3 Winners in Donington Caterham Roadsport Drama

28 May 2006

Twin wins for Gary Halcrow and victories for Jeremy Ellis and Chris Bialan were the highlights of the Motorsport News Caterham Roadsport Challenge races at Donington Park yesterday (Sat), with Ellis extending his points lead in the Roadsport class and Halcrow achieving a similar feat in Roadsport B.

Bournemouth driver Halcrow's progress to his fifth consecutive Roadsport B race victory was anything but straightforward. Despite the advantage of pole position, Gary was beaten to the lead on the opening lap by Mike Robinson and then, having dislodged Robinson from top spot on lap three, Halcrow spun away his advantage five laps later.

It took Gary four laps to whittle away Robinson's five-second lead, scrabbling past him at the Goddards hairpin on the penultimate lap and going on to win by three-tenths. "That was hard work," said Halcrow. "Fair play to Mike, it was one of the hardest battles I have ever had."

Alas Robinson's second place was stripped from him in the scrutineering bay, his car failing a ride height check. Chris Du Boulay thus inherited second, a reward for the Ulsterman's hard work in battling back from 13th after a first-corner spin. Norfolk caterer Toby Talbot was close behind for third and Chris Bialan, another to have slipped well back at the start, fourth.

Team-mates Halcrow and Bialan (Broadstone) staged a battle royal in the second race, swapping the lead several times a lap as they pulled well clear of all their pursuers. Halcrow handed victory on a plate to his friend two laps from the end when he made a mistake at Coppice. Magnanimous in defeat, Gary said: "I'm made up for Chris, he beat me fair and square. If it had been anyone else in front I'd not have been so happy."

"We are the best of friends but there was no love in that battle," added Bialan. "I told Gary I'd whip him one day!"

Du Boulay was a distant third and Robinson, who started from the back after his first-race exclusion, was fourth.

The first of the day's Roadsport races was brought to a sickening halt on the opening lap after a collision between the cars of Paul Glenister and Nick Brooks. Glenister had spun to a standstill out of Coppice Corner when Brooks, unsighted, cannoned into him. The hefty impact sparked a blaze from which a shaken Glenister was quick to extricate himself. Brooks's car fortunately spun clear of the conflagration and Nick was also uninjured. The race was immediately halted and the fire brought under control within 30 seconds.

At the restart Halcrow got the drop on pole man Ellis, which sparked a six-lap tussle for dominance between the two men. The matter was settled on lap seven at McLeans when their cars touched and Ellis's Crystal Sport Holidays-backed Caterham spun through 360 degrees, rejoining third behind Bialan.

As Halcrow sped serenely to victory, all eyes were on Ellis and Bialan and their battle for second, Ellis settling the matter with a finely judged manoeuvre at the final corner. Halcrow crossed the line nearly five seconds ahead of Ellis, with Bialan third followed by Adrian Argyros, Patrick Scharfegger and Tony Hawkins.

Halcrow said: "It was a great battle with Jeremy and a shame that we touched. It was a racing incident and certainly there was no malicious intent. Whether I would have won or not had that not happened, I can't be sure."

Halcrow and Ellis were at it again in Roadsport race two, this time with Argyros joining the party. The three frontrunners provided the best entertainment of the day as they circulated Donington, often side by side, in their bid to gain dominance. Regrettably it was a mechanical problem for Halcrow which broke up the battle, Gary losing a rear wheel as he exited McLeans for the 11th time. He spun into retirement.

Argyros kept Bromley-based Ellis honest for the remaining 11 laps but Jeremy did not put a wheel wrong and went on to claim his third race victory of the season. Behind Argyros there was a furious battle for third place settled in Gary Brown's favour only on the final lap. Kevin Dodd and Bialan chased him to the line.

See series calendars for all 2006 Caterham Championships

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