SHERADIZE UK ROCK DUBWORTH


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The #251 of Sheradize UK came out on top of a thrilling 4-hour FunCup encounter – Photo: Philip Rainford

As part of Oulton Park’s Dubworth Festival which celebrated all things Volkswagen, the BRSCC’s North Western Centre laid on 6 races with the second round of the Fun Cup – for VW Beetle lookalike cars – the centre piece of the day.

This race offered non-stop entertainment with fortunes for the 25 competing teams swinging one way and then the other. For the first 30 minutes of this 4 hour enduro the lead battle featured several cars and a trio remained in contention in the closing stages. Eco Racing 209 emerged from the final set of pit-stops with a 5 second advantage but Sheraridlze UK and Track Torque 2 both had more speed in second and third places. The former swooped into the lead round the outside at Cascades with less than 15 minutes to go but, despite lose front bodywork flapping around, Eco Racing 209 managed to hold off Track Torque 2 to claim the runner-up place.

The Avon Tyres North Formula Ford 1600 Championship runners only had one race but it proved to be an historic affair as Luke Williams overcame a slight misfire to take a maiden win for the RFR marque which heralds the return to FF1600 chassis building by the legendary Ralph Firman. Williams made a poor start enabling Jamie Jardine to take an initial lead in his Reynard 84FF but got good drive the first time he exited Cascades and powered past down Lakeside Straight from when he was never headed. Jardine took the Pre90 Class honours in second overall while Martin Short (Van Diemen JL012K) claimed third on lap 3 after James Roe ran wide and had a sideways moment on the grass at Old Hall in the sister RFR RFFF16 to Williams’ mount.

The cars entered in the brace of Pirelli Ferrari Formula Classic encounters made a fabulous sight and sound. Having been unable to take part in qualifying, remarkably Lee Moulton was able to power through from the back of the grid to win the first outing by more than 4 secs from Tom Mogridge – both were piloting F355 Challenge models. Later in the day Vance Kearney drove Moulton’s vehicle. As the starting order on this occasion was decided by the second fastest times in qualifying, Kearney also had to start from the back but he could not emulate Moulton’s performance, finishing seventh. Therefore, David Tomlin’s 308 GTB came out on top in a three-way battle for the lead with the 328 GTB’s of James Cartwright and Gary Culver. The latter took his second third place of the day.

Since the 2016 Lee Bowron Ltd XR Challenge began with its first meeting at Oulton on Easter Monday, Greg Speight found a few problems with his XR2. These included a cracked front brake disc and loose rear hubs. Having repaired these issues, he was the fastest man out there on Saturday. He took pole and then won both of the XR thrashes. Only a poor start first time out blotted his copybook but it took him just 3 laps to overtake Ralph Fernihough in a move that began with better drive out of Knickerbrook and was completed at Old Hall. Fernihough and Mike Heath occupied the remaining places on both podiums while series sponsor, Lee Bowron, did the double in the XR3i Class.

Running concurrently with the XRs was the Nextec Puma Cup. They had a rather dramatic start at the first time of asking when Paul and James Clare had heavy contact front to rear on lap 1 as the field charged down The Avenue. Both were out for the rest of the day. Ben Eacock recorded 2 victories but Colin Tester had been leading the second event when he suffered a major catastrophe with his engine and deposited coolant all over Brittens Chicane making this section of track undriveable and bringing out the red flags.

You can view the full results at OULTON RESULTS

Dave Williams


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