7 Series Oulton races kick off MSVR year
Richard Ainscough just missed out on a double win in the 7 Series Caterham 420R class as the popular Motorsport Vision Racing category was split across two grids for its season opener at Oulton Park last weekend.
Ainscough shook off Phil Jenkins early in the first encounter, and his race-long lead left him clear of a terrific battle for second to secure the win in a contest shortened by a red flag. Justin Heap swapped places with Jenkins, before Jake Swann Dixon split them. Jenkins beat Swann Dixon to second at the flag, while Heap dropped to fifth behind Anthony Barnes.
It was an eight-car train for much of race two, before Ainscough and Jenkins broke clear after six of the 16 laps. Both had a share of the lead, which allowed
Heap to join them, but a late safety car made it a one-lap sprint to the flag. Heap took the spoils after his rivals fell over each other, with Jenkins recovering to second from Paul Thacker and Mark Stansfield.
Lewis Thompson was victorious in both 1600-division 7 Series races. He successfully saw off Andy Perry in race one after a fifth-lap safety car intervention. Erstwhile leader Perry dropped to fifth, but clawed his way back to fourth behind Jamie Winrow and Lee Collins.
Much of race two featured a duel between Thompson and Jay Mccormack. While Mccormack led the early laps, Thompson made the decisive move into Island a lap from home, with Perry and Ben Winrow completing the top four.
In the non-caterham races, Neil Patten’s Van Diemen was a lights-to-flag winner in both Heritage Formula Ford 1600 encounters, after early pressure twice over from Chris Hodgen. Jon Woolfitt’s Spire headed home brother Paul’s Lotus Elise in both Northern Saloons & Sports Car races, but a jumped-start penalty reversed the race-two result.