BOLTON stock car racer Lee Fairhurst aims to become world champion this weekend.

He races in the BriSCA Formula One World Championship Final in Skegness on Saturday.

It is the competition's biggest and most prestigious race of the season, with the winner claiming the world champion title and getting to wear a gold wing or roof on their car for the next 12 months.

Fairhurst's main rival will be Stuart Smith Jnr from Rochdale who will start on the front row alongside the Bolton man on the 36-car grid at Skegness Raceway in Lincolnshire.

It is an achievement just to make the starting grid in Saturday's race.

Racers have scored points at a number of qualifying rounds throughout the season. The top 48 points scorers then went into two semi-final races with the top 10 in each race qualifying for this weekend's big race.

The rest of the grid is made up of foreign entrants from Holland and New Zealand who are seeded into each third row of the grid, based on time trials held on the day.

Stuart Smith Jnr, the current British champion, is the son of the late Stuart Smith, who was regarded as the best driver the sport has seen and who won six world titles during his career.

Smith Jnr is going for his second world championship victory, having won it on shale at Kings Lynn in 2007.

Fairhurst is also a former holder of the world championship title, having won his title at Skegness in 2012.

He made history in that race, having started from the last row of the grid and coming through the pack to win in style.

It is regarded by many as one of the best and most action-packed world final races in history, as the title had never been won from the back row before.

Both drivers have enjoyed good recent form on the fast tarmac track at Skegness, with Lee taking several wins at the Lincolnshire oval this season.

Starting at the front is no guarantee of a good finish in the race as stock car racing is a full contact sport, where the steel front bumpers are permitted to be used.

Skegness Raceway is owned and promoted by Rob and Asha Speak from Tyldesley, who purchased the stadium in 2016.

They have invested a lot of money in the infrastructure and facilities and Saturday will be the first world final they have staged.