Archive
Round 5, UK Cup Castle Combe
20th July 2009
Derek Johnston took another step towards retaining his Radical UK Cup title at Castle Combe, when Stuart Moseley rejoined him for a fairly comfortable and dominant victory.
Ross Kaiser was quickest during Saturday mornings qualifying, but only 0.5secs ahead of Ben Jackson and the Johnston/Moseley SR8. But as the professional of the team Kaiser’s time didn’t count for the grid and it was Jackson who lined up on pole for the afternoon’s 75 minute race.
Johnston/Moseley completed the front row with Terrence Woodward/Kaiser and Nick Adcock sharing the second. Adcock had decided to run the race solo after sharing the works SR8 with Massimo Vignali at Donington. Castle Combe GT regular Manhal Allos had his SR8 on the third row, heading Gary Kane/Tom Ashton’s PR6, but missing from the fourth was Ross Allen, after last minute paddock dramas left his SR3 sidelined for the day.
Roger Bromiley/Rob Wheldon’s SR8 was left on its own, with the PR6 of Tony Freeman/Duncan Williams and Supersports class leader Colin Noble in his SR3 on the next row. Former Biduro ace Henry Morgan was back after a lengthy lay off to share Charles Loughran’s SR3 at the head of row five, with fellow returnee John Hewitt sharing the works SR3 with Phil Abbott. Nigel Greensall had SR4 Club Cup racer Rachel Davies alongside in an SR3 for her UK Cup debut, while the rest of the grid was made up of Dan Compton/Chris Brown’s SR3 and Michael Jackson’s PR6.
With Allen absent if was quality rather quantity for the 14 car grid, on one of the fastest tracks the championship has on its calendar. As the field rounded Camp the safety car peeled off with Jackson and Johnston both preparing to gain an early advantage as the red lights came on. As the V8 revs rose there was little to separate the duo on the charge up Avon Rise into Quarry. It was Johnston who gained the early advantage though from Jackson, Bromiley, Adcock, Woodward and Allos, with the PR6’s of Kane and Freeman heading Supersports rivals Noble and Morgan.
Such was the pace of the lead pair, that a sizeable gap had already opened by the end of the second lap. But it was Woodward on the attack, picking off Adcock for fourth on lap three, before latching onto Bromiley in his quest for another podium finish. Down in eighth Freeman was also looking for progression, running inches from Kane’s gearbox.
Johnston started to open a lead but Woodward was trying to chase down Jackson, after finally getting Bromiley on the sixth lap. Allos had also settled and not only caught Adcock, but snatched fifth a lap later. Kane has a brief rest though from Freeman’s challenge, when Noble closed to threaten after seeing off Morgan. It was also close for 11th with Davies and Hewitt running nose to tail.
As in any endurance race it wasn’t long before the dramas began to unfold. Woodward pulled of as his SR8 ground to a halt and Allos dropped to 11th after a brief excursion. The lead pair found their advantages increased, with Bromiley back to third, Adcock was fourth and there was little between Kane and Freeman as they battled over fifth. Morgan was also back to challenge Noble, while Hewitt edged out Davies for ninth.
It was still a fair time from the expected pitstops but Jackson upped his pace from lap 13 and started to reduce Johnston’s advantage. But behind Bromiley there was suddenly a noticeable absentee. Adcock had a rear tyre blow but still managed to nurse the SR8 back to the pits, but his race was run. But for Jackson it was far from over as he led from lap 16 and started to build a useful advantage over Johnston.
Freeman’s duel with Kane allowed Morgan to close and the Welshman headed the trio from lap 17, leaving Freeman to fend off Noble. But the drama at the front had another twist when after regaining his lead following the pitstops Jackson was out too. “I was preserving the car and myself as it was a long race, I had a good lead and was building on it and it just died on me,” he explained. Davies and Noble had been pre stop casualties too, but with Moseley at the wheel of Johnston’s car victory was on the horizon. “I pushed a little when I came out of the pits just in front of Rob Wheldon, we had to make an extra stop after the bodywork came loose,” he said.
Wheldon had his own troubles though, “ I couldn’t use the gears as the battery was almost flat, so I stuck it in fourth and tried to keep out of the way,” he explained. “I knew the voltage was down when I handed to Rob but there was nothing we could do,” added Bromiley.
Ashton/Kane finally clinched second. “What a great race, I settled into a good pace but had a bit of fuel surge, it slowed and then picked up, but got us home,” “My stint was Ok apart from getting collected by a backmarker at Bobbies which gave me a bit of understeer,” added Kane.
Freeman/Williams had a few gear selection problems, “the box was fine and held out for us,” said Freeman after taking third. Allos toured through the final laps and managed to grab fourth from the struggling Wheldon. Abbott/Hewitt came though to clinch a class win over Compton/Brown, while Morgan/Loughran were third in class after a lengthy stop. “We had to replace the water catch tank after the cap blew off. But they didn’t put enough water in so I had to keep slowing down,” Loughran explained. Michael Jackson completed the finishers.
RESULTS
1 Derek Johnston/Stuart Moseley (SR8) 68 laps in 1h16m06.902s (99.16mph); 2 Gary Kane/Tom Ashton (PR6) 1h16m41.664s; 3 Tony Freeman/Duncan Williams (PR6); 4 Manhal Allos (SR8); 5 Roger Bromiley/Rob Wheldon (SR8); 6 Phil Abbott/John Hewitt (SR3); 7 Dan Compton/Chris Brown (SR3); 8 Henry Morgan/Charles Loughran (SR3); 9 Michael Jackson (PR6); no other finishers. Class winners: Masters: 1 Johnston/Moseley; 2 Allos; 3 Bromiley/Wheldon. Supersports: 1 Abbott/Hewitt; 2 Compton/Brown; 3 Morgan/Loughran. Prosport: 1 M. Jackson; no other starters. Invitation: 1 Ashton/Kane; 2 Freeman/Williams. Fastest lap: Moseley 1m02.482s (106.59mph).
Issued by Peter Scherer for Radial Sports Cars, July 20th, 2009.
