Harper wins RugRacers 20th Anniversary opening race
Schumacher’s Elliott Harper has won the opening round of the popular British Series RugRacers which returned for its 20th Anniversary over the weekend. With drivers arriving to a fast and flowing track for the start of the 2026/27 series, the competition was looking intense through the field with World, European, & National Champions alongside last season’s winners & other race series winners from all over the UK. Modified champion Harper lead away from Alex Thurston & Harley Eldridge for Round 1 of qualifying, super close with the lead sapping nearly every lap saw all 3 over the line after 5 mins separated by 2/10ths in favour of Alex from Harley & Elliott. Round 2 went to Elliott from Alex & Andy Murray. Round 3 again to Elliott from Alex & Harley with the TQ still open going into Round 4 it was Elliott who would seal it ahead of Harley & Alex. In Leg 1 of the double mains Elliott took control from the off chased by Alex & Harley, Harley hitting trouble after 2 mins dropped her out of the battle, seasoned veteran Chris Grainger pushing up from 6th to take 3rd in the Leg. Leg 2 Elliott lead a lights to flag victory ahead of Alex who pushed all the way but had to defend from Harley & Andy for most of the final, Andy finding a way past to take 3rd for the Leg ahead of Harley & Peter Eagles, making the overall for the day Elliot, Alex & Andy.
In Stock Touring car, defending champion Zak Finlay leading out the gate from Ollie Payne, Ollie taking Round 1 ahead of Ollie & Ethan Southall, Zak hitting back to take Round 2 ahead of Adam Southgate & Finley Whitelock. Round 3 went to Zak ahead of Finley & Ethan leaving R4 with all to play for, Ollie taking Round 4 but crucially Zak had the faster time by 2/10ths to lock in the TQ. In yte opening final Zak lead a lights to flag victory largely untroubled after the 1st few mins seemingly having a lap advantage around 4/100ths which was enough to build a gap over Ollie Payne, the battle for 3rd between Finley, Adam & Ethan went the full distance with some excellent & respectful racing as they crossed the line in that order seperated by less than half a second. The second Leg was shaping up nicely with Zak leading the way & Ollie staying within striking distance, misfortune would befall Ollie after getting close dropping him down the field, with Finley, Adam & Ethan again battling together but now for 2nd spot, Adam taking advantage of some lapping traffic to get a move on Finley to finish 2nd ahead of him Ethan in 4th, Ollie Payne recovered to 5th after a brilliant drive back from nearly a lap down ahead of Marty Ross.
Front Wheel Drive also had the top 3 returning from last year along with BRCA Champion Aiden Ripley, Jake Hill – BTCC Champion alongside Billy Fletcher making his FWD Debut and many others. The competition was tough, Defending Champion Ethan Southall led them away and took R1 ahead of Adam & Matthieu Dambrine, R2 went to Ethan ahead of Adam with Aiden taking 3rd, R3 went in the favour of Aiden from Matthieu & Ethan leaving a shot at TQ still on for Round 4, Ethan took the round ahead of Aiden & Ben Moorey finding his form after a break from racing. Leg 1 was a lights to flag victory for TQ man Ethan ahead of Aiden who pushed all the way with the gap of 3ths as they crossed the line, Matthieu making up a spot to take 3rd 1 second behind. Leg 2 on paper looked similar with Ethan, Aiden, Adam, Matthieu & Ben breaking away with the gaps staying very static for a lot of the race as everyone seemed to be maxed out on potential pace, Matthieu dropping a place to 5 from Ben, Ethan crossing the line ahead of Aiden & Adam to take the win and all showing how close FWD racing is.
Source: RugRacers [Facebook]
