Round 5 & 6 - Silverstone

Two victories for GSport Racing

The Pickup Trucks’ first visit to Silverstone proved to be a huge success with two thrilling races and a double victory for GSport Racing courtesy of Simon Carr and Mark Jones.

Greg Wood secured his first pole in the championship as he finished tenth in both parts of qualifying.Antony Hawkins was not handed a perfect birthday present after being forced to start from the pit lane when his clutch slave cylinder disintegrated as he was leaving the assembly area.

Simon Carr shot in to the lead ahead of Dave Briggs and Steve Dance while Kelly-Jayne Wells was forced to go grass tracking early on after Greg Wood and Gavin Seager touched and spun.On lap 6 Greg Wood was in trouble again when his gearbox failed. The bad luck was spreading as Nic Grindrod’s engine let go on the same lap, leaving oil across the circuit and just a lap later Paul Saunders was temporarily in the pits with a steering problem.

Dave Briggs and Simon Carr were battling for the lead but it was Carr who seemed to come out of that one ahead on most occasions.

Gavin Seager headed to the pits two laps from the end with a puncture, which moved him from 4th to 13th and left him a lap off the leaders. Simon Carr held on for his second victory of the season, with the extra ballast doing little to ruin his flow.

There was confusion ahead of race two, with it officially declared a wet race, but a drying track saw most drivers choose slick tyres. Steve Dance, who was now carrying the maximum 90kg ballast, was the only driver to make a quick pit stop on the green flag laps to change his mind.

Greg Wood missed out on his second pole position, following his between-race gear box change which left Dave Briggs in the hot seat.

Briggs was flying once again and went into the lead, but Mark Jones had also shot through from row three and from lap two pulled in to the lead ahead of Paul Saunders and Briggs.
With Jones pulling an ever increasing gap in the lead, by lap four, Gavin Seager was up to third just behind Paul Saunders.

Mid pack there was a cracking battle unfolding with Antony Hawkins, Simon and Damien Carr, Greg Wood and Lee Rogers, which saw several place changes and passing attempts and often heading in to corners three wide.Jones was pulling a bigger gap up front, while Michael Smith began to move up through the field taking Briggs on lap seven and Kelly-Jayne two laps later to move in to fifth.

Seager was also on the move, as he closed to gap to Saunders, eventually taking second place on lap 10 at Copse corner. It looked as if this would be the podium, but Saunders drifted off circuit on the final lap to hand Pete Stevens the final podium spot.

A post-race penalty – equivalent to a drive through - was given to Wells, which moved her back from sixth place to eighth in the results.