John Cooper Challenge Rounds 9 & 10
Mondello Park circuit in County Kildare, Ireland will play host to Rounds 9& 10 of the 2005 John Cooper Challenge on Saturday 7th and Sunday 8thSeptember.
The John Cooper Challenge has never visited the challenging Irish circuitand neither have most of the competitors. The Irish circuit is tight,technical but also fast and the unpredictable Irish weather also makesfinding the ideal set-up tricky.
The race for 210 bhp S-Class Championship honours is very tight going intothe penultimate race weekend of the JCC season. Arthur Forster (37,Newcastle) and Andy Sayle (46, Congleton) are separated by just 8 pointswith Sayle narrowly ahead of his Geordie rival. The two northerners havedominated this season's Challenge with one or the other winning all but oneof the previous eight rounds!
Ultra-consistent telecommunications Managing Director, Terry Britchford (35,Cheltenham) is currently third in the championship despite not havingfinished on the podium this year. Britchford is in his first year of racinga 210 bhp Works MINI Cooper S and has impressed everyone with how well hehas adapted to the car and the series. Schoolboy racer Freddy Nordstrom (16,Weybridge) is also still only 10 points behind Forster and the talentedyoungster is the only other competitor to have won a JCC round.
Barney Craggs, (34, Clapham) looks all but un-catchable in the tussle forhonours in the 133 bhp Club Class. The Londoner has been quick andconsistent this season and has managed to finish every race-bar one-on thepodium with four victories.
Keeping up the pressure on Craggs will be second placed Rugby enthusiast RobAustin (43, Romsey). The Romsey man has been on the podium three times thisseason and has surprised everyone, including himself with his new foundpace. Novice racer David Shepherd, (20, Sandbach) has been the revelation ofthe season in JCC winning two rounds and is currently third in thechampionship. The dreadlocked animation student cuts a distinctive figure inthe paddock and has often out-foxed far more experienced racers through theseason. The top two in each class battling it out for a drive at the MINI WorldChampionship event at Misano in Italy in October. This dream drive isincentive enough to ensure the Mondello event will be at least as hardfought and exciting as the previous eight rounds have been.
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