DONINGTON DATE WITH DESTINY FOR FIVE CHAMPIONSHIPS


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Abbie Eaton has a big decision to make in her quest for the SuperCup crown. Photo: Jon Elsey

It’s a huge weekend for the BRSCC Midland Centre with meetings at both Silverstone and Donington Park, which will bring all of our 2014 championships to a conclusion. Donington Park will host twenty-one races, with five championship titles to be decided on the National circuit.

A season’s best grid of forty-nine Mazda MX-5 MK1s will take to the track for qualifying on Saturday morning, where title favourite James Blake-Baldwin will be firing the early shots in his quest to fend off the challenge of the only man who can stop him, County Durham’s Alan Henderson. It’s a triple-header and three high place finishes will be enough for the Farnham racer to secure the championship crown, but he knows that any problems in qualifying could land him in the Group 2 race, thus diminishing his points earning opportunity.

The MX-5 Mk3 SuperCup will also post one of their best turnouts of the season with twenty-two cars entered at the time of writing. Hull’s Abbie Eaton is the favourite to claim what would be a well-deserved title triumph but the very experienced Tom Roche is waiting in the wings to pounce on any opportunity. Abbie has a difficult decision to make – two fourth or better finishes in each race guarantees her the title, so does she play her normal game of going for wins or try and play it safe? Both strategies are fraught with danger!

The entry numbers in the Toyo Tires Porsche Championship have been consistent all season and they will end the season with another strong turnout of seventeen Boxsters and ten 924s. Two of the three class titles are still up for grabs. Jayson Flegg secured the Production Boxster title at Brands but the Race spec Boxster and 924 titles will be contested over the last three rounds. Jonathan Greensmith, Ed Hayes, Richard Avery & Gary Lawrence are all still in with a shout for the Class A crown while Simon Hawksley is the favourite to fend off the 924 challenge of Karl Rossin.

The conclusion to the Super Mighty Minis season also looks like it will be nail-biter! Defending champion Jamie White holds an eleven-point advantage over rival Elliot Stafford with just the weekend’s double-header to come. The pair have been swapping positions all season so you can expect some more twists and turns before the final chequered flag of the season is shown.

The situation is a shade tighter in the Mighty Minis title chase, where the battle hardened Ian Slark has just a ten-point lead over Samuel Hathaway, who is in just his second season of Mini racing. The battle over both races is sure to be furious between the two main protagonists but that could leave the door open for Plymouth’s Paul Inch who is just a point adrift of Hathaway.

Simon Hill secured the 2015 Teekay Coupling Production GTi championship at Silverstone back in August so the fight for second and third in the 16V class will be the battle to watch this weekend. 2012 Champion John Mawdsley will be hoping to keep Martyn Walsh at bay for second place. The fight for third looks like it will be between Chris Webb and Simon Gusterson. Craig Roberts needs at least one class win to ensure that he defends his 8V title from the ever improving youngster Dean Clayton.

The Excool OSS season finished back in August with Josh Smith taking the title so this weekend is a non-championship double header for the ‘Excool Trophy’. Josh is racing at Donington but has opted to go in the Production GTi so there is an opportunity for another OSS driver to take the limelight. The Class A Ligier of Simon Tilling and the Radicals of Richard Fearns and Paul Spencer will all be contenders.

The HRDC joins us for the third time this season with separate races for their Allstars and Touring Greats classes. As was the case at Brands Hatch and Rockingham, they have turned out two fantastic grids – indeed the forty-five minute Touring Greats race is over-subscribed! Both races will be packed full of iconic cars from the fifties and sixties and will provide an incredible spectacle for the Donington regulars.

The weather forecast for the weekend is mainly dry and mild but there is a chance of heavy showers on Saturday morning and light showers on Sunday afternoon. You can view the forecast at DONINGTON WEATHER

The timetable, Final Instructions and entrylist are available at DONINGTON DECIDER


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