Betta & Classic 2026 Saloon Championship

In this class there’s a free choice of chassis, but motors are restricted to group 12. The Betta Mustang proved by far the most popular bodyshell.
It was an early start for Saturday practice, this was followed by best presented body judging and 1 minute qualifying runs.   Thanks to our sponsor Ian Fitzpatrick who also judged best presented. The top 3 were very close, the winner was Mick Metcalfe’s Castrol Mustang- the 4th year running Mick has won best presented   

Full Saloon Results

Race Reports          F1      |      Sports/GT

Web site by Chris Frost, race report by Mark Witham

© Copyright British Slot Car Racing Association  2026  Photos copyright C.Frost 2026 All rights reserved

1/32   Nationals   2026

Main Grade Final

The main grade finalists were Graham Woodward ,  Mick Metcalfe  Mark Croston , Pete Clarkson, Pat Skene, Gordon Dickson, Mark Steventon and Richard Beamish (who was top clubman). In the race, Graham led from start to finish to record a comfortable win. Mick changed tyres for the final to a pair that caused him early problems, while Mark Steventon settled down into second place. As the race continued, Mick worked his way gradually up through the field until he and Mark were battling for second. The final segment had Mick finishing on blue and Mark on red, and that just enabled Mick to squeeze past and get second overall in the last minute.

Qualifying

James Cleave was top qualifier with a 5.926 second lap, Ross Grogan was second on 5.992, only these two were under 6 seconds.   Graham Woodward was the fastest main grade qualifier, 9th overall on 6.291 sec. The qualifying seeded the 46 competitors into 6 segmented heats

Heats

In the first heat, Steve Taylor held off a fast closing Nick Lake to finish on 187, from Nick and Chris Frost. Mick Metcalfe won the E heat with 200, while Gordon Dickson was the quickest in the D, but a number of accidents limited him to 194. The C heat was very close with David Sargent leading throughout to record 207 - just a lap ahead of the rest recovering James Noake after suffering early body damage. 6 National champions contested the B, where Dave Stevenson and Greg Harwood were never more than a lap apart throughout. Dave edged it with both on 213, while Graham Woodward and Paul Harwood were similarly matched and both finished on 209. On to The A heat, and 6 more National Champions. James Cleave led throughout, from Gavin Wills and Ross Grogan. Chris Thomas was the only unlucky runner not to progress to the Open Final, which allowed Dave Stevenson to take the place.

Final

The open final had Simon Scott on red, James Cleave on white, Dave Stevenson on green, Gavin Wills on orange, Lee Parsons on blue, Will Stemman on yellow, Ross Grogan on purple, Josh Bryant on black. When James took an early lead, it was Gavin and Will who took up the chase. After 4 segments, James had increased his lead over Will to 5 laps, while Will had a 3 lap lead over Gavin.. Simon had a gear strip, which dropped him to the back,and Lee lost a body pin (and a fair bit of time). Dave Stevenson in 4th and Josh in 5th were just 2 laps back from Gavin. Ross was still his 10 lap penalty behind Josh. In segments 6, Josh with 37 laps and Dave with 36 both moved past Gavin. With just the final segment to go, James was well clear with a 9 lap lead over Will, who was 3 laps up on a tight battle between Gavin (back to 3rd), Josh and Dave. With Gavin just holding Josh off by a couple of feet as they entered the last 10 seconds, both deslotted on the corner entering the main straight. They were marshalled in the order the came off, and Gavin just held onto 3rd by 1 foot !

Main Grade Final - start

Mark C       Graham             Mark S         Pat             Richard           Gordon             Mick          Pete

 Pat                Pete               Mark C          Mick           Graham

Mark S           Richard           Gordon

James Cleave’s winning car

Will’s second place car                                Gavin was third