EWS Round 5 & Overall Championship – Report
The well-known Essex Winter Series concluded it’s 2024/25 season over the weekend at its venue in the South-East of the UK. In the LRP Modified class, Olly Jefferies and Elliott Harper were tied on points going into the race, with Kyle Branson just two points behind, setting up a great showdown to round out the series. In qualifying, Olly was on form, taking his factory Awesomatix to the fastest time in every round, putting a firm grip on the overall title. Kyle Branson lined up second on the grid with his Tonisport-backed Awesomatix, with Alex Thurston taking the new Mugen MTC-3 to third. Elliott Harper essentially saw his chances of another EWS title disappearing with a fourth place grid spot for Schumacher, and Stefan Chodzynski rounded out the top five with another Tonisport-supported Awesomatix. In the final, Olly stamped his authority on the season with a commanding win. Kyle took second place, about 1.5-seconds back on Olly, whilst Elliott and Alex battled hard for third. Elliott took third, whilst side-by-side racing over the last few laps allowed Bailey Graves to come through to fourth and Jack Collins take fifth. In the overall points, Olly Jefferies took the title, with Elliott finishing in the runner-up position. Kyle was third overall with Alex fourth in the standings. Harley Eldridge, missing this race to be at the ETS in Vienna, was fifth overall.
In the Rush Stock class, Zak Finlay had the title in the bag but looked for a clean sweep of pole positions, securing the overall TQ. Tony Broad had a season not to his usual standards, but found more speed this time and started second on the grid, ahead of Ben Moorey and Billy Fletcher. Zak once again dominated the final to take another win with his Zombie/Tonisport supported Awesomatix, but there was action behind. Ben got past Tony in the first minutes and held a solid second place for Awesomatix, with Billy, Tony and Ricky Copsey having a great fight for third. Billy held on to take third on the day for Schumacher, with Tony fourth and Ricky fifth with their Xrays. So overall, Zak was confirmed as champion, Ben second overall with Billy rounding out the podium. Tony picked up fourth in the points, with Ricky fifth – matching the finishing order on the day.
The MB Models Front Wheel Drive class had been dominated by Adam Southgate – the Iris driver winning every qualifying round and every final for the whole season so far. He again started on pole position with Michael Chapman, making his first start of the season, second, ahead of Stuart Rand, Nathan Parker and Byron Russell. Adam rounded out the perfect season with the A Final victory, Michael taking a solid second place, and Byron coming through to take third ahead of Nathan, and Thomas Looney rounding out the top five. In the points, Adam took the top step of the podium, with Stuart second and Nathan third. Byron finished fourth overall and Stuart Collard rounded out the top five.
Source: EWS [ewsevents.co.uk]
