‘Sun shines on Mallory’s oval’’
Conditions for the pair of Pickup Truck races in the barmy sunshine couldn’t have been more different from the downpours which greeted the series on its return last month, which left the grid with little in the way of a benchmark for the one-mile Mallory oval in the dry.
George Turiccki made it look easy, having aced a decisive move up the inside of Daniel Petters on lap five of 25 into Gerard’s Bend for the lead. But the duel for second between Petters and Mel Collins proved the most thrilling battle.
The pair traded the podium places, and paint, on multiple occasions, before Collins took advantage of Petters’ wobble on the crest where Turn 4 meets the main straight to slide past. Dale Gent could only muster enough for seventh from pole.
Michael Smith starting second stormed into the lead in race two, before he went for a rallycross excursion on the Stebbe Straight, dropping him to 12th and allowing Paul and Reece Jones into the top two positions.
Reece fought gallantly for all of two laps, but Turiccki continued the momentum to slither past at Gerard’s.
Junior Saloon Car Championship leader Scott Mcintyre has become used to dominating the 2019 season, but on three occasions he couldn’t hold pole from Alex Jay at Mallory.
Ruben Hage was squeezed into the wall on the Kirby Straight which prompted a red flag and re-grid – a reprieve for Mcintyre, who had dropped to eighth.
But on the second attempt, despite Mcintyre getting a better start, Jay wasn’t to be denied, cruising to a 9.584-second first win of the season after inching past on the first lap.
Mcintyre endured a race-long duel with Owen Hizzey for fourth, ending his run of 10 races on the podium.
Pole in race two led to more disappointment for Mcintyre as he got all out of shape at the Esses, which was all Jay needed to shuffle past for the lead. Mcintyre recovered to second after dropping to fifth.
All three of the leaders in the first MG Owners’ Club race had a go at throwing away the race win in just three laps in an extraordinary conclusion to the 22-lapper.
William Sharpe had been leading David Mellor and Steve Mcdermid (all ZRS) when Mcdermid attempted a lunge on Mellor and spun himself around at the Gerard’s Bend right-hander.
That was followed just a lap later by a moment for Sharpe at the same turn, gifting Mellor the lead, who then lost it himself with an off, again at Gerard’s, to enable a surprised Sharpe to lead Mcdermid home for the victory.
There was no such drama second time out however, as Mcdermid eased his ZR to a lights-to-flag win by 5.413s.
Malcolm Blackman proved his class in the Super Silhouettes with two victories, including a blinding drive from seventh to first.
Steve Burrows and Ian Hales, also in Vauxhall Tigras, were the only other two in contention, but Blackman found the wind in his sails with a quicker run up the hill towards the hairpin on lap six of 19, which ensured he had a stronger exit and a victory-sealing pass at Devil’s Elbow.
Blackman started race two from fifth, making his charge to the front somewhat inevitable – the feat accomplished on lap three with a confident surge again down Devil’s Elbow.