PRO SR3
DOUBLE FOR DE LEON BUT KHATEEB STEPS UP
There was no shortage of action at Oulton Park, where the Hagerty Radical Cup UK had it’s second outing on the British Touring Car package.
Championship leaders James Lay and Daryl De Leon topped the qualifiers, split by just 0.105 secs on the grid for race one.
Doris Motorsport’s Lay had the lead out of Old Hall as Valour’s De Leon went wide onto the grass, slipping to fourth behind RAW’s Alex Khateeb and DW’s Peter Tyler.
“I left the door wide open and James went down the inside,” said De Leon. But he managed to retake third from Tyler into Knickerbrook, as the Valour trio of Haydn Chance, Chris Preen and Ben Stone settled behind and 360’s Jason Rishover found himself under pressure from DW’s Ben Caisley for ninth. “I started at the back after the gearbox went in qualifying,” Caisley explained.
De Leon successfully challenged Khateeb for second on lap five at the Island Hairpin and soon began to close on Lay’s lead, with Khateeb and Tyler still a solid third and fourth, as Preen pressed Chance for fifth.
Caisley had ousted Rishover and had Stone in his sights as half distance approached. But at the front De Leon was ready to challenge for the lead. “I got him into the braking zone at Island, then pushed hard for the rest of the race, but had to back off near the end with concerns over my brakes, “said De Leon, after taking victory by over 10 seconds.
Lay had held onto second until lap 16, but was visibly struggling. “I had an upshift problem and sometimes had to double shift. Into Island I was briefly free wheeling and had Alex and Peter go either side of me,” he explained.
Khateeb was second on the road, but 15 seconds track limits penalties dropped him to ninth, leaving Tyler and Lay to join De Leon on the podium.
“I was pushing very hard, just over the limit and didn’t see the first warning board, it was an education though,” said Khateeb. “I was content to sit behind Alex as I could see he was getting a penalty,” Tyler added.
Caisley had charged into fifth by lap 12, “I was going OK, then I pushed too hard to catch Peter and overshot at Island,”he admitted.
Chance managed to fend off Preen after a racelong duel, while Caisley finally came home sixth, with Stone, RJ’s Chris Headlam, the penalised Khateeb and Rishover completing the top 10.
In race two De Leon successfully held off Lay and Caisley into Old Hall, as they made an early break, leaving Stone defending fourth at the head of a four car train, from Khateeb, Tyler and Rishover. “I had learned from the mistake in the first race,” De Leon admitted.
Lay had started to close on the lead again by lap six, but Tyler was up to fifth after Khateeb and Stone clashed at Island.
Khateeb headed pitwards and Stone continued for another five laps before pitting too.
It was De Leon’s victory, with Lay just 0.275 secs behind. “I had to keep a close watch on James coming and going though,” he said. “Daryl did well, I could get close up but had few chances to get him and they didn’t fall into place,” Lay added.
Caisley had stayed in touch for much of the race too, but had to settle for a solid third, “I had to be sensible, traffic, gaps and mistakes all made a difference,” he said.
Tyler was solo in fourth after the Stone and Khateeb tangle. Rishover was fifth on the road, but 15 seconds of penalties dropped him to eighth, promoting Preen, Chance and Jacek Zielonka, while Mark Williams and Andy Lowe rounded off the top 10.
As the lights went out for Sunday’s pitstop race De Leon converted his pole position into the early lead again, with Lay and Caisley close too.
But as the lead pair began to extend their advantage, Khateeb was hanging onto third placed Caisley, before a gap to Tyler, who headed a three way fight for sixth between Preen, Rishover and Stone.
Chance began to join the group ahead too as Preen consolidated sixth, but the top 10 had held station until the pitstop window opened, which coincided with a safety car intervention.
De Leon and Lay both stayed out, as did Lowe, with De Leon staying out until the very end of the window as the green flag appeared.
Lay lost out due to his success penalty and was down in 15th, while de Leon finally rejoined in 20th.
It was Khateeb that made the most of the changes, the new leader but under pressure from Caisley. Tyler was third, from Stone, Rishover and Zielonka, but Preen was making rapid progress too.
Caisley stuck right with Khateeb for the remaining laps, missing out by 0.913 secs. “I had so much pace, my car felt transformed, but I didn’t expect to win. The confidence is coming back and the pitstop from my RAW crew was perfect, but Ben was so close,” said Khateeb.
“It could have been my race to win, but fairly happy with second,” Caisley added.
A second podium for Tyler too, ”Everything came together, an excellent car and it flew, so I just sat there and drove it,” he reckoned.
Stone was a solid fourth, but Headlam and Zielonka moved up to complete the top six, after Preen’s late challenge on Rishover at Knickerbrook put them both down the order.
Chance was seventh, from Lay and the recovering Preen, while Williams completed the top 10. Rishover finally came in 12th, with De Leon 16th, behind the SR1 leaders.
