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Championship Roadsport
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mail your links to editorthegrid@yahoo.co.uk CATERHAMS THRILL AT SILVERSTONE
Sharrock takes his maiden win Six races and six different winners - that was the outcome over the weekend (10/11 August) at Silverstone where the men and women of the Motorsport News Caterham Roadsport Challenge and the Daily Telegraph Caterham Academy did battle against the conditions, which were treacherously wet on Saturday and dry on Sunday, and each other. ROADSPORT A Sunday's better weather prompted an epic Roadsport A battle which at its height featured a dozen cars in the lead tussle; five different drivers held top spot and the result was in doubt right up to the final corner. In the opening stages it was Broad and Walker who made the running, with James Sharrock battling through from 12th on the grid to lead by lap six. Julien Draper and Toby Dicker, both of whom had started from slots behind Sharrock, took their turns in front also. It was JJ O'Malley's drive which really caught the crowd's attention, however: he started from 28th after failing to finish on Saturday but was into the top 10 by the fourth tour and on his Fauldsport team-mate Sharrock's tail and battling for the lead as the five minute board flew. JJ tried every fair manoeuvre possible but could not find a way past an elated James, who said of his maiden win of the season: "It was a great race, a typical Silverstone battle with four or five cars alongside at every corner." On the final lap O'Malley had his hands full defending his second place from Dicker. Broad placed fourth, with early pace setters Hopkins and Walker fading to eighth and 10th respectively. ROADSPORT B Order was restored in the dry on Sunday with Fiorentino displacing Sidney-Woollett from top spot on the second lap and easing away to his fourth win of the season and an extended championship lead. Dean Wilkin took 10 laps to battle through from eighth on the grid to second, by which time Fiorentino was too far up the road to catch. "This race I enjoyed a lot more," said Raph. "I did not have the tyres to compete properly on Saturday." Phil Haworth seized third from Mark Blackburn with two laps to run, and then Blackburn lost fourth to Rob Vissers on the final tour.
Provisional results
Roadsport A race 2
Roadsport B race 1
Roadsport B race 2
TWIN ROADSPORT A WINS FOR PHILIP BROAD
Broad led the chase to Old Hall at the start of race one, and headed a three-car break from Jonathan Walker and Graham Johnson after Gary Halcrow got sideways at Cascades. But Broad fell to the back of the trio a lap later, which gave Walker a slight break. Broad's recovery was swift, and after reclaiming second from Johnson on lap six, he was soon back challenging Walker for the lead. Into Old Hall for the 10th time Broad had a nose inside the leader's car but had to back off. A further exchange followed at Shell, but Walker still held on, while Johnson started to slip back towards Halcrow in his quest for third. "I waited until the end, saw Jonnie make a mistake at Old Hall and grabbed the place," said Broad. At the finish Walker was 0.06s adrift, with Johnson and Halcrow holding station behind. Peter Young broke from a huge battle to claim fifth, with Dax Humberstone edging out Andrew Walton for sixth. Walker led Broad and Halcrow at the start of race two, but Halcrow was soon heading pitwards with a rear puncture. Broad went ahead into Old Hall on the second lap, but Walker followed as a 10-car battle built up for third. As the lead pair ran nose to tail, Young and Walton made a break too in their battle for third, until Walton spun at Knickerbrook on the fourth lap. The whole field started to spread out by the end of lap 10, and Broad looked set for a considerably easier second win. "I had a problem with fourth gear, changing down from fifth. So I stayed in fourth but it took me half the race to decide," said Walker. The gap closed dramatically on the last lap, but Broad held on. "There was no way I was letting him have it," he said.
ROADSPORT B: WINS FOR FIGES & FIORENTINO
As the lights went out for the start of the first race, Fiorentino just held off Mark Blackburn and Anthony Sidney-Woollett. But after Amit Patel spun at Knickerbrook, Fiorentino ended the opening lap four seconds clear of Sidney-Woollett and, with Blackburn then spinning a lap later, Figes was left to head a four car battle for third, from Paul Fleury, Rob Vissers and Dean Wilkin. Into Lodge on lap four Sidney-Woollett was forced wide and both Figes and Vissers shot by. Although Fiorentino continued to lead, his advantage was down to 0.203s by the end of lap eight. Figes had the scent of victory as the chequered flag was readied. "I saw Raphael take the defensive line and went wide at Old Hall. I got the run on him into Cascades and came out in front," Figes explained. "As the track dried I became less competitive," Fiorentino replied. Vissers sat back in a comfortable third, while Wilkin, Sidney-Woollett and Fleury finished line astern to complete the top six. "I thought about having a go, but it was still wet offline," said Vissers. "They won't call me 'Back Row Sid' after this," added Sidney-Woollett. Fiorentino started the second race in a determined fashion, with Figes and Vissers heading the chasers again. Vissers soon fell back and left Wilkin to chase the dicing lead duo. Figes hit the front at Lodge on lap three, heading a five-car train. But into Old Hall a lap later Fiorentino nosed ahead, while Wilkin's third place came under attack from Fleury. The battles ahead had allowed Vissers to catch up and he was back to fourth at Cascades. With the lead pair continuing to swap and change, the top five were still nose to tail at the start of the last lap. Fiorentino had led from Old Hall on lap eight and successfully kept Figes at bay to the flag. "The car was well set up for me this time," said Fiorentino. Wilkin held on to third and first podium visit, closely followed by Fleury, while Vissers went missing at Cascades, to promote Stephen Tucker and Magd Mohaffel to complete the top six.
SIX ROADSPORT RACES AT CADWELL - SIX DIFFERENT WINNERS
In Roadsport A, reigning Academy Champion Philip Broad won the first of the day's races by a handsome margin from Dax Humberstone, with Humberstone going on to take his first win of the season in race two, Sean Nash snapping at his heels. A last-lap collision involving David Pearce and Halcrow earned the former an 11-second penalty for breaching driving standards, which promoted JJ O'Malley to third and Halcrow to fourth. Pearce got his revenge in race three, leading nearly every lap to beat Halcrow to victory by 2.8s, with Broad taking third. It was Pearce's maiden 2008 win and brings to five the number of different winners so far. The race was brought to a premature halt when Lee Moulden crashed out of seventh at Charlies; he was bruised and shaken in the incident, which severely damaged his car. Despite failing to win a race at Cadwell, Halcrow succeeded in extending his Roadsport A championship lead from four points to 14, with Broad now his closest rival. David Townrow claimed his maiden race win in the first of the day's Roadsport B events, leading all the way to beat Rob Vissers to the flag by a nine-second margin, with Mark Blackburn taking third. Fiorentino crossed the line in front in race two but was judged to have overtaken under yellow flags and was relegated to second, behind Vissers. Raphael made up for that disappointment in race three by overhauling Townrow and Stephen Tucker for the lead on his second lap and continuing to a narrow win, his second of the season. Fiorentino's championship lead over Amit Patel (who failed to finish one of his races) is now 17 points. Provisional results Roadsport A race 2 Roadsport A race 3 Roadsport B race 1 Roadsport B race 2 Roadsport B race 3
DOUBLE ROADSPORT HONOURS FOR HALCROW AND PATEL AT COMBE Gary Halcrow and Amit Patel defied foul weather and incident-affected races to both claim a brace of victories in the Motoring News Caterham Roadsport A and B Challenge events at Castle Combe yesterday (Monday). In spite of the bleak conditions, the circuit witnessed a record-equalling 71 racers taking part across the two categories. Lewis Hopkins prevailed in qualifying for the first Roadsport A race, but for the rest of the day the Winchester man was destined for a runners-up role. In the first race he converted pole position into a solid lead on a wet track, holding position ahead of Jonathan Walker, who was looking to press home his championship advantage after two wins at the season-opening meeting at Croft. After two early-race safety car laps Halcrow was pressing hard: he made it past Walker on the eighth tour and within two laps had despatched Hopkins to take the lead. Pulling out a comfortable advantage, he led Hopkins home by almost four seconds after 19 laps, with Philip Broad claiming fastest lap in a gutsy drive to third place and Walker fourth. Andrew Walton converted a 14th grid spot into an excellent fifth place finish, well clear of Paul Wilson in sixth. Conditions were dryer for race two, but a first lap incident involving the cars of Philip Broad and Stuart Patterson prompted a red flag and a restart; five minutes were consequently trimmed from the half-hour race length. Hopkins and Halcrow fought a titanic battle, the former keeping in front until the penultimate lap. Halcrow seized his chance out of Camp Corner on to the main straight and held position to cross the finish line just six tenths of a second to the good. The leading pair had drawn well clear of the field, Mike Steadman producing an exceptional performance to charge from 14th up to third place, getting the better of a feisty duel with Julien Draper. James Sharrock claimed fifth and Adam Ferenczi sixth. Amit Patel produced an emphatic performance to dominate qualifying and both Roadsport B races. The Croydon-based driver led every lap of the first race, keeping his cool after a safety car period to take the flag well clear of David Townrow, while racing newcomer Raphael Fiorentino sustained the impressive form he demonstrated in the season-opener at Croft to take third. Richard Solomons led Robert Vissers home in fourth, with Dean Wilkin gaining two places during the race to finish in sixth. In race two Richard Solomons made an early break, overhauling Patel to take the lead, with Paul Fleury rocketing from 13th on the grid to third by the end of lap two, when yet another safety car period ensued. Just one lap after the green flag Patel was back at the front and faced no serious threat to his position for the rest of the race. Behind him, however, Fiorentino, Ross Pritchard, Solomons and Fleury were locked in a tight struggle for the other podium places, Pritchard was past Solomons on lap eight to move into fourth place, gaining another spot when Fleury spun out of contention on the next tour. Fiorentino, too, was unable to resist Pritchard's place, yielding second on the final lap. Another fastest lap rounded off a comprehensive success for Patel, who moved up to second in the championship table behind Fiorentino. Provisional Results
Roadsport
A race 1: 19 laps/35.15m
Roadsport
A race 2: 13 laps/24.05m
Roadsport
B race 1: 10 laps/18.5m
Roadsport
B race 2: 11 laps/20.35m
ROADSPORT RACERS THRILL CROFT CROWDS
Walker was made to work hard for both his wins: in the first race he had to overcome determined pole position man David Pearce and then hold him at bay for the duration. Pearce nosed ahead several times and set fastest lap in his pursuit but was beaten to the chequered flag by just over half a second. The youngest driver on the grid, Lewis Hopkins, 19, battled against gearbox problems to beat his team-mate James Sharrock to third, with racing novice Adam Ferenczi an impressive fifth on his debut. It was the other 2007 Academy Champion, Philip Broad, who gave Walker a run for his money in race two. Walker and his 23-year-old rival battled for victory until just a few laps from the end, with Broad edging ahead at one stage to lead a lap. Jonathan was not to be denied, however: "I'm very pleased with my weekend," he said. "Two wins is a great start for me." Another Academy graduate, JJ O'Malley, held third place throughout to finish ahead of Sharrock and Hopkins, Lewis again suffering with gearchange dramas. Sixth place went to 2006 champion Gary Halcrow, who had started 28th after engine problems in qualifying. Gary shaved nearly a second from Pearce's lap record in his chase towards the front. With Walker having completed his weekend's racing, race three came down to a straight fight between Pearce and Broad, and a titanic duel it proved to be, with the lead swapped on at least half a dozen occasions. The battle looked set to go down to the wire until, with six laps remaining, Pearce clipped a tyre wall at the chicane and his race was over. Broad was thus a comfortable winner. Halcrow staged another dramatic back-to-front charge and this time - even though the race was shorter by five minutes - he took second. Gary had made it into the top three with five laps to go and just managed to pop past O'Malley on the final lap. Dax Humberstone claimed fourth behind O'Malley and just ahead of Ferenczi and Graham Johnson.
The Roadsport B action was no less exciting, with London-based
French racing novice Raphael Fiorentino (Pictured) Heavy rain before the start of Roadsport B race two added a dramatic new complexion to proceedings and allowed Mohaffel to demonstrate his exceptional wet-track skills. Despite the treacherous weather Magd simply drove around the outside of pole-sitter Fiorentino through Tower and he went on to record a three-second victory over Raphael. Mohaffel and Fiorentino share the championship lead. Figes made up his Saturday disappointment with a strong third-place finish, Mark passing Tucker on the penultimate lap. Patel went one better this time to take fifth behind Tucker and ahead of Blackburn. Provisional Results
Roadsport A race 1: 19 laps/40.37m
Roadsport A race
2: 19
laps/40.37m
Roadsport A race
3: 15
laps/31.88m
Championship
Roadsport B race
1: 12
laps/25.5m
Roadsport B race 2: 7 laps/14.88m
Championship
Backers for Caterham Motorsport's UK and European race series include Bilstein, Brian James Trailers, Cooper-Avon Tyres, The Daily Telegraph, Demon Tweeks, evo, HSBC, insuremotorsport.com, Motorsport News, Quaife and Stack.
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The
lack of a fresh set of Avon
Phillip
Broad accelerated into the overall lead of the Motorsport News Caterham
Roadsport Challenge yesterday (Sat) thanks to twin wins in the Roadsport
A division at Oulton Park.
Mark
Figes(left) and championship leader Raphael Fiorentino shared the
Roadsport B victory spoils at Oulton Park.
Gary
Halcrow and Raphael Fiorentino managed to extend their respective
championship leads in the Motorsport News Caterham Roadsport Challenge
despite enjoying mixed fortunes at Cadwell Park yesterday (Sunday).
Reigning
Academy Champion Jonathan Walker made a superb start to his bid for
back-to-back Caterham crowns this weekend (26/27 Apr), the 44-year-old
from Surrey winning both his Roadsport A races at Croft to take an early
points lead in the Motorsport News Caterham Roadsport Challenge. A total
of 71 Caterhams took part in the Croft meeting - a record for the
Roadsport Challenge.
claiming
an amazing maiden-race victory. Despite his relative lack of experience
Fiorentino beat off a series of challenges from a very determined Mark
Figes to take the win. Figes should have been second but was demoted to
fourth by an optimistic overtaking attempt from Phil Haworth at the
hairpin on the final lap, for which manoeuvre