The first National of the 2026 season was held at the Halifax circuit in West York- shire on the 18th/19th April. It was nice to welcome some new drivers along with the usual regulars. This year it was decided to run the Touring and 220mm GT cars in separate heats and finals with separate championships. Some of the 220 drivers had switched to Touring Saloon and vice-versa.

 
Early rain curtailed practice on Saturday morning. Unfortunately rain showers con- tinued all day allowing little time for set up and engine tuning.
Sunday morning was bright with sunshine forecast all day . Drivers’ briefing was fol- lowed by a short practice session for those unable to attend on the Saturday. Then it was straight in to 4 rounds of qualifying.

After 4 rounds of qualifying the positions were as follows :
GT8 Electric
TQ Mark Green
2nd Alfie Wadsworth 3rd Richard Oxley
Saloon Touring
TQ Alex Thurston 2nd Ollie Williams 3rd Mathew Cook

 
220mm GT
TQ Glyn Beal
2nd Mark Boothman 3rd Richard Boult

Finals:
B final 1/10
This was close tussle between Jason and Jerome with Frank close behind. Jerome eventually opened up a 2 lap lead but near the end had a flame out.This allowed Ja- son to close in but Jerome held on to win by 30 seconds. Frank completed the podium.

1st Jerome Evans 

2nd Jason Thompson

3rd Frank Noel
Capricorn) (X-Ray ) (Infinity)

 A Final GT8
TQ & defending champion Mark Green gave a masterclass taking all three legs. Young Alfie Wadsworth came second in all three legs. It was close between Bob and Richard for the last podium place.

1st Mark Green (Serpent) 

2nd Alfie Wadsworth (Serpent)

3rd Richard Oxley

 A Final Saloon Touring
TQ and multi 1/10 & 1/8 National Champion Alex Thurston led from start to finish with Jen, Ollie and Craig & Matt chasing. Ollie drove consistently taking second a couple of laps ahead of Craig in third.

1st Alex Thurston

2nd Ollie Williams

3rd Craig Nutting

A Final 220mm GT
(Mugen) (Capricorn) (Mugen)
TQ and Multi National 220mm Champion Glyn Beal stormed off in to the lead with Bailey , Mark and the rest chasing hard. A couple of major collusions resulted in Mark and Richard Boult retiring with Glyn off the circuit allowing Bailey in to the lead. Glyn rejoined and drove flat out to make up the laps and managed to climb up to second. Matt Baker drove an incident free race to complete the podium.

1st Bailey Rice-Draycott

2nd Glyn Beal

3rd Mathew Baker
A good start to the season with some competitive close racing. Thanks to all at the Halifax club for putting on an excellent meeting. Special thanks to Bev & Muriel in race control who kept things running smoothly. The next round is at Wombwell on the weekend 16th/17th May.