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Thursday Night League, Round Four - Milton Keynes
SODI:
The layout for round four was a very different one to what the drivers were used to. Both the Cliff drop and bus stop parts of the track being utilised, adding three extra corners to the already extensive Daytona Milton Keynes circuit.
Barry Morris took his second pole position in a row by three tenths over Richard Danby, utilising all of his experience to his advantage. On his debut in the championship Harry Forsyth took an exceptionally impressive third place start giving him an opportunity to fight for the race win.
Morris once again dominated another round of Thursday Night League, making it two victories out of two for the Daytona veteran and pushing him up to third in the championship. Danby finished second and, with his solid results, acquired the championship lead.
Jude Lillyman, the lap record holder at Daytona Tamworth, had a superb drive to finish on the final step of the podium holding on by only two tenths. Unfortunately for Forsyth he just missed out on a podium debut.
DMAX:
The DMAX Category yet again was fiercely contented with many big names out on track looking to take the race win.
Jamie Tiley-Gooden stormed to the pole position four tenths over the exceptionally quick Dom Balasaitis and Nathan Boyle. Oliver Sargeant and Paul Granger were separated by just two thousandths of a second for fourth and fifth with Lee Schnitzler a little way back in sixth.
It was a little bit of a messy start with a few spins on the opening lap’s, leaving some drivers playing catchup to try and make there way back into the points paying position. Four drivers were locked in for the final spot on the podium with Boyle, Sargeant, Granger and Schnitzler all separated by just a second in the opening laps.
Tiley-Gooden yet again showed just how quick he is, by taking his second clean sweep of the season. Leading every lap whilst achieving the fastest lap of the race. Balisaitis took second place and added a sufficient haul of points to open his account in the championship. After an epic scrap for the final spot, it was Granger who came out on top finishing just in front of Schnitzler, Boyle and Sargeant.
SuperChamps Season Three, Round One – Sandown Park
SODI:
The return of the new SuperChamps season at Daytona Sandown Park saw a twenty-four driver SODI grid, with plenty of familiar and fresh faces on a clear and sunny Sunday morning. All drivers prepared themselves for the heats format to come. A perfect opportunity to gain an early advantage for the season ahead.
Heat one commenced with Jason Cham and Ryan Bentley on the front row. Followed by Harrison Rudge and Jamie Warner on the second. Warner had a fantastic start, taking the lead by the third corner. Only one lap later, he had built a gap of over 2.8 seconds. Harrison Rudge, now in second, fought off Frederick Navarro as less than two tenths separated the two. Approaching lap ten the gap to Jamie Warner had closed, and a four-way battle for the SODI Lightweight win had kicked off. Ellis McKenzie ultimately took the heat win with a fantastic drive from the middle of the grid. Followed closely by Jamie Warner and Nelson Taylor.
For the heavyweights, Reece Harris established his dominance early with a win in heat one by a considerable margin of three seconds. Newcomer Nathan Clifford displayed great skill and took second place. Carl Grocott rounded off the top three after an early incident took Sam Roy out of contention for the podium.
All SODI drivers were then promptly re-gridded for the second heat of the morning. The unbelievable pace continued with a similar story on the podium, Ellis Mckenzie took a second heat win, securing himself pole position for the final with a fantastic performance. Taylor took second place securing himself second on the final grid alongside Navarro. Who finally showed his pace, with the fastest lap of the session.
For heat two the same story ensued for the heavyweights. Reece Harris took the win once again. Followed by Nathan Clifford and Carl Grocott. Clifford however, set the fastest heavyweight lap of the day by that point, with a fifty two second lap. Displaying potential for Reece’s win to be challenged.
As all twenty-four drivers lined up on the grid for the first final of the season. They all hoped for a good points haul to start their title run. The front of the SODI grid saw drivers exchanging positions regularly, with key moves being made at turn six and turn eight. By the end of the race Nelson Taylor managed to better the star-studded grid and take home the win. Following closely was Max Winfield with 0.5 separating the two across the line. A great drive amidst a close battle saw Ellis McKenzie take home third place. Some fantastic racing amidst an incredibly close lightweight grid. There is no doubt we have a great season of racing ahead of us.
For the Heavyweights, Reece Harris secured all bar one point for round one, as he took home a comfortable first place. Ten seconds behind, Nathan Clifford pursued, finishing second. A further fifteen seconds behind, Carl Grocott secured.
Fantastic racing from all drivers in the start of the new season - plenty to look forward to.
DMAX:
The first round of the new season saw a return of many of the titans alongside many new drivers. Twenty lightweight drivers lined up for the first practice session of the day. Seven regular faces in our Heavyweight Championship were also poised and ready to fight for early points.
The Lights were the first to head out on circuit, with the track freshly rubbered in from the SODI drivers. Initial pace was strong with Alfie Mitchell leading the way, the only driver to set a sub forty-seven second lap time. First to seventeenth were separated by less than a second displaying how close the races were to be.
In the DMAX Heavyweights, Andreas Demetriades led the charge with a 47.8, although the entire grid was less than a second behind him. Drivers such as William Willard and Tristan Buirski lined up to be the main competitors over the remaining races.
Antonio Sholin took an early heat one win beating the likes of Luka Nik with a defensive masterclass. Less than four tenths separated the two as the chequered flag went out although Mitchell was narrowly behind.
Willard managed to find himself in front of Demetriades for heat one, they were wheel to wheel crossing the line. Buirski with a fantastic drive managed to fend off Andreas Gurdjian, less than a second and a half separated the two.
Heat two saw a massive switch up for the lightweight drives. In an incredible start by turn four, Henry Lopes Gracey had managed to move from tenth to first almost unbelievably. By lap ten there was a complete mix up in positions as Karlis Elmanis took the lead and built a gap of 1.7 seconds in which he would maintain until the end. Archie Bullard and Luka Nik move past Lopes Gracey into second and third, less than 0.6 separating the two. By the end of heat two, Elmanis took first, Bullard in second and Nik in third in what was an incredibly entertaining heat two.
In the Heat two, Demetriades displayed a dominant performance, he became the only driver to break into the forty-seven seconds. Buirski finished second ahead of Willard in third. At this point Demetriades was seconds clear.
Heading into the lightweight final, SuperChamp Superstars filled the front two rows with Nik on pole, Bullard in second, Lopes Gracey in third and Steve Hannon in fourth. Bullard got away early and built a fantastic gap in light of the battle for second. A battle between Nik and Lopes-Gracey ensued amidst a four-way battle for second. Hannon and Sholin were incredibly close behind. In the final laps a racing incident between Nik and Lopes Gracey on turn six left Nik out of contention for the podium. Bullard took the race win with a seven second lead to Sholin who found success amidst the Nik-Lopes Gracey battle and Lopes Gracey rounded out the top three in a fantastic final.
In the Heavyweight final, Demetriades continued a dominant performance pace wise, setting a fastest lap time of a 47.4 which would challenge those of the lightweight leaders. He ended up beating Buirski by just over twelve seconds, with Willard following suit in third, just a second behind that of Buirski. The heavyweight final signified the start of fantastic form for Demetriades which should be paid attention to for the duration of the season, alongside plenty of fantastic performances.
Well done to all DMAX drivers in the first round of what is to be an exciting season.
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