ROCHE DOMINATES AT DONINGTON


CATEGORIES:

Tom Roche on the way to securing the title at Donington Park. Photo: Jon Elsey

Two wins from two for Tom Roche at Donington Park last weekend finally put the seal on the BRSCC Mazda MX5 Championship title battle, with the Cardiff racer now having an unassailable lead.

Brett Smith showed great consistency to be the best of the rest in both A group races and subsequently moved up to second in the points standings. Erstwhile title contender James Blake-Baldwin had a weekend to forget. An early spin in race 1A put him towards the back of the field, but he cut a swathe through the opposition to secure third spot. Things went from bad to worse in the second tour when Blake-Baldwin succumbed to engine issues on lap six. Simon Goddard returned his best result of the season claiming the final podium position in race 2 following a tremendous battle with Blink Motorsport team-mate Charlie Charman.

Callum Edwards just beat Matt Robinson to the line in the first B race with Sam Smith holding off Richard Collins for third. In the second outing, Wayne Le Montais handled the damp conditions well to finish a comfortable seven seconds ahead of Adam Craig, with Gary Hufford a further twelve seconds adrift.

In the absence of championship leader Darren Luke, the three OSS races produced three different winners, with Doug Hart, Tony Sinclair and Craig Fleming all tasting victory. Fleming came away with the biggest points haul of the trio as he also scored two second place finishes.

The fight for the ST crown (Class C) in the Vortex Dunlop Ford Fiesta Championship will go down to the wire. Nicholas Bowers is still top but his lead was cut to just 9 points after a third in the first race proved his best return of the weekend. David Grady and Daniel Holland were the two victors, while a second for Matthew Foley in race 2 moved him up to be Bowers’ main challenger.

Class D (Zetec S) protagonists David Abbott and James Appleby were first and second in the first outing for Classes A, B & D in the Fiesta Championship. Class A (Si) leader Ian Scruton was third and then turned the tables in the second race to win from Appleby and Andrew Mitchell. Scruton now goes into the Brands Hatch decider with a healthy, but not impregnable, lead. Andrew Mollison took two Class B (Zetec) wins to overtake Ken Bateman in the points table so there is all to play for across all classes at Brands Hatch next month.

JJ Ross is in control of his own destiny in the Vortex Motorsport News Ford Fiesta Championship, but he can’t quite shake off Robert Cox who has improved as the season has progressed. Both shared race wins at Donington with Cox beating Ross to the line in race 1, with Ben Wilcox third. Wilcox moved up a place in race 2, demoting Cox to third.

Ian Stapleton took the honours in the BRSCC Alfashop Alfa Romeo Championship race. His Class A1 GTV6 came home three and a half seconds ahead of Guy Hale’s 147 GTA. Graham Seager’s Class C GTV was a further thirteen seconds back in third. James Ford was the best of the Class E peddlers and Darelle Wilson bested John Griffiths in Class B. Stapleton was back on the top step of the podium in the 20-minute Pre 91 Alfa race, winning from Anthony George and Jon Billingsley.

Both Sports 2000 championships, the Duratecs and Pintos, enjoyed half-hour thrashes on Saturday afternoon. The Duratec tour was won by Patrick Sherrington’s MCR, some 7 seconds ahead of Robert Oldershaw’s Gunn. Craig Mitchell was third in his Class B Lola. Alfa Romeo refugee Chris Snowdon was the class of the Pinto field – his Tiga SC80 winning by 9 seconds from Mike Fry. Mike Johns’ Royale S2000M was a further 10 seconds adrift in third.

Subaru Imprezas dominated Saturday’s Time Attack Final, with Jason Ogg, Chris Bennett and Lee Bullen topping the timing sheets.

The full meeting results can be found at DONINGTON RESULTS.


CLUB PARTNERS

Race Entries
& Membership