National & 2.0 Hot Rods Aldershot 8th March 2026
National Hot Rods
RESILIENT ROOTS RESISTS PRESSURE TO ROUT ALDERSHOT
The 2025/26 English World Championship qualifying series campaign got underway again after its winter break at the Rushmoor Arena, Aldershot for the eighth round on Sunday the 8th of March. Reigning points champion Perry Cooke topped the standings after Round 7 at Hednesford last November by 18 points from Paul Wright, with the final won by Billy Wood.
Heat One: The opening 25-lapper saw Brett Collison pull into middle during the installation laps to leave Lewis Shelley starting alone among the white-graded drivers. David Brooks was sent to the back of the grid from the yellow inside pole after the Ginetta lined up out of position, with one of the pre-race favourites Nick Roots left with Robert Gamble from their grade. The blue grade was headed by a couple of potential race winners in the form of former 2.0 Hot Rod World Champion Dan Smith and 2018 National Hot Rod World Champion Billy Wood, who was back at the helm of his Mazda chassis after driving his Tigra to the ’Best in Britain’ victory at Hednesford in late November. The Tigras of Terry Hunn, Ryan Morgan and Chris Aldridge formed up next. The back row of the blues both had stories to tell, Scot James Robertson is chasing English series points this season but also won the Scottish series final at Lochgelly seven days prior to Aldershot and Hayden Ballard is well on the road to recovery after being severely knocked about at the British Championship meeting at Tullyroan last September. The red-graded luminaries were drawn with the Ginettas of Jason Kew and Aaron Dew on the front row. Category returnee Matt Simpson’s brand new Ginetta made a great start to its competitive career with the BTCC race-winner by prevailing in the Ipswich English series final at the start of November, having made his return to the category at Aldershot last October aboard Paul Tompkins’ Tigra and Simpson started beside current silver roof holder Perry Cooke. Triple World Champion Chris Haird headed the next row from Carl Waller-Barrett, with the Ginettas of Paul Wright and the current formula benchmark Robert McDonald on the back row. Starting behind the reds was Tom Burgess’ Tigra as he found his way into the racing, joined by Brooks after his removal from the yellows. Former 2.0 Hot Rod hotshoe Lewis Shelley did well off the whites to lead the opening half of the race convincingly but Nick Roots from yellow gradually caught the Tigra, which had started emitting smoke. The Lotus claimed the lead at the pit bend as half distance passed, just as the charging Billy Wood from blue reached them. The recent ‘Best in Britain’ winner had earned a very early black cross as he took the lead of the blue-graders from Dan Smith on lap two and usurped Robert Gamble for third place on lap seven. The rebuilt MX5 went second within a lap of Roots’ pass for the lead and Wood lit the blowtorch on Roots’ rear bumper, the Mazda was unable to pass Roots after being forced to the outside line and the Lotus was able to pull a gap in the last five laps to take a clear win, with Wood’s Mazda losing time with a deflating tyre. Shelley came home in a highly creditable third but immediately pulled into the centre at the conclusion with the smoke from the engine bay worsening. Wood was subsequently docked two places for his alleged contact when passing fellow blue Smith, so Shelley was lifted to second but Wood was reinstated into the runner-up position after further investigation and confirmed a 1-2 finish for locally-based drivers. Gamble spun out of fourth in the later stages, so the similar Tigra of Smith was classified fourth from fellow blues Terry Hunn, Hayden Ballard and Ryan Morgan. Jason Kew finished as the top red behind an obstinate Chris Aldridge in ninth, having been on the tail of the Vauxhall since lap four. 2025 John Butler Trophy winner Aaron Dew was Kew’s closest challenger to start with but eventually slipped behind the second Mazda MX5 in the field of Carl Waller-Barrett. Silver roof holder and current points leader Perry Cooke finished next in twelfth at the wheel of his Vauxhall Tigra for the day, heading home Robert McDonald as the superstars struggled to make forward progress on the notoriously tight oval. However, Cooke earned a black cross in the opening laps after a nudge on the rear quarter of Matt Simpson’s Ginetta allowed both Cooke and McDonald to get through, which ultimately saw the points leader demoted behind the World Champion.
Heat Two: The start order for the second 25-lap heat would be the reverse of the opener among the grades. Brett Collison started alone from the whites after Lewis Shelley’s first heat issues proved terminal. Robert Gamble was alone on the outside of the yellow-graded group front row, with Nick Roots and David Brooks next up. Hayden Ballard held the inside pole for the blues and was joined on the front row by James Robertson, with first heat top four finishers Billy Wood and Dan Smith having a bit more work to do from the back row if they were to repeat those results. The current king of the Nationals Robert McDonald held the prime starting position for the reds and Paul Wright’s similar Ginetta formed up alongside. Carl Waller-Barrett and Chris Haird made up the second row, with the remainder lining up in the order of Perry Cooke, Matt Simpson, Aaron Dew and Jason Kew. Dan Smith didn’t get away when the green flag dropped so a full restart was required. Brett Collison’s Peugeot led away but was soon passed by Nick Roots’ Lotus on lap two, with the other yellow-graded cars of David Brooks and Robert Gamble following. Hayden Ballard was flying from the front of the blues and reached third on the fourth lap before grabbing second by the end of lap eight, the Ginetta gave chase to the leading Lotus but Roots claimed the win despite top blue Ballard closing in as the race wore on. Brooks and Gamble continued in third and fourth during the first half of the heat but Gamble’s Tigra gave out just after the Union Flag signified halfway. Meanwhile, Billy Wood had an early battle with James Robertson before the Mazda got stuck behind a defensive Chris Aldridge for much of the distance. Once the MX5 finally broke clear at the Aldershot bend, Wood wasted little time in chasing down Brooks for the final place on the podium and claimed the spot with four laps remaining. Post-race, Ballard was docked two spots for contact early in the heat but, as with Wood's earlier penalty, the censure was rescinded after a meeting in the stewards room. Robert McDonald led the reds initially but couldn’t clear a stubborn Ryan Morgan from the blues and the World Champion lost out to Carl Waller-Barrett, who finished sixth after pipping James Robertson out of the final corner. McDonald was the second red home in eighth and the third-placed red Paul Wright was tenth behind Terry Hunn from the blues. Morgan’s Tigra wouldn’t go the distance after picking up damage to the front-right corner at the pit bend.
Final: The event final would be contested over 35 laps and the grid for each grade in the final would be decided by the points accrued in the heats. Brett Collison's Peugeot again started alone from the white grade in the absence of Lewis Shelley at the front of the grid. Double heat winner Nick Roots would be aiming to make it a hat-trick of wins on the day from the front of the yellows, with David Brooks alongside and Robert Gamble completed the trio of starters in the grade. The front row of the blues would both harbour ambitions of grabbing the final win, with the battle to claim the high ground from the start between the pair likely to be pivotal to the outcome and Billy Wood went from the inside with Hayden Ballard to his outside. The Tigras of Chris Aldridge and Terry Hunn made up the second row, ahead of James Robertson and Dan Smith. The red-graded superstars would be led away by triple European Championship winner Carl Waller-Barrett’s Mazda and the Ginetta of the all-conquering Robert McDonald. The second row housed Jason Kew and Paul Wright, with points race leader Perry Cooke and last year’s final victor Aaron Dew up next. The back row found Chris Haird on the inside with Matt Simpson the last to line up as newcomer Tom Burgess failed to appear. Brett Collison led the early metres once more but the lead soon changed hands on lap three as double heat winner Nick Roots hit the front. Billy Wood beat Hayden Ballard away to head the blues and squeezed inside David Brooks starting lap four to take fourth place away before quickly dealing with Collison. The Mazda moved up to second at Robert Gamble’s expense on lap seven and latched onto Roots’ Lotus. Despite extreme pressure from Wood, Roots held firm and the pair were caught by Ballard as they fought. The Ginetta had followed Wood past Brooks before clipping Collison’s Peugeot as he went by into fourth. Ballard was into the top three by the completion of the tenth circulation and soon started chasing down the squabbling lead pair. As Ballard closed in, Wood redoubled his efforts to take the lead from Roots but couldn’t force an opening as passing is often tricky at the Rushmoor Arena venue. The Lotus remained steadfast in the lead as the race entered the closing stages but Ballard looked to the outside of Wood’s Mazda as the Ginetta made a last-ditch bid for second during the last couple of laps but the order didn’t change. The victorious Roots repeated the feat of Wood in 2023 and Chris Aldridge a year later by taking a clean sweep of race victories to clinch the John Butler Trophy, ending an iffy run of form for the former Superstox World Champion. Wood was happy with the speed shown by his recently-rebuilt Mazda in second, having set the fastest lap of the meeting earlier in the day, whilst Ballard’s podium will go some way to rebuilding his confidence after his British Championship trauma. Carl Waller-Barrett led the red-graded drivers throughout and was credited with sixth place after Dan Smith was docked two places for contact, with the Mazda finishing behind Gamble in a solid fourth and Chris Aldridge at the head of a train of cars in fifth. Jason Kew was the second red grader home in seventh, ahead of the relegated Smith, Terry Hunn and third red Aaron Dew in tenth. World title holder Robert McDonald made a slow start from the front row of the red grade and slipped behind Kew and Dew. The Scot was unable to reclaim the lost positions and followed the equivalent 2025 final winner home in eleventh.
RESILIENT ROOTS RESISTS PRESSURE TO ROUT ALDERSHOT
The 2025/26 English World Championship qualifying series campaign got underway again after its winter break at the Rushmoor Arena, Aldershot for the eighth round on Sunday the 8th of March. Reigning points champion Perry Cooke topped the standings after Round 7 at Hednesford last November by 18 points from Paul Wright, with the final won by Billy Wood.
Heat One: The opening 25-lapper saw Brett Collison pull into middle during the installation laps to leave Lewis Shelley starting alone among the white-graded drivers. David Brooks was sent to the back of the grid from the yellow inside pole after the Ginetta lined up out of position, with one of the pre-race favourites Nick Roots left with Robert Gamble from their grade. The blue grade was headed by a couple of potential race winners in the form of former 2.0 Hot Rod World Champion Dan Smith and 2018 National Hot Rod World Champion Billy Wood, who was back at the helm of his Mazda chassis after driving his Tigra to the ’Best in Britain’ victory at Hednesford in late November. The Tigras of Terry Hunn, Ryan Morgan and Chris Aldridge formed up next. The back row of the blues both had stories to tell, Scot James Robertson is chasing English series points this season but also won the Scottish series final at Lochgelly seven days prior to Aldershot and Hayden Ballard is well on the road to recovery after being severely knocked about at the British Championship meeting at Tullyroan last September. The red-graded luminaries were drawn with the Ginettas of Jason Kew and Aaron Dew on the front row. Category returnee Matt Simpson’s brand new Ginetta made a great start to its competitive career with the BTCC race-winner by prevailing in the Ipswich English series final at the start of November, having made his return to the category at Aldershot last October aboard Paul Tompkins’ Tigra and Simpson started beside current silver roof holder Perry Cooke. Triple World Champion Chris Haird headed the next row from Carl Waller-Barrett, with the Ginettas of Paul Wright and the current formula benchmark Robert McDonald on the back row. Starting behind the reds was Tom Burgess’ Tigra as he found his way into the racing, joined by Brooks after his removal from the yellows. Former 2.0 Hot Rod hotshoe Lewis Shelley did well off the whites to lead the opening half of the race convincingly but Nick Roots from yellow gradually caught the Tigra, which had started emitting smoke. The Lotus claimed the lead at the pit bend as half distance passed, just as the charging Billy Wood from blue reached them. The recent ‘Best in Britain’ winner had earned a very early black cross as he took the lead of the blue-graders from Dan Smith on lap two and usurped Robert Gamble for third place on lap seven. The rebuilt MX5 went second within a lap of Roots’ pass for the lead and Wood lit the blowtorch on Roots’ rear bumper, the Mazda was unable to pass Roots after being forced to the outside line and the Lotus was able to pull a gap in the last five laps to take a clear win, with Wood’s Mazda losing time with a deflating tyre. Shelley came home in a highly creditable third but immediately pulled into the centre at the conclusion with the smoke from the engine bay worsening. Wood was subsequently docked two places for his alleged contact when passing fellow blue Smith, so Shelley was lifted to second but Wood was reinstated into the runner-up position after further investigation and confirmed a 1-2 finish for locally-based drivers. Gamble spun out of fourth in the later stages, so the similar Tigra of Smith was classified fourth from fellow blues Terry Hunn, Hayden Ballard and Ryan Morgan. Jason Kew finished as the top red behind an obstinate Chris Aldridge in ninth, having been on the tail of the Vauxhall since lap four. 2025 John Butler Trophy winner Aaron Dew was Kew’s closest challenger to start with but eventually slipped behind the second Mazda MX5 in the field of Carl Waller-Barrett. Silver roof holder and current points leader Perry Cooke finished next in twelfth at the wheel of his Vauxhall Tigra for the day, heading home Robert McDonald as the superstars struggled to make forward progress on the notoriously tight oval. However, Cooke earned a black cross in the opening laps after a nudge on the rear quarter of Matt Simpson’s Ginetta allowed both Cooke and McDonald to get through, which ultimately saw the points leader demoted behind the World Champion.
Heat Two: The start order for the second 25-lap heat would be the reverse of the opener among the grades. Brett Collison started alone from the whites after Lewis Shelley’s first heat issues proved terminal. Robert Gamble was alone on the outside of the yellow-graded group front row, with Nick Roots and David Brooks next up. Hayden Ballard held the inside pole for the blues and was joined on the front row by James Robertson, with first heat top four finishers Billy Wood and Dan Smith having a bit more work to do from the back row if they were to repeat those results. The current king of the Nationals Robert McDonald held the prime starting position for the reds and Paul Wright’s similar Ginetta formed up alongside. Carl Waller-Barrett and Chris Haird made up the second row, with the remainder lining up in the order of Perry Cooke, Matt Simpson, Aaron Dew and Jason Kew. Dan Smith didn’t get away when the green flag dropped so a full restart was required. Brett Collison’s Peugeot led away but was soon passed by Nick Roots’ Lotus on lap two, with the other yellow-graded cars of David Brooks and Robert Gamble following. Hayden Ballard was flying from the front of the blues and reached third on the fourth lap before grabbing second by the end of lap eight, the Ginetta gave chase to the leading Lotus but Roots claimed the win despite top blue Ballard closing in as the race wore on. Brooks and Gamble continued in third and fourth during the first half of the heat but Gamble’s Tigra gave out just after the Union Flag signified halfway. Meanwhile, Billy Wood had an early battle with James Robertson before the Mazda got stuck behind a defensive Chris Aldridge for much of the distance. Once the MX5 finally broke clear at the Aldershot bend, Wood wasted little time in chasing down Brooks for the final place on the podium and claimed the spot with four laps remaining. Post-race, Ballard was docked two spots for contact early in the heat but, as with Wood's earlier penalty, the censure was rescinded after a meeting in the stewards room. Robert McDonald led the reds initially but couldn’t clear a stubborn Ryan Morgan from the blues and the World Champion lost out to Carl Waller-Barrett, who finished sixth after pipping James Robertson out of the final corner. McDonald was the second red home in eighth and the third-placed red Paul Wright was tenth behind Terry Hunn from the blues. Morgan’s Tigra wouldn’t go the distance after picking up damage to the front-right corner at the pit bend.
Final: The event final would be contested over 35 laps and the grid for each grade in the final would be decided by the points accrued in the heats. Brett Collison's Peugeot again started alone from the white grade in the absence of Lewis Shelley at the front of the grid. Double heat winner Nick Roots would be aiming to make it a hat-trick of wins on the day from the front of the yellows, with David Brooks alongside and Robert Gamble completed the trio of starters in the grade. The front row of the blues would both harbour ambitions of grabbing the final win, with the battle to claim the high ground from the start between the pair likely to be pivotal to the outcome and Billy Wood went from the inside with Hayden Ballard to his outside. The Tigras of Chris Aldridge and Terry Hunn made up the second row, ahead of James Robertson and Dan Smith. The red-graded superstars would be led away by triple European Championship winner Carl Waller-Barrett’s Mazda and the Ginetta of the all-conquering Robert McDonald. The second row housed Jason Kew and Paul Wright, with points race leader Perry Cooke and last year’s final victor Aaron Dew up next. The back row found Chris Haird on the inside with Matt Simpson the last to line up as newcomer Tom Burgess failed to appear. Brett Collison led the early metres once more but the lead soon changed hands on lap three as double heat winner Nick Roots hit the front. Billy Wood beat Hayden Ballard away to head the blues and squeezed inside David Brooks starting lap four to take fourth place away before quickly dealing with Collison. The Mazda moved up to second at Robert Gamble’s expense on lap seven and latched onto Roots’ Lotus. Despite extreme pressure from Wood, Roots held firm and the pair were caught by Ballard as they fought. The Ginetta had followed Wood past Brooks before clipping Collison’s Peugeot as he went by into fourth. Ballard was into the top three by the completion of the tenth circulation and soon started chasing down the squabbling lead pair. As Ballard closed in, Wood redoubled his efforts to take the lead from Roots but couldn’t force an opening as passing is often tricky at the Rushmoor Arena venue. The Lotus remained steadfast in the lead as the race entered the closing stages but Ballard looked to the outside of Wood’s Mazda as the Ginetta made a last-ditch bid for second during the last couple of laps but the order didn’t change. The victorious Roots repeated the feat of Wood in 2023 and Chris Aldridge a year later by taking a clean sweep of race victories to clinch the John Butler Trophy, ending an iffy run of form for the former Superstox World Champion. Wood was happy with the speed shown by his recently-rebuilt Mazda in second, having set the fastest lap of the meeting earlier in the day, whilst Ballard’s podium will go some way to rebuilding his confidence after his British Championship trauma. Carl Waller-Barrett led the red-graded drivers throughout and was credited with sixth place after Dan Smith was docked two places for contact, with the Mazda finishing behind Gamble in a solid fourth and Chris Aldridge at the head of a train of cars in fifth. Jason Kew was the second red grader home in seventh, ahead of the relegated Smith, Terry Hunn and third red Aaron Dew in tenth. World title holder Robert McDonald made a slow start from the front row of the red grade and slipped behind Kew and Dew. The Scot was unable to reclaim the lost positions and followed the equivalent 2025 final winner home in eleventh.
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2.0 Hot Rods
PARROTT CAN’T BE KNOCKED FROM HIS PERCH FOR JOHN BUTLER TROPHY TRIUMPH
The closely-fought 2.0 Hot Rod category weren't chasing Hoosier Tire Series points at Aldershot but still drew a strong entry of 27 cars aiming to win the John Butler Trophy.
Heat One: The opening 20-lapper saw white-graded Paul Francis drive around the outside of inside poleman Lee Hall to grab the early lead by the end of the opening lap. Francis was able to make his escape while Hall tried his hardest to fend off fellow whites Lee Munday and Nicholas Wright plus the leading yellows Duane Peacock, Scott Morgan and Graeme Parrott, for which the white and pink Corsa received a blue flag. Just after Wright got round Hall, Peacock got under the Corsa at the pit bend on lap four and Morgan did likewise to Munday. Morgan also got by Hall later in the lap and brought Parrott with him. Peacock pinched second from Wright another lap later at the Aldershot bend and Morgan was soon past the grey 106 too, again at the Aldershot bend. Parrott was then on Wright’s shoulder and moved through into fourth at the pit bend. Francis began to put up a stern defence as Peacock arrived onto his tail and it wasn’t long before Morgan also caught up with the pair. Morgan got up the inside of Peacock into second when the latter had a sniff to the outside of Francis through the Aldershot bend at half-distance, with the battle pack growing as the blue-graded drivers led by Phillip Potter began to get involved. Peacock repassed Morgan and also grabbed the lead with six laps to go. Francis was hung out to dry as Morgan, Parrott, Potter, Jack Bradburn and Dean O’Dell all pushed the Corsa back within a lap before Francis eventually tangled with Jack Wilks three laps from home. The fighting behind saw Peacock pull away in the closing stages to win handsomely. Morgan fended off Potter’s late effort for second, with the third-placed Vauxhall under fire from Parrott past the flag. Jack Bradburn in the ex-Ben Murray 106 was fifth and in sixth came the Copart Saxo of O’Dell. 2025 Hoosier Tire Series top man Jason 'Boxer Jack' Jackson and World title holder Jason Secker were eighth and ninth behind Nathan Haughton’s Corsa, Jackson was fresh from competing in the Unlimited Banger World Series at Ipswich the day before.
Heat Two: A fraught first lap of the second heat saw the top three arrive at the Aldershot bend as one but Lee Hall emerged ahead after getting his elbows out to fend off a sideways Nicholas Wright and Lee Munday. The Peugeot and Citroën continued to lap abreast, with Lewis Renwick just behind them, until Wright spun at the pit bend for the third time and was clipped by opening Hoosier Tire Series round winner Keith Conlon. Conlon’s machine was stranded with suspension damage so a restart was required. The NASCAR-style restart saw race leader Hall opt for the inside line with his Corsa along with the Peugeots of Lewis Renwick and Graeme Parrott, who headed the yellow-graded drivers before the stoppage. Heading the outside queue was Munday’s DS3 from the yellow-graded Richard Norman’s unusual Suzuki Baleno and Duane Peacock’s Peugeot as they made up the top six. Hall and Munday scrapped for the top spot when racing resumed before Parrott came through to the lead a lap later, having dispensed with a spinning Renwick and Norman in short order at the pit bend. Hall defended his second place hard and the pack became congested in his wake. Former European Champion Jack Wilks had charged into the top three before Munday managed to pass him back but a failed attempt at retaking third from the Citroën saw Chris Tullett’s self-built VW get up the sky blue 106’s inside and took the pair wide at the pit bend, with reigning points champion Jason ‘Boxer Jack’ Jackson pouncing to pass them both before taking Munday too by the Aldershot bend. At the exit of the bend, Jackson made light contact with the rear of Hall, tipping the Corsa into a spin and chaos ensued. Jordan Morgan had followed Jackson through the pack but was sent spinning by Munday as they avoided the rotating Vauxhall. Lee Pepper was pincered between Hall and Pat Kiely in the aftermath, which sent the former’s Saxo into Morgan’s Peugeot and took them all out of the picture. Heat One runner-up Scott Morgan was still running after taking a glancing blow in the Conlon incident but the front of the car was dragging on the ground and the 106 went to the centre just before the contretemps. Leader Parrott went to the inside for the two-by-two restart, whilst Tullett and Wilks, who had used the first restart to move into the top eight, got through the carnage to choose the next two places in the line. A heavyweight outside line contained Jackson, World Champion Jason Secker and Mitchell Souter at the head of the queue. ‘Boxer Jack’ tried to use the outside line to remove Parrott from the lead but Tullett took advantage to put the Polo second as the Peugeot got crossed up. Secker pounced to also pass Jackson in his newly-reshelled Peugeot and was up to second as halfway passed. The all-gold machine reeled in Parrott but the World Champion couldn’t unseat Parrott’s similar 106, who held on for a hard earned win. ‘Boxer Jack’ got back up to third in the closing stages, whilst former incumbent Tullett tangled with Dean O’Dell’s Saxo at the pit bend soon after. That left Phillip Potter, Jack Bradburn and first heat winner Duane Peacock to take fourth, fifth and sixth. Souter and Wilks both retired with front end damage to their Peugeots after tangling at the restart, with the latter smacking one of the marker tyres.
Final: The ambient temperature was dropping by the time the field lined up for the 25-lap John Butler Trophy final, from which the reigning World Champion Jason Secker would be absent after the Scot’s smartly turned out Peugeot suffered clutch master cylinder failure. Paul Francis led the opening laps from the white grade before Lee Munday fought to the front at the pit bend for the seventh time but the pair of them had been caught by a rapid Duane Peacock by then. Richard Norman had led the yellows away before Peacock forced his way past at the Aldershot bend for the third time, with Scott Morgan and Graeme Parrott following him past. White-graded Nicholas Wright began to slip back as Peacock, Morgan and Parrott went by, joined by top blues Phillip Potter and Jack Bradburn. Fourth-placed Morgan got very sideways at the pit bend starting lap eight and Parrott didn’t need a second invitation to take the place, with Peacock taking second from Francis just ahead of them. Parrott dived ahead of Francis at the Aldershot bend a few laps later and brought the leading blues with him. Despite applying plenty of pressure, Peacock couldn’t shift Munday’s wide DS3 from the lead before the chasing pack caught up. Parrott got ahead of Peacock just after half-distance, with Munday, Parrott and Peacock going into the pit bend abreast as the second heat winner went through. After making an attempt on the previous lap, Parrott used the outside line to great effect to steal the lead from Munday at the Aldershot bend on lap fifteen. Parrott ran away as the others fought for second, with Potter and Bradburn both demoting Peacock in the wake of the lead changing hands before that pair swapped places themselves on lap sixteen. The two leading blue runners were split by ‘Boxer Jack’ a lap later, with Jordan Morgan also making short work of Potter’s Corsa soon after as Mitchell Souter latched onto the Vauxhall. Bradburn grabbed second from Munday with seven to go and ate into the gap to Parrott a little but the leading 106 was never under any real threat so ran out the winner by ten car lengths, having done brilliantly from starting at the back of the yellows. Last year’s John Butler Trophy winner Munday fought off allcomers to complete the podium. The 2024 John Butler Trophy holder Jordan Morgan took fourth from ‘Boxer Jack’ late on to knock the 2025 Hoosier Tire Series winner back to fifth on his return to the formula. The Corsa of Potter had taken advantage of Morgan moving ahead to also demote Jackson but the Vauxhall spun out at the Aldershot bend within a lap, leaving 'Boxer Jack' to hold off Souter over the line. A glut of black cross penalties saw Jackson, Souter and seventh-on the-road Pat Kiely drop places, with Nathan Houghton classified fifth ahead of Peacock, Scott Morgan, Dean O’Dell, Jackson and Kiely as Souter fell out of the top ten.
The closely-fought 2.0 Hot Rod category weren't chasing Hoosier Tire Series points at Aldershot but still drew a strong entry of 27 cars aiming to win the John Butler Trophy.
Heat One: The opening 20-lapper saw white-graded Paul Francis drive around the outside of inside poleman Lee Hall to grab the early lead by the end of the opening lap. Francis was able to make his escape while Hall tried his hardest to fend off fellow whites Lee Munday and Nicholas Wright plus the leading yellows Duane Peacock, Scott Morgan and Graeme Parrott, for which the white and pink Corsa received a blue flag. Just after Wright got round Hall, Peacock got under the Corsa at the pit bend on lap four and Morgan did likewise to Munday. Morgan also got by Hall later in the lap and brought Parrott with him. Peacock pinched second from Wright another lap later at the Aldershot bend and Morgan was soon past the grey 106 too, again at the Aldershot bend. Parrott was then on Wright’s shoulder and moved through into fourth at the pit bend. Francis began to put up a stern defence as Peacock arrived onto his tail and it wasn’t long before Morgan also caught up with the pair. Morgan got up the inside of Peacock into second when the latter had a sniff to the outside of Francis through the Aldershot bend at half-distance, with the battle pack growing as the blue-graded drivers led by Phillip Potter began to get involved. Peacock repassed Morgan and also grabbed the lead with six laps to go. Francis was hung out to dry as Morgan, Parrott, Potter, Jack Bradburn and Dean O’Dell all pushed the Corsa back within a lap before Francis eventually tangled with Jack Wilks three laps from home. The fighting behind saw Peacock pull away in the closing stages to win handsomely. Morgan fended off Potter’s late effort for second, with the third-placed Vauxhall under fire from Parrott past the flag. Jack Bradburn in the ex-Ben Murray 106 was fifth and in sixth came the Copart Saxo of O’Dell. 2025 Hoosier Tire Series top man Jason 'Boxer Jack' Jackson and World title holder Jason Secker were eighth and ninth behind Nathan Haughton’s Corsa, Jackson was fresh from competing in the Unlimited Banger World Series at Ipswich the day before.
Heat Two: A fraught first lap of the second heat saw the top three arrive at the Aldershot bend as one but Lee Hall emerged ahead after getting his elbows out to fend off a sideways Nicholas Wright and Lee Munday. The Peugeot and Citroën continued to lap abreast, with Lewis Renwick just behind them, until Wright spun at the pit bend for the third time and was clipped by opening Hoosier Tire Series round winner Keith Conlon. Conlon’s machine was stranded with suspension damage so a restart was required. The NASCAR-style restart saw race leader Hall opt for the inside line with his Corsa along with the Peugeots of Lewis Renwick and Graeme Parrott, who headed the yellow-graded drivers before the stoppage. Heading the outside queue was Munday’s DS3 from the yellow-graded Richard Norman’s unusual Suzuki Baleno and Duane Peacock’s Peugeot as they made up the top six. Hall and Munday scrapped for the top spot when racing resumed before Parrott came through to the lead a lap later, having dispensed with a spinning Renwick and Norman in short order at the pit bend. Hall defended his second place hard and the pack became congested in his wake. Former European Champion Jack Wilks had charged into the top three before Munday managed to pass him back but a failed attempt at retaking third from the Citroën saw Chris Tullett’s self-built VW get up the sky blue 106’s inside and took the pair wide at the pit bend, with reigning points champion Jason ‘Boxer Jack’ Jackson pouncing to pass them both before taking Munday too by the Aldershot bend. At the exit of the bend, Jackson made light contact with the rear of Hall, tipping the Corsa into a spin and chaos ensued. Jordan Morgan had followed Jackson through the pack but was sent spinning by Munday as they avoided the rotating Vauxhall. Lee Pepper was pincered between Hall and Pat Kiely in the aftermath, which sent the former’s Saxo into Morgan’s Peugeot and took them all out of the picture. Heat One runner-up Scott Morgan was still running after taking a glancing blow in the Conlon incident but the front of the car was dragging on the ground and the 106 went to the centre just before the contretemps. Leader Parrott went to the inside for the two-by-two restart, whilst Tullett and Wilks, who had used the first restart to move into the top eight, got through the carnage to choose the next two places in the line. A heavyweight outside line contained Jackson, World Champion Jason Secker and Mitchell Souter at the head of the queue. ‘Boxer Jack’ tried to use the outside line to remove Parrott from the lead but Tullett took advantage to put the Polo second as the Peugeot got crossed up. Secker pounced to also pass Jackson in his newly-reshelled Peugeot and was up to second as halfway passed. The all-gold machine reeled in Parrott but the World Champion couldn’t unseat Parrott’s similar 106, who held on for a hard earned win. ‘Boxer Jack’ got back up to third in the closing stages, whilst former incumbent Tullett tangled with Dean O’Dell’s Saxo at the pit bend soon after. That left Phillip Potter, Jack Bradburn and first heat winner Duane Peacock to take fourth, fifth and sixth. Souter and Wilks both retired with front end damage to their Peugeots after tangling at the restart, with the latter smacking one of the marker tyres.
Final: The ambient temperature was dropping by the time the field lined up for the 25-lap John Butler Trophy final, from which the reigning World Champion Jason Secker would be absent after the Scot’s smartly turned out Peugeot suffered clutch master cylinder failure. Paul Francis led the opening laps from the white grade before Lee Munday fought to the front at the pit bend for the seventh time but the pair of them had been caught by a rapid Duane Peacock by then. Richard Norman had led the yellows away before Peacock forced his way past at the Aldershot bend for the third time, with Scott Morgan and Graeme Parrott following him past. White-graded Nicholas Wright began to slip back as Peacock, Morgan and Parrott went by, joined by top blues Phillip Potter and Jack Bradburn. Fourth-placed Morgan got very sideways at the pit bend starting lap eight and Parrott didn’t need a second invitation to take the place, with Peacock taking second from Francis just ahead of them. Parrott dived ahead of Francis at the Aldershot bend a few laps later and brought the leading blues with him. Despite applying plenty of pressure, Peacock couldn’t shift Munday’s wide DS3 from the lead before the chasing pack caught up. Parrott got ahead of Peacock just after half-distance, with Munday, Parrott and Peacock going into the pit bend abreast as the second heat winner went through. After making an attempt on the previous lap, Parrott used the outside line to great effect to steal the lead from Munday at the Aldershot bend on lap fifteen. Parrott ran away as the others fought for second, with Potter and Bradburn both demoting Peacock in the wake of the lead changing hands before that pair swapped places themselves on lap sixteen. The two leading blue runners were split by ‘Boxer Jack’ a lap later, with Jordan Morgan also making short work of Potter’s Corsa soon after as Mitchell Souter latched onto the Vauxhall. Bradburn grabbed second from Munday with seven to go and ate into the gap to Parrott a little but the leading 106 was never under any real threat so ran out the winner by ten car lengths, having done brilliantly from starting at the back of the yellows. Last year’s John Butler Trophy winner Munday fought off allcomers to complete the podium. The 2024 John Butler Trophy holder Jordan Morgan took fourth from ‘Boxer Jack’ late on to knock the 2025 Hoosier Tire Series winner back to fifth on his return to the formula. The Corsa of Potter had taken advantage of Morgan moving ahead to also demote Jackson but the Vauxhall spun out at the Aldershot bend within a lap, leaving 'Boxer Jack' to hold off Souter over the line. A glut of black cross penalties saw Jackson, Souter and seventh-on the-road Pat Kiely drop places, with Nathan Houghton classified fifth ahead of Peacock, Scott Morgan, Dean O’Dell, Jackson and Kiely as Souter fell out of the top ten.
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Superstox
The popular Superstox formula drew a large entry of 34 cars, with the 2/3rds format to be used across three qualifying heats before the final. Martyn Coles emulated Nick Roots’ National Hot Rod heroics with victory in his two heats and the final. Callum Kelman won the remaining heat after making the long journey down from Scotland overnight, having raced at Lochgelly the previous evening along with David Lumsden. 1400cc Stock Car superstar and avid YouTuber Curtis ‘Tebbz’ Tebbenham, who will soon be jetting off to New Zealand to race a V6 Stock Car, was also booked in and was drawn in the second and third heats. ‘Tebbz’ was contesting his third event with the George Cuzen-owned single seater and had rolled it last time out in a chain reaction incident during the ‘Best in Britain’ final at Hednesford late last year so would be looking for a less damaging day. The heats brought top ten finishes of tenth and ninth respectively, with ‘Tebbz’ fortunate to avoid an airborne Ollie Jones in the third heat after Jones clouted one of the marker tyres at the pit bend and bounced out just in front of Tebbenham. The 20-lap final was a frantic affair and Tebbenham survived a big push into the pit bend on the opening lap to run in an early ninth but was passed by Martyn Coles just as the yellows were about to come out for the stranded Jake McCarthy from lap one. There was a melee at the restart as Ty Stansfield was spun by Colin ‘Chopper’ Aylward and was collected by Eric Walker, which brought out the yellow flags again but the two cars involved were able to rejoin. ‘Tebbz’ took the restart in sixth but got pushed wide when Ian Beaumont got into the back of Jayden Brooker and shoved him into Tebbenham. Another yellow followed five laps later for David Beldom's machine stuck at the Aldershot bend and 'Tebbz' was sixth in line again for the twelfth lap restart but the yellows were waved once more after just two further laps were completed. Tebbenham lost out to the recovering Walker on the restart lap before a couple of heavy impacts at the pit bend saw the yellows unfurled one last time, with seven laps to go from the restart. Whilst Coles ran away out front to the victory from Beaumont and Callum Kelman in third, 'Tebbz' was passed again by Brooker before encountering a spun Gary Chisholm at the last bend. Tebbenham ran three-wide to the finish line with ‘Chopper’ Aylward and the recovering Chisholm to be classified eighth.
The popular Superstox formula drew a large entry of 34 cars, with the 2/3rds format to be used across three qualifying heats before the final. Martyn Coles emulated Nick Roots’ National Hot Rod heroics with victory in his two heats and the final. Callum Kelman won the remaining heat after making the long journey down from Scotland overnight, having raced at Lochgelly the previous evening along with David Lumsden. 1400cc Stock Car superstar and avid YouTuber Curtis ‘Tebbz’ Tebbenham, who will soon be jetting off to New Zealand to race a V6 Stock Car, was also booked in and was drawn in the second and third heats. ‘Tebbz’ was contesting his third event with the George Cuzen-owned single seater and had rolled it last time out in a chain reaction incident during the ‘Best in Britain’ final at Hednesford late last year so would be looking for a less damaging day. The heats brought top ten finishes of tenth and ninth respectively, with ‘Tebbz’ fortunate to avoid an airborne Ollie Jones in the third heat after Jones clouted one of the marker tyres at the pit bend and bounced out just in front of Tebbenham. The 20-lap final was a frantic affair and Tebbenham survived a big push into the pit bend on the opening lap to run in an early ninth but was passed by Martyn Coles just as the yellows were about to come out for the stranded Jake McCarthy from lap one. There was a melee at the restart as Ty Stansfield was spun by Colin ‘Chopper’ Aylward and was collected by Eric Walker, which brought out the yellow flags again but the two cars involved were able to rejoin. ‘Tebbz’ took the restart in sixth but got pushed wide when Ian Beaumont got into the back of Jayden Brooker and shoved him into Tebbenham. Another yellow followed five laps later for David Beldom's machine stuck at the Aldershot bend and 'Tebbz' was sixth in line again for the twelfth lap restart but the yellows were waved once more after just two further laps were completed. Tebbenham lost out to the recovering Walker on the restart lap before a couple of heavy impacts at the pit bend saw the yellows unfurled one last time, with seven laps to go from the restart. Whilst Coles ran away out front to the victory from Beaumont and Callum Kelman in third, 'Tebbz' was passed again by Brooker before encountering a spun Gary Chisholm at the last bend. Tebbenham ran three-wide to the finish line with ‘Chopper’ Aylward and the recovering Chisholm to be classified eighth.
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The National Hot Rods head off on their annual trip to ‘Skeg Vegas’ next, with Round 9 of the world qualifiers taking place at Skegness Raceway in just under four weeks from the Aldershot meeting on Good Friday. The 2.0 Hot Rods are in Hoosier Tire Series action next at Ipswich on the 28th of March and the Superstox journey to Eastbourne on Easter Monday for their next combat, also chasing Hoosier Tire Series points.