Mod Champion to be decided at EWS Finale – R4 Report
The penultimate round of the Essex Winter Series took place this Sunday, and confirmed that the LRP Modified champion would once again be crowned in the Series Finale next month! Kyle Branson opened proceedings, setting the best times in Q1 and Q2. The ToniSport-backed driver had now chosen to run a Mugen MTC-3 chassis for the rest of the winter, and it was a Mugen 1-2 as he led Alex Thurston in both the opening runs. Chris Grainger seemed to have re-found his form after a tough start to the winter by taking third in the first round and fourth in the second qualifier. Elliott Harper, a championship contender alongside Kyle and Alex, seemed on the back foot after a fifth and third place scores. However, for Q3, Elliott found some pace with his Schumacher, posting a new fastest time to top the round ahead of Kyle and Alex, before a tight final qualifier again saw Elliott lead Kyle and Alex to secure the overall pole position. Chris would line up fourth with his Reedy Power-backed Schumacher, with Bailey Graves (Schumacher) rounding out the top five. The A Final ultimately turned in to a dominant drive from Elliott, with the top three breaking away from the rest of the field in the opening laps, before Elliott then pulled away further to leave the two Mugen cars to fight over second and third. At the half-distance mark, Kyle made a small mistake, leaving just enough space for Alex to pounce and move up to second. However, a few laps later, a lapped car then took out Alex, allowing Kyle back up into second in the race. That was the order they finished, with Elliott making it back-to-back wins and moving into the championship lead. However, Kyle’s gift of second place leaves him tied with Elliott, and now Alex two points behind – meaning the championship will be decided in March.
Despite having the overall Rush Stock class championship wrapped up, Zak Finlay was determined to continue his run of success at EWS. The Zombie-backed driver took his Awesomatix to the pole position, topping three of the qualifying rounds. Schumacher designer Andy Murray demonstrated the continued development of his platform as he put in the best time in Q3 to line up second on the grid, and looking closer to Zak than he previously had at the earlier rounds of EWS. Finley Whitelock continues to make his mark on the UK Touring Car scene and lined up third on the grid for Schumacher, with Cosmic RC driver Adam Southgate in fourth and the Schumacher of Ethan Southall rounding out the top five. It was a fight in the A Final between the top three qualifiers – Zak was able to quickly build a lead of about one second, but that fluctuated as Andy switched between defending his position from Finley, and attacking Zak ahead. Finlay kept the pressure on and as the race approached the final minute, a small bobble from Andy allowed his team-mate through into second place, and that was the order they finished. Behind, Adam had remained close to the top-three battle throughout and then closed within a second at the buzzer and Ethan maintained his fifth place at the end. This means that Andy and Finley are split by two points ahead of the Season Finale in the fight to be runner-up to Zak in the standings.
As in the Stock class, the ToniSport Front Wheel Drive class continues to be dominated by one driver as Dan Blake led every round of qualifying. Lining up second on the grid this time would be 2024 British Touring Car Champion Jake Hill, scoring his best ever qualifying result at EWS. Jake would be ahead of Michael Chapman, who had a chance to secure the championship runner-up spot at the event, with the rest of the top five on the starting grid made up of Mark Trinder and Stuart Collard. Dan’s domination of the class continued in the final, leading the race from the start and seemingly building his gap every single lap. Jake maintained second place, with Michael a few seconds behind – not close enough to attempt any pass, but staying in touch so that if Jake made a mistake, Michael would have a chance to pounce. The close FWD racing continued behind, with Nathan Parker making moves from ninth on the grid to move up – knowing that he needed to beat Michael to stand any chance of replacing him as series runner-up. Whilst Dan had a lonely race to stamp his authority on the final, Jake didn’t put a wheel wrong and took a well-deserved second place, with Michael rounding out the podium. Nathan had just too much work to do, but ended up fourth at the finish and Stuart finishing in fifth. That result should mean that Michael will take second place in the points standings and Nathan making the podium – but those positions will only be confirmed following next month’s finale.
The series concludes with Round 5 in March – which will include the overall championship presentations!
Source: EWS [ewsevents.co.uk]
