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CCI Radical UK Cup & Shell Racing Solutions Radical Masters: Silverstone, 11/12 September 2010

14th September 2010

The only meeting between the Masters and UK Cup Championships on British soil provided one of this years’ most dramatic weekends of Radical racing. Terrence Woodward and Ross Kaiser won both races in their 360 Racing SR8, which gave them the UK Masters Class title. Click here for video coverage of the event, or read on for a full report.

A 50 car grid with 17 different nationalities guaranteed fireworks and the Silverstone crowd were not disappointed, when both races finished in somewhat bizarre but dramatic last lap confrontations.

There was a delay at the start of Saturday’s race when Per Staaf’s SR8 had to be pushed from the grid. The start had been delayed and Kaiser decided to switch off. “It wouldn’t restart and I had to be pushed into the pitlane too,” he explained.

As the red lights went out the SR8LMs of Jamie Patterson and James Swift ran side-by-side into Copse, before Swift nosed ahead. “It was a bit tight and he just got me at Becketts,” said Patterson.

But a lap later Patterson led into Luffield and along with Swift, Callum Lockie, Stuart Moseley and Patrice Guillaume, made it a five car break. “I had run off wide at Abbey on unscrubbed tyres and was having to play catch up,” said Moseley. Shaun Balfe had followed Moseley’s line, which resulted in a 360 spin.

Moseley’s charge took him past Lockie onto the Vale on lap four and Swift was soon within his sights too. But Swift was forced to make an early stop, which left Moseley chasing Patterson as the pitstop window approached.

Lockie was still in third, but following Swift’s demise, Manhal Allos and the recovering Kaiser and Balfe had all come back into contention and completed the top six.

Patterson was one of the first to pit, but he had his own dramas. “The brakes had started to go from about lap four, sometimes pedal to the floor and then locking the back wheels. When I stopped we found fluid leaking and I was out,” he explained.

Moseley pitted to hand to Derek Johnston as the new leader, from Kaiser and Allos. But Johnston had hardly settled in his seat when the safety car appeared and his comfortable 21 second advantage was wiped out.

Within a lap of the green flag Woodward had the lead and Allos followed, leaving Johnston under pressure from Roger Bromiley/Balfe’s SR8 for third. Woodward consolidated his lead over the closing laps, but couldn’t have foreseen what was on the horizon. “Ross had driven like a man possessed to get us back into contention and then the safety car was kind to us. I had got a comfortable lead as we started the last lap, but had a backmarker chasing me, before making a challenge into Brooklands for the last time. He hit me in the side and I had to limp to the finish with a blown rear tyre,” he explained.

Allos was both surprised and delighted to find himself in second. “I had progressed well and was waiting for others to have problems. Then the safety car was kind to me. I didn’t realise that the car chasing Terrence was three laps behind though,” he said.

Bromiley piped Johnston for third in the closing laps, “to get third was staggering, the last place I expected to be was on the podium against this competition,” said Bromiley.

Ian Flux/Christian Droop’s SR8LM came through strongly to claim fifth from Lockie/David Jacobs on the last lap. “I just wanted to hand the car to Ian in a challenging position,” said Droop. “I ignored the advice and kept soft springs as I thought it would rain, then stalled leaving the pits,” Flux added.

Richard Fearns/Tom Ashton were seventh,” Richard was worried about handing the car to me in good condition, but it was great,” said Ashton. Just before the safety car Jaap Bartels had been in 11th place, but a sprint finish netted him eighth, “I had spun at the first corner and then made places after the safety car, got hit and had to do it all again, but very enjoyable,” he said.

Stefan Mueller’s SR8LM was ninth, with SR3 class winners Andrea Fausti/Marco Cencetti completing the top ten. “I think we are possibly the best combination in our class, we go as fast as we can but as safe as we can,” said Fausti.

Colin Noble was second in class but third was enough for Ross Allen and Chris Dymond to secure the overall UK Cup title. “Not one problem, we put everything we had that was new on the car today. We couldn’t have done it without KB Developments though, a brilliant team and the car has been so reliable all year,” said Allen.

Pete Osborne and Alex Kapadia were fourth in class, followed by Jassim Al Shamsi/Humaid Masaood and Tom Stubbe-Olsen.

RESULT
1 Terrence Woodward/Ross Kaiser (SR8) 21 laps in 47m04.665s (157.668kph); 2 Manhal Allos (SR8) +2.763s; 3 Shaun Balfe/Roger Bromiley (SR8); 4 Stuart Moseley/Derek Johnston (SR8); 5 Christian Droop/Ian Flux (SR8LM); 6 Callum Lockie/David Jacobs (SR8); 7 Richard Fearns/Tom Ashton (SR8); 8 Jaap Bartels (SR8); 9 Stefan Mueller (SR8LM); 10 Andrea Fausti/Marco Cencetti (SR3). SR8 Class:  as overall. SR3 Class: 1 Fausti/Cencetti; 2 Colin Noble; 3 Ross Allen/Chris Dymond; 4 Pete Osborne/Alex Kapadia; 5 Jassim Al Shamsi/Humaid Masaood; 6 Tom Stubbe-Olsen. Fastest lap: Kaiser 2m01.855s (174.040kph).

RACE TWO

Patterson made the best getaway at the start of Sunday morning’s race, to head Woodward, Bromiley, John Stanley, Per Staaf and Allos. But the safety car was in immediate action with cars off at Copse. “I made a good start but had to brake hard, was tapped and then hit in both sides and my race was over,” said Johnston, one of the casualties.

While Patterson and Woodward eased themselves clear, there was a three-way fight for third, which gradually went in Staaf’s way after demoting Bromiley and Stanley on consecutive laps.

Patterson had managed to consolidate his lead prior to the pitstops, while in second Woodward ran wide at Copse on oil from Jacobs car, which allowed Staaf to snatch second. Bromiley had established himself in fourth, from Stanley, who had Allos closing in too.

Patterson was quickly back to the fore, but both Staaf and Kaiser were close too and a tremendous scrap followed, which continued until the final lap.”I had got the lead but caught a slower car onto the straight and it compromised my speed,” said Staaf. “I had been running third, then caught Jamie and he pulled a gap again. So it needed a late lunge, but that was too risky. I got Per into Luffield though and was chasing Jamie for the lead, when he hit a car rejoining after a spin, “Kaiser explained. “I had it in my grasp, came around the corner and there was the car and I couldn’t avoid him,” said Patterson.

The 360 driver then picked his way through the debris to clinch a second victory of the weekend, with Staaf a very satisfied second. Stanley/Swift clinched third after shaking off a threat from Greg Hart, while Allos and Mueller completed the top six, after Balfe suffered fuel pump failure with two laps to go.

Robert Enestedt and Jurgen Guellert next up, after both had gained when Fearns crashed out on the oil at Copse in the closing minutes.

Flux/Droop were ninth, ahead of the SR3 class winners Allen/Dymond. But Dymond had to work hard and only wrested the class lead with a lap to go, after Greensall/Woolhead had led the entire race.

Mark Smithson was delighted to pick up second in class, “I listened to advice and kept out of trouble, but I had spun on the first lap,” he said. Phil Abbott should have been on the class podium too, but was gutted to have a late spin, “I threw the place away that James had worked so hard to get us into,” he said. Zbynek Passer moved into third, from Osborne/Kapadia, Fausti/Cencetti, with the Abbott’s finally claiming sixth.

Woodward and Kaiser not only left Silverstone as the UK Cup SR8 class champions, but are also in contention for the Masters crown at the finale in Abu Dhabi.

Kaiser also heads the Sunoco Rolex 24 Daytona Challenge with an average of 107.5 points to British F3 Champion Jean-Eric Vergne’s 105.83. “Vergne now needs two wins, two poles and a fastest lap at Brands Hatch to beat Ross to the prize drive at Daytona,” said Anglo American Oils boss Anders Hildebrand.

RESULT
1 Woodward/Kaiser  20 laps in 44m36.784s (158.456kph); 2 Per Staaf (SR8) +3.935s; 3 John Stanley/James Swift (SR8LM); 4 Greg Hart (SR8); 5 Allos; 6 Mueller; 7 Robert Enestedt; 8 Juergen Guellert; 9 Droop/Flux; 10 Allen/Dymond. SR8: as overall. SR3: 1 Allen/Dymond; 2 Mark Smithson; 3 Zbynek Passer; 4 Osborne/Kapadia; 5 Fausti/Cencetti; 6 James Abbott/Phil Abbott. Fastest lap: Kaiser 2m00.909s (175.401kph).

Published by Peter Scherer for Radical Sportscars, 13 September 2010