Traynor back in MR2 title contention after Rockingham
ROCKINGHAM 750MC JUNE 9-10
Shaun Traynor took both MR2 wins from a controversial Rockingham meeting to reignite his championship chances.
Victory in race one went to Traynor after leader Josh Brooks – under pressure from Traynor – slid off at Deene hairpin on the last lap after a brake-pad breakage. Traynor then inherited the race-two win after finishing second on the road when Paul Cook was disqualified for nudging early leader Brooks into a spin on lap two. “The handling is what got me where
I was today, the power’s not quite there,” said Traynor.
When asked if this would start a championship tilt for him, Traynor replied: “That’s what my plan is. I think there could be four or five that could get a charge. Out of three rounds, there’s five different drivers who have won; I’ve been in the championship four years and I’ve never seen that diversity.”
Championship leader Ben Rowe finished 10th in race one after getting “punted off”, but then salvaged second place from race two.
Andy Marston/brett Evans in their BMW E46 M3 took Roadsports victory, again after the winner on the road was disqualified – this time the TCR SEAT of Guy Colclough and Stewart Lines, for Colclough passing just after an early-race safety-car period commenced. Colclough disputed this but did not have evidence due to the memory of his in-car camera being full.
The Colclough/lines pair’s three-hour Club Enduro race was also frustrating, with repeated tyre problems causing them to pull out after an hour. Andy Baylie and Luke Schlewitz won in their BMW E46 M3 after the gearbox broke on longtime leader Martin James’s Honda Civic with 40 minutes left.
Joe Stables took a clean sweep of three Bikesports wins in his Radical SR3. Class B championship leader Stables passed Class A leader Lee Torrie on the final lap of the opener, overtook early leader Phil Cooper at half-distance to win the second race, and led from beginning to end in the third. Torrie took all three Class A wins.
Patrick Fletcher extended his Clio 182 championship lead with two wins, as well
as second place behind Mark Balmer in the opening race of the three.
Fletcher’s closest title rival Ryan Polley missed the first race with engine problems, then finished 10th in the second race after starting from the back, and ninth in the final race after getting caught up in a late incident triggered by David Hitchin. Another championship contender, Jack Kingsbury, took two fourth places, then slid out in the final race.
Ed Pither rose from the second row to ease to both 750 Formula wins – his fourth victory from five this season. In the first race he touched wheels with championship leader Bill Cowley when taking the lead, Cowley spinning. Cowley recovered to finish third in that race and second in race two.
Mark Inman in his Vauxhall VX220 took both Armed Forces Race Challenge victories, leading the first all the way, and climbing from fourth in the second after running wide at Deene first time through.
Matthew Booth won both Sport Specials races in his MK Indy RR from Darren Berris’s Westfield V8, making it three victories from the four rounds he’s entered this year. Berris got the consolation of winning a special race for Army entries – not part of the
Armed Forces Race Challenge series.