FINE CUT RADICAL CUP UK - R3 REPORT

SPRINT RACE ONE

In Saturday’s first Sprint race the RSR driver led into Riches from pole, with team mate Paul Denning heading the pursuit, from Valour Racing’s Jack Yang.

But DW’s Alex Fisher was off at Riches along with Flame Airikkala and Rebecca Frankland. For Fisher it was race over, while Airikkala and Frankland continued after brief pitstops.

While the lead trio held station over the opening lap, 360’s Andy Lowe was under pressure from RSR’s John Macleod for fifth, as both tried to hang onto Racing Rebels Hamish Forrest.

After the lead trio began to spread out, Forrest starting to tow the field back to Yang. Into Murrays for the third time Yang made a mistake and gave Forrest a run on him into Riches. He was soon through into third and into Riches a lap later Macleod and Lowe followed, after they had swapped too.

Racing Rebels Rachel Robertson was closing on Yang too, after the erstwhile third man tried to hold onto sixth.

“I had a fairly good start, but then got shuffled back after Hamish got me back. Then I just read the changing conditions and worked my way back up,” Robertson explained.

Lowe was rechallenging Macleod too and they went side by side through the Bombhole and Coram. Robertson nosed ahead of Yang at Murrays too, but couldn’t hold on, finally making it into sixth into Brundle a lap later.

While Yang headed pitwards after six laps, Littlewood had continued to build on his lead. Second placed Denning was under pressure from Forest though and found his defence breached into Brundle on lap nine, after Forrest got a run on him down the Bentley Straight.

With Lowe slipping down the order, Robertson had started close on Macleod, getting by into Nelson on lap 12. With Denning touring, Robertson clinched the final podium place, behind Littlewood and Forrest, with RSR’s Jake Williamson and Racing Women’s Jorden Dolischka completing the top six behind Macleod

“I had a really good start but could see some dark clouds overhead and it began to spit, so I backed off and just made sure I brought it home,” said Littlewood.

“I couldn’t have held off Hamish, but had hung on and it made me faster, until the upshift failed on the steering wheel,” Denning explained.

“Fairly uneventful got to fourth place after challenging Andy,” Macleod added.

Airikkala was a lap down in seventh, from James Pinkerton and Lowe, who stopped on the last lap. Frankland was 10th and Denning was still classified 11th, with DW’s John Davis the final finisher.

“The car had been a bit loose at the back and then I had a fuel pump issue. I was short shifting to try to finish, but then it stopped completely at Oggies,” Lowe explained.

SPRINT RACE TWO

There were dramas before the lights went out for race two, after Denning sild off on the formation lap and was forced to start at the back. Frankland also had trouble and was an early pit visitor before her race was under way. “I was on new tyres and trying to get heat into them, then spun off,” said Denning.

Littlewood led the field away from Yang, Lowe, Robertson and Forrest. But Macleod was flying, taking both Robertson and Forrest in one move, and with Lowe into second, Macleod’s charge took him past Yang too into Agostini.

“I saw John coming for us out of the corner of my eye, he had a really good start so we had to give him room,” said Robertson.

The lead trio had made a break before the end of lap one, while Yang was just holding off Forrest and Robertson, after they swapped at the Bombhole.

Despite starting at the back, Denning caught and passed Robertson into Agostini on lap two, while Forrest’s progress took him ahead of Yang, before rapidly closing on Macleod again.

Although Littlewood was long gone, second to fourth had closed up again by the end of lap three and a lap later it was all change at Murrays.

Denning had already taken Yang at Agostini and when Forrest forced Lowe wide, he was into second place, leaving his rival to defend third from Macleod and Denning.

Lowe had dropped to fifth, under pressure from Yang and Robertson, with Williamson closing too. But on lap five Macleod ran wide defending, had contact with Denning, spun and stalled at the Bombhole, which not only brought out the safety car, but wiped out Littlewood’s 15 second lead too.

It was green after two laps and Littlewood was soon clear, managing to build a 3.920 secs lead again in the final three laps to the flag. “The safety car was slow, so I dropped back for the restart to make sure I got a good run and it didn’t give Hamish a chance,” he explained.

Second placed Forrest had been slow away from the green flag, leaving Yang now in third, under pressure from Lowe. They had a couple of exchanges before Lowe made it count at Agostini, which then brought Robertson and Williamson back in touch. “I had brush with Jack at the Hairpin, but I got a better exit,” said Lowe.

“Being such a high-speed track it’s difficult to pass when you are in line, as the corners are so fast and you can lose places too,” Robertson added.

Lowe managed to consolidate third behind Littlewood and Forrest on the last lap, when Yang locked up at Agostini, almost handing fourth to Roberston.

Williamson was just behind the dual for fourth, while Airikkala was classified seventh after an early dual with Fisher, who despite heading his rival from midrace, was penalised for a false start, dropping him a place.

Davis and Pinkerton rounded off the top 10, from Frankland and Laura O’Connell.

ENDURANCE RACE

There was a determined effort from Forrest at the start of the 50-minute Enduro. He managed to run side by side through Riches with Littlewood, but on the exit he was forced to slot in behind for the run to the Wilson Hairpin.

“Hamish got a launch on me at he start, I lifted late for the corner and he was very late and ran a bit wide, then I just got the pace at didn’t have to defend,” Littlewood explained.

Macleod was soon into third, behind harassed by Fangio Trophy rival Lowe, as Denning, Robertson and Yang followed.

Williamson was into eighth on lap two, leaving Fisher under challenge from Airikkala again, but at the front the lead pair were soon in the clear.

It gradually became a four-car train for third, with Yang trying to hold on too, with Littlewood already 3.719 secs clear after three laps.

Lowe kept showing his nose to third placed Macleod, but had Denning threatening him too. On lap six Denning was through at Oggies and Robertson almost followed. But she challenged a bit too hard at Murrays and was off across the grass. “I misjudged the washout from the aero through Coram, got into dirty air and went straight on across the grass,” she explained.

Denning was up to third on lap eight, after taking Macleod at Oggies and within a couple of laps Lowe and Yang were pressing again too.

Lowe ousted Macleod on lap10, but Yang went wide as he tried and briefly lost out to Williamson. “John got a better start than me, so it took a while for me to challenge back,” said Lowe.

It was back to a five-car train for fourth place as Lowe, Macleod, Yang, Robertson and Williamson ran in formation, but just before the mandatory stops, Macleod had contact as he lapped Davis. “It was going fine until the contact and after that the car wasn’t right and was off the pace,” Macleod added.

Macleod was the last to make his stop and on rejoining he had dropped to 10th. Littlewood still led from Forrest, Denning and Pinkerton, while in fifth Yang and Lowe had swapped but remained nose to tail.

“I just had to make sure I had built enough of a lead to allow for the success penalty and retain the lead which I did,” said Littlewood.

“I was a late stopper and then got held up into Riches when I rejoined and Jack got me,” Lowe explained.

“I had been a bit more conservative at the start, but picked my way through for a solid race. I thought it was Jack Yang chasing too, but then realised it was James in the development car, it made me faster too,” Denning explained.

The race was red flagged six minutes early, with Littlewood confirmed the winner from Forrest, Denning and Pinkerton. But the dual for fifth had ended the race prematurely. Yang had been delayed as he lapped O’Connell at Murrays, which gave Lowe a run on him passed the pits. Lowe managed to go down the inside into Riches, but Yang turned in too and the two collided and spun into the tyre wall.

“We were both delayed again and I faked to the left, but Jack braked early and I was fully alongside on the right when we had contact,” Lowe explained.

Robertson therefore moved up to fifth, from Williamson, Airikkala, Macleod and Frankland, followed by the shared Dolischka/O’Connell car and Davis.

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