FULL DAY OF ACTION ENJOYED AS BRSCC ENTERTAINS AT OULTON PARK
Written by David Williams / Peter Scherer – There was a full day of action when the BRSCC’s North Western Centre were in charge at Oulton Park on 14th August. Our dedicated marshals had a diverse range of machinery to enjoy from the start of qualifying at 8:30 until the final chequered flag was waved just before 18:30.
The two Nankang Tyre City Car Cup races produced notable results as Nic Grindrod, who was unbeaten in 2021 when he arrived in Cheshire, failed to record a victory. In the damp qualifying session he pushed as hard as he dared to secure pole position for the opening encounter which he led from start to finish with his nearest challenger being team mate Ross Makar.
However, in the scrutineering bay, both these cars were disqualified due to a technical infringement and so the win was handed to Duncan Stone with Liam Browning and Andrew Dyer completing the Top Three.
The second outing for the City Cars was the final event on the programme. With Grindrod working his way up from the back of the grid, Stone led with the two brothers, Richard and Stuart Bliss, his nearest challengers. After a red flag, there was just time for a 1 lap dash in which Stone was delighted to take the spoils on the road this time. Due to the disrupted nature of this contest, twelfth was the best Grindrod could manage.
In the Fun Cup Championship the cars are so evenly matched that it was a surprise that Uvio Hoffman’s Lotus won their fourth race of 5 during 2021 when they took the honours in the 4 hour encounter at Oulton.
As winners of the previous round which ran into the dusk at Anglesey, they had to start from the back of the grid but, despite one lap being run behind the Safety Car, they were out in the lead by the end of the eleventh circuit. Such is the nature of Fun Cup, they were unable to get away with Track Focused, Team Viking, PLR Racing and Team Olympian all having spells in the lead.
Team Olympian were out front in the closing stages but they didn’t have the speed that Uvio Hoffman’s Lotus had through Druids and Lodge so they couldn’t open out an advantage thus they were overtaken with a trio of laps remaining. PLR Racing completed the podium.
Dave Cockell had a perfect day in his Escort Cosworth. He took pole and led every lap of both Ford Modified Series contests. Malcolm Harding (Escort Mk2) was runner-up in the first outing but did not finish later in the day when Andrew Shelswell was second in his Sierra XR4i. Piers Grange was twice third in his Escort Mk2.
Dave Williams/Peter Scherer
