MSA Championships Update

British GT Championship
Round 9: Brands Hatch GP, 5-6 August

Team Parker Racing’s Rick Parfitt Jnr and Seb Morris will go into the final round of this season’s campaign with a 10.5-point lead after claiming their third victory of 2017 at Brands Hatch.

A wet qualifying session played to the strengths of erstwhile championship leaders Jon Minshaw and Phil Keen, whose Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini sealed a commanding pole. However strong race pace and a well-timed driver swap helped Morris take chequered flag 33.8 seconds ahead of his nearest rival.

Parfitt Jnr said: “We had a strategy to run low tyre pressures that would give us better pace as the race progressed, and it worked a treat. Everything came together today with a bit of luck and some good strategy.”

Results
1 Team Parker Racing Ltd (Bentley Continental GT3) 2h00m49.949s
2 Barwell Motorsport (Lamborghini Huracan GT3) +33.838s
3 TF Sport (Aston Martin Vantage GT3) +34.71s

Provisional championship standings
1 Rick Parfitt – 177.5 points
1 Seb Morris – 177.5
2 Jon Minshaw – 167
2 Phil Keen – 167
3 Liam Griffin – 116
3 Sam Tordoff – 116

BRDC British F3 Championship
Rounds 16-18: Brands Hatch, 5-6 August

Championship leader Enaam Ahmen scored a brace of victories at Brands Hatch, where Krishnaraaj Mahadik was also a race winner.

Ahmed held off his hard-charging Carlin team-mate James Pull to take his ninth win of the season in the opening encounter, as a mid-race downpour caused chaos throughout the field. Mahadik claimed his maiden victory in race two after he finished second on track but was promoted after on-the-road victor Toby Sowery failed eligibility in post-race scrutineering.

Ahmed claimed his 10th win of the season as he took a lights-to-flag victory in the third and final race of the weekend. American Cameron Das drove a controlled race to take second, with Pull visiting the podium for the 12th time this year as he finished third.

Results – race one
1 Enaam Ahmed (Carlin) 8 Laps
2 James Pull (Carlin) +0.747s
3 Toby Sowery (Lanan Racing) +2.716s

Race two
1 Krishnaraaj Mahadik (Double R Racing) 14 Laps
2 James Pull (Carlin) +2.307s
3 Enaam Ahmed (Carlin) +4.432s

Race three
1 Enaam Ahmed (Carlin) 14 Laps
2 Cameron Das (Carlin) +6.169s
3 James Pull (Carlin) +7.193s

Provisional championship standings
1 Enaam Ahmed – 489 points
2 James Pull – 383
3 Toby Sowery – 356
4 Cameron Das – 339
5 Ben Hingeley – 319

SBD Motorsport MSA British Sprint Championship
Round 10-11: Kirkistown, 5-6 August

Heather Calder won on both days when the championship made its annual visit to Northern Ireland, breaking the Kirkistown track record in the process.

Heather’s father, Colin, was runner-up on both days, while John Graham continued his progress to complete the podium. Terry Holmes was fourth each time.

Simon Bainbridge, Nick Algar and Graeme Harden produced record times for their classes. The weather interfered little, arriving after close of play on Saturday and during practice only on Sunday.

Results – Round 10
1 Heather Calder (3.5 Gould-NME GR55) 101.92secs
2 Colin Calder (3.5 Gould-NME GR55) 103.64secs
3 John Graham (3.5 Gould-NME GR55B) 103.83secs

Round 11
1 Heather Calder 102.63sec
2 Colin Calder 103.20 secs
3 Graham 105.32 secs

Provisional championship standings
1 Heather Calder – 98 points
2 Colin Calder – 91
3 Holmes – 84
4 Graham – 79
5 Steve Miles – 69

McGrady Insurance MSA Northern Ireland Rally Championship
Round 4: Tyrone Stages, 29 July

Desi Henry and co-driver Liam Moynihan guided their Skoda Fabia R5 to a convincing victory on round four, the Tyrone Stages Rally run by the Cookstown Motor Club.

Number one seed and championship leader Derek McGarrity was one of the first retirements in his Subaru. “On stage one I just felt the engine tightening up and we pulled in,” he said. It wasn’t a good morning for Alan Carmichael either, as he retired with gearbox failure on his own Subaru. Jonny Greer, second in the points race entering the event, retired on stage six a fuel pressure problem, meaning that the top three in the points table all retired.

At the finish, victor Henry said: “We really enjoyed the rally, and thanks to the team we had no issues with the car. It was by no means an easy event, very challenging special stages, technical in places and with the weather changing for the final loop everything was thrown in.”

Results
1 Desi Henry / Liam Moynihan (Škoda Fabia R5) 41m50.9s
2 Marty McCormack / Barney Mitchell (Škoda Fabia R5) +0:12.6s
3 Peadar Hurson / Damien Connolly (Ford Fiesta WRC) +0:24.2s


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