Stoneman stays on course to make P1 SuperStock history‏

Pickfords crew Dean Stoneman/Dean Paling (Southampton) are on course to make history by winning every round of the P1 SuperStock UK Championship following three more dominant wins in Eastbourne this weekend.The duo look unstoppable after another whitewash that has left the opposition reeling in their wake as they try and work out how to match the shear speed across the water of the two Deans. Yet, perhaps there was a small chink in their armour in the final race when a difficult moment during the frantic start run down to the first mark almost caused a capsize.We made a small mistake in the start run and caught the wash wrong, which sent the boat sideways and Dean landed on my lap!, commented Stoneman. This left us with work to do in fourth place but we trimmed Pickfords nicely and got going really fast. Ive got no fear, so didnt lift until the chequered flag.Three wins in Eastbourne mean the Pickfords pair have never been beaten since joining the P1 SuperStock UK series in Plymouth back in May.The most consistent other boat over the weekend turned out to be Typhoo and their brace of thirds and a fourth place finish has elevated driver Andy Wilbys boat into second place in the championship points table. Typhoo enjoyed two very close fought races with newcomers James Norvill/Jon Collingbourne (Newport, South Wales) in their Oval Insurance-backed P1 Panther 250 and then survived a technical scare in the final race to end their Eastbourne weekend on a high.We made a good start but the boat jumped out of gear twice during the race, otherwise I think we could have come third in the final race but Im happy we are now up to second in the championship, commented Andy.This afternoons retirement with engine trouble left Oval driver James feeling robbed. Weve had a fantastic weekend but Im really gutted we couldnt finish the final race as up to then we have been at our best. We know we can run right at the front now so expect a tough challenge with the other contenders in the remaining two race weekends, Norvill said.Edox Swiss Watches crew Ian Brusby/Will Nurse scored a superb second place in the weekends final race to go home with 41 points in the bag. Once Dean went past I then felt we were racing for second, but the rough conditions suited me this afternoon rather than the flat water this morning and it was nice to be more competitive thats for sure.IFX Racing duo Nick Williams/Aaron Emmett (Amersham) enjoyed their most competitive weekend so far with two finely judged four place finishes but had to endure the frustration of retirement from the final encounter following an engine problem. Its been a good weekend for us despite having an engine problem in the final race. Said Nick. Weve had the race lead twice and finished with two fourth places yesterday and this morning, so we know we can run at the front and be competitive despite being rookies.The opening race of the weekend on Saturday was stopped by race officials after reigning champion John Wilson suffered a nasty back injury in the start run. In the choppy conditions the Pertemps driver jarred his back and aggravated an old injury needing immediate medical attention and left John sitting out Sundays races.Last minute substitute Robbie Mould made an impressive debut in P1 SuperStock with an incredible third place in the final race of the day in Pertemps. I just jumped into the boat this morning after Johns injury and did the best I could with no practice but this afternoon I got the hang of it, felt more at home and able to race harder, but its just amazing to have finished on the podium, Robbie said.For both Peters & May Racing with Brookspeed and Palu, Eastbourne represented a frustrating weekend blighted by technical problems. A bow pump failure and then an engine misfire meant Peters & May Racing crew Mike Lovell/Luke Elkin (Southampton) could only manage a best finish of fifth place in todays final race to show for their efforts.Palu dropped to last place with a dead engine in yesterdays opening race of the weekend but came back to finish just behind fourth-placed IFX Racing. We were literally reaching for the retirement flag when I made one last attempt and she fired up! Said Palu driver Simon Bayles. We then had clear water in front of us and so set off to try and finish has high up as we could. In the second half we had a good fight with IFX and almost got past but nonetheless it was a great race and we really enjoyed it.Sadly for Simon and navigator Philippa Baker (Kensington) todays final race brought retirement with a suspected engine mount problem whilst this mornings race saw them struggle and lose a place on the final lap to finish sixth.In the P1 150 Class the final race saw a new winner emerge, with Powertech Marine crew Sam Whittle (Hampton Hill) and navigator Andy Streeting (Camberley) making the most of the rough conditions to score their first P1 SuperStock win. It came at the expense of championship leaders Team Purple piloted by husband and wife pair Stuart and Sara Cureton (Lindford, Hants) who retired from the lead with suspected steering failure. However, Team Purple still added 40 points to their championship score thanks to a brace of wins this morning and yesterday.Top points scorer in Eastbourne though was Macdonald Mermaid crew David and Kirsty Toozs-Hobson (Arundel) thanks to a string of second place finishes. .


Related Motorsport Articles

85,794 articles