ROCKINGHAM ROASTS AS TRACK ACTION HOTS UP


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John Cooper's Fiesta Class D win streak now puts him firmly in the hunt for the title – Photo: James Roberts

The weather certainly wasn’t disappointing anyone this past weekend at Rockingham Motor Speedway in Corby as racing action took place on the ISSCL circuit in beautiful sunshine and very warm temperatures. That said, the drama and excitement on track was red hot, too.

The largest amount of drama was reserved for the BRSCC Fiesta Championship, with Class C racing separately from the other 3 classes. This should have been a weekend for class points leader Lewis Kent to seek out further points to cushion his advantage, however wheel bearing problems in both races left him scoring zero points from his weekend. That left Simon Horrobin to clinch his second win of the season in race one ahead of Danny Harrison and Lee Dendy-Sadler, but after a suspension problem put Horrobin out of the second race, it was left to Harrison to grab another win. Josh Gollin took 2nd place with Dendy-Sadler taking another 3rd.

But if you thought Kent’s fortunes were bad, Jamie White must have felt his were worse at one point in the Fiesta races for Classes A, B & D. White’s fortunes in Race 1 took a nose dive when brake problems at Deene corner continued to manifest until he was forced to stop on the runoff area just before the Turn 3 oval banking. Jon Cooper went on to clinch Race 1 ahead of Stuart Robbins and Jack Youhill, leaving White to start towards the rear of the field. He did manage to get as far as Robbins before an incident between the two at Brook chicane left White’s Class D car on its roof. The race would be stopped and restarted with Cooper making it 5 wins in a row ahead of Youhill and Thomas Hutchins. Classes A & B saw victories both times for Colin Newbold and Derek Robinson respectively.

The trio of Excool BRSCC OSS Championship races were pretty much a straightforward process for Mike Jenvey, who took full advantage of the absence of his main rivals to secure a brilliant hat-trick of overall and Class B wins. This, as it turned out, was the first time the 2015 champion had ever achieved this since joining OSS! Invitation driver Jon-Paul Ivey was 2nd overall in his Invitation class Radical, while 3rd place in race one went to Class C winner Lee Torrie, thanks to Josh Smith’s absence due to personal matters. Richard Wise’s Chiron LMP split Jenvey and Ivey on the podium in Race 2, with exactly the same top 3 in the third race. Class victories were also shared by Paul Spencer and Patrick Sherrington (Class A), Neil Harris (Class D), Paul Myers (Class E) and the Aquila CR1 driven by Paul Watson and Matt Domin (Class F). Torrie would also go on to take a hat-trick of Class A wins.

A slightly sparse entry for the Alfa Romeo Championship allowed former champion Graham Seager to have something of an easy weekend. He drove away in his Modified Class GTV to win both races comfortably, while reigning #1 Tom Hill came 2nd overall in race one as well as Twin Spark Cup winner from fellow class mate Andrew Bourke. It would be Bourke who would take the Twin Spark honours in the second race behind Seager, with Dave Messenger completing the top 3. On both occasions, the Power Trophy class was won by Keith Waite.

The four guest championships that made an appearance also made an impression on proceedings. The Scottish Motor Racing Club brought along two of their series with the Scottish BMW Championship and the Celtic Speed Scottish MINI Cooper Cup. In the BMWs, Alastair Smith did well to extend his win streak to 4 on the bounce with victory in both races, while the podium places behind were shared between Douglas Simpson, Cliff Harper and Ruaridh Clark. In the MINIs, Robbie Dalgleish came from 8th on the grid in race one to take victory from Morgan Murray and Michael Weddell, before the reverse grid race two saw Murray avoid a first lap incident in the midfield to win ahead of Mark Geraghty and Dominic Wheatley. Hannah Chapman and Taelor Shand took a Ladies Cup top step finish each.

Andrew Ashton couldn’t be toppled from the head of the pack in either Drayton Manor Park MG Metro Cup race throughout the weekend as he went on win both races. Dick Trevett and Mike Williams took 2nd and 3rd in race one, the latter holding off a charging Jack Ashton after coming through from the back of the grid to finish a strong 4th. The race two podium would see a carbon copy once again with Andrew Ashton winning from Trevett and Williams.

Finally, there was also an appearance on Sunday from the magnificent Northern Saloon & Sportscar Championship run by the Darlington & District Motor Club. An incredibly eclectic mix of cars took to the track with the first race being won by former Mazda MX-5 SuperCup champion Alan Henderson driving his Ginetta G50, with Andy Robinson’s thunderous Ford Falcon V8 Supercar in 2nd and Paul Woolfitt’s Lotus Exige in 3rd. Robinson would then go on to win the second race later on that afternoon despite a small spin, with Woolfitt in 2nd and Henderson charging to 3rd after starting the race from pit lane.

You can find the full breakdown of the weekend’s results here – ROCKINGHAM RESULTS.

Scott Woodwiss


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