Entries were strong throughout a busy two-day programme for the 750 Motor Club in their annual voyage to Wales. A blustery Anglesey Circuit provided excellent action partially in the uber-close Millers Oils Toyota MR2 Championship.
Championship leader Shaun Traynor blasted off the line in the opener and beat both of the front row men into the first corner. Pole man Martin Farrelly fought back though and was in the lead by lap three. Traynor wasn’t to be denied his sixth victory of the season however, despite being passed by Mark Barber too, and was back in the front of the pack for the final four laps to win. Farrelly, Barber and Jim Davies were in hot pursuit of him.
The second race grid is set by the fastest laps of the opener and due to competitive nature of the opening race; the top nineteen were separated by one second on the grid. Once more Traynor flew off the line and beat Davies into the first corner. Traynor was able to hold off Davies to the line despite never being having an advantage of one second. Barber clung on to third with the meetings double class C winner, Stuart Nicholls on his tail throughout.
Due to a fantastic large entry of Disklok RGB cars, front and rear engine cars raced separately. Matthew Higginson (AB Arion S2) made his return to the series but in class F for the first time and had a fantastic battle with David Watson (MNR GM2) in the opener. The pair ran nose-to-tail for the opening ten laps with Higginson’s largest gap across the line being 0.46 seconds. Watson retired on the penultimate lap though with a gear linkage breakage which promoted Austen Greenway (MNR GM3) and Andrew Nelson (GM2) onto the podium.
Due to a slow start from Watson in the second encounter, Higginson had an easier race. Once again Watson retired towards the end with another mechanical issue. Therefore, Higginson won by 15 seconds over Greenway. Stephen Bell (AB Arion) took third after passing Nelson on lap seven. Danny Keenan (MK Indy), ran in the invitation class and finished third overall in both races and James Fowley (Fisher Fury) was the only class A runner.
Alastair Boulton (Spire GT3) got the better of John Cutmore (Spire GT3S) off the line in the class R opener and held on to just win by 0.29 seconds. Scott Mittell (Mittell MC-52B), who only finished third in race one made a storming move on Cutmore for the lead at Church on the fourth lap to win the second. Cutmore held on to second ahead of Boulton.
Paul Taylor (GAC Bears) took his maiden victory in the Formula Vee Championship but had to work hard for it. He started fifth for the opener. He beat team-mate Dave Hughes (GAC Bears) off the line then slipstreamed pass both Paul Smith (AHS Dominator) and Ian Jordan (Sheane Jordan) by the sixth lap. He then worked at a 1.3 second margin which Craig Pollard (GAC Bears) had pulled out. Taylor slipstreamed passed him on the run to Rocket on the final lap. Pollard fought back but lost control of his car, narrowly avoiding Taylor. Taylor won with Hughes, Smith and Jordan behind. Pollard was only able to recover in fifth.
A couple of mistakes dropped Pollard down to fifth again in the second race allowing Smith and Jordan to fight for the win. After switching places a couple of times, Smith’s winning move came around the outside of Rocket on lap eight and he held on to win by 0.14 seconds with Hughes coming third. Jack Wilkinson (Sheane Mk3) won class B twice.
Stuart Sellars initially diced with Jack Coveney on his way to winning the first Demon Tweeks / Locost Championship race. They slipstreamed passed each other multiple times before Richard Bradley joined in the fun and took second on lap six away from Coveney. Danny Andrew did the same to Coveney on the final lap but no one could get ahead of Sellars when it mattered.
Andrew and Sellars were the drivers battling for the win in the second, shortened encounter due to a red flag. Andrew manage to pull out a small margin to win with Sellars and Bradley behind, meaning the same three drivers were on the podium for both races but never on the same step. Coveney was the best of the rest with Roger Haylock, Ian Allee and Sian Stafford-Atkinson close behind.
Mark Higginson won the opening Tegiwa Civic Cup race after having to pass Bernard Galea. Galea took the lead after jumping the start which meant he was handed a ten second penalty. That allowed Adam Shepherd and Carl Swift were promoted onto the podium.
The second race saw a reverse grid which meant Steve Laidlaw was on pole but Rodren Vella took the lead on lap two. He then was able to defend off the field to win – he had never stood on the podium previously. Endaf Owens climbed from sixth to second in three laps but couldn’t go any further forward. Laidlaw came third with Galea behind – the top four finishing less than two seconds apart. Championship contender Shepherd was only 22nd after starting late and Higginson didn’t finish. Mark Anderson and Matthew Bolton were class A winners.
Ben Short had been unbeaten so far this season in the 5 Club Racing MX5 Championship but his tenth win didn’t come. Will Blackwell-Chambers beat him in the opener after getting ahead at Banking. Sycamore came third. Rogers won the second encounter after flying through from fifth on the grid and got passed Short around the outside of Rocket on the second tour. Blackwell-Chambers was third and made the most of contact between Short and Rogers in the final race. Short dropped to 13th but recovered to sixth. Rogers kept second with Sycamore behind.
Andrew Thorpe (Citroen AX) took a double victory in the Demon Tweeks / Yokohama Classic Stock Hatch Championship. He beat Gordon MacMillan (Peugeot 205) by seven seconds in the opener. MacMillan led the second encounter before he outbreaked himself at half distance, falling to fourth. Matt Rozier (Peugeot 205) took a third and second, while Jon Peerless (Peugeot 205) claimed the final podium spot in the second race.
Lee Deegan made a fantastic start in the opening Demon Tweeks / Yokohama Stock Hatch race, going from third to the front. He was then able to hold off brother Shayne. The race was stopped when Scott Sharp’s gearbox expired in a dramatic way – promoting Paul Jarvis onto the podium. Shayne Deegan replicated him brother’s start in the second encounter which helped him to win with Lee and Sharp behind. Tom Bell dominated both Hot Hatch races.