Radical Drivers are Made of the Wright Stuff

Coming into the penultimate race of the season the championship battle was between two men, the Invitation class dominator Jonathan Wright and the Prosport of Richard Stables. With only a single point separating the pair in the overall championship the racing was always going to carry a certain degree of tension.

With all eyes on the duelling frontrunners it was Wright who struck first, qualifying his PR6 fourth on the grid behind Tom Ashton's SR3, while Simon Fish edged Simon Dolan in the battle of the Supersports for pole. Stables suffered a less fruitful session, only managing 15th on the grid after being hampered by the thick fog and visor problems. "I couldn't see where I was going," he confirmed. "My visor kept misting up and I had to come in to wipe it. That combined with the conditions and traffic meant I only got one lap but Iim still hopeful for the race."

When it came to the racing however, qualifying form bore no resemblance as both title protagonists gave their all. Wright struck the first blow as he scraped between both Dolan and Fish off the line to secure the lead into Deene corner and quickly began to assert his authority on proceedings, establishing a one second lead after the first lap. Behind, the battle for second raged on as Dolan had an attempt on the inside at Tarzan cut short by the determined Fish.

With all class points counting toward the overall championship it was up to Stables to ensure he secured the top step of the Prosport podium to keep his challenge alive, and the Seaton Ross-based driver soon caught the tail of class leader Darren Luke in seventh. The pair ran nose-to-tail down the pit straight on consecutive laps before Stables caught a draft into the banking at turn one to skip past into Deene and stake his claim to the title.

At the front, Ashton was the man on the move as he ghosted past Dolan and Fish in quick succession to slot into second. Dolan quickly began to heap pressure on Fish and his persistence was soon rewarded as he became the beneficiary of a technical failure which dropped his rival out of contention.

Wright was the class of the field throughout and took the flag 16 seconds clear of second placed Supersport victor Ashton. Dolan took third with only Paul Steele denying the rampant Stables a top four place. But the Prosport class win was enough to ensure the championship went down to the wire. "Darren didn't make it easy for me," smiled Stables after. "He definitely had me on the brakes into Deene but I managed to get a great tow and made it count. We will have to see what the last race brings as I'm not out of it yet."

Gary Kane took Biduro honours ahead of Dave Banham to cement his class crown, while Mark Boot dominated the Clubsport category to keep his challenge alive.

1 Jonathan Wright (PR6) 15 laps in 20m 13.044s (65.83mph); 2 Tom Ashton (SR3) 20m29.054s; 3 Simon Dolan (SR3); 4 Paul Steele (SR3); 5 Richard Stables (PR6); 6 Darren Luke (PR6); 7 Darren Anley (Prosport); 8 Steve Burgess (SR3); 9 Gary Kane (SR4); 10 Dave Banham (SR4). Class winners: Ashton, Stables, Kane, Boot. Fastest lap: Wright 1m19.445s (67.01mph).

RACE TWO

The final race of the season produced more than a few surprises as the long-term championship leader Jonathan Wright looked to make the most of a one point deficit over closest rival Richard Stables.

For the duration of the season both drivers have been remarkably consistent and it was to be the ultimate irony that both failed to finish the encounter, leaving the championship in the hands of the mathematicians. Simon Dolan scored his first pole of the year but failed to hold on to the advantage as he bogged down off the start, relinquishing the lead to Wright, who once again got the jump on both Tom Ashton and Simon Fish into turn one.

Stables again suffered for his qualifying woes, starting a lowly 20th as a result of his second fastest time being his out-lap in qualifying. But this was not to be the worst of the challenger's troubles as the combination of a spin and engine failure sent him into the gravel at Tarzan on the second lap, resulting in the end of his challenge and a safety car period while the stricken PR6 was cleared.

This left Wright needing only to finish to claim the overall honours, but with barely quarter of the race remaining disaster struck the Cambridgeshire driver as he suddenly slowed on-track allowing his eight second lead over Simon Fish to be rapidly eroded. "I developed an electrical problem that kept cutting my engine out," he explained.

With the championship at stake Wright valiantly attempted to coast round but eventually pulled off the track and into retirement when his wheezing engine finally gave in, but the result was enough to hand Wright the title by a single point. "It would have been nice to have taken the flag," he grinned. "But it's still a great result after a long, hard season."

With both title protagonists reduced to watching, the stage was set for a new star to shine and a close knit pack of Ashton, Dolan and Fish soon fought over the lead. The order was shuffled when Dolan and Fish made contact into Brook resulting in the Jota Sport driver spinning down to 11th.

The leading pair were soon joined by the hard-charging Steve Burgess, who hastily dispatched Fish to run alongside Ashton through Brook for the lead, his moment was to be spoilt however, when an ill-timed spin on the exit of the corner gifted the lead back to Ashton.

This left two cars to duel for the final honours of the season, and they duly produced the spectacle of the race as a determined Fish closed in behind Ashton. A three second lead quickly wilted to barely a cars length until the pair ran two-abreast down the pit lane with only two laps to go. A heroic late-braking manoeuvre from Fish into Deene meant the two ran parallel into Yentwood before Fish finally found some grip on the outside of the circuit and shot ahead to take his first win of the season as Burgess recovered to secure third. A spectacular recovery drive from Dolan saw him into fourth by the finish. Gary Kane secured the Biduro class crown with ninth, and likewise Boot put the Clubsport category beyond reach with 17th.

Results:

1 Fish 15 laps in 21m 06.388s (63.06mph); 2 Ashton 21m13.611s; 3 Burgess; 4 Dolan; 5 Steele; 6 Nigel Morrison (PR6); 7 Banham; 8 Luke; 9 Kane; 10 Anley. Class Winners: Banham, Luke, Harwood. Fastest lap: Wright 1m 19.417s (67.04mph).

Issued by Peter Scherer for Radical Sports Cars, September 29th, 2008.

Johnston & Patterson Star in Season Climax

With titles up for grabs still in both classes, there was a mixture of eager anticipation and nervous energy around the paddock, as the climax of a highly competitive season approached.

It was the usual title protagonists at the front of the grid, with Terrence Woodward/Ross Kaiser's SR8 heading Derek Johnston/Stuart Moseley by 1.081s. Ben/Michael Jackson lined up third with newcomer Cameron MacDonald alongside in his SR8, not only making his Radical debut but his public race debut too.

The leading Supersports class cars of Jamie Patterson (PR6) and Simon Dolan/Sam Hancock (SR3) made up the third row, with title aspirants Alex Kapadia/Daniel Laddiman third best.

It was a blinding start from both front row men running side by side, flat out through Turn One, before Johnston grabbed the upper hand under braking for the Deene Hairpin. Jackson slotted into third and MacDonald fourth.

Johnston's pace proved his undoing at Deene on the second lap, when he spun down to eighth and handed Jackson the chance to challenge Woodward for the lead. "I was trying too hard, but had been determined to have that first lap lead. I didn't break early enough at the Hairpin and the tyres were too cold," Johnston explained. Patterson and Kapadia shared a couple of early exchanges, but Johnston was recovering rapidly and took Dolan on lap four to break back into the top six.

With Jeremy Ferguson and Nick Osborn off in separate incidents, there was a lap behind the safety car, but the green flag gave Jackson the impetus to push for the lead again. As Johnston managed to split the Supersports rivals, Kapadia lost ground in his quest to retake Patterson.

But after Jackson finally made it by on lap nine, he started to open up a comfortable lead. "I went by on the Steel Straight, I knew I was psyching him out though," said Jackson.

Kapadia managed to retake Johnston at Tarzan and clawed his way back onto Patterson's tail, while behind them Gary Kane's PR6 had started to close after breaking clear of Simon Dolan. Jackson stayed out a lap longer than the rest, as they all started to head for the pitstops.

It was Patterson that emerged with the lead, but after Kaiser took second into Turn One, he had the lead a lap later. Rather than close in on Patterson, Laddiman started to lose ground in third. Kane took Michael Jackson for fourth, before Moseley began his climb through the order by taking Jackson and Hancock within a couple of laps.

A number of stop go penalties affected the order, but Kaiser put his head down and went for the win, 44 seconds clear of a delighted Patterson at the flag. "It was a good race, no real problems. Derek got me at the start, I thought he was being brave and then he spun. I had a few mid-race gear selection problems which cleared up, but then I thought about the championship. But it was very stressful for me watching Ross out there," said Woodward. "I was having some fun out there, the PR6 is nearly a match for the SR8 around here, making time up on the twisty bits as the handling is so good. I particularly enjoyed that early dice with Alex," said Patterson.

Laddiman had already been caught by Moseley when he had to make his extra pit visit, but still took second in class behind Patterson. Hancock went clear in the closing laps after MacDonald spun at the Brook Esses and collected the luckless Rob Wheldon. "I went for gap, he didn't see me and rejoined into me," said Wheldon.

Kane was seventh after a late race duel with Nigel Greensall, while Andrew Ferguson/Nigel Redwood and Ian Simmonds both saw off Jackson's challenge as they completed the top ten.

1 Terrence Woodward/Ross Kaiser (SR8) 37 laps in 50m10.044s (85.84mph); 2 Jamie Patterson (PR6) 50m54.130s; 3 Derek Johnston/Stuart Moseley (SR8) ; 4 Daniel Laddiman/Alex Kapadia (SR3); 5 Simon Dolan/Sam Hancock (SR3); 6 Gary Kane (SR4); 7 Dave Banham/Nigel Greensall (SR3); 8 Andrew Ferguson/Nigel Redwood (SR3); 9 Ian Simmonds (SR3); 10 Ben Jackson/Michael Jackson (SR8). Class winner: Patterson. Fastest lap: Kaiser 1m15.977s (91.92mph).

RACE TWO

Woodward started from pole again, but it was Johnston's determination once more that gave him the early lead. Jackson almost made it past Woodward into Deene on the first lap, as the lead trio soon put daylight between themselves and fourth placed MacDonald. As in race one Kapadia was quickly onto the tail of Patterson's class leading PR6, but had to keep an eye on his mirrors too as Allen was not far behind.

Into Deene for the fifth time Jackson shot past Woodward for second and pulled off a similarly successful manoeuvre on Johnston for the lead through Chapman, with Woodward almost following. "I think Derek let me by," said Jackson.

Kapadia's pace began to slow to as Allen was all over the back of his RPM team mate, finally exchanging places on the sixth lap through Chapman. Having lost out to Kane, Roger Bromiley had Dolan closing on his ninth place, while Kane himself was right with Phil Hall's SR8. Jackson's lead was up to six seconds by the end of lap nine, with Woodward continuing to shadow Johnston for second, until Deene where he eased his SR8 ahead on the exit.

Showing no sign of his lack of experience MacDonald started to close on Johnston too, but as Allen chased after Patterson for fifth, it was all over for Kapadia/Laddiman's title hopes, as their car came to a halt exiting Pif Paf, joining Hall in retirement. "After about three laps the engine temperature went through the roof, I short shifted to try and hold on, but then lost drive and it was over," Kapadia explained. "I was so close to Alex, but after he went out I desperately wanted to catch Jamie and was only a bit behind when we made the stop," added Allen.

Although Jackson pitted with over 27 seconds in hand, it was Kaiser that emerged with the lead. Patterson, Moseley and MacDonald soon demoted Jackson Snr, but Kaiser's lead continued to grow. Although Moseley had started to close on Patterson, the Irish driver responded and eased himself clear again. Jeremy Ferguson moved up to sixth ay Deene on lap 22, but after Jackson spun at Brook, Hancock got by and started to close on Ferguson.

The finish was expected to be dramatic with the title still on the line, but not the way it turned out. Kaiser had a huge impact with the Turn One Wall, but despite an estimated speed of 140mph, he was able to walk away.

With the safety car scrambled the race was completed in formation, with Patterson taking overall victory and clinched the Supersports title, but second for Moseley was enough to crown Johnston 2008 Champion. "It hasn't really sunk in that I have won the championship, but it was one of the hardest races I have had." said Johnston. "Derek did this one for himself, he led the race I didn't," added Moseley.

"What a great way for me to finish the season, the car was great, to win the class the class was good, but winning overall is great. I will be back next year for sure," Patterson concluded. A delighted MacDonald completed the podium finishers, with Ferguson/Allen, Dolan/Hancock and Kane rounding off the top six.

1 Patterson 34 laps in 48m25.658s (81.72mph); 2 Johnston/Moseley 48m26.059s; 3 Cameron MacDonald (SR8); 4 Jeremy Ferguson/Ross Allen (SR3); 5 Dolan/Hancock; 6 Kane; 7 Roger Bromiley/Rob Wheldon (SR3); 8 Simmonds; 9 A.Ferguson/Redwood; 10 Dave Banham/Nigel Greensall (SR3). Class winners: Johnston/Moseley. Fastest lap: Kaiser 1m15.775s (92.16mph).

Issued by Peter Scherer for Radical Sports Cars, September 29th, 2008.