Bowman back to defend world crown

Kieran Bowman will defend his gold roof at the Adrian Flux Arena on Saturday (5pm) when the 2L banger World Final is staged.Bowman took the chequered flag in the biggest race of the year for the 2L bangers and has worn the gold roof with pride after a very busy 12 months.An unbelievable schedule has seen him compete at the majority of King’s Lynn meetings as well as all over the UK.Last weekend, he raced at Emmen in Holland on the Saturday night before racing at Smallfield Raceway, near Gatwick Airport, on the Sunday.Bowman remains one of the quickest around the Lynn circuit. Can he become only the second driver to successfully defend a title which was first raced for in 1987?Things will not be easy for him with the field of cars in the main race likely to be approaching 50 cars.The list of qualifiers reads like a who’s who in the world of 2L bangers. London’s Karl Douglas will be looking to improve on his rostrum finishes in the past couple of seasons and Belgium’s Julien Waroquet and Scotland’s Jamie Sangster will launch a big challenge. One driver who has spent his whole career chasing this title and would be a hugely popular winner would be Swaffham’s Ashley Garrod.His best result in this race was a third-place finish back in 2021 – can he improve on that this Saturday?Other local drivers on the grid are Darren Fendley and Troy Cobbett while looking to grab a spot on the grid in the last chance will be Sam Hildon and Andy Frost. Also in action are the 2L stock cars and junior bangers.Levi List and Austen Freestone are amongst the entries for the saloons whilst Morgan Bailey and William Cartwright will be in action in the junior bangers.