The smaller BriSCA F2 stock cars joined the programme alongside their V8-powered cousins, with local man Reece Cox taking the top honours.
BriSCA F1
Among the terrific entry of Shootout drivers were a number of Tarmac specialists, including #408 Ant Whorton-Eales who debuted a new Harrison-built shale car for the occasion.
Racing began with a non-points encounter for White & Yellow-graded drivers. Amid plenty of spinners on a fairly heavy track, #82 Karl Mosley quickly hit the front and went on to a dominant victory ahead of #372 Colin Goodswen and #338 Chris Brocksopp. Behind #289 Jake Walker, #269 Thomas Rogers recovered to fifth after spinning from second.
Heat 1 proper produced wall-to-wall action including a dramatic finish as long-time leader Mosley was denied by mechanical failure on the final lap. Goodswen and #346 Ashley England swept past on the back straight, and England then dived in with a last-bend lunge but Goodswen shrugged it off to take the win. Mosley had moved ahead as leader #545 Will Adams was delayed when #212 Danny Wainman and #120 Casey Englestone rejoined in front of him after tangling. Also out of luck was defending Shootout champion #1 Tom Harris who was closing up to the leading group when a lunge on the lap-down Wainman went wrong and left him hooked up. He eventually finished down in 11th as #446 Joe Booth finished best of the ‘Shooters’ in third, ahead of #138 Dave Polley and #16 Mat Newson.
Heat 2 lasted little time before #352 Bradley Blyth rolled on the back straight. But leading Shootout runner Polley had already scythed through to fifth. When racing resumed, he followed #349 Michael Allard past early leader #567 Craig Banwell. Polley then nudged Allard wide to take the lead before half-distance en route to a commanding victory. #515 Frankie Wainman Jr managed to get inside Allard for second with five laps to go, but the Yarmouth racer held on to third ahead of fellow Norfolk man Newson, with Booth also going well again in fifth.
Harris bounced back from his earlier disappointment to win Heat 3. The world champion initially chased Danny Wainman through the field before taking over as the leading Shootout contender and then picking off England and Allard, who was forced out with a rear puncture. Harris then chased down long-time leader Banwell and hit the front with two-and-a-half laps remaining. Further back, a tangle between Rogers and #463 James Morris tipped the former over and set up a two-lap dash to the flag. Harris had little trouble reeling them off as FWJ got inside Banwell for second, with #166 Bobby Griffin, England and #418 Niels Tesselaar following through.
The all-in Final was another masterclass by Harris although Booth made him work hard for it in a hugely entertaining contest. Griffin, making the most of his red-grade start, ahead of all 15 Shooters, was also flying and overhauled leader #404 Danny Mitchell within a few laps. But Booth and Harris soon followed past, with Harris then nerfing Booth wide for second before yellow flags when Mitchell slowed to retire on the home straight. Griffin held off Harris’s initial challenges after the restart before Booth got terrific drive off the second bend and drove past both for the lead. Harris was quickly back into second and the front two then spent the next few laps trading blows and the lead before a caution was called when Polley was flicked hard across the bows of Griffin into the wall. With six laps remaining, Booth continued to challenge before Harris pulled away for his second consecutive final win at the track. FWJ nudged Booth wide for second on the last lap, having climbed all the way through from the back of the Shootout grade, but Booth held third. Tesselaar edged Englestone for fourth, with #151 Joelan Maynard sixth.
Only 19 cars returned for the Grand National which was a relatively quiet race. Running flag to flag without a stoppage, an absolutely delighted #545 Will Adams led from start to finish to be a popular white-top winner, ahead of Griffin and #67 Henry Robson. Harris managed sixth from the lap handicap, almost pipping Wainman on the line.
BriSCA F2
The 48-car F2 turnout contested a full-format meeting with two heats. The first was led until half-distance by local man #541 Harry Skoyles, chased by #885 Jake Hall and #597 Barry Clow. But star men #226 Billy Webster, #9 Harley Thakcra and #183 Charlie Guinchard were on the charge, flying through the pack. Webster cannoned Clow into Hall, shifting both in one move to take second, before simply driving past Skoyles on the back straight. Thackra and Guinchard remained on Webster’s tail but were unable to challenge, even with the assistance of a yellow flag after #715 Scott Aldridge had bundled Clow into the fence, leaving his car stranded on track.
After getting the better of #13 Sonny Wright early on, #158 Will Clement dominated Heat 2 until a caution with three laps to go brought under-graded yellow top #149 Reece Cox onto his tail, with #47 Greg McKenzie third. Clement continued to hold them off for almost two laps until McKenzie punted Cox into Clement. The hit fired Clement into the wall and out of the race, with another caution required as a result. A perfect restart on the remaining one-lap dash sealed victory for Mackenzie, despite suffering from heavy steering. Second was #213 Tom Bennett, ahead of #69 Ben Chalkley who withstood a big hit from #926 Josh Wilson.
The 22-car consolation featured rolls for both #118 Danny Wragg and #117 Ryan Leeks. In between times, Jake Hall led from #885 Alfie Tomlinson as #637 Clayton Mallett spun himself out of third. Meantime, long-distance traveller #24 Jon Palmer had been picking his way forward and reached third before the second stoppage. The pace of Hall and Tomlinson might have kept the Plymouth man at bay only for Tomlinson to climb up and over Hall’s car as his challenge for the lead went wrong. Palmer swept past into the lead and recorded his second win on shale in this country, with Tomlinson managing to hold onto second. #335 Jake Woodhull entertained as he spun out both #233 Rob Aldridge and #931 Rebecca Smith en route to second.
Thirty-one of the 32 qualifiers returned for the Final which was a terrific race that ran flag to flag without a stoppage. #86 Jessica Ward initially got a break before being chased down by yellow grade trio Scott Aldridge, Cox and #77 Tom Earl. Ward was shoved wide and then half-spun when she tried to retaliate as Cox emerged in front from Earl and Aldridge. Both Earl and Aldridge were then caught out in a Turn 2 pile-up, leaving Cox with a huge lead out front. There were plenty of scraps going on in the midfield, with Guinchard emerging ahead, chased by Webster and Bennett. They couldn’t catch the leader though, as Cox earned his first King’s Lynn final win and, with it, a swift return to the blue grade. Bennett’s last-bend hit on Webster failed to dislodge the Sheffield man who held on to third. Ninth-placed Ward (White) and Scotsman #195 Mike Philp in 12th (Yellow) also picked up awards for being best in grade.
The 35-car Grand National was won by Chalkley with a last-lap hit on Earl who had been dealing well with some tricky traffic but just couldn’t quite keep the blue-top at bay. Guinchard was third, while Cox could only manage 15th from the lap handicap.