2011 WRDA News

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2011 Welsh Sports & Saloon Car Championship -BARC Pembrey 10/11 September 2011

Ten out of Ten for Dom, but Nissan Challenge cars make it hard for him.

 Dom Evans continued his dominant form at Pembrey on the weekend but the Nissan Playstation Academy Nissan 370Z duo of  Jann Mardenborough and Bryan Heitkotter were at the centre of the race action on both Saturday & Sunday.

 Race 1 Saturday 10^th September - Entry & Practice

There were a select group of 9 racers on the grid with Dom Evans taking another pole position to maintain his 100% record with a time of 60.35 seconds, 2nd fastest was Dave Krayem with his Black Ginetta G50 on 60.988. The Nissan 370Z’s of Bryan  Heitkotter and Jann Mardenborough were on the 2^nd row with times of 61.069 & 61.112 seconds showing there was little to choose between them. On row 3, Neil Watts was 5^th and he had Alvin Powell alongside him. Alvin (whose other car is an ex-BTCC Mondeo) was given a freshly built example a run out. Sadly it proved to be something of a shakedown test, and Alvin was several seconds off his normal pace. The engine was hitting the rev limiter on the main straight showing that the gear rations needed sorting out. On row 4, Chris Everill made a welcome return with his Ginetta G20, now a nice shade of red. Keith Butcher made a welcome return with his red Ginetta G50 , assisted by Nigel Bowen, both cars a bit lower down the grid than we would normally expect to see them. Neil Trainer was on the final row, with the Caterham 7 of Martin Amison joining us as a guest.

Dom has already gone but plenty of action behind him

 The Race 15 Mins +1 lap

Dom made his customary quick start and established himself in the lead for another lights to flag victory to maintain his 100% record, but behind it there was some great racing, which had the commentator for one, singing the praises of the Welsh Championship.

Chris Everill carved through the field and was up to 2^nd place by lap 2 and initially tried to put some pressure on Dom. However he had Dave Krayem on his tail. But when Dave then found Jan Mardenborough on his tail, this allowed Chris ‘Lofty’ Everill to settle into a solid second place until he found gears hard to select, eventually pitting 3 laps from the end. Jan by this time had passed Dave and was now therefore in second place. However the joy for Jan, only lasted one lap and a spin allowed Dave into 2^nd place. Jan still had enough time to gather it up, finishing 3^rd , someway ahead of Bryan  Heitkotter in 4^th place. Bryans car seemed to be suffering from understeer, which the RJN team would look to fix overnight, and he had to climb up the field after a slow getaway. Keith Butcher was a fast starter and initially held 4^th until Neil Watts and Bryan picked him off. Neil held Bryan at bay for a few lap until the Nissan 370Z found a way past. Neil chased Bryan to the flag eventually finishing 5th. Behind him Alvin held 6^th with Keith Butcher for close company. A few car issues and a stinking cold didn’t help Neil Trainer, but he declared ‘The racing was good! So Dom collected another win and is surely on his way to take the championship, the first incidentally for a Caterham car, which is perhaps a surprising fact, giving their widespread use.