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Rockingham UK Cup

20th April 2009

Radical UK Cup

Round One,  Rockingham

With nearly half of the grid now SR8’s, the competition for overall victory was no longer a foregone conclusion.

Last years first round winners Rob Wheldon and Jonathan Wright were both at the sharp end in qualifying, but for this year Wheldon teamed up with Roger Bromiley in an SR8 and was on pole, with Wright taking over from Stuart Moseley to partner defending champion Derek Johnston as they shared the front row.

Terrence Woodward/Ross Kaiser were back with a new SR8 after their previous car was destroyed in last years final round at Rockingham, they headed Ben Jackson who was running solo for this race.

Tony Freeman/Duncan Williams’ PR6 broke the SR8 domination and headed the third row from Manhal Allos’ SR8. 

Nigel Greensall joined Tom Ashton in one of Gary Kane’s SR8’s and had ex-Le Mans winner Andy Wallace and Evo magazine’s Roger Green alongside. Not only was it Wallace’s first time in a Radical, it was his first time at Rockingham too.

Paul Thomas and Charles Loughran were the Supersports polesitters from Colin Noble, Ross Allen/Dan Compton and Phil Abbott/Massimo Vignali, who were sharing the brand new and radically updated SR3.

It was bright, sunny and most of all dry as the 19 car grid began to assemble in an air of eager anticipation. As the V8 engine pitch rose the lights went out and Wheldon headed the mass charge through Turn One, before hammering on the brakes into Deene Hairpin. Jackson and Greensall were tucked in behind, before Greensall was first to make a move, squeezing inside Jackson as they turned into Tarzan. Woodward was in fourth from Wright, Ross Allen’s SR3, Allos, Green, Thomas and Ross Edwards.

But Richard Fearns had pulled off at Gracelands, and the safety car was called into service for the next eight laps.

From the green flag Woodward immediately shot past Jackson into third, but both Wheldon and Greensall were quickly back into their stride. Allos had headed pitwards during the safety car period and remained there. Both Green and Edwards powered past Allen and Noble, but Allen fought back and retook seventh from Edwards at Tarzan on lap 11.

Jackson was also pressing hard to retake third from Woodward, as he could see the gap to the lead pair continuing to increase. His determination paid off a lap later, while Wright had his sighths set on catching them both.

Green had consolidated his hold on sixth, but there was a terrific scrap for seventh, which featured the lead of the Supersports class. Allen led Thomas, but Edwards and Williams were in there too. For Williams it was an unexpected bonus, having started from the pitlane after a brake problem on the green flag lap.

But Phil Hall had pulled off at Gracelands so out came the safety car for another eight laps. Most drivers took the opportunity to head for the pits to hand over and refuel, Greensall being the first, with Wheldon, Jackson and Wright soon following. “That was all a bit frustrating, but fun at the same time especially keeping Nigel Greensall behind me. There wasn’t a lot more I could have done though,” said Wheldon. “I had a good first lap after we cured an earlier throttle problem and it was a great race. The car was just fantastic too,” added Greensall.

So when the race went green again there was unfamiliar pattern to the order, as the pitstops hadn’t started to unfold their effect.  Allen led with Williams second into Deene, before pulling off a repeat manoeuvre a lap later to lead.

Bromiley was charging through the order after taking over from Wheldon and was back in the lead when Thomas, Allen and Williams made their late stops. Jackson had been following Bromiley through the pack and was closing in when he speared off right into the retaining wall exiting Turn One. Not surprisingly he stayed in the car a while for his own protection, but was able to give testimony to the SR8’s chassis strength as he walked away unscathed.

But with then safety car called upon for a third spell, it was left to a sprint over the final stint.

At the green flag Bromiley led Johnston, Loughran, Abbott, Ashton and Freeman. Ashton was the one on the move again, as he used his V8 power to pick off the SR3’s and was into third by lap 37. Johnston had Bromiley in his sights too, while Gary Kane’s SR8 started to make a challenge on Supersports class leader Loughran for fourth. They swapped at Deene on lap 36, before Loughran spun, stalled and was out.

Johnston had paced his race to perfection and by the time they reached Tarzan for the 38th time they were nose to tail. Bromiley held on until Deene on the next lap, before Johnston surged through under braking.

The weekend finished on a low for Kaiser when his SR8 expired at Tarzan, which brought out the red flags with five minutes left on the clock. “That was a hard race. When it went green it was like a new race, not a problem and I got straight back into the groove like a rolling start. But the car never missed a beat, it was fantastic,” said Johnston as he tasted the victory champagne again.

“I am ecstatic with second but the race was there to be won and I didn’t. I was top amateur though,” Bromiley concluded.
Ashton/Greensall secured third over Edwards/Kane, while Abbott/Vignali came up to claim fifth and the Supersports class win. “We were trying very hard and there was so much grip on the infield it made it very tiring. With a new chassis, engine, management system on the new SR3 it was good to be competitive with the SR8’s on the infield. It’s a terrific car,” said Abbott.

Freeman/Williams completed the top six. “We only had a quick fix from the team to start the race, didn’t expect to finish never mind finish well,” said Williams. Wallace/Green held onto seventh, with Noble classified eighth over Woodward/Kaiser on countback. Allen/Compton completed the top ten.

1 Jonathan Wright/Derek Johnston (SR8) 41 laps in 1h08m40.633s; 2
Rob Wheldon/Roger Bromiley (SR8) +1.750s; 3 Nigel Greensall/Tom Ashton (SR8); 4 Ross Edwards/Gary Kane (SR8); 5 Massimo Vignali/Phil Abbott (SR3); 6 Duncan Williams/Tony Freeman (PR6); 7 Roger Green/Andy Wallace (SR8); 8 Colin Noble (SR3); 9 Terrence Woodward/Ross Kaiser (SR8); 10 Ross Allen/Dan Compton (SR3).
Class winners: Vignali/Abbott. Fastest lap: Wheldon 1m15.638s (92.33mph).

Issued by Peter Scherer for Radical Sports Cars, April 20th, 2009.