Saturday
28th August, West Country Challenge
Report by Gavin Terry
Rob Sayell took a heat win and went on to win the final at
Ringwood on Saturday 28th August. Mark Hodges also took a
heat win.
For this meeting Steve Terry had loaned his car to Short
Circuit test driver Malcolm Foskett, in order to give him
a taste of what it's actually like racing Grand Prix Midgets
after he recently tested a few of the cars at Swaffham Raceway.
Malcolm was quickly on the pace and challenging some of the
quicker drivers, most notably his battle with current British
Champion Ez Walker in the final.
The first heat saw Mark Hodges take the early lead from Cliff
Bunn. Rob Sayell and Ez Walker had both made quick starts,
with Rob making his way through the reds, and Ez passing Neil
Clarke for third. This was short lived however as Rob Sayell
made his way through the field, passing Ez and then Chris
Phillips for second place. Alan Buckland was also moving through
the pack trying desperately to hang onto the tail of Rob Sayell.
Malcolm Foskett was going well in his first Midget race and
after starting from the back of the grid was closing in on
red graders Andrew Bilby and Dave Smith. Rob closed the gap
on Mark and it looked like he was going to find a way past
until an incident involving Chris Phillips, Neil Clarke, and
Dave Smith caused the race to be red flagged. With just a
few laps remaining the race was declared a result from positions
the lap before the incident. This meant Mark Hodges took the
heat win, from Rob Sayell, Alan Buckland, Chris Phillips,
Neil Clarke, EZ Walker, and Dave Smith with Andrew Bilby rounding
off the top eight.
The second heat saw Ez Walker once again get a quick start
from the front of the reds. However the driver to watch was
World Champion Rob Sayell who rapidly made his way into third,
and was quickly closing on Ez and Mark Hodges. After a slight
battle with Ez, known for his defensive driving abilities,
Rob was up into second and wasted no time in passing Mark
for the lead. Alan Buckland was also up on the leaders but
was unable to find a way past Mark Hodges, and had to settle
with third. Rob Sayell took the victory from Mark Hodges,
Alan Buckland, Ez Walker, Andrew Bilby, Malcolm Foskett, and
Cliff Bunn.
The final saw Malcolm Foskett starting from the front of
the reds, he got a quick start and was straight into the fray
with a race long battle with Ez Walker, and coming under pressure
from both Alan Buckland and Rob Sayell, both of whom eventually
found their ways past. It was Mark Hodges who was out at the
front and had quite a lead until Rob Sayell and Alan Buckland
got clear of traffic after passing Chris Phillips. They were
soon up on Mark, with Rob wasting no time and going right
around the outside of both Alan and Mark. Alan quickly followed
but was unable to get back past Rob who went on to take the
chequered flag. Alan Buckland came second, with Ez, eventually
finding a way past Malcolm, taking third. These were followed
over the line by Chris Phillips, Malcolm Foskett, Mark Hodges
(who dropped back after a spin), and Andrew Bilby, with Cliff
Bunn rounding off the point's scorers. By Gavin Terry
