Shobdon: One Last Push
September Update – Stewards Cup & King’s Cup
And just like that, we reached the final race weekend of the 2026 season.
Shobdon welcomed us back for two of the biggest trophies on the calendar – Saturday’s Stewards Cup, followed by the King’s Cup on Sunday.
There was one important condition attached to the weekend: if you wanted a shot at the King’s Cup, you first had to compete in Saturday’s Stewards Cup.
Nine racers made the trip to Herefordshire, although continued mechanical issues unfortunately ruled Racer 23 out of the weekend.
Weekend Entrants
Racer | Pilot | Navigator | Aircraft | Registration |
5 | Tony Maxwell | Dan Grundy | Vans RV-6 | G-CIFL |
9 | Bob Johnson | Allen Pavawal | RV-7 | G-CISZ |
15 | John Kelsall | Ian Scarbrough | Vans RV-7 | G-XERK |
22 | David Moorman | Adam Geere | Cap 10B | G-DAVM |
23 | Jonathan Willis | – | Vans RV-6 | G-TNGO |
25 | Martin Gosling | – | Robin DR400 | G-GOSL |
67 | Tim Sharpe | – | Vans RV-3 | G-RODZ |
82 | Gordon Bellerby | David Lee | Robin DR401 | G-GORD |
111 | Neil Fleming | Catherine Ruddick | Shark | G-TOPE |
A Very Different Looking Shobdon
After months of dry weather, the countryside finally looked green again.
Much of the summer had been spent racing over endless yellow and brown fields which, from the air, had an annoying habit of all looking exactly the same. September had transformed the landscape and suddenly roads, fields and other ground features were much easier to separate.
Helpful for the navigators.
The weather, however, had some other ideas.
With Runway 26 in use, our scatter was refreshingly simple – one point almost directly ahead after take-off before a gentle left towards TP1 and the start of the course.
TP1 – Follow the Triangle
TP1 sat beside a road intersection with one particularly useful landmark immediately in front of it – a large triangular field.
Find the triangle, follow it towards the top...
Bright orange turning point.
Nice and simple.
TP2 – Allow for the Wind
From TP1 came a near 90-degree left towards TP2.
The point itself was a long way in the distance, so the hills beyond became our main rollout reference, with a group of tall trees helping narrow things down as we got closer.
Saturday’s gusty 20+ knot crosswind made things considerably more interesting.
Point the aircraft directly at TP2 and the wind would happily push you inside the course. Rolling out slightly early and allowing the wind to drift you back onto track proved the better option.
TP3 – Back We Go
One of the biggest turns of the course, Around 120 degrees. Not the biggest of the year but always a good test of turning skill.
It almost felt like doubling back on yourself.
This was also one of the longer legs, so good visual references mattered. A white chimney and white building stood out beautifully against the deep green fields and provided a great rollout reference before lifting your eyes up and right to find the orange marker.
TP3 was actually one of the few points this year that could be spotted from a surprisingly long way away...
Provided the sun was shining on it.
Without the sun, orange apparently becomes remarkably good camouflage.
TP4 – Which Warehouse?
TP4 involved a gentle left towards what looked like a fairly obvious group of warehouses.
There was just one problem... There were several groups of warehouses.
And they looked suspiciously similar from the air.
Remember that for later.
From there, a good 90-degree left brought us back towards the airfield and the home straight. Course learnt... It's time to race!
Stewards Cup – Saturday
Saturday was... lively.
Small pockets of rain had already caught us during practice, and while conditions improved enough to race, the wind remained strong and gusty, which meant bumps... Lots of them.
Every bump seemed determined to steal another knot of airspeed, while the crosswind meant aircraft were crabbing their way towards several of the turning points.
Suddenly it wasn’t simply about flying the shortest course - keeping the aircraft settled and holding onto as much speed as possible became part of the challenge too.
Racer 82 opened proceedings at exactly 15:00, with the field progressively released behind.
Racer 25.
And finally Racer 67 at 15:10:15.
All racers away within 10 minutes, fantastic, the chase was on.
First Across Isn’t Always First
Racer 111 put together a seriously quick race and was first across the finish line.
From the ground, that looked like the winner, with several spectators in the shobdon cafe gardens prematurely congratulating the shark while in the sky.
Then the GPS units came out, as always!
Under the handicap rules, competitors have a 1% speed tolerance. Go beyond it and the extra performance starts coming back off your result.
Racer 111 had gone too quickly. The result was a hefty 25.37-second speed penalty.
Suddenly the race looked very different.
There was drama elsewhere too.
Racer 5 was disqualified after missing TP5 on Lap 1 – and having flown the course, you can understand how it happened. Several groups of very similar-looking warehouses sat around that part of the course. A classic case of mistaken identity.
Racer 9 successfully completed the race, but unfortunately the GPS data wasn’t usable. Without valid race tracking data, the rules meant a DQ.
Once everything had been checked and corrected, Saturday’s podium became:
🥇 Racer 22 – David Moorman & Adam Geere > Stewards Cup Winner
🥈 Racer 25 - Martin Gosling
🥉 Racer 111 - Neil Fleming & Catherine Ruddick
But the best bit was how close it had become.
Racer 22 – 15:41:47
Racer 25 – 15:41:48
Racer 111 – 15:41:50
Racer 82 – 15:41:51
Four aircraft & Four seconds between them.
After nearly 87 nautical miles of racing through gusty winds and turbulence - not bad.
King’s Cup – Sunday
Credit: Scott Lee Photography
Sunday morning felt like somebody had changed the weather settings overnight, with sunshine & much lighter winds.
And, most importantly, considerably smoother air.
Without the constant bumps stealing speed, average speeds began creeping upwards across the field.
And for one racer in particular, quite a lot upwards...
Eight competitors lined up for the final race of the 2026 season.
Racer 82 once again led everyone away at 11:00, followed by 25, 22, 111, 5, 15 and 9 before Racer 67 finally crossed the start at 11:09:42.
The King’s Cup was underway!
XERK Goes Flying
Racer 15 clearly enjoyed Sunday’s conditions.
Starting sixth, Racer 15 absolutely tore through the field.
JK's handicap sat at 165.12kts.
Actual average race speed?
170.05kts.
Racer 15 was physically across the finish at around 11:40:03 – more than half a minute before the next aircraft arrived.
For anyone watching, it looked rather convincing.
There was just one small problem...
They’d gone far too fast.
Racer 15 had exceeded the handicap by almost 3%, resulting in an enormous 52.75-second speed penalty.
A commanding first-across-the-line performance suddenly became fifth in the classified result.
Sometimes disappearing into the distance is actually a sign that things are going too well.
Four Aircraft. One Finish.
With Racer 15 already home, one of the best battles of the entire weekend was developing behind.
Racer 25 was heading for the line.
Racer 22 was hunting it down.
And Racer 5 was closing incredibly quickly from behind.
Coming onto the home straight, Racer 22 dropped the nose and went for it.
The Cap 10B accelerated beyond 150 knots in the dive towards the finish, desperately trying to draw alongside Racer 25.
Racer 22 on the left.
Racer 25 in the middle.
Racer 5 charging in from the right.
Three completely different aircraft converging on the same piece of sky.
Racer 25 held on by around 10 feet.
Racer 22 crossed almost alongside, with Racer 5 arriving just moments later and Racer 82 was just pipped on the final leg by them all.
Watch the finish from Racer 22
[VIDEO – Racer 22 GoPro: King’s Cup home straight and diving finish]
The final run was captured from Racer 22’s cockpit, giving probably the best view of just how close the three aircraft were as they charged towards the line.
From inside the aircraft it felt quick.
Watching it back...
It looks even quicker.
And the King’s Cup Goes To...
Of course, by this point we all know the routine.
Crossing the line first is only the beginning.
Download the GPS.
Check the speeds.
Check the turns.
Add the penalties.
And Sunday once again produced a different winner.
Racer 9 had quietly put together exactly the sort of race required – quick, clean and penalty free.
The final King’s Cup podium:
🥇 Racer 9 – Bob Johnson & Allen Pavawal > King’s Cup Winner
🥈 Racer 25 - Martin Gosling
🥉 Racer 22 - David Moorman & Adam Geere
Racer 22 picked up four seconds for cutting TP1 on Laps 2 and 3, while Racer 5 collected six seconds for the same offence.
Racer 15’s enormous speed penalty dropped John Kelsall to fifth despite being comfortably the first aircraft physically home.
Proof once again that air racing isn’t simply about who can fly fastest.
And That’s 2026
Changeable weather.
Strong winds.
A beautifully smooth Sunday.
Navigation mistakes.
GPS drama.
Speed penalties.
And a King’s Cup finish with three aircraft side-by-side.
Shobdon gave us a little bit of everything for the final weekend of the season.
And with the last race complete, we can also congratulate our 2026 champions:
🏆 2026 Pilot Champion – Jonathan Willis, Racer 23
🏆 2026 Navigator Champion – Adam Geere, Racer 22
A huge congratulations to both, and to every pilot, navigator, official, timekeeper, handicapper, volunteer and host airfield that has helped make another season of British Air Racing possible.
From Haverfordwest to Fishburn, Wellesbourne, Sherburn and finally Shobdon, we’ve had new competitors, familiar faces, ridiculous margins, mechanical gremlins and plenty of stories along the way.
For now, the aircraft head back to the hangars... The stopwatches can have a rest.
And the navigators can finally stop looking suspiciously at every orange object they see in a field.
Until next year...
Photos gallery: https://adobe.ly/3Vp92vN
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