Qualifying saw the familiar sight of Gary Adnitt on pole position, joined by Mick Storey continuing his return to form from last season. Rookie racer Simon Turner took up an impressive third spot on the grid, with the ever-speedy Neil Thompson on fourth. New starter Ian MacSikkar joined at the back of the grid after a late qualifying lap just prior to the race start
Katie Croucher was slow away at the start, but not so Steve Panas, who had made his way up to third by Gerrards behind Adnitt and Cooper. Challenging Panas for third along the Stebbe Straight was Phil Myatt, putting Richard Dalton's former championship-winning car through its paces. By the next lap he was up into second, followed hard by Storey, Chirstian Callendar, Simon Pearson and Mick Cooper.
Pearson soon started to demonstrate that he hadn't been idle during the off-season, as his new race engine provided the extra grunt needed to push him through the pack and into the lead on lap four. From then on it was Pearson and Adnitt showing a clean pair of heels to the rest of the pack as some close slipstreaming gave them the edge they needed to pull away. At times the pair were so close that the race commentator was convinced Adnitt was pushing Pearson along!
The battle for third spot was hotly contested between Cooper, Myatt, Storey, Callendar and Wayne Cowling, with some traditional three abrest action going into the Esses. The action got a little too close for Simon Turner, who came away from some tight racing with a bent wing and damaged tyre. Some incredibly quick work in the pits saw him back out on the track with a new tyre, but two laps down on the leaders. Storey was another to loose out in this battle, slipping to the back of the bunch he had formerly been fronting.
On the penultimate lap, Adnitt slipped past Pearson at the hairpin to take the lead for the last lap, but Pearson stayed on his tail right to the end. Neil Thompson crossed the line eight seconds behind for third place, with just over a second covering the next six cars.
All-in-all, a great start to the new season!
Results Summary