National reports: Croft; Silverstone; Loton Park
Having waited three years to take his first Mazda MX-5 Championship victory, Jack Brewer left Croft with three under his belt as he dominated the opening round of the season.
Competing at the North Yorkshire circuit for the first time, the Tucker Motorsport driver was immediately on the pace as he qualified on pole and fended off a late charge from Michael Knibbs to take a comprehensive win in race one.
The pair fought for much of the following encounter, until Knibbs lost second to Oliver Allwood after a great battle through Sunny. The time Allwood lost securing the position allowed Brewer to win by more than two seconds.
Securing his hat-trick was anything but comfortable. With a heavy rain shower before the start, Brewer’s pre-race decision to go for stiffer suspension on his
Mk1 MX-5 set him up for a difficult race as he tried to fend off a hard-charging Steve Foden.
Foden looked to have secured the lead on the last lap as he went past Brewer on the outside of the left-hander at the start of the Complex but, as the track swung right, Brewer utilised the grippier line to nose ahead going into the hairpin. His better exit gave him a slender speed advantage on their drag to the line.
“I knew I’d gel with this circuit quite well because it suits my strengths, but I didn’t think I’d gel this quickly,” said Brewer. “I’ve done all weathers this weekend, dry on Saturday and then damp and wet for the last two races.
From never winning, to having pole, fastest laps and three wins – I wish Silverstone [the next round] was tomorrow!”
There was a first-time winner in the Fiesta Junior Championship too, as
Jamsport racer Deagen Fairclough took both wins on his series debut.
He showed remarkable racecraft in the opening race as – having lost a place to Jenson Brickley running side-by-side through the high-speed Jim Clark Esses – he shadowed his rival and pulled off a bold move on the inside of Hawthorn a lap later to take victory.
His second win was a true test of his wet-weather driving as a heavy downpour deluged the circuit. Launching off the line better than polesitter Alex Ley, Fairclough avoided the high-speed spins that caught out a number of his fellow racers at the Barcroft kink to cross the line ahead of Ley, who was busy defending from Sid Smith.
Patrick Fletcher twice held off Jack Harding to secure victories in the Mazda MX-5 Supercup. Having lost pace in qualifying due to a damaged catalytic converter, Harding twice charged up from the lower reaches of the top 10 to put pressure on Fletcher, but the latter proved too strong defensively to relinquish the top spot.
The partially grid reversed race three went the way of James Cossins – his first series victory. His success was aided by a three-way scrap for second between Harding, Michael Knibbs and reigning champion Sam Smith. Harding and Knibbs ran each other wide at the Complex allowing Smith to pick up two places, but he ran out of laps to chase down Cossins – the latter acknowledging that Knibbs’ defensive driving allowed him to escape the clutches of the faster Smith.
Oliver Faller and Steven Dailly took a win apiece in the BMW Compact Cup. Faller took the first with outstanding defensive driving to keep four-time champion Dailly
behind. The Scot struck back in the second, as a better start pulled him clear of Faller.
“Nailing” his first race start in his Ford Fiesta ST allowed Chris Jones to take the first of his two ST-XR Challenge victories on his Croft debut. A last-lap pass at Tower on the Fiesta XR2 of Simon Robinson in race two secured his clean sweep.
John Cooper took a pair of Fiesta wins as he managed rear-end damage and fended off Luke Pinder to take race-one success. His second triumph proved more comfortable as a slight mistake for Rob Smith exiting a soaking wet
Tower allowed Cooper to pull clear.
A masterful drive from 31st and last after being a late entry secured Clubsport Trophy success for Fiesta racer Jamie Going, who passed Liam Crilly’s BMW Z4 with six of the 45 minutes remaining.