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A decent grid signed on for the Midland Championships at Rissington, 210 drivers also competing for the Roger Powell Memorial Shield. Dan Rawden the fastest novice in the west was proudly displaying his red plates. The weather outlook had originally been horrendous but luckily for us it stayed favourable until the final!!
Heat 1. L. Sifleet led the pack into the first corner followed by Perkins A. Sifleet and D. Bury, Hopes and Rawden. By lap 3 it was a complete change with the front four. Perkins now led, D. Bury 2nd, L. Sifleet 3rd and A. Sifleet 4th. Most of the manoeuvres made along the back straight. Unfortunately A. Sifleet developed mechanical issues and dropped back. Hopes and Rawden were very equally matched in 4th and 5th place, on lap 6 Rawden squeezed passed Hopes to claim 4th, Hopes having none of it repassed him on the last lap. Perkins came in 1st 0.83 ahead of D. Bury, L. Sifleet 3rd, Hopes 4th, Rawden 5th and Henry 6th.
Heat 3 It was D. Burys turn to lead the field until L. Sifleet took over, D. Bury now in 2nd with Perkins and A. Sifleet fighting for 3rd, Rawden 5th and Henry 6th. By lap 5 it began to drizzle with rain enough to warrant the slippery surface flag to be displayed. Fowler had passed Henry to claim 6th.
Henry regained his 6th spot on the following lap. Lap 7, and Perkins was up to 2nd having passed D. Bury along the back straight to make roads on L. Sifleet. As the flag fell only 0.14 separated 1st place man L. Sifleet and Perkins in 2nd, D. Bury 3rd, A. Sifleet 4th,Rawden 5th and after another photo finish Fowler crossed the line in 6th 0.11 ahead of Henry!
Heat 2. One would agree that Stone stole the show for heat 2 having started from his front row position like a rat up a drainpipe, at least a week before anyone else!!!! Jump start ? surely not! Stone well ahead of the rest attempted a whole lap in the lead but it was not to be as Perkins was on a mission and was up to 1st by the end of the lap. L. Sifleet gave chase on lap 2 but would have to settle for 2nd. A. Sifleet and D. Bury swapped places a few times, whilst Fowler was making good progress to catch the front runners. 1st Perkins, 2nd L. Sifleet, a near photo finish between 3rd D. Bury and 4th A. Sifleet. 5th Fowler, 6th Stone
Final: During the lunch break we were greeted with some heavy rain and the 210’s were first to race on the gearbox circuit which proved a little tricky for some. L. Sifleet took the early lead but he spun on lap 2 handing the lead to D. Bury, he was closely followed by Perkins and A. Sifleet. By lap 3 the top 4 had pulled away the length of the start straight from the rest of the field. Rawden had been 5th until he had to react quickly after L. Sifleet spun rejoining in 12th. As a recent novice Rawden was used to coming from the back and it wasn’t long until he’d picked his way through. Hancock in was now in 5th. Lap 4 saw D. Bury eek out a slight lead. Lap 5 saw L. Sifleet have another swerve delightful and although he remained in 4th he’d put himself even further back after making good progress. Perkins was being seriously hassled by A. Sifleet and would be demoted to 3rd on lap 7. The last lap saw the top 6 catch up with 4 back markers into the Dog Leg (a close your eyes moment) some were 3 abreast all very exciting. All managed to make it through safely through remaining in the same order. A. Sifleet could now smell the win, as they crossed the line D. Bury kept the lead by 0.10. Superb driving in the wet by all.
D. Bury 1st, A. Sifleet 2nd, Perkins 3rd,L. Sifleet 4th, Hancock 5th, Rawden 6th, Henry 7th, Hopes 8th, Fowler 9th and Sloane completing the top ten.
Congratulations Dan Bury
2022 Midland Champion & recipient of the Roger Powell Memorial Shield
