KAY RIDES HIS LUCK FOR HIS FIRST SWINGING SIXTIES TRIUMPH
His own rapid pace, various incidents for other frontrunners and Sam Polley’s 30-second pitstop success penalty combined to give a delighted Connor Kay his maiden win in Swinging Sixties at Oulton Park.
Having earlier punched above his weight in one of the family MG Midgets as an additional Group 1 runner alongside the more potent Group 2 set,
Kay switched to another Midget for Group 1’s own race.
From fifth on the grid, the youngster ran second to Richard Perry’s Austin-Healey Sprite after the opening skirmishes, then benefited when Midgetmounted
Ian Staines’s bid for the lead left Perry with raceending damage.
Kay marched to victory over Polley’s Mini Marcos, which was delayed by first-corner contact with the Mini of Matthew Howell as well as his previous winners’ penalty. Left wing flapping, Staines managed third, ahead of Tim Cairns (Turner Mk2) and
Chris Watkinson (Mini).
Group 2 honours went to Mark Halstead after battling back from a spin at Lodge and a slower pitstop to overcome Malcolm Johnson (Lotus Europa) and the penalty handicapped Steve Hodges (Lotus 7).
After dad Jon stepped down from driving duties after qualifying, Chris Warburton drove their Volkswagen
Golf GTI Mk1 solo to a Tin
Tops triumph.
Warburton built a healthy lead of around 10s before taking his pitstop. But Tom Mensley’s 22s quicker turnaround put him ahead. Warburton homed in on the Renault Clio 182, falling just 0.264s short when the chequered flag fell as the curfew approached.
But Mensley had incurred 35s of penalties for stopping outside the window and track-limits offences, handing Warburton the win. Success-handicapped
Adam Brown (Ford Fiesta ST) was another half-minute back.
Jamie Boot’s TVR Griffith commanded Classic K but, like Warburton, relied on a postrace penalty to claim victory. The lightweight V8-engined machine had the legs on a pair of Jaguar E-types, although Dave Coyne was clinging on to the leader in Robert Farrell’s example until it overheated before he could relay the owner. Mark Russell’s Jaguar cried enough on the opening tour, which left Paul Tooms’ Lotus Elan GTS as Boot’s only realistic threat.
Tooms gave Boot a fright when he emerged ahead from the pitstops, and was still leading when red flags brought a premature halt to the race, but fell foul of a short pitstop penalty.
Oliver Smith (Modern Classics) and Matthew
Lewis (Marcos Mantula, Future Classics) took the honours in their combined race. Smith saw off Dave Griffin’s similar BMW M3 E36, while Lewis benefited from the puncture-induced early demise of Mark Chilton’s howling Nissan Skyline GTR.
A messy New Millennium race went to Darren Fielding, with Stephen Berry (Mini Cooper) and James Wilson (Peugeot 206 GTI) taking the Turbo Tin Tops and Open Series sections.