SEAT Cupra Championship

MORE ROCKINGHAM POINTS FOR BATTLING HERRONAndrew Herron battled hard to maintain ninth position in the SEAT Cupra Championship standings at Rockingham in Northamptonshire yesterday, Sunday, 13th April, the JHR Developments driver fighting all the way for a top eight finish during the fourth round of the 2008 season.The 19-year-old, from Dromore in Northern Ireland, qualified for the latest instalment of the championship in ninth position and at the start he made up two places before closing on reigning SEAT Cupra champion Jonathan Adam.Rain before the race meant the opening laps would be a little tricky, especially with all cars on slick tyres, but Andrew felt comfortable and he looked set to bide his time while the group of four cars ahead of him battled hard for position.On lap four, Andrew climbed into the top six following a moment for Jeremy Gumbley at Deene Hairpin and he then closed on Adam once more as the cars immediately ahead swapped places, thus allowing the pursuing pack to get ever closer.Confident he had the pace and the astuteness to find a way past Adam, the complexion of the race then changed for Andrew on lap eight when Daniel Rowbottom produced a late braking move into Deene Hairpin to first pass Freddy Nordstrom and then the JHR Developments ace.Unfortunately, contact with Andrew’s car left the category rookie with a steering problem and also allowed Nordstrom and Rowbottom to sneak past. Forced to effectively nurse his car home to the best finish possible, Andrew took the chequered flag in eighth place.Looking back at round four, the Brian Herron Contracts backed racer commented: “At the start of the race I was really fast, sitting on the back of Jonathan Adam, and I felt pretty happy. Carl Breeze was kind of holding up the group ahead so I felt positive we’d be able to make up some ground as the laps went by.“Then a couple of guys started to catch us so I pushed a bit more to try to get Jonathan to move but then, at the hairpin, I had some contact up the inside from one of the cars behind which knocked my steering out a bit.“It made things quite hard for the remainder of the race but I held on for eighth place so I’m not too disappointed. It’s a finish, more points, but I genuinely think we could have had fourth place had things worked out a bit better. I just need my luck to change!”The result helps Andrew maintain ninth in the championship standings but he’s hoping for much bigger gains at Donington Park three weeks from now when the 2008 SEAT Cupra Championship resumes on 3rd/4th May. The Leicestershire venue will also host pre-event practice on Friday, 2nd May.Provisional 2008 SEAT Cupra Championship Driver Standings (after Rd4)1st Robert Lawson, 70pts; 2nd Carl Breeze, 62pts; 9th Andrew Herron, 21pts

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