Following a fast and furious day's motorsport at Castle Combe, Gary Hayward came away from round five of the Pace Ward MLR Sprint Series a very happy man, having claimed his first ever fastest time of the day and Class D victory. Driving his AP Tuning Evo VII, he recorded his FTD on the seventh and final run, posting a time 0.5-sec faster than series leader Logan Black in his Evo VII, a result that keeps the title race alive with two rounds left to go.

Having travelled from the most northern event in the series' seven-round calendar near Glasgow last month, to the most southern round in Wiltshire on Saturday, organisers were pleased to see another full entry and yet another day of hot and sunny weather.

Always a popular venue, Castle Combe has regularly appeared in MLR Sprint Series' calendar. However, with the course being one of the fastest of the season, organisers decided to make to make a few alterations by adding chicanes, in order to keep competitor's speeds in check.

The route saw cars start from the pit lane, before negotiating a lap of the circuit. Once the action got underway, it was Brad Sheehan who appeared to be holding the advantage during the morning's practice sessions, setting the fastest time on runs one, two and four, with Hayward quickest on run three.

In Class C, for cars that are not so highly modified, it was Martin Waller in his Evo VI who set the early pace and ended his four runs fifth fastest overall, whilst Ben Casement laid down the marker for things to come in Class B in his Evo VIII. In Class A, the category for cars that are closer to standard specification, round four winner David Forbes had the edge during practice and went faster than anyone else in the class by 0.3-secs. However, it was clear that with an eight-second margin between Forbes - the first of the Class A runners - and Sheehan - the first of the Class D runners - the track and conditions were going to favour the more powerful cars.

To ensure drivers had as much track time as possible, the competitive element of the day started as soon as the practice sessions were complete. Initially, it was rounds two and four winner, Logan Black, who topped the time sheets, carrying on from where he left off last time out at Kames Motorsport Complex. Hayward was 0.2-secs behind in second and Sheehan third by a similar margin.

Class C was shaping up to be a closely fought affair, when Paul Allin (Evo V), Tony Hume (Evo V) and Martin Waller (Evo VI) stopped the clock with just 0.18-sec between them, whereas in Classes B and A, Casement and Forbes continued their respective fastest-in-category performances from the practice sessions.

Not satisfied with third place, Sheehan - who was still getting used to running on full-slicks for the first time - focused on the task ahead and went fastest from runs two through to five, managing to hold off Hayward, Black and an ever-quickening Anthony Lidster in his Evo VI. However, on run six Sheehan pushed a little too hard and put two wheels on the grass on the exit from Quarry - which is certainly not the best place in Wiltshire to run wide. Knowing he had one chance left, he cruised the rest of the lap, only to overshoot one of the chicanes on the final run of the day

This left the door wide open for Hayward, who took full advantage and, on run six, posted what was to be the fastest time so far. It was therefore all down to the seventh and final lapof the track

With a time of 1.08.84 - 0.33-secs quicker than his previous run - all eyes were on Black and Lidster to see if they could snatch the win away from Hayward. However, the leader had done enough by half-a-second to secure his first ever MLR Sprint Series victory and, understandably, was delighted with his day's work:

"I am so pleased that after two seasons of car - and driver - development, I have finally achieved an outright win on my first visit to the podium", said Hayward. "It was a closely fought battle all afternoon between myself and Brad, with Logan and Antony never far behind and never to be underestimated! Thanks must go to MLR, Rosssport, Millers Motorsport Oils and Drenth."

As the practice runs suggested, there was an intense battle for honours in Class C. After Hume had set the marker in the first two runs, it was William Griffiths (Evo IX) who held the baton in the next two. It was then passed back to Hume on run five. But then, on run six - as in the case of Class D - the eventual winner emerged, with Allin going fastest on this and the seventh and final run to claim Class C by a margin of 0.43-secs.

Class B was a more straightforward affair, with Casement setting the best time on all seven runs, his closest challengers on this occasion being Robbie Wyper (Evo VIII) and Ian Corcoran (Evo VIII), who were 0.5 and 0.75-secs behind respectively. In contrast, Class A had developed into a three-way battle between Forbes, Ian Fleming - always impressive in his Evo II - and Rochelle, who set his winning time on run six. Such was the closeness of competition in the road car category, only 0.18-sec separated this trio at the finish.

The next event in this year's calendar takes place on 28th September at the Lotus test track near Hethel in Norfolk, where competitors will be faced with a venue of yet another character and an opportunity to set themselves up for a shot at the title on the seventh and final round four weeks later.

The 2013 Pace Ward MLR Sprint Series is sponsored by: Pace Ward performance insurance, SuperPro suspension parts, AP Tuning, Ross Sport and HKS.

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