Rounds 3 + 4 |
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 Stephen Cutts racing to R3 victory |
 Minimax victor Jed Jeffreys in action |
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| R3 – 23rd May The 3rd round of the 2010 Summer Championships was blessed with very warm and sunny weather, while the racing was close and exciting throughout. The Honda Cadets were first on track and saw Harvey Meek topping the qualifying times, with Aaron Drury next up ahead of Dave Wooder and Jack Evans. Meek led from the start, with Evans and Wooder slotting in behind. It all went wrong on lap 2 though, as the front three tangled – the result being Wooder leading from Evans while Meek rejoined at the back before working his way through to 9th by flag fall. Wooder maintained the lead to the flag, with Evans shadowing him all the way. Luke Knott came through to claim 3rd ahead of William Woods, while Jordan Brown-Nutley and Kane Illingworth completed the top 6. Wooder and Evans led the way in race two as well, easing clear of the chasing pack and enjoying their own battle for the win which Evans took after passing Wooder on the last lap. Knott again finished 3rd, with Harvey Meek coming through from mid grid to secure 4th ahead of Brown-Nutley and Woods while Drury climbed from last on the grid to 7th by the end. The Final saw more of the same at the front as Wooder led from Evans as they disputed the win throughout the race. Wooder retained the lead all the way, but Evans was less than a tenth adrift at the flag. Knott ran 3rd until Meek passed him on lap 8, while Woods was in the thick of this dice as well and secured 5th ahead of Drury who had a race long battle with Tyla Newstead and Brown-Nutley. In the Honda Clubman class Jarvis Devon emerged from qualifying as fastest, with Luke Wooder and Connor Grady next up. Devon led away from the start, with Wooder and Grady close behind. Wooder took the lead on lap 3 and held off the challenge from Devon all the way to the flag, while Grady was right with them as well and less than four tenths off the win. Oscar Thorpe took 4th after passing Aaron Vincent on lap 3, while Thomas Manning rounded out the top 6 just ahead of Elliot Wilson and Piers Prior. Devon led race two from start to finish, with Wooder and Grady again keeping him very close company as they rounded out the top 3. Thorpe and Vincent took 4th and 5th again, with Wilson claiming 6th this time out – fractionally ahead of Manning. Devon made the best start in the Final and led all the way to the flag, with Wooder and Grady battling over 2nd allowing Devon to ease out a gap of a second and a half. Wooder took 2nd, with Grady a very close 3rd, while Thorpe finished a rather lonely 4th. Vincent got the better of Wilson after a race long battle over 5th, while Prior and Manning were also very close as they diced for 7th. Jack Mitchell was fastest in qualifying for Minimax, with Sam Roud claiming 2nd ahead of Charlie Elliott and Jed Jeffreys. Roud led away from the start of the first Pre-Final, but Mitchell passed him at the end of the opening lap and went on to take the flag first. A technical problem in scrutineering after the race saw him dropped to last in the results, with Gus Lawrence therefore taking the win after coming through from 5th on the grid. Roud secured 2nd ahead of Elliott, with Mikey Thompson taking 4th ahead of Jeffreys and Nathan Corsial. Elliott led from the start of the second race, with Thompson slotting into 2nd ahead of Lawrence. Thompson took the lead on lap 3, but Elliott reclaimed the place a couple of laps later and held off Thompson’s challenge from there to the flag. Corsial came through from 6th on the opening lap to claim 3rd, his cause assisted by a last lap clash between Roud and Lawrence that saw Roud slip to 6th and Lawrence retire. James Cossins claimed 4th ahead of Jeffreys, while Mitchell set fastest lap as he climbed from the back of the grid to 7th by flag fall. Elliott led away at the start of the Final, with Thompson and Roud tucked in behind. Thompson grabbed the lead on lap 7 and stayed out front until lap 12, where he suddenly slipped to 5th as Elliott regained the lead. All eyes were now on Mitchell however, as he had worked his way through from 15th on the grid and was now up to 3rd place having gained a place each lap and two places on lap 7. On lap 13 he took 2nd from Roud and on the last lap he passed Elliott to claim a fine win – setting fastest lap on his way through and again the only driver to dip under the 49secs barrier. Elliott took 2nd, with Joshua Cornwell coming through to 3rd ahead of Lawrence who had started 8th. Roud finished in 5th, with Thompson completing the top 6 closely followed by Jeffreys and Cossins. In Junior Rotax it was Joshua Bayley who topped the qualifying times, with Thomas Prior and Stephen Cutts 2nd and 3rd. Bayley led from the start of race one, with Cutts and Prior close behind. Cutts took the lead on lap 6 and went on to claim the win, while Prior passed Bayley on lap 7 to secure 2nd. Jessica Hawkins moved through from 7th on the grid to take 4th, with Ian Bolland and Stephen Bull completing the top 6. The second Pre-Final saw Bayley again leading from the start, but this time he retained that lead all the way to the flag. Hawkins grabbed 2nd on the opening lap, but Cutts passed her on lap 3 and that was the top 3 places settled. Bolland took 4th, with Joseph Hilling finishing 5th just ahead of Brandon Grinter, while Prior didn’t complete a lap. At the start of the Final it was Cutts who led from Hawkins and Bayley, with Hawkins taking the lead on lap 2 and Bayley following through to 2nd at the same point. Hawkins continued to lead until Cutts regained the place on lap 12, having earlier reclaimed 2nd when Bayley retired on lap 6. At the flag it was a delighted Cutts who took the victory, while Hawkins was equally happy with 2nd. Prior came through from an initial 6th place to secure 3rd, just ahead of Bull, with Grinter getting the better of Hilling as they diced for 5th. This Summer Series continues with round 4 of 7 being held on 27th June and 6 of the 7 rounds counting towards final positions. |
R4 – 27th June Bayford dawned hot and sunny for round 4 of this year’s Summer Championships. Unfortunately the entry in Junior and Minimax had taken a bit of a hit as there was a Super 1 round clashing. Aaron Drury topped the qualifying times in Honda Cadet, with Dave Wooder 2nd and Kane Illingworth ahead of Jack Evans on row 2. Drury led race one from start to finish, though Illingworth was a constant shadow and ready to nip past if an opportunity had presented itself. Wooder held 3rd for the first couple of laps, before Evans nipped past, but Wooder regained the place on the last lap. Jordan Brown-Nutley ran 4th ahead of Evans on the opening lap, but slipped to 6th when Evans passed him as Harvey Meek also got past. He spent the rest of the race looking at the rear of Meek’s kart until he reclaimed 5th on the last lap. Drury and Illingworth remained the front two in the second race as well, with Wooder again pipping Evans to 3rd. Brown-Nutley and Harvey Meek had another race long battle over 5th, with Brown-Nutley again taking the place on the last lap. Drury completed his clean sweep for the day when he led the Final from start to finish as well, with Kane Illingworth again staying within a quarter of a second of him and making him work for the win. These two were a couple of seconds up the road from the battle for 3rd which this time was between Evans and Harvey Meek. Brown-Nutley ran 4th ahead of Meek for the first couple of laps, but then Meek got past and harried Evans all the way to the flag, leaving Brown-Nutley to battle with Wooder for 5th – a battle Wooder ‘won’ after passing Brown-Nutley on lap 10. Jarvis Devon put his name at the top of the timesheets in qualifying for the Honda Cadet Clubman class, with Luke Wooder next up and row 2 occupied by Oscar Thorpe and Thomas Manning. Devon led from the start of the first race, with Wooder slotting into 2nd ahead of Thorpe and Manning. Connor Grady passed Manning for 4th on lap 2 and a couple of laps later Wooder took the lead from Devon. The lead changed again on lap 6 as Devon reclaimed the place, while Grady moved ahead of Thorpe on the same lap. The order stayed the same over the last lap, with Devon taking the win ahead of Wooder, Grady and Thorpe. Manning secured 5th and Elliot Wilson took 6th. Devon took the win in race two as well, having enjoyed another dice with Wooder which saw Wooder lead a couple of laps mid race. Grady stayed right with them in 3rd throughout, while Thorpe had to settle for 4th ahead of Manning and Thomas Imamzade came through to finish 6th. Devon duplicated Drury’s earlier feat by completing a clean sweep of victories for the day, winning the Final after another entertaining dice with Wooder and Grady. Wooder led lap 3, but otherwise it was Devon at the front and Grady waiting to pick up places if the front two had clashed. Thorpe and Manning ran close throughout in 4th and 5th but never actually swapped places, while Imamzade took 6th after passing Wilson on lap 2. Michael Belfrage came through to take a close 7th, with Mason Ruff next up. In Junior Rotax is was Joseph Hilling who emerged as fastest in qualifying, with Stephen Cutts five hundredths slower. Hilling led race one from the start, but Cutts was right with him and moved into the lead on lap 5 – a lead he would retain to the flag despite Hilling staying close behind him. Joshua Bayley took 3rd ahead of Stephen Bull, with Tyler Cox in 5th followed by class debutant Ollie Griffiths in a race that was mainly notable for the lack of overtaking. Hilling led race two from the start as well, but this time he managed to keep Cutts behind him to secure the win. Bayley ran 3rd from the start, with Bull just behind and Cox and Griffiths battling over 5th but gradually dropping away from the 3rd place battle. Bull moved ahead of Bayley on lap 7 and Bayley then retired on the last lap, leaving Tyler and Griffiths to take 4th and 5th and Oliver Danaher to complete the top 6. Hilling led the Final from the start, but Cutts stayed with him and took the lead on lap 10 and went on to secure the win. Bayley ran 3rd throughout and Bull was equally secure in 4th, while Griffiths’ debut resulted in 5th place ahead of Charlie Windwood. Minimax qualifying saw Jed Jeffreys claim pole for the Pre-Final, with Mikey Thompson lining up alongside while if you wanted to be on row 2 you had to be called Nathan – Corsial ahead of Heathcote. Thompson made the best start and led race one from Jeffreys until Jeffreys took the lead on lap on lap 4. The leader then pulled clear by a couple of seconds and left Thompson to fend off Corsial, which he managed. Charlie Elliott got ahead of Heathcote at the start and claimed 4th, with Heathcote taking 5th and Lewis King just beating Dan Brewer to 6th. Thompson led race two for most of the race, with Elliott taking the lead briefly mid race before slipping back to 3rd. The lead quartet were close throughout and Jeffreys move past Elliott for 2nd on lap 6, but was unable to prevent Thompson from taking the win. Corsial was a close 4th, while the battle for 5th lasted the whole race. Heathcote held the place for the first half of the race, but then King passed him and Sam Roud followed King past, so Heathcote dropped to 7th. Roud then passed King on the last lap to take 5th and leave King in 6th. Thompson led the Final away from the start, with Jeffreys making a better start than in the previous race to slot into 2nd. Jeffreys then took the lead on lap 5 pulled clear to claim the victory, with Thompson fending off Elliott for 2nd. Corsial finished a rather lonely 4th, while Brewer came through to 5th ahead of King. Roud’s challenge never got going for this race, as 7th on the opening lap was quickly replaced by a drop to the tail of the field on lap 2 and eventual retirement on lap 9. The next round of this series is on 25th July, with practice available on the Friday and Saturday before hand. |
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