Super win for Tom Roche
On a very wet Silverstone circuit Tom Roche set out his intention to be the man to beat in this years Max5 Championship leading from start to finish.
Seventeen cars came out for the qualifying session on a dry circuit and including some new faces for this season.
The session was relatively uneventful with the exception of Joachim Ritter who had a problem with a wheel which was soon resolved, Paul Sheard who’s engine blew up in the final 5 minutes and Chris Lovett, in his first race, spinning on the exit of Copse but able to carry on.
There were some surprises in the qualifying times with Justin Newnam gaining a front row position and Mark Pierpoint on the second row, however, Brett Walter in his second season gained his first pole position.
Brett Walter failed to make a good start and Tom Roche took up the initiative coming through from the second row to take the lead by Maggotts closely followed by Justin Newnam, Charles Plumley and Mark Pierpoint but by the end of lap one Tom had gained almost four seconds on the field and still pulling away.
Defending champion Paul Sheard was well down on the pace, after changing the cars engine, completing the first lap in 16th place.
As Tom Roche continued to dominate the race the battle for second, third and fourth took centre stage with Justin Newnam, Charles Plumley and Brett Walter battling it out for the honours.
A spin at Luffield dropped Dean Parker down the field from seventh to tenth on lap 6 and a similar experience for Mark Pierpoint on lap nine dropped him down the field. Whilst up front the battle for second place was on.
A lucky escape for Joachim Ritter at Woodcott when he spun following a close encounter with another driver and passed the start and finish line backwards before continuing.
Paul Sheard continued his steady progress up the field but was unable to make much of an impact on the leaders.
Right up to the chequered flag Tom kept pulling away from the rest of the field setting the fastest lap on 1:23.579 on lap 8 some 8 seconds slower than his qualifying time.
The final positions gave Charles Plumley and Justin Newnam their first podium positions and well deserved too.
1st Tom Roche
2nd Charles Plumley
3rd Justin Newnam
Fastest lap: Tom Roche 1:23.579
It was good to see some new faces in the first three and congratulations to all in difficult conditions.
The next round will be at Castle Combe on Bank Holiday Monday 5 May
B. Marsh