Tough going for Shoot Out battlers
BRISCA F1: Birmingham and Northampton
By Colin Casserley
Organiser: Speedworth Incarace When: October 27/28 Where: Birmingham Wheels and Northampton International Raceway Starters: 56/37. Birmingham Wheels played host to the last Tarmac round of the National Series Shoot Out on Saturday night and Dan Johnson rounded out his season with a consolation and final double.
That left him thinking what might have been if his shale car had not developed engine problems that prevented him attending the shale rounds of the contest.
On Sunday at Northampton, Will Hunter chalked up a heat and final double. Hunter also missed some rounds of the Shoot Out due to family commitments and, even with the points from Northampton, he is too far behind the series leaders to make an impact.
At Birmingham, George Elwell, the final winner at the previous Tar round at Skegness, grabbed the early lead with Joe Nickolls in a close second place. Further back, Johnson broke free of a fierce battle among the Shoot Out drivers and began to close on the race leader. Elwell suffered a puncture on his outside front tyre just after the halfway point, which allowed Johnson to take control of the race. Nickolls came under pressure for second from Lee Fairhurst in the closing stages but held on for the runner’s up spot.
At Northampton, Hunter dominated his heat and was soon at the front in the final. He said: “To win heat and final was a dream at the start of the season. I have to thank my family and crew who have made it possible, I could not have done it without them.”
It was a mixed weekend for the Shoot Out leaders. Stuart Smith Jr chalked up a win in the Grand National on Saturday night but suffered heavy damage in a heat race crash on Sunday.
The team were able to patch the car together for the consolation and final but he failed to score in the Grand National. Second-in-the-charts Frankie Wainman Jr suffered damage in his heat race on Sunday but was able to repair his car to record a win in the Grand National.
At the end of the meeting, Smith and Wainman are tied on points at the top of the points table.
Mat Newson took advantage and a solid points scoring weekend to move into third place in the standings and is just three points off the top spot.
The Shoot Out series continues at Stoke on Saturday with the final round the following week at Belle Vue in Manchester.