BMW MAN CARD DEALS A MASTERCLASS
James Card won no less than three races at Brands Hatch in his BMW E46 M3 as he followed up a win in the second Classic Thunder race with two lights-to-flag victories in the Kumho BMW Championship double-header.
Card’s win in the second Thunder encounter came after an opening race that provided action aplenty. James Janicki charged through from row four to claim victory in his Nissan Skyline R32. Behind, the battle for second between the BMW of Jasver Sapra and the Alfa Romeo 33 of Adie Hawkins ended with both cars hitting the pitwall.
Andy Robinson took second to Card in race two in his Ford Falcon, but ex-BTCC racer
Jason Hughes provided the highlight of the event by charging through to third in his touring car Vauxhall Vectra after starting from the pitlane.
Michael Pensavalle battled his way ahead of Brad Sheehan to claim second behind Card in the first Kumho BMW contest, before Sheehan took advantage of an excursion at Clearways for Darren Morgan-Owen to seal the runner-up spot in the second event.
Rod Birley added to his list of Brands Hatch triumphs with a double success in the pair of Pre’93 and Pre’03 Touring Car races in his Honda Integra. In both races though, he was pushed hard by the BMWs of David Griffin and Ian Bower.
Lewis Saunders also had to keep his cool to maintain his unbeaten start to the Junior Saloon season after Charlie Hand pressured him hard throughout both races. Alex Solley survived a trip through the Paddock gravel in race one to claim a pair of thirds.
Danny Harrison and Jem Hepworth claimed a double success in the two Dunlop Endurance contests in their Praga R1T, albeit under very different circumstances. The pair cantered to a lights-to-flag win in race one ahead of the similar car of Jack Fabby and Garry Townsend. In the second contest though, a clash involving Hepworth and the BMW 1M of backmarker Charlie Lamb caused the race to be red-flagged.
With the Praga avoiding serious damage, Harrison charged through from the back to claim the win in the restarted event from Fabby/Townsend.
In the Trophy category, Barry McMahon took a dominant race one win in his Alfa Romeo 156 T before Rob Smith, sharing a Peugeot RCZ with Charlie Campbell, snatched race two victory from James Colburn’s Renault Clio with a fine move at Paddock late on.
Alex Kapadia won the opening Sports Prototype Cup race after passing Scott Mansell at Druids on lap 10 of 39. The pair resumed their personal duel again in race two until Kapadia spun off at Paddock at mid-distance. Mansell was left to reel off the remaining laps out front, although Bradley Ellis kept him honest.