Hiley shines in the rain to take title
Autumn was in evidence at the 750
Motor Club’s Oulton Park meeting as intermittent heavy rain created highly challenging track conditions.
The Sport Specials title was decided in favour of Andy Hiley, who took the overall prize in his Chronos HR1S. He travelled to Oulton five points ahead of Class A rival Paul Collingwood (Eclipse SM1) and, when Collingwood struggled in the first race due to his lack of wet tyres and Hiley won, Hiley only had to finish the second race to secure the title.
Never unbeatable, Hiley was bested in qualifying for both races by Rob Johnston’s Cyana Mk2, but Johnston was no match for him at the start of race one and was quickly overtaken. Within a lap, John Saunders’s Caterham had also got past and Johnston lost the final podium spot on the last tour, when Stewart Mutch charged past him in his MEV MX150R. Mutch had previously been involved in a close battle with Stuart Thompson’s Caterham Sigma, who eventually lost a place to Steven Wells’s SEWC Subzero.
Johnston was denied another chance at beating Hiley by a blown engine in race two as Mutch kept close to the Chronos in the latter stages but was unable to make a move. He had to settle for second, although a class title was some consolation. Saunders was third, moving ahead of Mutch’s MEV team-mate Micky Scott on the line.
There may still be one scheduled round to go, but Aaron Cooke took another step towards the Toyota MR2 title with a pair of wins, meaning only reigning champion Shaun Traynor can now stop him.
Race one looked to be between Cooke and Paul Cook, and the latter managed to pass his rival after a red flag but Cooke soon took the lead back.
Cook was then challenged by Alastair Topley, but the former short oval racer had a small off, dropping himself to fourth behind Traynor.
Cooke’s rivals tried to crowd him out the first time they came to Old Hall in race two, but he still prevailed, snatching the lead from Cook. He fought back later on but made a mistake, eventually finishing fifth, behind Snetterton winner Paul Hinson, Traynor, and Nick Williamson. Topley had another off and came from the back to finish 14th.
James Harridge (Maverick) was another driver who wrapped up a title, although he was denied a clean sweep of Formula Vee wins by Daniel Hands’s GAC. The multiple race-winner made a move on Harridge at the chicane on lap six and held on for the remaining two laps to take the victory.
Double champion Martin Farmer was third in another GAC, having challenged at the beginning but dropped back from the leaders. Harridge reclaimed his usual top spot in the second race, winning from Hands and Farmer.
There was a late season upset on the Locost grid, with Murray Shepherd netting a pair of wins, while championship leader Craig Land was fourth in the opener. The Locosts seemed particularly affected by
the wet and greasy surface and the second race had to be restarted after a spinning car took out several others. Fortunately for Shepherd, Land was among those left on the sidelines, as he went on to take his second win.
Both Alfa Romeo races were decided by a game of cat and mouse between Graham Seager’s GTV and Tom Hill in a GT. Hill was quicker in qualifying and led for the first part of both races, but Seager’s more powerful Modified class car allowed him to reel Hill in and leave him behind as the GTV won twice.
Local drivers Andrew Woodbine and Samuel Carrington Yates were the winners of a topsy-turvy final 116 Trophy encounter of the year. Their BMW was easily the fastest on track, and they had qualified on pole, but they had to fight against a string of penalties as well as their on-track rivals.
They finished nearly 13 seconds ahead of Anthony Seddon and Alan Corfield, in spite of a whole minute of time penalties incurred during the pitstops. Seddon and Corfield led until the final 10 minutes but sheer speed won on the day.