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Competition Car Insurance Radical UK Cup: Donington Non-Championship Weekend

27th September 2010

Derek Johnston couldn’t match the pace of World Touring Car ace Rob Huff, but he left his local circuit with a hat-trick of victories under his belt in the end-of-season, non-championship finale.

Huff had taken pole by over a second on his sports car racing debut and set the pace as soon as the lights went out. Rob Wheldon slotted into second, from Manhal Allos, Phil Abbott, Johnston and SR3 class leader Alex Kapadia.

Allos briefly nosed into second, but it was down to Wheldon to head the chase. Johnston dived ahead of Abbott for fourth into Redgate on lap three, but the order had soon settled down with Huff continuing to pull away.

Hillaby had spun on the opening lap and then had a tap from Allos as he was lapped. But on lap 14 Allos exited third place backwards at Coppice. “I tried the corner without brakes and it didn’t work,” said Allos.

Huff headed for the pits to hand over the works SR8 to Jonathan Wright, “great, very hard on cold tyres on a cold and slippery track. It was hard to judge how hard to push as I knew Rob was right behind. I just made sure I made no mistakes and carved through the traffic,” he explained.

Wheldon should have taken the lead at that point but suffered brake failure as he arrived at McLeans and headed straight on into the tyre wall. “The brakes had been fine and it just went to the floor, but as I hit the grass I got airborne into the wall,” he explained.

Richard Fearns then took charge until he handed to Tom Ashton. Although Wright had rejoined, his out lap came to an abrupt end when he joined Wheldon in the gravel at McLeans. “I had struggled at Redgate, pumped the brakes at the Old Hairpin and off at McLeans,” he explained.

Johnston was left to cruise through the remaining laps with ease and take victory by over a lap from Fearns/Ashton. “I needed that, I asked on the radio should I slow down, but just went for it,” he explained. “We had brake issues but took it carefully,” said Ashton.

Phil/James Abbott worked their SR8 back through the order after the stops, to take third with five laps to go. Pete Osborne/Kapadia had led the Supersports, but lost out to Colin Millar on the penultimate lap at McLeans. Richard Carver’s SR3 completed the top six.

RESULT

1 Derek Johnston (SR8) 36 laps in 40m40.489s (105.09mph); 2 Richard Fearns/Tom Ashton (SR8) + 1 lap: 3 Phil Abbott/James Abbott (SR8); 4 Colin Millar (SR3); 5 Alex Kapadia/Pete Osborne (SR3); 6 Richard Carver (SR3); 7 Andrew Ferguson (SR3); 8 Laurence Wilkins/John Lord (SR8); 9 Rachel Davies/Rob Davies (SR3); 10 David Jacobs (SR3). Masters: 1 Johnston; 2 Fearns/Ashton; 3 Abbott/Abbott; 4 Wilkins/Lord; no other finishers. Supersports: 1 Millar; 2  Kapadia/Osborne;3 Carver; 4 Ferguson; 5 Davies/Davies; 6 Jacobs; 7 Paul Steele (SR3); no other finishers. Fastest lap: Rob Huff (SR8) 1m03.734s (111.78mph).

RACE TWO

Ashton and Allos were battling for supremacy into Redgate at the start of the second race, but despite a big lock-up Johnston emerged ahead of both them as they ran wide on the exit. “I knew they would fight each so I just waited,” said Johnston.

Wright soon snatched second, while Johnston charged ahead.  Ashton was right on Allos’ gearbox in his quest for third, as the lead quartet left James Abbott in a solitary fifth.

It took until lap seven for Ashton to finally break down Allos’ defence, but from thereon the top five held station until the pitstop window opened. Hillaby established himself in the Supersports lead in sixth from Millar, while David Jacobs, Osborne and Carver ran nose to tail for ninth, once John Lord’s SR8 had got by them.

Johnston was one of the first to pit which briefly gave Ashton and Abbott the lead. Huff took over from Wright and set about hunting down Johnston’s lead. The gap came down substantially but time was running out, when Huff suddenly hurtled off into the Old Hairpin gravel with a couple of laps to go. “It was full throttle and then bang at 140mph, the rear tyre had exploded,” he explained. Although he still managed to drive it back to the pits it was race over.

Allos had spun out at the Esses on the 24th lap which moved Phil Abbott into third. Following Huff’s demise the Abbotts clinched second, with Supersports rivals Hillaby and Millar completing the top four. “When Colin responded to me I just had to dig a little deeper to keep the advantage,” said Hillaby. “I had a lock up at the chicane and thought I had a puncture, it let Chris get away again,” said Millar.

Wheldon had taken over from Jacobs and made a late charge into fifth. Kapadia/Osborne were sixth, with Carver, Ferguson and Steele in close formation for much of the later stages in the fight for seventh.

But it had been another cruise for Johnston and a hat-trick of victories was on the horizon.

RESULT

1 Johnston 36 laps in 40m35.89s (105.32mph); 2 Abbott/Abbott +1 lap: 3 Chris Hillaby (SR3); 4 Millar; 5 Jacobs/Rob Wheldon; 6 Osborne/Kapadia; ;7 Carver; 8 Ferguson; 9 Paul Steele (SR3); 10 Wilkins/Lord.  Masters: 1 Johnston; 2 Abbott/Abbott; 3 Wilkins/Lord; 4 Jonathan Wright/Rob Huff; no other finishers. Supersports: 1 Hillaby; 2 Millar; 3 Jacobs/Wheldon; 4 Osborne/ Kapadia; 5 Carver; 6 Ferguson; 7 Steele; 8 Davies/Davies. Fastest lap: Huff 1m03.334s (112.49mph).

RACE THREE

It was almost three abreast into Redgate in the third and final race, with Huff just edging out Johnston and Allos for the early lead as they headed own the Craner Curves.

Huff was really flying and had pulled out a six second gap by the end of the second lap. Johnston had consolidated second as James Abbott made a brave dive onto Allos’ inside at Redgate and almost got his nose taken off in the process.

Once again the leading four soon settled down, but Huff continued to build on his lead lap after lap.

Hillaby established himself in a clear class lead after ousting Osborne for fifth on lap two. Jacobs and Carver continued to aid Osborne’s fall over the next couple of laps, until Jacobs spun on lap nine.

Johnston was again first to pit, closely followed by Allos, while Huff continued to build on his lead for another two laps. Phil Abbott had taken the new lead car from James but the safety car was out and Johnston emerged as the new leader, from Wright and Allos, with Abbott rejoining in fourth ahead of SR3 duellists Hillaby and Carver.

As the green flag was readied Allos was a bit too quick off the mark and shot past Wright, a move that attracted a drive through penalty and dropped him to fourth. “I misjudged it as I didn’t know Jonathan had a slower car in front of him, so I went and he didn’t,” he explained.

Johnston made it home for his third win over 13 seconds clear of Wright. “Very happy with that on my home track. The work and mods we did over the weekend paid dividends for me and for once I took my own advice,” he said. “I enjoyed it but got a bit bogged down behind the safety car,” Wright added.

The Abbotts completed the fine weekend with a hat-trick of podiums with third place. Allos retained fourth and Carver came home fifth, a surprised winner of the SR3 class. “Very exciting. I was happy with second in class, I didn’t expect to win and Chris deserved it really. But when we had the safety car out we caught Paul Steele at the Old Hairpin and there was a touch and I got ahead. Then Chris had a lunge at me at Redgate on the last lap, we touched and he spun,” said Carver.

Hillaby still recovered without losing a place, as seventh placed Fearns/Ashton finished a lap down after earlier problems. Jacobs/Wheldon secured eighth, with Kapadia/Osborne and Ferguson completing the top ten.

So what did Rob Huff make of his sports car debut? “A great weekend and the power surprised me. I knew all about the aero but touching 150mph is mighty. I had to work hard but it was good to see what I could against the others. The whole set up is so professional though,” he explained.

RESULT

1 Johnston 32 laps in 40m10.898s (94.56mph); 2 Huff/Wright +13.954s; 3 Abbott/Abbott; 4 Manhal Allos (SR8); 5 Carver; 6 Hillaby; 7 Fearns/Ashton; 8 Jacobs/Wheldon; 9 Kapadia/Osborne; 10 Ferguson. Masters: 1 Johnston; 2 Huff/Wright; 3 Abbott/Abbott; 4 Allos; 5 Fearns/Ashton; 6 Wilkins/Lord. Supersports: 1 Carver; 2 Hillaby; 3 Jacobs/Wheldon; 4 Kapadia/Osborne; 5 Ferguson; 6 Steele; 7 Davies/Davies. Fastest lap: Huff 1m04.511s (110.44mph).

Published by Peter Scherer for Radical Sportscars, 27 September 2010