Pickford Closes in on SEAT Cupra Title

09 August 2004

James Pickford has opened up a 20 point lead with just two rounds of the Holiday Inn SEAT Cupra Championship remaining, after finishing on the podium in both races at Knockhill today.

The 25-year old driver from Macclesfield finished 3rd  in Round 9 and 2nd  in Round 10, to achieve exactly what he hadset out to do in Scotland in his Haribo / Vivaldi Leon Cupra R.

The only driver to score more points at Knockhill than James was Oli Wilkinson.  Having finished 2nd  in the day’s first race, he won his first SEAT Cupra Championship race in the afternoon with a stunning drive in his talkSport Leon Cupra R.  A small mistake on the final lap saw Oli and James cross the line nose to tail, ending a fantastic race weekend, played out in front of the biggest crowd of the year.

James said: "Oli made a mistake three corners from the end of the last lap and ran wide, but he was too good today at the hairpin and I couldn't get through.  I didn't want to risk a collision or going off because finishing second and taking the points was far more important than winning. It's not over, I could have a disaster at the last meeting at Donington, but it’s looking good for the title."

Oli said: "I’m really chuffed to have won my first SEAT race.  James kept me honest and it was a good clean fight. I missed my turning point coming into McIntyre corner on the last lap and ran wide, so I had a very slow exit speed, but I knew James wouldn’t want to risk his points so I was able to keep him behind me until the end of the race."

Emmet O’Brien recorded his first podium with fourth in his Loaded / DABL Leon Cupra R, just ahead of Ben Winrow who put in the drive of Round 10.  The 19-year old Earls Barton driver’s quickest lap was just 0.001 seconds off the fastest lap of the race, and 4th  was his best ever finish in his Telemecanique Leon Cupra R.

Ben said: "To be fourth and on the pace with the top guys is mega. I was able to keep the pressure on Emmet, but he drove well and never put a foot wrong and I didn’t want to sacrifice my best result with an over-ambitious manoeuvre. I’ll get a podium soon enough!"

Tom Boardman did well to race from 11th  on the grid to finish 5th . The superb performance keeps him 2nd  in the Championship, albeit just two points ahead of 3rd  placed Oli.

While the battle for the title – and a Championship winning touring car drive with SEAT Sport UK next year – looks set to be fought out between Pickford, Boardman and Wilkinson, there was disappointment for Gavin Smith and Gordon Shedden, whose title aspirations are over.

Gavin got what looked like a great start from second on the grid and opened up a comfortable lead in the opening laps before he was obliged to come into the pits for a drive through penalty, having been adjudged to have been creeping forward before the red lights went out. He recovered to finish 6th  in his Smiths Hire Centre Leon Cupra R.

Gavin said: "I could have won both races today – it never rains, it pours. The race is over and the Championship’s gone, what can I say?"

Gordon made a fantastic start from fifth on the grid, but clashed with Lewis Carter twice in the first sector of the opening lap. The impact moved the suspension on his Scottish Sun / Tracker / BT Broadband Yahoo! Leon Cupra R, and this caused a driveshaft to break exiting Taylors hairpin at the end of the second lap.

Gordon said: "Everything felt okay, but then a driveshaft broke.  There’s nothing you can do about it.  There are thousands of bits on a car and things like this happen. You just have to take the ups with the downs – and today I’ve had both."

Daniel-Lee Stevens (RG Stevens Building Services / CB Tech Motorsport Leon) spun at the first corner and Rui Chagas (Caremore Homes Leon) had to take to the grass to avoid him.  While Rui raced on to finish 7th , Daniel continued but picked up a rear puncture and spun on lap 7. Unluckily for Daniel, the flat tyre locked the wheel solid and, having struggled to get around the final hairpin, he was forced to come into the pits at the end of the lap and retire.

Ex-motorcycle racer Simon Hepplewhite (Auto Trader / TSR Performance Leon) was having a great scrap with Lewis Carter (Cobra Group / Europcar / Scottish Motor Option Group Leon), until he out-braked himself coming into Taylors hairpin and ran into the gravel. Lewis struggled on with battle scars following his earlier clash with Shedden to finish 9th behind Emmanuel Crouvisier (www.racing4cancer.com Leon). The American driver had a bad start, dropped to last place after spinning onto the grass on the opening lap, and then set great times on his way to 8th place.

Melanie Healey recorded her second top 10 result on the day with a good drive in her Spur Garage / Radio Jackie Leon Cupra R.

See series calendar for SEAT Cupra Championship 2004

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