Roadsports Thrill the Oulton Easter Crowd

28 March 2005

Four barnstorming races and four different winners - that was the outcome this afternoon (Mon) at Oulton Park, venue for the thrilling opening rounds of the Motorsport News Caterham Roadsport Challenge.

A total of 46 Roadsport Inter and Roadsport B cars took part in the Easter excitement, with the reigning evo Caterham Academy Champion, 18-year-old Guy Harrington (Belper), emerging from the day's events with a slender Inter-class championship lead and another young driver, 25-year-old Henry Fletcher (Epping), taking top spot in the B class.

Fletcher it was who took the most convincing victory of the day, claiming the spoils in the first Roadsport B race by an 11.2-second margin. He breezed into the lead on the opening lap from fifth on the grid and never looked threatened; indeed several of his pursuers fell off the track as they tried to narrow his advantage.

There were no such errors from local hero Chris Fryar, however: the Frodsham GP held on for second place, just ahead of Jeremy Ellis (Bromley), who spun away the advantage of pole position on lap two and had to claw his way back from 17th to third at the chequered flag. His fight earned him the Minister Driver of the Race award.

The top six was completed by Luke Dimsdale (London), Adrian Argyros (Northwich) and Williams F1 engineer Paul Jepson (Wantage).

Ellis made sure not to put a wheel wrong in the second Roadsport B event, winning a hard-fought race to cross the line 1.8s ahead of Fletcher, with Argyros a distant third ahead of Chris Sedgwick (Lowestoft), Darren Faraway (Stanford-le-Hope) and Jepson. Dimsdale and Fryar both spun, recovering to eighth and 12th respectively. Londoner Pat Gormley was the Minister award-winner for his climb to ninth from the back of the grid.

The first Roadsport Inter race of the season was interrupted by two red flags, flown while marshals recovered stricken machinery from dangerous positions on the circuit. Thus Guy Harrington's pursuers never really got into the swing of trying to dislodge him from the lead which the pole-sitter assumed on lap one.

Reigning B-class champion Mike Blackadder (Henley) gave Harrington a good run for his money, though, and was never more than a second behind. Mike made a bold bid for victory on the 10th lap, attempting to dive down Guy's inside through Old Hall, but was firmly rebuffed and lost second to Neil Fletcher (Hornchurch) later in the lap.

Unfortunately for Fletcher, it was on this lap that a collision between Mike Richards (Rayleigh) and Howard Pessall (Leicester) brought about the premature finish of the race; as is custom, the results were declared at the end of the preceding lap when Blackadder held second spot. Nick Potter (Leicester) was classified fourth, ahead of Bill Addison (Stockton) and Stephen Rowden (Chelmsford). Harrington's victory also earned him the Minister award.

Round two ran to its distance without interruption, and provided a fantastic four-way battle for victory for almost all its 30-minute duration. Harrington, Blackadder, Potter and Fletcher were the protagonists, with Guy making a superb start from the pole to lead the early stages.

But Fletcher was not to be denied this time, Neil darting through to top spot on the fifth lap and holding on for victory despite a late-race bid from Potter. Blackadder kept a watching brief throughout but fell foul of a backmarker at the critical moment on the last lap.

Less than a second covered the top four at the flag, with Minister award-winner Fletcher out front from Harrington, Potter and Blackadder. Addison took fifth again, this time ahead of France-based driver Roger Norris.

The championship, which is backed by Motorsport News, Powertrain Limited, Arch Motors, Bilstein, Comma, Cooper-Avon Tyres, MG XPower, Mitchell Cotts, PTP and Stack, returns to action on 21/22 May at Knockhill.

This coming weekend (2/3 April) the focus shifts to Donington Park and the opening rounds of the Powertrain Caterham Challenge for R400 and Roadsport A cars.

The R400 entry is dominated by Hyperion Motorsport, which is fielding not only last year's third-place finisher David Dyson but also the fast Frenchman Luc Paillard and cars for former Roadsport frontrunners Nick Payne, Nathan Bell and Ewan McIntyre.

Ranged against them are singleton entries from Team Parker, for Ted Murray, Taylor's Foundry, for Will Mitcham, and Minister Racing, for Ben Dezille Butler. Fauldsport will have two cars on the grid, one for former Caterham Graduates Champion Rachel Green and another for Paul Allen, while Ultimate Motorsport will field Jack Newland and Soh Fukushima. Matt Blyth will compete also.

There will be no shortage of competition in the class for Roadsport A cars: reigning Inters champion Doug Clark will be there, as will five-time 2004 race winner Graham Fennymore, reigning Super-Graduates Champion Malcolm Barnett, James Gardiner, Tony Hawkins, Stuart Smith, Dave O'Carroll, Alan Williamson, Riki Nash and Patrick Maher.

See series calendars for all 2005 Caterham Championships

Related Story 18.02.2005 - Rachael to Bid for Powertrain Caterham Victory