Round 2 – Rissington – 210Challenge

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June 7th Rissington Round 2

There had been a long gap between rounds, giving competitors plenty of extra time to prepare. The entry list was strong and included three guest drivers—Tom Whyte, Shaun Stonier and Nathan Caddick—who competed without being eligible for championship points. We were also fortunate to have good weather.

Heat 1 – A problem with the lights, caused confusion as the rear of the grid started before the front, which could have caused a serious incident, but thanks to the drivers’ professionalism it passed without consequence. After the false start, Morris once again made the rest of the field look slow as he charged from the middle of the grid into the lead. Morris controlled the race from start to finish and, despite having his A-level Physics exam the following morning, stayed composed to win by nearly 14 seconds. D. Bury
and Stone were locked in a battle for 2nd until Sifleet joined the fight and split the pair. D. Bury took 2nd, with Sifleet in 3rd. Henry, who had worked his way steadily through the field, caught and passed Stone at the final corner of the final lap to snatch 4th. It was a move Stone would unfortunately experience more than once during the day. Fowler completed the top 6

Heat 2 – Henry made a sharp start from the front row and quickly led the chasing pack in Heat 2. Stone slotted in behind him, with Shepheard, Hutton and Shelley close together in pursuit. By lap 5, Morris was closing rapidly on the leading group. A lap later, he passed D. Bury at Parc Ferme and set off after Stone. Despite the pressure from both Stone and Morris, Henry defended superbly to take the win. Morris moved ahead of Stone by the penultimate lap, and Stone then lost another place to D. Bury at the final corner on the last lap, dropping to fourth. Fowler 5^th, Sloane 6^th.

Heat 3 began with drama as Morris went off on the warm-up lap while trying to build heat into his tyres. Whyte led the field into the first corner, ahead of D. Bury in 2nd, Henry in 3rd, Caddick in 4th, Shelley in 5th and Stone in 6th. Stone quickly moved up to 3rd by lap 2 and opened a gap to Whyte, avoiding the kind of last-lap demotion that had troubled him earlier in the day. At the front, Henry stayed close to D. Bury and made his move on lap 7 to take the lead. He then went on to win, with D. Bury 2nd and Stone 3rd. Guest drivers Whyte and Caddick finished 4th and 5th respectively, ahead of Shelley in 6th and T. Bury in 7th. Sloane completed the top 6 points scorers, while Stone was also pleased to set the fastest lap of the race.

The Final – Henry lined up on pole for a final for the first time in his racing career, only to find another driver sitting in his grid slot, apparently under the impression it was first come, first served. After protests from both Henry and Stone, the field was sent round again, and this time D. Bury took up his correct position, leaving Henry proudly on pole.
When the flag dropped, disaster struck for Henry as a broken gear lever forced him to crawl back to Parc Ferme, in one of motorsport’s crueller ways of ending a dream. Morris made the cleanest start from the 2nd row, with D. Bury, Stone, Fowler and Sifleet leading the chase.
Morris quickly took control and extended his lead by more than a second per lap. By lap 6, Stone had moved into 2nd, pushing D. Bury back to 3rd. Fowler held 4th well against strong pressure from Sifleet until lap 8, when Sifleet found a way through.
Further down the order, Shelley, Sloane and T. Bury were locked in a close fight for 6th, while Shepheard, Skull, Owen and Hutton also battled hard. Morris took a commanding victory, while Stone, for the 3rd time that day, was passed by D. Bury at the final corner on the last lap — a pattern he could probably have done without. Sifleet finished 4th, Fowler 5th, Smith 6th, Shelley 7th, Sloane 8th, T. Bury 9th and Shepheard completed the top 10.

Left to right – Tom Stone, Harry Morris,
Dan Bury and Lionel Sifleet.
Fastest Lap of the day 33.24 – Harry Morris.