Mark Davies and Sean Huyton shared the wins in the opening round of the Ginetta Challenge at Oulton Park over the Easter weekend, while Gary Simms picked up a pair of victories in the G20 class.
Having qualified on pole position for the opening 20-minute race Davies, driving for Optimum Motorsport, got away well to lead early on chased by Mike Robinson (TCR), Richard Sykes (HHC Motorsport), Clive Richards (Colards Motorsport), Ryan Ratcliffe (Piranha Motorsport) and Phil House (HHC Motorsport).
Richards was soon into third position ahead of Sykes after a smart pass at Old Hall while House also disposed of his team-mate having earlier made a move on Ratcliffe. Sykes then dropped behind Academy Motorsport’s Huyton while Ratcliffe spun at Knickerbrook, dropping him out of the lead battle.
Davies continued to pull away in the lead as Robinson fell into the clutches of the charging Richards, who made a move for second place stick at Shell Oils Corner, but had to settle for second, running out of time to close in on the leader.
Robinson held on to complete the podium ahead of Huyton, Sykes and House.
Davies was on pole again for race 2 and led early on as Sykes ran wide and dropped to fourth behind Richards and Huyton. House meanwhile was immediately in trouble as he retired when a fuse supplying power to the dashboard blew.
As Davies led, Huyton climbed into second place after passing Richards at Cascades and was soon with the leader and then ahead with a superb move around the outside of Hislop’s.
Davies’ race began to go badly wrong as he fell into the clutches of Richards and Robinson and when he went side-by-side with Richards into Island Bend soon after, the race 1 winner went off the road and into retirement.
With Davies gone, Huyton cruised to victory ahead of Richards and Robinson, while Sykes beat Rory Bryant (Piranha Motorsport) into fourth.
“The team gave me a really good car today,” said Huyton. “It was a great race and I have to say thanks to Mark (Davies) because he gave me room when I challenged for the lead. This is a great result!”
Ginetta Challenge results – Rounds 1 & 2, Oulton Park
Round 1
1 Mark Davies, Optimum Motorsport, G40, 11 laps, 21:15.002
2 Clive Richards, Colards Motorsport, G40, +6.923
3 Mike Robinson, TCR, G40, +7.682
4 Sean Huyton, Academy Motorsport, G40, +7.944
5 Richard Sykes, HHC Motorsport, G40, +13.324
6 Phil House, HHC Motorsport, G40, +14.042
7 Mike Steadman, Colards Motorsport, G40, +27.884
8 Stewart Linn, HHC Motorsport, G40, +32.495
9 Lee Moulden, Track Cars, G40, +34.022
10 Ryan Ratcliffe, Piranha Motorsport, G40, +35.640
11 Gary Simms, Optimum Motorsport, G20, +1:01.300
12 Stuart Pearson, Driver, G20, +1:02.706
13 Lee Mowle, Optimum Motorsport, G40, +1:09.514
14 Kevin Begley, Track Cars, G40, +1:10.235
15 Graham Johnson, Colards Motorsport, G40, +1:10.864
16 Matt Flowers, Driver, G20, +1:12.362
17 Paul Latimer, Track Cars, G40, +1:24.007
18 JJ O’Malley, Track Cars, G40, +1:24.206
19 Harvey Booth, Driver, G20, +1:24.931
20 Brian Murphy, Orwin Motorsport, G20, +1:31.773
21 Tom Mallett, Driver, G20, +1:32.576
22 John Saunders, Track Cars, G40, +1:32.990
23 Craig McIlvar, M-Sport Racing, G20, +1:33.456
24 Tony Robinson, Colards Motorsport, G40, +1:35.670
25 James Owen, Driver, G20, +1:39.440
26 Neil Delargy, Colards Motorsport, G40, +1:52.445
27 Gavin Mitchell, Reflex Racing, G20, +1:54.445
28 Richard Southgate, Driver, G20, +1 lap
29 Jonny Greenwood, Driver, G20, +1 lap
30 Rick Parfitt, HHC Motorsport, G40, +1 lap
Not classified
Andrew Long, Hepworth International, G40, 9 laps
Rory Bryant, Piranha Motorsport, G40, 2 laps
Round 2
1 Sean Huyton, Academy Motorsport, G40, 11 laps, 21:25.645
2 Clive Richards, Colards Motorsport, G40, +1.594
3 Mike Robinson, TCR, G40, +2.209
4 Richard Sykes, HHC Motorsport, G40, +11.404
5 Rory Bryant, Piranha Motorsport, G40, +20.629
6 Ryan Ratcliffe, Piranha Motorsport, G40, +20.802
7 Mike Steadman, Colards Motorsport, G40, +33.278
8 Stewart Linn, HHC Motorsport, G40, +36.149
9 JJ O’Malley, Track Cars, G40, +44.739
10 Kevin Begley, Track Cars, G40, +54.723
11 Lee Mowle, Optimum Motorsport, G40, +58.343
12 Graham Johnson, Colards Motorsport, G40, +58.849
13 Gary Simms, Optimum Motorsport, G20, +1:01.347
14 Matt Flowers, Driver, G20, +1:01.457
15 Harvey Booth, Driver, G20, +1:13.159
16 Brian Murphy, Orwin Motorsport, G20, +1:15.969
17 Lee Moulden, Track Cars, G40, +1:17.930
18 Paul Latimer, Track Cars, G40, +1:24.117
19 James Owen, Driver, G20, +1:29.702
20 John Saunders, Track Cars, G40, +1:34.455
21 Craig McIlvar, M-Sport Racing, G20, +1:34.514
22 Neil Delargy, Colards Motorsport, G40, +1:43.037
23 Tony Robinson, Colards Motorsport, G40, +1:43.371
24 Richard Southgate, Driver, G20, +1:52.551
25 Stuart Pearson, Driver, G20, +2:03.502
26 Jonny Greenwood, Driver, G20, +1 lap
27 Andrew Long, Hepworth International, G40, +1 lap
28 Gavin Mitchell, Reflex Racing, G20, +1 lap
Not classified
Mark Davies, Optimum Motorsport, G40, 6 laps
Rick Parfitt, HHC Motorsport, G40, 6 laps
Tom Mallett, Driver, G20, 3 laps
Phil House, HHC Motorsport, G40, 0 laps
Next round: 15 May, Snetterton
Watch Ginetta Challenge highlights from Oulton Park on Saturday 14 May at 5:20pm (BST) on Motors TV.
Andy Wilkinson
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