RightSure Insurance’s sponsored driver, Jake Wrecking Ball Archer was all set to be in action again over the bank holiday weekend as both Fueltopia Barrel Sprint and Formula G came to Santa Pod Raceway for a full-on weekend of tyre shredding.
With AWD, RWD and front-wheel drive classes available the events are open to newcomers and welcome new drivers to the competition.
There is a fantastic atmosphere at the events, with everyone banding together to help and support those who might be having issues with their vehicles and if it’s even slightly possible, they’ll get as many cars out on the starting line as they possibly can!
Day One, and it was the turn of the Fueltopia Barrel Sprint boys, an event that couples speed reaction speed with agility…As the name suggests, a line of barrels are set out in a straight line, with two drivers tackling the course at the same time – accelerating towards the barrel, performing a full circle around the barrel and then flying off to the next. With the aim to get to the finish in the quickest time possible and without hitting the barrels – Its fast, furious and tests each driver to find that perfect line.
RightSure’s, Jake Archer sadly had electrical issues and was unable to resolve the problems with the ECU…Jake was still to play a big part in the action helping support the other competitors and commentator for day 2!
Monster Energy’s Luke Woodham, is an established name, twice winning Ken Block’s Gymkhana Grid (Rear Wheel Drive Class) and a heavy association with the world of drifting is the man to beat. Seemingly at one with his menacing Nissan 200sx, he consistently finds the perfect line and technique – winning the RWD competition on this occasion.
ScoobyClinic Racing’s Dmitrij Sribnyj, running in the all-wheel-drive class is on point every time I see him drive, that being said, he struggled this week allowing the other drivers to catch up to the current class leader.
Viper Motorsport is well represented – The garage that built Jake’s competition car also has Matt Miller and Andy Pritchard driving. Both had stories to tell from the weekend with Matt smashing his way through each round, all the way to the winner’s podium in the AWD class.
At the other end of the spectrum, Andy needed to replace the clutch in his car in order to compete, and so whilst he dashed off to get the clutch, the Viper Motorsport team, along with other drivers including Dmitrij and Jake hauled the gearbox out in preparation for the new clutch to turn up….it literally got down to the last few seconds before Andy was going to have to call it a day and the car was bumped started onto the start line…Andy, proceeded to put in a handful of extremely clean qualifying runs and was able to compete in the knockout stage in the afternoon – A wonderful story that brought everyone together and a huge round of applause greeted Andy as he put his qualifying runs together, minutes after the clutch had been installed.
Day 2 and it was the turn of the Formula G drivers, a full ‘agility’ course is set out, combining those skills required for the Barrel Sprint with additional obstacles; making for a much tougher and more varied course.
Some of the bigger rear-wheel-drive cars tend to suffer a little, not that you would have known it from Luke Woodham’s performance…easing into the final with relative ease, only to meet Adam Elder in what turned out to be an adrenaline-fueled final run…it was close, very close – but Luke took the win – a double for the weekend! A celebratory burnout from both really got the crowd going as tyre smoke covered Santa Pod…Standing about 15 feet from Adam Elder in his wide track Nissan, I was smothered in bits of rubber and smoke!
In the all-wheel drive class, once again Viper Motorsport’s, Matt Miller continued his great form over the weekend having arrived for the first time this season, happy with the set up of his car – and it showed as he repeatedly pulled strong runs around the obstacles…a great way to finish the weekend!
Needless to say, I personally had a wonderful weekend. Meeting lots of new drivers, teams and of course supporters. There really is a sense of family as you walk around, with mutual respect, friendly attitudes and an overwhelming show of support for everyone who was there….you can mingle amongst the drivers, say hello and they will always afford the time to show their gratitude and tell you all about their Motorsport experiences…so A massive thank you to everyone involved – Get down there and get involved!!