Mid Wales racing driver Ben Power clinched his best-ever championship finish in an incident-packed final weekend at Brands Hatch.

The 21-year-old from Welshpool finished seventh in the season-long UK Legends Car Championship after picking up valuable points in the final two-day event.

He survived a car fire before scoring a podium finish in the very last race of the year.

Saturday’s races were relatively quiet – working hard to “scrub in” new tyres, which he described as “like driving on ice”. He still managed two ninth places and a fifth.

He started the first of Sunday’s races from the front row and was running in second place, until when being pushed down Paddock Hill past another car, the car got out of shape and hit him in the side sending him into a spin.

Luckily, all the following cars avoided him and he rejoined the race, but a few laps later the engine started to leak oil, and before he could reach the pits, the car caught on fire. Power pulled in next to a marshals post, where it was put out.

The team managed to get the car out for race two where he finished 12th from the back of the grid.

The final saw him take the lead from a second-row start, but championship front-runners John Mickel and Lawrence Davey got past on the last lap, leaving Power to finish third.

“It was a real up-and-down weekend to finish a real up-and-down season,” said Power. “Overall, though seventh place in the championship is a good performance. If luck had been on our side, we could have ended much higher.

“It certainly shows we are progressing every year.”

Guttercrest Racing is backed by the family-owned aluminium guttering company Guttercrest, based in Oswestry. The team has further support from Cardiff-based PR consultancy Weltch Media, as well as Ripla Designs.

The 21-year-old from Guilsfield, near Welshpool, finished consistently high in the places throughout the two-day Legends Car Championship meeting, with 9th, 7th and 6th places on Saturday followed by a 5^th and, 6^th place in Sunday’s heats.

In the final race, he charged through the grid from 15^th to 4^th and was set for an overall podium place as third-highest scoring driver, but he clipped a kerb, damaging a wheel hub and breaking the suspension.

“It was another disappointing weekend,” said Power. “I was going well in the final, but the luck isn’t with us at the moment.”

In the previous meeting at Mallory Park, he was leading the final, and on course for his first win in the formula, when a car ran into him on the last lap, sending him off track and out of contention.

The former British Junior Rallycross Champion would not only have won that race, but would have been overall top points scorer on the day too, giving him the event win.

The series now heads to Brands Hatch for the final rounds at the end of October, with Power on course for a top 10 finish in the points championship.

Legends racing originated on the US oval tracks, and the cars have an American look, being 5/8-scale replicas of classic US models. Guttercrest Racing runs a Ford Coupe 1937 replica, with a 1250cc Yamaha motorcycle engine.

With identical cars and the fastest drivers having to start at the back of the grid, there is said to be more overtaking in a single Legends race than in a whole season of Formula 1. Motors TV broadcasts most rounds of the series.

Guttercrest Racing is backed by the family-owned aluminium guttering company Guttercrest, based in Oswestry. The team has further support from Cardiff-based PR consultancy Weltch Media, as well as Ripla Designs.

Mid Wales racing driver Ben Power is heading south – determined to bounce back from a last-lap crash which robbed him of his first win in the UK Legends Championship.

Until the dramatic incident at Mallory Park, caused by drivers close behind, Power, aged 21, was set for his most successful meeting since switching from rallycross three years ago.

Now, the man from Guilsfield, near Welshpool, heads to Pembrey aiming to do well on one of his favourite tracks.

“I always enjoy racing at Pembrey, so I’m keen to look at the positives now instead of dwelling on what happened at Mallory,” he said.

“We had superficial damage from getting shunted off the track, but the car is good as new now, and we’re keen to get going.”

The former British Junior Rallycross Champion would not only have won the final race, but would have been overall top points scorer on the day too, giving him the event win.

The Pembrey meeting takes place over two days at the Carmarthenshire circuit on October 8 and 9.

Legends racing originated on the US oval tracks, and the cars have an American look, being 5/8-scale replicas of classic US models. Guttercrest Racing runs a Ford Coupe 1937 replica, with a 1250cc Yamaha motorcycle engine.

With identical cars and the fastest drivers having to start at the back of the grid, there is said to be more overtaking in a single Legends race than in a whole season of Formula 1. Motors TV broadcasts most rounds of the series.

Guttercrest Racing is backed by the family-owned aluminium guttering company Guttercrest, based in Oswestry. The team has further  support from Cardiff-based PR consultancy Weltch Media, as well as Ripla Designs.

Power, aged 21, from Guilsfield, near Welshpool, was set for his most successful meeting since switching from rallycross three years ago, until the dramatic incident.

In heat one at the Mallory Park event, he finished 4^th from 12^th on the grid, and in the second he took third place after starting 10th.

In the final, Power, who had worked his way from 13th on the grid, took the lead with a daring move around the outside of the two leading cars, three laps from home, and looked set for his first victory in the championship.

He entered Shaw’s hairpin for the last time, with three cars close behind. Contact between them under braking, shunted them into Power, forcing him to spin off and out of the race.

A post-race altercation in the paddock resulted in two of the drivers involved in the incident – John Mickel and Stephen Treherne – being disqualified from the day’s racing, but Power’s position was not reinstated.

“It was an extremely frustrating day,” said Power, the former British Junior Rallycross Champion. “I deserved to win that race, and would have been overall top points scorer on the day too, giving me the event win”

“It’s hard to find the positives from the day, but at least it does show I have the ability to win at this level. Now we have to build on that as we prepare for the next round in South Wales in October.”

Legends racing originated on the US oval tracks, and the cars have an American look, being 5/8-scale replicas of classic US models. Guttercrest Racing runs a Ford Coupe 1937 replica, with a 1250cc Yamaha motorcycle engine.

With identical cars and the fastest drivers having to start at the back of the grid, there is said to be more overtaking in a single Legends race than in a whole season of Formula 1. Motors TV broadcasts most rounds of the series.

Guttercrest Racing is backed by the family-owned aluminium guttering company Guttercrest, based in Oswestry. The team has further support from Cardiff-based PR consultancy Weltch Media, as well as Ripla Designs.

The series continues at Pembrey in Carmarthenshire on October 8 and 9.

Media release issued by Weltch Media.

Mid Wales racing driver Ben Power enjoyed mixed fortunes in the latest round of the UK Legends Car championship at Oulton Park in Cheshire.

Power, aged 21, from Guilsfield, near Welshpool, finished fifth in the opening heat, after a race-long battle which saw the top five finish within 0.5 seconds.

In race 2, he fought through from the back of the grid to finish eighth, and was running well in the final until he was tagged by another driver and spun off.

He recovered and was fighting back through the field when the throttle cable snapped.

”It wasn’t a textbook day, that’s for sure,” the 21-year-old observed after the meeting.” It’s especially disappointing after our recent successes, but it could have been worse.”

The day was indeed worse for team-mate Mark Higgins, the rally champion making a rare appearance in the series. He suffered engine failure in practice, and after the team worked flat-out to change the engine, there was a problem with the replacement unit after the first race.

Legends racing originated on the US oval tracks, and the cars have an American look, being 5/8-scale replicas of classic US models. Guttercrest Racing runs a Ford Coupe 1937 replica, with a 1250cc Yamaha motorcycle engine.

With identical cars and the fastest drivers having to start at the back of the grid, there is said to be more overtaking in a single Legends race than in a whole season of Formula 1. Motors TV broadcasts each round of the series.

Guttercrest Racing is backed by the family-owned aluminium guttering company Guttercrest, based in Oswestry. The team has further Welsh support from Cardiff-based PR consultancy Weltch Media, as well as Ripla Designs.

The series continues at Mallory Park in Leicestershire on September 11.

 Media release issued by Weltch Media

Had a good weekend at anglesey recently, Getting 3rd Overall on points on the Saturday and Driver of the day on Sunday for a good drive in the final coming from 20th to 4th in 7 laps.

Hoping for more of the same at Oulton Park on 20th August.