25 Cars turned up at Wimbledon on 20th November for the annual Best in Britain meeting. Most interest in the pits was centered around the new car from Dave Miles Jnr, and very smart and well built it looked too. Dave however didn't really get the chance to give the car a proper run as his engine gave up in the first race.
Heat 1 got underway as Phil Proctor wasted no time getting up front, however this wasn't to last for long as Luke Hamilton collected a post on the start line straight which brought out the yellow flags and put an end to Luke's evening. Proctor led the restart away again but this time Dicky Raymond was right with him and eventually passed the 279 car. Further back star man Ben Munford and Defending 'Best' champ Liam Lambert were moving up nicely. The yellows came out again as Ryan Eaton rode over Ben Marjoram's bonnet exiting the pit turn while Peter Gray and Sam Stacey also found the 'Hamilton' post. Raymond led the restart shortly before Munford took over with Lambert in pursuit, Colin Aylward was making good use of the bumper and moved to third with Shaun Brooker following. These four were matched enough on speed to keep their positions to the flag.
Result 233, 4, 51, 69, 376, 517, 279, 426, 59, 151
Alan Gray shot into the lead at the start of heat 2 and built a fairly useful gap between the chasing pack headed by Proctor and Raymond. Further back the bumpers were being used well with a good battle between Steven Jackson, Brooker and Aylward with the latter looking much more like his usual self and getting clear from the rest. Liam Lambert caused some worrying moments as he spun on the pit bend whilst on the other bend Paul Anscombe was sent into a spectacular roll bringing the race to a halt. Raymond shot straight into the lead on the restart but he had Aylward, Brooker and Marjoram right with him and you would have thought it was only a matter of time before they swallowed him up, but the experienced campaigner showed his true skill to keep enough of a gap from the superstars to take a fine race win ahead of some big names in the form of Aylward, Brooker, Marjoram and Jackson.
Result 426, 51, 69, 60, 376, 17, 233, 124, 517, 540
Chris Capon had a go at leading in the Best in Britain final, and was looking like he was this time last year for a while as all eyes turned to the pit bend where Liam Lambert dispatched Steven Jackson ending both drivers chances although they did rejoin. Aylward, Brooker and Marjoram were looking in their own league as they raced through the pack pretty quickly, with Ryan Eaton not too far behind. Up front Martyn Coles had taken the lead as the Gray brothers did a spinning display on the pit bend. Coles couldn't keep the chasing trio behind him and it became clear that the winner would come from these. Marjoram landed a blow on Aylward but Colin was close enough to give a big shove back, to retake the lead and allow Brooker into second also. Further down the order Lambert, Wesbroom and Dave Miles went into the scoreboard bend like a train with Miles ending up in the fence. Up front Aylward had control and with the evenly matched Brooker and Marjoram not able to make up any ground , Colin took his 3rd Best in Britain title to join Garry Sparkes as the only men to win 3. Brooker was second with Marjoram third.
The Superstox once again delivered as the formula of the night and Aylward finally got a bit more reward for his great efforts this year and we couldn't of asked for a more fitting winner of the last race of 2011.