Another Honda title for a Neal as Henry wins TCT
The Touring Car Trophy championship battle went down to the wire at Donington Park as Henry Neal prevailed over seasonlong rival Lewis Kent. The pair had matched each other’s results going into the weekend, with Neal, son of triple British Touring Car champion Matt, marginally ahead thanks to his better qualifying scores.
Kent hit back by putting his Hyundai i30n on pole position for race one of the series’ first triple-header but, from the outside of the front row, Neal overcame his EX-BTCC Honda Civic’s startline Achilles’ heel to lead – twice, after a first-corner accident led to a restarted race – following the early skirmishes.
From there he drove to an 11-second win as Kent was forced to battle with the Cupras of Max Hart and series debutant Sam Osborne before claiming second.
Neal was made to work harder for his second win, eventually benefiting from Osborne’s second driveshaft failure in as many races and holding off Kent’s determined challenge. Needing little more than to finish race three, Neal still got embroiled in a scrap with Kent and the feisty Hart, who finally broke the Neal/kent domination of the top two steps of the podium with his first win. Second was more than enough to seal the TCT crown for Neal, with Kent’s third confirming him atop the TCR UK section.
“I’m over the moon, absolutely psyched,” beamed Neal behind his facemask. “To do it in my dad’s ex-car is the best thing ever.”
Andy Wilmot intended to skip the final
Volkswagen Cup weekend after a hectic BTCC schedule as Trade Price Cars Racing’s team manager. But some persuasion from Team Hard boss Tony Gilham, and a switch to the squad’s VW Golf, resulted in him winning the title! Three top-four finishes were enough for Wilmot after his main rivals hit trouble. Pre-weekend points leader Richard Gilbert’s hopes were dashed by collecting a spinner and his own off, while Bradley Kent suffered engine gremlins all weekend. A hat-trick of wins went to Jack Depper, on his first appearance of the season, securing the series’ Tom Walker Memorial Trophy in the process.
Engine issues in the second BMW Compact Cup race could not prevent
Steven Dailly securing a fourth consecutive title as he hauled his car home fourth on the road following a comfortable win ahead of main rival Tom Griffiths in the opener. Griffiths ended the season with victories in races two and three, Dailly closing fast in the latter after an engine change.
Carlin Formula 2 mechanic Guy Davis was delighted with a maiden podium in race one, but Wayne Flint was arguably the star. Skewed rear-tracking following a knock at Brands Hatch left Flint 22nd on the grid, but stirring drives took him to seventh in race one and a race-two podium before exclusion for not releasing his car for post-season scrutineering.
A year on from his racing debut in the corresponding meeting, George Alpwilliams took a maiden win in the Civic Cup after passing Bruce Winfield mid-race. Continuing his run of finishing first or
second in every event secured Winfield the title after championship challenger Alistair Camp retired with a broken gear cable, and he celebrated in style with a commanding win from ninth on the grid in race two.
Joseph Loake stretched his Fiesta Junior winning run to six races, but perpetual runner-up Will Orton pushed him harder than ever, finishing within half a second in race two. Having qualified second, Jenson Brickley was thwarted by a broken master switch in the opener before carving through the pack to claim a maiden podium later on.
Ben Lopez-appleton held off Lars Hoffmann and Harry Cook in two typically close Caterham 270R finishes. Blair Mcconachie twice took Roadsport honours, with Carl Jones producing an amazing recovery to second from a startline spin in race two.
After Domenique Mannsperger and
Chris Skillicorn won the final rounds of the Caterham Academy’s White and Green groups respectively, already confirmed champions Taylor O’flanagan and Tom Cockerill rejoined the fray for Sunday’s combined Autumn Trophy clash. While O’flanagan topped their duel, both were beaten by Mannsperger.
Having dropped from second to fourth early on, W Series racer Jessica Hawkins powered her Ford Fiesta ST Turbo to a comfortable success in the Clubsport Trophy race, which ran into dusk.