Three-time King’s Lynn track champion Ryan Santry claimed the biggest prize in Saloon Stock Car racing when he won the World Championship in an action-packed meeting. Saloon Stock Cars A fantastic entry of 78 Saloons were in action on World Final night, including 11 visitors from mainland Europe as well as three Northern Irishmen. Before the racing kicked off, the ever-popular World Finalists autograph session was held. There was also some on-track action with high-speed demos performed by stars of the past, including local heroes John Halifax and Conrad Self, in a quartet of restored/replica cars. With the majority of drivers who hadn’t already secured a place on the World Final grid eligible for a last-chance qualifying race, two LCQs were run to begin the racing action. Having only just missed out on automatic qualification, local youngster #329 Kegan Sampson made sure of his place on the grid by winning the first, with #156 Darren Goudy and 2023 world champion #730 Deane Mayes also making the cut. The second was won by #525 Wes Starmer from #370 Rowan Venni and #641 Willie Skoyles Jr, ensuring that all six last-chance qualifiers were East Anglian. As the track was prepared for the main event, build up to the big race featured the introduction of all 38 World Finalists to a bumper crowd, with the top four qualifiers each taking a solo lap to receive the crowd’s cheers accompanied by their own theme music. When the action for real got under way, polesitter #720 Archie Brown took an immediate lead, with #389 Ryan Santry slotting into second from row two. #902 Brad Compton-Sage initially jumped into third ahead of #618 Stuart Shevill Jr but the pair tangled on the back straight, letting Ulsterman #747 Matthew Stirling into third position. On such a packed track, Brown found himself in backmarking traffic almost immediately, but it hardly seemed to trouble the reigning champion. In fact, local star Santry fared worse, getting delayed by a spinning #661 Graeme Shevill, which handed Brown a big lead. With action all around, a stoppage was eventually required when #131 Timmy Barnes’s spun car suffered a carburettor fire. It was just what Santry needed to bring himself back onto Brown’s tail. Stirling was still third, while H321 Hein-Durk Vellema and Starmer had made terrific progress from near the back of the grid to run fourth and fifth, ahead of #760 Joey Reynolds, H868 Bart Wouters and #577 Harry Darby. Santry attacked as the green flag flew, but Brown rebuffed his initial challenge. By the end of the lap, however, Santry was in front before another caution was called. Local rivals Sampson and #151 Levi List had an altercation which ended with List’s car taking a heavy hit on the infield. After some brief treatment, he emerged unscathed while Sampson was loaded up for the weekend. When racing resumed, Santry used his vast experience of the loose surface’s evolution to pull away from the pack. Vellema and Stirling briefly got ahead of Brown before the young gun hit back as the track began to dry, retaking second when Vellema was delayed in traffic. Mr Starter’s lap boards did not come out until there were only two left to complete and, by that time, Santry pretty much had it in the bag. He reeled them off without trouble to seal his first world crown, and only his second major title. It was clearly a popular win as the crowd erupted when the Cambridgeshire-born, Norfolk-based local parked up on Turn 2 before climbing onto the roof of his car and being congratulated by father-in-law Diggy Smith. “It’s a dream come true,” gushed the new world champion. “I’ve spent so many years racing Saloons and being a yellow-top. It’s just the last four or five years it’s come together.” He added: “To be fair, I needed the stoppage. Archie was gone.” Brown had indeed belied his lack of shale experience to drive a fine race as he finished second. Stirling completed the podium places after getting the better of Vellema (whose radiator had been leaking since the first stoppage) at the death. Starmer was fifth ahead of Scotsman #600 Barry Russell. Next came Reynolds and Skoyles, while H400 Mikey van Rosmalen and Bart Wouters made it thee Dutchmen in the top 10. Two rather uneven consolation races were won by Timmy Barnes and Darren Goudy. The 32-car meeting final proved to be typically lively, with Barnes’s wall-of-death routine and a big pile-up that formed an auto-sculpture under the scoreboard among the highlights. Starmer took the win from #120 Luke Dorking and Stirling. The action was rounded off with a win for veteran Smith in the allcomers race, from Barnes and #622 Gary Paterson. 1300cc Stock Cars Not to be outdone, the smaller stock cars also arrived in big numbers. There were 65 cars in action, each programmed in three of five qualifying heats for the following day’s European Championship. The first three heats, full of action, brought wins for #682 Korben Quinn, #712 Alex Hatcliffe and #673 John Moat. #409 Joe Giles scored a maiden win on the loose in Heat 4, before #165 Justin Wade rounded out the night’s action with his first win of the season. It all meant that Giles, whose terrific night had also included two third-place finishes, would start Sunday’s big race from pole position, with fellow Spedeworth man #514 Olly Matsell alongside. Home drivers Wade and #22 Thomas Allsopp would fill the second row, with defending champion #167 Jimmy Morris and Spedeworth superstar #137 Curtis Tebbenham completing the top six on the grid.
This meeting is on MyLaps