Doubles all round at Oulton with unstoppable five
Dominant performances were on show at Oulton Park, with five double victories across the five series in action at the British Racing & Sports Car Club meeting.
The two Track Attack rounds were the least predictable. Chris Southcott posted what looked like an easy first-race win in his Peugeot 205, one of the older cars on the grid, but he was helped by polesitter Steve Simpson’s 206 being boxed in cheekily at the start between Southcott and the Renault Clio of Nick Gwinnett, who attacked from fourth. Simpson dropped all the way down to 11th place at Old Hall, but he was soon back on the hunt and up to fifth after the first lap. He recovered to second after a lengthy scrap with Mike Nash’s SEAT Supercopa, which was third ahead of Gwinnett and the VW Golf of Simon Tomlinson.
Simpson was determined not to let Southcott get away in the second race and kept on the 205’s tail, although he was unable to make a passing move stick. Nash briefly challenged him for second before finishing a distant third.
Both Citycar Cup races were won convincingly by Nic Grindrod, who successfully distanced his Citroen C1 from the rest of the field while they fought among themselves. A four-car pack vied for second place, with Richard Bliss (Toyota Aygo) nudging ahead of the C1s of Ross Makar, Andrew Dyer and Duncan Stone. Stone was demoted to fifth from third for a track-limits violation. Dyer, Makar and Bliss finished in that order from a three-way photo finish for second in race two, almost 10 seconds behind Grindrod. Stone had problems and could only manage 15th.
Luke Pinder picked up two strong wins in the Fiesta Championship, despite having been away from motorsport for the best part of a year. He was followed by Zachary Lucas and David Nye in the opener. Lucas
was down on speed in race two, so it was Rob Smith who was runner-up, having attacked Pinder and briefly held first place early on. Spencer Stevenson overhauled
Nye for third in the closing laps.
The first Fiesta Junior race was shaping up to be a two-car contest between Jenson Brickley and Sid Smith until Smith slid off into the barriers at Cascades on the second lap, triggering a lengthy safety car period. Deagen Fairclough was second in the brief sprint that ensued. George Davis ran as high as third, but dropped to seventh due to crash damage. Albert Webster also dropped out of contention, letting Jake Maynard through to take third.
Smith and Davis were back out for race two, with Smith on pole. He was quickly reeled in by Brickley and dropped out of the podium spots, while Alex Ley came out on top of a three-car tussle for second, ahead of Fairclough. This was a vindication for Brickley, who had challenged for wins at Croft and been taken off the track.
Jack Wolfenden was streets ahead of the Northern Formula Ford field in his Firman RFR17. Eschewing the National Formula Ford round at Silverstone for something closer to home, he was around 14s ahead of his nearest rival –
Neil Patten’s Van Diemen RF89 – in both races. Patten was pleased with his results, having not raced for a while.