Wayne Broadhurst was in scintillating form to take maximum points and regain his Formula Grasstrack Senior title on Saturday.
Race Report by Ross Wharton – Images courtesy of Tony Serzin
The former speedway rider was unstoppable at the Shawbury track just north of Shrewsbury in the glorious autumn sunshine, and he would go on to win the championship by 6 points from Kevin Gwillam who pushed Broadhurst hard all season. Gwillam was consistent throughout the afternoon, only beaten by Broadhurst and Graham Thomas in separate heats. Thomas would have to work hard to pass Gwillam in the 5th leg, diving inside on the last corner to steal the win. Thomas would drop one point to champion Broadhurst in his last heat of the afternoon and would take 2nd overall.
Brierley Hill’s Tom Crewe would take 4th overall after showing why he’s a former champion. Crewe would take 3 wins during the heats to accompany a 2nd and two 3rds after some close battles with John Cox and Max Broadhurst. Former Junior champion Sam Hall would bring his A game to Shawbury, taking four wins and looking like a threat to the podium men. Hall would tie on points with Runcorn’s John Cox, but with Cox a Nonstarter in the final, this would give Hall 5th overall and make the hours in the workshop worth it. 2021 Junior champion Gino Casale was another rider to watch. The teenager from Slough also won 3 races on his way to 7th overall. 5 points separate the top 7 riders on the day, proving why the FGA is as close as it gets!
Max Broadhurst had some epic battles throughout the heats, gating fast, and often leading the pack exiting turn 2, the youngster from Shrewsbury would finally take a much-deserved heat win in leg 6, beating Crewe and Hall to seal an A final spot.
250cc specialists Colin How and Adam Hawker would just miss out on the A final. Both tied on 38 points and would do battle in the B final to see who would take 9th. How would come out on top.
Andrew Rowson and Steve Mace’s dreams of a bronze championship medal came to an end. Rowson would have a mechanical gremlin in leg 1 and would only score 2 points. He was able to re-group and take 3 2nds and 2 3rds to take 13th overall after tying with Chris Timms and Marcus Crutchington. Mace would have a disastrous day on home soil. The Formula Grasstrack stalwart had spent a lot of time and effort preparing the Shawbury track in the week leading up to the meeting, but after 3rd in his opening ride, he would have a mechanical failure in his 2nd ride, his own machine had expired terminally and would be lent machines for his final 4 rides, battling hard to 20th position overall. Rowson would miss out on 3rd by 1 point to the absent David Binns, and Mace would finish 5th, 13 points behind.
Toby Cossar would only drop one point in the opening Ebike ride to take victory in the class, the youngster from Rugby has shown a lot of talent and promise during his five meetings in 2022. Lilly Bence would settle for 2nd place but would take the Inaugural EBike FGA championship and go down in the history books. Toby’s younger brother Albie made his debut in the class, riding extremely well in his 1st meeting to take 3rd spot.
The Auto/Cadet class produced plenty of thrills and spills during the afternoon. Dakota Wright and Charlie Dowd gave the bigger-than-usual crowd something to cheer about as the two youths raced side by side in every heat, if it was a pairs meeting, these two would win! Wright would take 1st place ahead of Dowd, who clinched the FGA championship. These two will be ones to watch in 2023. AJ Bence would take 3rd place. His last meeting before moving onto his Grasstrack cadet bike in 2023. Jess cox was the sole Cadet rider and would take the Cadet title too. Cox has improved immensely this season, moving from her Ebike to a Cadet machine with clutch, she will be one to look out for in 2023 too. Lucas Astley made his Grasstrack debut on his auto-machine, taking 4th overall.
Logan Price and Archie Whitelam would be the two Cub rider’s in with the older Juniors. Whitelam would ride to a maximum, with Price settling for 2nd on his way to winning the Cub title in his 1st full season of Grasstrack. Naythan Kukla would take 3rd in the championship despite being absent for the last three rounds.
Joe Crewe would take maximum points and a final win to finish his Championship win on a high. Crewe has been in superb form all year and a deserved Winner. Jack Baker was in fine form to take 2nd place despite a fall on the last corner in the final. The somerset youngster has improved greatly in his 1st year of formula Grasstrack and would take 3rd overall. Jack Crewe would have to settle for 2nd best behind brother, Joe in the championship and 3rd place on the day after suffering with gearbox issues during the afternoon. Isaac Collins-Bullock showed more improvement to take 4th place despite a couple of awkward falls at the startline.
To finish off the year, The Seniors would have the opportunity to race in a 6-lap Handicap final. Qualification was decided by the top 4 from the A final, top 3 from the B, top 2 from the C and the winner of the D final. Jake Breeze was able to finish his terrible day on a high, winning the D final and Qualifying for the Handicap, having a Straight head start on the A final top 4 of Broadhurst, Thomas, Gwillam and Hall. Breeze would hold off the rest of the pack and the hard-charging Broadhurst to take victory.
It’s been an incredible season for the Formula Grasstrack riders and members. A total of 71 competitors across six classes. 10 Rounds completed at five different tracks. 2023 will be 50 years since the Bantam Grasstrack racing began, evolving into the Formula Grasstrack that happens today.
If you are interested in joining the FGA, find us at www.formulagrasstrack.com or search ‘Formula Grasstrack’ on Facebook.
Results – Round 10
Ebike – 1st T. Cossar 47, 2nd L. Bence 43, 3rd A. Cossar 36
Autos – 1st D. Wright 46, 2nd C. Dowd 44, 3rd AJ Bence 36, 4th L. Astley 30
Cadets – 1st J. Cox 40
Cubs – 1st A. Whitelam 48, 2nd L. Price 42
Juniors – 1st Joe Crewe 48, 2nd J. Baker 42, 3rd Jack Crewe 36, 4th I. Collins-Bullock 25
Seniors (Top 10)
1st W. Broadhurst 48, 2nd G. Thomas 47, 3rd K. Gwillam 46, 4th T. Crewe 45, 5th S. Hall 44, 6th J. Cox 44, 7th G. Casale 43, 8th M. Broadhurst 39, 9th C. How 38, 10th A. Hawker 38
Results – Championship
Ebike 1st L. Bence 193, 2nd T. Cossar 123, 3rd E. Derrick 72
Auto 1st C. Dowd 199, 2nd AJ Bence 190, 3rd D. Wright 49
Cadet 1st J. Cox 149, 2nd E. Theobald 25
Cub 1st L. Price 221, 2nd A. Whitelam 162, N. Kukla 141
Junior 1st Joe Crewe 245, 2nd Jack Crewe 229, 3rd J. Baker 207
Senior 1st W. Broadhurst 239, 2nd K. Gwillam 233, 3rd D. Binns 184, 4th Andrew Rowson 183, 5th S. Mace 170, 6th M. Broadhurst 149, 7th S. Hall 148, 8th N. Bull 136, 9th G. Casale 135, 10th J. Breeze 125
