MURPHY MAKES A LASTLAP WINNING PASS
If James Murphy did not have a favourite corner in motorsport, Silverstone’s Club chicane may now hold that honour.
The finest margins separated victory from defeat in the Caterham Roadsport championship, Murphy’s winning cushion just one point. A mere 0.02s was the margin of defeat for Daniel French while Tom Allen snatched his fastest lap point in race two, which French dominated by 26s.
Murphy’s defining moment arguably came in race one, as he hunted down wet weather specialist French in inclement conditions and grabbed a last-lap victory with a bold lunge under braking for Club.
“Dan is the benchmark in the wet,” said Murphy. “That’s why making that move makes me so proud.”
Murphy required second from a tense 12-car squabble in race two as French romped clear, but Daniel Halstead’s late spin at Stowe delayed and denied him. Bizarrely, a seasonworst result became Murphy’s dropped score as a blessing, meaning winner French surrendered the title simply by not securing fastest lap.
Uncertainty also surrounded 310R title honours after two entertaining contests. Gordon Sawyer fended off Chris Hutchinson in a damp opener and thought he was champion after taking the flag first again in race two, but a track limits penalty dropped him to fourth.
Hutchinson’s third place in race two was enough, despite believing he’d lost the title after falling behind winner Lee Bristow and Speedworks youngster Tom Grensinger.
Fourth place in the opening 270R race was enough to put Team BRIT’S Jamie Falvey out of reach, beating nearest rival Jay Mccormack. “It’s been an awesome effort,” said champion Falvey.
Chris Bates waded past the fast-starting Falvey to win the restarted race, red-flagged initially to remove Matt Topham and John Styring’s stricken cars. Mission complete, former Royal Marine Commando Falvey opted out of a thrilling second race where the narrative surrounded the fight for second in the championship.
That honour, and a hard-fought win, went to Mccormack – coached by 2008 British GT champion Jon Barnes – as he narrowly edged rival Pete Walters.
Academy titles were also decided in favour of Justin Heap and Chris Moore. Heap recovered from a sluggish start on the damper inside line to clinch the Green group after dispatching Lars Alexander Hoffmann, also winning the non-championship Autumn Trophy race. White group spoils went to Moore who allowed the attacking Gregory Monks and race winner Dan Piper by to seal his own fate.
With the 420R title already sealed by Danny Winstanley, his absence gifted John Byrne an open goal.
“In the wet I just feel relaxed – I love it,” said Byrne as he left a fivecar tussle 17s behind in race one before doubling up on Sunday. Sean Byrne and Richard Ainscough’s last-lap race one collision handed William Smith third behind Stephen Nuttall, Smith going one better to trail John Byrne in race two.
In non-caterham action, Harry Gooding did his Fiesta title chances no harm by concluding with a confident victory from Simon Horrobin, who recovered strongly after Myles Baker turned him around at Club.
Prior to that, Samuel Watkins started brightest with a wet triumph after a “terrible” start from polesitter Ollie Hunt, while Gooding inherited the race-two win after Jake Dawson was stripped of the victory post-race for contact.