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Backers for Caterham Motorsport's UK and European race series include Autosport, Bilstein, Brian James Trailers, Caged, Cheesman Products, Comma, Cosworth, Cooper-Avon Tyres, Demon Tweeks, evo, HSBC Insurance Brokers, Mitchell Cotts, Motorsport News and Stack.

Gary Halcrow made Caterham Roadsport Challenge history at the weekend, adding the Roadsport championship title to that which he had already won in the Roadsport B class. It’s the first time that one driver has ever won both Roadsport titles in the same season.

And Bournemouth-based Halcrow did the job in great style in his Colards Motorsport-prepared machine, winning Friday’s Brands Hatch Roadsport round and also yesterday’s final race of the season despite the handicap of a broken wrist, legacy of his Silverstone crash earlier in October.

Halcrow started race one with the intention of scoring a safe top-10 finish in order to settle the championship, but his rapid rise through the field from seventh on the grid persuaded him that victory was a possibility.

The Dorset driver locked on to the front running trio – pole man David Pearce, Jeremy Ellis and Adrian Wagstaff – within two laps and soon lifted third from Wagstaff, whose race ended in the Paddock Hill Bend gravel trap shortly after. Ellis was the next to fall from the front, Jeremy spinning at the Druids hairpin and losing several slots in the process.

Simon Young then joined Pearce and Halcrow in a fierce three-way battle for victory which was to last until the final lap, even though Halcrow looked to have chucked away his chances with a spin at Druids eight laps from home.

The excursion left Gary trailing the leaders by more than three seconds but he set about reeling them in and, within three laps, was back in the hunt once more. The final five laps were a nail-biting affair and any one of the protagonists could have triumphed.

As they attempted to round Druids three abreast for the final time there was too little track available for all three to make it safely around. Young was the loser, his Caterham shooting off into the gravel to bring a sad end to what had been a stirring performance.

Halcrow crossed the line just three-tenths ahead of Pearce and was jubilant to have won the championship with a race victory: “I started the race thinking that 10th would be just fine, but when I got up to third, I thought ‘Hang on, I could win this… let’s go for it!’ I was worried about my wrist before the start but once the adrenalin started pumping I didn’t feel a thing. It’s been a great season for me, winning both the Roadsport and the Roadsport B championships, and now I am looking forward to moving up the Caterham racing ladder in 2007.”

After Young’s demise Adrian Argyros inherited third ahead of Gary Brown, the recovered Ellis, Chris Bialan, Toby Dicker and Patrick Scharfegger.

Halcrow led Saturday’s final round from pole position to chequered flag, but nearly lost the win on the line as a deluge of tropical proportions turned the track into a skating rink. Pearce, who had fought back to second after a dire start, made a do-or-die lunge as they approached the chequered flag but lost out to Halcrow by nine-hundredths of a second.

Eight cars spun off on the penultimate lap, so bad were the conditions, and Pearce joined them in the barriers moments after crossing the line.

Tunbridge Wells-based Dicker made the most of home advantage to deprive Bialan of third place on the treacherous last lap. Robin Russell looked set for fifth until he fell victim to the conditions, handing the position to Young, who had started from the back of the grid.

Having already sealed championship victory in the Roadsport B class, Halcrow rested his injured wrist by sitting out the B races. In Friday’s encounter Broadstone’s Chris Bialan made certain of championship second by taking his sixth win of the season. He did it the hard way after a dire start from the pole-sitter left him languishing eighth on the opening lap.

Bialan clawed his way back to the front by the sixth lap after passing early leaders Toby Talbot and Graham Johnson and held on in front despite 16 laps of intense pressure from Dax Humberstone. After slipping to fifth, Talbot fought back to third by the end ahead of Mike Robinson, Johnson and Colin Powell.

Saturday’s B race brought a welcome maiden win for Mike Robinson, who battled past the cars of Johnson and Humberstone in the opening five laps and who then whittled away leader Bialan’s three-second advantage over the course of the next six laps.

Robinson put one over Bialan into Paddock eight laps from home and romped to a 2.7-second victory, annexing third in the championship in the process. “I have been praying for rain all weekend,” said delighted 24-year-old Effingham-based Mike.

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS
Roadsport race one 1 Gary Halcrow; 2 David Pearce +0.321s; 3 Adrian Argyros; 4 Gary Brown; 5 Jeremy Ellis; 6 Chris Bialan. Fastest Lap Halcrow.
Race two 1 Halcrow; 2 Pearce +0.086s; 3 Toby Dicker; 4 Bialan; 5 Simon Young; 6 Clive Coote. FL Pearce. Driver of the meeting: Halcrow.
Roadsport B race one 1 Bialan; 2 Dax Humberstone +0.957s; 3 Toby Talbot; 4 Mike Robinson; 5 Graham Johnson; 6 Colin Powell. FL Bialan.
Race two 1 Robinson; 2 Bialan +2.764s; 3 Talbot; 4 Martin Emerson; 5 Johnson; 6 Humberstone. FL Robinson. Driver of the meeting: Bialan.

PROVISIONAL FINAL CHAMPIONSHIP PLACINGS
Roadsport 1 Halcrow 265 points; 2 Brown 214; 3 Pearce 199; 4 Bialan 196; 5 Argyros 187; 6 Young 157 etc.
Roadsport B 1 Halcrow 248; 2 Bialan 241; 3 Robinson 215; 4 Humberstone 214; 5 Emerson 209; 6 Talbot 189 etc.

Dorset driver Gary Halcrow enjoyed an eventful weekend (7/8 Oct) at Silverstone – clinching one championship title, accelerating into the lead of another and crashing his Caterham just three of the highlights…

Unusually for Halcrow he failed to win any of his four Motorsport News Caterham Roadsport Challenge races – the victories on this occasion fell to David Pearce and Chris Bialan (below)

– but he did manage to wrap up the Roadsport B crown with a meeting in hand.

On Saturday he finished second, just six-hundredths behind his friend and near neighbour Bialan, to seal his championship victory and maintain his 100% podium finishing record which includes eight race wins.

But on Sunday Halcrow blotted his perfect Roadsport B record with a first-lap crash, spinning at Brooklands and triggering a seven-car shunt which brought the race to a premature halt. “It’s not the perfect way to celebrate winning the championship,” conceded Halcrow, who sprained his wrist in the impact, “but of course I am delighted to have won the series well before the last race.”

Bialan romped away at the restart to win by nearly 6s his second race of the weekend and his sixth of the season, and to move into second overall in the Roadsport B points standings. With two races remaining he leads Martin Emerson for runner-up spot by a point, with Mike Robinson another point behind after claiming second at Silverstone today. Dax Humberstone took third in each race.

The dramas were not confined to Roadsport B. In the Roadsport ‘premier division’, Pearce overhauled early leader Halcrow six laps from the end, and then repulsed a late comeback charge by Gary, to claim his maiden win – in fact, his first-ever podium – by six-tenths, with Gary Brown following Halcrow home for third and Simon Young fourth ahead of Bialan and Toby Dicker.

Championship leader Jeremy Ellis set fastest lap in qualifying only to be put to the back of the grid for a technical infringement. He was then forced into retirement with handling problems after only two laps of the race.

With Halcrow tackling Sunday’s Roadsport race with a bandaged wrist, he could have been forgiven for taking it easy. Not a bit of it… Gary raced into an early lead over Pearce and Brown and fought tooth and nail with David for victory in the closing laps before chucking away his hopes of another win with a spin on the penultimate lap.

That gave Pearce the break he needed to take his second career win. “It was a great race,” said David. “Gary was going very well, as usual, but I always felt that I had the slight edge. Perhaps it was just that extra bit of confidence gained from winning on Saturday that brought me through…”

Pearce was 1.6s ahead of Young at the chequered flag, with Halcrow recovering to take third and a 10-point championship lead over Ellis. Jeremy put his heart and soul into the race, blasting from the back of the grid up to fourth by lap 10, only to be called to the pits by race stewards to check a fluid leak. Ellis was released on to the track once more and shattered the lap record on his way to an unrewarding 14th. Brown was another hindered by a call to the pits; he finished eighth.

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS
Roadsport race one 1 David Pearce; 2 Gary Halcrow +0.612s; 3 Gary Brown; 4 Simon Young; 5 Chris Bialan; 6 Toby Dicker, etc. Fastest Lap Pearce (rec).
Race two 1 Pearce; 2 Young +1.587s; 3 Halcrow; 4 Chris Fryar; 5 Richard Webb; 6 Adrian Wagstaff, etc. FL Jeremy Ellis (rec).

Roadsport B race one 1 Bialan; 2 Halcrow +0.062s; 3 Dax Humberstone; 4 Mike Robinson; 5 Robert Crofton; 6 Toby Talbot, etc. FL Halcrow.
Race two 1 Bialan; 2 Robinson +5.580s; 3 Humberstone; 4 Talbot; 5 Colin Powell; 6 Martin Emerson, etc. FL Talbot.

PROVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP PLACINGS
Roadsport 1 Halcrow 220 points; 2 Ellis 210; 3 Brown 189; 4 Bialan 165; 5 Adrian Argyros 163; 6 Pearce 156 etc.

Roadsport B 1 Halcrow 248; 2 Bialan 203; 3 Emerson 202; 4 Robinson 201; 5 Humberstone 199; 6 Talbot 172, etc.

Backers for Caterham Motorsport’s UK and European race series include Autosport, Bilstein, Brian James Trailers, Caged, Cheesman Products, Comma, Cosworth, Cooper-Avon Tyres, Demon Tweeks, evo, HSBC Insurance Brokers, Mitchell Cotts, Motorsport News and Stack.

Final rounds: 20/21 October, Brands Hatch.

Nick Carter

Gary Halcrow’s mission to win all four Snetterton rounds of the Motorsport News Caterham Roadsport Challenge may have failed yesterday (Sat) but the Dorset driver came very close indeed.

Halcrow won both of the Roadsport ‘premier division’ races to accelerate into second place in the championship, and also took the spoils in one of the two Roadsport B events, in so doing putting the B class title very nearly beyond the reach of any of his rivals.

The Roadsport class points leader remains Jeremy Ellis,(below)

but the Crystal Sport Holidays-backed racer suffered a less satisfactory weekend, finishing behind Halcrow in race one and then spinning out of race two to record his first non-finish of the season.

Adrian Argyros played a key role in the opening Roadsport race, his engine spewing oil over much of the track in the early laps which led to several excursions for other drivers. The race was red-flagged and restarted, with Halcrow and Ellis duelling to the chequered flag and Peter Earnshaw and Simon Young battling over third. Young had fought through from 21st on the grid; fourth was his best finish of the year.

Ellis led the early laps of race two but, entering the Esses alongside Halcrow on the third lap, slid off the track and into retirement. Halcrow was delayed in the incident, resuming 11th, but made it back into the top three by lap 10 and past Earnshaw for victory with three laps to spare. Earnshaw beat off a late-race attack from Young to hold on to second place. Less than a second covered the top three at the flag, with Earnshaw voted Driver of the Meeting.

There was a stoppage in the first of the Roadsport B races also with several cars crashing out at Riches on the opening lap, including that of Cadwell double winner Chris Bialan. The restarted event provided a great battle for victory between Halcrow and Lancashire jeweller Dax Humberstone, with Mike Robinson and Graham Johnson right on their tails.

Less than half a second separated Humberstone, Halcrow, Robinson and Johnson as they crossed the line after 14 laps. It was Dax’s maiden Roadsport B win.

Humberstone(below)

and Halcrow were at it hammer and tong in race two also until Dax spun his chances away on the penultimate lap. Halcrow went on to an 8.2-second win – his eighth of the B season – over Robinson, second place a personal best for Mike. Johnson made it on to the podium for the first time with third spot.

With four races to come in October – at Silverstone and at Brands Hatch – Halcrow enjoys a whopping 51-point lead in the B division. Emerson, Robinson and Bialan are the only drivers with a mathematical chance of overhauling him, and their hopes are slim.

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS
Roadsport race one 1 Gary Halcrow; 2 Jeremy Ellis +1.085s; 3 Peter Earnshaw; 4 Simon Young; 5 Toby Dicker; 6 Gary Brown; fastest lap Ellis.
Race two 1 Halcrow; 2 Earnshaw +0.248s; 3 Young; 4 Brown; 5 Chris Fryar; 6 David Pearce; fastest lap Halcrow.
Roadsport B race one 1 Dax Humberstone; 2 Halcrow +0.104s; 3 Mike Robinson; 4 Graham Johnson; 5 Peter Flynn; 6 Martin Emerson; fastest lap Johnson.
Race two 1 Halcrow; 2 Robinson +8.288s; 3 Johnson; 4 Emerson; 5 Toby Talbot; 6 Humberstone; fastest lap Robinson.

PROVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP PLACINGS
Roadsport 1 Ellis 204 points; 2 Halcrow 185; 3 Brown 160; 4 Adrian Argyros 150; 5 Chris Bialan 142; 6 Patrick Scharfegger 118 etc.
Roadsport B 1 Halcrow 230; 2 Emerson 179; 3 Robinson 167; 4 Humberstone 165; 5 Bialan 163; 6 Johnson 148 etc.

Backers for Caterham Motorsport’s UK and European race series include Autosport, Bilstein, Brian James Trailers, Caged, Cheesman Products, Comma, Cosworth, Cooper-Avon Tyres, Demon Tweeks, evo, HSBC Insurance Brokers, Mitchell Cotts, Motorsport News and Stack.

Next rounds: 7/8 October, Silverstone.

Jeremy Ellis made a superb start to the second half of the Motorsport News Caterham Roadsport Challenge season over the weekend (15/16 July), winning both his races at Cadwell Park to edge further into the championship lead.

With six rounds remaining, Bromley-based Ellis enjoys a 36-point advantage over Cheshire’s Adrian Argyros (below)

after clocking up six race victories in his Crystal Sport Holidays-backed car.

Gary Brown (Englefield Green) was Ellis’s closest challenger at Cadwell, finishing second to the Kent man in both races, with Argyros and Roadsport Driver of the Day Simon Young (Henley) the other podium visitors.

In Roadsport B, Dorset driver Gary Halcrow – a seven time victor this season already – had to be content with seeing his friend and team-mate

Chris Bialan (Broadstone) take the honours. In the first event Bialan (left) won by less than half a second from Hampshire’s Peter Flynn, and in race two Chris romped to a seven-second win over Bedford driver Martin Emerson. Halcrow was third in each race and Flynn voted the Driver of the Day.

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS
Roadsport race one 1 Jeremy Ellis; 2 Gary Brown +15.683s; 3 Adrian Argyros; 4 Gary Halcrow; 5 Simon Young; 6 David Bend. Fastest lap Ellis.
Race two 1 Ellis; 2 Brown +13.731s; 3 Young; 4 Patrick Scharfegger; 5 Argyros; 6 Halcrow. Fastest lap Argyros
Roadsport B race one 1 Chris Bialan; 2 Peter Flynn +0.499s; 3 Halcrow; 4 Mike Robinson; 5 Martin Emerson; 6 Dax Humberstone. Fastest lap Emerson.
Race two 1 Bialan; 2 Emerson +7.210s; 3 Halcrow; 4 Robinson; 5 Graham Johnson; 6 Flynn. Fastest lap Emerson.

PROVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP PLACINGS
Roadsport 1 Ellis 186 points; 2 Argyros 150; 3 Halcrow 145; 4 Brown 130; 5 Bialan 120; 6 Scharfegger 118 etc.
Roadsport B 1 Halcrow 192; 2 Bialan 163; 3 Emerson 149; 4 Robinson 132; 5 Humberstone 131; 6 Tony Talbot 127 etc.

Next rounds: 9 September, Snetterton.

Twin wins for Gary Halcrow and victories for Jeremy Ellis and Chris Bialan were the highlights of the Motorsport News Caterham Roadsport Challenge races at Donington Park yesterday (Sat), with Ellis extending his points lead in the Roadsport class and Halcrow achieving a similar feat in Roadsport B.

Bournemouth driver Halcrow's progress to his fifth consecutive Roadsport B race victory was anything but straightforward. Despite the advantage of pole position, Gary was beaten to the lead on the opening lap by Mike Robinson and then, having dislodged Robinson from top spot on lap three, Halcrow spun away his advantage five laps later.

It took Gary four laps to whittle away Robinson's five-second lead, scrabbling past him at the Goddards hairpin on the penultimate lap and going on to win by three-tenths. "That was hard work," said Halcrow. "Fair play to Mike, it was one of the hardest battles I have ever had."

Alas Robinson's second place was stripped from him in the scrutineering bay, his car failing a ride height check. Chris Du Boulay thus inherited second, a reward for the Ulsterman's hard work in battling back from 13th after a first-corner spin. Norfolk caterer Toby Talbot was close behind for third and Chris Bialan, another to have slipped well back at the start, fourth.

Team-mates Halcrow and Bialan (Broadstone) staged a battle royal in the second race, swapping the lead several times a lap as they pulled well clear of all their pursuers. Halcrow handed victory on a plate to his friend two laps from the end when he made a mistake at Coppice. Magnanimous in defeat, Gary said: "I'm made up for Chris, he beat me fair and square. If it had been anyone else in front I'd not have been so happy."

"We are the best of friends but there was no love in that battle," added Bialan. "I told Gary I'd whip him one day!"

Du Boulay was a distant third and Robinson, who started from the back after his first-race exclusion, was fourth.

The first of the day's Roadsport races was brought to a sickening halt on the opening lap after a collision between the cars of Paul Glenister and Nick Brooks. Glenister had spun to a standstill out of Coppice Corner when Brooks, unsighted, cannoned into him. The hefty impact sparked a blaze from which a shaken Glenister was quick to extricate himself. Brooks's car fortunately spun clear of the conflagration and Nick was also uninjured. The race was immediately halted and the fire brought under control within 30 seconds.

At the restart Halcrow got the drop on pole man Ellis, which sparked a six-lap tussle for dominance between the two men. The matter was settled on lap seven at McLeans when their cars touched and Ellis's Crystal Sport Holidays-backed Caterham spun through 360 degrees, rejoining third behind Bialan.

As Halcrow sped serenely to victory, all eyes were on Ellis and Bialan and their battle for second, Ellis settling the matter with a finely judged manoeuvre at the final corner. Halcrow crossed the line nearly five seconds ahead of Ellis, with Bialan third followed by Adrian Argyros, Patrick Scharfegger and Tony Hawkins.

Halcrow said: "It was a great battle with Jeremy and a shame that we touched. It was a racing incident and certainly there was no malicious intent. Whether I would have won or not had that not happened, I can't be sure."

Halcrow and Ellis were at it again in Roadsport race two, this time with Argyros joining the party. The three frontrunners provided the best entertainment of the day as they circulated Donington, often side by side, in their bid to gain dominance. Regrettably it was a mechanical problem for Halcrow which broke up the battle, Gary losing a rear wheel as he exited McLeans for the 11th time. He spun into retirement.

Argyros kept Bromley-based Ellis honest for the remaining 11 laps but Jeremy did not put a wheel wrong and went on to claim his third race victory of the season. Behind Argyros there was a furious battle for third place settled in Gary Brown's favour only on the final lap. Kevin Dodd and Bialan chased him to the line.

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS

Roadsport race one
1 Gary Halcrow; 2 Jeremy Ellis +4.922s; 3 Chris Bialan; 4 Adrian Argyros; 5 Patrick Scharfegger; 6 Tony Hawkins; 7 David Pearce; 8 Luke Embling; 9 Gary Brown; 10 Clive Coote etc. Fastest lap Scharfegger.
Roadsport race two
1 Ellis; 2 Argyros +4.456s; 3 Brown; 4 Kevin Dodd; 5 Bialan; 6 Scharfegger; 7 Pearce; 8 Robert Thomas; 9 Lee Cunningham; 10 Hawkins etc.
Fastest lap Ellis.

Roadsport B race one
1 Halcrow; 2 Chris Du Boulay +16.902s; 3 Toby Talbot; 4 Bialan; 5 Dax Humberstone; 6 Martin Emerson; 7 Colin Powell; 8 Robert Crofton; 9 Peter Flynn; 10 Andy Skinner etc. Fastest lap Halcrow.
Roadsport B race two
1 Bialan; 2 Halcrow +1.238s; 3 Du Boulay; 4 Mike Robinson; 5 Flynn; 6 Emerson; 7 Crofton; 8 Graham Johnson; 9 John Brewer; 10 Skinner etc.
Fastest lap Halcrow.

PROVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP PLACINGS
Roadsport
1 Ellis 108 points; 2 Argyros 101; 3 Bialan 85; 4 Hawkins 81; 5 Halcrow 77; 6 Dodd 70 etc.
Roadsport B
1 Halcrow 118; 2 Bialan 95; 3 Emerson 91; 4 Humberstone 82; 5 Talbot 81; 6 Johnson 71 etc.

Next rounds: 24 June, Oulton Park

Jeremy Ellis edged into a narrow points lead in the Motorsport News Caterham Roadsport Challenge at the weekend (29/30 April) thanks to a win and a third-place finish at the Croix-en-Ternois circuit in France.

Unhappy with his car’s handling, Bromley-based Ellis had to settle for third in Saturday’s opening event – the first Roadsport Challenge race ever held outside the UK. Adrian Argyros (pictured above) was the victor after a great tussle with Gary Halcrow, who was pronounced fit to race despite knocking himself out in a paddock accident. Argyros crossed the line less than half a second ahead of Halcrow, with Ellis a further six seconds in arrears.

His Crystal Sport Holidays-backed Roadsport much improved for Sunday’s sprint, Ellis was able to race away from Halcrow after a mighty battle to win by 14 seconds; Clive Coote’s dramatic drive to third spot earned him the Motorsport News Driver of the Day Award. Erstwhile championship leader David Bend was fourth, having finished down in 12th on Saturday.

In the Roadsport B division, Bournemouth-based Halcrow maintained his unbeaten run, following up his Mallory Park victories with twin wins over Dax Humberstone and Martin Emerson in each of the French rounds.

Less than a second separated Halcrow, Humberstone (pictured right) and Emerson at the end of Saturday’s thriller, with the gap between them not very much larger on Sunday. Both races provided some superb action with the victor in doubt right up to the final lap.

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS
Roadsport race one
1 Adrian Argyros; 2 Gary Halcrow +0.471s; 3 Jeremy Ellis; 4 Chris Bialan; 5 Adrian Wagstaff; 6 Tony Hawkins; 7 Gary Brown; 8 Kevin Dodd; 9 Clive Coote; 10 Toby Dicker etc. Fastest lap Argyros (est rec).
Roadsport race two
1 Ellis; 2 Halcrow +14.514s; 3 Coote; 4 David Bend; 5 Wagstaff; 6 Hawkins; 7 Argyros; 8 Bialan; 9 Luke Embling; 10 Dicker etc. Fastest lap Wagstaff.
Roadsport B race one
1 Gary Halcrow; 2 Dax Humberstone +0.453s; 3 Martin Emerson; 4 Toby Talbot; 5 Mike Robinson; 6 Chris Bialan; 7 Andrew Walton; 8 Peter Flynn; 9 David Pierpoint; 10 Colin Powell etc. Fastest lap Humberstone (est rec).
Roadsport B race two
1 Halcrow; 2 Humberstone +0.842s; 3 Emerson; 4 Powell; 5 Talbot; 6 Graham Johnson; 7 Robinson; 8 Walton; 9 Pierpoint; 10 Bialan etc. Fastest lap Halcrow.
Full results available at www.msttiming.com

PROVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP PLACINGS
Roadsport 1 Ellis 70 points; 2 Argyros 67; 3 Wagstaff 60; 4 Bend 59; =5 Hawkins & Halcrow 57 etc.
Roadsport B 1 Halcrow 80; 2 Emerson 63; =3 Bialan & Humberstone 59; 5 Talbot 55; =6 Johnson & Robinson 51 etc.

Backers for Caterham Motorsport’s UK and European race series include Autosport, Bilstein, Brian James Trailers, Caged, Cheesman Products, Comma, Cosworth, Cooper-Avon Tyres, Demon Tweeks, evo, HSBC Insurance Brokers, Mitchell Cotts, Motorsport News and Stack.

Next rounds: 27 May Donington Park

Gary Halcrow (no 21 pictured above leading Adrian Argyros) made a supercharged start to his Motorsport News Caterham Roadsport Challenge campaign today (Sunday) at Mallory Park, winning three of his four races and moving into the Roadsport B division championship lead.

The Bournemouth driver is one of only two men contesting both the Roadsport and Roadsport B classes, and he might have made it four out of four but for a technical slip-up which saw him black-flagged while leading one of his races…

It was a damp but spectacular start to the Roadsport season, with 53 drivers present at the Leicestershire track for the opening races in the 16-round season. Indeed there were so many competitors wishing to start in the Roadsport class that a special system of qualification and racing had to be devised by organising club BRSCC in order to accommodate them. There were three Roadsport class races, with each driver competing in two of them.

Halcrow made his mark in dramatic style in the first Roadsport race, pinching victory from Adrian Argyros (Northwich) on the final lap. Argyros and pole-sitter Halcrow disputed the lead throughout the 21 laps, with Hugo Jones (Cheltenham) in close attendance at all times. But the leading trio were a few inches too close as they rounded Shaws hairpin for the final time, Argyros coming off worst in the contact and losing both rear wings and his exhaust silencer in the impact. Adrian was able to rejoin and continue to third.

Roadsport race two provided a copybook performance from Bromley's Jeremy Ellis, last year's B title winner, at the wheel of his Crystal Sport Holidays-backed machine. Despite starting from row six, Jeremy broke into the top six on the opening lap and had passed the cars of Patrick Scharfegger (pictured leading below)

, David Pearce Chris Bialan, Clive Coote and Toby Dicker for the lead within a further five laps. Scharfegger fought back to the front but Ellis was able to repass his old Academy sparring partner with three laps to run to claim victory by less than a second. Bucks Hill racer David Bend, another sixth row starter, pushed through for third.

Heavy rain washed away Ellis's hopes of a repeat victory in race three. Though he led for four laps, Jeremy's car lacked grip and he was powerless to prevent Halcrow, Argyros and others from nipping past him. Halcrow looked all set for another win but has black-flagged while leading with four laps to go by race officials who spotted that his car's rear safety light - vital in the gloom - was not illuminated.

Tony Hawkins seized his chance to claim his maiden Roadsport Challenge race victory. Bend was second to claim a narrow championship lead, and Argyros third ahead of Leicestershire's Adrian Wagstaff.

In the Roadsport B division, Halcrow might have faced greater opposition in race one had not pole sitter Chris Du Boulay not misunderstood marshals' signs and taken an extra warm-up lap. Du Boulay was forced to start from the back of the grid as a result and, though he drove superbly in the tricky conditions, was rewarded only with fourth place. Halcrow romped to a nine-second win from Bialan

, with Andrew Walton holding third throughout.

Halcrow made it past Bialan(pictured right) on the second lap of race two and pulled away into a lead which increased with each successive tour. Du Boulay popped past Bialan for second just before mid-distance.

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS
Roadsport race one 1 Gary Halcrow; 2 Hugo Jones +3.659s; 3 Adrian Argyros; 4 Kevin Dodd; 5 Patrick Scharfegger; 6 Ron Johnson; 7 David Pearce; 8 Toby Dicker; 9 Sean Nash; 10 Simon Young etc. Fastest lap Halcrow (est rec).
Roadsport race two 1 Jeremy Ellis; 2 Scharfegger +0.905s; 3 David Bend; 4 Chris Bialan; 5 Gary Brown; 6 Adrian Wagstaff; 7 Clive Coote; 8 Steve Grainger; 9 Dicker; 10 Young etc. Fastest lap Brown.
Roadsport race three 1 Tony Hawkins; 2 Bend +0.386s; 3 Argyros; 4 Wagstaff; 5 Matt Porter; 6 Nash; 7 Ellis; 8 Dodd; 9 Chris Fryar; 10 Norman Crighton etc. Fastest lap Bend.

Roadsport B race one 1 Halcrow; 2 Bialan +9.465s; 3 Andrew Walton; 4 Chris Du Boulay; 5 Toby Talbot; 6 Martin Emerson; 7 Graham Johnson; 8 David Pierpoint; 9 Dax Humberstone; 10 Colin Powell etc. Fastest lap Halcrow (est rec)
Roadsport B race two 1 Halcrow; 2 Du Boulay +5.265s; 3 Bialan; 4 Johnson; 5 Emerson; 6 Mike Robinson; 7 Pierpoint; 8 Humberstone; 9 Peter Flynn; 10 Nidal Al-Khail etc. Fastest lap Halcrow. Full results available at www.msttiming.com

PROVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP PLACINGS
Roadsport 1 Bend 35 points; 2 Argyros 34; 3 Ellis & Scharfegger 33; 5 Wagstaff 30; 6 Hawkins 29; 7 Dodd 28; 8 Nash & Bialan 25; 10 Dicker & Brown 23 etc.
Roadsport B 1 Halcrow 40; 2 Bialan 35; 3 Du Boulay 34; 4 Johnson & Emerson 29; 6 Pierpoint 25; 7 Talbot 24; 8 Robinson, Humberstone & Walton 23 etc.

Pics by Dave Ayres

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*Caterham Roadsport 2006* Backers for Caterham Motorsport's UK and European race series include Autosport, Bilstein, Brian James Trailers, Caged, Cheesman Products, Comma, Cosworth, Cooper-Avon Tyres, Demon Tweeks, evo, HSBC Insurance Brokers, Mitchell Cotts, Motorsport News and Stack. DOUBLE CHAMPIONSHIP VICTORY FOR HALCROW Gary Halcrow made Caterham Roadsport Challenge history at the weekend, adding the Roadsport championship title to that which he had already won in the Roadsport B class. It’s the first time that one driver has ever won both Roadsport titles in the same season. And Bournemouth-based Halcrow did the job in great style in his Colards Motorsport-prepared machine, winning Friday’s Brands Hatch Roadsport round and also yesterday’s final race of the season despite the handicap of a broken wrist, legacy of his Silverstone crash earlier in October. Halcrow started race one with the intention of scoring a safe top-10 finish in order to settle the championship, but his rapid rise through the field from seventh on the grid persuaded him that victory was a possibility. The Dorset driver locked on to the front running trio – pole man David Pearce, Jeremy Ellis and Adrian Wagstaff – within two laps and soon lifted third from Wagstaff, whose race ended in the Paddock Hill Bend gravel trap shortly after. Ellis was the next to fall from the front, Jeremy spinning at the Druids hairpin and losing several slots in the process. Simon Young then joined Pearce and Halcrow in a fierce three-way battle for victory which was to last until the final lap, even though Halcrow looked to have chucked away his chances with a spin at Druids eight laps from home. The excursion left Gary trailing the leaders by more than three seconds but he set about reeling them in and, within three laps, was back in the hunt once more. The final five laps were a nail-biting affair and any one of the protagonists could have triumphed. As they attempted to round Druids three abreast for the final time there was too little track available for all three to make it safely around. Young was the loser, his Caterham shooting off into the gravel to bring a sad end to what had been a stirring performance. Halcrow crossed the line just three-tenths ahead of Pearce and was jubilant to have won the championship with a race victory: “I started the race thinking that 10th would be just fine, but when I got up to third, I thought ‘Hang on, I could win this… let’s go for it!’ I was worried about my wrist before the start but once the adrenalin started pumping I didn’t feel a thing. It’s been a great season for me, winning both the Roadsport and the Roadsport B championships, and now I am looking forward to moving up the Caterham racing ladder in 2007.” After Young’s demise Adrian Argyros inherited third ahead of Gary Brown, the recovered Ellis, Chris Bialan, Toby Dicker and Patrick Scharfegger. Halcrow led Saturday’s final round from pole position to chequered flag, but nearly lost the win on the line as a deluge of tropical proportions turned the track into a skating rink. Pearce, who had fought back to second after a dire start, made a do-or-die lunge as they approached the chequered flag but lost out to Halcrow by nine-hundredths of a second. Eight cars spun off on the penultimate lap, so bad were the conditions, and Pearce joined them in the barriers moments after crossing the line. Tunbridge Wells-based Dicker made the most of home advantage to deprive Bialan of third place on the treacherous last lap. Robin Russell looked set for fifth until he fell victim to the conditions, handing the position to Young, who had started from the back of the grid. Having already sealed championship victory in the Roadsport B class, Halcrow rested his injured wrist by sitting out the B races. In Friday’s encounter Broadstone’s Chris Bialan made certain of championship second by taking his sixth win of the season. He did it the hard way after a dire start from the pole-sitter left him languishing eighth on the opening lap. Bialan clawed his way back to the front by the sixth lap after passing early leaders Toby Talbot and Graham Johnson and held on in front despite 16 laps of intense pressure from Dax Humberstone. After slipping to fifth, Talbot fought back to third by the end ahead of Mike Robinson, Johnson and Colin Powell. Saturday’s B race brought a welcome maiden win for Mike Robinson, who battled past the cars of Johnson and Humberstone in the opening five laps and who then whittled away leader Bialan’s three-second advantage over the course of the next six laps. Robinson put one over Bialan into Paddock eight laps from home and romped to a 2.7-second victory, annexing third in the championship in the process. “I have been praying for rain all weekend,” said delighted 24-year-old Effingham-based Mike. PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS Roadsport race one 1 Gary Halcrow; 2 David Pearce +0.321s; 3 Adrian Argyros; 4 Gary Brown; 5 Jeremy Ellis; 6 Chris Bialan. Fastest Lap Halcrow. Race two 1 Halcrow; 2 Pearce +0.086s; 3 Toby Dicker; 4 Bialan; 5 Simon Young; 6 Clive Coote. FL Pearce. Driver of the meeting: Halcrow. Roadsport B race one 1 Bialan; 2 Dax Humberstone +0.957s; 3 Toby Talbot; 4 Mike Robinson; 5 Graham Johnson; 6 Colin Powell. FL Bialan. Race two 1 Robinson; 2 Bialan +2.764s; 3 Talbot; 4 Martin Emerson; 5 Johnson; 6 Humberstone. FL Robinson. Driver of the meeting: Bialan. PROVISIONAL FINAL CHAMPIONSHIP PLACINGS Roadsport 1 Halcrow 265 points; 2 Brown 214; 3 Pearce 199; 4 Bialan 196; 5 Argyros 187; 6 Young 157 etc. Roadsport B 1 Halcrow 248; 2 Bialan 241; 3 Robinson 215; 4 Humberstone 214; 5 Emerson 209; 6 Talbot 189 etc. HALCROW CLINCHES ‘B’ CROWN AT SILVERSTONE Dorset driver Gary Halcrow enjoyed an eventful weekend (7/8 Oct) at Silverstone – clinching one championship title, accelerating into the lead of another and crashing his Caterham just three of the highlights… Unusually for Halcrow he failed to win any of his four Motorsport News Caterham Roadsport Challenge races – the victories on this occasion fell to David Pearce and Chris Bialan (below)– but he did manage to wrap up the Roadsport B crown with a meeting in hand. On Saturday he finished second, just six-hundredths behind his friend and near neighbour Bialan, to seal his championship victory and maintain his 100% podium finishing record which includes eight race wins. But on Sunday Halcrow blotted his perfect Roadsport B record with a first-lap crash, spinning at Brooklands and triggering a seven-car shunt which brought the race to a premature halt. “It’s not the perfect way to celebrate winning the championship,” conceded Halcrow, who sprained his wrist in the impact, “but of course I am delighted to have won the series well before the last race.” Bialan romped away at the restart to win by nearly 6s his second race of the weekend and his sixth of the season, and to move into second overall in the Roadsport B points standings. With two races remaining he leads Martin Emerson for runner-up spot by a point, with Mike Robinson another point behind after claiming second at Silverstone today. Dax Humberstone took third in each race. The dramas were not confined to Roadsport B. In the Roadsport ‘premier division’, Pearce overhauled early leader Halcrow six laps from the end, and then repulsed a late comeback charge by Gary, to claim his maiden win – in fact, his first-ever podium – by six-tenths, with Gary Brown following Halcrow home for third and Simon Young fourth ahead of Bialan and Toby Dicker. Championship leader Jeremy Ellis set fastest lap in qualifying only to be put to the back of the grid for a technical infringement. He was then forced into retirement with handling problems after only two laps of the race. With Halcrow tackling Sunday’s Roadsport race with a bandaged wrist, he could have been forgiven for taking it easy. Not a bit of it… Gary raced into an early lead over Pearce and Brown and fought tooth and nail with David for victory in the closing laps before chucking away his hopes of another win with a spin on the penultimate lap. That gave Pearce the break he needed to take his second career win. “It was a great race,” said David. “Gary was going very well, as usual, but I always felt that I had the slight edge. Perhaps it was just that extra bit of confidence gained from winning on Saturday that brought me through…” Pearce was 1.6s ahead of Young at the chequered flag, with Halcrow recovering to take third and a 10-point championship lead over Ellis. Jeremy put his heart and soul into the race, blasting from the back of the grid up to fourth by lap 10, only to be called to the pits by race stewards to check a fluid leak. Ellis was released on to the track once more and shattered the lap record on his way to an unrewarding 14th. Brown was another hindered by a call to the pits; he finished eighth. PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS Roadsport race one 1 David Pearce; 2 Gary Halcrow +0.612s; 3 Gary Brown; 4 Simon Young; 5 Chris Bialan; 6 Toby Dicker, etc. Fastest Lap Pearce (rec). Race two 1 Pearce; 2 Young +1.587s; 3 Halcrow; 4 Chris Fryar; 5 Richard Webb; 6 Adrian Wagstaff, etc. FL Jeremy Ellis (rec). Roadsport B race one 1 Bialan; 2 Halcrow +0.062s; 3 Dax Humberstone; 4 Mike Robinson; 5 Robert Crofton; 6 Toby Talbot, etc. FL Halcrow. Race two 1 Bialan; 2 Robinson +5.580s; 3 Humberstone; 4 Talbot; 5 Colin Powell; 6 Martin Emerson, etc. FL Talbot. PROVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP PLACINGS Roadsport 1 Halcrow 220 points; 2 Ellis 210; 3 Brown 189; 4 Bialan 165; 5 Adrian Argyros 163; 6 Pearce 156 etc. Roadsport B 1 Halcrow 248; 2 Bialan 203; 3 Emerson 202; 4 Robinson 201; 5 Humberstone 199; 6 Talbot 172, etc. Backers for Caterham Motorsport’s UK and European race series include Autosport, Bilstein, Brian James Trailers, Caged, Cheesman Products, Comma, Cosworth, Cooper-Avon Tyres, Demon Tweeks, evo, HSBC Insurance Brokers, Mitchell Cotts, Motorsport News and Stack. Final rounds: 20/21 October, Brands Hatch. Nick Carter THREE OUT OF FOUR FOR HALCROW AT SNETTERTON Gary Halcrow’s mission to win all four Snetterton rounds of the Motorsport News Caterham Roadsport Challenge may have failed yesterday (Sat) but the Dorset driver came very close indeed. Halcrow won both of the Roadsport ‘premier division’ races to accelerate into second place in the championship, and also took the spoils in one of the two Roadsport B events, in so doing putting the B class title very nearly beyond the reach of any of his rivals. The Roadsport class points leader remains Jeremy Ellis,(below) but the Crystal Sport Holidays-backed racer suffered a less satisfactory weekend, finishing behind Halcrow in race one and then spinning out of race two to record his first non-finish of the season. Adrian Argyros played a key role in the opening Roadsport race, his engine spewing oil over much of the track in the early laps which led to several excursions for other drivers. The race was red-flagged and restarted, with Halcrow and Ellis duelling to the chequered flag and Peter Earnshaw and Simon Young battling over third. Young had fought through from 21st on the grid; fourth was his best finish of the year. Ellis led the early laps of race two but, entering the Esses alongside Halcrow on the third lap, slid off the track and into retirement. Halcrow was delayed in the incident, resuming 11th, but made it back into the top three by lap 10 and past Earnshaw for victory with three laps to spare. Earnshaw beat off a late-race attack from Young to hold on to second place. Less than a second covered the top three at the flag, with Earnshaw voted Driver of the Meeting. There was a stoppage in the first of the Roadsport B races also with several cars crashing out at Riches on the opening lap, including that of Cadwell double winner Chris Bialan. The restarted event provided a great battle for victory between Halcrow and Lancashire jeweller Dax Humberstone, with Mike Robinson and Graham Johnson right on their tails. Less than half a second separated Humberstone, Halcrow, Robinson and Johnson as they crossed the line after 14 laps. It was Dax’s maiden Roadsport B win. Humberstone(below) and Halcrow were at it hammer and tong in race two also until Dax spun his chances away on the penultimate lap. Halcrow went on to an 8.2-second win – his eighth of the B season – over Robinson, second place a personal best for Mike. Johnson made it on to the podium for the first time with third spot. With four races to come in October – at Silverstone and at Brands Hatch – Halcrow enjoys a whopping 51-point lead in the B division. Emerson, Robinson and Bialan are the only drivers with a mathematical chance of overhauling him, and their hopes are slim. PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS Roadsport race one 1 Gary Halcrow; 2 Jeremy Ellis +1.085s; 3 Peter Earnshaw; 4 Simon Young; 5 Toby Dicker; 6 Gary Brown; fastest lap Ellis. Race two 1 Halcrow; 2 Earnshaw +0.248s; 3 Young; 4 Brown; 5 Chris Fryar; 6 David Pearce; fastest lap Halcrow. Roadsport B race one 1 Dax Humberstone; 2 Halcrow +0.104s; 3 Mike Robinson; 4 Graham Johnson; 5 Peter Flynn; 6 Martin Emerson; fastest lap Johnson. Race two 1 Halcrow; 2 Robinson +8.288s; 3 Johnson; 4 Emerson; 5 Toby Talbot; 6 Humberstone; fastest lap Robinson. PROVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP PLACINGS Roadsport 1 Ellis 204 points; 2 Halcrow 185; 3 Brown 160; 4 Adrian Argyros 150; 5 Chris Bialan 142; 6 Patrick Scharfegger 118 etc. Roadsport B 1 Halcrow 230; 2 Emerson 179; 3 Robinson 167; 4 Humberstone 165; 5 Bialan 163; 6 Johnson 148 etc. Backers for Caterham Motorsport’s UK and European race series include Autosport, Bilstein, Brian James Trailers, Caged, Cheesman Products, Comma, Cosworth, Cooper-Avon Tyres, Demon Tweeks, evo, HSBC Insurance Brokers, Mitchell Cotts, Motorsport News and Stack. Next rounds: 7/8 October, Silverstone. ELLIS & BIALAN TAKE CADWELL DOUBLE WINS Jeremy Ellis made a superb start to the second half of the Motorsport News Caterham Roadsport Challenge season over the weekend (15/16 July), winning both his races at Cadwell Park to edge further into the championship lead. With six rounds remaining, Bromley-based Ellis enjoys a 36-point advantage over Cheshire’s Adrian Argyros (below)after clocking up six race victories in his Crystal Sport Holidays-backed car. Gary Brown (Englefield Green) was Ellis’s closest challenger at Cadwell, finishing second to the Kent man in both races, with Argyros and Roadsport Driver of the Day Simon Young (Henley) the other podium visitors. In Roadsport B, Dorset driver Gary Halcrow – a seven time victor this season already – had to be content with seeing his friend and team-mate Chris Bialan (Broadstone) take the honours. In the first event Bialan (left) won by less than half a second from Hampshire’s Peter Flynn, and in race two Chris romped to a seven-second win over Bedford driver Martin Emerson. Halcrow was third in each race and Flynn voted the Driver of the Day. PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS Roadsport race one 1 Jeremy Ellis; 2 Gary Brown +15.683s; 3 Adrian Argyros; 4 Gary Halcrow; 5 Simon Young; 6 David Bend. Fastest lap Ellis. Race two 1 Ellis; 2 Brown +13.731s; 3 Young; 4 Patrick Scharfegger; 5 Argyros; 6 Halcrow. Fastest lap Argyros Roadsport B race one 1 Chris Bialan; 2 Peter Flynn +0.499s; 3 Halcrow; 4 Mike Robinson; 5 Martin Emerson; 6 Dax Humberstone. Fastest lap Emerson. Race two 1 Bialan; 2 Emerson +7.210s; 3 Halcrow; 4 Robinson; 5 Graham Johnson; 6 Flynn. Fastest lap Emerson. PROVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP PLACINGS Roadsport 1 Ellis 186 points; 2 Argyros 150; 3 Halcrow 145; 4 Brown 130; 5 Bialan 120; 6 Scharfegger 118 etc. Roadsport B 1 Halcrow 192; 2 Bialan 163; 3 Emerson 149; 4 Robinson 132; 5 Humberstone 131; 6 Tony Talbot 127 etc. Next rounds: 9 September, Snetterton. 3 WINNERS IN DONINGTON ROADSPORT DRAMA Twin wins for Gary Halcrow and victories for Jeremy Ellis and Chris Bialan were the highlights of the Motorsport News Caterham Roadsport Challenge races at Donington Park yesterday (Sat), with Ellis extending his points lead in the Roadsport class and Halcrow achieving a similar feat in Roadsport B. Bournemouth driver Halcrow's progress to his fifth consecutive Roadsport B race victory was anything but straightforward. Despite the advantage of pole position, Gary was beaten to the lead on the opening lap by Mike Robinson and then, having dislodged Robinson from top spot on lap three, Halcrow spun away his advantage five laps later. It took Gary four laps to whittle away Robinson's five-second lead, scrabbling past him at the Goddards hairpin on the penultimate lap and going on to win by three-tenths. "That was hard work," said Halcrow. "Fair play to Mike, it was one of the hardest battles I have ever had." Alas Robinson's second place was stripped from him in the scrutineering bay, his car failing a ride height check. Chris Du Boulay thus inherited second, a reward for the Ulsterman's hard work in battling back from 13th after a first-corner spin. Norfolk caterer Toby Talbot was close behind for third and Chris Bialan, another to have slipped well back at the start, fourth. Team-mates Halcrow and Bialan (Broadstone) staged a battle royal in the second race, swapping the lead several times a lap as they pulled well clear of all their pursuers. Halcrow handed victory on a plate to his friend two laps from the end when he made a mistake at Coppice. Magnanimous in defeat, Gary said: "I'm made up for Chris, he beat me fair and square. If it had been anyone else in front I'd not have been so happy." "We are the best of friends but there was no love in that battle," added Bialan. "I told Gary I'd whip him one day!" Du Boulay was a distant third and Robinson, who started from the back after his first-race exclusion, was fourth. The first of the day's Roadsport races was brought to a sickening halt on the opening lap after a collision between the cars of Paul Glenister and Nick Brooks. Glenister had spun to a standstill out of Coppice Corner when Brooks, unsighted, cannoned into him. The hefty impact sparked a blaze from which a shaken Glenister was quick to extricate himself. Brooks's car fortunately spun clear of the conflagration and Nick was also uninjured. The race was immediately halted and the fire brought under control within 30 seconds. At the restart Halcrow got the drop on pole man Ellis, which sparked a six-lap tussle for dominance between the two men. The matter was settled on lap seven at McLeans when their cars touched and Ellis's Crystal Sport Holidays-backed Caterham spun through 360 degrees, rejoining third behind Bialan. As Halcrow sped serenely to victory, all eyes were on Ellis and Bialan and their battle for second, Ellis settling the matter with a finely judged manoeuvre at the final corner. Halcrow crossed the line nearly five seconds ahead of Ellis, with Bialan third followed by Adrian Argyros, Patrick Scharfegger and Tony Hawkins. Halcrow said: "It was a great battle with Jeremy and a shame that we touched. It was a racing incident and certainly there was no malicious intent. Whether I would have won or not had that not happened, I can't be sure." Halcrow and Ellis were at it again in Roadsport race two, this time with Argyros joining the party. The three frontrunners provided the best entertainment of the day as they circulated Donington, often side by side, in their bid to gain dominance. Regrettably it was a mechanical problem for Halcrow which broke up the battle, Gary losing a rear wheel as he exited McLeans for the 11th time. He spun into retirement. Argyros kept Bromley-based Ellis honest for the remaining 11 laps but Jeremy did not put a wheel wrong and went on to claim his third race victory of the season. Behind Argyros there was a furious battle for third place settled in Gary Brown's favour only on the final lap. Kevin Dodd and Bialan chased him to the line. PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS Roadsport race one 1 Gary Halcrow; 2 Jeremy Ellis +4.922s; 3 Chris Bialan; 4 Adrian Argyros; 5 Patrick Scharfegger; 6 Tony Hawkins; 7 David Pearce; 8 Luke Embling; 9 Gary Brown; 10 Clive Coote etc. Fastest lap Scharfegger. Roadsport race two 1 Ellis; 2 Argyros +4.456s; 3 Brown; 4 Kevin Dodd; 5 Bialan; 6 Scharfegger; 7 Pearce; 8 Robert Thomas; 9 Lee Cunningham; 10 Hawkins etc. Fastest lap Ellis. Roadsport B race one 1 Halcrow; 2 Chris Du Boulay +16.902s; 3 Toby Talbot; 4 Bialan; 5 Dax Humberstone; 6 Martin Emerson; 7 Colin Powell; 8 Robert Crofton; 9 Peter Flynn; 10 Andy Skinner etc. Fastest lap Halcrow. Roadsport B race two 1 Bialan; 2 Halcrow +1.238s; 3 Du Boulay; 4 Mike Robinson; 5 Flynn; 6 Emerson; 7 Crofton; 8 Graham Johnson; 9 John Brewer; 10 Skinner etc. Fastest lap Halcrow. PROVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP PLACINGS Roadsport 1 Ellis 108 points; 2 Argyros 101; 3 Bialan 85; 4 Hawkins 81; 5 Halcrow 77; 6 Dodd 70 etc. Roadsport B 1 Halcrow 118; 2 Bialan 95; 3 Emerson 91; 4 Humberstone 82; 5 Talbot 81; 6 Johnson 71 etc. Next rounds: 24 June, Oulton Park *ELLIS, ARGYROS & HALCROW THE FRENCH VICTORS* Jeremy Ellis edged into a narrow points lead in the Motorsport News Caterham Roadsport Challenge at the weekend (29/30 April) thanks to a win and a third-place finish at the Croix-en-Ternois circuit in France. Unhappy with his car’s handling, Bromley-based Ellis had to settle for third in Saturday’s opening event – the first Roadsport Challenge race ever held outside the UK. Adrian Argyros (pictured above) was the victor after a great tussle with Gary Halcrow, who was pronounced fit to race despite knocking himself out in a paddock accident. Argyros crossed the line less than half a second ahead of Halcrow, with Ellis a further six seconds in arrears. His Crystal Sport Holidays-backed Roadsport much improved for Sunday’s sprint, Ellis was able to race away from Halcrow after a mighty battle to win by 14 seconds; Clive Coote’s dramatic drive to third spot earned him the Motorsport News Driver of the Day Award. Erstwhile championship leader David Bend was fourth, having finished down in 12th on Saturday. In the Roadsport B division, Bournemouth-based Halcrow maintained his unbeaten run, following up his Mallory Park victories with twin wins over Dax Humberstone and Martin Emerson in each of the French rounds. Less than a second separated Halcrow, Humberstone (pictured right) and Emerson at the end of Saturday’s thriller, with the gap between them not very much larger on Sunday. Both races provided some superb action with the victor in doubt right up to the final lap. PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS Roadsport race one 1 Adrian Argyros; 2 Gary Halcrow +0.471s; 3 Jeremy Ellis; 4 Chris Bialan; 5 Adrian Wagstaff; 6 Tony Hawkins; 7 Gary Brown; 8 Kevin Dodd; 9 Clive Coote; 10 Toby Dicker etc. Fastest lap Argyros (est rec). Roadsport race two 1 Ellis; 2 Halcrow +14.514s; 3 Coote; 4 David Bend; 5 Wagstaff; 6 Hawkins; 7 Argyros; 8 Bialan; 9 Luke Embling; 10 Dicker etc. Fastest lap Wagstaff. Roadsport B race one 1 Gary Halcrow; 2 Dax Humberstone +0.453s; 3 Martin Emerson; 4 Toby Talbot; 5 Mike Robinson; 6 Chris Bialan; 7 Andrew Walton; 8 Peter Flynn; 9 David Pierpoint; 10 Colin Powell etc. Fastest lap Humberstone (est rec). Roadsport B race two 1 Halcrow; 2 Humberstone +0.842s; 3 Emerson; 4 Powell; 5 Talbot; 6 Graham Johnson; 7 Robinson; 8 Walton; 9 Pierpoint; 10 Bialan etc. Fastest lap Halcrow. Full results available at www.msttiming.com PROVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP PLACINGS Roadsport 1 Ellis 70 points; 2 Argyros 67; 3 Wagstaff 60; 4 Bend 59; =5 Hawkins & Halcrow 57 etc. Roadsport B 1 Halcrow 80; 2 Emerson 63; =3 Bialan & Humberstone 59; 5 Talbot 55; =6 Johnson & Robinson 51 etc. Backers for Caterham Motorsport’s UK and European race series include Autosport, Bilstein, Brian James Trailers, Caged, Cheesman Products, Comma, Cosworth, Cooper-Avon Tyres, Demon Tweeks, evo, HSBC Insurance Brokers, Mitchell Cotts, Motorsport News and Stack. Next rounds: 27 May Donington Park 3 OUT OF 4 FOR HALCROW AT MALLORY Gary Halcrow (no 21 pictured above leading Adrian Argyros) made a supercharged start to his Motorsport News Caterham Roadsport Challenge campaign today (Sunday) at Mallory Park, winning three of his four races and moving into the Roadsport B division championship lead. The Bournemouth driver is one of only two men contesting both the Roadsport and Roadsport B classes, and he might have made it four out of four but for a technical slip-up which saw him black-flagged while leading one of his races… It was a damp but spectacular start to the Roadsport season, with 53 drivers present at the Leicestershire track for the opening races in the 16-round season. Indeed there were so many competitors wishing to start in the Roadsport class that a special system of qualification and racing had to be devised by organising club BRSCC in order to accommodate them. There were three Roadsport class races, with each driver competing in two of them. Halcrow made his mark in dramatic style in the first Roadsport race, pinching victory from Adrian Argyros (Northwich) on the final lap. Argyros and pole-sitter Halcrow disputed the lead throughout the 21 laps, with Hugo Jones (Cheltenham) in close attendance at all times. But the leading trio were a few inches too close as they rounded Shaws hairpin for the final time, Argyros coming off worst in the contact and losing both rear wings and his exhaust silencer in the impact. Adrian was able to rejoin and continue to third. Roadsport race two provided a copybook performance from Bromley's Jeremy Ellis, last year's B title winner, at the wheel of his Crystal Sport Holidays-backed machine. Despite starting from row six, Jeremy broke into the top six on the opening lap and had passed the cars of Patrick Scharfegger (pictured leading below) , David Pearce Chris Bialan, Clive Coote and Toby Dicker for the lead within a further five laps. Scharfegger fought back to the front but Ellis was able to repass his old Academy sparring partner with three laps to run to claim victory by less than a second. Bucks Hill racer David Bend, another sixth row starter, pushed through for third. Heavy rain washed away Ellis's hopes of a repeat victory in race three. Though he led for four laps, Jeremy's car lacked grip and he was powerless to prevent Halcrow, Argyros and others from nipping past him. Halcrow looked all set for another win but has black-flagged while leading with four laps to go by race officials who spotted that his car's rear safety light - vital in the gloom - was not illuminated. Tony Hawkins seized his chance to claim his maiden Roadsport Challenge race victory. Bend was second to claim a narrow championship lead, and Argyros third ahead of Leicestershire's Adrian Wagstaff. In the Roadsport B division, Halcrow might have faced greater opposition in race one had not pole sitter Chris Du Boulay not misunderstood marshals' signs and taken an extra warm-up lap. Du Boulay was forced to start from the back of the grid as a result and, though he drove superbly in the tricky conditions, was rewarded only with fourth place. Halcrow romped to a nine-second win from Bialan, with Andrew Walton holding third throughout. Halcrow made it past Bialan(pictured right) on the second lap of race two and pulled away into a lead which increased with each successive tour. Du Boulay popped past Bialan for second just before mid-distance. PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS Roadsport race one 1 Gary Halcrow; 2 Hugo Jones +3.659s; 3 Adrian Argyros; 4 Kevin Dodd; 5 Patrick Scharfegger; 6 Ron Johnson; 7 David Pearce; 8 Toby Dicker; 9 Sean Nash; 10 Simon Young etc. Fastest lap Halcrow (est rec). Roadsport race two 1 Jeremy Ellis; 2 Scharfegger +0.905s; 3 David Bend; 4 Chris Bialan; 5 Gary Brown; 6 Adrian Wagstaff; 7 Clive Coote; 8 Steve Grainger; 9 Dicker; 10 Young etc. Fastest lap Brown. Roadsport race three 1 Tony Hawkins; 2 Bend +0.386s; 3 Argyros; 4 Wagstaff; 5 Matt Porter; 6 Nash; 7 Ellis; 8 Dodd; 9 Chris Fryar; 10 Norman Crighton etc. Fastest lap Bend. Roadsport B race one 1 Halcrow; 2 Bialan +9.465s; 3 Andrew Walton; 4 Chris Du Boulay; 5 Toby Talbot; 6 Martin Emerson; 7 Graham Johnson; 8 David Pierpoint; 9 Dax Humberstone; 10 Colin Powell etc. Fastest lap Halcrow (est rec) Roadsport B race two 1 Halcrow; 2 Du Boulay +5.265s; 3 Bialan; 4 Johnson; 5 Emerson; 6 Mike Robinson; 7 Pierpoint; 8 Humberstone; 9 Peter Flynn; 10 Nidal Al-Khail etc. Fastest lap Halcrow. Full results available at www.msttiming.com PROVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP PLACINGS Roadsport 1 Bend 35 points; 2 Argyros 34; 3 Ellis & Scharfegger 33; 5 Wagstaff 30; 6 Hawkins 29; 7 Dodd 28; 8 Nash & Bialan 25; 10 Dicker & Brown 23 etc. Roadsport B 1 Halcrow 40; 2 Bialan 35; 3 Du Boulay 34; 4 Johnson & Emerson 29; 6 Pierpoint 25; 7 Talbot 24; 8 Robinson, Humberstone & Walton 23 etc. Pics by Dave Ayres E mail the editorthegrid@yahoo.co.uk for details
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