FLETCHER AND PO L LE Y MAKE IT A THREE-WAY CLIO 182 FIGHT
Patrick Fletcher and Ryan Polley both took a Clio 182 victory apiece at Silverstone, but with Oulton Park winner Jack Kingsbury twice on the podium the championship is developing into a three-way fight.
Reigning double champion Fletcher struck first on the National circuit, capitalising on a good start and the battles emerging in his wake. Polley left himself with a lot to do, dropping from the front row to sixth on lap one and later admitting: “I need to learn to stop the wheels spinning”.
He recovered well from the setback and, at the second attempt, passed Kingsbury for third at Becketts. This soon become second when Andrew Tibbs retired with power steering failure in the closing stages.
Having improved his getaway in race
two, Polley looked comfortable out front until a patch of fluid spilled by Simon Harrison forced him wide, allowing Fletcher through. However, he drew back alongside exiting Luffield on the penultimate lap, ultimately taking the lead and victory.
Kingsbury recovered to third, ahead of Tibbs and Simon Donoghue. Don de Graaff was sixth for a second time, having come from the back of the grid in race one after crank sensor failure ruled him out of qualifying.
Points for the Armed Forces
Race Challenge may be awarded on performance index, but there were still furious scraps at the front of the field. Regular winner Darren Berris has moved on – having further modified his V8 Westfield – leaving the competition wide open.
Farard Darver (BMW M3) led a five-car lead group initially, with Chris Camp picking his way through them in his Nissan Skyline, eventually outbraking Darver for the lead at Brooklands. Will Ashmore soon followed Camp through at Copse, taking the lead at Brooklands with just over a lap to go.
“That was completely unexpected, I didn’t think the car had the legs for this circuit,” said the Honda Civic driver after his win. Camp, whose car had developed fuel surge issues, also lost out to Ian Fletcher’s Hornet, with Darver just off the podium.
In race two, Darver again led for the first half of the race, but a gravelly excursion at Luffield at the mid-point allowed Ashmore through. The Civic held off the rasping Suzuki V-twinengined Hornet until the exit of Copse on the penultimate lap, with Fletcher “relying on other people’s mistakes” to take the win. Darver was third, ahead of Mark Inman’s supercharged Vauxhall VX220.
The BMWCC Racing Series entry boasted 32 cars, including Luke Sedzikowski’s invitation class E92 M3. Sedzikowski twice won on the road, with the first victory coming after a very slow start. Mike Cutt also scored an outright podium double in his E36, but registered driver Gary Hufford (E46) split them in the earlier race to claim the spoils. Michael Vitulli, who spun to the back of the first race after second corner contact, later wrestled his E46 through from row five to claim the series win, passing Richard Marsh at Copse on lap 10.
The M3 Cup produced two new winners in David Whitmore and Nick Williamson. Both led from lights-toflag, but Williamson faced stiffer competition, having to fend off three cars to triumph in race two. Matt Maxted did the double in the concurrent 330 Challenge.