Stefan Wins £30,000 Holiday Inn SEAT
Super Prix Top Prize
28 September 2003
Stefan Hodgetts brilliantly won the Holiday Inn SEAT Super Prix in
his Loaded backed Leon Cupra R at Brands Hatch today, and walked away
with a cheque for £30,000 to put towards next year’s SEAT
Cupra Championship budget.
Stephen Colbert finished 2nd in his Auto Trader / Track Smart / Supagard
Leon to win £25,000, while James Pickford was 3rd in his Abt Sportsline
/ Haribo Leon and collected £20,000.
The most unluckiest man in the race was Gavin Smith. Having taken
the lead with a fantastic start, theDublin ace spun his Smiths Hire
Centre Leon out of a lucrative 2nd place with just eight laps remaining
and eventually finished 7th.
There was another incident at the first corner, which saw Spencer Marsh
retire his Shell / Beacon Sports Management Leon in the gravel trap
at Paddock Hill Bend for the second race running. “I can’t
believe it,” said Spencer. “I’ve done two races at
Brands Hatch today and haven’t got passed the first corner in
either of them.”
The collision with Paula Cook also saw the EFSLeondriver return to the
pits after just the first lap, while Gordon Shedden continued with a
dented Scottish Sun Leon. Even before the safety car could be deployed
to recover Spencer’s SEAT, Karl Goshawk spun on the gravel-strewn
Paddock Hill Bend at the beginning of lap two, putting his ISG / Siemens
Financial Services Leon into the gravel as well!
The race was extended to 27 laps to make up for the two laps run under
the safety car, and Stefan took full advantage to overtake Gavin on
the inside of Paddock Hill Bend and take the lead. He gradually
increased his advantage, driving inch perfect to win the big prize.
Stefan said: “I tried my hardest to win today and I’ve done
it. The £30,000 is a big step towards next year’s budget
and I’d love to do the SEAT Cupra Championship again if it’s
the best opportunity for me in 2004. It’s a fantastic series
and I’m sure it will be just as competitive, if not more so, next
year.”
The top three big money positions were secured when Gavin spun in front
of Colbert at Surtees Corner on lap 19, allowing Stephen and James onto
the podium.
Stephen said: “Gavin was beginning to struggle because he was
getting wider and wider all of the time and eventually he got too wide
and spun. I’m just pleased to have finished second. Winning
the money is nice because it takes a bit of the pressure off next year
and I may even be able to confirm my programme before Christmas for
the first time. What’s equally important to me is another
podium finish. I finished second atOultonParkand I’m really
pleased to have finished second here again.”
Gavin rejoined the race in 9th and overtook Ben Winrow (TelemecaniqueLeon)
and Hamish Gordon (Sunday Times Leon) to finish what must have been
a very disappointing 7th.
Having overtaken pole-sitter Julian Westwood and Shedden on the inside
of Druids within three laps of each other, a superb drive from Pickford
was rewarded with 3rd place.
James said: “I’m really pleased to have finished on the
podium. It’s been two years since I last did a season of
racing and to come back into a new category like this and end it with
another podium finish and a cheque for £20,000 is excellent.”
The Holiday Inn SEAT Super Prix trophies were presented by Colin Roy,
Director of Marketing at the Holiday Inn, while the champagne was presented
by Nell McAndrew.
After a superb season, Melanie Healey was a very worthy winner of the
Mintex Most Improved Driver of the Year Award – for which the
Spur GarageLeondriver receives a cheque for £1,000.
See series calendar for SEAT
Cupra Championship 2003
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