Adam Hawker led his team, The Hobgoblins, to victory on Saturday as the Formula Grasstrack Association brought the curtain down on their 2025 season with the Halloween Spooktacular at Victory Moto Park near Leamington Spa.
Race Report by Ross Wharton – Images DSM Photos
The septet of Hawker, Simon Bence, Isaac Collins-Bullock, Chris Chadwick, Brandon Gutteridge, Den Edwards, and Sam Crabtree formed a strong team and won by 9 points, ahead of Phil Thomas’ Phantoms, Graham Thomas’ Ghosts and Wayne Broadhurst’s Bats, respectively.
Hawker was consistent with two wins and 3 second places in his five rides and was backed up by the impressive Simon Bence, who was returning to FGA action after nearly 20 years away from the 125cc machines. Bence scored 35 points from 5 rides. Sam Crabtree excelled in the slick conditions to throw in 33 points, his best performance to date since making his FGA debut in the summer.
After three legs, there was only 1 point splitting the Phantoms and the Hobgoblins, with the Phantoms ahead, but the 2nd half of the meeting saw the Hobgoblins excel and, despite Phil Thomas taking his 4th race win in his last ride, Hawker’s men took victory.
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The phantoms had 4 non-regular FGA riders in their 7-man team, so to finish only nine behind the winners was a great achievement. Matt Davis borrowed Daughter Chloe’s bike to make his FGA Debut, and despite being on a smaller machine, the man from Oxford finished the day with 28 points, earning himself a B final slot. John Cox turned the clock back to make an outing on the little 125 machine and put in a solid performance of 33 points and an A final position. Phil Thomas led his team to silver with an outstanding 39 points, dropping 1 point to reigning champion Broadhurst after the interval.
Graham Thomas’s team was also fielding another four non-regulars, including former FGA front runner David Meredith, who was having his 2nd Grasstrack outing of the season, and former 250cc man Ant Worrall, who hadn’t competed in 3 years. Meredith showed his class regularly, finishing in the top 3, totalling 34 points in his 5 rides. Graham Thomas’ maximum was ruined by a third place in his 2nd outing when his machine ran sick on the 3rd lap whilst leading.
Wayne Broadhurst’s 5 ride maximum wasn’t enough to challenge the top three teams despite Shaun Tedham and Ben Crabtree doing their best to back up their captain. Tedham, the former Stoke speedway rider, was making his Grasstrack debut but was able to come on strong in his final 2 rides with a 2nd and a win, which was enough to get into the B final. Crabtree was consistently in the top and was also rewarded with a B final slot.
In traditional Formula Grasstrack style, Senior finals were held at the end of the day, depending on what points they had scored in their heats. Marcus Crutchington was able to take consolation by winning the C final, and Matt Davis would leave Victory Field a happy man with Victory in the B final, which earned him Senior Rider of the Day. Broadhurst once again dominated the Final to win ahead of Graham Thomas and John Cox. Cox made hard work of it, coming from 7th on lap one to squeeze out the hard-charging Sam Crabtree for third place.
The youth classes race in a North Vs South team event, with the North proving too strong, winning by 15 points. Reggie Goodwin was the sole E-bike rider and was joined by Kobi Gutteridge, Harry Worrall, Rogan Woolley, Jessica Cox and Joe Bain as the winning team. In the individual finals, Levi Collins finished with a maximum haul, dominating the Auto cadets. Grayson Rickards raced to a solid 2nd place, and Harry Worrall would take 3rd despite suffering an awkward fall in his 4th outing. Worrall would take youth rider of the day for dusting himself off and getting back out on track. Stanley Austin took 4th spot, battling away on his QR50 against the much quicker KTM SX50’s. In the Cadets, Kobi Gutteridge made a late class change due to mechanical issues with his own machine. He was lent a suitable pit bike by British Sidecar champion Josh Goodwin, and he soon got to grips with the bigger bike, often finishing behind Levi Collins in the joint races. Darcy Lewis-Powell returned to FGA action to put in a consistent performance for 2nd.
Rogan Woolley took the top step in Cub class ahead of Lilly Bence, both making their class debuts. Bence has the extraordinary achievement of competing in 3 different categories in 2025. Autos, Cadets and now Cubs.
Joe Bain was in superb form to take the win in the Junior Class ahead of Jessica Cox. Both riders’s earning big points for the Northern team.
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Results
Youth
Team North 225 points
R. Goodwin 40, K. Gutteridge 40, H. Worrall 31, R Woolley 39, J Bain 40, J. Cox 35
Team South 210 points
R. Goodwin 40, G. Rickards 34, L. Collins 40, S. Austin 25, D. Lewis- Powell 35, L. Bence 36,
Senior
Hawker’s Hobgoblins 195
A. Hawker 37, S. Bence 35, I. Collins-Bullock 25, C. Chadwick 16, B. Gutteridge 20, D. Edwards 29, S. Crabtree 33
Phil’s Phantoms 186
M. Davis 28, A. Binns 20, C. Glaze 16, P. Thomas 39, N. Chadwick 23, S. Main 27, J. Cox 33
Graham’s Ghosts 155
D. Meredith 34, B. Mills 16, A. Denton 15, G. Thomas 38, C. Thorpe 14, S. Dowling 13, A. Worrall 25
Broadhurst’s Bats 148
S. Tedham 28, O. Glaze 21, J. Baddeley 9, W. Broadhurst 40, M. Crutchington 18, B. Crabtree 26, R. Powell 6
