IP RACING HOLD ON IN LAST-GASP KA DASH
The leading teams in this year’s EnduroKa long-distance race series duelled in the dark for the top honour at their seasonal finale, the Brands Hatch IndyKa 500, and after 415 laps IP Racing took the chequered flag just over half a second in front of AxiaMetrics.
Adam Blair was at the wheel for IP in the critical phase, building on the earlier efforts of Daniel Silvester and Scott Parkin, and winning a four-minute shootout following the last of 18 safety car interventions. Pipped at the post were AxiaMetrics’ Chris Weatherill, Dominic Jackson and Chris Dovell. A lapped car between the two leaders as they approached the green flag denied Weatherill his best chance of an attack.
Nick Tandy led the NAPA Racing squad to a lapped third place, co-driving with regular partners Lewis Selby and Elliot Mason. Their car was always in the running and looked a strong tip for victory until a refuelling mistake earned a two-lap penalty. A further unplanned stop was needed to replace a failed rear light bulb.
However, long after the podium celebrations news came that second and third-place cars had both been disqualified. The cylinder head on Weatherill’s car was found to be machined beyond normal tolerances, and the NAPA team did not comply with official requests to remove their cylinder head. Tenth-placed 3 Amigos were also disqualified, this time for an underweight car.
Sukaru Racing’s Tristan Judge, Peter Dignan and Chris Hilson put in an under-the-radar run to a fine fourth place, subsequently promoted to second.
Lucas Romanek had a chance of taking the United Formula Ford title and did everything possible to improve his prospects with a double win on Saturday. Alex Walker gave him a hard time, but a jumped-start penalty cost Walker the race-one win. Morgan Quinn arrived on level points with the absent Colin Queen and stayed out of trouble to top the table. All three drove Van Diemens.
Darren Goes won last year’s MSV Supercup, and on Saturday he added the revamped Turismo X title, thanks to Adam Blair’s misfortune. Goes won both races at the wheel of his Audi RS3 but Blair’s Seat Supercopa let him down in race one and he could do no better than third at the second attempt. Blair led the points coming to Brands, but slipped behind when the Seat’s engine stopped without warning.
A slow start from pole and a first lap spin on cold tyres didn’t stop
Alex Jones and Team Hard’s Tony Gilham winning the Trackday Championship race in their shared Golf. As a guest entry they didn’t score points, so the focus was on John Lyne’s bid to become champion in his BMW. Main rival Kevin Stirling was ruled out in a multiple accident at the start, and Lyne scored a comfortable second place behind the Golf.
The non-championship Trackday Trophy went to Stewart Donovan’s Toyota Celica, thanks to spending less time in the pits, while still complying with the minimum time requirement, than the Golf of Alex and Daniel Read.
EnduroKa Indy 500
IP Racing (Adam Blair, Daniel Silvester & Scott Parkin)
United Formula Ford/ Champion of Brands Races 1 & 2: Lucas Romanek (Van Diemen JL13)
Turismo X
Races 1 & 2: Darren Goes (Audi RS3)
Trackday Championship
Alex Jones/Tony Gilham (VW Golf)
Trackday Trophy
Stewart Donovan (Toyota Celica)