Clive Richards and Mark Davies mirrored their successes of a month ago by taking wins in the Ginetta Challenge at Brands Hatch, this time on the Indy circuit.
Race one
Mark Davies won the opening 20-minute race, his Optimum Motorsport-run car taking a lights to flag win. His quest was aided by a tremendous battle for second place involving Richard Sykes (HHC Motorsport), Sean Huyton (Academy Motorsport) and Mike Robinson (TCR), the three disputing second place and allowing Davies to break away.
Huyton muscled his way past Sykes at Graham Hill Bend, the Yorkshireman spinning as a result of the contact, but Sykes responded quickly and battled his way back to fifth place. His efforts to secure a podium finish were hindered by a safety car period, triggered by Kevin Begley who had spun at Paddock. The incident was dealt with but as the cars raced into Paddock for the first lap of the restart, James Owen plunged into the gravel and was joined by the G40s of Rick Parfitt and Tony Robinson. The red flags flew and the result was declared, with Davies taking the win from Huyton and Robinson, with former Caterham racer Pat Gormley taking an impressive fourth place ahead of Sykes. Ryan Ratcliffe (Piranha Motorsport) continued his impressive season by rounding out the top sixth, while Optimum Motorsport’s successful day was enhanced by Gary Simms who took a fourth G20 win.
Race two
Race two was run in dry conditions, despite much rain over the weekend, and was important for Richards: after a spin to eighth in race one, he was in need of a good result. The win was his but he had to work all the way to the flag to ensure the top step of the podium was his as he was involved in a fierce fight with Huyton and Davies.
Sykes led early on but was overhauled by the pack, as Huyton took over the lead from Davies. Richards picked off Davies for second place and then moved ahead of Huyton at Druids on lap 18. As Richards defended his lead, Huyton hung on to second by a whisker with Davies rounding out the top three. Behind them, Ratcliffe secured fourth from Sykes, whose HHC team-mate Rick Parfitt made up for his race one visit to the gravel by taking a career-best sixth place.
Dominic Pettit came out on top of the G20 fight, but Stuart Pearson increased his grip on the championship lead by taking two second places over the brace of races.
