WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

The 2007 World Championship certainly started with a bang; sadly that bang was Pete Ross in the 547 smacking the fence during practice after a tyre failure. It was good to see various teams involved in getting Pete out there for the big race, but with no time to test the results of everyone’s labours, which included axle straightening, and renewing brakes which had been smashed to bits on the right front, Pete was unable to get the best from the undoubtedly quick machine.

A welcome effort by the Ross team and others saw two Australian racers take to the track, Steve Bateman, racing as AUS111 and his son, rookie racer Brad having been over here for Steve to race in the BriSCA F1 World. Their local track is Archerfield Speedway, near Brisbane, a dirt / clay oval, and the outing on tarmac was a learning experience for both the visitors.

With driver introductions and parade to build up the excitement, the race got under way with twice 1300cc Stock Car World champion Colin Goodswen on an early charge, brought to a halt in a clash with Peter Scott on the back straight which brought out the reds.

Goodswen quickly took up the running on the restart, with John Turner in pursuit, while the Aussie duo didn’t last long, ending up parked outside turn four. When Colin was held up by back marker traffic, John closed the gap quickly, and almost took the #72 into the parked cars, which enabled Terry Harris to nip smartly through and assume the lead.

From being relegated to fourth spot, Goodswen went all out to make up the deficit, passed Turner and really turned on the power to catch Terry H. in the closing laps. Starting the final tour, fatigue or pressure caused Harris to go wide, and that was enough for Goodswen, who powered by for a drag race between them down the back straight, Colin turning in well through the last bends to take a narrow victory after a gritty drive.

The win was enough to convince Colin Goodswen not to sell his car – he’d been thinking about it – and he will commit to a year as Champion with all the back-of-grid starts that entails. Brother Gary won the 2006 Hot Rod World, so further success for the well liked Norfolk family was greeted warmly in most quarters.

The support races had their share of action, with Dave Burton taking a good win in the first, where Bill Chance narrowly escaped a big fence crash, while Ian Moss showed a good turn of speed to hold off the pack in the final Allcomers event.