Daytona Championships

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Daytona Tamworth

Round five of Superchamps took place at Daytona Tamworth on Saturday 6th of July. Drivers were back on the ‘Grand Prix’ format once again, where their raw pace would be tested to the maximum in both of their two races. With rain constantly threatening, it was set to be a very interesting round.

N-35 ST Lightweights

Championship regular and leader Nikodem Benonski was not in attendance for this round, meaning the likes of Sinclair Potter-Green had a really good chance to try and make up some ground as the championship nears its end.

Jude Lillyman set the early pace, putting it on pole position for the shootout and winning that first race by a second and a half to Jessica Swannell, with Leo Jackson looking very strong in the early stages in third. These drivers would not be the ones battling in the largely wet final, however, as we saw a very unique race throughout the twenty-five minutes. Attrition was perhaps the story of the day, as most of the drivers who did well simply kept themselves out of trouble. This was certainly true of the race winner Sinclair Potter-Green, who’s pace didn’t really spark until the very late stages of the race. This did not matter too much to him, as consistency was key in a victory of about ten seconds to our very own Inkart graduate Cordell Potter-Hayles. Potter-Hayles put in a really impressive drive for his podium spot, battling with Jessica Swannell in the early stages of the race but eventually building a gap. Swannell eventually had to settle for third. In terms of most improved drivers, Jude Lillyman did just about enough to win the round in fifth, being joined on the round podium by Potter-Green and Swannell.

N-35 Heavyweights

Most people have come to expect Daytona driver of the month Kristine Kolodziejski’s presence at the top of the heavyweight order, and we expected no different at this round with her having a fantastic chance to extend her championship lead more. However, she had a great challenge in William Stephenson, who would be gunning for victory.

Kolodziejski put it on pole and soon won the first race, finishing in second place overall. Her pace was mighty, but she was perhaps a little bit fortunate as Stephenson ran into a little bit of trouble that took him out of contention. With one of the faster laps, however, he would be back for the final for sure.

Our final certainly delivered, as Stephenson was able to use his skill and experience in drying conditions to find the areas of the circuit that were drier. He ended up winning the overall race by about forty seconds, and the Heavyweight race by a whole lap. During this final, Kolodziejski ran into the back of Chris Lomas, gaining her a 3-place position penalty and promoting her off of the eventual podium. Chris Swannell was able to capitalise, finishing in second with Lomas actually able to recover into third. The round podium slightly differed though, as Kolodziejski’s shootout performance was enough to earn her the overall win, ahead of Stephenson and Swannell.

DMAX-GT Lightweights

The grid for this round was a little bit of a mix between championship regulars like Jack Middleton, Jacob Holley, etc, and some drivers who are using Tamworth Superchamps as a chance to practice for the forthcoming Jamie Chadwick Series race at the circuit. This would make for an interesting dynamic as championship regulars started to face a bit of a new challenge.

Henry Parkes put it on pole position initially, a really strong performance for him in very wet conditions as the rain lashed down during the qualifying session, but he was beaten by Alex Jackson in shootout, Alex winning by about twenty seconds. Based on the evidence of this race, it was going to be difficult to beat him going forward.

Into the final, Alex Jackson would soon go on to make it a round sweep, but he had his hands full in the early stages of the race. Parkes led early on, and it was quite difficult for Jackson to actually formulate a move. Once he was able to, though, he flew and eventually won the race by about eight seconds to Parkes. Neil Hampson would join them on the podium, making a dramatic late defense ahead of Jacob Holley. Impressing once again in this round was Amelia Wolf, who could not quite put on a showing in the final race, but did drive impressively up to second in the shootout – getting a decent haul of championship points.

DMAX-GT Heavyweights

In similar vein to the N-35 heavyweight championship, Kristine Kolodziejski came into the round dominating the DMAX-GT championship. She would look to do the same thing here, though had some really tough competition in the likes of Darren Holliday – and of course a lot of trouble from the weather.

The weather unfortunately summed up Kolodziejski’s day, with Darren Holliday taking pole position and Kolodziejski unfortunately spending the shootout struggling to find much pace. Luke Dodman put in an impressive drive to win the shootout, with Holliday just behind – meaning it would likely be between those two drivers heading into the final.

That prediction would turn out to be a reality into the final, where Darren Holliday managed to emerge victorious by simply being the most consistent of the heavyweight drivers. With his strong showing in the first race as well, this was enough to take victory in the round as well. He was joined on the podium by Luke Dodman and William Hitchcock, Hitchcock being second in the championship heading into this round. However, the round podium was slightly different with Kolodziejski’s finish ahead of Will in the first race being enough to get herself onto the round podium.

Our Superchamps season has just two rounds to go now, and it remains all to play for as we head into those final rounds. We return next week, on the 13th of July – back on the much loved D40 format.