Highs and lows for Jenkins on mixed weekend
DONINGTON PARK MSVR 2-3 APRIL
The 7 Race Series got off to a typically thrilling start at Motorsport Vision Racing’s season-opener at Donington Park, with Phil Jenkins experiencing contrasting emotions across the weekend in the 420R class.
The 2020 series champion prevailed in a three-way tussle at the front in the early stages of Saturday’s encounter.
After several more position changes, it was Jenkins that led from Mark Stansfield and Anthony Barnes when the race was brought to an early conclusion with five minutes remaining. It came as a surprise to the victor, who did not spot the chequered flag and continued for an extra lap.
Jenkins swiftly climbed from 10th to third in Sunday’s partially reversed grid race behind Paul Thacker and Barnes, and then took advantage of the pair’s squabble into Redgate to sweep by into the lead on the exit. But, while trying to keep his tyres warm during a late safety car period, Jenkins inexplicably lost control and dropped out of the top 10. Thacker controlled the restart to take victory ahead of Barnes, with the chequered flag again waved early after Oliver Gibson and Stewart Calder collided through the Craner Curves.
Richard Johnson enjoyed a winning return at Donington Park in Sports 2000, having made a fiery exit during last season’s visit.
But it was a frustrating weekend for the pacesetter Michael Gibbins, who held a commanding 10-second lead in the opening race before succumbing to a clutch issue on his MCR. “A little unexpected,” said Johnson after inheriting victory. “This time last year I had a smashed radial head and here we are, almost a year to the day, back racing again.”
Contact between Joshua Law and James Barwell resulted in race two being restarted after the latter was fired into the barriers before Redgate. Law went on to take victory after pulling off the perfect dummy up the inside of early leader Johnson into the Roberts chicane in his updated MCR S2n machine. Gibbins stormed up the order from 17th on the grid, but a gear-linkage issue consigned him to fifth place. “It’s frustrating, the positive is we were really quick,” Gibbins reflected.
Peter Morris took a lights-to-flag win in the first of the Porsche Club races, with Chris Dyer and reigning champion Simon Clark finishing close behind. An early rain
shower over part of the circuit created a chaotic race two, with the run down the Craner Curves particularly treacherous for the slick-shod machines.
Several drivers, including Morris, Dyer and James Caley, were caught out. Clark pulled out an unassailable lead in his 996 ahead of the recovering Morris’s 997, while overheating brakes resulted in Bill Caley – making his Class 1 debut in Clark’s 2021 title-winning Cayman – conceding third to father James in the closing stages.
Scott Parkin made the perfect start to the Focus Cup season with a double victory, coming from behind to narrowly beat reigning champion Simon Rudd in the second encounter.
Parkin was also on double-duty for IP Racing in the five-hour Enduroka event, which once again lived up to its fun reputation. There were plenty of creative liveries and team names among the 45 entrants, not least the Yippeeka-yay squad of Ben Gillias and Mark Johnson, which triumphed after the Axiametrics outfit pitted from the lead in the final half-hour.