Burgess battles to hard-fought MG Trophy triumphs
OULTON PARK MGCC SEPTEMBER 1
Resolved with elbows out and a battle to be the last to hit the brakes, race one of the MG Trophy highlighted both the dos and don’ts of racing side-by-side through Oulton Park’s notorious Old Hall.
Heading into the meeting with five wins in as many races, points leader Graham Ross looked as though he would extend his 2018 advantage. He lined his ZR 190 up on pole alongside that of Jason Burgess, who was still looking for his first win since the opening rounds of the season.
Wanting to put a stop to the Scottish driver’s excellent run of form, Burgess spent much of the opening lap battling with Ross, and each repeatedly seized custody of the lead. But as they headed through Old Hall for the second time, Ross took the outside line, clipped the grass, and that pitched him across the track and into the tyre wall on the inside.
“Jason [Burgess] was at my door throughout the lap and I thought, ‘He seriously wants to get past me,’” said
Ross. “Next minute, I’m on the outside with not much room and heading straight off the track. There’s lots of front-end damage, it’s probably fifty-fifty if it’s a complete rebuild. It’s just the worst possible scenario.”
Burgess had lost one challenger for victory, but Gary Wetton ensured that this
race would not end with an easy run to the flag. They fought wheel to wheel until the end, but while Burgess crossed the line first he had an anxious wait before the stewards ruled his earlier collision a racing accident.
“I think you can see from my scraps with Gary [Wetton] that there was no intent with the Ross incident in the race,” said Burgess. “It’s great to get the win, but I’m never a fan of controversy and I’m glad the stewards have drawn a line under it.”
Wetton added: “Jason was on an absolute mission.”
And he certainly proved to be. Burgess took a comfortable win in race two ahead of Doug Cole and Wetton, managing to keep both at arm’s length – and more importantly avoiding any skirmishes.
The MGCC was also running an inaugural all-comers 100-mile race during the Oulton Park meeting, a race split into two equal-length sessions. During the first, Andrew Rath built a significant 54s lead to the MGB GT of Bernard Foley. But for the second half, Rath handed the Lotus Europa S2 – which had undergone a rebuild only a week earlier – to team-mate Chris Tilly for his first outing in the car.
While Foley took the lead and continued to chip away at the gap from the first half of the race, Tilly was busy familiarising himself with both the car and the track. He eventually found his feet and drew back Foley from the 45s deficit he had built, and finished only 21s behind the Irishman. More importantly though, he kept the overall race victory.
“All the hard work was done by Andrew [Rath] in the first half, and I didn’t want to let it go to waste. This is a great little car,” said Tilly.
Ashton brothers Jack and Andrew celebrated a respective first and second in the MG Metro Cup, though both suffered mechanical woes in qualifying. Jack had to replace a coil pack while Andrew was forced to start from the back after his gearbox breather broke in qualifying.