The third round of the 2024 season was held on the weekend of 6th/7th July.
A return to the technical Wombwell circuit in South Yorkshire. A lower turnout of 32 drivers was likely due to the forecast for the whole weekend being wet .However Saturday, apart form the odd shower, stayed mostly dry allowing drivers to set up their cars and tune their engines.
A damp start Sunday was followed by heavy rain just before the start of the heats. The race was declared a wet meeting allowing an advantage those drivers fortunate to have a separate car set up for wet conditions. Due to the local time and noise restrictions it was decided not to run open practice, but this then allowed four full rounds of qualifying.
Rain was stop and start during qualifying and by the last round it was possible to run on damp foams for 1/10 and specific rubber wet tyres for GT8. At the end of qualifying the positions were as follows:
GT8
TQ Mark Green
2nd Craig Nutting
3rd Adam Griffiths
200mm Touring
TQ Ollie williams
2nd Alex Thurston
3rd Ollie King
220mm
TQ Matt Baker
2nd Bailey Rice-Draycott
3rd Richard Kozakiewicz
GT Wide Touring
TQ Neal Wallace
2nd Paul Dewsnap
3rd Jonathan Withington
The rain finally relented so the track was dry of the start of the finals meaning a change of set up and tyres for the drivers .
Finals
B Final GT8
Robert won two of the legs with Trevor taking the other.
1st Robert Shepherd
2nd Trevor Kersey
3rd Keith Middleton
A Final GT8
TQ Mark Green dominated all three legs. Craig and Adam ended up on the same points but Craig edged it on his third leg result.
1st Mark Green (Serpent)
=2nd Craig Nutting (X-Ray)
=2nd Adam Griffith (Serpent)
B Final 1/10
Ollie King had a good battle with Jacob and drove extremely well to take the win by a lap.This also secured his first podium , after two recent 4th place finishes. Jon Withington was a steady third until a side belt issue near the end allowed Dev to overtake .
1st Ollie King (Infinity)
2nd Jacob Hennell (Serpent)
3rd Devendra Mahatme (Capricorn)
A Final 1/10
TQ Matt Baker led off with a rapid Mark Boothman in pursuit. Alex Thurston was in the unfamiliar position of staring 5th on the grid. Alex started to chase down the frontrunners and after several minutes took the lead which he kept for the remainder of the race. Mark and Matt fought for the next two places with Mark coming home 14 seconds in front .
1st Alex Thurston (Mugen)
2nd Mark Boothman (Shepherd)
3rd Matt Baker (X-Ray)
An eventful weekend’s racing despite the inclement weather. Fortunately a dry circuit for the finals allowed for some competitive racing after the lottery of the wet conditions during qualifying. As usual special thanks to locals Trevor and Babs for running the meeting so smoothly. The next round is at the challenging tight and twisty circuit at Colchester on the 27th/28th of July.