SUPERCARHUB.COM WIN AGAIN, AS ENGLAND LOSE AGAIN

08/07/2010

The Supercarhub Race team notches up further wins to brighten a gloomy weekend

Courtesy of www.snappyracers.com for the above picture

On a day when many hearts were to be cruelly broken by events in South Africa, the Supercarhub race team made the long journey from Gloucestershire to the garden of England or to be more specific, Lydden Hill, near Dover, for rounds 11 and 12 in the Cannons MSA Tin Tops Championship.

With temperatures hitting the high 20's, the team knew it was going to be a tough meeting for both car and driver, but on the back of a double class win last time out, confidence was high.

Lydden Hill is a compact circuit, probably best known as the place that Rallycross was born. The former grass track circuit is just a mile long, with a good level of rise and fall following the contours of the landscape. Sunday started casually, with a later than usual start time for qualifying due to local planning and noise restrictions.

After a solid qualifying session, Nick was able to take second in class, with Russell Turner heading the class in his Mk1 Ford Escort. The other main challenger to Nick, Bernie Baxter, had a problem in qualifying and despite only managing a couple of laps was still a real threat, lining up on the row behind.

The first lap proved to be very eventful with a number of the larger engine cars nudging into each other, with pole sitter Andy Mitchell being the loser in the rough and tumble. From his 5th row starting position Nick was able to avoid the melee.

After 15 laps and Nick had secured another class podium, with second in class and 9th overall. Turner had been the star of the show, finishing second overall and first in class, with fastest lap. He would start the second race from the front row and was in with a real chance to take an overall win.

After a depressing look at the football, the team readied the Supercarhub Peugeot for the second race. Another solid result would really help in the goal of winning the class championship.

With Luke Bennett's Honda alongside, Turner looked fired up and ready to go for the win. Nick, meanwhile was focusing on keeping out of trouble and securing those all so important points.

At the rolling start it was a clean getaway for the whole grid, Turner harrying Bennett right around the first couple of laps and then on lap 3, Turner was through into the lead. Nick was in 9th and having his own tussle with a couple of other drivers.

Having cleanly made his way past Bennett, Turner was rudely knocked into a half spin at the bottom of Hairy Hill, the Escort broadside across the front of the Bennett Honda. Another clash into Paddock and they both dropped down the order and ultimately out of the race with damage to both cars. Turner was extremely annoyed and had to be restrained from showing his dis-pleasure at Bennett's driving.

This put Nick into a class lead and 7th overall and he quickly closed in on Cassar's Proton, the larger engined car unable to shake Nick off. With a lap to go, Nick backed off to protect his class lead and with rising water and oil temperatures, proved to be an excellent decision.�

So another big haul of points and yet again a win out of what appeared to be an unlikely outcome at the start of the race. The old adage 'to finish first, first you need to finish' springs to mind and the supercarhub driver certainly did just that. Maintaining the team's 100 percent finishing record, Nick's class lead is now stretched to 77 points and places him 5th overall in the championship standings. With dropped scores, which will come into play later in the season - this could lead to a top 3 position overall if no major problems are encountered.�

Whilst the England team failed to deliver, Nick scored when it mattered and as he sank his third bottle of water on a boiling hot day, said 'that was fun, a couple of great dices and another win, I am really pleased with how the event has gone today, despite the gearing being not ideal on some parts of the circuit. Roll on the next race!' The next Cannons Tin Tops event, in which Nick will be competing, is at Lydden Hill in Kent on 17th July.�

As mentioned previously there is now race footage from the Brands Races here on YouTube.� look at linked items (4 in total)