Dunlop Radical Enduro, Brands Hatch- October 6/7.

Class SR3 winners, Anthony Dunn & Barry Gates Class SR3 winners, Anthony Dunn & Barry Gates
The head to head for the Enduro title didn’t quite go down the wire. Richard Ince and Austin Kinsella had it sewn up after the first race, when a broken driveshaft eliminated Derek Johnston and Stuart Moseley. Broken rear suspension settled the SR3 class, when Phil Bailey and Bradley Ellis retired in race two. Despite ending his race in the Paddock Hill gravel, Barry Gates took the title with partner Anthony Dunn.

Johnston/Moseley claimed pole by 0.73secs over Nick Padmore/Austin Reynolds, with Ince/Kinsella sharing the second row with Tim/Jacob Greaves. Bailey/Ellis topped the SR3’s from Gates/Dunn and championship debutants Wayne Douglas/Jeff Collier.

Final Championship Standings - SR3 | SR8

Race One
Red flags were out from the start after Martin Schlaeppi crashed heavily at Graham Hill Bend. Johnston had made an excellent start and Jacob Greaves had snatched second from Reynolds at Druids. But it was all in vain as they lined up on the grid again.

The red flag had helped Steve Jones/Ross Kaiser though, after they had alternator problems and had missed the first start. “We had changed the alternator but it wasn’t charging, so we changed it again. Steve got out of the car and gave me the drive as we didn’t expect to reach half distance. We had to start from the pitlane though,” said Kaiser.

Johnston was quick off the blocks again as the field swept past the pits, with Greaves, Nick Dove, Reynolds and James Swift close behind. But the safety car was soon scrambled when Ian Ford lost it at Graham Hill Bend and was collected by the unsighted SR3 of Helen Ray. “I got squeezed out and put on the kerb, Helen had nowhere to go,” said Ford.

Four more laps behind the safety car followed, so any early breaks were cancelled out. It was lucky for Ince as he had spun at Paddock on the first lap. “Caution didn’t pay off, as all I got was a nudge from James Swift and was left steering backwards to miss the other cars. I thought it was all over,” he explained. In the SR3’s Bailey headed Paul Thomas and Gates.

Before the green flag there was another casualty too, when Collier pulled off with a broken driveshaft.

Swift was the first to make a move after the green flag, when he took Reynolds for fourth into Graham Hill Bend. Johnston, Greaves and Dove all started to spread out at the front, but back in seventh Bailey had a huge train forming behind him for the SR3 lead.

Phil Hall took Reynolds on the eighth lap, and although Greaves was all over Johnston for the lead, Kaiser was also flying and took himself past the SR3 leaders in one swoop. Bailey had slipped back behind Thomas too and had Gates poised to follow too.

Over the next few laps Kaiser claimed the scalps of both Reynolds and Hall into fifth place. Greaves was still charging too and had a couple of aborted lunges at Johnston, before going ahead into Surtees on the 14th lap. But Kaiser hadn’t done yet, he ousted Swift into Druids on lap 15 and Dove three laps later, before latching onto Johnston into Paddock. But on the exit of Graham Hill Bend Johnston had a huge spin and was left stranded in the middle of the track as the car was initially reluctant to fire up.

As Johnston recovered, Dove, Hall, Reynolds and SR3 leader Thomas had all gone by, while Gates had settled comfortably as second SR3 over James Saggers.

The frenetic pace of race had shown no signs of reducing as the pitstop window opened. Kaiser had been catching Greaves as they pitted, and on the first lap out Kaiser, having stayed in the car, picked off Tim Greaves for the lead.

For the next 21 laps Kaiser was in charge, until the alternator failed again and he coasted to a halt. Greaves was left with a comfortable lead over Phil Abbott/Dove. “I was worried I was going to chuck away Jacob’s lead, but had no problems with the car at all,” said Tim. “We had a diff problem and I was having to change down early. We were lucky to bring it home as it was getting me sideways too much,” Abbott replied.

Thomas not only completed the overall podium finishers, but was a lap up on Gates/Dunn in the SR3’s. “It was a good start and I had the SR8’s to pull me along. There was a good break for me and I kept it consistent and then pushed harder after the stops,” Thomas explained. Kinsella’s push during the second half was enough to claim fourth and the title with Ince, with Moseley hardly able to make an impression before joining the retirements. “I just wanted to get it to the finish,” said Kinsella. “I thought we were having a bad day, we had electrical problems, then the clutch and then the driveshaft,” Moseley added.

Bailey/Ellis followed Gates/Dunn in sixth, with class rival James Harrison on their tail. “I was just getting going at the end,” said Harrison. I’d hung back a bit for the others to make mistakes,” Dunn replied. Debutant Daniel Rowbottom shared Jonathan White’s SR3 to eighth, with Hall/Osborne’s SR8 and Saggers SR3 completing the finishers.

Race Two
Johnston led the field away again from pole, with Ince heading the pursuers from Greaves, Dove and Reynolds. Dove took Reynolds into Graham Hill Bend and Hall followed before the end of the opening lap, with Collier next up to head the SR3’s.

Greaves was soon on the move and took Ince for second at Surtees on lap two, while Dove followed as they went into Paddock again. Down in the SR3’s Bailey pitted with broken rear suspension after a trip on the grass, ending his title hopes.

Johnston’s lead ended a lap later when Greaves Jnr dived inside at Graham Hill Bend and started to pull away. Two laps later the erstwhile leader was to third when Dove went through at the same spot. Reynolds took himself back into fifth behind Ince and clear of the SR3’s, who had all closed up again. Collier still lead, but Thomas and Harrison were threatening. Into Druids for the 10th time both Thomas and Harrison slipped past the young Irishman and within a couple of laps had the SR8’s of Reynolds and Swift in view.

With the overall leaderboard settling down, the SR3’s continued to fight among themselves. Ben Jackson not only caught but emerged at the head of the skirmish by lap 15 and later managed to put Reynolds between himself and his pursuers. Thomas was struggling with a collapsed rear wing, but Gates then ended his race in the Paddock Hill gravel, but had still secured the title.

After the stops Moseley emerged in third behind Greaves Snr and Abbott, but was lapping over two seconds a lap faster. Not that he needed help but Moseley got it in the way of the safety car, after Ian Simmonds had gone off. He was second into Paddock after tailing Abbott for a couple of laps and led through Clearways a couple of laps later.

Class SR8 winners, Austin Kinsella & Richard Ince Overall Enduro & Class SR8 winners, Austin Kinsella & Richard Ince
By the flag Moseley had a lead of over 26 secs and had lapped up to fourth place. Greaves retained a comfortable second and Kinsella claimed third from Abbott four laps from home.  “Stuart needed the help of that safety car,” reckoned Greaves Snr. “I can honestly say that’s the first win we have where I feel I deserved it too,” said Johnston. “I just ran out of time to think about chasing Tim too, but it was the end of a good season,” Kinsella concluded.

 Stanley/Swift settled in fifth and Harrison eased himself clear for a comfortable class win from sixth overall. “That was a lot better after the earlier disappointment,” said Harrison. Although Thomas had replaced his damaged rear bodywork at the stops, he managed to damage the replacement too, and took the flag fourth in class, behind Rowbottom/White and Collier/Douglas. With Saggers retiring too, Jean-Louis Rihon completed the top ten.

Published by Peter Scherer for Radical Motorsport, October 8th, 2007

Dunlop Radical Biduro, Brands Hatch, October 06/07- 10 October 2007

Toby Newton’s (l) two third places gave him the Biduro crown Toby Newton's (l) two third places gave him the Biduro crown
The Biduro finale was dominated by Ross Allen, but not even his double victory was enough to snatch the title. John Hewitt arrived at Brands with a marginal championship lead, but seemed powerless as Toby Newton’s two third places gave him the crown, much to the delight of Dave Beecroft’s Xero Competition crew.

Qualifying couldn’t have been closer with Allen just heading Rob Wheldon by 0.105secs. But with the top five covered by only 0.549secs, it was going to be a close weekends racing. Although still only fractionally slower, Hewitt was left to line up in sixth, behind Terrence Woodward, Newton and Jeremy Ferguson.

Final Championship Standings

Race one
 Allen made an excellent start from pole to head the charge to Paddock, but it was Terrence Woodward who rocketed away from the line better than anyone and was abreast with Allen by the time they reached Paddock, although thought better of it and tucked in behind as they turned in, closely followed by Newton and Wheldon. But there was contact at Druids, “I got hit, I think Rob pushed Toby into the side of me. It bent my rear wheel and made the handling very difficult,” said Woodward. It was Newton’s gain however as he emerged in second place for the plunge down to Graham Hill Bend. “I had expected to beat Rob away anyway as he always gets wheelspin,” said Newton.

By the end of the second lap the top three had already escaped, leaving Woodward settled in fourth, and Watts all over Ferguson for fifth. Into Druids again Watts grabbed fifth and was immediately onto Woodward’s tail. Ferguson’s slide took him back to seventh as Chris Enderby shot by too. Newton was also under pressure as Wheldon was starting to size up his second place, allowing Allen to consolidate his advantage.

But it was the fight for fourth that really began to hot up, with Woodward heading a six car train. Gaps started to open again briefly when Ferguson started to attack Enderby, and left Watts free to have another go at Woodward.

Wheldon eventually managed to get himself into a challenging position at Paddock on lap 10, diving inside Newton and holding the line up Hailwood Hill. All his hard work was undone though when he ran wide exiting Graham Hill Bend and spinning back onto the track, nearly collecting Newton in the process.  Such was the leading trio’s lead that no places were lost, but Allen was away up the road and Newton was finally given a breathing space.

Despite the damage to his car Woodward still managed to hold onto fourth, as his rivals squabbled among themselves. Watts, Enderby and Ferguson were nose to tail on lap11, which had also allowed Hewitt to reel them in and demote Ferguson before the end of the lap.

Allen cruised through the remaining laps without missing a beat, taking the flag over four seconds clear of his rivals. “I worked quite hard, but when Rob and Toby were duelling it gave me some space. Whatever happens it makes it an interesting end to the championship,” said Allen.

Wheldon mounted a determined recovery and ran inches from Newton’s rear, before making the decisive move into Paddock with a lap to go and sealing second place. Newton’s third kept him in line for the title and Woodward miraculously repelled the constant onslaught from Watts to retain fourth. “Terrence drove a great defensive race in a damaged car. I thought about it and decided it wasn’t worth risking the challenge on him,” Watts explained.

Three laps from home there was contact at Druids between Enderby and Hewitt. Enderby emerged with damaged rear bodywork while Hewitt was on the grass, but held on to claim sixth behind Watts. “My plan for this race didn’t work, so I haven’t got one for the second race,” said Hewitt.

Jeremy Ferguson and Nick Adcock made it past the recovering Enderby, while Andrew Ferguson completed the top ten.

Race two
So into the final race it was still Hewitt ahead in the title chase although his points lead was now down to just 3 with Newton simply a podium finish ahead of Hewitt to take the title from him.  Allen was mathmatically in with a shout if both the pair had problems.

At the start the front row got away cleanly with Allen taking the lead again into Paddock, this time Wheldon making a good getaway to slot in behind.  John Hewitt seemed to react the quickest to the lights, drawing him alongside Toby Newton, but Newton had other plans and edged across leaving John no choice but to back out.  “It was hard, but I’d have done the same to him!” said John after the race.

Allen wasted no time in stretching the field, but this time Wheldon went with him. Adcock ousted Jonathan White for eighth into Druids on lap four and immediately started to latch onto Jeremy Ferguson.

Wheldon had managed to match Allen’s pace, but by the end of lap five his challenging was beginning to fade. As Adcock continued his pursuit of Ferguson, they both started to edge closer to sixth placed Watts. “I was just hanging on, I hadn’t really got the pace,” said Adcock.

The top five all began to consolidate their places over the next eight laps. White pitted and retired and back at the front Wheldon had one last attempt to close down Allen’s lead. Hewitt also upped his pace to close on Woodward, and Ferguson took another look at Watts.

By mid race Wheldon started to get the bit between his teeth and began to close the gap to Allen bringing the gap down by a tenth of a second here and there.  Allen was like a metronome though, being inch perfect kissing every apex and their pace was such that they pulled out nearly a third of a lap over Newton.  The gap between the pair closed as they ran through the back markers and, sniffing a potential win, Wheldon was right on the ragged edge on the last lap, dropping a back wheel into the gravel at Paddock.  Try as he may though, Allen again had it covered and took a well deserved win.  Newton took 3rd – and with it the Championship!

 “I had got off the line well, had better grip and kept it consistent. Rob gained on me, I didn’t back off and it was the hardest I have driven all year,” said Allen. It’s been a great year though and Keith and the RPM team have done a brilliant job for me,” he added. “Whatever I am doing at the starts isn’t quite right, I could see the time ticking down and pushed hard, but Ross didn’t make any mistakes.” Wheldon replied.

“I lost first and second gears on the warm up lap, so I took the start and Druids in third. I just couldn’t stay with Toby out of there,” said Woodward. While Hewitt, Watts and Ferguson held station, Adcock was forced out with a late puncture, promoting Andrew Bruce to eighth. Andrew Ferguson and James Breakell rounded off the top ten. 

So at 17 years of age, Newton adds the Radical Biduro title to the class title in the Radical World Cup and his 2005 Ginetta Junior title. “Just another day at the office, but great work from Dave and the Xero Competition boys, plus the support of my Dad and the sponsors of course. I felt comfortable all through the race, even though we found my anti-rollbar had broken,” he concluded.

Words by Peter Scherer and Anthony Dunn.
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