2016 Croft Race Report

2016 K-Tec Racing Clio 182 Championship, Rounds 5 & 6

Words: Josh Barrett
Featured Photo Credit SJN Photography

Round 5

Patrick Fletcher went one better that last year at Croft in the K-Tec Racing Clio 182 Championship, coming away from the North East not with only both pole positions and race wins, but also a subsequent commanding lead in the championship points.  The 2015 runner up initially lost out to reigning champion James Bark following the first race getaway, but by the end of lap one it was Fletcher from Bark, with Phil Wright in third.

Wright made his move on Bark at Tower on the second lap to produce a podium order that was to stay until the race end, and the final two positions in the equally-spaced five car train were reversed on lap four when Mark Balmer overtook George Williams.

Round 6

It was Fletcher from Wright once again in the second outing, but this time Mark Balmer took advantage of an absent post-lap one Bark to take his first podium in third place. Wright tried his utmost to make a move on Fletcher at Tower but couldn’t make it stick, and former Stock Hatch front runner Scott Sharp was best of the rest to claim fourth position.

The next outing in the 2016 K-Tec Racing Clio 182 Championship is at Snetterton on 25/26 June 2016

Original content from 750 Motor Club

Castle Combe Photo: SJN Photography

Rounds 3 & 4 of K-Tec Racing Clio 182 Championship from Castle Combe.

NB : all images are copyrighted protected and must not be used without written permission from SJN Photography.

Live Motors TV Coverage from Castle Combe

The High Speed Television Channel brings you the best in grassroots motorsport with its hugely successful Motors TV Live Race Day concept. Live coverage comes from Castle Combe.

2016 Castle Combe Motors TV Clio Timetable

StartFinishDescription
13:5514:10K-Tec Racing Clio 182 Championship Round 3 (Race 4)
17:0517:20K-Tec Racing Clio 182 Championship Round 4 (Race 11)

2016-motors-tv-castle-combe-coverage

2016 Donington Race Report

As a strong grid of Clios took to the track for the first time this year at Donington Park, it would have been natural to expect that 2015 title contender Patrick Fletcher and eventual champion James Bark would be ones to watch.

Yet with the top ten places in qualifying separated by less than a second around the National Circuit, the opening meeting kicked off what looks to be a season that’s closer than ever in the K-Tec Racing Clio 182 Championship.

Round 1

Bark started race one on pole but Fletcher lining up alongside Robert Armitage on row four, with last year’s tied pair now separated by George Williams, Philip Wright, Mark Balmer, Don De Graaff and Pete Morgan.

As the flag dropped for race one however it was the 2015 championship’s 10th placed man Martin Ward who made the most of the sprint to turn one, finding his way up to fifth at Redgate from tenth on the grid.  Bark took control of the race but only as the frontrunner of a tightly-knitted pack, initially holding off Williams until lap five when Wright reversed their positions for second and third places.  By this point Ward had dropped to seventh and Fletcher had made his way through to tag onto the back of the leading pack, setting the fastest lap along the way.

A good battle was hotting up through the mid-race distance between the number 14 car of Trevor Gregory and former stock hatch frontrunner Scott Sharp, with the pair going side by side in the drop down through Craner Curves.  Various positions looked in jeopardy after fluids were laid down on lap nine, yet at the flag the race duly went the way of Bark to start his 2016 campaign, with Wright in second place and Fletcher getting the better of Williams on the last lap to close in and take third.  De Graaff placed fifth with Gregory sixth.

Round 2

The first few grid slots were occupied by much the same cars in the second outing of the day, where the top eight remained close but ordered until lap four, with an order of Bark from Williams and newly promoted Fletcher, then Wright, De Graaff and Ward.

It wasn’t long though until the Bark and Fletcher rivalry was going wheel-to-wheel, with the pair side by side through Coppice but also sharing their space with the now-omnipresent Wright and De Graaff.  Bark dropped to fifth initially but soon fought back, taking third at Redgate and by the penultimate lap he’d managed to come out at the head of the battle.

The defensive driving from the trio however left enough breathing space for Fletcher to notch up some consistent pace; sufficient to pull a lead that would prove impossible for Bark to rein in before the end without any mistakes or traffic.  As the flag came out for lap 11, the race duly went the way of Fletcher, from fastest lap-setting Bark and DeGraaf, then Wright, Williams and Ward close behind.

In a reverse to race one results, Scott Sharp just had the better of brother and Club newcomer Arron for ninth and tenth places, and there was little to separate Richard Thirbin and Terry Roughton across the line for 11th and 12th.

Original content from 750 Motor Club

Donington Photo: Aaron Lupton

Rounds 1 & 2 of K-Tec Racing Clio 182 Championship from Donington.

NB : all images are copyrighted protected and must not be used without written permission from Aaron Lupton.