Lotus Cup Uk Donington Race Report

Round 5 of the 2011 Lotus Cup UK held at Donington Park on the 14th August 2011.

Introduction

Round five of the championship took place at the revived Donington Park circuit near Derby, a venue that is popular with Lotus drivers and was held on the same weekend as the Club Lotus show in the track’s exhibition centre.

With a late withdrawal from Mark Fullalove; Steve Williams and the David and Rob Fenn pairing looked to be favourites for the overall win. With Jamie Stanley committed elsewhere this weekend, Elise Trophy frontrunner Luigi Valentino Mazza joined Glen Sherwood in his Exige, an intriguing prospect. Chris Setters, who had gone so well at Brands Hatch from the rear of the field, joins his father Doug in their Open class Exige, whilst in Production, Tom Bradshaw and Neil Livsey renew a partnership that worked so well in round one, to challenge championship leaders Ken Savage and Steve Quick.

Qualifying

There was drama in the early stages as David Fenn left the road at the Old Hairpin and was beached in the gravel, facing the track. This left many drivers unable to post competitive times, with a live snatch underway, leaving Matt Cherrington on provisional pole from Williams and Marcus Jewell, the only drivers under a minute and twenty seconds.

Williams was first to respond once the yellow flags had been withdrawn, seventh tenths quicker than the Cherrington Europa. He then went even faster, which the Europa almost matched. Meanwhile, Simon Deacon was barely a second behind and a quick turnaround for the Fenn car brought them back into contention with fourth.

Production qualifying looked to be going the way of Livsey and Bradshaw but Quick wasn’t too far off, whilst Savage needed to find a second. However another off at the Old Hairpin, this time for the BJ Chong/Paul McNeily car, brought out the yellows once more, with ten minutes remaining.

With six minutes to and the green flags waving, Rob Fenn placed the Go Green Motorsport Elise on provisional pole, just seven hundredths quicker than Williams. The session started to wind down at this point and engine troubles for David Harvey at Redgate added another yellow flag interruption and left just a few seconds of the session remaining once it had been dealt with. With no further improvements of note, the Fenns were celebrating their first pole of the championship, with Williams joint favourite on the front row.

Cherrington also had much to cheer about with his best starting position on the second row with round one winner Deacon. Mark Gooday shared row three with McNeily and Chong, whilst Jewell and Pete Storey sat behind them on the grid. Ninth place fell to Sherwood and Mazza, with the Setters Open class Exige tenth.

Livsey and Bradshaw started on the Production class pole, thirteenth on the grid, which was promoted a place, thanks to Harvey’s troubles. They sat three places ahead of Quick and Andrew Napier/Rob Woolridge, who pipped Savage for third in class.

Race

Rob Fenn made a good start as Williams had to fend off Cherrington and Deacon, with the latter eventually taking third place. Vitthal Chauhan quickly found himself in the gravel at Redgate, rejoining dead last, whilst Greg Noble ended lap one in the pitlane. Livsey, Quick and Savage held the podium positions in the early running for Production, meanwhile Mazza was only one place ahead of Jonathan Mobbs in the Exige Cup class.

As the race settled into the early laps, Fenn was being chased hard by Williams and the pair were dragging Deacon along with them, Cassidy and Storey were keeping in touch, whilst Gooday tried to hang on from Jewell. A heavily-fuelled Deacon was soon holding up Cherrington and Storey and on lap 8 the Europa passed him for third, to challenge the leaders. Storey also made his move at the chicane further round as Gooday set his targets on Deacon, repeating Cherrington’s move next time round. Meanwhile behind them, Mazza made his way past Jewell for seventh.

Production leader Bradshaw was a few seconds clear of Quick, with Savage coming under extreme pressure from Napier/Wooldridge. However an important development in the Production field had a major effect on the race as an off involving Tania Mann caused a safety car intervention just as the pitlane window was about to open.

The pit window opened as the safety car completed its final tour and both Savage and Doug Setters took immediate advantage. Williams came in on the next lap, splitting his race into two parts, whilst Rob Fenn stayed out for as long as possible to take advantage. Cherrington was next in, giving the leader some breathing space, with second-placed Production man Quick in a lap later.

Williams rejoined in fairly clear traffic, keen to lap as fast as he could to avoid losing as much ground as possible to Rob Fenn, who was being chased by Deacon, Storey and Gooday. Rob pitted with twenty-five minutes to go, followed by Mazza (who missed his pitbox), Gooday and a very quick Bradshaw, who had once again kept up with the faster cars in front.

Whilst David Fenn sat in the pitlane waiting to rejoin, Cherrington had jumped Williams during the stops and looked likely to be David’s main challenger until needing to make another, this time unscheduled, pitstop which led to retirement. The current leader once Deacon had pitted, however was Storey and as he made his stop, Williams held the lead from David Fenn, whilst Deacon and Storey hoped to gain some ground on their return to action.

With the window closed and all stops completed, Deacon sneaked out into the lead, but only just, from Williams and Storey. The gap closed even more when Stuart Plotnek and Neil Livesey both spun at Redgate, causing a second safety car period. On the restart, Williams went with Deacon, whilst Gooday and David Fenn battled for fourth, leaving Storey in a relatively quiet third place.

Williams went straight on the attack, trying every line possible, and the leading pair were together for several laps, both giving no quarter, nor taking any. Time after time they would run side-by-side along the straights, Williams dropping behind into the corners but tracking Deacon as close as he dare. It didn’t matter which part of the circuit, the yellow 2-Eleven would be right on the tail of the black example, always threatening, yet the battle was clean and despite the pressure Deacon was posting some of the race’s fastest laps! With just five minutes remaining Williams made his move into Redgate, around the outside, and emerged the leader.

If Williams expected a cruise to the flag, it wasn’t happening and a determined Deacon stole the lead back at Redgate. He then used the traffic to his advantage and by the final lap had just enough space to take the win at his local circuit, from Williams and the Fenns. Storey finished fourth after being penalised for a pitstop infringement, with Gooday fifth and Jewell sixth. Chris Setters made up a few places in the final laps, taking seventh place, with Sherwood and Mazza eighth. Quick took the Production class win from Savage, the pair completing the top ten, with the third-placed Production car of John LaMaster and David Hay eleventh.

Overall

1. Simon Deacon 2. Steve Williams 3. Fenn/Fenn 4. Pete Storey 5. Mark Gooday 6. Marcus Jewell

Conclusion

This was the best Lotus Cup UK race so far, the epic Deacon/Williams fight a highlight of the season, once which took place after fifty minutes of racing and kept the crowd enthralled for several laps. However this is not to take away from fine performances from David and Rob Fenn, plus Matt Cherrington, who was a dark horse for victory today and likely to challenge again.