Harper wins at EWS R3 as two Champions crowned early
Round 3 of the Essex Winter Series took place yesterday at the popular British series’ regular venue in the South-East of the UK where a win for Schumacher’s Elliot Harper keeps the championship wide open while Zak Finlay and Dan Blake secured titles. Harper secured pole position in the LRP Modified class, but he had a tight battle with Kyle Branson throughout. Branson, who took the win at Round 1 of the series in October, topped the opening round with his Awesomatix, before Harper took control to win the remaining rounds. The winner at Round 2 of the series, Alex Thurston, lined up third with his Mugen Seiki, ahead of Xray’s Harley Eldridge and the Schumacher of Peter Eagles. In the final, Elliott remained in control and quickly opened up a lead at the front ahead of Branson. The battle on track was for third, with Harley continually closing in on Alex. After keeping the pressure on, Eldridge finally found a way past Thurston in the final minute of the race to move to a podium position. Almost at the same moment, Branson tapped a corner, damaging his car. He held on to second place, but Eldridge quickly closed in. Branson did all he could to keep Eldridge behind, but with a damaged car it proved difficult, leading to Eldridge making an excellent high-speed pass through the infield section on the penultimate lap to add to Branson’s injury, Thurston then also managed to sneak through on the final lap to secure a podium result. All this action left Harper to cruise to victory at the front. This keeps the overall championship wide open, with Harper, Thurston and Branson each having a win with two rounds of the series left to run.
Zak Finlay confirmed his hold over the Rush Stock class with the TQ and Win at the event, but it feels like his grip may be slipping slighty as the chasing pack seemed closer this time. Zak, who also took the win at the EWS International in December, took three rounds of qualifying with his Zombie-backed Awesomatix, with Schumacher designer Andy Murray topping Q3 to line up second on the grid. Finley Whitelock kept himself in the mix for the series podium by securing third with his Schumacher, ahead of the Awesomatix of Sam Nicholls and the Iris of Billy Fletcher. Zak secured the series win by leading every lap of the final – perhaps finding a little more speed by the final, but also helped by Andy having to constantly think about his team-mate behind as Finley stayed close throughout. However he was never able to try a serious pass and thus the top three finished in the order they started. Billy moved up to fourth with a good pass on Sam half way through the race, leaving Sam to round out the top five after five minutes.
Dan Blake continued his domination of the ToniSport Front Wheel Drive class, once again lining up on pole position and winning the A Final. As in previous events, Michael Chapman looked close throughout qualifying, especially after topping Q1, but Dan kept seeming to find more pace as the day went on, extending his lead from Q2 onwards. Former BTCC Champion Jake Hill took third on the grid, with Nathan Parker lining up fourth and Thomas Looney fifth. Once again, Dan was in control of the final, leading from start to finish to secure the championship with two rounds remaining. Michael held on to second place, and Nathan moved into a podium position with a great pass on Jake at the very first corner. Jake finished in fourth – his first EWS podium feeling even closer – and Thomas took fifth in the race.
The EWS continues in February with Round 4, and whilst the Stock and Front Wheel Drive titles are decided, it may give a clearer picture of who the podium contenders will be – as well as moving someone in Modified closer to the overall series win.
Source: EWS [ewsevents.co.uk]
