WALTON’SWEEKENDOFUPSANDDOWNS
It was a mixed weekend for Simon Walton in the penultimate round of the VAG Trophy at Thruxton. The Audi TT driver was wiped out of the second race of the weekend, caught up in a collision between Ben Wallace and Callum Jenkins in their VW Golfs, only hours after taking a win in the opener.
The race was red-flagged, cutting short Brayden Fletcher’s battle with championship leader and eventual racewinner Paul Taylor. Kenan Dole, who narrowly avoided the crash, inherited third, having finished second in the opening race, and moved ahead of Wallace in the title fight.
Dole went on to triumph in the following day’s VW Racing Cup opener. He carved his way through the field from the third row of the grid, leaving Darelle Wilson, Tom Witts, Kieran Gordon, and Bobby Thompson to squabble over second place. Thompson claimed the runner-up position before winning race two, beating Dole, Jamie Bond, and Witts in a four-way battle for the victory.
Philip House claimed a victory in a guest appearance in the Classic VW Cup after a race-long battle with championship regular Ken Lark. Lark initially snatched the lead at the start, but House fought back to retake the position. They swapped places twice more before House took the chequered flag in his VW Beetle, only 0.3s ahead of Lark’s Volkswagen Corrado.
Lark took a dominant race two victory in the rain, with House not taking part. Brad Kaylor cut through the pack to take second in his Volkswagen Vento, but couldn’t close the gap to Lark. Class B leader Steven Rowland held off Ian Knight to finish third overall.
James Clarke dominated in the Clubmans Cup, despite poor starts, claiming a hat-trick of race wins and securing the title with one round remaining. The 17-year-old dropped to the back of the field in race one when he stalled on the grid. He sliced through the field to take the lead after only a handful of laps, and remained unchallenged for the rest of the race. Another poor start in race three dropped Clarke into the chasing pack, but he battled back into the lead before the end of lap one and went on to lap every driver before taking the chequered flag.
Ray West took a pair of lights-toflag victories with the BMW M3 in the Pre-’93 Touring Cars. In the opening event, Class B leader Karl Cattliff battled hard to keep second ahead of Kevin Willis. Willis found a way past on the final lap, while Cattliff dropped back to fifth.
West had an equally smooth ride in a wet race two, finishing more than 14 seconds ahead of Ross Craig, who won the Pre-2003 Touring Cars category. Luke Allen, who took the pre-’03 victory in race one, held off a late challenge from Alexander Tait, who took both Blue Oval Saloon victories.
Jim Mcloughlin was denied a double Pre-1983 Touring Car victory when a suspected engine problem in the opening race forced him to retire from the lead. It was later discovered to be nothing serious and the Ford Capri was back on the grid for race two, where he quickly worked his way through the field to second. He soon closed in on Stephen Primett’s Ford Escort and fired past the race one winner to take the victory.
Elsewhere in the Classic Touring Car categories, Dale Gent took a pair of victories in the Thunder Saloons, while Chris Criddle was victorious in the VTEC Challenge, in his Honda Integra.
Alan Greenhalgh and Neil Bray shared victories in the Pre-1966 Touring Car competition. Bray also found success in the opening Pre-2005 race with Wil Arif claiming the win in race two.
Jon Halliwell bounced back from a non-score in the last round to take two victories in the MAX5 Championship and take the points lead. Paul Roddison and Ian Loversidge kept Halliwell under pressure in the opening race but neither could find a way past the polesitter. Halliwell enjoyed a calmer race two when Roddison struggled to pass backmarkers late in the race.
Lee Gillard took two dominant victories in the Track Attack Race Club races in his Subaru Impreza, while Gary Culver claimed a pair of Ferrari Formula Classic wins.