JONES-WHITE TAKES MAIDEN VICTORY
It’s over 20 years since the 2CV Championship raced at Lydden, but a healthy 20 car grid assembled to make it a day to remember.
Unbeaten so far this season, Kris Tovey put his KT Racing car on pole for race one, closely followed by title rivals Dilligaf’s Nick Crispin, Tete Rouge/Propolis’ Andrew Bull and Ryebridge/Baycon’s Seb Jones-White.
Tovey and Crispin managed to pull a gap on the pack in the opening laps, leaving Jones-White and Baycon team mate Sandro Proietti contesting third.
As Jones-White started to consolidate his place, Proietti had Team 2CV Lion’s reigning champion David O’Keeffe closing in, while Nick Roads and Nicholas Home had got a little too close in the duel for sixth.
“I had got away well but had contact with Nick and my front wheel took a hit which affected the tyre on right hander’s,” Home explained.
“It was about lap four, we couldn’t hold onto the pack ahead, but both lost places ,” Roads replied.
By half distance the lead trio were in the clear, but Tovey was still out in front. “Nick Crispin gave me a hard time for the first 10 laps, really putting the pressure on me. But then we caught the backmarkers and I was luckier than him, so the gap opened,” Tovey explained, taking three wins from three by 5.924 secs.
“I was able to stick with him, then we caught the backmarkers, they were battling, one spun and he had the gap,” Crispin replied.
Jones-White had managed to match the lead duo for much of the race and by the flag had closed the gap to just 0.51 secs on Crispin, for his first racing podium. “The car felt quick and I was just happy to be there. I pulled away with Kris and Nick but didn’t think I could challenge them, and as I had brake issues too I was happy to just sit there,” he explained.
The battle for fourth was almost racelong, with O’Keeffe finally ousting Proietti on lap 18, only for them to swap places again a lap later. But Proietti had the pace over the final laps and made it count.
Martin Riman had qualified sixth but lost out on the opening lap and had to battle his way back from 13th place. He was into the top 10 taking Ethan Sparrow on lap eight and finally claimed sixth from lap 14, after demoting Julie Walford.
Chris Yates was next home, having retaken Walford five laps from home, but they remained close to the flag, while Roads and Sparrow completed the top 10 after a last lap exchange.
“I had a good battle with Chris and Ethan, but I had damage from the earlier contact,” said Roads.
Home was 11th, “disappointed and a bit annoyed,” he reckoned. Simon Turner also finished on the lead lap, while behind him Matthew Arrowsmith-Brown demoted Richard Hollis from 13th with three laps to go.
There was little to split Laurence Broadhurst and Chris Hall at the end, while in 17th Giles Owen led home a three-car train from Colin Etchells and Martin Sunderland.
Title contender Bull was the final classified finisher, after Andi Donaldson retired. “I had a carburettor problem, but I thought it would clear on the green flag lap. I pitted, fixed it and rejoined but three laps down,” Bull explained.
RACE 2
Baycon’s Luca Proietti grabbed a first lap lead from KT’s Alex Cockhill , as Jones-White, Crispin and Team Gadget’s Tom Perry’s slotted in behind.
“I didn’t cover the first corner and Luca got me, then I was battling with Seb for second on lap two, I got in wrong on the downhill section and Seb, Tom and Nick all went by as my racecraft was severely lacking,” Cockhill admitted.
Bull was leading the next group from O’Keeffe and Roads, but leader Proietti was in trouble with his throttle and was out, which left Perry leading Jones-White, Crispin and Cockhill.
The lead pair then got a break, which left Crispin’s third place under pressure from the recovering Cockhill, swapping again on lap seven.
It all began to close up again with Cockhill rejoining the lead pair, while O’Keeffe had started to close on Crispin too.
But Crispin was back on the attack and shared numerous exchanges with Cockhill, while at the front Jones-White was pressing Perry for the lead.
By lap 13 only 0.913 secs covered the top four, with Cockhill back in second and going for the lead. “I had the pace but it was a bit too frantic for me. I was faster at the first corner and tried a run on Tom. It didn’t work and we had contact,” he explained.
“I hadn’t got a lot of hope at the start and Luca got the lead, then Tom led but was slower in the corners than me. Alex then got between us and tried for the lead, but neither of them were giving space and so I drove around the outside and into the lead,” said new leader Jones-White.
It proved to be the decisive move as Jones-White claimed his maiden victory, with 2.504 secs to spare, over the still duelling Perry and Cockhill. “I was shouting and screaming in the car as I took the flag, I had never felt so emotional, never having won anything before,” he said.
Crispin had caught the second place duel again at the end, after shaking off O’Keeffe, who then lost out to Bull from lap 15. “I was in the lead bunch for most of the race, but couldn’t get past. They were fighting and I was happy to sit behind and bring it home,” Crispin explained.
Bull clinched fifth, “it was almost a racelong dice with David, which swapped a few times to try and catch the pack, but we didn’t quite make it,” he said.
Riman, Roads and George Broadhurst finished line astern for seventh, while Steve Walford completed the top 10 after ousting Yates a lap from home.
“It was a good battle with Martin and George, and I started well, but struggled to carry any momentum,” said Roads.
Turner and Sparrow finished on the lead lap too, while Hall, Owen, Sunderland and Hollis completed the finishers, with both Etchells and Arrowsmith-Brown joining Proietti on the retirement list.
Full results on TSL Timing