Products
Along with manufacturing GBE is pleased to offer a range of high quality products
All Services
Products
2025-10-20
The BriSCA F1's headed East for a second consecutive weekend, this time to the surface shale and the stadium, King’s Lynn. The headline was Round 7 of the GBE UK National Points Championship Shootout, the round sponsored by Shred & Recycle.
Of the remaining eight drivers, seven were booked to race...and of the two groups, Group B was the one seemingly at the forefront of conversation. If we go back a week to the Skegness Weekender, 217 Lee Fairhurst had two very strong meetings, placing himself firmly at the top of the table. 526 Finn Sargent also performed well and was sitting 2nd, 13 points behind.
515 Frankie Wainman Jnr entered King's Lynn 3rd, 11 points behind Finn, and 16 Mat Newson firmly at the bottom of the table, a result of his zero points score at the Skegness Sunday session, courtesy of his Tet-a-Tet with Charlie Sworder.
With Frank and Mat arguably stronger on Shale than Finn, and Mat needing to score big points to close the gap on Frank, the permutations of 'what was going to happen' were endless.
In Group A, a good night for table leader 1, Tom Harris, would see his qualification into Stage 3, with a round to go. 368 Callum Thornton had been invited to race in Holland and decided to honour that request, hoping that his points scored to date would be enough to keep him in contention.
212 Danny Wainman and 175 Karl Hawkins, 3rd and 4th respectively, round out Group A. Like Mat, Karl was looking for a favourable night's racing to make inroads on the 19-point deficit to Danny.
If you were to describe the racing at King's Lynn, it would certainly be difficult to use one adjective. It was fast, brutal F1 stock cars at their very best, and created even more talking points than we already had...Shootout 2025 is a Championship that just keeps on giving!
So, how did our Shootout protagonists get on, and how would we rate their night out of 10?
Frankie clearly had a target on his back at King’s Lynn; he was hit more times than a tennis ball at Wimbledon! There were 'payback' hits, 'hard racing' hits, you name it, Frankie received it.
Heat a dnf, into the consolation, and a 6th place was all Frankie could manage in this one. Meeting Final time and a big one from 138 Dave Polley put Frankie into a gaggle of parked cars on turn 3. Dave had openly stated that he owed Frankie from Scunthorpe, and although this didn't take Frank out of the race, it certainly impeded his forward momentum.
A 10th place for the Silsden Superstar. Grand National, and a seemingly from nowhere monster lunge courtesy of 120 Casey Englestone finished Frankie off. This was an apparent payback shot from an altercation earlier in the meeting. A battered 515 machine returned to the pits at the meeting's end, with 7 points scored. Meeting rating 3/10.
As mentioned above, and also in his interview on the night with ace BSCDA TV presenter Sophie Clark, Mat wanted to avoid 'drama-llama', score points and leapfrog back into contention. It was very nearly a dream start, Mat looking on course to take his Heat win, only to be usurped by 'Mr Shootout' himself, 259 Paul Hines, with a lap to go.
Mat followed up his Heat 2nd with a Final and Grand National 6th. Mission accomplished, 31 points on the board, highest scorer in Group B. Mat moves on to Mildenhall very much back in the chase for the Silver roof. Meeting Rating 9/10.
A disappointing night for Finn, in that he wasn't able to take advantage of his group rival's (FWJ) misfortune. A Heat 7th, Finn's highest place finish. It is always tough to make a Final points position at Lynn, and Saturday was no different.
Although Finn made it to the chequered, it was only for P12. The Grand National was a DNF for the 526 machine. You could argue that it was a positive night for Finn, he started the night 2nd in the Group and finished the night 2nd in the Group. The negative, he didn't outscore FWJ, carrying the same amount of points onto the board. Meeting Rating 5/10.
Lee has gone about this Shootout campaign, not under the radar necessarily, but he hasn't been involved in any of the head-to-head battles like some of his rivals. Lee finished top of his group in Stage 1 and, after his performance at KL, is more than likely to do the same for Stage 2.
This bodes well for the 3rd and final stage, when he will come across 'defender of the Shootout', 1 Tom Harris. A consolation 2nd and Final 3rd produced 29 points, and a resultant 35-point gap over 2nd-placed Finn Sargent.
In a suggested tactical move, Lee has elected not to race Mildenhall, saving his equipment for the start of Stage 3 at Northampton Shaleway the following day. 'Job done' at KL and as such. Meeting Rating 8/10
A perfect night at the Norfolk arena for the World Champion, the highest overall Shootout points scorer and Stage 3 guaranteed. Tom has looked impressive all Shootout, and this must be a worry for those looking to take the Silver roof from him.
Be it tarmac or shale, Tom has delivered, and his race positions on Saturday illustrate that point. 2nd in his Heat, 2nd in the meeting Final, beaten only by Ryan Harrison. Will Tom use Mildenhall to look at the vulnerable drivers he doesn't want to come up against in Stage 3, and potentially determine their destiny? Who knows...but it makes for a good Shootout story nonetheless. Meeting Rating 9/10
Danny has been driving his Shootout campaign with a degree of confidence and is clear that he believes he can win the Championship. Danny's concern at KL was Karl Hawkins, who went into the meeting 19 points behind. Karl needed to make a dent in that number to have any chance of being in the 'final six'.
It would be fair to say Danny did ok, nothing spectacular, but 13 points accrued. However, when you consider how Karl got on, these 13 points are actually better than they look. Meeting Rating 6/10.
A blown engine in his Tar Car at Buxton forced Karl to use his Shale machine at the previous weekend's Skegness session. In a damage limitation exercise, Karl did better than expected, with a 26-point haul from the two days.
Back on shale, Karl needed an above par performance...but it just didn't happen for this likeable driver. A 9th place in Heat 1 behind Danny was the only 'score on the door'. This delivered 3 points, and nowhere near the number required. Mathematically, it's still possible for Karl to make Stage 3, but it will need a 'Standout Mildenhall' and a real dose of good fortune. Meeting Rating 2/10.
We now move on to Super Shootout Saturday, Mildenhall, 18th October and a start time of 5 pm. This is looking like a 'must-do', and with the twists and turns already, another epic chapter will surely be added to the Shootout 25 story.
The eight drivers will be reduced to six as we then head to Northampton Shaleway on Sunday morning. Scores set to zero, and an intense four meetings follow, to crown the GBE UK National Points Champion 2025.
BSCDA TV will be in attendance, and if you have yet to watch our King's Lynn feature, head over to our YouTube channel to catch up. With Jonathan absent, Sophie leads on presenting duties and gets all the main talking points for your viewing pleasure.
The Shootout Grid draw is fast becoming a must-do event pre-meeting. The brilliant Juniors are on hand, and the drivers vary very much in to banter with the gathered crowd. Keep an eye on our socials as we approach the weekend to get all the details.
Along with manufacturing GBE is pleased to offer a range of high quality products
Along with manufacturing GBE is pleased to offer the following Services…
See our brochures & catalogues, certifications and applications.
Speak to our experts about your requirements today.
GBE UK Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales with company number 08031046
