TRACKDAYTROPHY THRILLERATBRANDS
In a gripping race, where any one of four cars could have been steered to victory, Matt Shawyer and David Traviss battled through to claim the MSVT Trackday Trophy spoils at Brands Hatch.
A poor start by pole position holder Traviss initially handed Mark Penny the initiative in his Vauxhall VX220, but he was relieved of his lead by the Honda Civic of Mark Steward by the end of the second tour.
Behind the leading group, Dean Hyde was making impressive progress in his BMW E30. Having disposed of Traviss for third at Druids on lap nine, he passed Penny at Clearways soon after. Hyde hunted down Steward before the pair made their mandatory pitstops on the same lap. Steward’s co-driver Richard Clarke briefly maintained a narrow lead exiting the pits, but Hyde was back in front by Druids.
However, the battle was not over. Attempting to regain the lead two laps later, Clarke nudged Hyde wide, and the pair made further contact at Surtees. Consequently, Penny inherited the lead closely followed by Shawyer, the latter having taken over second position from Traviss at the stops.
Penny’s moment of glory proved short-lived though when he ran wide at Paddock, allowing Shawyer through. Penny pressured hard for the remainder of the race, but backmarkers did little to help his cause. By the flag, the victorious Shawyer had pulled out an eightsecond lead in his Toyota Celica.
Hopes were high for a fierce battle in the Champion of Brands contest, with the top four qualifiers covered by less than 0.1s. Irishman Jordan Dempsey set the initial pace in his Van Diemen RF00, chased hard by Jamie Thorburn in the Ray GR and the Swift SC16 of Luke Cooper. Thorburn snatched the lead with a decisive overtaking move on the approach to Paddock on lap seven. Cooper was able to overhaul Dempsey for second. Both threatened Thorburn’s victory on the drag to the line, but the leader held his nerve.
There was little to worry Ryan Savage in the opening combined Lotus Cup and Elise Trophy contest as he followed up his Donington double with another crushing success. David Mcinulty finished a distant second in his Exige V6 ahead of Andrew Wright. Cup Class series leader Simon Atkinson suffered an engine failure that would also rule him out of race two. Mcinulty claimed victory in the second race, having taken the lead from Wright at half-distance. Wright settled for second with Ken Savage, Ryan’s father, taking third in the 2-Eleven car in which his son had taken victory earlier in the day.
Championship leader Will Stacey endured mixed fortunes in the Elise Trophy class. In the first race, he stormed back from an excursion at Paddock to claim victory ahead of Craig Denman and Jason Mcinulty. But two spins in race two led to retirement, handing victory to Welshman Denman.
Chris Enderby won the opening All-comers race in his Radical SR4, ahead of the Caterhams of Colin Watson and Jonny Pittard. Watson took a lights-to-flag win in race two ahead of Pittard, whose brother Christian salvaged third despite a spin at Surtees earlier in the race.