Salopian Wayne Broadhurst edged one step closer to retaining the Formula Grasstrack Senior title on Saturday. The former Telford Ice speedway champion stormed to a 6-ride maximum and a tapes to flag victory in the 6 lap Martin Parry Memorial Rosebowl final. He now has a 4 point lead in the H & N Supplies Ltd. FGA championship over rival Kevin Gwillam.
Race Report and Winners Image by Ross Wharton – Action Images courtesy of Mark Beckett
Gwillam, who has just celebrated his 60th birthday, won his first race but was left rueing a second ride fall whilst battling with Phil Ashcroft for the race win. Gwillam remounted for 2 points but despite adding 3 more wins and a 2nd place to his tally could only finish 6th on the day.
250cc legend Graham Thomas would have to settle for second best. Dropping 1 point to Broadhurst in his opening ride. Top performer on the day was Gino Casale. The 2021 Junior Champion took 2 race wins and 3 seconds to tie on points with David Binns and Phil Ashcroft. Casale managed to hold onto 3rd place by finishing 4th in the final beating Binns. Phil Ashcroft would finish 5th but opted to not score championship points in a one off meeting for him. This would promote Gwillam to 5th overall.
Andrew Rowson was once again in the mix throughout the afternoon. A Race win in his 4th ride and a couple of 2nd places was enough to give him 7th (6th in championship points). John Cox would fill the 8th spot in the final. The Runcorn 350cc ace was struggling to get off the start on his borrowed machine and had to get his results the hard way, coming through the pack in most races to take a series of 2nds and 3rds.
Max Broadhurst had his best meeting since round 1 with a B final victory whilst taking 8th place in championship points whilst Tom Crewe took 9th and Nick Bull came home in 10th.
Another hard luck story for Sam Hall. The former FGA youth champion started his day off in great form with a 2nd, win and 3rd but disaster would strike on the opening lap of his 4th outing when his machine expired on lap one finishing his day in south Shropshire.
The E Bike category saw only 2 riders compete after Toby Cossar was a nonstarter due to a puncture on his van. This left championship leader Lilly Bence to do battle with Bristol’s Eric Derrick. Both would take 3 race wins each leaving the final to decide the overall winner. Derrick edged a head off the line and would take a comfortable victory.
Charlie Dowd dominated the mixed Auto and Cadet class. The youngster from Eccles took 7 wins whilst FGA newbie Dakota Wright took 2nd in the autos with AJ Bence third. Esme Theobald made her FGA debut in the Cadets, often seen at the front and would take victory in the Cadets ahead of Jessica Cox who is improving with every meeting.
Finley Theobald was victor in the cub category. Making his FGA debut, the youth star from Diss was a clear winner ahead of Championship leader Logan price who looks likely to take the title this season. Archie Whitelam managed 3rd place despite a day of bike gremlins.
Max Derrick continued his superb form from round 8 with victory in the Juniors. The Bristol racer took 4 race wins before winning the final. Joe Crewe showed no signs of any injuries from round 8 with 2nd overall whilst Ollie Binns made the step up to the Junior Category to take 3rd place. Jack Crewe took 4th and Jack Baker 5th with Isaac Collins Bullock made his 2nd appearance to finish 6th.
The final meeting of the season takes place on 8th October moving back to Shawbury, a venue change to the fixtures. For more information, visit www.formulagrasstrack.com or find us on facebook.
Results
Ebikes 1st E. Derrick 45, 2nd L. Bence 45
Autos 1st C. Dowd, 2nd D. Wright 42, 3rd AJ. Bence 36
Cadets 1st E. Theobald 48, 2nd J. Cox 42
Cubs 1st F. Theobald 48, 2nd L. Price 42
Juniors 1st M. Derrick 44, 2nd Joe Crewe 43, 3rd O. Binns 36, 4th Jack Crewe 29, 5th J. Baker 28, 6th I. Collins- Bullock 12
Seniors (Top 10)
1st W. Broadhurst 48, 2nd G. Thomas 47, 3rd G. Casale 42, 4th D. Binns 42, 5th P. Ashcroft 42, 6th K. Gwillam 41, 7th Andrew Rowson 39, 8th J. Cox 38, 9th M. Broadhurst 37, 10th T. Crewe 36
