The capital has a new champion as Reece Priestly celebrated his run away lead at the top of the Spedeworth Winter Banger League, with a crash happy performance in the grand final.

Totally aware that his lead was unassailable, Priestly enjoyed his night of glory by hitting anything in sight. In doing so he also ultimately determined the other final placings as well.

Round 15 last week had been a racer’s night with a very fast track. The drivers known for their speed rather than wrecking such as Darren Terry Brand came to the fore.

The first heat saw a huge crash even before the start line as drivers jostled for position. Somehow Pete Osborne led the race from early on and came home first. 

The look of shock on his face as he won was a picture in itself. Colin Jones was second with Darren Terry Brand third, Priestly fourth.

Heat two saw Mitcham’s Jones get away quickly chased by in particular Steve Penfold from Ashtead. With still a chance of third in the league, Penfold needed results.

For two laps he nibbled at the leader, before eventually passing on the inside on the back straight. He then held off a last bend lunge to secure the maximum points for a win.

The final in round 15 reverted to the chaotic carnage race fans have been used to at Wimbledon stadium this season.

With the pressure off Priestly to gather more points, his Dreamer team set about The Boyz team from Ashtead, led by Captain Steve Penfold.

Among the madness, only Jones scored any points of significance.

After a total of 16 rounds and a grand final, Priestly had scored 269 points, which was almost over a hundred points more than Robert Barnes who finished in second place.

If Barnes had not seen red and picked up a six-month suspension, the battle at the top would have continued right up until the final race. As it was, once the ruling had come in, Priestly had the result in the bag.

The surprise of the contest was Mitcham’s Colin Jones - having switched from the stock cars only at the turn of the year, his experience saw him score heavily in each round. By securing third overall just behind Barnes was very credible.