Fennymore's Caterham on the Double at Brands Hatch

28 August 2006

Graham Fennymore returned to winning ways yesterday (Sun) at Brands Hatch, claiming victory in both of the day's Autosport Caterham Superlight Challenge events to strengthen his championship lead.

Race one brought him a crushing 8.5-second win over his rivals, but in race two Fennymore was made to work every inch of the way by a determined Ben de Zille Butler, who was just four-hundredths of a second behind at the line.

In the R400 class, Patrick Gormley and Jack Newland shared the victory spoils.

Fennymore's third win of the year for the Ambitions/Hyperion Motorsport team was a supreme effort by the Oxfordshire man, who led away from pole position and made steady progress to build an unassailable lead while his rivals squabbled over second.

Guy Harrington, de Zille Butler and Charles Bateman were the protagonists for the runner-up spot and, while they battled – too closely, on at least one occasion – Fennymore was able to make hay. By mid distance Graham was three seconds in front and, even though he was troubled by overheating brakes in the late stages, he was able to stretch his advantage to 8.5s by the fall of the chequered flag.

Said Fennymore: "There's not much to report really! It was all pretty straightforward; the car was great and I was delighted that the others were battling with each other rather than chasing me…"

Harrington was left out on his own in second place when, on unlucky lap 13, de Zille Butler and Bateman made contact through Paddock Hill Bend. They both spun through the gravel but were able to continue, race stewards later deeming the clash ‘a racing incident'.

de Zille Butler lost the most ground, slumping to sixth, and he did well to haul his way back to fourth by the penultimate lap, right behind Bateman. Into Paddock for the final time Ben sliced past Charles to secure the final podium slot.

Nick Payne got the better of a long fight with Will Mitcham to follow Bateman home for fifth, with a grip-less Will Mitcham collecting sixth after a duel with Rachel Green, who slipped to seventh with a moment at Paddock. Andrew Beaumont placed eighth.

The R400 class battle was a cracker, with Gormley closing down early leader Newland to pass him on the seventh lap. Gormley finished nine seconds ahead of Newland, with Sarah Reader collecting class third after overcoming engine problems in qualifying.

Championship debutant Gary Halcrow, who swapped his race-winning Roadsport for a Superlight for the weekend, was 11th overall, just ahead of Reader, and Bill Addison placed 13th. Tony Poole and James Gardiner both suffered off-track moments, Gardiner forced to retire with fluid leaks after his trip through a gravel trap.

There was no chance of Fennymore being allowed to run away with things in race two, de Zille Butler giving chase from the second lap after disposing of Harrington. Ben whittled the leader's advantage down from 1 second to two-tenths within the space of six laps and then proceeded to try everything he knew to find a way past.

It was to no avail; Fennymore had the answer to everything de Zille Butler could throw at him and, despite Graham committing a couple of forced errors on the last lap, still managed to stay a nose in front. Ben smashed his own circuit lap record on that final tour and closed to 0.037s at the line. "I put everything into that last lap," said de Zille Butler, "but it wasn't quite enough..."

Harrington was a lonely third and Bateman an equally solitary fourth, with Mitcham once again getting the better of Green to take fifth. Payne finished behind Rachel for seventh, ahead of Halcrow, Gardiner and Beaumont. Bill Addison was the final Superlight finisher.

Mechanical problems hobbled Gormley's pace; he had led the R400 class for six laps after catching and passing Newland, but dropped to dead last and handed Jack the class victory and a slender class points lead. Reader took second among the R400s and Stuart Smith third ahead of Patrick Maher and Gormley.

See series calendars for all 2006 Caterham Championships

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