LET: Donnelly wins Brands Hatch opener

Ex-F1 driver Martin Donnelly won the opening round of the Lotus Elise Trophy at the weekend.

A bumper field of 46 cars gathered at Brands Hatch as the series returned to a single-class format. The entry was spilt into two qualifying groups followed by two heats, a final for the fastest drivers and a consolation race to sort the best of the rest.

Despite the several newcomers present on the grid, familiar faces, Donnelly and Mark Speller, both dominated their heats.

The former Lotus Grand Prix driver, Donnelly, triumphed in a thriller of an opening heat ahead of Marcus Jewell and series debutant, Luigi Valentine Mazza, who charged through the field from tenth on the grid to finish third.

Speller’s victory came ahead of an almighty battle between David Hay, Paul Harding and Simon Phillips, Harding coming out on top to finish second ahead of Hay after Phillips spun down the order.

Unsurprisingly, the final was fought between Donnelly and Speller. Donnelly made the best start and pulled well clear in the early stages, but was hauled back in by Speller who made several attempts to get by before eventually making a mistake in Graham Hill Bend which saw his hopes of victory ended and prompted him to settle for second.

Jewell won a fierce battle with Edwards and Harding over the final podium position.

The ‘B’ final was an equally entertaining race as Steve Quick overhauled novice racer Phil Stratton-Lake to win. Andy Dolan was third.

Watch Lotus Elise Trophy highlights on Motors TV (Sky Channel 413, Virgin Media 545).


Andy Wilkinson

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