THEALE businessman Matt Fenton ‘outshot’ Formula 1 motor racing stars before spending a VIP day out at the British Grand Prix last weekend.

A director of Claude Fenton (Holdings) Ltd, he won a clay-pigeon shoot day at the West Wycombe Estate held in aid of Wings for Life Spinal Cord Research Foundation, the charity looking to find a cure for spinal cord injuries.

It was magnificently supported by Red Bull drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen, along with team principal Christian Horner, his wife and former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell, David Coulthard, Mark Webber and several other F1 personnel.

And when you’ve got A-listers like them, it was no surprise that more than £100,000 was raised on the day.

As for the actual shooting, Matt says: “We were in teams on five stands, shooting about 125 clays per stand.

“At the end, the instructors picked one person from each team who they thought were the best. I was lucky enough to be chosen, went first and managed to hit 23 out of 25.

“Yes, if I was really milking it, I beat everyone, but it wasn’t really about the competition, it was a great day out for everyone raising money for Wings for Life and the shoot-off was a bit of fun in the end.”

He added: “I was pleased to support the charity as they say there are an estimated 50,000 people in the UK living with a spinal cord injury and sadly, there is currently no medical treatment available to repair them.”

Then last Sunday, Matt and his wife Sarah were guests of the JCB company and the Williams F1 team at the British GP.

  • READING City and Woodley United can look forward to a nice cash hand-out from the FA Cup prize fund.

With a new international TV deal on board, the FA have doubled the payments for next season, so winning teams in the extra preliminary round will now take home £2,250 and £2,890 for the following round, while the losers will receive £750 and £960 respectively.

Reading City kick-off in the Cup with a home tie against Western League side Chipping Sodbury Town on August 11, while Woodley visit South Midlands League club Crawley Green.