2016 Round 13/14 : Rockingham

2016 Final Championship Round – Rockingham

2016 K-Tec Racing Clio 182 Championship, Rounds 13 & 14

The final round of the K-Tec Racing Clio 182 Championship rolls into Rockingham on Sunday 11 September.

Like in 2015, the final meeting will decide the overall 2016 Clio 182 Champion.

The season long battle battle between Patrick Fletcher and James Bark will come down to the wire on Sunday.  The difference between the two contenders is just four points, once drop scores are taken into account.

2016 Rockingham Timetable

SessionDurationTime
Scrutineering7:55
Qualifying15 mins9:20
Round 1313 mins + 1 lap12:55
Round 1413 mins + 1 lap16:30
2016 Race Reports, 2016 Round 11/12 : Silverstone

2016 Silverstone Race Report

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

2016 Race Reports, 2016 Round 9/10 : Anglesey

2016 Anglesey Race Report

2016 K-Tec Racing Clio 182 Championship, Rounds 9 & 10

Words: Josh Barrett
Featured Photo Credit SJN Photography

As the 2016 K-Tec Racing Clio 182 Championship moved into the second half of the season, it was still all to play for upfront, where 2015 runner-up Patrick Fletcher had managed to find a slim points lead over reigning champion James Bark in what was otherwise a perfectly alternated string of victories.

Round 9

Things didn’t change at Anglesey, where it was Fletcher who grasped pole position by 0.11 seconds from Bark, and narrowly ahead of Phil Wright and George Williams.  The first race went the way of Lincolnshire-based Bark, however Fletcher had made the most of a good start to hold the lead in the opening two laps, with Bark and Williams tussling behind.  The latter driver however lost out in the battle and dropped to ninth, before Bark moved through to take the lead.

It was Mark Balmer who occupied the final podium spot by the close of the shortened race, coming through from seventh on the grid to finish ahead of Wright, Williams and Trevor Gregory.  Arron Sharp had been running well up in sixth place, yet a spin at Rocket dropped him to the back of the pack.

Round 10

The second outing was marred by a coming together between Williams and Balmer after a brake issue for the former driver, however Fletcher held on to take his turn on the top step after getting ahead of rival Bark on the second lap.  This time it was former stock hatch frontrunner Scott Sharp who finished third ahead of Gregory and Wright, with Balmer recovering to ninth despite damage.

That single extra victory for Fletcher means that he leads the championship going in to rounds 12 and 13 (at Silverstone on 20/21 August) by 38 points before drop scores are taken into account, where the pair’s battle is unlikely to show any sign of slowing.

Original content from 750 Motor Club

2016 Race Reports, 2016 Round 7/8 : Snetterton

2016 Snetterton Race Report

2016 K-Tec Racing Clio 182 Championship, Rounds 7 & 8

Words: Josh Barrett
Featured Photo Credit SJN Photography

The fourth meeting of the 2016 K-Tec Racing Clio 182 Championship was affected by rain with a sodden track on Saturday and light drizzle on Sunday catching drivers out.

Round 8

A very slow start for pole man Patrick Fletcher dropped him to sixth before he’d even entered the first corner.  That allowed championship rival James Bark to head the field, although he was hit by a late-braking George Williams.  Bark held a big slide and continued to lead.  Williams continued to have an eventful race with some slides and a spin at Coram before finishing fifth.

Bark held off a charging Phil Wright to win.  The recovering Fletcher came third, just a couple of seconds behind the winner.  Andrew Tibbs grabbed fourth with Williams and Nick Garner behind.  Garner passed Scott Sharp on lap two, the latter fell down the field to 12th after being muscled off the circuit at Oggies.

Round 9

Fletcher and Bark were well clear of anybody else in race two after Wright retired with an engine issue. The pair ran nose-to-tail for the majority. With drizzle falling for the last couple of laps both ran wide thanks to slides but Fletcher held on – giving the two main championship rivals a win a piece in Norfolk.

A crazy battle occurred behind. Williams was the first victim as he went off the track at Hamilton into retirement.  Don De Graaff duly moved from sixth to third with Scott Sharp chasing.  Sharp lost out to Nick Passmore at Brundle on lap three with Passmore making a great move around the outside.

Sharp didn’t fancy staying fifth for long so reversed the positions at Montreal on the following lap.  Both were quickly made aware of Tibbs – who had started 11th.  By the end of the sixth lap he had passed them both.  He challenged De Graaff into Riches but the ever greasier surface caught him out.  The pair made contact with a pair of retirements being the unfortunate consequence.

Sharp came through to claim his first Clio podium with Trevor Gregory chasing him to the flag.  Passmore had dropped back, which helped to gift Nick Garner and Martin Ward a top six finish.  Simon Donoghue was also involved in the battle for third and claimed a career best finish of seventh.

The next outing for the 2016 K-Tec Racing Clio 182 Championship is at Anglesey on 16th/17th July 2016.

Original content from 750 Motor Club