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SuperChamps, Round Five
Daytona Sandown Park
Round Five of SuperChamps saw a return to the GP circuit, this time for the fast-paced GP Format. The track was wet, and it was clear that consistent driving was going to play as much of a part as outright pace throughout the day.
The SODI class were first to hit the circuit with a healthy grid of both Light and Heavy category drivers. The track began to dry slowly and as drivers generated tyre temperature, lap times fell towards the end of the session. It was Heavy championship leader, Reece Harris who showed ultimate pace, leading overall into the dying moments of the session when the pole spot was snatched away by a mighty lap from Ronnie Deacon. The drivers lined up for the Shootout race with Deacon alongside Ryan Bentley, Leger Dimitriou and Tyler Orridge on row two. As the Lights disappeared into turn one for the first time, Reece Harris and Ash Chivers led the Heavies away behind. A close fought battle developed in the Lights with Abhay Parmar and Caesar Chen joining the leading bunch. Dimitriou was able to pass Deacon on lap three with Orridge following him through a few laps later, while the front three managing to just stay clear of hard charging Bentley in third. Reece Harris got clear of the chasing Heavies and was able to get himself up to ninth overall with Ash Chivers just a few seconds behind. Finishing positions of the Shootout dictated the starting grid of the Feature race and with the wealth of talent across the front few rows, it promised to be a hard-fought race. Dimitriou got away cleanly from pole but an uncharacteristic mistake on lap one left him dropping down the field, in turn promoting Tyler Orridge to first place. On lap eight Deacon took the lead, and it was just a lap later that the recovering Dimitriou appeared in second place. Deacon and Dimitriou got closer, swapping positions a few times, but it was the latter that ultimately was able to stay ahead in the final laps and secure the win. Ash Chivers took the Heavy lead on the final lap and was able to keep Reece Harris at bay, with Malachy Prakash coming home in third.
With the added benefit of the SODI class partially drying out the circuit as well as highlighting the more treacherous areas of the racing line, the DMAX drivers went out for their Qualifying session armed with slightly more data on where the pace lay. Adam Palmer showed immediate speed, fresh from competing in the Thursday Night League a few days earlier. Although it was incredibly close throughout the session with the top eight separated by less than a second. Within those were the Heavy pole setter and second place Yaseen Khan and Mikhail Sitnikov. Palmer led the rolling grids down to the start line and as the digital board lit up green it was third place Fin Ions got ahead of Freddie Burden on lap one to take second place. Thomas Williams joined the melee and there was barely a gap between them for the remainder of the race, particularly when Ashton Woolger started to pick his way through the pack. It was a spectacular end to the race when race leader Palmer, who had controlled the pace throughout, spun on the corner exit, crossing the finish line in reverse, much to the joy of the onlooking crowd. Sitnikov was able to get past Khan, and the pair were able to fend off Warren Gomm for third in the Heavies. At the start of the Feature race all eyes were on the front pack, many of the drivers had shown race winning pace but it was going to be a challenge to work together and stop Palmer from disappearing into the distance as he did in the Shootout. Freddie Burden got a phenomenal first lap under his belt and led the pack, chasing Palmer as they crossed the line for the first time. However, as the race went on Burden was under tremendous pressure from Ashton Woolgar and Thomas Williams and had no choice but to lose a little time in order to maintain a defensive position on the circuit. As Williams began to drop back Jamie Warner and Elliott Gottler joined the fray, all playing into Palmers hands as he continued to extend his lead. Fin Ions did his upmost to try and find his way onto the podium, but it wasn’t to be, with Burden and Woolger securing P2 and P1 positions respectively. Yaseen Khan led the Heavies initially but while trying to reclaim the lead from Sitnikov, he made contact and picked up a penalty dropping him back into second position. Third place was back and forth between Alfie Shrubb and Warren Gomm with the latter ultimately claiming the final spot on the podium.
Daytona Tamworth
A slightly damp and cold December morning greeted our two grids ahead of SuperChamps at Daytona Tamworth. With the GP format set to be used over the day’s running, we were in for a sensational round of racing.
In the N35-ST class, the Shootout was an attritional affair which was largely dominated by Harry Fitch, who took victory in the Lightweights, and overall categories, by nine seconds ahead of fastest driver Joseph Smith. In the Heavyweights, there was similar dominance but James Holliday was also able to secure fastest lap on his way to victory in the Shootout, ahead of championship rivals Caelan Wilson and James Stevenson. In the Final, the attritional factor remained present as the drivers took part in a twenty-five minute race. Once again, Harry Fitch was victorious, through a slightly smaller margin of eight seconds this time ahead of Theo Laverty, who to his credit took fastest lap. Laverty spent most the race being bothered by Brandon Barker, who finished the race in third, but was ultimately able to stay ahead. Joseph Smith looked pretty good for third, but a spin during the race meant that he narrowly missed out. There was no change to the Heavyweight order from the first race, as James Holliday once again went on to win, this time by nearly thirty seconds ahead of Wilson. Stevenson will be slightly frustrated with third, as whilst it’s more silverware to add to his fantastic season, Holliday gains some very valuable points on his rival at the end of the round.
In the DMAX class, the battle between Joseph Simcock and Jude Lillyman dominated the headlines in the first of the two DMAX races, the two of them sharing a superb battle in the final two laps. Simcock ended up picking up the first points of the day, just three tenths ahead of Lillyman in part due to a very staunch defence put up in the final act. It was not quite as close in the Heavyweights, where McKenzie Senior took a comfortable two and a half second victory ahead of Sonny Zacharias. Lillyman got his own back in the final, taking victory by eight seconds ahead of a charging Leo Jackson, while Nihal Joye stepped onto the last place on the podium with third. There was not much battling to speak of in a race that was ended under full course yellow due to a late red flag, Kieran Glover going off hard at turn three. The driver was okay, and he went on to finish third in the Heavyweight class. Speaking of the Heavyweights, McKenzie Senior won once again, with the fastest lap to boot as well. Sonny Zacharias joined him on the podium, but the margin between the two of them was just over twenty seconds.
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