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12th October, Buxton,
National Championship
Harold Lowe won the Grand Prix Midget National
Points Championship at Buxton on Sunday 12th October. The
championship went right down to the wire, with last race of
the season being the dramatic decider. Harry came through
to win the final race, to come back from a 5 point deficit
to win the title by just one solitary point! John Salter also
had a good day, taking home the National Championship, after
a good battle with European Champion Daz Rycroft. The Buxton
meeting saw a good turn out of drivers, with everyone anxious
to see the outcome of a season long battle for the prestigious
Points Championship.
The first race of the day was the National
Championship, run over 25 laps. Peter Bourn was the early
leader, after spins from Mark Hodges and Gary Bonner, but
it was John Salter and Daz Rycroft who came through from the
reds to take over the lead and looked to be starting to pull
away. The top 3 in the Championship were all very close, fighting
for points and 3rd position. However a slide from Daz Rycroft
allowed Alan Buckland and Harry Lowe up the inside, whereby
Alan started to close down on John Salter. With so few laps
left John Salter was able to hang and take the chequered flag
and the National Championship, from Alan Buckland, Harry Lowe,
Daz Rycroft, Andrew Bilby, Andy Collins, Gordon Pooley, and
Neil Clarke.
Race 2 saw Dave Smith take the early lead,
pulling out a significant gap the length of the straight from
second place Gordon Pooley. A collision between Alan Buckland
and Peter Bourn, resulting in Peter's car being planted in
the wall on the back straight, meant the waved yellows had
to be brought out. This allowed the field to close up for
the restart. Although Dave Smith was able to hold onto the
lead for a while following the restart, the reds were eventually
able to find a way past with Daz Rycroft going on to take
the win. The gap between the top 3 (now consisting of Alan
Buckland, Harold Lowe and Daz Rycroft) was further reduced
after Alan Buckland and Harold Lowe were disqualified from
race 2 for overtaking under yellow flags. This gave an end
result whereby Daz took the win from Mark Hodges, Dave Smith,
John Salter, Andrew Bilby, Gary Bonner, and Andy Hinch, with
Ez Walker rounding off the top eight.
The third and final race of the 2003 season
was to be the decider for the overall Championship. With 12
points (not pints) for a win, and only 9 points separating
Alan Buckland, Harold Lowe, and Daz Rycroft, it was all to
play for. Once again Dave Smith was the early leader, building
up a big lead from Mark Hodges and Harold, who had rapidly
moved his Spartan through the field. Harold was able to overtake
Mark Hodges, and Alan Buckland was starting to reel in the
leading pack. However the final lap was filled with controversy.
Harold had taken the outside line around the last bend and
crossed the line just ahead of Dave Smith. Alan Buckland had
also darted up the inside of Mark Hodges to take 3rd. However
a collision between the two as they came out of the final
bend resulted in both spinning across the line and up the
bank, with no one quite sure who had got 3rd, and therefore
the point's championship. Mark was eventually awarded 3rd
place, with Alan 4th, giving Harold the Point's Championship
by 1 point!!! The end result of the race was Harold Lowe,
from, Dave Smith, Mark Hodges, Alan Buckland, John Salter,
Gordon Pooley, Andrew Bilby, and Daz Rycroft. Congratulations
to Harold Lowe for winning, and to Alan Buckland (2nd), Daz
Rycroft (3rd), and to all Midget drivers for a cracking and
intense season. Let's hope for plenty more next season!!
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