Round three of the BRCA touring car series saw one of the most exciting races of the series so far this season. With mixed weather conditions and an emphasis on a good tyre strategy, the meeting was on a knife-edge with numerous possibilities panning out for the three leg finals.
Day one saw a dominating performance from Schumacher’s Elliott Harper who Elliott held the overnight lead, but it was felt he was gambling on wet weather for day two and was using his tyre allocation to ensure pole position for the A final.
Overnight rain cleared the track of its sugar water and the change in grip level saw a shift in performance. Going quick on old tyres in the last qualifier was Xray’s Olly Jefferies and he would move up to third on the grid behind Elliott’s team mate Colin Price who it was felt was on a similar strategy to the Mi5evo driver who was confirmed on pole. Team Associated’s Chris Grainger was in the same boat as Olly with two new sets of Sorex slick tyres and he was fourth on the grid with his team mate Zak Smith just behind him.
In the A finals, Elliott Harper took leg one ahead of Olly Jefferies and Chris Grainger, but now the Schumacher ace was out of new tyres and that was his downfall as he struggled for grip over the final two legs. Chris took leg two ahead of Olly and in the final leg it was Colin Price that took the win. This left a rather bizarre situation of the first three drivers tied on four points each, but the tie break went the way of Colin with Chris second and Olly completing the podium. Zak Smith took a well-deserved fourth with a disappointed Elliott fifth.
In pro stock Schumacher’s James Hart was the man to beat and after a convincing display in qualifying on day one it looked like a walk in the park for his first win since re-joining Schumacher. Putting a mixed first day behind him defending champion Zak Finlay came good on Sunday and would line up behind James and provide the challenge in the A finals.
James Hart took leg one and Zak Finlay leg two to set-up a ‘winner takes all’ last final. The watching crowd were treated to a very close contest in which one mistake would be costly. Both drivers drove a faultless five minutes and James held on to take the win, second for Zak still puts him a strong championship position and third was local man Andy Robson.
The next round of the series is the fast flowing Halifax circuit and if Zak Finlay can beat James Hart there it would be ‘job done’ for his championship defence. In modified super touring it’s a lot more open with a lot of potential scenario on the table – roll on round four next month!