The weather was hot and so was the on-track action when the BRSCC’s North Western Centre took charge of a dozen races at Oulton Park on 12th July. The sky was cloudless, the International Layout was in use, there was a plethora of Mazdas racing on track and on display on the infield… it was a perfect day for being a petrolhead.
Kent Models Mazda MX-5 Championship
Ali Bray arrived in Cheshire having won 12 races out of 12 in this season’s Kent Models Mazda MX-5 Championship and was leading the Autosport National Driver Rankings. He took this total to 14 by the end of the Oulton Park Double Header. This feat is all the more remarkable given that MX-5 racing is so competitive.
In the opening encounter, Steve Foden and Adam Sparrow both challenged Bray before they started battling with each other and allowed the series leader to pull away.
It was a similar story when the cars returned to the roasting tarmac later in the day but on this occasion, Sparrow retired with a mechanical failure close to the end.
Geoff Page Engineering Super Classic Formula Ford Championship
Nigel Dolan ran fifth in the opening stages of the first Geoff Page Engineering Super Classic Formula Ford Championship race but he managed to take his Van Diemen RF90 to victory without passing another car!
Tom Hawkins was comfortably leading in his Swift SC95 but he pulled off in the escape road at Brittens when his driveshaft failed. This put the Van Diemen RF89 of Oliver Roberts ahead but on the very next lap he coasted to a halt in the Fosters loop with a blown engine.
Earlier, Andrew Schofield had spun his Reynard out of third place at Druids and Chris Jones (Van Diemen RF80) did the same at Island Bend which meant Dolan steered his way through the carnage to take the spoils ahead of Schofield and Jones.
The driveshaft on Hawkin’s Swift was repaired in time for the second contest and he came through from the back of the grid. Unfortunately, however, Roberts was unable to take part. Schofield took the lead at the start and came home in second while Matthew Chisholm appeared to have a great set-up for this encounter on his Van Diemen RF92 which he was racing for the first time in 10 years. Jones was a retirement.
Clapham North Mazda MX5 SuperCup Championship
There was a 4-way scrap at the front of the opening Clapham North Mazda MX5 SuperCup Championship encounter between Jack Harding, Aiden Hills, Will Blackwell-Chambers and Thomas Langford. They finished in that order after a fair amount of place-swapping and sideways moments.
For race 2 there was more epic dicing with Oli Hall making it 5 for the lead. Hills came out on top from Harding, Langford, Hall and Blackwell-Chambers.
Fix A Wheel Production Cup
Jonathan Mee set a lap time almost 1 second faster than everyone else in qualifying for the Fix A Wheel Production Cup but when the red lights went out for their first race, Mee’s Lotus Elise remained stationary on pole position. Fortunately, the rest of the field managed to avoid him.
Mee’s luck improved further when Jas Sapra locked up in his BMW M3 and ended up beached in the gravel trap at Shell bringing out the red flags. The restart used the original grid with Mee back on pole. He got a better start at the second time of asking but was still beaten to the first corner by Tim Evans’ Audi TT. This pair pulled away from Lewis Barker’s Honda Civic.
Evans’ car faded in the closing stages. He came home second behind Mee while Barker also dropped down the order to finish sixth handing the final place on the podium to Paul Hoggins (Audi TT).
When the varied selection of production racers returned to the track, Evans was again the early leader and thought he was going to take the spoils but his car pulled off the track with a few laps remaining. Therefore, Mee did the double.
Barker and Robert Buckland (Renault Clio) battled frantically on their way to finishing second and third.
In the Silverlake DS3 Cup class, Aaron Chalk was the first to see the chequered flag in both encounters but in race 1 he received a 10 second penalty for a false start which meant Theo Longman took the honours.
Clapham North MOT Mazda MX5 Clubman Championship
An incident at Shell meant the first Clapham North MOT Mazda MX5 Clubman Championship contest finished behind the Safety Car with Jordan Pimley ahead of Paul Simard and Jake Paice. It was an impressive result for Simard who was running in the Rookie Class.
Later in the afternoon, the Clubman runners weren’t slowed by any Safety Car periods. The first 3 were the same as Pimley impressively cruised away to win by over 6 seconds. Paice ran second initially but was passed round the outside on the entrance to the Hislops chicane by Simard. There was then a 7 car battle for third in which Paice came out on top.
Vinyl Detail Fiesta ST150 Challenge
Ethan Rogers and George Foxlow were the fastest drivers in qualifying for the Vinyl Detail Fiesta ST150 Challenge and they finished in that order each time they came under Starter’s Orders. With Rogers running as a guest entry, Foxlow took maximum points and so didn’t try any hero moves to win either contest. The race 1 podium was completed by Michael Blackburn but later in the day he was running fourth behind Dillon Davis when he pulled onto the grass just after Hill Top.
Thank you
The BRSCC would like to thank all marshals and officials for their help in the running of this meeting in such energy sapping hot conditions.
Dave Williams