NO SEPARATING O’SULLIVAN AND MARTIN AFTER THRILLER
Title challengers involved in brutal battle for victory as Hedley hits trouble
Zak O’sullivan and Will Martin started the Ginetta Junior finale sideby-side. And it was a sign of what was to come as the duo were inseparable throughout a cracking race.
Martin emerged ahead into the complex on the opening tour but the pair then spent the first nine laps scrapping relentlessly – including continually banging doors up Woodham Hill. But things came to a head on lap 10 of 12.
Martin attempted to pass his rival at Allard but was squeezed onto the grass on the inside exiting the corner. Remarkably, Martin kept control as he bounced across the muddy terrain and rejoined just behind O’sullivan. Then he passed O’sullivan at Church. It was an incredible recovery but it still wasn’t over. On the final lap, O’sullivan charged ahead at Church only for the Richardson Racing driver to outdrag him out of the corner and take the win.
Martin described it as the most intense race he’d been involved in and added: “Coming into the first corner I just got a run and he edged me off and I went straight on.”
But O’sullivan was disappointed about how Martin got ahead: “It was close and controversial. It was such a good race until Will tried a very ambitious move. He lost his bumper on the grass and he had a big advantage as he had less drag.”
Title leader James Hedley should’ve been part of that fight for the win but his Elite Motorsport car stopped on lap four after a major gearbox issue, diminishing his large points advantage to 50.
“I went down to change gear and heard a massive explosion in the car,” he explained. “I tried to keep it going but nothing was happening.”
Earlier in the weekend, Hedley won the opener, making the decisive move on Gus Burton at Church. He was part of another tussle with Martin and O’sullivan in race two – but that time it was O’sullivan who triumphed from Martin and Hedley.
Another driver who was part of the lead fight in the opener was Lorcan Hanafin. The Douglas Motorsport racer ended his podium drought with third in race one behind Hedley and O’sullivan. But race two didn’t go so well as he was involved in a five-car incident that caused a red flag.
“I was turned round into the second part of the complex and facing everyone stationary was a bit scary!” admitted Hanafin. “Three people hit me and there’s a lot of damage. You feel the first one think, ‘thank God that’s over’ then you get another one.”
But Hanafin bounced back with a podium in race three. He surged from 17th on the grid to grab fourth, and inherited third when team-mate
Burton was penalised for contact.