All Images courtesy of Jonathan Elsey
The Best and Biggest SuperCup Race EVER!
After the short triangle of Silverstone National for round one the welcome sight of more than 3 corners greeted the drivers arriving at Rockingham for the second race weekend of the BRSCC MX-5 SuperCup championship, races 3 & 4 of the season.
This was a big weekend for the SuperCup in many ways, first being one of the support races to the prestigious British GT championship, second the Live TV coverage as part of their package and third a full entry of 34 drivers! So full in fact that MX5 veteran Tom Roche was unable to squeeze onto the grid and instead was left as reserve.
The welcome return of former SuperCup race winner Paul O’Neill to the championship in a freshly built Paul Sheard Autos car was sure to spice up the racing at the head of the field. This time Paul is competing in as many rounds as possible which do not clash with his ITV BTCC commitments. It was also great to have Mission Motorsport driver George Grant joining the BRSCC championship for the first time.
With no practice session this round, those who had the opportunity to test would have a head start as the drivers headed straight for qualifying in ideal cool but dry conditions late on Saturday afternoon…
Qualifying
It was Paul O’Neill who was first out onto the track for the session and he wasted no time utilising the clear space to get used to his new car and hammer in some impressive lap times. One advantage of running with the British GT package is the huge amount of rubber that is laid down by the fat slicks of the GT cars. The benefits in grip certainly showed in the lap times, O’Neill setting an early marker over a second faster than pole in 2014! Impressive work considering it was a brand new car he had never driven.
It took a few laps for the other front running drivers to find space in the pack but it was Silverstone winner Alan Henderson in his AK Automotive backed car who managed to better O’Neill’s time with a 1.43.293 lap, which would not be beaten as he took his second pole of the season. Liam Murphy was the only other driver to dip into the 1.43s taking third closely followed by James Blake Baldwin and Silverstone Race winner Jonathan Clements in 5th.
Reigning BRSCC Porsche Boxster champ Jonathan Greensmith was clearly beginning to get to grips with his new car and set up, taking 7th fastest time while many of the other new drivers to the championship put in great laps meaning times were tight right down the order. John Munro in his Blink Motorsport machine also put in a notable performance, the highest placed novice qualifying 6th. The scene was set for a superb pair of SuperCup races the following day.
Race 1
A rather unwelcome sight greeted the drivers on Sunday morning, very heavy rain which completely soaked the Rockingham circuit. But with the race not due to start until the afternoon there was plenty of time to apply wet settings to their cars in preparation for a circuit which is notoriously slippery in the wet. However, as the race start approached the rain stopped and the temperature began to rise, would the circuit dry?…
Following two green flag laps the cars lined up on the slimy grid ready for the lights to go out. Off the line it was mixed fortunes as Henderson made a good getaway alongside O’Neill but Liam Murphy bogged down badly and shuffled backwards. A rocket start from John Davies saw him jump from 11th to 5th by the first corner. With all cars safely through the banking it became clear the British GT rubber which had helped so much in the dry had made the already slippery circuit like an ice rink in the wet.
Henderson at the head of the pack was first to encounter the treacherous conditions, slithering off the circuit at the fast Gracelands bend dropping 25 places on the opening lap. Meanwhile, Blake Baldwin had worked his way to 2nd which became 1st following Henderson’s error. This lead didn’t last though as the battling group traded places and Clements found a way past. Liam Murphy’s poor start was compounded by a race ending off as he locked up and contacted the barrier at Yentwood.
Down the field all drivers were struggling in some of the trickiest conditions the MX-5 SuperCup has seen with a number of minor spins and offs, but those who had committed to a wet set up seemed to fair better. The starting order had been truly shaken up as the safety car was scrambled for Murphy’s incident.
The Lotus Exige safety car on road tyres set a quick pace which the stiffly sprung SuperCup cars on semi-slicks struggled to match meaning the field had not bunched by the time racing got underway again. Clements once again led the way from Blake Baldwin then O’Neill, managing to pull a gap at the front that he would maintain to the flag in a flawless drive. O’Neill however was pushing hard as conditions improved setting fastest lap of the race and with just two laps to go managing to squeeze passed Blake Baldwin and claim second spot on the podium.
Times were slow, nearly twenty seconds a lap off the dry pace of qualifying and mistakes were plenty, Greensmith undoing his good work in qualifying with an error at the hairpin and then having to wait to re-join down the order. Meanwhile a great drive from Simon Traves saw him rise from 15th to 5th position by the flag. Similarly impressive drives from Will Chappell, Andy Baylie and Ray Grimes meant they made significant gains from their starting positions.
All drivers did a superb job in difficult conditions to bring their cars home in one piece. Pole sitter Alan Henderson was perhaps fortunate his off was early in the race as he climbed his way back to finish 9th, putting him in with a chance of a good result in race 2.
Race 2
The final race of the day featured Live TV coverage on Motors TV and everyone would be looking for a good performance with such great exposure. The ambient temperature had risen and the sun shone all afternoon leaving a bone dry track but with a lot of the grip from qualifying washed away.
33 cars lined up for the start of race 2, a great sight for the TV cameras and spectators watching. As the lights went out Alan Henderson down in 9th got an incredible start, firing around the outside of the banking as the pack streamed around, 4 abreast in places. At the first corner Henderson braked latest, sliding up the inside and taking second from O’Neill with a slight tap. Another corner down and Henderson had crept passed Clements and was now in the lead! For the first 3 laps he couldn’t get away, the top 5 covered by just over 1.5 seconds each time across the line. It wasn’t until Blake Baldwin pulled off with mechanical problems that a split appeared in the lead bunch, the front three stringing out, Henderson followed by O’Neill then Clements.
A little further back and the ever improving Adam Brindle enjoyed a close fight with first George Line who eventually broke away, then Justin Newnam, Chappell and Greensmith in 8th (recovering from a 22nd position grid start). Liam Murphy salvaged something from his weekend, following Greensmith home in 9th having come from 32nd on the grid.
Plenty of drivers enjoyed a fight back through the field following the shake-up in race 1 including Daniel Irving finishing 17th and James Aspinall in 15th both making plenty of overtakes on their way back up the order. With battles right down the field it was clear that the Motors TV commentators enjoyed the racing and were impressed with the quality and depth of the SuperCup Field.
Boreham Motorsport driver Ray Worley had a bit of a tussle with the Mission Motorsport driver George Grant and managed to avoid big contact by skirting around him and drove away from a potential major impact.
At the flag it was Henderson who took his second SuperCup race win of the season to match Clements’ tally, who himself came home third behind O’Neill who impressed on his first outing of the season. Henderson also took fastest lap and new lap record on route to the win, narrowly beating last year’s time of 2014 champion Abbie Eaton.
It’s worth noting that thanks to full the British GT sector timing the speed trap figures for each session were recorded and no one driver was consistently at the top over the weekend, further emphasising just how evenly matched these MX-5 SuperCup spec cars are.
Over the course of the weekend, the clerk of the course, handed out grid penalties and docked championship points from three drivers for avoidable contact. This further emphasises the fact that the BRSCC MX-5 SuperCup promotes close but clean racing right down the capacity grids.
In terms of the championship table it’s Jonathan Clements who leaves Rockingham topping the standings ahead of Henderson then Goddard, but the points are tight and after the next round at Castle Combe dropped scores will also come into play. It looks like this season will be another thriller!
Full Race Results via TSL Timing: http://www.tsl-timing.com/file/?f=BF3GT/2015/151805xsc.pdf
Championship Standings: http://www.mx5supercup.co.uk/standings
Next Race: Castle Combe May 25th
