GOULDRUSH


The class six title is made easy for Gould, while Taylor sits it out.

There were several restarts in the class six final, and when it went full distance it was down to four cars, with Sam French, Barry Holloway, Martyn James and Stuart Thompson all non-starters.
With Nicky Newton out of the event with engine failure after heat one, James was Ben Gould’s closest rival for the title, and his chances were even slimmer than Newton’s.
Gould had a strong run through the heats, but for the umpteenth time Chris Parkinson was top qualifier. However, yet again the overall win eluded him, and he remains on a long list of drivers who are overdue some final success.
The number of red flags had taken made the race something of an anti-climax and it was almost a relief for it to go full distance. Andrew Davidson asserted himself a number of times over the course of the weekend and would have been hugely deserving of the win in the final. He led it at the beginning, but was passed in the second lap; first by Alex Hay, then Parkinson, and finally Gould almost a lap later.
Gould was immediately on Parkinson’s tail, and the leading trio circulated together. Half a lap later, Parkinson pulled to outside of the circuit which put Davidson back up into third, and allowed Gould a clear run at the leader.
On the previous laps, Hay had been getting the York machine a little too sideways on the exit of the pits bend and Gould used this to his advantage; switching from the tight line behind Hay to his outside, passing him with greater momentum up the straight and into the next turn.
With only a lap remaining, Hay was unable to close back up to the new leader and Gould took both the race victory and the title. Davidson wasn’t far adrift of Hay in third place, which was still a good reward for an excellent drive through the event.
Parkinson continued to tour around the outside of the track to pick up points for fourth which, when added to his qualifying tally, moved him from fifth to second in the standings.

Having been the dominant one for the majority of the year, Karen Taylor was lucky at the final round to be able to hang on to the title.
An incident in the second heat put her out of the rest of the event. Only Yvonne Dockray could catch her for the overall win, and out of six entrants, Dockray was the only one who completed all three heats, but her performance in the final was her undoing.
National champion Sarah Haigh only drove in two heats and won both then took an immediate lead in the final, pursued initially by Dockray. An exuberant and determined performance resulted in a series of wide lines by the local lady through the subsequent turns which allowed Tracey Burrell and Hannah Johnson in turn to move up her inside.
Just past the halfway point, Burrell had to slow the car to avoid hitting the barrier, which allowed Johnson through into second. Neither driver was close enough to Haigh to challenge for position, nor were they under pressure from Dockray, and all four cars were spread into safe respective positions – the fourth place for Dockray only enough to move her up onto equal points with Taylor.

Main: Gould did a great job of working his way through the field to take the win and the title. Above: Haigh’s victory was no surprise and she was the class of the field (photos: Dan Moffatt).

2024 CHAMPIONS

TitleDriverNo.
Mens OverallConnor GriffithsTA16
Ladies OverallJess ConwaySC126
J/SaloonsRio SheehanPAC33
J/SpecialsOwen BradfordBC16
J/F600Alfie RossS717Y
Young GunsClaire ComptonNS434

Class One 
Conner Griffiths TA16 / Jess Conway C182

Class Two 
Craig Conway SC126 / Jess Conway SC126

Class Three 
Ryan Power YD98 / Becky Shaw BC111

Class Four 
Ben Gould NS434 / Claire Compton NS434

Class Five 
Adam Browne MA184 / Nicola Jesse Y44

Class Six 
Stephen Parsonage NS146 / Sophie Lewis TA36

Class Seven 
Phil Cooper ARC6 / Michaela Dance PAC53

Class Eight 
Mitch Wells E356 / Clare Horner-Williams M1

Class Nine 
Andrew Hornshaw Y78 / Clare Williams-Horner M62

Class Ten 
Lee Seagreaves ARC1 / Josie Tomkinson SC53

Stock Hatch 
Dan Ferguson CA34 / Emily Hutchings CA34

 F600 
James Brown SC811 / Tayla-Jade Paskell H50