Davidson GT Cup champion despite DNF
GRAHAM DAVIDSON REBOUNDED from his first DNF of the year to wrap up the overall GT Cup title in the season finale at Snetterton.
Already crowned GTO champion, the Scot’s Mclaren MP4/12C was never challenged in race one, which finished behind the safety car owing to an oil spill.
It all went wrong in the second race, when Davidson lost an 11-second lead after oil from Jeff Wyatt’s BMW caused a red flag, and then a wishbone failure following the restart handed victory to Bonamy Grimes in his GTC Ferrari 488 Challenge. Meanwhile, another maximum score for Ginetta G55-mounted GTA champion Dominic Paul left Davidson sweating while waiting for a replacement ahead of the final stanza.
Normal service was resumed for race three, thanks to a special delivery from Woking. Davidson qualified on pole and dominated from the outset, in a fitting final outing for the venerable MP4-12C.
“The target at the start of the year was to have a season like this,” said Davidson. “Today was spot on, a great way to end the racing season.”
Jake Rattenbury skipped race two to contest the Fun Cup at Oulton Park, but still collected the GTC title with two class wins in his Lamborghini Huracan. Neil Huggins claimed the GTB crown with class victory aboard his Lamborghini Gallardo in race three.
The final round of the Radical Challenge produced three different winners, as Oliver Barker clinched the title in the absence of main challenger Jack Lang. Outgoing champion Steve Burgess left it late to defeat Barker in race one, passing his fast-starting rival at Riches on the final lap. Barker made amends by keeping Burgess at bay for the duration of race two.
New champion Barker had the pace to win the longer third race, but a 20s success penalty at the mandatory pitstops put him at the tail of a four-car battle for victory. Jack Manchester narrowly held off Kristian Jeffrey and Dominik Jackson, as early leader Burgess was forced out by a left-rear-upright failure.
Matt Hammond wrapped up the Mini Challenge Cooper Pro title, but the weekend belonged to Sam Weller, who scored an impressive hat-trick. All the action in the first two races happened behind double poleman Weller.
Jess Hawkins kept her slim title hopes alive by muscling past Hammond and Martin Poole to take second in the opener. But she couldn’t breach Poole’s defences in race two and had to settle for third.
Weller was in the thick of the action for race three, moving from fifth to first inside three laps and defending from Poole as his tyres dropped off. Poole almost got alongside heading into Murrays on the final tour, but Weller held on.
Aaron Reeve stood on the top step three times in the Mini Challenge Open division, but lost his race one victory to a five-second penalty for punting series returnee Jono Davis wide at Murrays. There was nothing controversial about Reeve’s race-two victory, as he jumped Davis at the start and stayed there to the flag. He had to grind hard for his race three win though, as newly crowned champion Ben Dimmack put up a stern defence until he lost third gear with two laps remaining.
Ryan Savage was denied a Lotus Cup double by a fuel-injection problem a couple of laps from the finish in the opening race. Exige driver Simon Atkinson sealed the title with second behind David Mcinulty. Adapting quickly to an unfamiliar Exige, Savage rebounded from his race-one heartbreak to close the season with a 28s victory over Atkinson ahead of a planned break from racing to get his commerical pilot’s licence.
In the Elise Trophy, William Stacey took the crown in fine style by dominating race two. Stacey had pushed Craig Denman all the way in a gripping first duel, but found himself out front in the final when Denman was caught out in an opening-lap skirmish. The Welshman charged back to take second ahead of Jason Mcinulty, who also completed the race-one podium.
Karl Cattliff won both BMW M3dominated Racing Saloon outings, but the outcome might have been different had race two been just one lap longer. After a penultimate-lap pass on Roger Kneebone, who finished a distant second in race one, Darren Stamp rapidly caught Cattliff and was latched to his bumper across the line.
Will Davison twice prevailed in battles with pole-starter David Graves to win the two Production BMW races. Phil
Lynch saved his best til last with his first podium of the year in race two.