Skoyles who is upholding the honours sitting in a comfortable fifth place in the points chart. Diss star Diggy Smith is always quick around Foxhall and his no fear approach to his racing gets him both plenty of wins and attention from the Steward, but either way he is sure to grab the attention. Essex driver Richard Warner is booked to race and will be looking for a better run than his last visit to Ipswich which left him with a severely bent car. Worth keeping an eye on is young Robert “Spud” Gamble, still not old enough to drive on the road, Robert from Hethersett has enjoyed a good few years in the Ministox and is now forging ahead with his career in the Lightning Rods as well as the 2.0 Stock Cars.

The Peter Brown Developments backed Ipswich Banger Championship reaches round 3 this weekend and the points chart has a new look to it with Stephen Hewitt in the lead with Jake Stewart just one point behind him. Woodbridge's Simon ”Mungo” Berry is in third spot and will be looking to do well this time as top of the points will be the place to be after round 4. A new introduction this year sees “Yellow Jersey” awards with a £100 cash bonus being paid to the series leader after rounds 4 and 8, so carrying a good lead into round 4 could be handy. Expect the usual value for money entertainment from the Ipswich based “Team Simple.” Never far away from the action and offering great entertainment by their sheer number alone. Is anyone brave enough to take them on? Answers on Saturday!