2000

The meeting at Swaffham Raceway on Sunday proved to be one of the liveliest yet and included 1980s star Basil Craske driving Stuart Haynes' car.

Sayell comfortably won the first heat, whilst a battle over second place saw Gordon Pooley finish just centimetres ahead of Collins. Heat Two saw Hodges win from Collins and Pooley after an 11-lap battle, Craske fending off the attentions of Sayell for 4th place.

The Graham Hill Memorial final saw Pooley take the lead from newcomer Joe Bourn on lap 6 whilst again fending off the attentions of Hodges and Collins. Lap 8 saw Craske ride up the back of 4th placed Sayell on turn 4 the latter retiring half a lap later. The race was stopped on lap 12 when Craske rode up Collins' wheel, the car flipping to land upside down on the fence. Craske was unhurt and the remaining 8 laps saw fantastic wheel to wheel action as Pooley, Hodges and Collins fought over first place. Hodges moved ahead for his second win on lap 19 Collins following through for second but on the final lap Pooley locked wheels with Collins through the pit corner turning up the inside to retake second.

Heat One:, 10 Rob Sayell, 33 Gordon Pooley , 2 Andy Collins, 212 Basil Craske, 48 Tony Brewer, 16 Andrew Bilby, 67 Allen Herbert, 9 Joe Bourn, 12 Chris Phillips,

Heat Two:, 5 Mark Hodges, 2 Andy Collins, 33 Gordon Pooley , 212 Basil Craske , 10 Rob Sayell, 16 Andrew Bilby, 67 Allen Herbert, 48 Tony Brewer, 12 Chris Phillips,

Final:, 5 Mark Hodges, 33 Gordon Pooley, 2 Andy Collins, 16 Andrew Bilby, 9 Joe Bourn, 67 Allen Herbert

MIDGET NEWS:

Former Midget champion Basil Craske is talking of a come back next year with plans to do occasional local meetings in the Haynes car. Stuart Haynes confirmed that the car is still up for sale and that he has no plans to return to the formula... Steve Piggins, Gary Jones and Neil Clarke were all sidelined from the Graham Hill meeting following damage picked up in 3 separate incidents at Buxton on Aug 20th. Clarke picked up substantial damage for the second time this year, which finished any chance of beating Hodges in the championship. Jones' chassis was written off after the throttle jammed causing him to hit the race wall. Jones is trying to buy another car in order to save his championship place... The Fiero Factory plan to launch their GP Midget at the NEC in January's Autosport Show on the Midget section of the Image Wheels stand in the main hall. The GP Midgets have booked a demonstration meeting with Spedeworth at Bovingdon Raceway on October 29th with a view to meetings there next season.

Update:

Gary Jones has been in touch and tells us:

"I think the throttle stuck wide open, in fact I am certain & this is why the car kept going on top of the fence until I managed to switch it of. It appears easy from outside but I think I was probably a bit slow in switching off.

I think we will be very lucky to be out again this year as apart from the chassis damage both the engine & gearbox are damaged, the engine has moved & broken the gearbox casing. In fact the chassis is so badly bent I will have to cut it away to get the engine out.

Really, I would think it would be easier starting with a new chassis. We will also have to investigate the throttle sticking, as it appears to be ok now before we race again"