Heat 2 & 304 Chris Mellor edged out in front....going quite well too until Mr Fort appeared on the scene. Contact was made on the pits bend & young Chris was sent head long into the fence & although Chris was not in trouble, his car certainly was with extensive chassis damage on the ex Rogers / Aldridge machine. The race restarted from the yellow flags & Fort wrapped up heat 2. Stuchbury had been challenging for the lead, but his steering broke which saw him career across the centre & come to rest on the edge of the exit to turn 4. The photographers changed their pants & continued snapping away. I spoke to Chris Mellor after the race & he confirmed that he was ok, just a little upset at the force of the hit that sent him fencewards. Chris Fort did express his regret at the damage caused from his attack.....from my vantage point it looked like a case of being a little unlucky at catching the youngster on a sweet spot. In any case, the Mellor team have a lot of work to do to get the car ready for Belle Vue.....& Mr Fort fully expects a shot back !

The final was led away by white toppers 178 Shayne Moorcroft & 267 Mark Barratt. Further back Stuchbury & Craven became tangled on the home straight & 281 Lee Summers took to the infield to avoid the pair who seperated & shot off just as the white tops came around again. With these two slowed, Fort made the break & took up the running early on. Allen showed well but could not stop Craven & Stuchbury from taking the remaining podium places. There was drama for 240 Tom Conwell & 372 Ralph Brierly as they hit the wall & or eachother on the back straight which meant the end of the day for both

The Grand National was a rather subdued affair. Chris Mellor had somehow managed to cobble the car together & he tried very hard to get near Fort (who started from the lap handicap) but the car just did not want to go round the bend & Chris ploughed into the fence once again although this time he managed to drive it to safety. Neil Stuchbury was the pick of the bunch & he came through to win from Craven, Boam, Allen & a handicapped 213.

All in all, a very good session from the Hotstox. Althought the results are dominated by the reds, there were some creditable performances from (& in no particular order) Bob Radforth 169 in the Stuchbury hire car, 178 Shane Moorcroft in the ex Malc Ayris car showing a great turn of speed off the bends !, 267 Mark Barratt showed well all day as did 161 Mark Allen.