Round-Up: Redding extends advantage
Redding extends advantage
PBM Be Wiser Ducati’s Scott Redding extended his lead over team-mate Josh Brookes with a clean sweep at Assen.
Redding’s advantage over Brookes now stands at 14 points with two rounds remaining.
Redding rider topped every practice session plus pole position in qualifying in the Netherlands - and followed that up with a pair of commanding wins.
Brookes managed a P2 and a P4 and remains still very much in the hunt.
Peter Hickman of BMW Smiths Racing scored a pair of P8s.
Héctor Barberá of the Quattro Plant JG Speedfit Kawasaki was on the pace with 10thand 11thfinishes, despite still contending with the injuries he’d received in crashes at the previous rounds at Cadwell Park and Oulton Park.
“It is good to come to a track that I know and feel familiar with,” said Héctor. “The problem before now was that I’ve been to some very difficult British tracks and I am just trying to learn the track and ride fast. I’ve had some big crashes and I wanted to come to Assen and get some good results despite the pain I am still in.
“I feel like we had good pace and that without a mistake in the first race I could have pushed for maybe a podium.”
Team-mate Ben Currie, meanwhile, managed a P15 and a P17.
“I feel so much better in myself this weekend, stronger and fitter,” he said afterwards. “We made some changes to my leathers which have been hindering me without my knowledge and I feel really happy – it’s the best I’ve felt.”
British Rallycross championship – rounds 6 and 7 Pembrey
Saturday September 21stRound six
Stunning 1-3 at Pembrey for Bellerby / Brown
Drew and Steve finished an almost perfect Saturday by occupying two of the steps on the Pembrey podium at the end of a hard day’s competition.
Drew was the first to suffer a problem when her power steering failed in heat two; nevertheless, she still managed to finish a fine (although hot and sweaty) second in her heat. Problem fixed, she went out and blitzed heat three to record an excellent time to claim pole for the final.
Steve meanwhile had a good run to second in his first heat, then drove away from the field to record his first win of the season in heat two.
The pair lined up for the Final with Drew on pole and Steve slotting in behind her on the second row. Straight off the line, Steve headed to his his Joker lap, whilst Drew led the field. The six-lap Final saw Drew consolidate her lead as she pulled away from the field, and even after taking her Joker on the penultimate lap, she had sufficient time in hand to come back on in the lead, which she held to the finish.
After taking his Joker early, Steve came back on to the track bang flat last – but still hanging on the tail of the filed. The next five laps saw him move steadily through the filed with a series of great overtaking manoeuvres, and he finished a thrilling race only a handful of seconds behind second placed Bell.
Gearbox woes for Paige
Paige’s day in her Lotus Elise ended early on Saturday, after first practice, when a broken gear selector side-lined her for the rest of the day.
However, when teamrxracing heard of Paige’s drama, she was offered a buggy to go racing on Sunday! This is what she said when she heard the news -
“FP2 was bad for us and it’s game over in the Lotus for the weekend, we found the selector bent in the gearbox so couldn’t select 2nd gear!
“Disappointment again but that’s motorsport and it can’t be helped!
“Big thanks to #teamrxracing for giving me the opportunity to still compete this weekend in an #RX150. I haven’t raced one of these since I was 17 so really looking forward to getting back behind the wheel of one of these crazy buggies! @ Pembrey Circuit”.
Sunday September 22ndRound seven
Paige takes podium place in RX150 buggy race
Paige came back to the paddock after free practice first thing on Sunday morning looking a little hot, but not at all bothered; “crikey, I’d nearly forgotten – they’re wick, they are!” was her admiring comment.
The heats did nothing to dispel her judgement, with a second and two third places to show for her skills and tenacity. After lining up third on the Final grid, a gritty, determined drive in the unfamiliar buggy saw Paige take a splendid 2ndplace, just a few seconds behind a usually more-dominant Palmer.
Drew and Steve on podium– again
An action packed Sunday saw Drew and Steve take 2ndand 3rdrespectively in the BMW Mini final at round 7 of the championship season. Drew’s day was free from mechanical drama, but Steve was down on power throughout the heats due to a leaking head gasket.
Going into the Final, Steve was second on the grid with Bell on pole, and Drew completing the front row.
But, Steve’sdecision to play his joker early didn’t work out this time, and he spent the race having to make up places on a closely bunched pack ahead of him, before securing 3rdplace after six fraught laps.
Drew led after lap two when Bell played his joker, but she wasn’t able to pull away on the dry track, and finished second after taking her joker on the last lap.
More information on the championship at https://www.rallycrossbrx.com/news/
BTRDA Trackrod rally preview
Tense season-ending finale in Yorkshire for FUCHS 1400 championship
This coming weekend’s Trackrod rally (September 28th) sees Steve Black/Paul Morris as the leading FUCHS Lubricants BTRDA 1400® Championship crew in their Suzuki Swift, while Richard Jordan/James Gratton-Smith will be out to make up some lost ground caused when their Proton Satria broke a driveshaft last time out.
Class 1400C is going down to the wire.... The Evans brothers’ Peugeot 205 held sway early in the season, but the ever-present Micra of Richard Garnett/Robert Gilham took centre stage on the Plains Rally. Neither car finished the Nicky Grist Stages and the Evans’ were then absent from the Woodpecker. So, a grandstand finish is on the cards, and it could go either way - brace yourselves!...
BTRDA Trackrod rally – BHRC Historic Rally Championship
BHRC set for Yorkshire showdown
The seafront at Filey will be a tense place on Saturday afternoon (28 September). That’s the setting for the final reckoning for this year’s FUCHS LUBRICANTS Motorsport UK British Historic Rally Championship.
Seldom, if ever, have five crews gone into the final round chasing the title and last year the late cancellation of Rally Isle of Man prompted a rather flat conclusion as Paul Barrett was confirmed a worthy champion before the Trackrod.
This year is very different and the excellent Trackrod Rally will be the perfect backdrop for a thrilling conclusion. Whoever wins, a new name will join former multiple champions like Steven Smith, David Stokes and Jason Pritchard on the roll of honour.
Following the penultimate round on last month’s Ulster Rally, Simon Webster and Jez Rogers bring their Ford Escort Mk2 to one of their favourite events chasing a first BHRC title. Without any fuss or drama, Webster has quietly and constantly upped his pace to the point where a breakthrough win on the Red Kite made him reconsider his plans and two asphalt events were quickly added to his summer schedule to turn the year into a title bid.
The major threat to Webster and Rogers are Northern Irishmen Stanley Orr and Graham Henderson (Ford Escort Mk1), who matched consistent gravel pace with mighty speed in Ulster to bring just a two-point deficit to Yorkshire. However, the dropped scores scenario makes it advantage Webster as he has a nine to drop while Orr will shed a 16 if he scores better this weekend. Both crews will bag seven start points in the championship’s scoring system that rewards regular contenders.
The three other crews are the longer shots. Adrian Hetherington, Rudi Lancaster and Joe Price all have a mathematical chance of taking the crown but Lancaster will drop out once Webster drives off the start ramp. In fact, Lancaster and Guy Weaver face a big effort even to get to Yorkshire as they rolled out of the Woodpecker Rally a month ago. A place in the top 14 BHRC crews for Webster would then knock Hetherington and Price out the running.
If Webster can beat Orr in Yorkshire, then it is job done for the East Anglian. If Orr wins, Webster needs to be second but the Yorkshire event features return appearances by Matthew Robinson and Nick Elliott and they could well bag the big points to make it even harder for Orr. Of course, with a stage in the dark of Dalby on Friday evening and 45 flat out miles on Saturday, anything could happen.
Details at https://www.rallyyorkshire.co.uk/or https://www.discoveryorkshirecoast.com/
Kershaw still in the hunt
Steve Kershaw and Stuart Clark remain 30 points behind in the Molson Group British Sidecar Championship.
With four races to go, the FUCHS Silkolene-backed team still believe they can steal top spot.
The pair finished second overall in race one in Assen, but first in the British Championship. Another 25 points in the bag, thank you very much.
Kershaw/Clark started ninth in race two but came through to finish third – second in the British Championship.
It was another difficult weekend for the Quattro Plant JG Speedfit Kawasak pairing of Ricky Stevens and Ryan Charlwood.
Ricky said: “Technical problems to negotiate, and unfortunately luck wasn’t on our side.
“The only real positive to come out of the trip was the fact that we managed to score some points in race two to maintain our sixth position in the championship.”
Points on the board for Carl
Carl Vickers and CV Racing had a challenging weekend at Cadwell Park in the Thundersport Golden Era Supersport & Steelsport – but he managed to record some crucial points.
Having qualified in sixth in class, Carl came home in ninth in race one before being pipped to sixth position by 0.1 seconds in race two.
A slight gear change was made overnight which helped in places but hindered in others, and Carl recorded P8. The gearing was reverted back for race four.
Carl managed to overtake David Langley and Matty Whelan on the last lap for a weekend-best P6.
Gains for Garside
Ryan Garside enjoyed another solid weekend’s racing the Myerscough College Motorcycle team at Cadwell Park.
A win, a second and two thirds meant the team left with a slightly bigger points lead than they arrived with.
It now stands at 66 points going into the final round at Oulton Park.
Weighty problems for Bridgwater & Taunton College Motorsport
Bridgwater & Taunton College Motorsport travelled to Cheshire for their first ever visit to Oulton Park hoping to get their year back on track following engine troubles at Silverstone.
Friday’s testing saw Poppet, White 1 (Rob Rees) and new customer Tony Barwell (SR3RSX) taking to the track. A fair few red flags in testing made for a patchy day and White 1 suffered an early retirement to the weekend with engine troubles.
Qualifying was shortened down to just 10 minutes after an early red flag and with the last two flying laps of the session the team put the car on pole by over one second 0.4secs quicker than the existing lap record!
Race one didn't go to plan as contact into turn two spun the car around, restarting in last place with damage to the body, diffuser, wheel and upright. From the Barwell cautiously made up places to end up finishing sixth overall and fourth in class.
The team worked hard to repair the damage to the car in the break in readiness for race two. Starting from pole they led from lights to flag to win by 14s with a new lap record, only to be disqualified for being underweight even though the car on the team’s scales and at other circuits this year has been over the minimum weight.
