Springspeed Nationals, Shakespeare County Raceway, England

Rain stops play

Words and photos by Ivan Sansom and Rose Hughes

Holding a race meeting just after the start of the cricket season and on a bank holiday weekend in the UK is asking for trouble. Two glorious days of sunshine over the qualifying days set up the meeting for a fair conclusion, but grey moisture laden clouds and a freezing cold wind arrived in the rolling Warwickshire countryside for the Monday served to mess up the eliminations. A couple of on track incidents also delayed things, but the valiant efforts of the APIRA crew saw the event get to the semi-finals in most classes, with a couple making it to the final round stage before the meeting closed somewhat after the track curfew. Despite the non-completion, this was a substantially upbeat start to the season at the Stratford-upon-Avon track, lets hope it continues.

The Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association had a bit of a battering during the first two days of the meeting, with only two alcohol Topolinos managing to put in a run on the Monday. Second generation racer Joe Bond put the Nuthin’ Fancy car into the winner’s circle for the first time with a 7.175/196 (class best figures) over a barrier hugging pass from Dennis Wratten in the Flowtech Dirty Harry car.

The Super Modifieds had a blast at the Springspeed with personal bests galore. Nigel Payne (left) put the Stick Situation Corvette on pole with a new class record 7.529 and then picked up the speed record with a 183.3 mph run on a 7.61 in eliminations where the Nimbus Motorsport/Torco Oil backed team were heading to the final before the curfew caught up with the event.