WOOD AND HAIRD BATTLE OVER THE LAST POINTS OF 2022
With winter closing in, the National Hot Rod series headed to Cannock Chase to contest its last World Series round of the year with Billy Wood and Chris Haird conducting a race-long, high-speed final duel around the Hednesford bowl to round off the regular season. Prior to that, Chris Lehec did his qualifying chances no harm at all by making off with both heats.
Brett Collison got away first in the slippery opener but quickly lost out to Andy Lane. Lane was driving his Ginetta right out to the wall to find the traction others were lacking. It wasn’t long before the rest got a handle on the conditions though, with Lehec catching and passing Lane going through the East Bend. Lehec built a lead that might have proved unassailable but for the pace now being demonstrated by Wood despite one giant opposite lock slide that lasted about a quarter of a lap.
The leader and second man were together as they passed the last lap board but Lehec sensibly used a handily placed backmarker to ensure Wood had no room to overtake.
The second heat was a good deal more frenetic. Collison was first away again but his lead proved as shortlived as in the first race, with Ashley Shaw the one who took it away this time. But Lehec again went to the top of the timing screen before too long and shortly before a caution was thrown for some spun cars. Shaw was able to stay in touch with the leader following the restart, the youngster keeping his more experienced rival honest to the finish.
As the race moved beyond mid-distance, Wood was the man to watch again. Getting the best of a fierce scrap with Jason Kew and Jack Blood, Wood was really on the march in the closing stages and was through to third by the last lap.
With Lehec (pole) and Wood on the front row for the final it did look as though it might be something of a gift for Wood. Once they got going properly following a false start when a number of rear-of-the-grid runners drove into each other, Wood grabbed the lead as Haird was looking much happier now the track was merely greasy rather than wet and carved through to settle on the leader’s tail.
Despite a further interruption for a caution, the rest of the race was all about the two former World Final winners giving a demonstration of how to run Hednesford flat out and nose to tail. All of Wood’s brake discs were glowing red hot by the finish to underline how hard he’d been trying – but he did manage to stay in front, the pair crossing the line nearly half a lap up on third man Kew.
Results
Organiser: Incarace When: November 6 Where: Hednesford Hills Raceway Starters: 25
Heat one: 1 Chris Lehec (Vauxhall Tigra); 2 Billy Wood (Vauxhall Tigra); 3 Chris Haird (Vauxhall Tigra); 4 Andy Lane (Ginetta G40R); 5 Terry Hunn (Ford Fiesta); 6 David Brooks (Ginetta G40R); 7
Jack Blood (Vauxhall Tigra); 8 Jason Kew (Ginetta G40R). Heat two: 1 Lehec; 2 Ashley Shaw (Vauxhall Tigra); 3 Wood; 4 Brooks; 5 Jordan Morgan (Vauxhall Tigra); 6 Lane; 7 Mark Shelper (Peugeot 206cc); 8 Lance Bowen (Vauxhall Tigra). Final: 1 Wood; 2 Haird; 3 Blood; 4 Morgan; 5 Kew; 6 Shaw; 7 Lehec; 8 Hunn; 9 Dick Hillard (Vauxhall Tigra); no other finishers. Points (provisional): Kew 249; 2 Haird 243; 3 Wood 236; 4 Aaron Dew 223; 5 Perry Cooke 219; 6 Chris Aldridge 215.