DOBLE TAKES A DOUBLE IN NEW COMPACT CUP ERA
With five-time champion Steven Dailly moving on, there will be a new winner of the BMW Compact Cup this year. Mikey Doble staked his claim with a double victory in the open rounds at Brands Hatch.
Doble claimed pole and won both races, but it was far from straightforward for the Surrey man. Suffering from the notorious dip on the circuit’s pole spot, he was beaten away by Lee Dendy-Sadler in the opener before squeezing past at Clearways after four of 21 laps. A more eventful race two was red-flagged after a startline shunt, negating Doble’s improved getaway.
Second time of asking, Doble bogged down and then missed a gearchange, dropping outside the top 10. He was helped back into the top six by Ian Jones clattering into Dendy-Sadler at Druids, for which Jones would be disqualified. Doble then picked off those in front and had taken two seconds out of Ian Howes’ 3s lead when a safety car was called.
Howes became easy prey as Doble denied him a maiden win, while Dendy-Sadler – the former Fiesta man’s form transformed by an adjustment to his driving style to better suit rear-wheel drive – also recovered well to second.
Hugo Bush’s opening 270R success was among the pick of several frantic Caterham races. After a race-long squabble with fellow Roadsports graduates Taylor O’Flanagan and Domenique Mannsperger, plus debutant Michael Chaplin and Ben Buckley, Bush and Chaplin were credited with a dead heat, only for Chaplin to be excluded for being underweight having lost his nosecone. O’Flanagan, Bush and Mannsperger broke clear in the sequel but a moment at Paddock for Bush cemented O’Flanagan’s advantage.
Charlie Lower inherited the first Caterham Roadsport race after Geoff Newman was slapped with a 10s penalty for starting out of position and Freddie Chiddicks faded after being clouted as the pack concertinaed under a safety car. Lower led the second race throughout.
Pete Walters showed he can dominate from the front and come from behind in two contrasting 310R victories that sandwiched a success for Tom Wyllys.
Returning champion Aaron Head squandered pole position by stalling in the Seven UK opener but recovered to fourth behind Henry Heaton before hitting back with two wins.
Dave Cockell was largely untroubled as he guided his four-wheel-drive Escort to two Modified Fords successes chased by the ‘Zakspeed’ Mk2 Escorts of Malcolm Harding and Neil Jessop. With the large entry necessitating split grids, Harding claimed race three, opportunistically pouncing on the final bend as Jack Gadd appeared to hesitate while lapping his father Dave.
Birthday boy Jenson Brickley was delighted with pole position and two podiums on his Fiesta Championship debut, as Simon Horrobin twice took the laurels. Fiesta Junior champion Brickley fluffed his first start on slicks before joining Horrobin and 2016 champion Alastair Kellett in the lead battle. Horrobin’s defence held firm as Kellett and Brickley shared second places while a spin on cold tyres led to Kellett’s early elimination from race two.
Sid Smith cooly claimed his first Fiesta Junior win as an oily track caused multiple spins. Deagen Fairclough’s machine was the culprit for the slick after a first-corner skirmish with fellow front-row starter Albert Webster. Second in the opener, former Ginetta Junior racer Thomas Lee then went one better, benefiting from Jake Maynard’s final-lap spill.