Double Top for Mitcham at Oulton Park

08 April 2007

Will Mitcham yesterday (Saturday) staged the best possible start to his campaign to recapture the Avon Tyres Caterham Superlight Challenge crown by winning both of Oulton Park's exciting opening rounds.

It was a repeat performance of the twin wins Will claimed at Oulton in 2005 to set him on the road to title glory. The 31-year-old from Suffolk claimed pole position in qualifying and - despite considerable pressure - led every lap of both 30-minute races his Taylor's Foundry Motor Sport-prepared Superlight.

Both races were real Easter crowd-pleasers and, with 25 Caterhams arriving to compete, they boasted the healthiest Superlight Challenge grid seen for several seasons.

Race 1
Mitcham fulfilled all his pre-season promise with an impressive qualifying performance and a dominant showing in the race. He was the first of the field to break the 1m 49s barrier in qualifying and remained on the pole, by three hundredths of a second, despite a last-moment assault on top spot by a determined Rachel Green. Colards Motorsport new signing Glen Denny marked himself down as a man to watch, the 27-year-old ex-karter claiming third on the grid for his first car race, just ahead of Nick Payne and former Roadsport runners Gary Halcrow and Chris Bialan.

Mitcham made a superb start in the Angel Air and Brown & Co-backed Superlight to claim a handy early lead, pursued by Green, Payne, Halcrow and Peter Ratcliff, up from seventh on the grid.

Ratcliff was the man on the move: he shot through to third by lap three and past Green for second by the fifth tour. Mitcham's advantage by this stage was eight-tenths but Ratcliff soon whittled this away to nothing and then made a lunge for the lead into Old Hall Corner. Mitcham was having none of it, however, and repulsed the attack so successfully that Ratcliff had to back off and lost ground.

Green was not slow to spot her opportunity; she chased down Ratcliff and locked everything up into the Knickerbrook chicane to seize second place from him once more.

With the squabble for second engaging not just Green and Ratcliff but also Payne, Halcrow and Denny, Mitcham took the chance to stretch his legs and his lead. "The first five or six laps were really tricky," said Mitcham, "because I just couldn't make the break and then I had to fend off Peter. But after that I was able to break the tow and stroke it home."

Mitcham was 4.2s ahead at the chequered flag with Green resolute in her defence of second. "I had the biggest battle with Peter Ratcliff," said Rachel, "and I'm absolutely shattered from keeping him behind me. I was determined not to give up my position."

So Ratcliff had to settle for third, with reigning Roadsport champion Halcrow seizing fourth from Payne with two laps to go and Denny finishing in Payne's wheeltracks to claim a creditable sixth.

Denny was not the only Superlight debutant to impress, however. Places seven to 12 were taken by first-timers, respectively Bialan, who got the better of a long battle with Clive Coote, reigning R400 champ Pat Gormley, ex-Roadsporteer David Bend, Silverstone Scholar Craig Welsher, novice Stephen Ross and Scottish Sports Car Champion Richard Reed.

Andrew Beaumont placed 14th, just ahead of runaway R400 class victor Alastair Chalmers.

Race 2
There was a familiar feel to the start as Mitcham once again took advantage of pole position to establish an early lead. And yet again Will was unable to make a break as first Green pursued him for all she was worth and then Ratcliff took up the pursuit after slicing past Rachel through Old Hall on the sixth lap.

Two laps later Mitcham made what was probably his only error of the weekend, rounding Lodge Corner slightly wide and allowing Ratcliff to close right on to his tail. Peter was unable to capitalise on the mistake, however: "After that Will did not make one error," said Ratcliff, "despite me piling on the pressure. He's a cool character."

"That was a harder race," said Will. "The track conditions were different and didn't suit my car, but I consoled myself with the thought that it was probably the same for everyone. It's a great start to the season - I still can't quite take it in."

Mitcham won this time by 2.1s, with Ratcliff on this occasion second. Green's hopes of wresting the position back were thwarted when she came under prolonged attack from Payne, and she had her hands full keeping Nick behind her.

Halcrow made amends for a poor opening lap to fight back from eighth to fifth, gaining a place from Gormley in the process. Pat shadowed him home to take sixth; less than three and a half seconds covered the top six at the line.

Welsher drove well in his second-ever car race to take seventh ahead of Bend, Coote and Bialan. Denny had looked set to claim another top-six finish until a mid-race mishap dropped him down the order. He went on to 11th, ahead of Jack Newland, Beaumont, Ross and Bill Addison. Chalmers was once again an untroubled R400 class winner.

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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