On the way to the track it looked like the drivers would need to prepare for a very wet evening of racing as it was persisting it down for the whole journey there.but, to everybody's surprise it was dry upon arrival and remained dry all evening. A quick walk around the pits saw the first outing for the new Kev Stutchbury (131) shale car which was only finished the night before so the team were hoping any little gremlins would stay away. Bryan Andrew (355) was in attendance with the recently purchased Dave Hobbs car hoping to make it perform on shale as well as he has got his tarmac car to go. In the Richard Arrowsmith (179) car was Ray Harris (252) one of our Spedeworth counterparts having a go on a proper surface. Ray was one of the original Spedeworth drivers who competed regularily against the Hotstox back in the late 80's. Chris Brough was making his debut in the 363 car. A quick chat with him revealed that it was the ex Chris Mellor car. Brough is looking to do a few meetings with what is quite an old car and then buy something a bit newer which is great news and another welcome addition to our ranks.

Heat 1

22 cars on track as 112 Jamie Marson pulled off with coolant problems. The early running being made by Harris (252) and Kev Thornton (72) whilst towards the rear of the grid Marc Radforth (149) was certainly the fastest mover. After bumpering Harris aside, Thornton (72) took it up and was keeping himself clear of the following pack. Around lap 7 entering turn 1 he came to lap Rob Hartley (373) somehow getting his car under Hartley and fipping him over into the very solid Kings Lynn fence. The race was brought under waved yellows immediatley to allow Hartley to extract himself from his upturned machine .Upon the restart Thornton was away yet again and this time the race went the full distance with no one able to catch him Kev remarked on the start finish line that he thought his race was over aftrer being involved in Hartley's flip. Radforth put in an impressive drive to come home second ahead of Stutchbury. The heat produced some good fast racing. There was one other noteable incident with 3 to go Matt Smith (210) and Andy Hulse (9) tangled in turns 1 and 2. The pair then rejoined with Hulse taking a very late lunge on Smith a lap later. Hulse missed Smith and put himself in the fence. These two continued their feud - which began at Skegness a few weeks back - throughout the meeting without things getting too out of hand. In light of recent driver injuries, an eye will be kept on the pair to ensure we have lively but safe racing. Post race analysis of the 373 Hartley car revealed substantial rollcage damage resulting in an early load up and lots of work to do at home.

Heat 2

22 for Ht2 The F1's had had a couple of heat races and the track was looking ready for a drop of water, this would play well into the hands of a couple of the star drivers. Early on in the race Rob Scriven (117) took up the lead making the most of his F1 racing experiance, whilst at the rear Frankie Wainman (212) was giving Radforth a bit more of a battle with Darren Cottrill (575) the fastest of the Superstars. Scriven was holding on nicely to his lead whilst Wainman and Cottrill were tightening the net, It took them several laps to pass Scriven who managed to hold on to thrid as Wainman kept ahead of Cottrill to record the win. Chris Bracher (473) came home fourth showing that his move to Superstar has not phased him at all.
Again, the 2nd heat had produced some good fast racing and it was very good to see an even spread with no single driver completey dominating proceedings. Interesting to note that Frankie had some very complementary things to say about the Hotstox on the mic after his win. 'Smiler' really seems to enjoy the racing saying that it was a lot less serious than F1's but that speed inside the cab was relative. Lets hope the veteran keeps his hand in Hotstox when he retires from F1 competition at the end of this season.

The Final

22 for the Feature with 430 Mick Cotterill leading off with Scriven soon pressuring and indeed taking over the lead. Yet again Radforth and Wainman were the early movers at the back. By lap 3 yellow grader Michael Boswell (328) was up into 2nd and Rob Barber (42) moving into contention from blue. Half way saw Boswell make it into the lead with Scriven chasing hard and Cottrill (575) doing the best he could in 3rd.to chase the leaders down and as the lap boards came out Cottrill closed in but he just could not get on terms and Boswell recorded the win with Scriven 2nd. Boswell drove an excellent race to claim his career 2nd Hotstox final - the first at Standlake 2 seasons ago - and thoroughly deserved the victory. Radforth came home 4th and Mark Allen (161) made it a hatrick of 5th places.

The well prepared Kings Lynn oval produced some excellent racing with no real dominating force. Raddforth went well in a car making it's debut on shale and likewise Kevin Stuchbury looked good out of the box in his new dedicated loose surface chariot. I'm sure a few drivers will have found this session good preparation for the Gold Top race later in the year at Saddlebow Road.

Race report by Paul Heath