A fantastic team performance helped The Drivers Club earn a hard-fought fourth round SPEED Series victory at Snetterton last weekend.
Drivers Club pupil, Simon Dolan, along with his private coach and co-driver Sam Hancock, steered their Ligier JS49 to a commanding victory at the Norfolk venue after a race-long battle with WFR’s Warren Hughes and Jody Firth.
The pair were still chasing set-up in qualifying after electrical gremlins stymied much of Friday’s free-practice, but after Hancock’s time was disallowed, Dolan’s best impressively secured third on the grid nevertheless.
Under sunny skies Dolan was installed for the opening stint of the 3-hour enduro and leapt to second place on the opening lap before settling into an excellent race-pace behind the more experienced Firth.
After 90 minutes, Dolan was just 20 seconds behind the leaders as both cars pitted to hand over to their respective team mates. After an astonishing pit-stop from the Jota Sport crew to usurp the leading car, Sam rejoined the race with a commanding lead.
As Hancock struggled with the balance of his Ligier, Hughes resolutely reeled in the Aston Martin Racing Le Mans driver until, with 20 minutes remaining, the pair ran nose-to-tail for a couple of laps before Hughes tried to pass around the outside at the Esses. Following some light contact, his WFR machine immediately slowed.
“The car slid slightly under braking and we made contact,” said Sam. “I didn’t think it was enough to cause either of us a problem but when I saw him slow, I felt bad for potentially ruining their race as I didn’t want to win like that, especially after such a great fight. It wasn’t until after the race that Warren told me that in fact he’d had an electrical problem that was totally unrelated!”
While Hughes limped back to the pits and eventual retirement, Hancock routinely ticked off the remaining time to take a comfortable victory.
“I’ve got to pay tribute to the team who have been excellent all weekend,” he said. “They worked late on Friday to replace the wiring loom and won us the race with that pit stop. They’ve got to be the fastest mechanics in the championship. Simon’s progress is also very encouraging and his race craft has also improved no end. He just didn’t put a wheel wrong.”
“I’ve definitely made a big improvement over last year because my average lap time has come way down,” concurred Simon. “I think I’ve just jumped up to a new level this season, and certainly at Aragon a few weeks ago started feeling a lot more confident with the car, and that continued through to Snett.”
Victory sees The Drivers Club move two points clear of WFR at the top of the SPEED Series standings ahead of round five at Oulton Park on July 24.
