Oliver Bennett set the fastest time after a lightning start in race 2. Only Q1 was run after previous races overran.
Rain fell between practice and qualifying creating an unknown for the drivers after a mostly dry practice. Bennett had set the fastest lap late on ahead of Mark Donnelly and Ollie O’Donovan
In his race Bennett got the jump on the rest of the field and despite some contact with O’Donovan, he took the lead. Godfrey made a poor start and dropped to the back of the 5 car race. Tristan Ovenden wasn’t able to take the start after issues in practice couldn’t be solved. Steve Hill slotted into 3rd ahead of slow starting Roger Thomas. Thomas accidentally started the race in neutral but got going quickly and jokered straight away. O’Donovan took the alternate route the following lap to pull out from behind Bennett. However, he slotted in behind reigning champion Godfrey with better pace. The Irish driver dived up the inside into the hairpin but Godfrey was able to cut back. However, he wasn’t able to stay ahead going through Paddock Bend and took to the joker immediately after. Hill came out of the joker on lap 3 between O’Donovan and Thomas with the trio staying bumper to bumper until the checkered flag. Bennett took to the joker on the final lap after setting 2 fastest laps of the day in a row and won by a comfortable 5 seconds. Godfrey couldn’t make up the time and finished last with the 6th fastest time overall.
In the first race Mark Flaherty jumped the start and when taking the restart his car started to catch fire. The marshals were quickly on the scene to put the small flames out but this put the Irish driver out. This left 4 cars on the grid with Dominic Flitney unable to start after he had had issues with his transponder in practice.
Image Credit: Overtake Motorsport
At the 3rd time of asking Donnelly and Mike Manning made equally good starts with the pair splitting their joker strategy as Manning dived to the alternate route. Behind them, Olympic Cycling Gold Medalist Chris Hoy stalled with Mike Sellar making a slow start. Donnelly was able to pull a gap over the field as both Hoy and Manning encountered issues. The pair went side by side at a much reduced pace with Hoy retiring on the final lap. Manning was able to drag his car home to record the slowest time in 8th. Donnelly had set the initial pace but was knocked down to 5th place overall after everyone completed their run. Mike Sellar slotted into 7th, seventeen seconds down on overnight leader Bennett.
Basically the back rear hub kept breaking. It was twice now it’s gone wrong, not happy. All I aim to be is in the final
Mike Manning
Flaherty and Hoy sit in 9th place overall with both credited with a DNF. Ovenden and Flitney face an uphill battle to get a good grid position for the semi-finals as they both scored zero points. The remaining 3 qualifying sessions are due to take place tomorrow on a much tightened schedule. Warm-up starts at 9 with qualifying following on shortly after that.
Featured Image Credit: Overtake Motorsport
