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Group 1 provisional overall final placings
1 Jonathan Walker 129 points; 2 Tommy Keet 118; 3 David Townrow 109; 4 Chris Walne 103; 5 Stephen Tucker 95; 6 Mark Blackburn 92 etc.

Group 2 provisional overall final placings
1 Philip Broad 129; 2 Magd Mohaffel 125; 3 JJ O'Malley 117; 4 James Chan 112; 5 Mark Figes 104; 6 John Kane 98 etc.

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WALKER & BROAD JOIN THE CATERHAM CHAMPIONS CLUB

Jonathan Walker(above)and Philip Broad clinched the two Circuit Driver Caterham Academy championship titles at Brands Hatch on Saturday (20 Oct), 22-year-old motorsport engineering student Broad winning the final Academy Group 2 race of the season to secure the crown, while in Group 1 third place at Brands was enough for Walker to take the title.

The Group 1 race was red-flagged after nine laps when the car of Andrew Stanford went off and had to be retrieved from a dangerous position. At this point 18-year-old Tommy Keet (Chichester) had just made it past Surrey-based motorsport design company exec Walker for the lead, with Jonathan pushed back to third by David Townrow (London). James Cunningham, Chris Walne and Ben Atkinson-Willes completed the top six.

"It's a shame it ended when it did," said Walker, "because it was shaping up to be one of the best races of the year." Walker, who won three of the season's seven events, plans to continue his track career in the Caterham Roadsport Challenge in 2008.

The Group 2 Academy race went the full distance, Broad (Cippenham) snatching victory from the grasp of Magd Mohaffel (London) on the final lap after a superbly close race. Broad had led the opening lap, up from fourth on the grid, before pole-sitter Mohaffel had taken the lead.

Less than a second covered the top five cars at the line - Broad, Mohaffel, Mark Figes, James Chan and Ross Culver, with early-season championship leader JJ O'Malley sixth. It was Broad's second race victory in succession and his fifth successive podium finish.

CADWELL WINS FOR WALKER & BROAD

The Circuit Driver Caterham Academy is set for a thrilling finale in October following race wins yesterday (Sunday) at Cadwell Park for Jonathan Walker and Philip Broad.

Walker claimed a handsome five-second victory in the Academy Group 1 race to claim his third win of the season and extend his championship lead to 13 points ahead of next month's Brands Hatch season-closer.

Pole-sitter Jonathan overcame early leader David Townrow on the second lap and stayed in front for the duration. Townrow slipped to fourth but profited from a last-lap tangle between Chris Walne and James Cunningham while they disputed second. Townrow nipped past to take runner-up spot with Walne recovering to third. Tommy Keet chucked away his front-row grid advantage with an opening-lap spin; he placed eighth after posting fastest race lap.

In Group 2, Broad's maiden race win came after pole man Mark Figes came to grief on the opening lap following a collision with the cars of early leader JJ O'Malley and James Chan; Figes retired but the others were able to continue.

O'Malley came home 12th, dropping him from the championship lead to third overall, seven points behind new leader Broad. Magd Mohaffel finished second to Broad at Cadwell and moves into championship runner-up slot also.

Chan drove a blinder after his first-lap problem, posting fastest lap on his fight back to fourth behind Broad, Mohaffel and John Kane.

FIGES & WALKER RUN AWAY WITH COMBE ACADEMY HONOURS

Jonathan Walker led nearly all the way at Castle Combe yesterday (Sunday) to win the Circuit Driver Caterham Academy Group 1 race. It was the Surrey-based Motorsport designer's second event win of the season and it extends his championship lead.

Walker beat 18-year-old Tommy Keet to the chequered flag by less than eight-hundredths, with David Townrow enjoying an excellent run from ninth on the grid to third at the end. Andrew Stanford, James Cunningham and Chris Walne rounded out the top six. Nineteen-year-old Ben Atkinson-Willes was in the wars, crashing out of the race and the championship top five.

Academy Group 2 provided another ultra-close encounter, with Kent driver Mark Figes claiming his first win after Philip Broad and championship leader JJ O'Malley had both taken turns out front. Polesitter James Chan was caught napping at the start and slipped back to fifth; he did well to claw his way back to third by the end behind Figes and Broad. Magd Mohhaffel placed fourth, O'Malley fifth and Rob Vissers sixth.

MALLORY WINS FOR WALNE & O'MALLEY

Four rounds - four different winners: Chris Walne yesterday (Sunday) took top honours at Mallory Park in the Circuit Driver Caterham Academy to maintain the closely fought battle at the top of the Group 1 drivers championship. Meanwhile in Group 2, JJ O'Malley regained winning ways to take his third event victory of the season.

Irishman Walne's triumph came in a race which had to be restarted after a pile-up at the Esses left several cars blocking the track. Walne and Jonathan Walker diced all the way to the chequered flag with Chris two-tenths ahead of Jonathan and less than a second covering the top four - Walne, Walker, Mark Cunningham and Mark Blackburn - at the line. Stephen Tucker held second at one point but spun on the penultimate lap; he came home 12th.

O'Malley's charge to victory in Group 2 came from seventh on the grid, displacing pole-sitter and early leader Mark Figes and others along the way. Philip Broad and Magd Mohaffel each took a turn in the lead before O'Malley was able to reassert himself on the final lap. Ross Culver played a key role also until he and Figes tangled. As in Group 1, less than a second covered the top four at the end, with Leeds driver O'Malley ahead of Broad, John Kane and Mohaffel.

O'MALLEY ON TOP AT HAREWOOD

JJ O'Malley scored his second successive Circuit Driver Caterham Academy event win on Saturday (12 May) when the championship's Group 2 tackled the Harewood hillclimb course.Thirty-nine-year-old Leeds-based manager O'Malley beat his closest rival, Londoner Magd Mohaffel, up the hill by 1.3s. O'Malley now leads Mohaffel overall by two points.

Kent-based underwriter Mark Figes was third quickest at Harewood while Aintree podium finisher Ross Culver placed fourth despite a gearbox problem.

Both Academy groups will be taking centre stage at the Caterham 7 Jubilee meeting at Donington Park, the venue for their maiden circuit race on 2/3 June.

BALL WINS AT CURBOROUGH, ATKINS-WILLES ASSUMES SERIES LEAD.

Nineteen-year-old Ben Atkinson-Willes moved into the lead of Circuit Driver Caterham Academy Group 1 on Saturday (5 May) thanks to a third-place finish in the championship's final sprint event, at Curborough in Staffordshire.

Hampshire-based Ben was beaten on the day by Andrew Ball (Lothersdale), who was the only driver to break the 66-second barrier, and second-placed Stephen Tucker(pictured above) , the Norfolk-based RAF man. 

The Aintree Sprint victor, 18-year-old Tommy Keet, placed eighth after putting all four wheels of the course on his second run and losing his time. Academy Group 2 are in action on Saturday (12 May), hillclimbing at Harewood in Yorkshire, ahead of the first race for both groups at the Donington Park Caterham 7 Jubilee meeting at Donington Park on 2/3 June .  

ACADEMY ROOKIES TAKE TO THE TRACK

Britain's newest racing drivers took their first tentative steps in competitive motorsport yesterday (Saturday) when they contested the opening round of the Circuit Driver Caterham Academy - an against-the-clock sprint event at Aintree.

Fifty-one Roadsport drivers were in action at the Liverpool Motor Club's Spring Sprint, split into two separate groups. In Group 1 it was one of the youngest drivers, 18-year-old Tommy Keet, from Chichester, who emerged with the best time, shading motorsport electronics guru Jonathan Walker (Camberley) by a quarter-second.

JJ O'Malley (Leeds) survived a pigeon strike to record the best time in Group 2, nearly a second ahead of Londoner Magd Mohaffel.

PROVISIONAL RESULTS
Group 1 1 Tommy Keet 53.79s; 2 Jonathan Walker 54.05s; 3 Chris Walne 54.07s; 4 Ben Atkinson-Willes 54.68s; 5 Mark Blackburn 55.16s; 6 Stephen Tucker 55.19s etc.
Group 2 1 JJ O'Malley 53.74s; 2 Magd Mohaffel 54.62s; 3 Ross Culver 54.67s; 4 Philip Broad 54.99s; 5 Mark Figes 55.13s; 6 Paul Fleury 55.31s etc.

Backers for Caterham Motorsport's UK and European race series include Bilstein, Brian James Trailers, Cheesman Products, Circuit Driver, Cooper-Avon Tyres, Demon Tweeks, evo, HSBC Insurance Brokers, Mitchell Cotts, Motorsport News, Stack and Steel Fabrications

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