MIKEY GODFREY WINS NATIONAL HOT RODS AT ALDERSHOT

Hot Rods: Aldershot

Organiser: Spedeworth

When: May 15

Starters: 22

On a day when trouble seemed to find most of the field, Mikey Godfrey managed to keep his head and find some clear air at the front of the pack as he raced to a well taken heat and final double.

Matters started out quietly enough with an orderly opening heat. Alistair Lowe led the first lap before getting hung out to dry as a freight train headed by Lee Pepper and Layton Milsom charged through.

Pepper then diced for the lead with Milsom and Shaun Taylor, Pepper getting relegated to third as Milsom hit the front and proceeded to march away. Taylor then defended second against all comers, with Pepper staying right in touch and the pair being joined by Godfrey, Billy Wood and Aaron Dew in the closing laps.

Heat two was when it all went wrong. A first-bend collision that sent three cars spinning caused an immediate restart. The second attempt was yellow flagged almost before they’d got going, when Pepper stopped by the wall at the pit bend, Milsom copping a disqualification for putting him there. Following three further disqualifications for either passing under yellows or having bits of bodywork adrift, they tried again.

It was Godfrey who put his nose in front at this point, surviving another caution period when Dick Hillard and Jack Blood went spinning, and then drawing well clear of Lowe (subsequently disqualified for spinning Wood) and the long duel for third between Chris Lehec and Dew. There were further disqualifications for Dave York and Hillard after their involvement in other incidents.

Taylor beat Godfrey away at the off in the final but Godfrey quickly redressed that situation to assume the lead again, chased by Dew, Chris Haird and Carl Waller-barrett. But they were all brought up short when Jason Kew had a big crash at the start-finish, the car spinning backwards through the air before impacting the barriers hard. Kew was eventually able to walk away and to the ambulance.

It was Kewy’s pal Godfrey who got back to the business of winning when hostilities resumed, chased hard by Waller-barrett once he’d outfoxed Dew to go second. The European champ was narrowing the gap every step of the way after mid-distance, although attention was somewhat diverted from the leaders by a confrontation between Wood and Danny Fiske. This was a clash that led to both men getting disqualified, in Wood’s case, from the entire meeting.

At the front, Godfrey had his mirrors full of orange and silver Tigra well before the five lap board, the leader just managing to fend off a last-bend sweep round the outside by Waller-barrett.

Results

Heat one: 1 Layton Milsom (Vauxhall Tigra);

2 Shaun Taylor (Tigra); 3 Mikey Godfrey (Tigra); 4 Lee Pepper (Peugeot 206cc); 5 Aaron Dew (Tigra); 6 Alistair Lowe (Tigra).

Heat two: 1 Godfrey; 2 Chris Lehec (Tigra); 3 Dew; 4 Chris Haird (Tigra); 5 Carl Waller-barrett (Tigra); 6 Taylor.

Final: 1 Godfrey; 2 Waller-barrett; 3 Dew; 4 Haird; 5 Milsom; 6 Rob Mcdonald (Tigra).

Provisional points (after 14/15 rounds): 1 Shane Bland 522; 2 Walter-barrett 514; 3 Lehec 488; 4 Colin Smith 472; 5 Kym Weaver 469; 6 Jack Blood 467.