Wayne Broadhurst started his 2025 Formula Grasstrack Championship campaign in style, taking the chequered flag in all six qualifying heats, and again in the Senior A final, to make it a clean sweep at Sparrington Farm for round one.
Race Report and Images by Andy Falconer
At the interval, Broadhurst was tied with Adam Hawker and Den Edwards, who had all recorded three straight wins. However, Bayston Hillman was the only Senior to convert all qualifying heats into wins.
The FGA series saw the return of Kevin Gwillam, who grabbed two out of three heat wins in the first half of the meeting, to put himself in a commanding fourth going into the break.
Minsterley’s Colin How, along with Steve Brook and Elwyn Beedles, rounded off the top six at the halfway point, with the latter unfortunate to miss out on a heat win in race 17, which was re-run following an awkward-looking tumble for Nicholas Rowson.
Broadhurst continued his sparkling form after the break, being the only rider to make it six from six to ensure prime gate pick for the Senior A final.
Gwillam took a further two heat wins in the latter stages of the meeting, and a great start from the gate in the Senior A solidified his second place overall. Third in the Senior A was Pontesbury’s Andrew Rowson, who, despite a frustrating last place in Race 20, had a stellar second half of qualifying heats. Rowson made a good gate in the A final but was beaten to bend one by the rapid Broadhurst and Gwillam.
Adam Hawker took fourth spot in the A final, followed by Elwyn Beedles, Den Edwards, Colin How and Marcus Crutchington.
The B final was won by Anthony Rowson after a good run of form of four second places in the qualifying heats. Rowson took the honours ahead of Kieran Swindells and Steve Brook.
Round one’s C final saw Nathan Alder take the win, ahead of Theo Copestake and Paul Farley, with the D final being taken by Nigel Bowkett.
2024 Cubs Champion, Archie Whitelam, was unbeatable following his step up into the Juniors, with a clean sweep of heat wins, along with bagging top spot in the Junior final. The Sheffield Tigers mascot looked comfortable all day, with Dudley racer Roman Ratcliffe playing second fiddle to Whitelam, and returnee John Cox in third, despite a lengthy break from racing. Cox managed a second in his fourth heat, after an unfortunate fall for Ratcliffe.
The Cubs class saw some excellent battles throughout the day, with mini-moto racer Caelan Ratcliffe leading the pack at the interval, with two wins out of three. Last year’s Cadet Champion, Charlie Dowd, had a mixed start to the meeting, with a win in his opening round followed by a last place and a second. This left Dowd tied on points at the break with Bewdley’s Kaylem Bourne. The second half saw Charlie Dowd take three straight wins ahead of Ratcliffe and Bourne.
Debutant Ratcliffe took the spoils in the Cubs final, with Kaylem Bourne getting the better of Dowd to finish second. Lucas Astley and AJ Bence battled for fourth, with the former taking the position.
In the Cadet class, Albie South and Dakota Wright went toe to toe all day, and in spite of South feeling unwell ahead of the meeting, he achieved three straight wins to start the day. Wright repaid the favour in heats 31, 39, and 47. In the final, it was Wright who took the top spot, with an impressive second overall in the Auto/Cadet final.
This year’s Autos saw three riders promoted from the E-Bike class, including multiple E-bike champion Lilly Bence. Unfortunately, due to engine issues with her new machine, Bence was unable to start the meeting.
Levi Collins fired his way to achieve all six wins in the heats, followed by Dalton Wright and Kobi Gutteridge. Gutteridge had a late scare during practice, with his bike refusing to fire up, ahead of the second session. Noah Bakewell put in a solid performance throughout the day, in his first outing in the Autos class.
Collins came out on top in the final, with the story of the heats reflected in the closing standings.
Finally, the E-Bike class saw Reggie Goodwin make his racing debut, in his first ever competitive outing. Goodwin got the better of returning rider, JJ Falconer, achieving race wins in all heats. Falconer put the rookie under pressure, with the two touching handlebars on bend two, in the latter stages of the fifth heat, and almost clinching the heat win, on the line, in the sixth heat.
The E-Bike final saw Goodwin make a lightning start, but it was Falconer who was able to hit the front, to take his maiden victory, along with his first ever race win.
Round two sees the series head to Alveley, in five weeks’ time (17th May), where the racing is assured to be as exciting as the opening round!
Results
E-Bikes – 1st JJ Falconer (42), 2nd R. Goodwin (48)
Autos – 1st L. Collins (48), 2nd Dalton Wright (42), 3rd K. Gutteridge (36), 4th N. Bakewell (30)
Cadets – 1st Dakota Wright (45), 2nd A. South (45)
Cubs – 1st C. Ratcliffe (44), 2nd K. Bourne (31), 3rd C. Dowd (43), 4th L. Astley (32), 5th AJ Bence (26)
Juniors – 1st A. Whitelam (48), 2nd R. Ratcliffe (35), 3rd J. Cox (37)
Seniors (Top 10) – 1st W. Broadhurst (48), 2nd K. Gwillam (39), 3rd Andrew Rowson (39), 4th A. Hawker (46), 5th E. Beedles (40), 6th D. Edwards (43), 7th C. How (45), 8th M. Crutchington (40), 9th Anthony Rowson (34), 10th K Swindells (36).
