VP Racing Fuels National Finals, Santa Pod Raceway

Words and pictures Ivan Sansom & Rose Hughes
Thanks to TSI Timers (Europe) for access to the timing data

A couple of weekends after the conclusion of the European championship season, the bulk of the UK’s domestic series held their final event of the year at the VP Racing Fuels National Finals. Headlined by the MSA Pro Modified category, which attracted a healthy eight entries, the meeting also saw the conclusion of the championships for the sportsman car fields although the majority of the bike classes still have one points round remaining.

MSA Pro Modified

Summernationals event winner Graham Ellis was looking to repeat at the National Finals as in doing so he would take his first points championship in Pro Mod to add to the pair he’d achieved in Super Modified. Closest challenger Roger Moore seemed to have stacked the odds in his favour with the only six second passes in qualifying, but when Moore lost to Wayne Nicholson at the semi-final stage the title was already destined for Essex and Ellis managed to underline the title with wins over Jean Dulamon, Nick Davies and Nicholson in the final round.

After transmission problems resulted in a DNQ at the Euro Finals, Wayne Nicholson had a much more profitable weekend at the National Finals and a first round victory over Andy Wright (who’d scuffed the wall on a wayward burnout) put him alongside Moore in what would be the title decider; Nicholson recording his best number of the weekend (a 6.969) to defeat Moore’s 6.998 and put the Lucky Devil Corvette into it’s first Pro Mod final round appearance at the end of a season that started with the installation of a hemi in the frame rails, although transmission problems prevented a realistic challenge to Ellis.