A TALE OF TWO CIRCUITS!

Tomorrow the BRSCC North Western Centre will run their second Oulton Park meeting in the space of two weeks with eleven races scheduled at the Tarporley track.

The protagonists of the popular Avon Tyres backed Northern Formula Ford Championship will reconvene for round 11 of 14, so with the end of season in sight every point is vital.

There is a very tight battle in the Post 89 class where new boy Chris Middlehurst holds a narrow lead over experienced campaigners Martin Short and John Murphy. Although lacking experience aged just 16, Middlehurst does have the advantage of running more recent machinery than his rivals.

Tomorrow’s single round won’t be the only time this weekend that Middlehurst and Murphy do battle because as soon as they are packed up in the Oulton paddock they will both be hot-footing it south to Brands Hatch for Sunday’s double-header in the Formula Ford Triple Crown, which are point scoring rounds in the National Championship, where Murphy holds a slender advantage. (Brands preview to follow later today).

In the Pre 90 class, veteran John Loebell holds a healthy 31 point lead over Nigel Dolan, who realistically is now the only driver who can stop John scoring a remarkable championship ‘comeback’ triumph.

The S&G Response Ford XR Challenge returns to its home base following an ‘away-day’ excursion to Rockingham last month. Simon Sheridan now heads the XR2 category despite not winning either of the two Rockingham races. A third & second place finish was enough to overhaul previous leader Mark Robinson who won the first outing but suffered a DNF in the second.

In the XR3i class Jason Hennefer was the star of Rockingham, scoring two class wins to close the points gap on leader John-Ifan Jones, who enjoyed mixed fortunes at the Corby Speedway.

The rest of Saturday’s race schedule is made up of guest championships. The Northern Saloon & Sports Car Championship always turn-out in force and tomorrow will be no exception with 33 cars lining-up on the grid. Mike Cutt, in his BMW M3, is the man they are all chasing, but there are a host of drivers settled in behind him all within points striking distance.

Adding some glamour to the proceedings will be two championships from Porsche Club GB. Oly Mortimer leads the GT3 Cup while Mark Sumpter has blazed a trail in the Porsche Club Championship having led the points standings since the first round, despite fielding the oldest car in the pack.

The UK Cup for F250 National and Formula 125 Open Karts will also produce a very healthy grid. The Superkarters have two 15 minute races which will both see a very close battle in the 250cc class between Jason Dredge and championship leader Sam Moss. These are the final two rounds of the year for the 125cc karters so contenders Danny Butler, Danny Edwards and Ben Willshire will be giving it their all.

It should all add up to a spectacular day of racing which is what the regulars at Oulton Park would expect!