STOCK CARS: There was very little success for local drivers at the Stock Rod East Anglian Championship at Ipswich's Foxhall Stadium.

THERE was very little success for local drivers at the Stock Rod East Anglian Championship at Ipswich's Foxhall Stadium.

The championship – the main event of last weekend's meeting – was again dominated by southerners.

Although Northampton staged the British Championship less than 12 hours later, a reasonable entry of 23 drivers took to the damp track.

They were headed by defending champion Steven Weeks (Hampshire), who was involved in a collision in the first heat.

But a win in heat two ensured that Weeks was near the front of the grid for the championship race which had Southampton's Tim Carter in pole position following his second place in both the heats.

Ipswich drivers Ady Wright and Steve Spink were the best local qualifiers, but Wright never went as he had done in the heats, while Spink was disqualified after an early incident with Weeks as they battled over third place.

Weeks, who lost several places as a result, gradually came back up through the field to get back up to third.

However, by that point the top two of Carter and Graham Moreton were a long way clear.

That was how it finished, with Bucklesham's Nick Doncaster the highest-placed Anglian driver way back in eighth spot.

The Rookie Rods were the second formula of the evening;.

Although they race virtually every week at Yarmouth, this was only the second time they had been seen at Ipswich.

The meeting also produced the formula's biggest-ever entry of 28 cars with the line-up including several well-known former stock riders for the first time, attracted to the relative cheapness of this budget class formula.

All of them went reasonably well, particularly Neil Dodson who had a win.

The other two races were taken by Yarmouth regulars, who had enjoyed the benefit of a whole season's racing.

The rookie bangers – another low-cost formula – were also on hand with yet another fully-subscribed entry of around 50 cars. As always, there was action from start to finish.

Ipswich's John Willings, who won a race at each of his first two meetings, kept up his impressive start by winning another on his third meeting. But otherwise it was the Braintree drivers who took the honours, with Chris Outhwaite winning the final for the second meeting in a row.

The young Ministox drivers only race at Ipswich once or twice a year, but their occasional appearances are always as lively as on their more regular smaller tracks.

Norwich's Daniel Holden, who won the final at Wimbledon the previous week and the Norfolk Gold Cup at Yarmouth earlier in the month, continued his impressive run to take two more wins despite the best efforts of East Anglian champion Marc Lammass and the King's Lynn driver Willie Scoyles junior.

Both managed to get the better of Holden in heat one but after that they found the handicap of starting from the back of a big grid just too much to make up.

Results

Stock Rods – Heat One: 1 Graham Moreton (Farnborough), 2 Tim Carter (Southampton), 3 Ady Wright (Ipswich).

Heat Two: 1 Steven Weeks (Warterlooville), 2 Carter, 3 Steve Spink (Ipswich).

Final (East Anglian Champions): 1 Carter, 2 Moreton, 3 Weeks.

Rookie Rods – Heat One: 1 Matthew Aitchison (Freethorpe), 2 Phillip Moore (Eye), 3 David Sayer (Acle).

Heat Two: 1 Neil Dodson (Felixstowe), 2 Steve Abbott (Manningtree), 3 Sarah Cooper (Thetford).

Final: 1 Keith Ashley (Lowestoft), 2 Cooper, 3 Moore.

Mini Stox – Heat One: 1 Marc Lammass (Welwyn Garden City), 2 Willie Scoyles Jnr (Kings Lynn), 3 Daniel Holden (Norwich).

Heat Two: 1 Holden, 2 Lammass, 3 Rikki Taylor (Thurrock).

Final: 1 Holden, 2 Lammass, 3 James Williams (Yarmouth).

Rookie Bangers – Heat One: 1 Chris Outhwaite (Braintree), 2 Shane Gardener (Ipswich), 3 Steve Schofield (Ipswich).

Heat Two: 1 John Willings (Ipswich), 2 Gavin Nicholls (Norwich), 3 Outhwaite.

Heat Three: 1 Jason Langley (Braintree), 2 Nicholls, 3 Willings.

Final: 1 Outhwaite, 2 Schofield, 3 Carl Musson (Potter Heigham).