WET WINTER RACE DAY AT ANGLESEY FINISHES 2019 BRSCC SEASON
Dave Williams reports on the action from the Winter Race Day this past Sunday at Anglesey.
Formula Ford 1600 driver, Tom McArthur, left Anglesey Circuit on 17th November with quite a haul of trophies as the BRSCC’s North Western Centre staged their annual Winter Meeting.
Qualifying for the Avon Tyres Northern Formula Ford 1600 Championship’s Double Header threw up a shock as karter Reece Ushijima claimed pole position in an Oldfield Motorsport Van Diemen JL13 on his car racing debut.Hehpop
By the end of the opening lap of the first FF1600 contest Ushijima was down in fifth place while upfront, Jack Wolfenden led the way in his Myerscough College Firman RFR17 after technical issues restricted him to 4 qualifying laps. This was a superb race with Tom McArthur, Davide Meloni and Jamie Sharp all in contention with their B-M Racing-tended Medina Sport JL18 and Van Diemens JL15 and LA10 respectively.
McArthur passed Meloni at Rocket to put himself in position to inherit the victory when Wolfenden dropped to fifth as Sharp and Ushijima completed the podium.
Later in the day McArthur took the laurels once again to clinch the Post98 Northern Championship and Star of Anglesey to add to his 2019 Champion of Oulton title. His performance at this Winter Meeting also meant he received the Brian Linley Memorial Trophy. This was another trilling contest with the first 4 cars running as one until Wolfenden took Sharp out of the race at Church and found himself disqualified from the results. The incident promoted Ushijima to the runner-up position with the first Super Classic car – the PRS RH01 of Oliver Chapman – completing the overall podium.
John Murphy (Merlyn Mk20A) had taken the Super Classic category in the earlier encounter but on this occasion he was delayed by a spinning Davide Meloni just after the start. A month previously at Oulton Park, Andrew Schofield wrapped up the Northern Championship for the class while a third and a second on Sunday sealed this section of the Star of Anglesey for Nick Barnes.
The two Radicals of Nicolaj Lindberg and Joe Spencer were the fastest of the Winter Sports, Saloons & Caterham contenders. Lindberg made bad starts behind the wheel of his SR8 in both outings – his first was worse than his second and allowed Spencer’s PR6 to take the race 1 spoils while Lindberg redeemed himself by winning after lunch. James Baldwin was third on each occasion in his Nissan 370Z.
James Thompson romped to victory when the Golfmech Global GT Lights first appeared after the rest of the pack were delayed by an opening lap incident at Church. Peter Drennan and Gary Mitchell completed the podium.
It all went wrong for Thompson next time out as he spun trying to get away from his pursuers when the field was unleashed at the end of a Safety Car period. He collected second placed Drennan as he gyrated and handed a surprise win to Mitchell ahead of Richard Finlay and Conor Farrell.
The first attempt at the opening race of the Reprise IT Tiedeman Trophy was halted due to an incident at Church. The restart was action packed with four cars contesting the win despite conditions being treacherously wet. Mark Harrison came out on top having passed Roger Wright in the closing stages. James Waite took third after Bryn Tootell was one of many who fell foul of the conditions and spun.
There was more drama for Tootell at the start of the second encounter when he made the best start but a clutch problem caused him to jump forwards before the red lights went out earning him a 10 second penalty. Regardless of the stewards’ decision Tootell still battled it out on the track with Harrison. The latter came out on top while, further back, Wright and Waite had a fantastic battle for third.
The BRSCC wish to thank all marshals and officials who attended this meeting and helped with its successful execution.
You can find a detailed breakdown of the weekend’s results at Anglesey here ANGLESEY RESULTS
Dave Williams
