CSCC Tin Tops At Oulton Park
Oulton Park can be a challenging circuit, as we all know. But Tin Tops really rose to the challenge on Bank Holiday Monday.
Qualifying was intense, with Chris Warburton in his VW Golf laying down the gauntlet, posting a 1:54.228, averaging 84.84mph. That despite breaking a gearbox in testing earlier in the weekend. He was followed by Adam Brown in a Ford Fiesta in 2nd . Tom Mensley in a Clio in 3rd and James Slater 4th in his Honda Civic.
There was a long wait until the Tin Tops race started. It meant everyone was able to take in some great racing via watching the earlier races. Tin Tops was the last race of the day, and it was going to be a squeeze. Especially considering it is a 40 minute race and the curfew being 18:30!. The delay was from the previous race, which saw oil deposited on the left hand side of the track down The Avenue.
Adam Brown had a strong start. Being ahead of Chris Warburton as they went down The Avenue to Cascades for the 1st time. After the leaders passed, a car did go off on the inside of Cascades, It was soon cleared for racing. Chris W/Golf really put Adam B/Fiesta under pressure and was able to take back the lead, and Tom M/Clio moved up to 2nd. Chris and Tom then proceeded to have a monumental battle. After the pit stops, Tom was leading, but had received some penalties, unbeknown to Chris. Into the later stages, the Golf driver was down about 30 seconds, and lap by lap he reduced that deficit. It was epic.
The race was stopped with about 2 laps to go. As it stopped they were half a second apart, but Tom’s penalties meant he dropped to 2nd. Tom is a great competitor and complimented Chris on his outstanding best lap of 1:53.752, averaging 85.19mph – not bad for an old Golf GTi that his Dad bought in 1990! (Mind you, his Dad did win the 1994 Toyo Tyres Championship in the car). Great family team.
To check the rundown of the race results click here.
Well done to everyone for a superb days racing at Oulton Park, but especially the competitors in the Co-ordSport CSCC Tin Top Series, always entertaining and rewarding.
