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News round up from Mondello Park
Aidan Hills headed into rounds 4 and 5 after suffering disappointment in Round 3, something he was aiming to rectify. Right from the first heat Hills looked smooth and comfortable, getting quicker and quicker with each heat and delivering a hat-trick of heat wins showing impressive form.
Delivering a fastest heat win of the day in the third heat to secure pole position for the coveted A-Final, Hills headed into the first corner door to door with Darren Scott but with the better line slotted into first place and put some clear air between him and second place. He timed his joker lap to perfection coming out in 2nd place but reclaimed the lead on the very next lap a position he didn’t relinquish and calmly took the checkered flag.
Sunday and Round 5 was however to prove to be much harder work with him crashing out in the second heat to give him a DNF. Hills came out for heat 3 knowing he had to put in a good performance to secure a place in the A-Final. He did just that by winning the heat and scoring another Fastest Time of the day (FTD) for the second successive day. This earned him a back row 6th place on the grid. He made up two places going into the first corner and then a further place on the exit. Hills then opted to take his joker lap to put himself into some clean air. This proved to be a decisive move that secured Hills a well-deserved second place. The championship now moves back east to Pembrey in Wales for round 6 on 26th July.
“Overall this was up there with one of best race weekends I've ever had. The car felt perfect from lap one on Saturday and I managed to win the first heat and it all went from there really. Winning all the heats and putting it on pole for the final on Saturday I was so nervous to get my first senior win, but I managed to keep my nerves under control and come away with the win, and I was over the moon.
Sunday wasn't quite as perfect, 2nd in the first heat, and then a big crash in the second heat put me under real pressure, great work from my dad and the people who helped us to get the car back out for heat three. I needed a good result to secure a position in the A-final, I went absolutely flat out and managed to win heat three with FTD. Starting 6th for the final was never going to be easy but to come away with a 2nd was very satisfying.”
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Craig Lomax endured a troubled weekend at Mondello when, during the first heat Lomax ‘s Citroen C2R2 suffered a broken drive shaft that was totally unexpected. A flurry of activity in the pits saw the team fit a replacement to get the car out again. It was a cruel blow when on the way to the dummy grid the replacement broke as well, with the rest of the da, hi spent welding in the hope of fixing one of the broken shafts.
A late night and a huge ‘never give up’ effort by the XtremeRX team saw the car ready for round 5 on Sunday. It was agreed that a steady approach would be the order of the day for Sunday in the heats simply to ensure some valuable championship points would be guaranteed.
The car felt good, so the decision was made to make more of a go of it in the final. All was well after taking an early joker lap, however Lomax was forced to pull off the track on the third lap and out of the final. This time it was wheel bearings that had failed. The luck of the Irish was most definitely not with the XtremeRX team for this double header in Ireland.
"After such a disappointing weekend we will go home strip the car back, check everything and had to the next round in Pembrey looking to put this weekend well and truly behind us."
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A new track for Jake Taylor brought its own set of difficulties but he quickly settled in and put in consistent times during the three heats and earned the second spot for the B-Final. Looking for his third consecutive B-Final win. In the final a mistake from the first placed Andrew Hawkes allowed Taylor to take advantage and he seized the lead and kept it to pick up the win and advance to the A-Final.
Starting from the back of the grid left Taylor a lot to do but he did however equal his season best finish with a solid fifth position. After heavy rain overnight the track was slightly better and faster which suited Taylor. Improving on his heat positions from Saturday placed him on pole for the B-Final. However with a first corner incident Taylor had to take evasive action to avoid contact with a spinning Dave Ellis. This unfortunately lost him valuable time and despite some of his best driving of the weekend he wasn’t able to secure that magic win to progress into the A-Final and had to settle for 9th spot.
“It was great to get back out in the Wallrock sponsored Swift. I knew it was going to be tough especially as it was my first time at Mondello but it’s an incredible track. I am so pleased with my 5th overall. From all I learned Saturday I was right on the pace from the first heat on Sunday. I had tough grids for heats 2 and 3. So it was a big achievement to make pole for the B-Final but got boxed in at the first corner and had to avoid another car that lost me time. Very happy with my progress and a huge thanks to Autopoint SE, and with 5th Place in round 4 and 9th place in Round 5 means I have earned some more valuable championship points and a whole lot more experience"
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Nathan Heathcote put the disappointment of Round 3 behind him and put in a consistent performance during the heats, especially as it was a new track for him and the conditions were extremely dusty. He managed to claim the 5th spot on the A-Final grid. After a good start though he ran wide on the first corner loosing a few places eventually picking up 7th place.
Overnight rain slightly helped the dusty conditions of the previous day that suited Heathcote. He drove well in all the heats securing a first, second and fourth respectively. This was enough to secure outright pole position in the A-Final, his first this year.
Sadly for Heathcote, the car experienced a mechanical problem on the dummy grid which would end Heathcote’s weekend prematurely before the start of the final.
"Had a quality weekends racing! Was extremely happy to get my first pole position but a mechanical failure on the dummy grid meant I wasn't able to start the A final, But looking forward to the next round at Pembrey."
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Championship leader Tristan Ovenden headed to Rounds 4 and 5 with three wins under his belt this year already and was looking to consolidate his championship lead.
An inauspicious start kept Ovenden in contention securing him the forth grid spot on the second row for the coveted A-Final. He moved up to third on the first lap and he would defend this position from fellow Kent driver Darren Scott to claim the third placeon the podium.
Sunday and saw a shaky start in the first heat on a track slightly slippery after a lot of overnight rain. The second and third heats, saw Ovenden take a first and third respectively. This was enough to secure the final front row spot on the A-Final grid. Ovenden made an inspired start but was pushed wide on the first corner to remain in the third spot. Steady and consistent driving saw Ovenden successfully defend the place to earn his second third place spot of the weekend to maintain his place at the top of the Championship table.
“It all happened this weekend! We didn't gel with the track as quickly as hoped but some great work by the team kept the Goody/Promac Suzuki on the podium for two 3rd places. It has been a very steady weekend for us.”
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