Week Fourty Five
To view podium photos, follow our Twitter @daytonamsport
Sandown Park
Thursday Night League
Thursday Night League at Sandown Park featured intense competition in both the SODI and DMAX categories.
In the SODIs , the race kicked off with Jack Harrison securing 1st position, accompanied by Luka Nik in 2nd and Cicero Hennemann in 3rd. Jack Harrison quickly asserted his dominance, widening the gap over Luka Nik, while Steve Hannon maneuvered into 3rd. Throughout the race, Jack lapped 1.5 seconds faster than the rest of the grid. With an impressive 8-second lead, Jack Harrison continued to extend his advantage, leaving Luka Nik in 2nd and creating distance from the pursuing Steve Hannon in 3rd. Despite Steve Hannon's efforts to close the gap on Luka Nik, Jack Harrison maintained a commanding 14-second lead in 1st.
Turning to the DMAXs, the competition began with Tom Brown in 1st, Logan McAlister in 2nd, and Ollie Armiger in 3rd. As the race unfolded, Logan McAlister steadily closed the gap on Tom Brown, initiating an intense battle for the lead. Simultaneously, Ollie Armiger, positioned in 3rd, started pursuing the top two racers. The race became highly competitive among the top three, with racers closely vying for position. Despite starting at the back of the grid, Karlis Elmanis gradually closed the gap, joining the tight battle at the front in 4th. Logan McAlister took control of the race, surpassing Tom Brown and establishing a substantial lead. Ollie Armiger faced challenges and fell behind the top two, allowing Karlis Elmanis to advance into 3rd. Taking advantage of a spin by Tom Brown, Karlis Elmanis moved into 2nd as Logan McAlister secured a significant lead in 1st.
Milton Keynes
Thursday Night League
It was a damp and cold evening in Milton Keynes for Round 8 of Thursday Night Sprint League, where fourteen drivers joined us for the SODI race, and eleven in the DMAX Race. This week’s track layout was ‘linkback’ where we change the traditional sixth corner of the ‘international’ track, to a tricky, downhill braking zone with an ever-tightening right-hand turn, before continuing the rest of the ‘international’ layout.
In the SODI qualifying session, pole position was heavily contested between the two championship rivals, Jimi Holder, and James King, however Norbert Orsos, Mike Jupp and Richard Danby all showed promising pace in the opening minutes of the session. At the end of qualifying, it was James King who took pole position with a very competitive time of a 1:22.618, 0.721 clear of rival Jimi Holder, and 1.152 seconds clear of Richard Danby in third. The top eight drivers were separated by less than two seconds, so the stage was set for an action-packed race!
In the opening stages of the SODI Race, the drivers had to contend with the tricky conditions with cold tires, and this led to battles up and down the field, James King however was able to hold onto the race lead, closely followed by Jimi Holder, these two managed to bridge a gap between themselves and chasing pack, Norbert Orsos had a very good opening lap! Moving up four places as put himself in a good position to move further forward! In the middle stages of the race, the drivers spread a little bit relative to each other’s pace, however there was a great battle between Norbert Orsos, Michael Bowles, and William Fry over fourth place. When it was all said and done, James King took victory from Jimi Holder in second place, and Richard Danby in third. Jimi will be feeling the pressure in the title race, losing nine points to James this week could be costly come the end of the season!
In the DMAX qualifying session, Lee Schnitzler, Jack Stewart, Barry Morris, James King and Yousuf Bin-Suhayl all set about claiming pole position and were the early contenders for it, but after the ten-minute qualifying session it would be Jack Stewart who took pole with a 1:10.174, just 0.389 ahead of Yousuf Bin-Suhayl in second place. James King completed the top three, and with the top five separated by 1.2 seconds, we had a great race to look forward to!
In the DMAX Race, Jack Stewart got off to a good start drawing slowly away from everybody taking part apart from Yousuf Bin-Suhayl who stayed firmly on his tail for the first few laps. Barry Morris and Lee Schnitzler found themselves in a bumper to bumper battle from the early stages of the race all the way to the finish. James King held his own in P3 for the race securing his spot and not letting anyone come near him at all. The final results saw Yousuf Bin Suhayl take the first position after battling Jack Stewart for the majority of the race, Jack was only 4 seconds behind, with James a further 17 seconds back. Barry Morris took the 4th position over Lee Schnitzler who took 5th. An exciting event for all, with big smiles all round as the drivers came off the track looking forward to more next week.
Photos:
For all Daytona Championship photos and more, please click here.