Rounds 7 & 8 of the 2005 John Cooper Challenge  - 26th June, Castle Combe

Castle Combe proved an exciting venue for Rounds 7 & 8 of the John CooperChallenge. The Works MINI racecars made for an incredible sight as the fullgrid of thirty, crested Avon Rise for the first time on Sunday.

It was a mixed weekend for S-Class leader, Andy Sayle (46, Congleton) whowon Round 7 but fell to a distant sixth in Round 8. Sayle's second result ofthe weekend allowed his rival Arthur Forster (37, Newcastle), to gainvaluable points with a victory in Round 8 and second place in Round 7. Inthe Club Class Barney Craggs (33, Clapham), extended his lead in thechampionship with two impressive, hard fought victories.

S-Class Round 7Forster was third on the grid with Sayle in second place and Mark Speller(21, Nazeing), on pole position. Sayle had a fantastic start shooting intothe lead where he stayed in until crossing the finishing line, despite heavypressure from first Speller and then Forster.

Speller was right on the tail of Sayle from the moment the lights went outon the grid. Speller, the 2003 JCC champion, was going pushing hard when hewas given a warning and then a stop-go penalty for cutting the corner at thechicane and removing the marker bollards.

With Speller delayed, Forster hunted down Sayle and started one of theirexciting on-track duels. Unfortunately the front-runners caught theback-markers up quickly and with the traffic working against Forster, Saylewas able to take the victory. James Loukes (24, Didcot) took third aftermanaging to keep 16-year old Freddy Nordstrom (Weybridge) in fourth.

S-Class Round 8Speller, Sayle and Forster took to the front row at the start of Round 8.Forster got a super-start from third and was into the lead by the firstcorner. Speller pressured Forster hard early on with the Essex man appearingto be faster on some sections that the Geordie racer.

Eventually Forster managed to pull clear while Speller was left trying tofend off the attentions of the quick and determined Loukes. Speller managedto keep Loukes at bay despite the Oxfordshire man outbraking him into thechicane and briefly getting ahead.

Sayle had a disappointing race finishing sixth after seemingly selecting aset-up unsuited to the hot afternoon race.

After an excellent weekends racing Forster commented:

"It has been quite a weekend for me! The car was only completed on Thursdayhaving been rebuilt after the crash at Thruxton. I had no opportunity to doany testing so was delighted to qualify third. I thought the car was alittle skittish in Round 7 but when we discovered I had a staple in thefront left tyre and that it has lost 10 psi it all became clear! I'mdelighted to take a victory and a second place, it should keep thechampionship very close.

Yesterday I dashed off after qualifying to Brands Hatch to compete in aBritcar race, I just managed to get there in time and won the race so Icouldn't ask for a better weekend!"

Club Class Round 7Round 7 was a manic affair for the Club Class competitors with severalincidents and some very hard fought racing. At the front of the grid, BarneyCraggs got a good start and capitalised on his pole position to stay clearof the incidents behind him.

Craggs was soon fending off the attentions of ultra-quick novice racer,David Shepherd (20 Sandbach). Shepherd was soon past Craggs and it lookedlike the youngster was on for his third victory in a row. Unfortunately acoming together with a S-Class racer ended Shepherd's chances of victorywith a bent steering rack and he struggled home to sixth position. 

Returning to the JCC at Castle Combe was veteran of four seasons MINI racingGraham Parsons (45, Brighton). He was an excellent fifth on the grid and asuper-start meant he was soon picking off those in front of him. Once he haspast Shepherd he tried to chase down Craggs but the Londoner was too farahead and Parsons had to settle for second. Eric Bailey (55, Romsey) crossedthe line in third, despite the constant attentions of Brummie racer MartinDepper (36).

Club Class Round 8Round 8 found Craggs in familiar pole position and it looked like businessas usual for the tall Londoner. Craggs got a reasonable start but was forcedto lift when he came up behind a slow-starting S-class car. Relegated backto fifth Craggs looked like finishing outside the top three for only thesecond time this season.

Unfortunately, for those in front of him, Craggs was in no mood to settlefor safe points and was soon setting about charging through the field.Craggs raced back into fourth by lap 2 and then backed off to save his tyresand brakes from the fearsome heat of the afternoon sun. Once he wasconfident he could push hard without cooking his tyres, Craggs worked hisway past Graham Parsons on Lap 5 and then Rob Austin (43, Romsey) on Lap 11.Parsons and Austin had a coming together on lap 11 resulting in Parsonsfinishing 10th.

Austin's accident let through Croft double-victor Stephen Campbell (20,Catford) who held on for second place.

After Round 8 Craggs commented:

"That was a fantastic weekends racing, Round 8 was my best race ever in theJCC. The double victory is fantastic for my championship hopes but it reallywasn't easy. Graham (Parsons) made me feel like a hunted rabbit when he puthis headlights on to inform me he was coming after me in Round 7! It's along wait until the Mondello Park round in September but it is sure to be acracking race."

Rounds 9 & 10 of the 2005 John Cooper Challenge will take place over theweekend of 17/18 September at Mondello Park in Ireland.