Rissington Round 2 – May 1st

Great to see another big grid and although Adam Woodward returned after a few years gap to swell the ranks, as yet we haven’t quite hit the magic 20. Soon, very soon! Practice went well on the Saturday in fine conditions but race day was wet and miserable catching quite a few out.

Heat 1 saw Woodward lead the chasing pack into the first corner. Out of it on a very slippery track saw quite a few taking avoiding actions, as it appeared T. Bury and Fowler had a little tête-à-tête shall we say! As they completed the first lap it was D. Bury 1st followed by Henry, Perkins, L. Sifleet, A. Sifleet and Woodward. D. Bury gave a masterclass in ‘racing in the wet’ lapping drivers up to 6th place to win by a mile. Henry fell into the clutches of Perkins and both Sifleets. By lap 4 L. Sifleet was up to 2nd demoting Perkins who had his vision greatly impaired by a fogged up visor! On lap 7 A. Sifleet now donning his coveted ‘0’ plate and who could see, demoted Perkins further down the field to claim 3rd. 1st D. Bury, 2nd L. Sifleet, 3rd, A. Sifleet, 4th Perkins, 5th Henry and our budding Novice Rawden 6th who’d made up 10 places during the race.

The Final was declared a dry race. D. Bury, L. Sifleet and Perkins hosted the front row. It was Perkins who shot straight into the lead followed by L. Sifleet, D. Bury, A. Sifleet, Rawden, Fowler and the rest. By lap 3 Perkins had pulled out a slight lead leaving the 4 behind to contest 2nd place. On lap 5 L. Sifleet, D. Bury, A. Sifleet and Rawden all appeared to try and negotiate the beginning of the Back Straight 4 abreast until disaster presented itself. Owen (N) minding his own business had drivers pass each side, he was clipped by one which caused him to spin right into the path of Rawden, with nowhere to go he also spun putting him out of the race. Rawden’s only consolation was he’d achieved fastest lap again!!! (way to go young man). Leaving the fray behind him Perkins now had a comfortable lead. L. Sifleet was still 2nd with A. Sifleet having passed D. Bury in all the mayhem! Fowler and Henry were having a good race in 5th and 6th as was Stone, Green and T. Bury a little further down the field. Three laps from the end D. Bury was seen to slow and Fowler was out. As the flag fell Perkins came in victorious (amazing what you can do if you can see!! ) A. Sifleet 2nd, L. Sifleet 3rd, Henry 4th, Green 5th, D. Bury 6th, Stone 7th, T. Bury 8th, Hancock 9th with Hopes completing the top 10.

Heat 2. Eventually the field got away and Perkins still dogged with visual issues led the pack for the first 2 laps until A. Sifleet passed him at the end of the Back Straight. The following lap saw D. Bury do the same manoeuvre to claim 2nd and to give chase to A. Sifleet. L. Sifleet maintained a steady 4th throughout the race. R. Sloane battled it out with Rawden (N) throughout most of the race with Rawden just having the edge. A. Sifleet defended his 1st place from D. Bury until the last lap when then they approached a back marker and D. Bury took the advantage and snatched the lead at Parc Ferme bend. 1st D. Bury, 2nd A. Sifleet, 3rd Perkins, 4th L. Sifleet, 5th Rawden, 6th Sloane.

Heat 3 saw D. Bury and L. Sifleet fight for first position for 8 laps with D. Bury keeping hold of the win. A. Sifleet lying in 3rd until lap 5 was experiencing issues, Perkins took 3rd place. Rawden, (bearing in mind he has a back row grid as a Novice) was flying and by lap 7 was up to 3rd having claimed the fastest lap on lap 5! Stone was also motoring and perhaps given another lap would have claimed 4th. As pictured T. Bury, Fowler, Henry, Sloane and Hopes were having a great battle to catch Hancock in 6th. 1st D. Bury, 2nd L. Sifleet, 3rd Rawden (N) 4th Perkins, 5th Stone, 6th Hancock.