DOUBLES FOR DE WAARD. FOWELL & RATCLIFF

The Caterham Academy drivers were having their first race meeting of the season having previously done sprints. The Group 1 race was filled with minor incidents but there were few positional changes and at the finish Jay Gardener led home Christopher Knapman and Adam Pitt. The Group 2 competitors had their first taste of the Safety Car after an incident at the hairpin eliminated Ian Loveridge and David Orchin. On the resumption Lee Wiggins pulled out a comfortable lead from Ben Whibley and Andrew Bates held off a gaggle of cars to finish third.

Caterham Roadsport A’s suffered the only race stop of the weekend when they failed to negotiate the first corner on Saturday. On the restart Roelant de Waard who started from pole pulled away to a comfortable win and he did the same the following day although he was beaten off the start by Raphael Fiorentino who finished second both days.

The Roadsport B’s had three races, the first one being the race postponed at Donington, and it resulted in a race long duel between Trevor Fowell and Gordon Sawyer with Gordon coming through at the end. The first Anglesey race proper saw the two of them at it again although this time Paul Brannan and Robert Smith were always in close attendance. Unfortunately there was contact at the hairpin on the last lap which Fowell survived to win from Brannan and Smith. In the third meeting Fowell was again successful with Smith moving up to second from Brannan.

Twelve R300’s came to Anglesey and it was Jonathan Walker who set the pace with pole position followed up with two convincing race wins. In Saturday’s encounter Jonny Leroux pushed Walker hard to take second while Peter Young completed the podium with an excellent drive. On Sunday Walker had a bigger winning margin but coming home in second, ahead of Leroux, was Ollie Taylor who had the race of his life in what is his first season of Caterham racing.

In the Superlight R400’s Peter Ratcliff was the master on both days from Simon Young who followed him home each day with third on Saturday being Grahame Tilley and on Sunday Daniel Denis.

The Mazda MX5’s provided their usual close, competitive racing and in the three races it was Tom Roche, Jonathan Greensmith and Rob Boston battling at the front, in race one Roche and Greensmith took an early lead with Boston valiantly trying to catch them, this he did at Rocket on the final lap but unfortunately there was contact between Boston and Greensmith from which Boston recovered to take second behind Roche whilst Paul Sheard came through to take third with Greensmith a non finisher. In the second outing Greensmith made up for his disappointment in the first race by winning easily from Boston but mechanical problems for Roche on the last lap gifted third again to Sheard. In their final race none of the three had problems and the finishing order was Roche, Greensmith, Boston.

There were visitors from Ireland in the form of the Sophos Global Lights who brought thirteen cars, Peter Drennan had a very good weekend with one win and two seconds, he came from the back in the third race which had a reversed grid for his second. The second race was won by Alan Byrne and the third by Keith Dawson.

The full results for the meeting can be found at: www.tsl-timing.com/brscc/2009/92632.pdf

The Centre returns to Oulton on July 11 but are back in Anglesey in early August when Legends are on the race programme.

Ray Sumner