AND THE WINNERS ARE... GREENSMITH STARS IN MX-5 CONTESTS

DONINGTON PARK: BRSCC BY IAN SOWMAN

Jonathan Greensmith took his maiden MX-5 Supercup win on Saturday and produced a brilliant recovery drive 24 hours later, following a first lap spin.

Greensmith, a past Mk1 MX-5 and Porsche champion, made the strongest start to the wet first race pulling clear of his pursuers, who could only match his pace in the second half of the race. Championship leader Tom Roche was second, holding off Liam Murphy.

James Blake-baldwin led most of a frenetic second race that at times featured a nine-car lead pack. His victory put his points tally ahead of Roche, who was shuffled back to sixth on the final lap. Greensmith had the most dramatic race, however, slipping to 16th at the end of lap one. “I ran out of room at the chicane and these Mazdas don’t like sausage kerbs,” he said, having stormed back to lead briefly, eventually finishing third behind Jack Harding.

Roche continued his inexorable march to another Mk1 MX-5 crown, taking wins 11 and 12 of the season. Michael Fisk ran him close in race one. In race two it took a few laps for Roche to reclaim the lead after Fisk got ahead at the start. Brian Trott was second.

CASTLE COMBE: CCRC BY LEE BONHAM

The August Bank Holiday meeting at Castle Combe was overshadowed by repeated race stoppages and dramatic accidents, across an ultimately curtailed programme.

The Combe Formula Ford Championship produced a pair of tumultuous encounters. Race one was initially led by Michael Moyers, before Ben Norton usurped him. Behind it was championship leader Roger Orgee making key moves and by the end of lap two he had leapfrogged Felix Fisher to run third behind his title rival. The dicing was then suspended after a massive accident destroyed Hugh Robertson’s Swift, although Robertson himself suffered only minor injuries.

At the resumption of action, Moyers snatched the lead from Norton only to lose it almost instantaneously as Norton fought back at Tower corner. Orgee then took his opportunity and stole second from his title rival at Quarry. The trio pulled away but the order remained the same to the chequered flag.

They resumed their dice in the second race, which featured a breathtaking move by Moyers around the outside of Camp to steal the lead with two laps remaining. Ultimately Orgee would usurp his title rival once more, on this occasion to claim victory.

A dramatic opening MSA British Superkart race featured two red-flag periods. A confused rolling-start involved the leaders entering combat despite the officials deciding to leave the red-lights on with cars out of position. The race lasted a further seven laps before Luke Plain was involved in a high-speed accident. Plain was taken to hospital as a precaution and series leader Jack Layton was declared the winner.

Layton was able to recover from a poor start to the second race and add another victory to his weekend tally. However, his success was overshadowed by an accident involving Roy Bennett that required another red-flag and the deployment of the air ambulance. Further updates were unavailable as MN went to press.

Both the Castle Combe GT Championship and Castle Combe Sports Series had their initial races red-flagged following dramatic early shunts. A multi-car accident in the former took out championship leader Barry Squibb, along with Oliver Bull and Kevin Bird. On the restart David Krayem claimed the honours in his Ginetta G50, with Chris Southcott’s MG Midget winning race two.

Norman Lackford found himself into the Folly barriers at the start of the Sports Series race, and on the restart Josh Smith charged away from the field to win but the second race was canned due to the multiple delays throughout the day.

Simon Thornton-norris claimed the opening Saloon Championship race but Gary Prebble denied him a double in the second. However, following Will di Claudio’s late retirement from race two, Thornton-norris now has one hand on the title with a single race remaining.

The British Superkart UK Cup featured a much-reduced grid after multiple drivers withdrew following the accidents that marred the Championship races. Jack Layton took his third win of the day to claim the prestigious ‘O’ plate.

A double pole-position in the Ferrari Formula Classic was converted into a double victory by Gary Culver.

1 Ben Norton (Spectrum 10B); 2 Roger Orgee (Van Diemen RF00) +0.213s; 3 Michael Moyers (Spectrum 011C); 4 Josh Fisher (Van Diemen JL14); 5 Nathan Ward (Spectrum 011C); 6 Edward Moore (Van Diemen JL013K). Class winners Richard Higgins (Van Diemen RF90); David Cobbold (Van Diemen RF89); Simon Davey (Van Diemen RF80). Fastest lap Orgee 1m10.471s (94.50mph). Pole Moyers. Starters 29.

1 Orgee; 2 Moyers +0.126s; 3 J Fisher; 4 Norton; 5 Felix Fisher (Van Diemen VD02); 6 Ward. CW David Vivian (Swift SC92); Cobbold; Davey. FL Ward 1m10.391s (94.61mph). P Moyers. S 29.

1 Jack Layton (Anderson/ DEA); 2 Gavin Bennett (Anderson/ DEA) +4.829s; 3 Ross Allen (Jade/ DEA); 4 Gareth James (Anderson/ DEA); 5 Andy Bird (Raider/ Redspeed Gas Gas); 6 James Hassall (Jade/ DEA). CW Stephen Clark (Anderson/ KTM 450). FL Layton 1m05.260s (102.05mph). P Layton. S 32. 1 Layton; 2 Bird +0.922s; 3 James; 4 Bennett; 5 James O’reilly (PVP/ Viper SK250S); 6 Andrew Gulliford (Anderson/ KTM 450). CW Gulliford. FL Clark 1m06.079s (100.78mph). P Layton. S 32.

1 Josh Smith (Radical PR6); 2 Mark Nicholson (Radical SR3RS) +59.391s; 3 Richard Fearns (Radical SR8); 4 Robert Gillman (Radical Prosport); 5 Chris Child (Radical Prosport); 6 Neil Harris (Nemesis Prototype). CW Fearns; Child. FL Smith 1m02.516s (106.53mph). P Smith. S 9. Race two cancelled.

1 Simon Thornton-norris (Mitsubishi Colt Ralliart); 2 Dave Scaramanga (VW Scirocco) +0.350s; 3 Gary Prebble (SEAT Leon Cupra); 4 Mark Wyatt (Vauxhall Astra); 5 Geoffrey Ryall (Peugeot 106); 6 John Barnard (Vauxhall Astra VXR). CW Scaramanga; Ryall; Russell Humphrey (Vauxhall Corsa). FL Scaramanga 1m14.714s (89.14mph). P ThorntonNorris. S 36. 1 Prebble; 2 Thornton-norris +0.307s; 3 Wyatt; 4 Barnard; 5 Ryall; 6 Haydn King (Peugeot 106 GTI). CW Thornton-norris; Ryall; Humphrey. FL ThorntonNorris 1m14.774s (89.06mph). P Thornton-norris. S 36.

1 Jack Layton (Anderson/ DEA); 2 Andy Bird (Raider/ Redspeed Gas Gas) +0.194s; 3 Ross Allen (Jade/ DEA); 4 Gareth James (Anderson/ DEA); 5 Andy Waite (Anderson/ KTM 450); 6 Tom Hatfield (Anderson/ DEA). CW Waite. FL Layton 1m05.647s (101.45mph). P Layton. S 15.

CAR

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