Sweep UK Rug Racers series Rd2 report

Racers hit the carpet once more for round 2 of the Sweep UK Rug Racers series. With almost maximum capacity across Touring and GT12 (as well as a very good attendance of 1/12th Circuit drivers) the day would be a busy one. 13.5T qualifying and Ashley Wiffen (Schumacher Mi4cxl) was on top spot after round 1 with 26/ 307.81. Behind him Jimmy Maddison was on form and looking good for a top spot with Colin Gardner showing some good early pace in 3rd. Ashley would improve his time by 5 second in round 2 with fellow Schumacher team mate, and last year’s champ, Paul Pinkney now moving to second spot on another 26 lap run. Jimmy would also improve to 26 to stay in there with 3rd spot. The track was getting ever quicker, and with it Jimmy put in a blistering 27/ 306.16 in round 3 to top the table ahead of Paul and Ashley both on 27 laps as well. It was clear that to be in the A-main a 27 or fast 26 would be needed. Ashley set to it and was pulling out everything to take pole, and he did with a 27/ 301.79 . Paul improved on his time to go 2nd a few seconds shy of Ashley, with Jimmy in 3rd spot with his round 3 time.

Leg 1 of the A-Main would see Ashley take the win ahead of Paul with Ricky Copsey moving up the field to finish 3rd. Leg 2 would see some thrilling driving from Ashley and Jimmy and one of the best comeback run’s by Paul Pinkney. Paul would find himself near the back of the field at the start of the race and work back though the field over the 5 minutes. Jimmy was fighting hard to keep 1st place and managed to hold on to it to the end. Paul though fought hard and got back through the field, taking Ashley with a superb move to recover to 2nd where he would finish with Ashley just behind him.  Overall Ashley & Paul would finish with 4 points each, but on count back Ashley would take this rounds win. Paul would be second with Tony Broad, and some consistent finishes, in 3rd spot. Here are the final places for the A-Main –

1. Ashley Wiffen 4 [ 1 3 ]
2. Paul Pinkney 4 [ 2 2 ]
3. Tony Broad 9 [ 5 4 ]
4. Ricky Copsey 10 [ 3 7 ]
5. Jimmy Maddison 11 [ 10 1 ]
6. Richard King 12 [ 6 6 ]
7. Mark Buonaiuto 12 [ 4 8 ]
8. Brian Eldridge 14 [ 9 5 ]
9. John Painter 17 [ 8 9 ]
10.Leyton Foster 17 [ 7 10 ]

In 17.5T (Stock) Touring the day would start out with Richard Clarke and his TOP Photon EX going fastest in round 1 with a 24/ 306.47 time. Next up, just a few tenths back, would be Mark Young in 2nd with another TOP EX and Malc Hall topping out the top 3 with his HB TCXX. Round 2 would see Richard improve to 25/ 310.68 with no change to Mark and Malc behind him. Round 3 and Mark was now pushing the times and with it he would go top with a 25/ 303.92, Richard just 0.07 shy in 2nd spot and Malc third also on 25 laps. The final round would be the one to watch. All the top 3 could take pole, plus a few others showing ability like Dani Young and Andy Ashman who could pull out a good run. Through the 5 minutes the lead changed between Richard and Malc. They were heading away from Mark who was off the pace this round. As the time ran out Malc would take pole from Richard by just 2 hundredths of a second. Mark had done enough to claim 3rd spot though with his round 3 time so that’s where he would start for the A-Main.

In leg 1 of the A-Main Malc would get away but a collision with Richard a few laps in would drop them away from the field. Dani Young (TOP Photon EX) would come through to take the win though with a great drive, Nicky Yarranton (TOP Photon EX) would be second and Mark Young third. Leg 2 and this time Malc got another good start and held a gap over Richard Clarke for the 5 minutes. Taking this leg win ahead of Richard with Nicky 3rd. Overall with some very consistent driving this meant Nicky would take this rounds overall win, a great achievement for this up and coming driver. Malc Hall would take 2nd overall with Mark Young 3rd. Here is how the A-Main finished up –

1. Nicky Yarranton 5 [ 2 3 ]
2. Malc Hall 6 [ 5 1 ]
3. Mark Young 7 [ 3 4 ]
4. Dani Young 9 [ 1 8 ]
5. Andy Ashman 9 [ 4 5 ]
6. Richard Clarke 11 [ 9 2 ]
7. Jason Butterfield 12 [ 6 6 ]
8. Terry Yarranton 15 [ 8 7 ]
9. Iain Bone 16 [ 7 9 ]
10.Don Irvine 20 [ 10 10 ]

Over to GT12 now and Tom Hampson would have his Mardave hustled by David Gales SuperStox up to the line in leg 1. Tom would take the win by just under 4 seconds from David with Garrett James in third. Leg 2 would see a much more dominant run from Tom. Taking the win by over a lap from a hard battling due of Garrett and David. In the end though Garrett took 2nd spot just .16 of a second in front of David. Your top ten in the A-Main finished like this –

1. Tom Hampson 2 [ 1 1 ]
2. Garrett James 5 [ 3 2 ]
3. David Gale 5 [ 2 3 ]
4. Chris Wilkinson 8 [ 4 4 ]
5. Harley Eldridge 13 [ 5 8 ]
6. Dan Howes 13 [ 7 6 ]
7. James Carvell 15 [ 10 5 ]
8. Dave Taylor 15 [ 6 9 ]
9. Alan Chipolina 16 [ 9 7 ]
10.Richard Thorpe 18 [ 8 10 ]

Finally we have the 1/12th class. This round saw more drivers attending which can only be a good thing for this class in the South East UK in showing what a great class this is. In round 1 Mark Styles would just about take the lead ON 43/ 486.54 with his CRC from Chris Clarke. A gap of just .06 of a second separating the pair. Gary Dyson would run well to third spot this round. Round 2 and this time Mark had found his pace. Pulling out to 45 laps he was proving his skill in this class. Chris would also improve adding another lap to his best time to hit the 44 marker. James Stewart would now move into third spot with a good 43 lap run. Mark would improve by a few second into round 3 to stay on top, this time though Gary had got the bit between his teeth and powered into the 44 lap mark placing second this round. In the final leg of qualifying it looked like Mark would be favourite for pole and he did not disappoint. A 46 lap run in 486.81 secured pole ahead of James Stewart who was really on it that last round just piping Gary into second spot. Gary’s 3rd leg time was good though and 3rd place on the grid was his.

In the A-Main Mark would take the win in both legs comfortably and with it this round. The battle was really for second spot between James and Gary. Gary would take the upper hand in leg 1 of the A-Main with James 3rd so all he needed was to squeeze out James in leg 3, but it was James piling on the pressure and taking 2nd in the final leg, equaling their points tally. On the tie breaker James would take 2nd overall this round, Gary 3rd. Your 1/12th drivers finished like this –

1. Mark Stiles 2 [ 1 1 ]
2. James Stewart 5 [ 3 2 ]
3. Gary Dyson 5 [ 2 3 ]
4. Garrett James 9 [ 4 5 ]
5. James Cann 9 [ 5 4 ]
6. Chris Wilkinson 16 [ 6 10 ]
7. Chris Clarke 20 [ 10 10 ]
8. Daniel Booker 20 [ 10 10 ]

Yet again another great round and some incredible driving. Thanks from the SUKRR Team for coming along. Don’t forget round 3 is on December 2nd and booking in will be filling up so get your entries in now.

Source: Hertford Racing [hertfordracing.co.uk]