TWO PODIUMS NET TOON PORSCHE CLUB TITLE

Andrew Toon scored a double class podium at a soggy Oulton Park meeting to clinch the Porsche Club Championship.

A second place in the morning’s opening race and third in race two gave Toon enough of an advantage to take the championship, despite nearest rival Mark Mcaleer bagging a brace of top four finishes.

Dropped scores meant Mcaleer and Toon started the final race of the day with Mcaleer needing to win to stand any chance of sealing the title. But Toon’s efforts and Mcaleer not winning proved the difference as Mike Johnson took both overall race victories with ease.

For Toon, the relief was evident. “The car has been fabulous and the support of the team, Strasse, has been great,” he said. “I’ve only been racing for four years so to win the drivers’ and teams’ championship is just fantastic.”

A rapid start from fourth enabled Johnson to head a three-way battle for the lead of race one, while the in-form 2015 champion Pete Morris settled into second in pursuit. Having initially lost ground off the line, Mcaleer fought back into podium contention, but could not make any impression on Chris Dyer ahead. Instead, Mcaleer had to

SNETTERTON: MSVR BY LEWIS BEALES

The Dutch Supercar series made its race debut at the Norfolk track and it was Autosport’s National Driver of the Year Tim Gray who posted the fastest lap in qualifying in Oliver Hewitt’s Praga R1T.

Gray’s joy was shortlived as he spun at the opening corner. That allowed Tom Ashton to lead in Rob Wheldon’s Radical GT3. His joy didn’t last long either as the driveshaft broke on the fourth lap promoting Oliver Campos Hull to the lead in the Mosler.

Behind, Gray was carving through the field. Having resumed almost last, he quickly made it back up to third place, which became second just before the pit stop window. Kosta Kanaroglou exchanged with Campos Hull while Oliver Hewitt (in for Gray), cemented second place when the van Elk Mosler went off at Riches.

Hewitt mirrored Gray’s race one start with a spin at the opening corner of race two leaving Ashton to build a solid lead which was nullified by a safety car. Once racing resumed Ashton rebuilt his lead over Hewitt , who had charged through the field and he was helped by a drivethrough penalty for Campos Hull for a yellow flag infringement.

Once all of the pitstops had taken place, Wheldon continued Ashton’s good work to maintain his healthy advantage over Gray to the finish. The race one-winning Mosler was a solid third with the Ward Sluys/michael Verhagen BMW happy in fourth place.

Light rain began to fall just as the Britcar race started. The prototypes of Morton Dons and Alastair Mackinnon led the way before the latter slid off at Murrays. Four of the five entries quickly took grooved tyres leaving Calum Lockie in command until he too came in for rubber.

Dons took over in front but Lockie hunted him down to snatch the lead back just as the pair pitted. Dons was serviced quicker and resumed back in front to hold off the hard-charging Johnny Mowlem, who had taken over from Bonamy Grimes. Ollie Jackson, in for Mackinnon, snatched third late on from David Mason, who had replaced Lockie.

Darren Dowling provided the interest in the opening Allcomers Sports/gt race by starting from the rear of the grid. Chris Enderby escaped at the front and was able to hold off Dowling’s recovering TVR over the closing laps.

Luke Armiger bravely took third place away from Tony Bennett at Coram as Nick Starkey just managed to keep Paul Browes in check for fifth.

Dean Cook took over the TVR for race two and blasted into an uncontested lead while Armiger battled past David Enderby to secure second.

A terrific battle ensued for third place with Bennett, having to contend with a trio of Caterhams and a Radical, outdragging Kevin Williams on the run to the finish line to clinch the final rostrum position.

Phil Seaman upped the pace of the Holden Monaro to take victory in the opening Allcomers Saloon race. Paul Whight chased after him in second, having battled past Andy Thompson.

Behind, Andy Wilkins kept the similar Renault Clio of JJ Ross in check for fourth.

Everything looked to be going Seaman’s way again in race two as Whight pulled off with an engine misfire, having just passed Thompson for second, but the Monaro chewed its differential and he coasted to a halt to the delight of Thompson who took victory.

1 Kosta Kanaroglou/ Oliver Campos Hull (Mosler MT900); 2 Tim Gray/ Oliver Hewitt (Praga R1T) -1 lap; 3 Dennis Houweling/aartJan Ringelberg (SEAT Leon Cup); 4 Robert van den Berg/ Benjamin van den Berg (BMW M3); 5 Ollie Taylor (BMW M3); 6 Jo Jansen (Porsche 997 Cup). Class winners Houweling/ Ringelberg; Jansen; Niels Kool (BMW 135i). Fastest Lap Campos Hull 2m11.658s (81.18mph). Pole Gray. Starters 23.

1 Tom Ashton/ Rob Wheldon (Radical GT3); 2 Gray/ Hewitt +1m03.856s; 3 Kanaroglou/ Campos Hull; 4 Ward Sluys/ Michael Verhagen (BMW M4); 5 Aart Bosman (Porsche 997 GT3); 6 Dennis de Borst/ Martin de Kleijn (SEAT Leon Cup). CW Sluys/ Verhagen, Van den Berg/ Van den Berg; Carlijn Bergsma/ Pieter de Jong (Lotus Exige). FL Wheldon 1m49.031s (98.02 mph). P Hewitt. S 22. other starters. FL Jackson 2m03.189s (86.76mph). P Dons. S 5.

1 Chris Enderby (Radical SR4); 2 Darren Dowling (TVR Sagaris) +5.211s; 3 Luke Armiger (MDV Tigra); 4 Tony Bennett (Caterham R300); 5 Nick Starkey (C400); 6 Paul Browes (Caterham R300). FL Dowling 1m57.497s (90.96mph). P Bennett. S 14. 1 Dean Cook (TVR Sagaris); 2 Armiger +41.904s; 3 Bennett; 4 Kevin Williams (Caterham CRS); 5 Starkey; 6 David Enderby (Radical SR4). FL Cook 1m59.325s (90.32mph). P Enderby. S 13.

Despite contrasting weather conditions at Anglesey, James Colburn proved to be the consistent factor with a brace of emphatic victories in the Michelin Clio Cup Series, the second of which came despite a 10-second time penalty for jumping the start.

Championship leader James Dorlin recovered from a crash into the pit wall during testing on Friday to maintain his healthy points advantage to take to the final round at Silverstone next month. Dorlin, who finished second to guest-entry (and non-scoring) Colburn in the opening contest, then consolidated his lead with fifth in race two as he bids for a second club-level championship in three seasons.

“Overall, I can’t be unhappy,” he said. “It’s not been a bad weekend championship-wise and we’re one step closer to hopefully getting the title.”

Dorlin capitalised at the start of the first race, moving past title rival Brett Lidsey on the inside of the first corner while Colburn made good his escape at the front. Luke Pinder, who missed qualifying on Saturday afternoon thanks to an engine change, scythed his way through from ninth to fourth. Dorlin, Lidsey and Pinder continued to debate the runner-up spot for the majority of the race distance, allowing Colburn to build a comfortable advantage. Dorlin eventually made second place his with a move to the inside of Lidsey into Rocket on the final lap.

Stewards ruled polesitter Colburn and Samuel Randon had jumped the start in race two as both streaked away at the front. The race became all about a struggle between Colburn attempting to pull out a 10s advantage to negate the impact of his penalty and Pinder attempting to stay within the margin required to claim victory. Colburn succeeded, with Randon also managing to hang on to the runner-up spot.

Jack Fabby responded in race two to Nic Harrison’s earlier victory in the Road Class to keep their respective championship fight alive until the season finale, with Damian Hirst claiming two podiums behind.

Paul Rose in his Saker relieved Joe Spencer’s Locosaki of the lead during the first CNC Heads Sports/saloon Championship event to win, but a driveshaft failure at the start of the second race caused him to be hit from behind by the Pell Genesis of Danny Bird, necessitating a red flag. The theme of jumped starts continued on the restart, with Spencer penalised for his getaway, though transmission problems for Gary Watson’s Westfield SEW meant he won regardless.

Alex Champkin proved to be the class of a lean six-car Clubmans Championship field with a pair of comfortable victories, though James Clarke pressured him throughout and ended the weekend as the only other man to visit the top step of the podium. Champkin was unable to get the best from his Vision V84 in the slippery conditions on Saturday afternoon, but two blistering moves on School straight during the latter two races in drier conditions on Sunday rewarded his potential, and left Clarke’s Mallock MK18BF helpless to respond despite a spirited attempt at defending his lead. All three events were nonchampionship races.

John Munro was similarly impressive in the Max5 Racing Championship, but series leader Nick Dunn spun out on School Straight in wet conditions on Saturday. Dunn would recover to third behind invitational entry John Halliwell and Munro and in the second race, allowing him to maintain his championship advantage over Ian Loversidge.

The quintuple of Caterham Graduates races threw up several winners, most notably the dominant Steven Mcmaster in the Classics. Having capitalised on a battle between Robin Webb and Marc Noaro to claim the spoils in race one, the Surrey-based driver took full advantage of his front row start for the second race to double his honours.

Glenn Burtenshaw did well to recover to take the first Mega class win after oil on the inside line prevented him from maximising his pole position in the wet on Saturday, though he was unable to prevent Luke Cooper from besting him in the second race. David Webber edged out Jason Gale in the first of two Sigma contests, though the latter took the honours ahead of Nigel Board on Sunday.

With Sigmax standings leader Lee Bristow absent from proceedings heading into the meeting, Dylan Stanley seized the opportunity to haul himself to the top of the tree, finishing runner-up to Cedric Bloch initially before leading home Scott Lawrence in race two by over five seconds on a near-perfect weekend. Edward Benson and Toby Briant shared the spoils in the Super events.

Four frenetic BSA National Championship for F125 Open Karts races rounded out the bill in North Wales, with Chris Needham, Ian Larder and Grand Prix winner Liam Morley all taking a victory apiece in a field 39-karts strong, before Morley wrestled Kirk Cattermole’s UK Cup title from him in a stand-alone race on Sunday afternoon.

1 James Colburn; 2 James Dorlin +1.265s; 3 Brett Lidsey; 4 Samuel Randon; 5 Luke Pinder; 6 Ben Palmer. Class winners Nic Harrison; Jack Fabby. Fastest lap Lidsey, 1m15.553s (73.85mph). Pole Colburn. Starters 12. 1 Colburn; 2 Randon +3.701s, 3 Pinder; 4 Lidsey; 5 Dorlin; 6 Palmer. CW Fabby; Harrison. FL Colburn, 1m15.236s (74.16mph). P Colburn S 12.

1 Paul Rose (Saker RAPX S1400); 2 Joe Spencer (Stuart Taylor Locosaki) +7.578s; 3 Garry Watson (Westfield SEW); 4 Garry Wardle (Ginetta G50); 5 Danny Bird (Pell Genesis); 6 Paul Dobson (Mazda RX7). CW Spencer; Watson; Dobson; Richard Roundell (Vauxhall Vectra); Helen Allen (Ford Fiesta Zetec S). FL Rose, 1m17.959 (71.57mph). P Spencer. S 27. 1 Spencer; 2 Steve Harris (Saker RAPX S1400) +20.525s; 3 Wardle; 4 Dobson; 5 David Fuller (Stuart Taylor Locosaki); 6 Les Kirk (Fisher Fury). CW Harris; Dobson; Steven Parker (BMW Compact); Tim Foxlow (Ford Escort RSR). Allen. FL Watson, 1m08.942s (80.93mph). P Rose. S 27.

1 James Clarke (Mallock MK18BF); 2 Michelle Hayward (Mallock Mk27) +17.204s; 3 Alex Champkin (Vision V84); 4 Morris Hart (Mallock Mk27); 5 John Drinkwater (Messer 6); 6 John Lambert (Mallock Mk20). CW Champkin; Drinkwater; Lambert. FL Clarke, 1m14.121s (75.28mph). P Hayward. S 6.

1 Champkin; 2 Clarke +13.344s; 3 Hayward; 4 Drinkwater; 5 Lambert. CW Clarke; Drinkwater; Lambert. FL Champkin, 1m07.685s (82.44mph) P Clarke. S 6.

1 Champkin; 2 Clarke +8.404s; 3 Hayward; 4 Hart. CW Clarke; Lambert. FL Champkin, 1m07.018s (83.26mph). P Champkin. S 5. Munro; Adam Read (Mazda MX-5 Mk1). FL Halliwell, 1m20.903s (68.97mph). P Munro. S 18.

1 Steven Mcmaster; 2 Robin Webb +0.498s; 3 Marc Noaro; 4 Trevor Harber; 5 Graeme Smith; 6 Mark Carter. FL Mcmaster, 1m33.993s (59.36mph) P Webb. S 11.

1 Mcmaster; 2 Webb +0.314s; 3 Harber; 4 Smith; 5 Noaro; 6 Colin Jardine. FL Mcmaster, 1m23.126s (67.12mph). P Webb. S 11.

1 Glenn Burtenshaw; 2 Oliver Gibson +9.308s; 3 Declan Dolan; 4 Toby Briant; 5 Ian Noble; 6 Roger Ford. CW David Webber (Caterham 7 Sigma). FL Burtenshaw, 1m29.058s (62.65mph). P Burtenshaw. S 26.

1 Luke Cooper; 2 Burtenshaw +1.525s; 3 Dolan; 4 Briant; 5 Ford; 6 Andrew Skinner. CW Jason Gale (Caterham 7 Sigma). FL Briant, 1m16.809s (72.64mph). P Burtenshaw. S 26.

1 Cedric Bloch; 2 Dylan Stanley +1.352s; 3 Simon Oliphant; 4 Scott Lawrence; 5 Tristan Judge; 6 Nicholas Haryett. CW Edward Benson (Caterham 7 Super). FL Bloch, 1m27.357s (63.87mph). P Stanley. S 20.

1 Stanley; 2 Lawrence +5.525s; 3 Bloch; 4 Oliphant; 5 Judge; 6 Haryett. CW Toby Briant (Caterham 7 Super). FL Stanley, 1m15.735s (73.67mph). P Oliphant. S 19.

position, with dropped scores to discard. The next round, the penultimate one, is Limerick on October 16.