| Race report by Oli Meggitt |
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Round 2 of the Essex Winter Series took place this weekend. Despite low temperatures outside, the fully heated indoor tennis centre facility left most spending the day in t-shirts and the large carpet circuit offering high levels of grip from the start.
The format for the series is five qualifying rounds, with the best 3 to count, and single leg finals. In the Super Stock 13.5 class, the five rounds of qualifying produced some incredibly close racing, with positions between the top drivers often changing lap-by-lap.
The battle for pole position was between XRAY driver, and winner of the first round of the championship, Tony Broad, defending champion Paul Pinkney and Darren Lee. Darren topped round 1 from Tony, with Tony then going fastest in round 2. Paul topped rounds 3 and 4, with Tony second both times, and Darren was quickest in the final round. This left Paul on pole, Darren second and Tony third. Tony was joined in the A final by fellow XRAY drivers Bryan Loynes, Daniel Veness, Max Guerola and Jimmy Maddison, making XRAY the most represented car in the A final.
In the A Final, the first three drivers broke off from the chasing pack fairly quickly, with Dean Gibbs starting fourth and just about hanging on for the first few minutes. The leaders circulated nose-to-tail at high speeds for the first half of the race, with Darren trying to find a way to pass Paul, but Paul keeping the door shut at every opportunity, and Darren wary of Tony behind. Just past the half distance mark, Paul made a mistake going around the large carousel in the centre of the circuit, dropping to third as Darren took off in the race lead. Paul sat on Tony's rear bumper, and a few laps later made a great move, placing his car inside Tony going into a slow hairpin. Paul then set off after Darren, but Darren made a mistake through the high speed esses whilst under no pressure from Paul. This allowed Paul to re-take the lead and Tony to also take second. Paul then held onto the lead for the final three laps to take the win and get his championship challenge back on track.
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| 13.5 SUPER STOCK A FINAL RESULT |
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1. Paul Pinkney
2. Tony Broad â“ XRAY T4
3. Darren Lee
4. Dean Gibbs
5. Jimmy Maddison â“ XRAY T4
6. Daniel Veness â“ XRAY T4
7. Bryan Loynes â“ XRAY T4
8. Richard King
9. Max Guerola â“ XRAY T4
10. Ashley Wiffen |
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In the Stock 21.5 Class, a late entry for multiple UK National A Finalist James Hart was sure to shake the order up. James was on the reserve list for the 13.5 class, but such is the popularity of the series that he was unable to get an entry and so moved over to the Stock class. Despite his lack of experience with 21.5 motors, he quickly found his feet with the different driving style required.
The winner of the first round of the series, Richard Clarke, took round 1 of qualifying, but James had his XRAY sorted from round 2 onwards, to lead all the remaining qualifying heats and secure pole position. Also making the A final for XRAY was defending series champion Darren Tickner, Mark Trinder and Barry Hughes.
As the A Final set off, James and Richard led at the front, whilst Luke Hobson made the jump from fifth to third. Richard made a mistake on lap 5 as he tried to pressure James into a mistake, dropping down the running order. This provided James with a healthy lead over Luke Hobson, a lead he wouldn't lose for the remainder of the five minute final. Luke held station in second, whilst Andrew Carter did likewide in third. Darren Tickner dropped to sixth on lap one, but made the most of others mistakes to work his way back to fourth by the end of the race.
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| 21.5 STOCK A FINAL RESULT |
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1. James Hart â“ XRAY T4
2. Luke Hobson
3. Andrew Carter
4. Darren Tickner â“ XRAY T4
5. Barry Hughes â“ XRAY T4
6. Richard Clarke
7. Matt Butcher
8. Mark Young
9. Duncan Letham
10. Mark Trinder â“ XRAY T4
Congratulations to all the winners, and thank you to all the drivers for continuing to support the series and make Essex Winter Series the most popular indoor Touring Car series in the UK. The series returns for Round 3 in December. |
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