SPARKS flew at Foxhall Stadium gala night – and it was not just the fireworks.Nothing was going to stop this hearse taking part in the national banger racing event – even though it had no wheels left.

SPARKS flew at Foxhall Stadium gala night – and it was not just the fireworks.

Nothing was going to stop this hearse taking part in the national banger racing event – even though it had no wheels left.

And a record was broken in the mega stunt event when stunt driver David Sayer, also known as Rookie Cookie sped his Robin Reliant through six caravans, complete with high explosives, and came safely out of the other end.

Thousands of people descended on the stadium for a night of banger racing and a huge firework display, organised by Spedeworth which raised £2,000 for the Evening Star's Raise the Roof appeal.

A torchlight procession sparked off the evening before the racing started and £5,000 of fireworks lit up the sky.

As a plethora of cars raced around the track there were crunches and bangs and clouds of smoke.

From family cars to a Limousine and a Jaguar there was no room here for faint-hearted drivers.

Limousine driver Simon Reed may not have won any trophies but he certainly took the cheering crowd by storm as he came out of several crashes carrying on even with smoke pouring from the car.

But even he met his match by the end when the side of his car was smashed in and it managed to limp over the finish line.

The highlight of Saturday evening saw Mr Sayer drive the Robin Reliant through the caravans.

As he sped through them, each caravan exploded.

Before the stunt Mr Sayer, formerly a rookie banger driver said: "I am nervous.

"It is quite a big build up and you don't know if you are going to get through it or not."

There is no practice run for this kind of thing but Mr Sayer had managed five caravans in a previous stunt at the stadium.

He said: "You just see the swirls of fire as you go through."

PANEL: The Raise the Roof appeal is to raise the final £100,000 to build a cancer education and information centre at Ipswich Hospital.

The project was set up by Cancer Campaign in Suffolk (CCIS) in 1998 and £200,000 had been raised before the charity linked up with the Evening Star to find the final £100,000.

The centre is there to provide information on cancer for patients and families and carers as well as anyone else in the community who wants to know how to spot the early signs and how to avoid it.

Anyone who wants to donate to the appeal should make donations out to Raise the Roof and send them to Geraldine Thompson at Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or CCIS, PO Box 100, Badingham, Woodbridge, IP13 8NJ.