AND THE WINNERS ARE... MACAULAY ENDS SMITH’S STREAK
ANGLESEY: 750MC BY RORY MITCHELL It was a bumper weekend of action at Anglesey as the second half of the 750 Motor Club season began.
Paul Smith’s run of wins was ended in Formula Vee by Adam Macaulay and an unlucky red flag and count-back timing. Smith had the lead initially, having made a good start from fourth, but electrical problems which caused his engine to misfire coming out of The Banking handed the lead back to Macaulay and put Smith behind Ian Jordan in third.
Smith fought back though, making use of a better exit off Church to overtake Jordan into Rocket. The next lap he did the same move on Macaulay for the lead, but a red flag came out for a collision between Jack Wilkinson and Paul Taylor as the pair disputed fifth. That handed the race win to Macaulay, with Jordan making up the top three.
James Harridge showed more signs of winning pace in his Class B Maverick. He managed to get as high as fourth before losing third and second gear, which dropped him to 10th at the end of the first race. In the second he was right with the lead battle, overtaking both Jordan and Macaulay through Church into Rocket.
DONINGTON PARK: BARC BY SAMARTH KANAL
After early July’s downpours, Sunday’s uninterrupted heat was more than welcome, as were the Formula 250/450 Superkarts which kicked off the day ferociously.
Jack Layton turned up the heat on reigning champion Gavin Bennett in terms of the title throughout, though Jason Dredge – Division 1 class favourite and polesitter – picked up two wins overall. The closest battle came in the third race as Layton and Bennett scrapped for second, with Layton having beaten his rival by just 0.061s.
Danny Chan earned a shock class win in the second race as his Division 1 rivals Dredge and Liam Morley both retired with mechanical failures. Andrew Gulliford won in his F450 kart all three times.
The Dunlop Prototype Series had a more meagre-looking five car grid of which four were the supposedly rapid Ginetta G57s and the other was a Radical SR8, but races have never been decided on paper.
Ollie Jackson was the favourite and polesitter. It was a learning experience on Sunday for all the prototype drivers as Saturday’s practice session was marred by rain and noise control limits. The lone Radical went from underdog to dark horse, as Alex Kapadia nailed the rolling start, taking Jackson round the outside of turn one – Kapadia switched with Paul Spencer midway through the race and the SR8 eventually finished third.
Colin White’s team just managed to get its G57 working for the start, but White spun at the Melbourne Hairpin trying to overtake Ade Barwick towards the end of the race. Eventually, Jackson and White retired as the oil pump pulleys on their respective cars failed. Barwick finished second, having gifted Craig Fleming a shock win – he also spun out with just ten minutes to go.
Fleming made no attempt to hide his own surprise at the result as he said post-race: “I thought I only had to mow the grass and trim the hedges this Sunday!”
Liam Morley clearly had a more concrete plan, characterising the three F125 Open Superkart races with a commanding performance, making him the overall winner. A fantastic scrap for the other two podium spots behind him was Sunday’s most captivating encounter. The second race was a highlight, as Morley’s lead from pole was questioned heavily by reigning series champion Lee Harpham, who finished second. Kirk Cattermole, English champion, picked his spot perfectly and took third place from Chris Needham on the last lap – Needham finished just 0.085s behind Cattermole.
Sixteen-year-old James Clarke was the standout performer of Sunday, earning two S1600 class wins in the Clubmans Cup. Clarke described his Mallock 1600 as being “planted” to the track during his special, spirited performance. Barry Webb also claimed a double in Class B, with Phil Weaver having won twice in the prototype class, and overall. Weaver seemed nonchalant about his victory, but his dominant performance and clever use of unorthodox racing lines to defend the lead surely earned a pint or two. Clarke probably stuck to soft drinks, but the young winner will definitely have more chances to celebrate in the future.