Daytona Tamworth

Thursday Night League

With rain persistent throughout the day, all drivers were going to be faced with a very green track ahead of Thursday Night League round two at Daytona Tamworth, and this was going to make for an enthralling round of action in both the N-35 ST and DMAX-GT classes.

N-35 ST

In qualifying we saw the emergence of the two main protagonists for the race ahead, Nihal Joye and Sam Chaplin. Finishing strongly at the last round but not being classified due to being underweight, Joye was looking for a strong performance here and started on the front row of the grid. He was just a tenth of a second down on Chaplin, a driver who will consider himself championship contender after a strong start to the season.

The race unfolded with these two drivers being the main protagonists still, their battle lasting for the majority of its duration. It was not the only battle on the circuit, however, as an equally close battle further behind unfolded between Sonny Zacharias and Morgan Dowen – making the final step on the podium as hotly contested for as the first and second. At the front of the field, Joye made a sensationally tidy move into turn seven to steal the lead in the closing stages, but got caught up in some backmarker traffic and soon lost the lead once again. He was all over the rear bumper of Chaplin heading into the final corner of the race, but eventually fell just three tenths of a second short – a really good result for Chaplin, who spent most of the race on the back foot. As for the battle behind them, Zacharias and Dowen battled intensely into the final lap also, being side by side as they made their way up the hill into turn six. However, at the line it was Zacharias who held on to claim his first podium of the season, he would hope of many.

DMAX-GT

Insanely close qualifying sessions have become synonymous with DMAX Thursday Night League and this round was absolutely no different. Luke Inglis took a narrow pole position ahead of Max Housley – the gap just two tenths of a second. It was remarkably tight all the way back to sixth position, just nine tenths of a second separating all of these drivers. That meant that the likes of Darren Holliday and Ben Foden could expect to be in the hunt heading into the race.

Off the race start, the polesitter created a breakaway pack with Max Housley, the two of them going on to build a little bit of a lead at the very top of the field. However, their battling in the early stages allowed Ben Foden to stay in touch with them, and this proved to be to the detriment of Inglis in the latter stages. Setting the fastest lap of the race in the process, Foden kept it consistent to eventually catch up to the back of Inglis, who then had to get very defensive. After about ten minutes worth of a scrap, Foden seized second position but it was too little too late in regard to his hunt for the lead, as the battling allowed Housley to gain a significant lead. This significant lead, about two seconds in its length, allowed Housley to storm to a very impressive victory.

It was another very entertaining round of Thursday Night League in both classes, as we start to establish our championship contenders heading into season two. The championship returns in just a couple of weeks for round three.