GIBBINS GETS HIS MOJO BACK IN SPORTS 2000 BATTLES
Michael Gibbins returned to winning form at round two of this year’s Sports 2000 championship on the long circuit.
Untouchable in 2020, Gibbins suffered a disastrous start to the new campaign at Donington, but put the problems behind him in Kent. The MCR driver finished Saturday’s damp race a close second to
Josh Law’s MCR after overcoming fast starter Dominic Lesniewski (MCR). Lesniewski was third despite still nursing damage from a qualifying excursion.
Fourth man Tom Stoten’s Gunn had a spin.
Things got even better for Gibbins in the dry on Sunday, with a lights-to-flag victory despite some backmarker traffic problems near the end. Stoten was second and Law a threatening third as Lesniewski slipped back. The action in the Pinto class was close on both days, Paul Streat (Lola T87/90) and Chris Snowdon (Tiga SC81) taking a win each.
Matt Bell (SR3) swept to dominant wins in both Radical Challenge sprint races on Saturday. He was helped by Snetterton double winner Jerome de Sadeleer retiring from race one with a damaged car. De Sadeleer was third in race two.
Sunday’s 45-minute enduro brought a new winner in the form of Mark Richards. De Sadeleer and Bell ran together ahead of the rest until the pitstops, where success penalties dropped both of them back. De Sadeleer passed Jason Rishover for second, but Bell couldn’t do the same and finished fourth.
In the separate Radical SR1 Cup Will
Hunt retained his 100% success record so far this year, despite a gravel trap visit in wet qualifying.
A rain-affected grid and a field just short of 40 cars promised plenty of action among the Monopostos, but third row starter Dan Gore (Jedi) didn’t get involved, storming to an easy win on Saturday. He repeated the feat on Sunday. Dallara F3 class rivals Chris Davison, Simon Tate and Jason Timms were closely matched in the next three places on Saturday, and the following day James Drew-Williams (Lola) and Lee
Fern (Dallara) finished a length apart in second and third.
Five cars ran together as pitstop time approached in the MSV Supercup, but Darren Goes (Seat Leon) emerged with a useful lead. However, he had defending champions Nick Jackson and Ollie Pidgley (Seat) closing fast when the action ended early after Barrie Culley crashed his Cupra.
A perfectly timed pitstop earned Jonathan Evans (Porsche Cayman) victory in the combined Bernie’s V8s and Porsche Trophy, which attracted 40-plus cars. He stopped at the first opportunity under caution while the four ahead of him carried on for a lap, and a second safety car intervention helped to seal the success.
Three VW Golfs dominated the first Production GTi/Z Cars race until Simon Vercoe plunged off at Paddock, leaving Simon Hill to lead home Martyn Walsh. Best of the BMW Z4 class was the car driven by Chris Murphy. Out of sight on the final lap of race two, Walsh grabbed the lead from Hill, and Murphy won his class again.