ALL AT SPEDEWORTH would like to congratulate 447 Stuart Smyth on his victory in the Stock Rod World Championship at Hednesford on Sunday.

Smyth opened his account by drawing pole position for heat one and he raced to a flag to flag win as behind him a large portion of the field self-destructed in a chaotic affair, 7 Andy Grant’s day ended when he smashed into the pit gate after contact from 47 John Cardwell. 876 Lewis Clark shadowed Smyth all the way with 829 Stuart Fox, 29 David Philp (up from 19th) and 755 Mark Barber behind him.

Heat two saw a couple more spins and shunts before a stoppage when 25 Siobhan Martin’s engine blew and covered the West bend in thick smoke, some drivers forced to a complete stop as they simply could not see. 257 Ashley Brown and 74 Tyler Collison had led the early going but it was 67 Kerr Paterson who scored the win for Scotland with Collison, Brown and Barber next home, Smyth making it up to ninth from dead last on the grid.

Barber’s consistency gave him pole for the World Final with Smyth alongside and Philp and Fox behind them, Martin able to join the grid after her crew changed her engine between races. Smyth got the better start and set off into a lead he would not lose while the eyes of many were on 168 Andy Sturt, the defending champion having had a tough time of it in the heats and started eighth. He came through to third behind the rapid Philp who was baulked by 232 Brett Sneddon in the closing stages allowing Sturt into second, but Smyth was away and clear and claimed the title he has chased for so many years.

So well done to Stuart Smyth who will be exchanging the gold paint with the defending Champion and of course long standing rival Andy Sturt who has proved to be a superb carrier of the gold roof since winning the Championship in 2010 at Ipswich. Commiserations to Davy Philp were in order in some respects as the final few laps for him were made extremely difficult by Brett Sneddon, which ultimately cost him what looked to be a certain 2nd place.

RESULTS
Heat 1 447 Stuart Smyth 876 Lewis Clark 829 Stuart Fox 29 755 60 3 500 168 219
Heat 2 67 Kerr Paterson 74 Tyler Collison 257 Ashley Brown 755 658 29 57 669 447 28
World 447 Stuart Smyth 168 Andy Sturt 29 Davy Philp 829 Stuart Fox 3 67 755 257 60 219