Should proof ever be needed that Cadwell Park remains a perennial favourite of the 750 Motor Club race calendar then the entry lists for this weekend’s 2019 event should more than suffice, where more than half of the 11 formulae in attendance will fill Cadwell’s grid capacity; two of which will run in group format to accommodate entry numbers.
One of those – the Demon Tweeks | Yokohama-backed Locost Championship – celebrates 20 years of racing in 2019 as one of the UK’s most popular club level formulae, with celebrations in the Cadwell paddock this weekend to mark the event. There’s rarely such a thing as a runaway Locost winner in either race or championship stakes, and at the halfway point of the 2019 season it is habitual podium finisher Martin West who has developed a slim lead in the standings before drop scores are taken into account. An impressive trio of wins at Croft and two podiums at Anglesey however sees former karting ace Tom Gadd just a few points adrift, whilst defending champion Mark Burton sits in third and was a race winner here at Cadwell last season.
That’s not all, since the Club is delighted to welcome none other than Ron Champion back into the paddock at Cadwell Park, as a guest of the 20th Anniversary celebration of Locost racing. The original architect of the ‘Locost’ design in his ‘Build Your Own Sports Car’ book first published in 1996 and pictured here with the first ever Locost race winner Simon Pullan, Ron will be present during both days with his former Locoster son James, where the pair will get involved in celebrations and presentations.
The 365Hosts F1000 Championship joins 750 Motor Club for the first time in 2019 and is set to field its largest grid of the 1000cc machines this weekend for more than 10 years. Former Sport Specials champion Matthew Booth currently tops the table helped by two wins out of three in the recent visit to his local Croft Circuit, with Dan Clowes and Paul Butcher behind. As the formula that holds Cadwell Park’s outright four-wheel lap record (established by Richard Mitcham), it’s the ideal venue to familiarise yourself with the newest addition to the 750MC lineup.
Cadwell offers equal excitement for tin-top action, and this meeting sees the full complement of three action-packed hatchback championship grids. The familiar names of Lee Scott and Matt Rozier top the points so far in the 2019 Demon Tweeks | Yokohama Classic Stock Hatch Championship; the duo having taken six of the last seven titles between them in their respective Fiesta XR2i and Peugeot 205 GTi machines. Scott holds the Cadwell lap record but local driver Pip Hammond is a known Cadwell specialist and will be looking to make the most of his first outing of the season in his familiar Vauxhall Nova GTE.
Former Stock Hatch champion Ryan Polley was the driver to beat at the last outing at Anglesey in the K-Tec Racing Clio 182 Championship, taking two of the three wins available. The third went the way of 2015 Clio champion James Bark; who lies second to Polley in the standings on his first full season campaign since 2016 and is another local Cadwell specialist looking to take the top step this weekend.
The Royal Purple Hot Hatch Championship not only sees an overall champion crowned at the end of the season, but also three separate titles for classes A, B and C. Just a single point divides Class C leader David Drinkwater (BMW Compact) from Class A’s Ben Rushworth (Honda Integra) in overall points, yet the action to entertain on track is likely to be between Drinkwater and Saxo driver Ian Williamson, with the Shaun Green versus Martin Ward Civic rivalry brewing in Class B.
Another formula filling the grid this weekend will be the Tegiwa Roadsports Series, where Cadwell always shakes up the order in this 45 minute mini-endurance event. Last year saw longstanding Roadsports protagonist Wayne Rothwell take not only the Class B victory in his Vauxhall VX220, but also the overall win on the road, usurping the Class A machinery at the track where power advantages are less pronounced. Rothwell returns this weekend having traded the lithe Lotus-derived VX for a Mk1 Ford Focus RS, which may offer another advantage if any wet weather comes into play.
Five victories from eight races to-date in the 2019 Gala Performance MR2 Championship is an ideal start to the season for multiple former champion Shaun Traynor, however a non-finish in the Donington Park opening weekend means that formula returnee Alistair Topley sits just ten points behind at the mid-point of the year before drop scores are taken into account; the Derbyshire-based driver taking his first win at the formula’s last outing at Snetterton.
With further action on track from both the Raceparts 750 Formula Championship and a huge grid of its Historic 750 Formula relations, the might of the MGCC BCV8 Championship and a large field of Protech Shocks Sport Specials featuring the new Mazda-powered Locost offshoot, the 25-race schedule looks set to be a highlight of the season so far.