Near Perfection for Stefan at Silverstone
26 May 2003
Stefan Hodgetts recorded a near perfect performance Silverstone
during the Holiday Inn SEAT Cupra Championship race weekend. Fastest
in testing, theRedditchdriver then set fastest time in both qualifying
sessions, won both races and set the fastest lap time in round 4 –
only the fastest lap in round 3 by Robert Huff denied Stefan a perfect
performance.
It was that fastest time which has maintained Robert’s lead in
the Championship, for while Stefan won both races, theCambridgedriver
was a close second in each race as well.
The final results of round 4 of the Championship were not made final
for some hours after the race, following a steward’s enquiry into
what had been a spectacular and incident filled 10 laps of the Silverstone
Grand Prix Circuit.
As soon as the race began, Stephen Colbert squeezed Spencer Marsh’s
Shell-backed Leon Cupra R into the pit wall – sending Spencer’s
car spinning as the mid-field amazingly managed to miss him. A
true sportsman, Spencer let the incident go as a “racing incident
– just one of those things” but it left him at the back
of the field with his title aspirations in tatters.
While Stefan edged away from Robert more convincingly than he’d
been able to in the first race, a number of bumper-to-bumper battles
raged behind. Gavin Smith and Gordon Shedden were inseparable as they
raced for third, the Dubliner fending off Gordon’s Scottish Sun
sponsored car until the final lap, when Gordon momentarily snatched
third, only for Gordon to reclaim the podium place in the race to the
line.
Starting from 17th and last on the grid after a broken driveshaft prevented
him from completing a qualifying lap, it was maybe inevitable that Julian
Westwood would have an “entertaining” race. Having avoided
all the spins ahead of him, the Orange-backed driver collided with Stephen
Colbert at Brooklands Corner on lap five, spinning theNorthern Irelanddriver
from eighth to 12th.
Julian said: “I was going down the inside and Stephen pulled across
in front of me – I couldn’t brake and pull out of the apex
and we just bumped into each other. It was one of those things,
and Stephen was very cool about it. I fought like a gladiator to
finish seventh, while Stefan and Robert raced around at the front collecting
all the points. It’s just been one of those race weekends!”
A frustrating weekend ended badly for Emmet O’Brien when he stopping
at the beginning of lap nine with a technical problem. Paula Cook
was also unlucky, coming into the pits at the end of the penultimate
lap with an engine problem. Natalie Barratt enjoyed her best race to
date, the KF Concept backed driver finishing 14th and right on the tail
of the pack in front.
Rounds 5 and 6 of the Holiday Inn SEAT Cupra Championship takes place
at OultonParkon Sunday 13 July.
See series calendar for SEAT
Cupra Championship 2003
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Cupra Championship Gears Up for Silverstone Showdown
