OULTON PARK: CSCC BY JAKE JONES
David Holroyd edged out Mark Campbell to win the Swinging Sixties outing at Oulton Park.
Polesitter Campbell streaked clear with Keiron Baillie and Malcolm Johnson behind while Holroyd had also got a brilliant getaway and was up to fourth from ninth early on.
The quartet pulled away and Campbell, aware of his Anglesey success penalty, stretched his lead. But the Triumph driver went through the pits before the window midway through, explaining post-race that he had jumped the start and thought he had a stop-go penalty. Following the stops Johnson emerged in the lead with Holroyd and an eager Campbell now in hot pursuit, the latter getting past Baillie when the Lotus 7 spun at Cascades.
Campbell then impressively grabbed second from Holroyd around the outside of Cascades late on, which became the lead in the closing stages when Johnson spun at Britten’s and dropped to third. The Triumph weathered pressure from Holroyd’s Lotus Elan to win but the 10-second penalty for the jumped start demoted him to second, handing the win to the deserving Holroyd.
Tom Mensley scored a dominant win in Tin Tops, taking advantage of success penalties for polesitter Russell Hird and pre-race favourites Nigel Ainge and Danny Cassar. Mensley was in second by the time of the early safety car courtesy of an off for Glen Copeland. After the stops and penalties for his rivals, the Clio driver was able to take the win comfortably. Hird eventually slipped to fifth while third became second for the Ainge/ Cassar Honda Integra after a penalty for overtaking under the safety car was applied to William Hardy.
Chris Southcott won the first Modsports encounter in a safety car-affected race. He took the lead from Ian Stapleton at the start but a loose wheel on the CRX of Thomas Carey hit Tony Ellis putting both out on the spot. By the time the clean up was finished there was time only for one lap with Southcott holding off Paul Sibley. Sibley made amends in race two, winning from pole position but Steven Moss’s brilliant defensive driving stole the show. In third, he held off Southcott until his retirement, while the MG driver was demoted to fourth post race after exceeding track limits a little too often.
Jonathan Mitchell won the Magnificent Sevens race after the safety car cruelly denied Gary Bate. The latter had pulled out a commanding lead before Fraser Greenshields and Lewis Tootell got together at the Shell Oils hairpin. Bate pitted under the safety car, was held in the pitlane and finished a lap down in eighth. Mitchell and Caterham veteran Peter Ratcliff diced until the late stages when the former pulled away, the latter finishing second on his birthday, and lastever Caterham race.
Bate was not to be denied in the Open Series though, winning ahead of Mitchell in an intense encounter. Bate lost out to his rival at the start and could not retake the lead despite a wave of attacks before the pitstops. But, following the mandatory stops and devoid of any success penalties, he emerged in front and held off Mitchell until the chequered flag.
Roger Lavender and Jonathan Tandy secured victory in the New Millennium & Modern Classics. Polesitter and favourite Nicholas Olson started badly and eventually retired. After the stops and success penalties, Tandy weathered late pressure from Piers Reid to secure the win from seventh on the grid.