WHITTAKER WINS AFTER END TO HIS FUEL WOES
Garrie Whittaker made up for his frustrating previous Kumho BMW Championship round at Thruxton by taking both Snetterton wins.
In race one Whittaker took advantage of a restart after a red flag, by seizing the lead at the launch from part one leader Colin Wells, around the outside of the first turn. That was after Peter Miller flipped his M3 at Murray’s after hitting the kerb caused the earlier stoppage.
Whittaker’s fuel pick-up problems that caused his Thruxton woes nearly denied him again early in the first Snetterton race. After slowing briefly he switched to a reserve pump which he’d added for this meeting.
“[It was the] same thing again,” said Whittaker, “it was tank baffle foam disintegrating in the tank and getting sucked up into the filters. So I took the foam out, chucked it in a bin – happy days!”
In race two Whittaker eased clear from pole to beat Wells comfortably – benefitting from a lighter car which was gentler on the tyres in the very high temperatures.
“A big improvement on Thruxton!” Whittaker concluded. “The car’s actually working now like it should be working.”
Wells’ two second places meant he lost half of his four-point lead in the overall championship to Kevin Denwood in the CC class, who took a win and second place.
Ben Palmer continued his Michelin Clio Cup clean sweep by taking both wins. In race one he had to hold off a race-long Ronan Pearson challenge, who likely would have passed on the final lap but for a yellow flag. In race two Palmer built a three second lead on lap one while Pearson was behind Tyler Lidsey, which proved vital as he beat Pearson home by six tenths. Palmer is now just six points off confirming the championship.
The 53-car four-hour Citroen C1 Challenge was won by the Mcattack Racing trio of Simon Walker-hansell, Joe Wiggin and Declan Mcdonnell. The car pitted late so Mcdonnell could have a stint as per the rules, allowing the Absolute Alignment machine of Chris Dear – paired with Robin Austin – onto its tail for what promised to be a grandstand finish. But the race ended almost immediately when Ben Constanduros rolled his C1 after brake failure, which caused a red flag.
Matthew Evans, making a one-off appearance in an M3, won the opening Classic and Historic Thunder and Blue Oval Saloon Series race, beating Stuart Day’s Escort and Ilsa Cox’s SEAT after a thrilling multi-car fight. Day won race two with Cox pipped on the line for second by James Janicki’s Nissan Skyline.
David Howard’s Jaguar XJ12, Stephen Primett’s Ford Escort Mk1 and Mark Cholerton’s Ford Escort fought over the Pre ’83 Group 1 Touring Car wins. Howard just held off his rival duo, with Primett ahead, to win the safety car-interrupted opener. Primett won race two by 12s after taking the lead in bizarre circumstances when Cholerton slowed for a black and orange light thinking it was a red. Howard finished second.
The Caterham Graduates Sigmax victory fights were frenzied battles between Jamie Winrow, Mark Johnson and Samuel Wilson. Winrow took race one while Wilson passed him on the final lap to win race two.
Declan Dolan won both Mega and Classic Caterham races from Ben Winrow. Winrow beat Dolan to the line in race one but the officials switched them after contact between the pair early on.