FEMALE RACER PITS HER WITTS TO VICTORY
BRISCA F1 Shootout: Birmingham
Organiser: Incarace When: August 24 Where: Birmingham Wheels Raceway Starters: 37.
The first round of the BRISCA F1 Shootout produced a tremendous scrap between the main contenders but none of them was able to catch Courtney Witts, who continues to write her name in the history books when she won at Birmingham on Saturday night.
It’s her second consecutive final win on Tarmac. It places Witts second on the all-time female final winners list behind Jayne Bean, who has six wins to her name.
Chris Cooke made the early running with Witts among the chasing pack. Further back, shootout contender Lee Fairhurst began to slice through the field but he got involved in a titanic battle with Kyle Gray and Charlie Sworder, which halted his progress. That allowed shootout drivers Nigel Green, Tom Harris and Frankie Wainman Jr to pass.
Witts took the lead around the halfway point when Cooke went wide, Shaun Webster tried to nudge Witts wide but was unable to do so and Bradley Harrison moved into third. The places remained static until the chequered flag.
Witts said: “It felt so good to cross that line as a final winner for the second time. I told myself when I saw the halfway flag ‘I am going to win this final’ and I just pushed as hard as I could to get the win.
“I was very much aware of Webster’s presence behind me and I could tell there were a few behind him too. He gave me a love tap about half way through and I think that woke me up a bit!”
After the first of 12 shootout rounds Wainman Jr holds a slender advantage over Harris, with Green in third.
Fairhurst rounded out the night by winning the Grand National, his 100th win in BRISCA F1.that puts him in fifth place in the shootout standings just behind Mat Newson.
Result
1 Courtney Witts; 2 Shaun Webster; 3 Bradley Harrison; 4 Nigel Green; 5 Tom Harris; 6 Frankie Wainman Jr; 7 Sam Wass; 8 Lee Fairhurst; 9 Craig Finnikin; 10 Ben Riley.