CATERHAMS TO DOMINATE AT DONINGTON
Caterham racing will be the main order of the day at our Midland Centre meeting on the Donington Park Grand Prix circuit this weekend. Of the sixteen races on the schedule, all but seven will feature differing models of the iconic ‘Surrey’ marque.
The Supersports are the first to race on Saturday and the entries have had to be split into three groups to accommodate everyone.Paul Thacker and then Adam White were the surprise winners at Snetterton over Easter, with championship favourites Mike Hart & Jon Mortimer pushed into the runner-up and third spots respectively on both occasions. Hart and Mortimer will be desperate to make amends and it will be a surprise if either of them aren’t leading the table after the weekend.
A mammoth thirty-six car grid brings the Roadsport drivers back to familiar ground at Donington, where nearly all made their race debut in July last year as part of the Academy. Let’s hope they remember to turn left at the end of the main straight! The two Academy races that weekend resulted in wins for Chris Hutchinson and eventual Group 2 champion Will Smith. Hutchinson, along with 2013 Academy Group 1 champion, Henry Heaton, were the race winners at Snett.
Danny Winstanley launched onto the Superlight R300 scene at the tail of last year in style. Now contesting his first full season, the 22 year-old has set his stall out quite clearly by dominating the opening weekend of racing. Closest to the Preston driver were Caterham guest driver Jon Barnes. This weekend’s wild card in the #7 Caterham guest car comes in the extremely fast shape of Matt Parry. Parry won the coveted McLaren Autosport BRDC award at the end of last year, a prize which includes a test with the McLaren F1 team.
In the Tracksport Championship, first blood in the eagerly anticipated Stephen Nuttall versus Pete Fortune rematch went the way of Stockport’s Nuttall at Snetterton. However, the brace of wins on the points table does not tell the full story and even Nuttall described them as ‘lucky’. Young Spaniard, Andres Sinclair, runs a close second place in the points table. Fortune had to settle for a fifth and third but showed that he had enough pace to ensure that the re-match will live up to the hype.
Guy Hale left Silverstone last month as the Alfa Romeo Championship leader by a single point from James Bishop with Ray Foley, Roger Evans and Nick Anderson in the next three places. This weekend we expect to see Graham Seager trying hard making up for his Silverstone problems in the supercharged GTV. The Alfas have again returned a very encouraging entry of 23 cars, the bulk of which are in Class E. There are several contenders in the class for top honours but we should see James Ford, James Bishop and Steve Potts near the front again.
Joining us for a race on each day is the new Britcar Trophy Series, which is designed for drivers who wish to enjoy shorter sprint races. The Silverstone opener last month was dominated by Dan Welch, who drove his Porsche 911 to victory in all three races, so he will be the man to watch this weekend.
Also having a 90-minute double header on both Saturday and Sunday is the Britcar Endurance Championship. Neil Garner Motorsport are the favourites for the title and duly won at Silverstone last month. The Britcar Endurance Sports and Touring Car Championship, runs on the same grid as the Endurance Championship and the Ginetta G50 driven by Ian Anderson and Amanda Black are currently in top spot.
The Final Instructions, timetable and entry lists are available at CATERHAM RACE WEEKEND