Radical UK Cup - rounds 7 & 8

The Johnston/Moseley duo took pole for the first race, and had Ben/Michael Jackson alongside. Woodward/Kaiser headed row two, with Sam Hancock/Simon Dolan’s SR3, while row three was Dan Ladiman/Alex Kapadia, with Jamie Patterson alongside.

Johnston grabbed the initial advantage from Jackson and Woodward, but into Tower for the second time Jackson went by and charged off into the distance. Kapadia chased down Hancock and Patterson to head the class and move into a clear fourth by lap six, taking both cars on consecutive laps.

Woodward began to up his pace and challenge Johnston for second, but further back there was a noticeable absence. Both Patterson and Hancock had gone. “I went to overtake on the inside and thought he was letting me by, but he wasn’t,” said Hancock. “We were close and I had the line into Tower and he t boned me,” Patterson replied.
Phil Hall’s SR8 moved up to fifth but had Rob Wheldon’s SR3 closing in, finally going by through Camp on lap 20, after Hall ran wide. Woodward’s charge had taken him into second at Camp too, some six laps earlier, leaving Johnston in the sights of Kapadia for third.
Most crews pitted on the same lap, but Jackson stayed out until the very last to build on his lead. Kaiser/Woodward became the new leaders from Moseley/Johnston, with Bromiley/Wheldon third, from Allen/Ferguson.

Kaiser continued to set a fair pace, but Moseley was quicker, and by lap 30 they were nose to tail. It took another three laps before the lead changed though, heading over Avon Rise.

The lead grew and by the flag it was over 53 seconds. “If we didn’t have bad luck we wouldn’t have any,” reckoned Johnston despite their win. “We are delighted with that” said Woodward. “It went into neutral and then I got it to change down and it stayed in second,” added Kaiser after taking a well deserved second place.

Bromiley was delighted with his third overall and class win, “My first ever UK Cup class win, I am ecstatic. Rob did all the work, all I had to do was bring it home,” he said.

Jeremy Ferguson/Ross Allen held onto fifth, “Yeah that was OK we had some pace today,” said Allen. Nick Osborn/Phil Hall had an entertaining duel with Ian Simmonds for fifth, which they eventually won, while Michael Jackson was left to struggle home brakeless in 10th with the former lead car. “They were almost gone when I handed over,” said Ben.

1 Derek Johnston/Stuart Moseley (SR8) 45 laps in 50m21.811s (99.17mph); 2 Terrence Woodward/Ross Kaiser (SR8) 51m15.297s; 3 Rob Wheldon/Roger Bromiley (SR3); 4 Jeremy Ferguson/Ross Allen ((SR3); 5 Phil Hall/Nick Osborn (SR8); 6 Ian Simmonds (SR3); 7 Paul Steele (SR3); 8 Andrew Ferguson/Nigel Redwood (SR3); 9 Adrian Medeiros/Charles Laughran (SR3); 10 Ben Jackson/Michael Jackson (SR8). Class winners: Wheldon/Bromiley. Fastest lap: Johnston/Moseley 1m01.687s (107.96mph).

The second race had to be restarted after an unsatisfactory start. As in race one Johnston led the field away from pole, with Jackson, Woodward and Kapadia in close formation, before Jackson snatched the lead and went for broke once more.

Woodward started to shadow Johnston for second much earlier, as Kapadia started to lose ground on the SR8’s ahead. Behind them Jeremy Ferguson and Dolan were nose to tail, with Patterson a solitary fifth.

Jackson was long gone by lap seven when Woodward took a look on Johnston’s inside at Camp. With Kapadia and Patterson continuing to run solo in fourth and fifth, Ferguson lost out to Dolan on lap six when his rear wing broke, before James Saggers, Bromiley, and Richard Fearns followed a lap later.

It was three more laps before Woodward took the place, a carbon copy of his earlier attempt at Camp. Kapadia began to close on Johnston again and Paterson had Dolan closing in, But for Saggers it was all over when he spun into the tyre wall at Camp. “I could see Alex closing, but thought that my car was working well and he wasn’t going to get past,” said Johnston.

Ben Jackson was one of the first to pit this time, but stayed in the car for the second stint and re-emerged with a lead intact over Kaiser, Ladiman, Patterson, Moseley, Hancock and Wheldon.

But the leaders pace had started to reduce and Kaiser closed in to go side by side through Camp on lap 28 to lead into Quarry. Within a couple of laps the lead was up to 13 seconds, but Moseley was carving through too and was up to third by lap 30.

Ladiman was a solid fourth but Patterson had to vacate fifth with a rear puncture, promoting Hancock and Bromiley into the top six.

Kaiser was pressing on regardless, as Moseley hunted down Jackson, taking four seconds a lap off the former leaders lap times. They did almost a lap side by side before Moseley claimed the place into Bobbies around the outside. Despite his customary late charge, Moseley was unable to threaten Kaiser, who secured victory by just over 18 seconds. “I couldn’t push it too much, it felt like the clutch was slipping,” said Moseley.

“We made a big change for the second race, the electronics for the paddleshift and the springs. I took my time getting past Derek in the first stint,” said Woodward. “It was hard catching Ben he was very defensive,” Kaiser added.

Jackson managed to hold onto third. Ladiman should have been fourth and a class winner, but he slowed dramatically with a lap to go. “It just seemed to lose power, I don’t know whether it was fuel or what. But I feel gutted for the team that worked so hard changing the engine between races,” he said. They only lost one place which gave Bromiley/Wheldon another podium as class winners.
Hancock suffered a rear wing breakage and went off in the closing laps, which left Andrew Ferguson/Nigel Redwood to pick up sixth. Jeremy Ferguson/Allen were seventh, while Steele, Simmonds and Medeiros/Laughran completed the top ten.

1 Woodward/ Kaiser 46 laps in 50m21.473s (1101.39mph); 2 Johnston/Moseley 50m39.671s; 3 Ben Jackson; 4 Roger Bromiley/Rob Wheldon; 5 Kapadia/Ladiman; 6 A.Ferguson/Redwood; 7 Ferguson/Allen; 8 Steele; 9 Simmonds; 10 Medeiros/Laughran.

Class winners: Wheldon/Laughran. Fastest lap: Johnston/Mosley 1m01.363s (108.53mph).

Issued by Peter Scherer for Radical Sports Cars, July 21st, 2008.

Radical Clubmans Cup - rounds 5 & 6

Having been victorious in all but one round this year, Jonathan Wright was in the frame again in both races at Castle Combe with his PR6. He had to accept second place to returnee Ross Edwards though in the first race, but after Edwards broke his PR6’s transmission on the green flag lap, Wright was a clear winner in race two.

Only 0.807secs covered the top three after qualifying, with Wright, heading Edwards and Simon Dolan’s SR3. With Simon Fish’s SR3 completing the second row, fractionally ahead of Roger Bromiley.

Wright, Edwards and Bromiley’s SR3 managed to escape on the first lap of race one, but it was Edwards that snatched the advantage on the inside of Camp, to lead from lap four. “Jonathan had gone a bit wide at the chicane and it gave me a run on him into Camp. It was my first time out for two years and first ever in a PR6,” said Edwards. But Wright stuck with him before accepting second at they arrived at Quarry. Simon Tiling pitted from fourth with his SR3, handing the place back to Richard Stables’ PR6, after only gaining it a lap earlier.

Edwards gradually began to consolidate his lead, but Bromiley was managing to hold the gap to Wright steady. Paul Steele’s SR3 and Nigel Morrison’s PR6 battled their way past Stables on lap five for fourth and fifth, and became evenly spread within a lap or two.

By lap nine Edwards was in the thick of the lappery, which allowed Wright to close the gap once more. For the remaining laps the gap opened and closed again, but at the flag it was Edwards the victory by 0.445secs over Wright. “I got alongside again at the chicane, but had to back off,” said Wright. Bromiley slipped back during the closing laps, but was still a clear third and class winner. “For the first few laps I could just about stay with them. When we caught backmarkers at the Esses I lost ground and couldn’t catch up again, but still very happy with third and being on the podium” Bromiley added, Steele escaped from the battling group behind to consolidate fourth.

Morrison retained fifth over Stables, who was also a class winner in sixth overall. Darcy Smith claimed seventh, while the Biduro SR4 trio of Gary Kane, Mark Griffiths and Stephen Lindsay completed the top ten, the latter having recovered from a first lap spin.

In the Clubsport class it was a comfortable win for Andrew Harwood, but Mark Boot had a little more of a challenge from Tony Murray for second.

There had been some casualties along the way too, notably Simon Dolan and Jon Ali who collided on the first lap, picking up substantial damage.

1 Ross Edwards (PR6) 19 laps in 20m49.063s (101.30mph); 2 Jonathan Wright (PR6) 0.445s; 3 Roger Bromiley (SR3); 4 Paul Steele (SR3); 5 Nigel Morrison (PR6); 6 Richard Stables (PR6); 7 Darcy Smith (SR4); 8 Gary Kane (SR4); 9 Mark Griffiths (Radical SR4); 10 Stephen Lindsay (SR4). Class winners: Edwards; Bromiley; Stables; Kane; Andrew Harwood (Clubsport). Fastest lap: Edwards 1m04.706s (102.92mph).

Race Two

Wright was on pole again with Dolan alongside, while Edwards and Fish were due to line up on row two. Bromiley and Tiling shared row three, but Morrison was on his own on the fourth after Ali’s car was damaged in the first race.

There was drama at the start of race two before the lights had gone out, when Edwards toured into the pitlane on the green flag lap, having broken his diff with a practice start. Tilling was also left on the grid as the field departed and was pushed away into retirement.

Wright made a flying start to head Dolan. But by the end of the first lap the lead was 3.7 secs and growing, leaving Dolan to defend second from Morrison. Simon Fish and Steele were next up, before Smith led a six-car train for sixth.

By the end of the third lap Dolan was a clear second, as Fish and Steele started to close on Morrison. By lap six they were nose to tail, with Dolan long gone, and holding a steady gap to the leader. Stables made it past Darcy and they continued to fight, leaving them both well adrift of fifth placed Steele.

The top five remained unchanged for the rest of the race, leaving Wright to take another win by well over four seconds. But still sporting a novice cross, Dolan drove an exceptional race for a solid second. “It drove just perfectly, it was so good for all the lads that had worked so hard to repair the damage from the first race,” he said.

Morrison held onto third, despite Fish coming close at the end. Class winner Stables finally shook off Smith for sixth and Robert Baldock’s SR3 came through to secure seventh.

Griffiths gradually lost touch with Lindsay in the Biduro class and ninth overall, while Harwood took his second win of the weekend in Clubsports over Boot.

Apart from Edwards and Tilling at the start, John Hayman’s Clubsport was the only other casualty. Gary Kane also had spin which dropped him to 12th behind Charles Loughran’s SR3, and put him out of contention for the Biduro class.

Edwards is hoping to do at least two more meetings this year, one of which is Donington in two weeks. But Dolan’s pace and consistency in the second race at Castle Combe, brings him into contention too, despite Wright having won four of the six races so far.

1 Wright 19 laps in 20m50.233s (101.21mph); 2 Simon Dolan (SR3) 20m54.894s; 3 Morrison; 4 Simon Fish (SR3); 5 Steele; 6 Stables; 7 Smith; 8 Robert Baldock (SR3); 9 Lindsay (SR4); 1- Griffiths (SR4). Class winners: Dolan; Stables; Lindsay; Harwood. Fastest lap: Dolan 1m04.525s (103.21mph).

Published by Peter Scherer for Radical Sportscars , July 21 2008.