Tag Archives: Arron Sharp

2016 Race Reports, 2016 Round 11/12 : Silverstone

2016 Silverstone Race Report

August 28, 2016 clio championship team

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

July 24, 2016 clio championship team

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