JOY FOR DOUG IN OULTON’S DAZZLING DOZEN
Doug Crosbie was the class of the FF1600 Post '89 field – Photo: Rachel Bourne
After a morning of qualifying, the BRSCC’s North Western Centre entertained the crowd at Oulton Park with 12 fabulous club races on 25th June. Doug Crosbie was delighted to go home with a clean sweep of pole, race win and fastest lap in the Avon Tyres Northern Post '89 Formula Ford 1600 Championship. This was the first time he had accomplished such a feat.
Due to work commitments, Crosbie is taking the track in his Van Diemen JL013K whenever he has a free weekend this season. Having tested on Friday, he was in the groove from the outset during qualifying. As the track was damp under the trees at Lodge lap times fell as the session progressed. At the start of the race, the pole-sitter was in the lead by the time the field reached Old Hall. For a few laps he was under immense pressure as the Van Diemen LA10 of David McArthur filled his mirrors and then Pedro Matos (Van Diemen JL16) made it 3 for the lead. However, when McArthur and Matos got into a tangle at Lodge, Crosbie was able to make a break which resulted in a comfortable victory. McArthur recovered from his spin to be classified fourth as Matt Cowley and Jack Wolfenden completed the podium in their pair of Van Diemen JL013Ks while there was more drama for Matos when he hit the barriers and lost a wheel.
Over in the Pre '90 class, there was a BRSCC FF1600 debutant on pole in the shape of Josh Smith. The Myerscough College student was having a run in one of the cars the educational faculty prepares after the regular driver of the Reynard 89FF, Ian Wolfenden, stepped aside after Smith was very rapid during testing on Friday. Come the race, things did not go well for the sometime F4 driver when he rolled forwards before the red lights went out and incurred a 10 secs penalty. With Smith hesitating and Jaap Blijleven also not getting away as well as he would have wished, it was 4 abreast on the run down to Old Hall as the second row men – Michael Beaver (Mondiale M89S) and John Murphy (Merlyn Mk20A) – drew alongside those who had qualified ahead of them. Smith and Blijleven had a superb battle to be the first to see the chequered flag but with Smith’s penalty, he dropped down to fifth in the final standings. This promoted Nick Barnes (Van Diemen RF87) up to second – his best ever result – while third was almost a dead heat between Murphy and Brian Soule’s Van Diemen RF88. The former just got the verdict. Beaver’s car had severe handling problems – he retired to the pits.
There were no less than 6 Mazda races on the programme with the Mazda MX-5 Championship contenders once again being split into two groups. In the A Class, serial Mazda winner Tom Roche added two more successes to his tally. Michael Fisk was runner-up on both occasions while Simon Baldwin was third in the opening encounter but then crashed at Hill Top on the last lap of the second leaving Brian Trott to complete the podium.
Having qualified on pole for the first of the MX-5 B Class contests, Matt Pickford made a poor start and dropped to fourth. This did not prevent him from battling back through and taking the win. His quest was aided when leaders Simon Woods and Jack Warry had a coming together at Druids. Woods recovered from this to take second. In third was Simon Orange who had progressed from ninth on the grid. With the top 5 swapping places with the final 5 finishers of the first A Class contest, Joshua Jackson was the winner of Class B race 2.
The opening MX-5 SuperCup encounter saw another win for Tom Roche. Alan Henderson chased him all the way until he ran wide and dropped to fifth on the final lap. Thus James Blake-Baldwin and Richard Wicklen completed the podium. Roche was unable to make it 4 out of 4 as Blake-Baldwin got ahead of him 2 circuits from home in the final contest of the day. Roche had to settle for second ahead of Jack Harding. This was a real thriller of a race with a couple of seconds covering the first 9 cars at the end.
Having only recently completed the refurbishment of his GTV, Graham Seager won the first race he had entered this season which was the day’s Alfa Romeo opener. The two Andys – Robinson and Paige – in their 156 and Giulletta respectively followed him home. The latter had started from the pitlane following problems in qualifying. This pair both went one place better in race 2 after Seager retired. In the TwinSpark Class, 19 year old Tom Hill did the double on the track although he lost the second win to James Ford when a 5 secs penalty was applied.
Richard Styrin took a brace of victories at Oulton – his Boxster has crossed the line first in all bar one of the Toyo Tires Porsche Championship races this season. The first encounter of the day for the German marque had to be cut short when 924 Class front runner, Nizar El-Chamaa, lost a wheel at Knickerbrook and came to rest in a vulnerable location. Linda Warren took the honours in this category although she was beaten by El-Chamaa even though he started from the back of the grid later in the day.
The BRSCC would like to praise all the officials and marshals for their efficiency which enabled all the races to be completed before the 6:30 pm curfew despite such a busy schedule.
You can view the full results at OULTON RESULTS
Dave Williams/ Dom D'Angelillo
