Action a Go-go as the SEAT Cupra Championship Hits Thruxton

06 June 2006

The fifth and sixth rounds of the Blaupunkt SEAT Cupra Championship at Thruxton provided fast and frantic action from the word go. Tyres were the main topic of conversation as temperatures reached 24°C and many drivers elected to do short qualifying sessions to save their rubber for the race. In fact, because of the high temperatures, the first of the two races was reduced in length from 16 to 12 laps, held as the last event on Saturday evening.

Pole-sitter and winner of Round 4, Jonathan Adam (Total Control Racing) lead the field away from the lights at the start of the first race. However, a back-to-form Carl Breeze (Blue Chip/Edenbridge Racing), who's SEAT Leon Cupra R was using a new engine, got past the Scot and began to pull away from the chasing pack. Behind him, Adam was defending hard against a charging Matt Johnson (Johnsons Motorsport) who in turn was under pressure from Mat Jackson, starting fourth on the grid. Jackson was intent on maximising his points haul and out-braked Johnson into the chicane to steal third place.

However, the action would be short-lived, as Lewis Carter (CMS Motorsport), returning to the Cupra Championshipafter a one-year sabbatical, and Neil Waterworth (Total Control Racing) came together in the Chicane. Carter spuninto the tyre wall backwards with Waterworth following him in, the cars ending up nose to nose just off the racing line. The resulting safety car period, while the cars were moved to a safe location, allowed a brief respite and drivers to cool their tyres, ready for the remaining laps.

At the restart, Breeze timed it perfectly and began to pull away from Adam and Jackson. However, his maiden 2006 victory was to evade him further, as he suffered a broken driveshaft and cruised to the pits, and retirement.

This promoted Adam to the lead and despite intense pressure from Jackson, the young Scot kept his head and defended all the way to the flag, with Jackson similarly defending hard against Alan Blencowe (Triple R). Behind them, Matt Johnson headed home team-mate Robert Ross (Johnsons Motorsport), with just 0.5sec separating them. Sixth was Ben Winrow (CMS Motorsport), who was pleased to have finished so high up, having started from the back row of the grid. The safety car period played perfectly into his hands, allowing him to conserve his tyres for the second part of the race.

However, it wasn't over yet. On Sunday morning, the Stewards decided to award Adam a 1.5sec penalty for overtaking under a yellow flag during the previous day's race. This dropped him back, behind Jackson, so the final result was Jackson claimed the win from Adam.

Jackson also held pole position for the weekend's second SEAT race on Sunday afternoon. However, as the lights went out, Mussi made an incredible start from second to head the field into the first corner. As it transpired, he would hold his position all the way to the chequered flag - just about the only driver to do so.

Breeze also got past Jackson at the start, as did Jonathan Adam and Ben Winrow. Jackson later explained he suffered from understeer throughout the race and this prevented him from carrying sufficient speed onto the fastest section of the circuit to hold off the chasing pack. He would eventually end up in seventh place.

Back at the front, Blencowe, Ross and Ferrier were having a fierce scrap and were closing in on Waterworth. Blencowe had a go at Waterworth at the Chicane but couldn't make the move stick. However, he eventually passed Waterworth on the exit of the chicane to claim the place.

By this point, Mussi, Breeze, Adam and Winrow were extremely close at the front and Adam was starting to pile the pressure on Breeze. He got a big tow on the fast section leading into the chicane and drove round the outside to claim second spot. A couple of laps later, Winrow put exactly the same move on Breeze to claim the final podium position. In the closing stages, Alan Blencowe also managed to squeeze past Breeze, who went on to finish fifth ahead of Jonathan Fildes, who had mounted an impressive fight back from 12th.

Mussi was understandably ecstatic about the result. "It all went right for me today," he said. "I just kept my head down and it came together. My team-mate, Johnny Adam caught up a bit at the end – I think maybe I backed off a little too much but I held him off. We've come a long way already this year. I'm the youngest driver in the championship and probably one of the least experienced and I've won a race, from the front row. I'm delighted with this result."

Adam was also pleased with his performance over the weekend. "That was a good chase. Fulvio drove a great race and didn't put a foot wrong. My car felt fantastic all race and I thought I'd show him my nose, to remind him I was there but didn't want to push it too hard."

Ben Winrow made another visit to the podium and was also pleased with his efforts. "We got there in the end! Everyone knows Thruxton is hard on tyres. So this weekend, it's been a game of looking after them at the beginning of the race and then we had them ready for us at the end."

In the championship title race, it's still Jackson who leads, despite finishing seventh in race two. Second is Alan Blencowe, who closed the gap by a point and Jonathan Adam holds third, courtesy of his two second places. Ben Winrow moves up into fourth while Fulvio Mussi is fifth, just ahead of Fildes.

The Blaupunkt SEAT Cupra Championship now has a six-week break, before heading north to the Croft circuit over the weekend of the 15/16 July.

See series calendar for SEAT Cupra Championship 2006

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