Full House for Caterham Roadsport Challenge

16 March 2007

With two weeks to go before the start of the Motorsport News Caterham Roadsport Challenge more than 70 drivers have signed to take part in Caterham's most popular UK-based championship.

As in previous seasons the competitors are split across two distinct grids - Roadsport B, chiefly for the less experienced racers moving up from Caterham's starter series, the CircuitDriverAcademy, and Roadsport, which allows some further technical freedoms aimed at enhancing the race experience.

The fiercest competition will be in the latter class, which no fewer than six Caterham champions are planning to contest.

The champions lining up are Jeremy Ellis, the 2005 Roadsport B victor; Luke Embling, Academy champion in 2005; last year's Academy top men, James Sharrock and 18-year-old Lewis Hopkins; and the 2003 Academy Champion Mike Richards, who's returning, he says, for "one last shot at it". Last year's double Roadsport Champion, Gary Halcrow, plans on returning to the series for fun later in the season but is meanwhile concentrating on his Avon Tyres Caterham Superlight Challenge career.

Hopkins is the youngest in the field and the A-level student from Winchester is aware that he faces stiff opposition: "I learned a lot last year - mainly that in order to win championships you need to finish races. I've not had the chance to do much testing yet so I've no idea how quick I am in relation to the other guys. There's a lot to live up to."

The other early season favourites include David Pearce, who took two race wins last year on his way to championship third; Chris Bialan, fourth overall last year and the runner-up in Roadsport B; his Roadsport B rivals from last year Dax Humberstone and Mike Robinson; and Academy top-three men Andrew Bell and Nico Master.

Brothers Simon and Peter Young are meanwhile joining forces under the SPY Motorsport banner to contest the championship; Simon, 22, was four times a podium finisher in the Roadsport Challenge last year while his 20-year-old brother was an Academy pacesetter.

There's plenty of talent on show in Roadsport B, too. Included in the quality field are 10 top-10 overall finishers from the two 2006 Academy groups - Stuart Patterson, Simon Turner, Andy Thomas, Duncan Winner, Chris Legg, Richard Edwards, Mark Bowles, Paul Storton, Gareth Thomas and Paul Latimer.

Of these, Patterson, 49 and from London, and 28-year-old Thomas were race winners last year and progress to Roadsport B as pre-season favourites.

With more than 40 drivers opting to take part in the Roadsport division, it's likely that at some circuits a complex system of grouping will have to be brought into play to ensure that everyone gets two races.

The Roadsport racers are scheduled to have 30-minute races at each of the seven meetings, while the Roadsport B runners will enjoy twin 20-minute sprints. Calendar highlights include races at June's Donington Park Seven Golden Jubilee meeting and at the Brands Hatch Formula Ford Festival in October. The seasons blasts away on 1 April at Snetterton.

Magnus Laird, Caterham's Director of Motorsport, is relishing the prospect of the season's competition: "Having so many competitors in the Roadsport Challenge is both a challenge and at the same time enormously exciting. Roadsport racing is always the closest-run event on any racing timetable and I'm sure that this season will be closer than ever."

Backers for Caterham Motorsport's UK and European race series include Bilstein, Brian James Trailers, Cheesman Products, Circuit Driver, Cooper-Avon Tyres, Demon Tweeks, evo, HSBC Insurance Brokers, Mitchell Cotts, Motorsport News, Stack and Steel Fabrications.

See series calendars for all 2007 Caterham Championships

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