MR2
As qualifying was conducted under the Safety Car it meant that the first race saw championship positions produce the grid, which meant Matt Palmer was on pole. However, from the second row of the grid Michael Wells stormed off the grid to take an early race lead only to spin later on in the lap. This allowed Palmer to lead the way from Timothy Heron and Matthew Wallis. The race turned into a thriller, with up to seven cars dicing for the race lead. Ben Rowe, who hadn’t been on the podium since Brands Hatch, worked his way up (one by one) from the back of the battle to finish the race in second position. Rowe did put the pressure on Palmer on the last couple of laps but wasn’t able to find a way past. With Palmer taking the victory he clinched the 2013 title. The pair managed to break away from the pack which saw Heron finish in third place ahead of Wallis, Stuart Nicholls (who won class C), Nigel Ralphson and John Wilson. Wilson was running in fourth place until the final lap when he dropped back.
The second MR2 race was squeezed onto the end of an amended timetable, however the rain returned for their season finale. Rowe took the early lead from champion, Palmer and the pair drove away from the field. Palmer was on the tail of Rowe for the majority of the race but couldn’t find a way past him until the sixth lap. Rowe attempted to chase Palmer but span out and dropped down to sixth position. This allowed Palmer to take a victory of twenty seconds over Wallis and Ralphson who completed the podium. A good drive came from the Wells’, Mike finished fourth (from fourteenth) while Rob finished in fifth (from seventeenth).
Classic Stock Hatch
With torrential rain falling for race one, the returning Andrew Lightstead took an early lead until he had an off at Mansfield. It allowed Andy Philpotts to take an early lead from Lee Scott and Matt Rozier. Rozier fought his way ahead of Scott on the third lap of the race. Philpotts had to drive extremely defensive as Rozier looked for a way into the lead but wasn’t able to do so. Therefore, Philpotts took his first Classic Stock Hatch victory after trying for six years. Champion, Scott held on to third place. Matthew Stubington had one of his best performances to finish in fourth place ahead of Imran Khan who had a couple of offs during the race. Martin Cayzer and Daniel Gibson both had separate incidents on the sixth lap which put them out of the race from a top five position.
Rozier made a strong start with a damp circuit in the second race; he drove away from the chasing pack to claim victory by nine seconds. Stubington took an initial second place to make a Peugeot 205 1-2. However, Lightstead passed him on the third lap. While he chased after Rozier he had an off which dropped him down the field, he recovered to fifth. Scott became the new second place driver and finished in that position. Derek Rozier came home in third after passing Stubington, this meant that three 205’s finished in the top four. After contact on the first lap, Khan and Philpotts finished in sixth and seventh positions respectively. Mervyn Beckett drove an extremely sideways Vauxhall Nova to eighth position and held off Andrew Thorpe.
Compact Cup
With such a large entry at Cadwell Park, the BMW Compact Cup had to use the group system to split the grid which meant that there were three races with each drivers competing in two of the races.
With Steve Roberts not competing in groups B and C, there would be a new winner for the first time since May. Stuart Voyce took the early advantage and wouldn’t lose that lead which meant he took his fourth victory of season following on from two at Brands Hatch and one at Snetterton. Six seconds behind Voyce, Alex Dew held off a charging Neil Roche for second position. Chris Etheridge had his best race to date which saw him finish in fourth place ahead of Paul Hinson who started down in eleventh place. A strong race came from Andy Walters who finished seventh from the back of the grid.
Roberts was back on the circuit for the group A and C encounter and he was straight on the pace and took a seventeen second victory. Dew scored another second position, however it was a much more comfortable finish than in the first race. Colin Bysouth came through a five car battle to finish in third place ahead of Etheridge, Kevin Denwood and Kirby. Simon Roche retired on the third lap. Farard Darver came out best in a battle for seventh position where he beat Ireneusz Zaleski and Phiroze Darver.
In a wet final race of the season Roberts was challenge by Voyce. Even with Voyce within a second of the 2013 champion he wasn’t able to find a way to pass Roberts who clinched his tenth victory on the trot. Neil Roche drove another strong race to finish in third place and only three seconds behind the leaders despite starting in sixth place. Simon Roche finished in fourth just beating Neil Trotter after passing him on the final lap. Scott Carruthers took sixth position in a eight strong car fight.
Stock Hatch
The Stock Hatch Championship lost a race on Saturday due to the wet weather which meant that Sunday’s encounter would be the only of the weekend. Shayne Deegan dominated the race with a lights-to-flags victory which concreted his second place in the championship. The 2013 champion, Tom Bell, finished in second position six seconds behind Deegan. A battle between Lee Deegan and Nathan Saunders emerged just behind Bell. Lee had an off at Charlie’s where he bounced on the grass up the Park Straight which allowed Saunders to take third. Paul Jarvis managed to hold off Patrick Fletcher and Philip Wright for fifth position. Pip Hammond had his best race where he managed to find a way past Andrew Tibbs on the final lap for eighth place.
Martin Ward beat Matt Fincham off the line in the Clio part of the race. Ward never lost that lead and took the victory by five seconds. Ben Seybold managed to hold off Andrew Harding for third place.
Locost
For the fourth time this season, the gigantic Locost entry meant that the grids had to be split into three groups with two of the groups racing at one time.
The first race saw a red flag situation with a couple of incidents around the circuit on the first lap. However, when the race got underway Alastair Garratt led for a brief section of the race before returnee Stuart Sellars took the lead and eventually won the race. Garratt held on to second position which was enough to clinch the 2013 title. Tim Neat held on to third place ahead of Robert Fitter (who had his best race to date) and Richard Bradley.
Race two was held in horribly wet conditions. Lee Bankhurst took the initial advantage and pulled out a gap, however the newly crowned championship, Garratt chased but couldn’t find a way to pass Bankhurst. Therefore, Bankhurst took his sixth victory of the season but his fourth in a row. Bradley came home on the final step of the podium ahead of Steve Kelsey and Richard Jenkins. Jenkins had to fight his way through the back of the pack.
The third race, which should of taken place at the end of Saturday afternoon, had to be cancelled due to the torrential rain which had flooded the Cadwell Park circuit.
RGB
With a large entry for the RGB Championship and a limited one for Bike-Sports the rear engine cars joined Bike-Sports for a longer race. John Cutmore accidentally went away with the Bike-Sports (as the RGB cars had a ten second delay); however he did wait for his fellow competitors which meant he didn’t get a penalty. Champion Matthew Higginson took the race lead and stayed on the same lap as the Bike-Sports cars so completed a further lap than his competitors. Alastair Boulton finished in second place before initially having to hold after Scott Mittell until he dropped back. Cutmore ran in fourth place until smoke emerged from his Spire which put him into retirement. This allowed Danny Keenan to finish in fourth after passing Colin Chapman on the ninth lap.
The front engine cars had their own race and also only had the one race on Sunday to decide the title. Stephen Bell took the early advantage from Colin Spicer, Austen Greenway and Paul Rickers in a four car scrap. Both Greenway and Rickers found their way past Spicer before the end of the third lap. As Rickers challenged Bell, the leader made a mistake and dropped back to third. When the rain started to fall in the closing stages Rickers pulled away and took a six second victory from Bell who got back passed Greenway. Greenway and Rickers ended the championship on 145 points, however on count-back Greenway was crowned the class F champion.
Sports Specials
With Saturday’s race cancelled as Cadwell Park was flooded it meant the championship would be decided in the one race on Sunday. A battle emerged from the beginning of proceedings between Paul Collingwood (Sylva J15), Rob Johnston (Cyana MX500R) and Clive Hudson (Eclipse SM1). The trio scrapped for the victory on a drying circuit; however Johnston’s race ended when his car expired on the fifth lap. Collingwood took a slender victory of 0.8 seconds to Hudson with Collingwood winning class C and Hudson winning class A which allowed him to take the class championship by two points. Patrick Mortell drove an incredible race to score the Rogue Xenon’s best result to finish in third position, just ahead of Wayne Rothwell and Mark Cousins. Colin Benham took the class B victory which gave him the overall title. John Dickson took the overall victory and therefore the SR> win in his RAM Cobra. Cheng Lim finished second in his Lotus Esprit ahead of Ken Culverwell.
750 Formula
In a wet race on Saturday, Billy Albone used the most of his pole position to lead the way from the beginning of the race. Albone would never lose the lead as he drove away from the field and took a victory of over twelve seconds. Even with a misfiring engine Dave Hodkin managed to come home in second place which was enough to clinch the championship. Martin Kemp drove a strong race to finish on the third step on the podium. Huw Davies took the class B victory from Andrew Lake.
The cars were the first to take to a wet circuit on Sunday after torrential rain, however it was Albone who took another lights-to-flag victory. Bill Cowley managed to finish in second after problems on the previous day; he finished seven seconds behind the victor. Dave Robson finished in third; however he was over thirty second behind the leading two youngsters. Mark Glover finished in fourth place which was enough to clinch the class B victory, Lake finished second in class.
Bikesports
Due to the adverse weather conditions over the weekend, the Bikesports Championship was only able to get in the one eighteen minutes plus one lap race. The class C Spire GT3 of Tim Gray dominated the race to take the 2013 Championship. After the race Gray said that was hopeful of having a more powerful Spire next season to move up into class B. James Breakell finished in second place, over twenty seconds behind Gray, in his Radical PR6 to finish in second place and took the win in class B. Mark Boot made a one-off appearance in his PR6 and finished in third.
Allcomers
John Cutmore took a dominative victory, despite a heavy downpour, in his Spire GT3. Former Locost racer Alex Von Ehrheim drove an astonishing race in his Ford Fiesta ST to finish in second place and the class B win, he was fifty-three seconds behind the RGB car. Steve Roberts took his BMW Compact to third position overall ahead of Nick Holden (Ariel Atom) and Paul Jarvis who won class A in his Stock Hatch Citroën Saxo. Matthew Wallis finished in sixth as the best Toyota MR2, Ryan Connolly was the second MR2 in eighth place. Guy Hufford (Mazda MX5) finished between them. Andrew Seaton brought his powerful Mazda RX7 but was only able to manage ninth place in the tricky conditions. Alexander Harris completed the top ten in his Volkswagen Golf Mk2. The race received the chequered flag five minutes early when Duncan Horlor aquaplaned into the barriers.