WILL WE EVER SEE A SEASON LIKE THIS AGAIN? WELL, ONE CAN ONLY HOPE SO

lead had gone from 10 to two points, while Knight and Fogg were now even in third overall, with three races remaining in the season.

Now, another interesting part of the Napa CMC is the reverse-handicap grid for races two and three. It adds drama, it adds entertainment; but, to be fair, it was the last thing that the top four drivers wanted — and it didn’t disappoint. When the race finished, there were problems afoot. Race control had found drivers with false starts, and Boote, who finished second in the race, was deemed to have ‘broken out’. This is a rule within the club in regards to your qualifying and opening race pace to ensure that you don’t sandbag for a better result in the handicaps. Boote’s problem, albeit a good one, was that his team had given him a good car, and because of the extra speed, he would be punished.

It wasn’t until Sunday morning that the results could be presented. The officials had to study the footage to work out who had false starts and also calculate Boote’s misfortune — and when the news came through, well, it was Hollywood-script stuff. Boote’s penalty dropped him from second outright to 14th. However, he was, in a way, slightly lucky, as, due to Hansen running on old rubber, his results were average. This meant that, coming into the final two races of the season, Boote and Hansen were even stevens. That’s correct: after five rounds and 22 races, the top two drivers were equal on points. To add to the excitement, Fogg and Knight were only one point apart, with Fogg gingerly holding the lead. It’s here that you remind yourself of all the issues that these drivers had across the season. The engine and component failures, as well as spins and that massive

Boote/Fogg crash in round one, and you think: How on Earth after all of that can these drivers be in this position? It is simply staggering.

So, the season would be wrapped up with a single handicap reverse race and a standard grid race.

Race three was juicy to say the least. Fogg made a rare but crucial error, allowing Knight to pass, and it put them back on even points. Boote beat Hansen by two places, which meant that he was leading the championship again going into the final outing — by only two points. To add more flame to the championship fire, both Knight and Fogg were starting on the front row, and they had enough points to finish in first and second if Hansen and Boote had crashes or didn’t finish. It’s at this point in time that you run out of superlatives to describe the situation. It’s difficult to describe the feeling coming out of the final race of the 2021 season. Two things happened that nobody ever wants to happen — but it is motorsport, after all.

Halfway through the race, Rodney Heads lost a wheel from his stunning Torana. It sent him off the track, and when he hit the grass, he spun, the car dug in, and they went airborne. It was scary, and it was messy. Thankfully, he was able to walk away, but his car will require a significant rebuild. This, however, caused issue number two — the safety car. When the incident happened, Fogg was leading Knight, with Boote in third. Hansen, needing to finish three spots ahead of Boote, was down in fifth. It took a long time to recover the Torana, and this meant that laps were chewed up. The chequered flag fell under safety car circulation.

No, it wasn’t the ideal finish to the season, but it wasn’t entirely bad either. It was just another segment that added to the incredible season-long drama. Craig Boote had made an incredible comeback: from an almost writtenoff car to winning the championship. The stories up and down the garages are full of heartbreaks and jubilation, and the spoils are well deserved for all. Will we ever see a season like this again? Well, one can only hope so.