Donington Park; Silverstone; Castle Combe; Oulton Park; Snetterton; Pembrey
LUKE HERBERT DUG DEEP TO SECURE the Mazda MX-5 Supercup title in the second race at Donington last weekend. Having finished behind Jack Harding in race one, Herbert just needed to track championship rival Tom Roche to clinch the crown with a race to spare.
As Harding led again, Liam Murphy and Jon Greensmith pressured Herbert, and when Greensmith passed at Coppice it allowed a whole train – including Roche – to follow through. Herbert dropped to seventh, but kept his cool as Roche backed the pack up in a bid to encourage more cars between the pair. When the chequered flag was shown a lap early, they were only split by Ben Short, which left Herbert the champion and Roche falling agonisingly short for the second year running.
Harding completed a dominant hat-trick in race three, winning by six seconds from Murphy and Greensmith, as Herbert cruised to sixth.
Form driver Josh Gollin celebrated his own hat-trick in the Fiestas, taking the opening race with a sublime move from third to first. Jamie Going passed leader Simon Horrobin into Roberts and checked his momentum, allowing Gollin to pull alongside. Realising Going was also in range as he braked late to complete the move, Gollin switched to the inside and slithered past into Redgate.
Going pressured Gollin throughout race two, while race three was twice red-flagged. The first, for a crash that left Lee Dendy-sadler’s car on its side, was a reprieve for Gollin, who had himself spun on oil at the Old Hairpin. Gollin won the complete restart from his brother Nat, who benefited from a clash between
Going and Horrobin. Nathan Edwards completed the podium after an engine blow-up for Class C champion David
Nye brought an early halt.
Class D runner Jamie White overcame a multitude of problems – including brake trouble and a water leak that required an engine change – to keep his nose clean and clinch the overall title with two thirds and a fourth in class.
For Oliver Allwood, wins proved to be like London buses in the MX-5 Mk1 races. He’d been waiting for one since October last year, then two came along at once. Each time Allwood beat Sam Smith into second, taking the first comfortably after breaking clear of the chasing pack, then thankful for a red flag relieving the pressure in race two.
Josh Jackson and Mike Comber joined the pair in a race-three breakaway. Smith hit the front on the penultimate lap, only for both him and Allwood to run wide on fluid at Redgate on the final tour. Jackson seized the win by cutting underneath from a wider entry.
Long-time series points leader Will Blackwell-chambers did enough to secure the championship crown with top-six finishes in the opening two races, then carved his way to 11th from a pitlane start – to avoid first-c0rner trouble – in the third. B-race victories went to Simon Woods, Paul Tucker and Paul Maguire.
The Alfa Romeo title was settled in Andrew Bourke’s favour when Tom Hill tried an ambitious move inside Simon Cresswell and Dave Messenger at Mcleans in the second race. All three went into the gravel, and Hill and Cresswell were stuck there. Outgoing champion Hill and Bourke had both battled dramas in race one. Hill lost fourth gear, limping home eighth in class, while Bourke – in a borrowed car after a big accident at Mallory Park – made contact with backmarker Vince Proto’s Fiat Punto at the Old Hairpin on the final lap, picking up a puncture and dropping to fifth in class. At the head of the field, Barry Mcmahon powered to
double success in his 156, with brother Roger and Graham Seager (GTV) sharing the other podium places.
A tail-happy Nick Reeve won both Fiesta Junior races but it wasn’t enough to prevent Jack Davidson lifting the title. The Scot’s cautious approach yielded two second places, while Matthew Greenwood scored a maiden podium in the opener.
John Young claimed two victories in the HRDC races in his Jaguar Mk1. He scythed through the Coombs Heritage field from a pitlane start caused by a late oil-cooler change, profiting when early pacesetters Grant Williams and Richard Butterfield were forced to retire their Jags by a loose wheel and an oil leak respectively.
Young then took a convincing win in the Touring Greats, followed home by Chrissy Palmer’s Austin A40. Peter Chambers eased his Lotus Cortina to victory in the Allstars race after early challenger Charles Rainford pitted his Marcos for an oil-pressure check.