JEPWALKERIN THE HEADLINESNATIONAL NEWS CLUB AUTOSPORT1 AUGUST 2019 AUTOSPORT.COM 67ALL-CLEAR FOR RATCLIFFE
Ryan Ratcliffe has been given the
all-clear to race in British GT at Brands
Hatch this weekend after a heavy
accident in the Spa 24 Hours. The
Welshman was initially diagnosed
with a concussion by doctors, but
was released from hospital last
Saturday night and was passed
fit to race his Team Parker Racing
Bentley by a GP on Monday.WONG PULLS OUT OF TCR UK
TCR China champion Sunny Wong
withdrew from this year’s TCR UK
championship ahead of last weekend’s
meeting at Brands Hatch. Wong
had already missed the second
round but was fifth in the standings
after finishing on the podium at
Oulton Park. A Teamwork Huff
Motorsport statement said: “The
team has decided that its technical
staff are needed to focus and
develop its Macau Grand Prix
programme in the short term.”FOUR GINETTA JUNIOR RACES
The second Ginetta Junior race
from Croft that was abandoned
due to rain will be run at Snetterton
this weekend instead. The Ginetta
contest only lasted one lap behind
the safety car before being stopped,
so it has been reorganised. It
means there will be four Junior
races in Norfolk, with two taking
place each day.ISSUES FOR JACKSON
Cameron Jackson’s Historic Formula 2
debut at the Silverstone Classic
came to a premature end after the
freshly rebuilt engine in his March
762 (below) developed an electrical
gremlin. The Historic Formula Ford
1600 champion bought (and drove
to collect) a new sensor on Saturday
night after issues disrupted qualifying
and the first race, but he still had
to retire with a misfire in the
second contest.CLUBSPORT TROPHYThe British Racing and Sports Car
Club’s new Clubsport Trophy received
widespread praise at its first event
at Brands Hatch last weekend.
With five classes based on power-to-
weight ratios, the 34-car grid attracted
cars from the Civic Cup and Mazda
MX-5 Supercup, which were also on
the bill, plus categories such as the
BMW Compact Cup and a variety
of other series.
The 45-minute mini-enduro was won
by MX-5 pairing Aidan Hills and Paul
Sheard after the latter pressured Civic
driver Bruce Winfield into a mistake
on the final corner of the last lap.
“There’s a class for everybody to have a
good competitive race,” said Sheard. “Theway they’ve structured it, you’re there
that weekend anyway so you’ve covered
some of your costs, you haven’t got
to build a special car for it or [buy]
special tyres and you can go out and
do some endurance racing. And there’s
a marketplace for it, so I think it will
definitely work. You can just go out
and have some fun. I think that’s
what club motorsport is all about.”
A second event in 2019 will be held at
Donington Park on October 19.
“It was something that was lacking in
our portfolio, a catch-all series with a
race that is longer than a sprint,” said
BRSCC competitions director Dominic
Ostrowski. “We were encouraged [by this
weekend’s numbers] and the plan is to
run five or six more [races] next year.”
MARK PAULSONPICKUP TRUCKSPickup Truck drivers welcomed the return
of the category to the Mallory Park mile
oval for the first time since 2005 in spite of
torrential rain that marred Sunday’s racing.
The Pickups were the only series to
race on the Leicestershire circuit’s shorter
configuration, with the remaining categories
at the British Automobile Racing Club
meeting – including Super Silhouettes- running on the full 1.35-mile circuit.
“It is a good circuit, it is nice to have
an oval back with the Pickups,” said
championship frontrunner George Turiccki.
“It is as good as Rockingham if not better,
as that was all about speed and this one you
can win coming from the back to the front.”
The championship returned to the
Mallory Mile for 2019 having been absent
for a number of years, with the now defunct
Rockingham hosting the championship’s
only UK oval rounds for more than a decade.
One further event is scheduled at Mallory
this year, on August Bank Holiday Monday,
but drivers – many of whom are from a
short oval background – would welcome
more events on the oval in future.
“It is a really cool track and I enjoyed it,”
explained Daniel Petters, who ran at the
front of both races. “I am an oval boy at
heart, so I am definitely up for more
rounds here.”
IAN SOWMANDrivers praise return of Mallory
Park oval and ask for more
Bumper grid for new BRSCC race