WAINMANGETSBACK TOWINNINGWAYS

WHAT: NATIONALSERIESSHOOTOUT WHERE: 10-ROUNDSERIES WHEN: AUGUSTTONOVEMBER

With the one-off races out of the way, Stu Smith Jr set his sights on retaining his National Series title.

He scored consistently in the first three rounds before winning the final in round four at Sheffield. A third place in round five at Skegness opened up his advantage over Frankie Wainman Jr.

However, Wainman Jr was able to reduce the advantage by winning round six at King’s Lynn. Round eight at Northampton turned out to be a disastrous one for Smith Jr as he was involved in a hard crash during his heat race which left his car with significant damage.

On returning home after the meeting Smith Jr became unwell and was rushed to hospital where internal injuries and a broken bone in his neck were diagnosed.

The following week, Wainman Jr won round nine of the series before wrapping up his unprecedented 14th National tile at Belle Vue.

Wainman said: “I am delighted to win the title, it is superb. It’s been a tough series and there has been some hard racing. It’s a shame Smith Jr was unable to race the last couple of meetings – I am sure it would have been a great battle between us.”