Championship class
Silverstone became a small enclave of Belgium on Saturday as the re-scheduled Spa race was held. Poor weather had necessitated the race be re-arranged and the grid from April’s qualifying session saw Promatecme UK’s Steven Kane line up in his first pole position.
Kane, who judged his lap perfectly in wet conditions in Belgium made a confident start to the race and led comfortably for the first part of the opening lap. However, at Stowe Corner his Promatecme Lola ran wide, losing momentum and enabling his pursuers to close up and get through. Another excursion at Abbey and subsequent contact with Salvador Duran’s national class car dropped Steven down the order and after pitting in the final laps he was classified a bitterly disappointed 19th.
Far from being a simple driving mistake, Promatecme UK boss Chris Weller explained that because of an error by the team, Steven was struggling for grip from the very start.
“Due to an oversight by the team, Steven started the race on a mismatched set of tyres which was of course very disappointing for all of us and caused him to lose control while in the lead,” confirmed Weller.
After leading and seemingly controlling the race it was a bitter pill for Kane to swallow but the former McLaren/Autosport Young Driver of the Year is a consummate professional and was philosophical after the race and said; “We have been quick on the run up to this weekend and it seemed everything was in place for the win,” said Kane. “ There was nothing I could really do about the tyre situation once I was out there because there was just no grip from the rear set. We just have to remain positive because we really have the pace to win races before the end of the season.”
Danilo Dirani had an excellent run despite having to start from 9th position on the starting grid. The Brazilian drove his usual clever first lap, keeping out of the usual incidents to emerge in 5th place as the Safety Car came out on lap 1.
The P1 Motorsport driver then executed a great move on Marko Asmer’s Hitech Dallara on the re-start and homed on to the gearbox of Dan Clarke. Despite his best efforts, Danilo was unable to take the black Dallara but was still pleased with his and the car’s performance.
“The car felt good from the start and I was able to get past Conway and then also Asmer at Copse on the re-start,” he said. “ I was quicker than Clarke but could not quite make a move on him.”
Charlie Hollings scored a brilliant victory from pole position in the national class, scoring the most conclusive win of the season to date in his Lola-Dome.
After a perfect start he was up to a sensational seventh overall when a Safety Car was deployed following an incident at Club Corner. On the re-start, Charlie held the position and then proceeded to simply drive away from the opposition, easily claiming the extra point for fastest lap. His winning margin was a massive 30 seconds and he was just nine seconds away from 6th place finisher Mike Conway.
“ It was a perfect race for me,” said Charlie. ““I made a great start and battled with Duran in the first few laps,” said Hollings. “I defended quite well and then I noticed that Duran had disappeared from my mirrors. After the Safety Car I just concentrated on individual lap times. When it all comes together like this it is a really nice feeling and it is great to get the win, pole and fastest lap. The team deserve credit too, as they have done a great job since the test last Tuesday.”
Hollings’ dominant performance put him ahead of Josh Fisher and closed the gap to the leader – Barton Mawer significantly, before the two scheduled Silverstone races on Sunday afternoon.
