It was a disappointing night for our national hot rod racer Mark Shelper at Ipswich last night (Saturday 16 March) in the latest world championship qualifying round.
“It started off ok,” Mark told us. “I was running around fifth or sixth after halfway in heat 1, but then the boot panel was knocked loose and hanging off, so I got a technical DQ (disqualification).
“In heat 2, I was put up the kerb in first corner so lost a load of places, then the train went past. To be fair, once I got back in near the back, the car actually felt the best it’s been at Ipswich, but we just had too much bad luck in that one. 
“I started back in 26th in the final, but the battery went flat – we started to misfire so I pulled off” said Bristol-based Mark, whose car is sponsored by the Injection Centre, JB Racing, and Woodfield Stables.
The Weltch Media logo has been on Mark’s Peugeot 206cc since the start of the 2022 season, continuing our long-standing involvement in motorsport. In the past we have supported Ben Power in the UK Legends Car Championship and James Holman in the Irish Championship. We’ve also backed James in several online iRacing events, and in 2018 we teamed up with Mendips Raceway to present the Weltch Media West of England Hot Rod Championship.
Mark made headlines in 2022 by being the only driver from the South West to qualify for the world championship final.
National hot rods are the top level of short track racing in the UK, with sophisticated lightweight production-car replicas whose engines produce around 240bhp.
Photos: Mark’s Peugeot (788) in action at Ipswich last night by Martin Kingston
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