2016 K-Tec Racing Clio 182 Championship, Rounds 11 & 12

Words: Josh Barrett
Featured Photo Credit SJN Photography

The longstanding championship battle between Patrick Fletcher and James Bark hotted up further at Silverstone for rounds 11 and 12 of the K-Tec Racing Clio 182 Championship, where Bark took a duo of victories to close the points margin to just four between the pair, once drop scores are taken into account.

Round 11

An incident-filled opening lap of race one caused a red flag, where Trevor Gregory was turned into the pit wall off of the start and was collected by his Father, Bill.  Further around the lap Arron Sharp was turned around and collected by Martin Ward, eliminating Sharp.  To top of the melee, Arron’s brother Scott had already been taken out of the race as his bonnet accidentally flew open on the green flag lap, smashing the windscreen.

An eight minute plus one lap restart followed with Bark, Fletcher and Phil Wright at the head of the pack – an occurrence which has been fairly regular this season.  They finished in that order despite some challenges from Fletcher.  A strong run from Don De Graaff saw the former Formula Renault racer take fourth, from 13th on the grid.  Nick Garner and George Williams completed the top six, with the latter driver running fourth in the early stages.  Former kart racer Charlie Turner took seventh in his first car race, aboard the Andrew Tibbs-run Clio.

Round 12

Bark took another lights-to-flag victory in race two.  Wright got the better of Fletcher at the start, but the positions switched on lap four which meant an identical podium to Saturday’s encounter.  Mark Balmer took an impressive fourth, ahead of Garner and Scott Sharp.

The final outing for the 2016 K-Tec Racing Clio 182 Championship is at Rockingham on 11th September, where the championship will finally be decided.

Original content from 750 Motor Club