Joe Kerry wins British 200mm Nationals Rd7

Round 7 of the British 200mm Championship took place at the Colchester circuit. The weather was very good on both days with temperatures reaching 29 degrees on Sunday. The grip was surprisingly not that bad when the first cars took to the track which is quite rare in the UK. At the end of practice it was Serpent/O.S. driver Joe Kerry setting the pace getting down to 14.1 lap times. Shepherd/Sonic driver Andy Hastings headed the rest of the field around 0.2 seconds behind. At the end of qualifying Joe took TQ with Andy taking second and John Zottl third.

Qualifying results:
1. Joe Kerry – Serpent/O.S. Speed/Xceed – 21L 307.13
2. Andy Hastings – Shepherd/Sonic/Shepherd – 21L 309.62
3. John Zottl – Shepherd/Sonic/Shepherd – 21L 313.80
4. Pete Hastings – Shepherd/Sonic/Shepherd – 21L 317.45
5. Matthew Cook – Hot Bodies/O.S. Speed/Xceed – 20L 300.03
6. Paul Bellinger – Serpent/Xceed/Xceed – 20L 306.48
7. Jason Leggett – Serpent/Sirio/Xceed – 20L 309.93
8. Peter Spratley – Xray/Novarossi/Matrix – 20L 310.51
9. Neil Wallace – Kyosho/Sirio/Matrix – 20L 314.48
10.Chris O’Donoghue – Capricorn/Capricorn/Carpricorn – 19L 302.85

Due to the nature of the track the tyre wear was extremely high with some drivers even considering a tyre change for the 30 minute final. The final started in grid order with the top 5 cars all maintaining their positions on the opening lap. On lap 2 a racing incident saw Andy Hastings and Joe Kerry fall to the back of the field which left way for Pete Hastings to take over the lead. Joe quickly found his way back through the pack and was back in the lead before the first fuel stops. After the pit stops, Joe continued to extend his advantage at the front and focused on saving his tyres. Meanwhile John Zottl, Matthew Cook, and Pete Hastings all battled for second place. At the halfway point John lost his front belt which dropped him back leaving Matthew and Pete to fight for the seconc position. Towards the end of the race and Pete had completely run out of tyre so was forced to withdraw. In the very last minute John Zottl overtook Pete’s time to move into third. In the end Joe won 6 laps clear of Matthew in second, with John just holding on for third place by less than a second.

Final Results:
1. Joe Kerry – Serpent/O.S. Speed/Xceed – 119Laps
2. Matthew Cook – Hot Bodies/O.S. Speed/Xceed – 113Laps
3. John Zottl – Shepherd/Sonic/Shepherd – 108Laps
4. Jason Leggett – Serpent/Sirio/Xceed – 108Laps
5. Pete Hastings – Shepherd/Sonic/Shepherd – 105Laps
6. Peter Spratley – Xray/Novarossi/Matrix – 105Laps
7. Andy Hastings – Shepherd/Sonic/Shepherd – 104Laps
8. Neil Wallace – Kyosho/Sirio/Matrix –96Laps
9. Chris O’Donoghue – Capricorn/Capricorn/Carpricorn – 89Laps
10.Paul Bellinger – Serpent/Xceed/Xceed – 30Laps

There are now just two rounds remaining in the British Championship with the title still up for grabs. The next race will take place at Snetterton on the weekend 7th/8th September.

Thanks to Joe Kerry for sending the report.