CIVIC CUP PROVIDES THRILLING RACING AS HOBS ON AND GRIFFITH SPLIT SPOILS
The Civic Cup once again stole the show for action with Daniel Hobson and James Griffith sharing the victory spoils.
Hobson had begun to stretch his lead early in race one, until championship leader Rob Baker escaped from a four car battle for second, ousting Daniel Reason by the end of lap two. Baker challenged for the lead but Hobson kept his rival at bay, with Reason retaining third, closely followed by Mark Grice and Bruce Winfield.
With the top 10 finishers reversed for the race two grid, Griffith withstood racelong pressure from Ben Sharpe to take a lights-to-flag victory. But behind them it was any one from six, with Winfield fending off Grice and Baker to complete the podium.
Peter Drennan and Conor Farrell took the duel in the first Global GT Lights race right to the flag, with Drennan snatching it by a tenth after a number of exchanges. It was just as close for third, with James Thompson losing out to Mark Braden in the final metres.
It was shaping up to be another battle between Farrell and Drennan in race two, until Drennan’s ambitious first-lap move at Murrays brought contact and sent him heading for the pits. Farrell continued but also pitted a couple of laps later, leaving Braden to take the win, over Thompson and Conor May.
Drennan made up for his misdemeanour with a comfortable race three win, taking Thompson on the second lap, before Farrell and Braden followed to complete the podium.
Jamie Going took two wins out of three in the Ford Fiestas, which became fairly processional after the initial sort out. Harry Gooding was Going’s constant shadow in race one, with Danny Harrison edging clear of the chasers in third. But roles were reversed in race two with Gooding heading Going and Harrison throughout. Going had the legs of Gooding again in race three, as Ryan Faulconbridge joined them on the podium.
It was a hard-fought win in race one of the Alfa Romeos for Ray Foley’s 147 GTA, after Paul Webster’s 158 chased all the way, having taken Chris Mcfie’s Fiat Punto Abarth on lap three. Clutch problems thwarted Webster’s challenge, but he remained well clear of Chris Oxborough’s 75 V6 in third.
Although Foley led again from the start of race two, Oxborough surged ahead on the Bentley Straight to lead from lap three of nine, with Mcfie and Webster finishing nose to tail for third.
Richard Ford’s 147 won the Twinspark class in both races, aided in race one when David Messenger, Tommy Hill and Kristian Leith all collided at Murray’s on the first lap.
After alternating the lead for almost every lap, Justin Heap just pipped Ben Buckley to win the Caterham Academy Green Group race, while Chris Moore was a lights-to-flag White Group winner over Dan Piper.
For the second successive meeting, Clive Wood’s Mallock Mk23 took a hattrick of wins in the Clubmans Sports Protoypes. Alan Cook and Steve Dickens retained second and third throughout race one, but Dickens retired from second in race two with engine problems, leaving Cook and Monika Arvidsson to complete the top three. Despite a poor start, Arvidsson snatched a last lap second in race three from Peter Richings, while Michelle Hayward had a class winning treble.
Jonathan Lewis’ 1965 Austin Mini Cooper S was a comfortable Coys Trophy winner, despite losing two gears, he eased away from early leader Alan Ross-jones’ Lotus Ford Cortina. In the All Stars race, Charles Rainford’s Marcos was in charge throughout, with Lewis second.