Palmer builds on F4 lead with Pirelli
Will Palmer extended his lead of the Pirelli-backed Duo BRDC Formula 4 Championship as he and Tom Jackson shared a victory apiece at a rainy Snetterton on Sunday.
Polesitter Omar Ismail (Chris Dittmann Racing), in only his second appearance in the series, was the weekend’s other winner when he took a lights-to-flag maiden victory in the first race on Saturday, seeing off a heavy challenge from HHC Motorsport driver Palmer in the process with team-mate Harri Newey in third.
In Sunday’s first race Ismail’s team-mate Jackson used slick Pirelli tyres in changeable conditions to carve his way through the field from 16th on the grid to claim a maiden win ahead of Lanan Racing team-mates Rodrigo Fonseca and first-time podium finisher Jack Bartholomew.
Palmer then got a great start in the wet third race to jump Newey and the 16-year-old Ismail, moving into an unassailable lead. Newey finished second with Ecurie Ecosse driver Ciaran Haggerty third.
Palmer now has a 25-point advantage over Fonseca in the standings heading to the next round at Brands Hatch on August 1-2.Double success for Morris in Pirelli Porsches
Reigning champion Pete Morris won both races in the latest Pirelli-supplied Fuel Protect Porsche Championship round at Donington Park, with Dave Botterill and Tim Speed sharing the honours in Class Two.
Strasse 996 C2 driver Morris battled for the lead with polesitter Gary Duckman’s Boxster S throughout race one before winning by just a tenth of a second, with Chris Dyer giving the Cayman S its first overall podium finish in third. Botterill (964 C2) and Jonathan Evans (Boxster) staged another close contest in Class Two, with the former winning ahead of a late-charging Speed (968 CS).
Duckman again tried his best to pass Morris in race two, but the latter fought hard for a second victory, with his Boxster rival forced to hold off a fast-closing Craig Wilkins (996 C2) at the end. In Class Two Evans led for much of the race before Speed moved ahead to score a category win from Botterill and Andy Toon (968 CS).
Morris has now extended his lead in the series with the next races taking place at Brands Hatch on August 1.
Bird back to winning ways with Pirelli in BTRDA
Paul Bird put his Pirelli tyres to good use to return to winning ways in the BTRDA Rally Series with victory on last weekend’s Nicky Grist Stages in mid-Wales.
It was Ford Focus WRC driver Bird and co-driver Aled Davies’ second straight win on the Builth Wells-based event to put them back in title contention, although fellow Pirelli users and championship leaders Dave Weston and Kirsty Riddick were second in their Subaru Impreza WRC.
Lacking experience on the forest stages, Bird started cautiously before gradually building his speed to take a 14-second win over Weston, with the Focus of Euan Thorburn and Richard Cooke in third.
"We've not enjoyed the best of fortunes on recent events so it was all the more sweet to get back to winning ways,” said Cumbrian Bird. “If we can keep this momentum going we still have an outside chance of winning the title, so the plan is to keep the pressure on for the final three rounds."
Round seven of nine in the BTRDA series is the Ludlow-based Woodpecker Stages on September 5.
Zumbrink on top in Pirelli Dutch Supercars
Henry Zumbrink was a double winner as the Pirelli-supported Dutch Supercar Challenge staged two Masters races at Zandvoort last weekend.
The Volvo Reede Racing By Day-V-Tec S60 driver reigned supreme during the two events, both times finishing ahead of title contenders Roger Grouwels and Kelvin Snoeks in their Team RaceArt Dodge Viper.
Championship rivals Nicolas Vandierendonck and Jeffrey van Hooydonk (Shipex SRT Racing-run Corvette ZR1) were third in the first 34-lap race at the famous Dutch circuit, with Ward Sluys and Frédérique Jonckheere (JR Motorsport BMW M4 Silhouette) the GTB class winners.
In the second 33-lap encounter Nol Köhler and Carlo Kuijer rounded out the podium in their BlueBerry Racing Solution F V8, with class leaders Milan Dontje and Ferdinand Kool taking the GTB spoils in fifth overall aboard their Day-V-Tec Corvette GT4.
The next Dutch Supercar Challenge round is the Gamma Racing Day from Assen on July 31-August 2.Coming up next time: British Superbikes from Brands Hatch; GT Cup ready to race at Snetterton.
