ESSEX WINTER SERIES 2018-19 – REVIEW
The 2018/19 Essex Winter Series was the largest yet, with around 120 entries at every one of the five championship events.
In the premier Modified class, which was supported by Scorpion Power Systems, Sweden’s Alexander Hagberg got the championship underway by sitting on pole position at the first event, gridding up ahead of defending champion Olly Jefferies, Elliott Harper and Northern Ireland’s Alan Bickerstaff. However, a big mistake from Alexander on the first lap of the single-leg A Final saw him retire early and immediately dent his championship chances. Olly came through to win, ahead of Elliott and Alan, with unsponsored driver Stefan Chodzynski taking fourth in the race.
The second round of the series took place in November, and Elliott this time took the overall TQ, ahead of Olly, with nitro racers Kyle Branson and Alex Thurston rounding out the top four on the grid. Elliott converted the pole position into a win, as the top four finished the A Final in their grid order. This left Elliott and Olly tied on points in the championship.
Round 3 of the series kicked off 2019, and it was again Elliott who took pole ahead of Olly. This time, Matthew White secured third on the grid, with Kyle in fourth. Out in front it was business as usual again for Elliott as he took the win again from Olly, but with Matthew and Kyle coming together in the race, Chris Grainger took third and Aaron Rose fourth.
Alexander Hagberg returned to the series for the penultimate event, and did so in style by taking pole over Elliott, Olly and Kyle. Alexander was kept honest in the final by Elliott, but Elliott wasn’t able to get past the Swedish multi-time World Champion, who took the win with Elliott second, Kyle third and Matthew moving into fourth after an error from Olly in the final.
The championship finale had Elliott once again securing pole position, as Olly lined up second yet again and Matthew took third on the grid, with Chris in fourth. Elliott took a comfortable win in the A Final, to secure him the overall championship crown, with Olly finishing up second (and taking second in the points standings), with Matthew taking third, but missing out on the overall podium by just one point.
The Scorpion Power Systems Modified overall championship was:
- Elliott Harper (600)
- Olly Jefferies (595)
- Kyle Branson (583)
- Matthew White (582)
- Chris Grainger (578)
- Alan Bickerstaff (576)
- Stefan Chodzynski (572)
- Florian Joos (564)
- Harley Eldridge (562)
- Chris Ashton (556)
Over in the Super Stock class, it was Zak Finlay who eventually secured the overall season title after a battle throughout all the events with Tony Broad, who once again took second in the standings, and Colin Jackson, third overall.
The Amateur Stock class was newly introduced for this year, and featured close racing with hand-out motors used for the first time. A class which only allowed un-sponsored drivers to enter, every race and event provided excitement with no predictable outcome any time! It was Billy Kavanagh who took the overall title, with Jamie Murray taking second and Dave Lumbis third in the final points standings.
The EWS Organisers would like to sincerely thank all the racers for a fantastic year of racing, and all the companies who supported the series, including Scorpion Power Systems as the sponsor of the Modified class. We hope to welcome you all back again next year for the ninth season of the Essex Winter Series championship.
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