Review of the season
by Dave Cox from Short Circuit May 1986
Alf Boarer bowed out of Grand Prix Midget racing on a high
note winning his third consecutive National Points Championship
after a season long battle with Basil Craske who although
competed at fewer meetings was only 24 points behind at the
close. The Angel Hotel Championship, Pride of the South and
Westnofa trophies also found their way into Alf's trophy cabinet
before he moved onto the challenge of National Hot Rod Racing.
Craske may have lost out on the points championship but he
certainly made up for it by emerging as the most prolific
winner of major titles, collecting five in total including
the British, East of England and Southern Championships. He
also won the Rod Tanswell Challenge Cup, the Casa Contracts
trophy and finished runner up in the Angel Hotel Championship.
Paul Sinclair made a marked improvement over the season as
his confidence grew and has now matured into a very competitive
driver who's more than willing to race wheel to wheel with
the best of them. 1985 was only his second season of Midget
racing so it was an impressive performance to finish third
in the Championship. He has since purchased Alf Boarer's car
and is definitely tipped as a man to watch in the future.
Paul won the Davro Welding trophy at Peterborough.
The European Championship was the only major title in Midget
racing that had eluded Mick Bonner until 1985 when the veteran
racer led home Boarer at Northampton. He finished fourth in
the points and has been threatening to retire for several
years - claiming he was over the hill. Sadly it looks as though
he really does mean it for his car is up for sale. There are
many Midget supporters who are going to miss the sight of
Mick coming round a corner sideways, foot hard down, with
the offside rear tyre struggling to stay on the wheel as it
transmits the power. Still, we wish him a happy retirement.
Dave Scott is one of those drivers who provides the sport
with its backbone, racing on a tight budget and turning out
regularly with limited success and a lot of perseverance.
Dave was all set to pack it all in at the end of 1984 but
his family sensibly changed his mind, and in turn he had his
best season in Midget racing by taking several impressive
wins. His most memorable must surely be the National Championship
at Wisbech last June when under heavy pressure he held on
for a deserving victory. He also won the Graham Hill Memorial
Trophy and finished 5th in the points and 3rd in the Angel
Hotel Championship.
Completing the top six in the points championship was Brian
Forrest who after many years of driving front engine cars,
has finally made the switch to a rear engine Arrow chassis.
Brian had a nasty accident mid-season at Northampton injuring
a foot, but returned towards the end of the year putting in
some competitive performances.
Other notable performances worthy of mention came from Dave
Wesbroom who won the Derek Kisby Memorial at Swaffham and
then suffered a spate of mechanical problems which curtailed
his season. Nigel Brake collected 'Best Newcomer' award and
also won the Eric Fretten shield at Wimbledon, making the
transition from Superstox to Midget racing with relative ease.
Ex Motorcycle racer Paul Rodgers was awarded the Sportsmanship
Cup and is a driver who improved drastically during the season
to put in some very competitive drives and was the only driver
apart from Boarer to compete at every meeting. Malcolm Goodman
spent most of the year waiting for his new engine and then
proved rather difficult to catch, winning four out of the
last five races including the East Anglian Championship at
Ipswich and the London Championship at Wimbledon. Despite
Goodman's many championship triumphs, the World and European
titles have so far eluded him but with the new found reliability
of his Anderson prepared engine, perhaps 1986 will be his
year. Highest placed front engine car was Dermot McGivern's
in eighth place, and Dermot was the only driver of a front
engine car to win a race in 1985. With only four such cars
in the top 20 is the end nigh for this breed of Midget?
