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Competition Car Insurance Radical UK Cup: Oulton Park, 29-31 May 2010

1st June 2010

Defending UK Cup Champion Derek Johnston was back on form with a win and second from his visit to the Cheshire parkland circuit, but it was the guesting Touring Car ace Paul O’Neill who really stirred things up, having led both races.  Spa double victors Terrence Woodward and Ross Kaiser took the second win in a terrific climax to the weekend’s action.

O’Neill clinched pole for both races in the works SR8, with Kaiser alongside for the first race, while Rob Wheldon topped the SR3s. Bromiley shared the front row for race two, with Ross Allen the quickest SR3.

RACE 1

After Saturday’s downpour it was bright and sunny for the first race. O’Neill made the best of his pole to hold off Kaiser into Old Hall, with Johnston slotting into third as they roared down the Avenue into Cascades.

But behind there was chaos after Manhal Allos’ SR8 ran wide and came back across to clip Shaun Balfe’s SR8. “The first I knew was contact, he was out of my vision and totally unexpected. It put me onto the grass and then I hit Luigi Gatti’s SR3 before finishing in the barrier,” said Balfe. “I had managed to dodge Manhal spinning, but Shaun caught me on the rebound,” replied Gatti. 

Five laps followed behind the safety car which played havoc with the team strategies, as most had their quickest driver in the first stint and no sooner had the race gone live again, the pitstop window opened. Kaiser had taken a cursory look inside O’Neill at Old Hall before dropping back to second. But having crested Hilltop side by side Kaiser led into Knickerbrook. “I made a stupid mistake, I caught my knee on the gear lever and took fourth instead of second at Island,” said O’Neill. 

Wheldon sneaked past Stuart Moseley to head the SR3, but both Alex Kapadia and Tom Ashton were in formation behind, before everyone ducked into the pits.

Johnston had been the first to stop and emerged with a 6.256secs lead over Woodward. Ashton emerged a clear third overall, from David Thorburn (taken over from Wheldon), Allen, Colin Millar (taken over from Kapadia) and Peter Osborne.

But O’Neill was down in tenth after problems at his stop, “I had wrecked the tyres, almost lost the brakes and couldn’t start it,” he explained. He soon began to carve his way through the SR3’s though where Allen had moved ahead of Thorburn and Phil Abbott started to make his presence felt after taking over from son James. 

Johnston’s lead continued to grow but Woodward was in trouble on lap 14. “The engine had started to overheat and then it cut out at Island. I managed to restart it and continue to nurse it round,” he explained.

It was a dominant victory for Johnston though, taking the flag well over 23 seconds clear of O’Neill, who had managed to reclaim second from Ashton at Druids on the 16th lap. “The chassis was a bit bent still after my off in qualifying. I tried to hang onto Ross in the first stint, but then halfway through the second my brakes started to fade,” said Johnston. 

“Great, really pleased with that especially as I managed to hold onto the pro’s too. I thought I had the class win at the stops, so short shifted and tried to save the car,” said third placed Ashton.

Ross Allen was a little disappointed not to make further inroads on Ashton though. “It helped with most of the pro’s being held back by the safety car, but I had hoped to hang on to Tom more,” he said after taking fourth.

Millar just held onto fifth with Phil Abbott in his wheeltracks, after both had got Thorburn at Island. “I think David had missed a gear, Colin went on his inside then went wide so I nearly got the both,” said Phil.

1 Derek Johnston (SR8) 22 laps in 41m16.230s (71.19mph); 2 Paul O’Neill (SR8) +23.931s; 3 Tom Ashton (SR3); 4 Ross Allen (SR3); 5 Alex Kapadia/Colin Millar (SR3 RS); 6 James Abbott/Phil Abbott (SR3); 7 Rob Wheldon/Paul Thorburn (SR3); 8 Peter Osborne (SR3); 9 Paul Steele (SR3); 10 Ross Kaiser/Terrence Woodward (SR8). Masters: 1 Johnston; 2 O’Neill; 3 Kaiser/Woodward; 4 John Lord/Laurence Wilkins; no other finishers. Supersports: 1 Ashton; 2 Allen; 3 Kapadia/Millar; 4 Abbott/Abbott; 5 Wheldon/Thorburn; 6 Osborne; 7 Steele; 8 Chris Hillaby/Richard Jameson (SR3 RS); 9 Mark Smithson/Stuart Moseley (SR3). Fastest lap: O’Neill 1m19.516s (100.77mph).

RACE 2

Sterling work by the Radical works squad got the Balfe/Bromiley car raceworthy, so all 16 cars made it to the grid for the second race.

O’Neill once again held his position from pole to lead into Old Hall, from Bromiley, Woodward and Johnston, as all four made an immediate break. Allos was running solo in fifth, having eased clear of the SR3 scrap, which once again was headed by Ashton. Allen had his sights on catching his rival, while behind them Phil Abbott had already started to make progress after taking Millar into Old Hall on the fourth lap. 

O’Neill had started to open a gap at the front as Bromiley piled the pressure on Woodward. “The car wasn’t handling well after the morning crash, it was all over the place at Cascades,” said Bromiley. Woodward’s eagerness to get by became more obvious as Johnston started to press him too. 

It took until lap nine before Bromiley finally surrendered, losing out to both Woodward and Johnston in one move. Johnston however had his eye on Woodward’s second place as the pitstop window approached and had a couple of exploratory lunges on his 360 team mate.

It was Woodward that was first to pit and hand to Kaiser, but when O’Neill followed he had seven seconds in hand over Johnston. Bromiley had dropped back but was still fourth from Allos. Although Allen had closed on Ashton they held station in the SR3’s with Abbott next up having left Millar under attack from Osborne.

Although Johnston emerged from the pits with seven seconds in hand over O’Neill, the gap started to close while Kaiser started to reel in both. With six laps to go it was nose to tail, but Johnston still had the upperhand. “They were ganging up on me,” said Johnston. 

It was even closer as they arrived at Lodge for the 25th time, almost three abreast. O’Neill made a tentative look for the lead, but by Old Hall was down to third, as Kaiser was inches from Johnston’s tail as they plunged down the Avenue. Into Cascades Kaiser made the decisive move, leaving Johnston to retain second over O’Neill. “I was too nice to Derek and then Ross got me. But what a brilliant weekend, I didn’t realise just how good this was,” O’Neill concluded. 

Balfe/Bromiley and Allos retained fourth and fifth and Allen manage to snatch sixth and the class win from Ashton shortly after the stops. “I had tried to get Tom before we stopped, but just couldn’t make it, but the car was great this weekend,” said Allen. 

Millar had closed on James Abbott for eighth towards the end, after both moved up when Osborne was forced onto the grass. Steele completed the top ten with Osborne recovering in 11th.

1 Woodward/Kaiser 29 laps in 40m33.940s (95.48mph); 2 Johnston +2.483s; 3 O’Neill; 4 Roger Bromiley/Shaun Balfe (SR8); 5 Manhal Allos (SR8); 6 Allen; 7 Ashton; 8 Abbott/Abbott; 9 Millar/Kapadia; 10 Steele. Masters: 1 Woodward/Kaiser; 2 Johnston; 3 O’Neill; 4 Bromiley/Balfe; 5 Allos; 6 Lord/Wilkins. Supersports: 1 Allen; 2 Ashton; 3 Abbott/Abbott; 4 Millar/Kapadia; 5 Steele; 6 Osborne; 7 Hillaby/Jameson; 8 Smithson/Moseley. Fastest lap: Kaiser 1m20.110s (100.03mph).

Published by Peter Scherer