Double for Tom Roche at Rockingham
The seventh round of the Max5 Championship at Rockingham was due to be another 30 minute race but was changed to two 20 minute races with race one counting towards the championship.
Qualifying: Conditions dry
Qualifying was carried out in conjunction with the Fiat Racing Challenge to allow for the additional race later in the day.
The session ended with Charles Plumley gaining his first pole position on the grid next to Tom Roche with Dean Parker and Justin Newnam on the second row.
Unfortunately Andy Coombs could not compete in the race due to his engine blowing up and Adam Robinson had clutch problems.
Grid:
- Charles Plumley
- Tom Roche
- Dean Parker
Race: Conditions dry
Straight from the start Charles Plumley was determined to capitalise on his pole position and was away first, closely followed by Tom Roche.
At the end of the first lap Charles was still leading with Andy Burge moving up from the third row of the grid to be in second place ahead of championship leaders Tom Roche and Paul Sheard.
At turn two on the second lap Paul Sheard moved inside to take second place and by the end of the lap was leading but Andy Burge had an incident on lap two which left him in last place.
The race was now starting to split into groups all challenging for places with Charles Plumley, Jonathan Halliwell working hard for third place and Justin Newnam, Richard Breland, Matt Robinson and Dean Parker all closely matched for fifth place.
Up at the front Tom and Paul were still closely matched until lap 6 when Tom took the lead.
The battles lower down the field were still as close as ever with Andy Burge moving up slowly through the field from his incident on lap 2.
By lap 8 Jonathan Halliwell had established himself in third position just ahead of Charles Plumley and Richard Breland.
The lead kept changing between Tom and Paul with neither able to establish a great enough lead top be comfortable.
On lap 9 Andy Burge spun narrowly missing Nick Wright but unfortunately hiting Dean Parker, damaging both cars severely with both unable to continue. Chris Lovett also spun at turn 12 loosing ground on James Maxfield.
As the race came to a close Tom was the winner of a hard fought race with Paul Sheard and Jonathan Halliwell gaining his first podium finish of the season in third position.
The fastest lap went to Tom Roche on lap 4 with a time of 1:42.237.
Result
1 Tom Roche 20:47.257 Average Speed 67.49 mph
2 Paul Sheard 20:47.711 Average Speed 67.46 mph
3 Jonathan Halliwell 21:02.067 Average Speed 66.70 mph
Fastest Lap: Tom Roche on lap 3 1:42.237 Average Speed 68.61 mph
Race 2 (Non Championship)
Conditions: Dry
The grid positions for race two, the non championship race, were determined by finishing positions in the first race.
Dean Parker’s team carried out remarkable repairs to his car following the incident in race one to allow him to take his place at the rear of the grid.
Straight from the start Tom was away quickly, closely followed by Paul Sheard.
As the first lap unfolded Joachim Ritter spun relegating him to last position by the end of the lap which is were he remained until his retirement from the race at the end of lap 3.
Meanwhile up at the front Tom Roche had now established a lead of just less than three seconds over Richard Breland and Paul Sheard, lower down the field Jonathan Halliwell, third in race one, was having a battle with Justin Newnam for fifth place with Dean Parker justifying his teams hard work by slowly moving up through the field in his patched up car.
Richard continued to hold onto second place until lap 8 when he relinquished it to Paul Sheard, Jonathan Halliwell had broken away now from Justin Newnam and was challenging Matt Robinson for fifth place.
Tom Roche continued to dominate the race up to the chequered flag taking his second win of the day with again Paul Sheard in second place with Charles Plumley third.
Richard Breland came home fourth and the battle between Jonathan Halliwell and Mat Robinson was carried right to the finish line with Jonathan just winning out from Matt.
1 Tom Roche 20:46.044 Average Speed 67.55 mph
2 Paul Sheard 20:48.572 Average Speed 67.42 mph
3 Charles Plumley 20:56.189 Average Speed 67.01 mph
Fastest lap Paul Sheard on lap 8 with a time of 1: 42.176 average speed 68.65 mph.
The next round of the championship will be at Mallory Park Leicestershire on Sunday 20 July
B. Marsh