Championship Season Preview

Superstox racing is approaching its busiest part of the season, with next weeks first Ipswich of 2011, Lochgelly in full swing, and a fast approaching Great Yarmouth East Anglian Championship season opener, it will soon be building into what, might possibly be one of the best seasons yet for superstox.
We thought this was no better time then to take a look at the top 15 in the English Points, plus a few other drivers we think may feature in the Championship Honors.



51 Colin Aylward
Currently 1st in Points - Current World Champion
There is no doubt that Chopper is still the one to beat, may not always be the quickest (although not far off! ), he is incredibly consistent and always a threat, whatever track, whatever condition. This year ( as always ) Chopper comes away from a great winters racing, with a quick and immaculate car, but as i have said before with that comes the confidence of that Gold roof, something which in my opinion has turned Chopper from a top racer into a Champion racer. I wouldn't bet against him taking some more of those championships this year. 

376 Steven Jackson
Currently 2nd in Points
Always there or thereabouts when it comes to championship time, and when at times you cant help feeling Jackson has lost his edge, he comes back with a great meeting. Coventry was good for him, and the Wimbledon's have been up and down. Never to be discounted though, this record breaking driver has won  twice as many races as anyone else in the last ten years and i don't expect 2011 to be any different. I'm not sure he will collect multi championships this year (and theres no real reason for that thought) , but i do expect to see him win at least one major.

69 Shaun Brooker
Currently 3rd in Points
March sees Shaun celebrate his 25th year of Superstox racing, and like a good wine, he seems to get better with age! Started the year with a hat trick at Wimbledon and has been pretty good since. Shale racing wasn't for him it seems and a bad meeting at Wimbledon saw him come away with nothing despite posting some pretty quick lap times. An unknown for me this year when it comes to the majors, but like his world win a few years ago, you've got to feel that if the time is right, he will take another major win. 

17 Ryan Eaton
Currently 4th in Points
Rhino is settling into superstar grade quite nicely, and looks to be there for some time, a quality racer who never seems to get the right breaks, despite being quick most of the time. However that said, last years World Championship 3rd place showed a different, focused drive from Ryan, and showed just what he is capable of . Like Jackson I'm not expecting dominance from Ryan, but i wouldn't rule him out either.

233 Ben Munford
Currently 5th in Points
Ben has experienced something of a purple patch over the winter, which is why we see him riding high in the English points at the minute. Struggles slightly in traffic at the moment, when up against the more experience stars and that's why we often see a win or a low place for Ben. Championships? well I'm not sure this is Ben's year yet, but that said, if he does get in front of one of the majors, i don't think any other driver would safely say they could catch the 233 car , because when hes quick, hes quick!

4 Liam Lambert
Currently 6th in Points
Definitely the Dark Horse of this year, won the Best in Britain in his second meeting, followed up by the Midland Championship at Coventry, and although some may say hes not exactly a newcomer, i would say that these Superstox have still gotta be driven, and he seems to manage to do that quite well. Like Munford Liam seems to have the win or nothing stage going on at the minute, but i just cant help feeling one of those wins may be something pretty big.

161 Billy Smith
Currently 7th in Points
Had a quiet winter by his standards although the last Wimbledon meeting saw him look much better again. Of course its easy to forget that Billy is still very young compared to the other star men, which can sometimes be his disadvantage, but it also can work the other way too, and I'm sure it will especially when the new car gets on track. 

7 Glen Salmon
Currently 8th in Points - Current National Champion
Looked pretty good at the Wimbledon's, at track which he saves his best for, and if not for a puncture at last years European there could have won it. The world final is of course held at Wimbledon this year and i expect this to be beneficial to Glen, but i feel he needs to get a bit quicker first, that's all that's missing to turn this ex-world champ back into a serious contender again.

369 Paul Langridge
Currently 9th in Points
Made the transition from Rolling Thunder well, probably the best that has, and proved his worth on all surfaces with a good showing at Coventry. I don't think 2011 will be the year of majors for Paul but i also don't think we've seen his best yet. Not afraid of doing the odd Yarmouth either which will keep him towards the top half of the points chart around World final time.

482
Jason Cooper
Currently 10th in the points
Another unknown for this year, if he races he will, of course be a serious contender for honors but it will depend on the National Hot Rod clashes as Jason is putting together a serious challenge in that formula. I hope we will see Jason doing the meetings he can and if some of those are the championships i will expect him to be up there in contention.

416 Mark Smith
Currently 11th in Points - Current English Champion 
Last years nearly man had stages of leading the World, European, British and English Championships, with the English being the only one he managed to win. Keen to win the English again this year to make it 3 in a row and with it being held at his home Track, Great Yarmouth , i could see its quite possible. Nobody doubts his driving ability and if luck goes his way and the car stays together he could win much more.

612 Garry Sparkes
Currently 12th in Points
You would think after winning countless championships including 5 Worlds, Sparkie would find it hard to be bothered in trying to win anymore, but that's not so. Garry may not do many meetings (mainly Yarmouths and the odd Ipswich) but when present he fights for every position as if its for the lead in his first World Championship. For this reason i will never count Sparkie out of any race he is in, and certainly wont rule him out of taking at least one more title.

124 Dave Miles
Currently 13th in Points
Not going to be thought of as a serious contender i feel this year, but never really was when he won the Southern or the Eaton Cup at Ipswich. More likely to spring a surprise on a graded order race, where if he gets away, he can be very quick indeed.

266 Paul Burkesfield 
Currently 14th in Points
Like Dave Miles, Paul is likely to get away in a graded order race, can be quick on his day but does seem to suffer in amongst the experience of the star men. Looks after his car well though and has a good team with him which shows the confidence they have in Paul, and rightly so. Once again i would say we not are looking at a major winner this year, but not ruling out a surprise in one of the smaller championships.

123 Dave Miles Jnr
Currently 15th in Points
Unusual to see Dave this low on the points chart at the minute, which seems to be due to a fair few dnfs. Strong contender for the Southern Championship for me as he seems to be able to pull it all together when somethings at stake.

And the others?

60 Ben Marjoram
Current European and British Champion
Another who falls into the unknown category, Ben is due to race again soon, but weather that's back to full time racing or not remains to be seen, and probably depends on if he gets an offer for his car. Never to be discounted though as his impressive list of wins shows. If hes there, he will be in contention.

151 Nick Smith
Nick has recently raced at Coventry and Wimbledon, has a wealth of experience and as long as he keeps his head, is more than capable of taking another major win. Was second to Marjoram the last time the world was run at Wimbledon and will do well to equal that this year, may seem a long shot now, but if Nick continues and races like he can, its more than achievable.

18 Mark Eaton
A fantastic return at Wimbledon in February saw him involved in the race of the year, ending up with nothing but a smile, he returned to Coventry and got respect again for a good drive to 4th in the final. Mark seems to not be taking this too seriously however, but will race when he feels like it, and if he does the championships, I'm sure he will feature in them in some way.

There are plenty of others as you look though the points chart that are very good on their day, and could spring a surprise at any meeting, namely Ross Eaton (who sprung a surprise in the National a couple of years ago), Brett Westbroom, Steve Sutch, either of the Hamiltons, Dave Smith, Alex Meadows,  Dave Pike and Eddie Edmunds with the ex-Cooper gold car at his disposal.  Not to mention the new breed of Jordan Aylward, Chris Capon, Micheal Robinson and Alex Meadows who was pretty impressive at Coventry.

And what about the Scots?
Not having seen any of the racing so far at Lochgelly i would be guessing to review each driver at this moment (hopefully someone will do that for me!), but i believe they will be pretty competitive by the time the British Championship heads their way in June. The drivers who have made it out so far is a pretty quality list too, with ex-f2 star Stuart Gilchrist winning the last 3 races and David Frame winning the 3 races before that. I will certainly enjoy seeing the progress of these drivers over the coming months

Superstox racing is full of surprises at the moment though, that much, that after Ipswich we could all be talking about another driver who's set for good things, we will just have to wait and see.