| |
|
26th July, Ringwood,
British Championship
Report by Gavin Terry
Harold Lowe won the
British Championship at a very wet Ringwood on Saturday 26th
July to take his first major title. However it was newcomer
to the formula, Steve Terry, who proved to be the rain master
taking a third in the British and following it up with two
heat wins.
Sixteen drivers turned
up to contest the British Championship, despite the rain,
which seemed to centre itself around Ringwood Raceway for
most of the evening. Amongst these drivers was Barry Goldsby
making his first Grand Prix Midget appearance of the season
in a borrowed Arrow (his old car) due to prolonged problems
with his new Stealth. Joe Bourn was also making his second
appearance of the season in his brother's (Peter Bourn) car.
This was also the first wet meeting of the 2003 season and
so made for some excitable racing, with speculation as to
who could rule in the rain.
The first race of the
night was the British Championship. Those who had qualified
started in graded order, nose to tail, at the front, with
non-qualifiers in graded order directly behind them. A totally
bunched field was sure to make some good racing. The race
saw good starts from Gary Bonner and Harold Lowe, with Steve
Terry the early leader. It also saw a number of spins from
Gary Bonner, Joe Bourn, Mark Hodges and Barry Goldsby. However
it was Harold Lowe who was the more confident and eventually
managed to take the lead. Although he pulled out a slight
gap, Steve Terry and a chasing Neil Clarke were still within
striking distance. However it was this battle for second place
that proved to be the most exciting, with Neil Clarke all
over the back of Steve's Dastle for a considerable number
of laps. However Neil eventually made it past and into second,
just two laps from the end after being side by side with Steve
for two laps. Harold Lowe took the win, just ahead of Neil
Clarke, who was closely followed by white grader Steve Terry.
Alan Buckland took fourth, with Daz Rycroft fifth, Andrew
Bilby sixth, Andy Collins seventh (despite starting from the
very back), and Ez Walker in eighth who rounded off the points
scorers.
Race two saw Steve
Terry take his first ever win in Midgets, who, starting from
the White grade, was able to lead the race from start to finish.
Harold Lowe and Neil Clarke were also battling their way through
the field and each other, with Neil eventually coming out
on top. When Mark Hodges spun and got stuck on the inside
of the bend the red flags were brought out. With less than
five laps to go it was declared a result. Steve Terry won,
followed by Neil Clarke, Harold Lowe, Ez Walker, John Bilby,
Barry Goldsby, and Alan Buckland, with Daz Rycroft rounding
off the top eight.
The third and final
race of the night saw Steve Terry take his second win, lapping
everyone apart from the second and third place drivers. Barry
Goldsby also looked to be going extremely quickly and for
a brief time pulled out a gap in second place. It was Neil
Clarke and Harold Lowe, who had proved to be fast all night
that eventually closed in on second place. However a collision
between Barry and Harry caused a number of cars to be caught
up in the mayhem, including Daz Rycroft. This played into
the hands of John Bilby who managed to jump from tenth to
fifth in one corner! Steve Terry won and was followed over
the line by Neil Clarke, Alan Buckland, Ez Walker, John Bilby,
Andy Smith, Andy Collins, and Andrew Bilby.
|
