Autosport – 25 July 2019

JO

NE

S

Simmons was in

fine form at Spa

60 AUTOSPORT.COM 25 JULY 2019

CLUB AUTOSPORT NATIONAL REPORTS

CADWELL PARK

750MC

20-21 JULY

The first of the Classic Stock Hatch contests

in the action-packed 25-race Cadwell Park

meeting finished in dramatic style, with

Pip Hammond and Pete Morgan battling

for the win right up to the line.

Morgan held a five-second lead over his

rival at the start of the final lap, but both

were unaware that Ford Fiesta XR2 driver

Morgan had incurred a five-second penalty.

Hammond’s Vauxhall Nova took the

chequered flag 4.45s behind Morgan,

making him the winner of his first race

in the championship in 2019. He then

went on to make it two from two on

Sunday ahead of Andrew Thorpe.

The Clio 182 grid enjoyed a trio of races at

Cadwell, with James Bark taking victory in

all three. He had tough competition from

Don de Graaff and Ryan Polley, especially

in the second race where he had to pass

Hammond doubles up in Classic Stock Hatch

polesitter de Graaff for the lead at Park

Corner and the three remained in a

tight group until the flag.

With such a large entry for its

20th anniversary weekend, the Locost

championship ran in three groups, with

Thomas Gadd taking a comfortable victory

over Martin West in the first round.

Murray Shepherd took the next win by

a mere 0.03s as Louis Wall made a last-gasp

dive for victory. Shepherd went on to take

his second win, beating Gadd in the final

The Nova

driver took his

first wins of 2019

on series return

Impressive Simmons bags win

as Novalak extends points lead

SPA

BRDC BRITISH F3

20-21 JULY

Ayrton Simmons delivered his best

weekend of the BRDC British F3

Championship season so far at Spa,

gaining ground in the title battle.

The Chris Dittmann Racing driver

stormed to a double pole in qualifying,

held (unusually) on Friday afternoon,

securing himself a start from the front

in races one and three. But Carlin’s

Kaylen Frederick ensured Simmons

didn’t come away from those encounters

with a maximum return.

In Saturday’s opening contest

Simmons made a clean getaway from

the Double R entry of fellow front-row

starter Neil Verhagen, while Frederick

began his progress from fourth on the

grid. Simmons was far enough ahead not

to be challenged on the first lap while

Frederick began to mount his challenge.

The American proved feisty in battle,

moving past Verhagen on lap two, and then

rapidly closing on Simmons. With just

tenths between them, Frederick was in

prime position to claim a tow down the

Kemmel Straight and power into the

lead exiting Les Combes.

Simmons made an identical move next

time around to reclaim the lead, which

he held until lap eight of nine. Frederick

surged back past, this time decisively, to

take his first win since the season-opening

weekend at Oulton Park.

Fortec’s Manuel Maldonado completed

the podium with third from seventh on the

grid. Frederick’s team-mate, championship

leader Clement Novalak, claimed his fourth

successive fourth place to bank more points.

The reversed-grid second contest on

Sunday morning was a thriller as Hillspeed’s

Nico Varrone took a sensational victory

from eighth on the grid. He is now the

ninth driver to win a race this year.

The Argentinian delivered an overtaking

masterclass as he cleanly completed move

after move, including a stunning double

overtake on Andreas Estner (Lanan) and

Pavan Ravishankar (Double R) at the

chicane. In only his fifth British F3

contest, he soon caught the leading duo

Josh Mason (Lanan) and Verhagen, who

were also locked in an entertaining battle.

JEP