Rd 2 Lydden Hill
Date: 4th April 2010
Nick Priddy, So Close to winning on his debut.
This event formed the second round of the nine-event Clubmans championship and the Stock Hatch category produced a closely fought and dramatic A final.
Having missed the first round of the championship because his car was not ready, Adam Clark (Leeds) made his presence felt in this event by qualifying on pole for the A final with fastest times in the first and second heats. Clark chose not to race in the third heat when unrelated reigning Clubmans champion Darren Clark (Dartford) responded by setting fastest time and establishing the fastest time of the event with a 3m01.229s run. Joining the two Clarks on the front row of the grid was Stuart Jackson (Newcastle) who went well in his first trip to Lydden. Making a great start from the second row of the grid, James Coney (Dartford) grabbed the lead and pursued by Adam Clark. The position changed in the third lap, Clark’s many efforts to find a way past Coney eventually succeeding. Coney didn’t get a chance to fight back as an incident in which Ben Swan’s Citroën Saxo was stranded in the Chesson’s Drift section of the track after hitting the barriers forced the race to be stopped. Jackson was third when the race was halted, ahead of Bob Hardie, Dave Martin, David Pearson, Darren Clark, John Rook, Harry Bushell and Brian Davison.
Super Modified
The Super Modified category contained a dozen cars of all creeds and colours and was led for most of the event by Rallycross newcomer Nick Priddy who won all three of his qualifying heat races and also set fastest time as he did so. Derek Tohill (Dublin) and Vince Bristow (Hastings) completed the front row starters.
There was a B final which was won by Jonathan Bean (Northallerton) whose BMW 325 got to the finish line ahead of Neil Wade, Stuart Emery and Stan Hunter while John Wood non-finished after his Tigra broke down.
Bean gained a couple of places and was classified sixth in the A final where Nick McAdden was a non-starter and Priddy’s excellent run was cut short by technical problems in his Vauxhall Tigra.
In his first event with a new Citroën C2, Andy Knowles (St Helens) moved up from fourth on the grid to win the A final, leading home Tohill and Bristow. Dave Baines (Wrexham) was best of the two-litre cars in the final and placed fourth overall, ahead of Shelley Wakeling (Braintree) and Bean.
Junior Rallycross
A thin field of four took part in the Junior Rallycross races, the victory being taken by defending champion Brad Bailey (Chelmsford) who joined the event in the second day, won both of the heats he started in and the A final. Paige Bellerby (Northallerton) was fastest in Sunday’s opening qualifier and, in only her second event, was just five-seconds adrift of Bailey as she placed second in the final. Newcomer Todd Croates achieved something of note by managing to roll out of both his first and second qualifying heats! After posting a time in the third heat, Croates also finished the final. The fourth starter was Ken Sumanadasa who did not finish in the second heat and then took no further part in the event.
Minicross
A new addition to the Clubmans classes this year, the Minicross category produced close racing throughout the weekend and was featured in Monday’s live broadcast on Motors TV when, ironically, George Edwardes was able to give the rest of the pack the slip and record the clearest victory of the event. Behind Edwardes, John Thacker placed second while class veteran Richard Wakeling held on to third place in the best of battle of the final in which he raced hard with Kris Hudson. Keith Dolton placed fifth, ahead of Keifer Hudson whose pace was slowed by gear selection problems and Kelly Bird who was the last finisher after Samantha O’Flanagan went out on the third lap. Pole qualifier Tom Edwardes was a non-starter in the final.
Andy Knowles - Ciroen Saxo Div1a S16000
Adam Clark and James Coney Battling
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