National & 2.0 Hot Rods Aldershot 2nd March 2025
National Hot Rods
GINETTAS GRAB THE GLORY AT ALDERSHOT
The eighth English World Championship qualifying series round took place at Aldershot on Sunday the 2nd of March, the first National Hot Rod meeting of 2025. Some new machinery came to light at the Ipswich practice night a week prior to the Hampshire races, including new Ginettas for Paul Wright and Aaron Dew as well as Ashley Shaw giving his Mazda MX5 its long-awaited debut.
The only White graded driver among the 23-car entry failed to appear so the the Yellow graded drivers would lead the races away. The Yellow graders for the day featured two competitors that have tasted victory in finals at the Hampshire venue in the past twelve months, 2024 John Butler Trophy winner Chris Aldridge and October 2024/25 World Championship qualifying round victor Paul Tompkins. Veteran Dick Hillard, Robert Gamble, Ashley Shaw and Ryan Richards formed the remainder of the Yellows. Aaron Dew and Paul Wright from the Blue graders looked to move forward with their new Ginettas, along with the Lotus of former Superstox World Champion Nick Roots. Ryan Morgan won the first final of the 2024/25 English series at Aldershot last July and also went from among the Blue-graded drivers. The Vauxhall Tigras of Terry Hunn and Darren Cardy were joined by the Ginetta of Kevin Gooding and the Lotus Exige of Alistair Lowe to round out the Blue-graded starters. Three drivers among the Reds have already taken a final win during the 2024/25 season as they sought to bag one of the World Championship qualifying spots, namely points leader Billy Wood, triple World Champion Chris Haird and former European champion Jason Kew. Current benchmark Robert McDonald was a notable absentee so Wood would be keen to build on his eight-point margin in the Scot’s absence and the local man pressed 2024 John Butler Trophy final winner Chris Aldridge hard in the closing stages of the final after dominating the equivalent meeting in 2023. The Ginettas of Shane Bland and Hayden Ballard, the Tigras of Perry Cooke and Dan Smith plus the sole Ford Fiesta of Carl Waller-Barrett completed the line up of superstars.
Heat One: Inside pole starter Chris Aldridge rocketed off the line into an early lead at the start of the opening 25-lap heat. Fellow Yellow grader Dick Hillard gradually reeled him in during the opening half but the pair were caught by Kevin Gooding and Aaron Dew, who were leading the charge of the Blues. Hillard turned his attention to fending off the oncoming Ginettas rather than fighting with Aldridge for the lead, which allowed Paul Wright to catch them too from the back row of the Blues. The brand new Ginetta had moved up to third when Paul Tompkins’ Vauxhall Tigra blew up to bring out the yellow flags on lap sixteen, Wright having driven the long way around Dew and he had just got his nose ahead of Gooding when the halt was called. The top two of Aldridge and Hillard opted for the inside row for the two-by-two restart, followed by Kevin Gooding. A confident Wright was tempted to the outside row, with Ryan Morgan and Nick Roots following suit. Dew and the leading Red driver Hayden Ballard were the next pair, Shane Bland was heading the Reds in ninth before the yellow flag and Ballard’s outside gamble. Wright clung to the outside of Aldridge around the restart lap and swept into the lead on the second lap. The Ginetta cleared off to victory and marked an impressive debut for Wright’s new mount, now festooned with the number 43 from his 2.0 Hot Rod days. Aldridge held off a queue of cars headed by Gooding to finish second as Dew headed the top Red-graded driver Ballard in fifth. Ryan Morgan took sixth from the Yellow-graded Robert Gamble, whilst a trio of Red-graded drivers completed the top ten in the form of Carl Waller-Barrett, Jason Kew and triple World Champion Chris Haird. Some of the other Red graders had a difficult race as Perry Cooke, the aforementioned Kew and points leader Billy Wood tangled on the start/finish line on lap thirteen, with Cooke not taking the flag and the MX5 being classified in thirteenth.
Heat Two: Ashley Shaw and Robert Gamble made up the front row of the Yellows for the second 25-lap heat, with Dick Hillard alone on row two after Paul Tompkins' Tigra was forced out for the day due to its Heat One detonation. Opening heat winner Paul Wright sat on pole for the Blues alongside Ryan Morgan and would be aiming to take another win in this heat. Shaw's MX5 leapt into an early lead before a clash on lap three between Aldridge, who'd made another cracking start to sit in an early second place, and Hillard saw the yellow and black Tigra stranded against pit bend tyres and the yellow flags come out. Gamble's Tigra was also damaged at the rear shortly after during a concertina at the Aldershot bend. Shaw lost the decent margin he'd gained from the incident as Wright profiled to threaten Hillard for second place before the stoppage. Leader Shaw unsurprisingly opted for the inside at the restart, followed by Hillard and Nick Roots' Lotus, whilst Wright again went to the outside with the similar Ginettas of Kevin Gooding and Aaron Dew lining up behind. Wright swept around the outside into the pit bend to take the lead from Shaw at the restart and Gooding tried to do same at the next bend. Shaw clung on to second place and was able to pull a few lengths gap into the later stages until a half spin with two laps to go dropped the orange Mazda to third behind the Ginetta. After executing what appeared to be a perfect race, Wright was denied his second heat win after being docked two places for a jumped start. As a result, Gooding was declared the winner from Shaw and the disappointed Wright, whilst Roots won a battle with the evergreen Hillard for fourth place after making a great outside pass at the pit bend. Morgan claimed sixth at the head of a clump of three cars, including top Red driver Perry Cooke in seventh and Aaron Dew in eighth. Blue-graded Darren Cardy doggedly held the rest of the Red graders at bay for ninth ahead of Jason Kew, Hayden Ballard and the Fiesta of Carl Waller-Barrett. Shane Bland, also from the Reds, lapped off the back of the pack with a misfire before eventually retiring.
John Butler Trophy Final: A new regulation for this season saw the drivers stay in their grades for the longer-distance 35-lap final, with the highest points scorer at the front of each grade. This placed Dick Hillard on pole position for the Yellow-graded drivers at the front of the grid, with Robert Gamble alongside the veteran and Ashley Shaw alone on row two. The two heat winners headed the Blue group, with Heat One victor Paul Wright on the inside pole beside his Heat Two counterpart Kevin Gooding. Hayden Ballard would lead the Red-graded 'superstars' away with Jason Kew's similar Ginetta as Carl Waller-Barrett and Chris Haird made up the second row. Hillard won the start to lead the opening stages from Shaw, with the pair vying for the lead until contact at the pit bend on lap eight put them both out of contention. Having passed the two fellow Blue-graded Ginettas that started ahead of him into the pit bend for the first time, a defensive Dew now led from a closely following Wright before the pair were caught by Nick Roots. The Lotus sneaked up the inside into second place on lap eighteen after Wright probed the outside of Dew for an opening which didn't come. The first heat winner repassed Roots with six laps to go and immediately began to press Dew again. Determined not to leave an opening to his inside, Dew fended off Wright to claim victory after 35 laps of intense scrutiny and have his name engraved on the John Butler Trophy for 2025. Terry Hunn also passed Roots with five laps remaining to take a great podium finish after spinning in both heats, whilst the Lotus dropped like a stone to an eventual eleventh as the Reds battled through. Ryan Morgan made it an all-Blue graded top four ahead of the leading 'superstar' Jason Kew. The rest of the top ten all came from the Red group as Billy Wood put in a typically charging drive from starting fifth of his batch to sixth overall, ahead of Perry Cooke, Carl Waller-Barrett, Shane Bland and Hayden Ballard. Wood extended his English series points lead to 46 points as a result, whilst Cooke is now tied with the absent World Champion Robert McDonald and the pair are just four points clear of Hayden Ballard in fourth.
GINETTAS GRAB THE GLORY AT ALDERSHOT
The eighth English World Championship qualifying series round took place at Aldershot on Sunday the 2nd of March, the first National Hot Rod meeting of 2025. Some new machinery came to light at the Ipswich practice night a week prior to the Hampshire races, including new Ginettas for Paul Wright and Aaron Dew as well as Ashley Shaw giving his Mazda MX5 its long-awaited debut.
The only White graded driver among the 23-car entry failed to appear so the the Yellow graded drivers would lead the races away. The Yellow graders for the day featured two competitors that have tasted victory in finals at the Hampshire venue in the past twelve months, 2024 John Butler Trophy winner Chris Aldridge and October 2024/25 World Championship qualifying round victor Paul Tompkins. Veteran Dick Hillard, Robert Gamble, Ashley Shaw and Ryan Richards formed the remainder of the Yellows. Aaron Dew and Paul Wright from the Blue graders looked to move forward with their new Ginettas, along with the Lotus of former Superstox World Champion Nick Roots. Ryan Morgan won the first final of the 2024/25 English series at Aldershot last July and also went from among the Blue-graded drivers. The Vauxhall Tigras of Terry Hunn and Darren Cardy were joined by the Ginetta of Kevin Gooding and the Lotus Exige of Alistair Lowe to round out the Blue-graded starters. Three drivers among the Reds have already taken a final win during the 2024/25 season as they sought to bag one of the World Championship qualifying spots, namely points leader Billy Wood, triple World Champion Chris Haird and former European champion Jason Kew. Current benchmark Robert McDonald was a notable absentee so Wood would be keen to build on his eight-point margin in the Scot’s absence and the local man pressed 2024 John Butler Trophy final winner Chris Aldridge hard in the closing stages of the final after dominating the equivalent meeting in 2023. The Ginettas of Shane Bland and Hayden Ballard, the Tigras of Perry Cooke and Dan Smith plus the sole Ford Fiesta of Carl Waller-Barrett completed the line up of superstars.
Heat One: Inside pole starter Chris Aldridge rocketed off the line into an early lead at the start of the opening 25-lap heat. Fellow Yellow grader Dick Hillard gradually reeled him in during the opening half but the pair were caught by Kevin Gooding and Aaron Dew, who were leading the charge of the Blues. Hillard turned his attention to fending off the oncoming Ginettas rather than fighting with Aldridge for the lead, which allowed Paul Wright to catch them too from the back row of the Blues. The brand new Ginetta had moved up to third when Paul Tompkins’ Vauxhall Tigra blew up to bring out the yellow flags on lap sixteen, Wright having driven the long way around Dew and he had just got his nose ahead of Gooding when the halt was called. The top two of Aldridge and Hillard opted for the inside row for the two-by-two restart, followed by Kevin Gooding. A confident Wright was tempted to the outside row, with Ryan Morgan and Nick Roots following suit. Dew and the leading Red driver Hayden Ballard were the next pair, Shane Bland was heading the Reds in ninth before the yellow flag and Ballard’s outside gamble. Wright clung to the outside of Aldridge around the restart lap and swept into the lead on the second lap. The Ginetta cleared off to victory and marked an impressive debut for Wright’s new mount, now festooned with the number 43 from his 2.0 Hot Rod days. Aldridge held off a queue of cars headed by Gooding to finish second as Dew headed the top Red-graded driver Ballard in fifth. Ryan Morgan took sixth from the Yellow-graded Robert Gamble, whilst a trio of Red-graded drivers completed the top ten in the form of Carl Waller-Barrett, Jason Kew and triple World Champion Chris Haird. Some of the other Red graders had a difficult race as Perry Cooke, the aforementioned Kew and points leader Billy Wood tangled on the start/finish line on lap thirteen, with Cooke not taking the flag and the MX5 being classified in thirteenth.
Heat Two: Ashley Shaw and Robert Gamble made up the front row of the Yellows for the second 25-lap heat, with Dick Hillard alone on row two after Paul Tompkins' Tigra was forced out for the day due to its Heat One detonation. Opening heat winner Paul Wright sat on pole for the Blues alongside Ryan Morgan and would be aiming to take another win in this heat. Shaw's MX5 leapt into an early lead before a clash on lap three between Aldridge, who'd made another cracking start to sit in an early second place, and Hillard saw the yellow and black Tigra stranded against pit bend tyres and the yellow flags come out. Gamble's Tigra was also damaged at the rear shortly after during a concertina at the Aldershot bend. Shaw lost the decent margin he'd gained from the incident as Wright profiled to threaten Hillard for second place before the stoppage. Leader Shaw unsurprisingly opted for the inside at the restart, followed by Hillard and Nick Roots' Lotus, whilst Wright again went to the outside with the similar Ginettas of Kevin Gooding and Aaron Dew lining up behind. Wright swept around the outside into the pit bend to take the lead from Shaw at the restart and Gooding tried to do same at the next bend. Shaw clung on to second place and was able to pull a few lengths gap into the later stages until a half spin with two laps to go dropped the orange Mazda to third behind the Ginetta. After executing what appeared to be a perfect race, Wright was denied his second heat win after being docked two places for a jumped start. As a result, Gooding was declared the winner from Shaw and the disappointed Wright, whilst Roots won a battle with the evergreen Hillard for fourth place after making a great outside pass at the pit bend. Morgan claimed sixth at the head of a clump of three cars, including top Red driver Perry Cooke in seventh and Aaron Dew in eighth. Blue-graded Darren Cardy doggedly held the rest of the Red graders at bay for ninth ahead of Jason Kew, Hayden Ballard and the Fiesta of Carl Waller-Barrett. Shane Bland, also from the Reds, lapped off the back of the pack with a misfire before eventually retiring.
John Butler Trophy Final: A new regulation for this season saw the drivers stay in their grades for the longer-distance 35-lap final, with the highest points scorer at the front of each grade. This placed Dick Hillard on pole position for the Yellow-graded drivers at the front of the grid, with Robert Gamble alongside the veteran and Ashley Shaw alone on row two. The two heat winners headed the Blue group, with Heat One victor Paul Wright on the inside pole beside his Heat Two counterpart Kevin Gooding. Hayden Ballard would lead the Red-graded 'superstars' away with Jason Kew's similar Ginetta as Carl Waller-Barrett and Chris Haird made up the second row. Hillard won the start to lead the opening stages from Shaw, with the pair vying for the lead until contact at the pit bend on lap eight put them both out of contention. Having passed the two fellow Blue-graded Ginettas that started ahead of him into the pit bend for the first time, a defensive Dew now led from a closely following Wright before the pair were caught by Nick Roots. The Lotus sneaked up the inside into second place on lap eighteen after Wright probed the outside of Dew for an opening which didn't come. The first heat winner repassed Roots with six laps to go and immediately began to press Dew again. Determined not to leave an opening to his inside, Dew fended off Wright to claim victory after 35 laps of intense scrutiny and have his name engraved on the John Butler Trophy for 2025. Terry Hunn also passed Roots with five laps remaining to take a great podium finish after spinning in both heats, whilst the Lotus dropped like a stone to an eventual eleventh as the Reds battled through. Ryan Morgan made it an all-Blue graded top four ahead of the leading 'superstar' Jason Kew. The rest of the top ten all came from the Red group as Billy Wood put in a typically charging drive from starting fifth of his batch to sixth overall, ahead of Perry Cooke, Carl Waller-Barrett, Shane Bland and Hayden Ballard. Wood extended his English series points lead to 46 points as a result, whilst Cooke is now tied with the absent World Champion Robert McDonald and the pair are just four points clear of Hayden Ballard in fourth.
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2.0 Hot Rods
MUNDAY JUST PREVAILS IN MANIC ENDING
The ultra-competitive 2.0 Hot Rod races didn’t count towards the Hoosier Tire series this year but the John Butler Trophy still attracted a quality entry of 25 cars going for the prize.
Heat One: White-graded Paul Francis led the race away from pole position but Anthony Burgess made good progress from the front row of the Yellows to soon hound the Corsa until Anthony Weaver became stranded at the final bend on lap four after contact, which brought out the yellow flags. After making its debut in the National Hot Rods during 2024, the NASCAR-style two-by-two restarts would be used by all the non-contact formulae from the start of 2025. Leader Francis opted to take the restart from the inside line and was followed by the fellow White-graded cars of Keith Conlon and Josh Breakspear, whilst the poleman's early challenger Burgess went to the outside with Lee Munday and Joey Palmer following him. Burgess immediately tried to go around the outside of Francis at the resumption but the Peugeot ended up fourth by the end of the restart lap as Munday and Conlon came through into the top three. The Conlon, Munday and Burgess trio each passed Francis at the pit bend starting the following tour, before Burgess retook the Conlon and Munday pair in one go with a three-wide entry to the pit bend one lap later to win the heat. The rare Citroën DS3 of Munday grabbed second from Conlon when Burgess came through but he was then demoted by Graeme Parrott on lap eleven of the twenty. Jason Secker put in a great drive up to third behind Parrott from the front row of the Red grades but the rapid Scot was docked two spots for contact and was classified fifth behind Munday and Gavin Botfield. One place behind Secker came Jason 'Boxer Jack' Jackson and he too had dropped places for contact after beating Munday's DS3 to the flag. Lee Pepper, Keith Conlon, Mitchell Souter and Joey Palmer made up the top ten finishers. Early leader Francis spun down the field exiting the pit bend on the same lap as the race-winning move by Burgess and was classified twentieth.
Heat Two: A bruising second heat began with Anthony Weaver leading the initial couple of hundred metres until the youngster was turned by Josh Breakspear's Vauxhall Nova at the end of lap one and the 106 was clouted by Paul Francis. The yellow flags were unfurled for the stationary Weaver but the Peugeot was able to restart just as the field came round to complete lap two. The leader Breakspear headed the inside queue for the restart from Keith Conlon and Heat One winner Anthony Burgess, whilst the outside line was led by Lee Munday, Graeme Parrott and teenager Charlie Homewood-Burrows. Breakspear continued to hold the lead until a nudge from Conlon sent the Nova wide. Burgess took advantage to move up to second and began chasing down Conlon before the yellow flags were out again after Mitchell Souter unceremoniously thumped Pat Kiely into a spin and the 106 was collected by Duane Peacock and Lee Pepper. The 206 CC of Pepper had been spun by Breakspear's Nova on the previous lap but all continued despite the field scattering. As is customary, the leading Conlon topped the inside line for the resumption from the Citroëns of Munday and Alan Thorndyke. Burgess would threaten Conlon's lead from the sharp end of the outside line, followed by 2024 Hoosier Tire series runner-up Nathan Houghton and leading Red-graded driver Harry Smith. The action started again on lap six and Conlon initially got away out front but Smith and Jason Secker soon worked their way through to the top two spots at the Aldershot bend, followed a lap later by Gavin Botfield and the order stayed the same among the top three to the flag. Subsequently, both Smith and Secker were docked two places so Botfield was declared the winner from the penultimate row of the grid but Secker's penalty was later rescinded with the Scot ultimately claiming the win from Botfield and Smith. In their wake, Munday spun Conlon at the pit bend to allow Mitchell Souter into top four ahead of Phillip Potter and 'Boxer Jack' but the 106 was docked two positions so ended up sixth behind the Corsa and Jackson's similar Peugeot. Parrott, Munday, Thorndyke and the unique Volkswagen Polo of Chris Tullett shored up the top ten. Heat One winner Burgess was nudged into a spin by 'Boxer Jack' soon after the second restart and continued with smoke billowing from his rear bumper rubbing on the nearside tyre before eventually pulling into the centre.
John Butler Trophy Final: 25 laps stood between the finalists and the awarding of the John Butler Trophy to the winner. Paul Francis held the inside pole from the White grades and headed Keith Conlon and Lee Munday as the only three starters in the group. Two Citroën Saxos were on the front row of the Yellows as Alan Thorndyke lined up on the inside with Charlie Homewood-Burrows beside him, with Graeme Parrott and Anthony Burgess completing their batch. Chris Tullett headed the trio of Blue grades, with Mike Daniels starting alongside the Polo and Nathan Houghton going from third. The big names from the Red grade would be looking to march through the order and Heat Two victor Jason Secker had the inside pole from Gavin Botfield. Jason 'Boxer Jack' Jackson and Mitchell Souter would go from the second row. Cement dust covering an oil slick from the preceding Stock Rod final, combined with the low sun, severely reduced visibility during the opening stages of the final. With poleman Francis pulling into the centre before the start, Conlon and Munday tussled for the lead early on until Conlon pulled off on lap five. Munday took up the running but was being closed in on by Parrott and Burgess before the leading Red-graded driver Secker arrived on the scene, Secker had won the final of the opening Hoosier Tire Series round at the same venue in early February and looked to take the silverware again. As Munday gamely fended off allcomers in the lead, Secker got up to second on lap 22 but was pushed back to third by a charging Jackson with two laps to go as the Scot attempted to pass Munday on the outside line. It had taken 'Boxer Jack' until lap twenty to reach the top four and the 106 wasted little time in slicing through the group after Parrott got sideways as he attempted to sneak up the inside of Secker, which took them both wide and allowed Jackson to bag the pair of them. The leading DS3 still looked likely to claim victory around the final lap but Munday almost threw the win away with a lurid slide out of the final bend and just edged Jackson and Secker to the line in a three-wide finish. Parrott headed home Burgess by the length of a Peugeot 106 for fourth, just behind the top three. Young Charlie Homewood-Burrows took a top six finish with his Saxo, ahead of local man Gavin Botfield. Phillip Potter and Chris Tullett were classified in eighth and ninth after Mitchell Souter was demoted two places to tenth.
The ultra-competitive 2.0 Hot Rod races didn’t count towards the Hoosier Tire series this year but the John Butler Trophy still attracted a quality entry of 25 cars going for the prize.
Heat One: White-graded Paul Francis led the race away from pole position but Anthony Burgess made good progress from the front row of the Yellows to soon hound the Corsa until Anthony Weaver became stranded at the final bend on lap four after contact, which brought out the yellow flags. After making its debut in the National Hot Rods during 2024, the NASCAR-style two-by-two restarts would be used by all the non-contact formulae from the start of 2025. Leader Francis opted to take the restart from the inside line and was followed by the fellow White-graded cars of Keith Conlon and Josh Breakspear, whilst the poleman's early challenger Burgess went to the outside with Lee Munday and Joey Palmer following him. Burgess immediately tried to go around the outside of Francis at the resumption but the Peugeot ended up fourth by the end of the restart lap as Munday and Conlon came through into the top three. The Conlon, Munday and Burgess trio each passed Francis at the pit bend starting the following tour, before Burgess retook the Conlon and Munday pair in one go with a three-wide entry to the pit bend one lap later to win the heat. The rare Citroën DS3 of Munday grabbed second from Conlon when Burgess came through but he was then demoted by Graeme Parrott on lap eleven of the twenty. Jason Secker put in a great drive up to third behind Parrott from the front row of the Red grades but the rapid Scot was docked two spots for contact and was classified fifth behind Munday and Gavin Botfield. One place behind Secker came Jason 'Boxer Jack' Jackson and he too had dropped places for contact after beating Munday's DS3 to the flag. Lee Pepper, Keith Conlon, Mitchell Souter and Joey Palmer made up the top ten finishers. Early leader Francis spun down the field exiting the pit bend on the same lap as the race-winning move by Burgess and was classified twentieth.
Heat Two: A bruising second heat began with Anthony Weaver leading the initial couple of hundred metres until the youngster was turned by Josh Breakspear's Vauxhall Nova at the end of lap one and the 106 was clouted by Paul Francis. The yellow flags were unfurled for the stationary Weaver but the Peugeot was able to restart just as the field came round to complete lap two. The leader Breakspear headed the inside queue for the restart from Keith Conlon and Heat One winner Anthony Burgess, whilst the outside line was led by Lee Munday, Graeme Parrott and teenager Charlie Homewood-Burrows. Breakspear continued to hold the lead until a nudge from Conlon sent the Nova wide. Burgess took advantage to move up to second and began chasing down Conlon before the yellow flags were out again after Mitchell Souter unceremoniously thumped Pat Kiely into a spin and the 106 was collected by Duane Peacock and Lee Pepper. The 206 CC of Pepper had been spun by Breakspear's Nova on the previous lap but all continued despite the field scattering. As is customary, the leading Conlon topped the inside line for the resumption from the Citroëns of Munday and Alan Thorndyke. Burgess would threaten Conlon's lead from the sharp end of the outside line, followed by 2024 Hoosier Tire series runner-up Nathan Houghton and leading Red-graded driver Harry Smith. The action started again on lap six and Conlon initially got away out front but Smith and Jason Secker soon worked their way through to the top two spots at the Aldershot bend, followed a lap later by Gavin Botfield and the order stayed the same among the top three to the flag. Subsequently, both Smith and Secker were docked two places so Botfield was declared the winner from the penultimate row of the grid but Secker's penalty was later rescinded with the Scot ultimately claiming the win from Botfield and Smith. In their wake, Munday spun Conlon at the pit bend to allow Mitchell Souter into top four ahead of Phillip Potter and 'Boxer Jack' but the 106 was docked two positions so ended up sixth behind the Corsa and Jackson's similar Peugeot. Parrott, Munday, Thorndyke and the unique Volkswagen Polo of Chris Tullett shored up the top ten. Heat One winner Burgess was nudged into a spin by 'Boxer Jack' soon after the second restart and continued with smoke billowing from his rear bumper rubbing on the nearside tyre before eventually pulling into the centre.
John Butler Trophy Final: 25 laps stood between the finalists and the awarding of the John Butler Trophy to the winner. Paul Francis held the inside pole from the White grades and headed Keith Conlon and Lee Munday as the only three starters in the group. Two Citroën Saxos were on the front row of the Yellows as Alan Thorndyke lined up on the inside with Charlie Homewood-Burrows beside him, with Graeme Parrott and Anthony Burgess completing their batch. Chris Tullett headed the trio of Blue grades, with Mike Daniels starting alongside the Polo and Nathan Houghton going from third. The big names from the Red grade would be looking to march through the order and Heat Two victor Jason Secker had the inside pole from Gavin Botfield. Jason 'Boxer Jack' Jackson and Mitchell Souter would go from the second row. Cement dust covering an oil slick from the preceding Stock Rod final, combined with the low sun, severely reduced visibility during the opening stages of the final. With poleman Francis pulling into the centre before the start, Conlon and Munday tussled for the lead early on until Conlon pulled off on lap five. Munday took up the running but was being closed in on by Parrott and Burgess before the leading Red-graded driver Secker arrived on the scene, Secker had won the final of the opening Hoosier Tire Series round at the same venue in early February and looked to take the silverware again. As Munday gamely fended off allcomers in the lead, Secker got up to second on lap 22 but was pushed back to third by a charging Jackson with two laps to go as the Scot attempted to pass Munday on the outside line. It had taken 'Boxer Jack' until lap twenty to reach the top four and the 106 wasted little time in slicing through the group after Parrott got sideways as he attempted to sneak up the inside of Secker, which took them both wide and allowed Jackson to bag the pair of them. The leading DS3 still looked likely to claim victory around the final lap but Munday almost threw the win away with a lurid slide out of the final bend and just edged Jackson and Secker to the line in a three-wide finish. Parrott headed home Burgess by the length of a Peugeot 106 for fourth, just behind the top three. Young Charlie Homewood-Burrows took a top six finish with his Saxo, ahead of local man Gavin Botfield. Phillip Potter and Chris Tullett were classified in eighth and ninth after Mitchell Souter was demoted two places to tenth.
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The National Hot Rods continue their World Championship qualifying chase with Round Nine at Hednesford on March the 16th, whilst the 2.0 Hot Rods also vie for their Midland Championship crown on the same bill in Staffordshire before they resume their Hoosier Tire Series campaign at Ipswich on the 5th of April.