EIGHT-YEAR WAIT FOR PEMBREY RETURN ENDS FOR MINI CLUB
The Mini Se7en Racing Club returned to Pembrey Circuit for the first time in eight years, and did not disappoint in a thrilling weekend in south Wales. Darren Thomas took pole position for the opening Se7en series race, and despite him taking the win, it was a tense affair.
Max Hunter moved to the front and began to extend his lead, but a fifth lap safety car neutralised the field. When racing resumed, Thomas went around the outside of Hunter at the Hatchets Hairpin, only for Hunter to nip back through later in the lap.
Thomas pulled almost a carbon copy move at Turn 1 next time around, and Hunter’s mistake at Honda quickly settled the opening contest, although the duo was rarely separated by more than 0.5 seconds.
In Sunday’s second race, it was a routine victory from sixth on the grid for Hunter, having taken the lead on the first tour, and not relinquishing position throughout. Joe Thompson and Daniel Budd completed the podium.
The Mini Miglia championship also ran, with the opening race being a cagey 17 laps for poleman Aaron Smith. He led from lights-to-flag, but it was not comfortable in the sweltering conditions as Colin Peacock led a chasing pack, hounding the leader lap after lap.
The gap between the frontrunners never exceeded 0.6s, but Peacock was unable to find a way past, with reigning champion Rupert Deeth taking the final podium spot.
Smith doubled up in Sunday’s race, held in cooler conditions, with nearest challenger Alfie Brown unable to keep pace with the leader, finishing 5.8s down.
Peter Hills took both Libre class wins, finishing 11th in the first race overall and 12th in the second. “Due to extra track time being available,” Hyundai
Coupe Cup series director Jon Winter opted to run three races for the first time in the history of the series.
Steve Kite continued his winning form from Brands Hatch in race one, just holding off Wayne Rockett by less than half-a-second to take his third successive win. However, in the second and top-12 reversed race three, Rockett was unstoppable, storming to two wins.
Starting from 12th place in the final race, by the end of lap one he was back at the front, leaving the rest to fight for second, which was taken by Kite.
Both Division 1 and 2 of the British Truck Racing Championship held five races apiece in Carmarthenshire, with Ryan Smith and Luke Garrett hoping to extend their championship leads. In Division 1, Smith’s weekend was nearly perfect, taking four of the five available wins and a second in his MAN TGA in the red-flag abandoned fourth race, only losing out to MAN TGX exponent David Jenkins by two tenths.
Division 2 was more open, with three drivers taking class wins. Garrett extended his championship lead with two wins, a feat echoed by Brands winner Steve Powell (MAN TGS) and Craig Reid (Iveco Strallis).
Damian Longotano (Westfield SE) and Chris Everill (Ginetta G50) traded
Welsh Sports and Saloons wins. Longotano’s win was a thrilling battle between the two, while Everill’s was more routine.
Paul Roddison beat Jeremy Shipley to the flag twice to take both Mazda Max5 wins, being relatively untroubled in both events.