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What a weekend for the VWDRC at the Open Sports Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway, glorious weather for the first two days and plenty of qualifying time meant some of the times run were amazingly close.

As we awoke on Monday morning there was a little damp in the air but no real delay, until one of the Nostalgia Fuel Altered runners rolled in the left lane, no harm to the driver but there was a wait while the track was cleared. Unfortunately that was followed by another incident and we were left waiting for even longer!

Once we did manage to get to the track it was action a plenty, with Sportsman champion-elect and experienced drag racer Spencer Tramm knocked out in round one by rookie Helen Williams and a number of heats won by less than 0.01 seconds!

Alternate Engine saw Matt Attwood break the Megasquirt EFI system on his Fastback, but all was not lost as he re-tasked his Saubaru engined Type 25 as a race car, much to the displeasure of his girlfriend Angie! This was the source of one of the most amazing races ever, Andy Raw in his 900bhp Beetle funny car against Matt Attwood in a high-top Type 25!! Matt must have been at the 1000ft mark before Andy even left the line such was the handicap, with Andy waiting almost 10 seconds! It was oh so close at the top and Matt thought he had it, but Andy ran 9.25 on his 9.25 dial-in to take the win! Amazing! This took Andy through to the final against Scott Evison in his Trial and Error car. Another great run by Andy saw him take the final.

Rich Merriman had made a great debut for his beautiful car in VW Pro but was sadly having problems this weekend, a slipping clutch and damage to the turbo kept him out, so the VW Pro final was to be between the experienced Phil Norman in his Beetle pickup and the rookie James Hodson in his phenomenal 10 second Golf. It was close at the top and you couldn't pick it by eye, but James took the win and with the VWDRC VW Pro Championship! He's also well in the running for the club's annual Rookie of the Year trophy.

VW Sportsman came down to two friends, Polly Naylor and Chris Bray, leaving the line first Polly was in front until the 1000ft mark when Chris passed her and showed his experience by getting off the gas so as not to break out. The run was one of the closest of the weekend, with Polly running 17.93 on her 17.9 dial-in, but Chris took the win with a 16.12 on his 16.1! This meant Chris took the APIRA VW Sportsman Championship from Polly by just 60 points! This also meant that Spencer Tramm cannot be caught in the VWDRC championship, congratulations Spencer.

VW Alternate Engine is still wide open at the top of the VWDRC championship, and the race for second in both VW Pro and VW Sportsman is hotting up, it's going to be one hell of a race at the National Finals at the end of September where Rookie of the Year will also be decided!

It's that time again! We're going racing!

This weekend is the APIRA Open Sports Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway near Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire.

Shane Rae

It's a mixed event with loads of other classes and with so many championships at such important stages the racing is going to be very close. Whilst Spencer Tramm may have a commanding lead in VW Sportsman it's certainly not over yet and Adrian Wigley, Craig Allen and Shane 'Crazy Canuck' Rae are looking to make the most of Russ Weir's absence and cut into Spencer's lead. VW Alternate Engine is tight as can be at the top and anyone can still win it, Scott's looking to extend his lead while Matt and Andy look to peg him back a little! James Hodson looks to have VW Pro sewn up by this stage in the championship, but he's not resting on his laurels hoping to make absolutely sure of the win this weekend.

The weather looks great, so if you want to come see some of the best drag racing in Europe, support the VWDRC and head over to Shakespeare County Raceway this weekend and come say "Hi"!!