Tom Roche and Paul Sheard share the spoils at Croft

Championship leaders Tom Roche and Paul Sheard shared the spoils at Croft and are now equal on points going into the last 3 rounds of the 2008 Max5 Championship.

The first day was dominated by the news at the drivers meeting that BARC and MSA had announced that the only UK MX5 Single Series Championship for 2009 will be MaX5 Racing.

Qualifying: Conditions dry

Straight from the start of the qualifying session Scot Kirlew was determined to make an impression on the remainder of the field by posting his fastest lap on lap 2.

Tom Roche, Paul Sheard and Joachim Ritter all trying desperately to close the gap and by the end of the session just over half a second separated the quartet.

Joachim had the unfortunate experience of clutch failure on the last qualifying lap and he had to be towed back to the paddock.

Grid Race 1

1          Scot Kirlew             1:44.915            Average speed 72.91 mph
2          Tom Roche              1:45.015            Average speed 72.84 mph
3          Paul Sheard             1:42.215            Average speed 72.70 mph

Race 1

Conditions: dry

As the green lights went out Scot Kirlew was away the quickest and lead into the Chicane only to be past at Tower by championship leader Tom Roche with the following pack closely bunched. As the lap came to a close it was Tom followed by Scot, Paul Sheard and Matt Robinson.

A spin by Nick Wright at the Chicane on lap two effectively put him out of the race and he retired at the end of the lap.

Meanwhile up at the front the lead had changed with Scot who leading Tom by 0.3 seconds with Paul Sheard in third.

By the time Tower had been reached on lap three Tom was again in the lead followed by Paul and Scot and these three were now starting to pull away from the rest of the field with Matt Robinson and Richard Breland leading the chasing group.

Tom held the lead over the next couple of laps until on lap 6 when Scot opened up a lead of almost a second over Tom.

At this stage of the race Tom and Paul were keeping a very close eye on each other as one mistake could have seen the championship disappear.

The chasing group was now being led by Jonathan Halliwell, Joachim Ritter and Richard Breland.

The gap between Scot and second and third place was getting bigger with Paul Sheard now up in second place but being pushed all the way by Tom.

In the final quarter of the race the gap between Paul and Tom was forever changing with neither being able to close the gap on Scot.

The final lap started with only 0.3 seconds between second and third place and as they left the Chicane they were side by side, into Tower and through the Esses, still locked together with Paul just managing to lead into Sunny and out into the Complex.

At the chequered flag it was Scot Kirlew followed by Paul Sheard and Tom Roche with Joachim Ritter in fourth.

Paul Sheard gained another point by having the fastest lap which now left the Championship leaders equal on points going into race two on Sunday.

Result:

1          Scot Kirlew              21:32.236            Average speed 71.04 mph
2          Paul Sheard             21:35.597            Average speed 70.85 mph
3          Tom Roche              21:35.834            Average speed 70 84 mph

DNF: Nick Wright

Fastest lap: Paul Sheard 1:46.291 Average speed 71.97 mph on lap 7

Race 2

Conditions: Dry

Grid:

1            Scot Kirlew                  1:45.219
2            Paul Sheard                 1:45.273
3            Joachim Ritter              1:45.328

The second race of the weekend was promised to be another close encounter with every point now counting.

Again as in race one Scot Kirlew was away the quickest with Paul Sheard and Tom Roche in close attendance and at the end of the first lap it was Paul Sheard in the lead followed by Scot and Tom with Richard Breland close behind.

Into lap two and three Paul held the smallest of leads but Tom had moved up to second and Scot relegated to fourth behind Richard Breland. The following group of Joachim Ritter, Matt Robinson and Wayne le Montais closely matched and at the rear of the field Dean Parker, James Maxfield and Nick Wight were having their own closely matched race.

At the end of lap five Tom was down into fifth place and starting the long haul back to catch the leader who was never able to get enough space between himself and the chasing pack to be comfortable.

At the end of lap nine Tom was up into second and on lap ten took the lead going down towards Sunny In with Scot snatching second at the Complex from Paul who was back into second place by the end of the lap.

The race was now entering the final two laps and Paul taking the lead back from Tom at the Esses, opening up a small lead of 0.3 seconds by the end of the lap.

Lower down the field Jonathan Halliwell had problems at the Hairpin loosing a couple of places and less than two seconds covering the places four to seven.

As the final lap came to a close Paul Sheard just held on to the lead from Tom and Scot with Wayne le Montais a creditable fourth.

Tom Roche had the fastest lap which now left Tom and Paul still equal on points going into the next round in two weeks time.

Result:

1          Paul Sheard             21:23.805            Average speed 71.50 m ph
2          Tom Roche              21:24.567            Average speed 71.46 mph
3          Scot Kirlew             21:24.813             Average speed 71.45 mph

Fastest lap: Tom Roche 1:45.088 average speed 72.79 mph on lap 7

The next two rounds will be at Pembrey, South Wales over the weekend of 13/14 September.

B. Marsh