BAILEY AND THACKERAY SHARE HONDA CIVIC CUP HONOURS
Morgan Bailey and Dan Thackeray each won a race for the Honda Civic Cup that formed a small part of a full day’s entertainment on and off the track at Brands Hatch on Sunday, attracting a good crowd to the circuit’s third Go Japan event.
Most of the circuit activity was based around Time Attack sessions in three classes, from production-based to the most extreme results of teams’ imagination, plus round seven of the Motorsport UK Drift
Pro championship. A parade celebrated the 30th anniversary of Mitsubishi Evo and Subaru Impreza models, and off the track there were displays by
Japanese car clubs and trade stalls as well as Japanese food and drink to sample.
Despite these distractions and a significant drop in entries since their previous visit to Kent in June, the short Civic races provided a full share of action.
Four drivers – reigning champion Alistair Camp,
Matt Luff, Dan Thackeray and Morgan Bailey – head the points table and will settle their squabble at the season’s finale at Snetterton next month.
With dropped scores to be considered there is still plenty at stake. The same quartet dominated the results in both races on this occasion.
Bailey was a lights-to-flag winner of race one with Luff, Thackeray and Camp giving chase. Things might have been different if Jack Harding hadn’t suffered a dusty trip through the Paddock gravel trap while challenging for second. Some forceful moves helped Harding recover to fifth, but he ran out of time and fell short of threatening Camp in fourth place.
Race two had a part-reversed grid and started badly with several cars getting together at Clearways. This prompted an immediate safety car intervention to recover Jeff Alden’s stranded car, leaving only about four minutes to go when the caution period ended.
William Redford was in front at the time from a strong second-row start, but yielded to pressure from Thackeray and hit the tyre wall at Paddock in a cloud of dust soon afterwards. In a final shuffle, Camp snatched third from Luff before the chequered flag, leaving him just behind second man Bailey.
In a depleted production class, Alfie Jeakins twice beat team-mate Loui Hounsell to strengthen his grip on that part of the championship.