Despite having only driven the car once - and that in the wet at Snetterton - Stuart put his ex-PEKA Racing Tatuus RC96 on pole and was never headed in the race, finishing almost 11 seconds ahead of second place man Matthew Slinn and setting fastest lap into the bargain!
This time there were no disasters with the fire extinguisher (last years race at Thruxton) and the car behaved perfectly, despite our only having two days to prepare after a very wet test at Snetterton and a wayward front air splitter.
Brazilian Paulo RIZZI ISPER in the 1997 Tatuus pushed Stuart hard for pole and started alongside on the grid - which he left somewhat too early in fact for he earned a jump start penalty! Despite that, Stuart had a lead of around a second at the end of lap one and, once Paulo's engine expired on lap two, there was no-one to challenge Stuart as he pulled away from the second place battle at a rate of one second a lap.
After Rizzi Ipser pulled out, Nick Dudfield had Matthew Slinn and Elliot Lewis challenging him for second place, both getting through to push Nick down to fourth at the flag.
So, Stuart won by almost 11 seconds and set fastest lap - a clean sweep of points and a statement of intent for the rest of the season.
See you at Brands Hatch.
Race Results 12 laps.
| Pos | Driver | Car | Division | Time | |
| 1. | Stuart Wood | Tatuus RC96 | 2000 | 13:19.47 | Pole & Fastest Lap |
| 2. | Matthew Slinn | Tatuus RC97 | 2000 | +10.61 | |
| 3. | Elliot Lewis | Mygale 95/96 | 2000 | +11.07 | |
| 4. | Nick Dudfield | Stryx BD96 | 2000 | +21.02 | |
| 5. | Michael Nippers | Stryx RT96 | 2000 | +21.84 | |
| 6. | Justin Cadman | Martini Mk63 | 1700 | +22.27 |
This page was last updated on 31 March 1998