Burgess steals the show with a Radical triple as tin-tops thrill on the greasy Snetterton surface
Steve Burgess stole the show in the revamped Radical Challenge Championship, claiming a clean sweep of wins in Saturday’s trio of races. He teed off with a convincing drive in the opener, overhauling Brian Caudwell and gradually pulling away. Further back, Tony Wells advanced from his modest third row start, picking off Brian Murphy and Caudwell in the closing laps to finish second.
Despite leading most of race two, Burgess’ winning run looked to have ended when his race-long lead battle with Bradley Smith culminated in a dramatic last-corner collision. Smith had dived up the inside into Murrays, with the resulting contact leaving Burgess in a spin that consequently gave Smith the win. But a post-race time penalty dropped Smith back to second, handing Burgess top spot.
Burgess completed his hat-trick in the pitstop finale, well ahead of French Superbike rider Sylvain Guintoli, who took over from team-mate James Abbott to edge out Mark Richards and Caudwell for second.
The BMW M3s of Stuart Waite, Karl Cattliff and Nigel Innes locked out the podium places in that order in both of the well-supported Racing Saloons races, while further back Rodney Frost and Colin Philpott took a win a piece in the Jaguar class contests.
Once Sunday’s mid-day downpours were spent, the combined Nippon Challenge, Deutsche Marque and Tricolore field took to a sodden track for their opening race. After a brief safety car period thanks to a collision at Palmer corner, Richard Hockley’s Honda Civic pulled clear Michael Hamlett’s similar car to win. He made it a double in race two, while Hamlett’s early exit allowed Don Hughes’ Peugeot 306 into second.
The Ford Fiesta of Kester Cook clinched top spot in the first of two races for the MSVT Trackday Championship. Although James Britton (M3) sprinted from the second row to snatch the early initiative, his subsequent tumble down the order allowed Cook though to win, albeit narrowly, just withstanding a late charge from Ryan Steel (Citroen Saxo).
Having overtaken polesitter Adam Lockwood at the start of the opening MR2 race, and held an advantage for most of the race, Aaron Pullan looked in control. But he hit oil and slid off on the final lap, allowing Lockwood to win.
Pullan bounced back in race two, overtaking Lockwood into the infield at the start before pulling steadily away for a convincing win. Meanwhile, Lockwood was chased by a determined David Hemingway, who slipped past on lap four and just stayed ahead.
Matthew Swaffer surged into the lead in the opening moments of the Production BMW opener, pulling clear of poleman Harry Goodman and David Graves. Behind them, a great drive from the back by Gianluca Maretto was rewarded with fourth. Meanwhile, title hopeful Matthew Wileman had a torrid time, forging his way from the back of the field after his quickest qualifying lap was disallowed, finishing sixth in the race despite a spin, only to be excluded.
Despite again building an early lead in race two, this time Swaffer was reeled in and passed by a determined Goodman, who claimed a well-deserved win.
Despite describing his start as “terrible” James Raven quickly recovered to move past polesitter Chase Owen and pull clear to win the first Formula Ford Super Series race. Raven converted pole in race two and held off late pressure from Owen to win again.
Dean Hyde put in a great performance to steer his rapid BMW E30 to victory in the Trackday Trophy enduro, despite it being his first Tarmac circuit race. An epic chase simmered for second, with Ray Honeybone’s Renault Clio just holding off Steve Papworth’s feisty Mini to claim second.