Mazda MX-5 SuperCup Double for O’Neill at Oulton

BRSCC Mazda MX-5 SuperCup – Paul O’Neill’s one-off appearance in the MX-5 SuperCup yielded a double victory for the touring car ace – his first win in the championship and the first for Paul Sheard Racing since Brands Hatch – but he definitely didn’t have it easy. Tom Roche, Abbie Eaton and Mike Comber all played their part in two thrilling races which proved the success of the one- make Mazda formula. On both occasions Tom Roche led out of the final corner only to lose out by the smallest of margins, but his two second places coupled with misfortune for Abbie Eaton have promoted him to the top of the championship table. Words By David Chapman.

It was Eaton who took her second pole position of the season on Saturday morning, knocking two seconds off last year’s fastest qualifying time with a 2:00.586 lap set near the end of the session. Alongside her was Mike Comber who had been top of the timesheets for most of qualifying, and when the first race got going it was Comber who made the best start. Roche and O’Neill made equally clean getaways from the second row and set about provoking the four-way battle that raged for the first half of the race. Roche took the lead early on ahead of Eaton while Comber and O’Neill squabbled over second and for a brief moment it looked as if the leading two were making their escape, but as Eaton squeezed Roche up against the pit wall in an effort to conquer first place the pack closed up again. Lap 7 saw a complete re-shuffle with O’Neill finding his way up to second ahead of Comber and Eaton but things came to a head at Hislop’s chicane – a collision with Eaton under braking sent Comber spinning into the Armco. With his rear bumper caved in and rubbing on his tyres Comber was forced to return to the pits, leaving the remaining three to do battle for the final five minutes. Roche held onto the lead throughout a breathless final lap, but O’Neill got a run out of Lodge corner and lunged alongside as they crossed the line – it was too close to call, even for the timing systems, but once the timekeepers sorted out the results it was O’Neill from Roche by three-hundredths of a second, with Eaton two tenths further back. Matt Davies, Liam Murphy and John Davies all had lonely races to finish fourth, fifth and sixth respectively.

Three hours later the grid formed up to fight it out again. The stage was set for a thrilling climax – changing conditions, varying grip levels and one of the main protagonists starting from the back of the grid. Time constraints shortened the race to 16 minutes to ensure a finish before the 6:30pm curfew, and the spectators readied themselves for a repeat of the first race showdown. From pole position O’Neill got the jump on Roche and led the first lap while Comber, fired up after the race one incident, made superb progress to advance ten positions in two minutes. By lap four he was up to fourth, as a train of cars began to form behind Roche. Headlights ablaze, the Blendini Motorsport driver held off advances from O’Neill and Eaton while Comber and the two Davies brothers also joined the fight. Once again, though, it was a collision between Eaton and Comber that split up the pack. Eaton had put a wheel onto the astroturf at Lodge and the car slewed sideways, leaving the charging Comber with nowhere to go and spinning Eaton across the track as their teams watched on. Roche and O’Neill took their chance to break away and stretched a lead over Matt Davies who inherited third place, but as the rain began to fall again Davies surged towards the two leaders. In a repeat of the first encounter it was Roche who led out of Lodge, only to be foiled again by O’Neill’s lunge over the line. Matt Davies claimed third with his brother John just behind, followed at a distance by Liam Murphy and the recovering Abbie Eaton who salvaged sixth place.

Unfortunately the racing was marred by politics later in the day – investigations into the two Comber/Eaton collisions resulted Comber being excluded from the second race, though no action was taken against either driver for their first incident. The officials’ rulings have put a final nail in the coffin for Comber’s title hopes but Eaton is still in the hunt. She has been overhauled by Roche, who now leads the championship for the first time this year, but the gap is only four points. With two rounds to go it’s still all to play for.

Race 1 (10 laps)

1. Paul O’Neill 20m28.213s (78.90 mph), 2. Tom Roche + 0.031s, 3. Abbie Eaton + 0.218s, 4. Matt Davies + 2.753s, 5. Liam Murphy + 16.086s, 6. John Davies + 18.380s, 7. Justin Newnam + 28.135s, 8. Garry Townsend + 29.851s, 9. James Aspinall + 38.140s, 10. Chris Lord + 50.959s, 11. Steven Andrew + 51.227s, 12. Adam Brindle + 51.447s, 13. Geoff Gouriet + 56.259s, 14. David Whitmore + 1:13.017s, 15. Jim Hart + 1:35.388s, 16. Nicola Gillatt + 1:41.600s, DNF. Mike Comber + 3 laps (collision), DNF. Clint Bardwell + 4 laps (battery)

Fastest Lap: Paul O’Neill, 2:00.704s (80.28 mph) on lap 9 Pole Position: Abbie Eaton, 2:00.566s (80.38 mph) Weather: Changeable, dry Fastest lap is new lap record.

Race 2 (8 laps)

1. Paul O’Neill 17m10.593s (75.22 mph), 2. Tom Roche + 0.150s, 3. Matt Davies + 0.912s, 4. John Davies + 3.583s, 5. Liam Murphy + 11.908s, 6. Abbie Eaton + 13.969s, 7. Justin Newnam + 23.839s, 8. Chris Lord + 26.874s, 9. Clint Bardwell + 27.023s, 10. Garry Townsend + 31.693s, 11. James Aspinall + 46.087s, 12. Adam Brindle + 48.245s, 13. Steven Andrew + 52.083s, 14. Geoff Gouriet + 1:03.312s, 15. David Whitmore + 1:17.372s, 16. Jim Hart + 1:49.090s, 17. Nicola Gillatt + 1:56.799s, DQ. Mike Comber (disqualified for driving in a manner incompatible with general safety)

Fastest Lap: Matt Davies, 2:03.596s (78.41 mph) on lap 4 Pole Position: Paul O’Neill (1st in race 1) Weather: Showers, damp

Championship Standings (minus 3 lowest scores)

1. Tom Roche 1065pts, 2. Abbie Eaton 1061, 3. Matt Davies 1035, 4. Liam Murphy 992, 5. Chris Lord 922, 6. Mike Comber 896, 7. Simon Fleet 844, 8. John Davies 784, 9. Garry Townsend 780, 10. David Chapman 776, 11. Adam Brindle 710, 12. Steven Andrew 686, 13. Robert Way 662, 14. Paul Sheard 644, 15. Clint Bardwell 610, 16. Geoff Gouriet 540, 17. Julian Taylor 528, 18. Justin Newnam 524, 19. George Line 518, 20. Darren Standing 502, 21. Will Chappell 500, 22. Nicola Gillatt 490, 23. Jim Hart 466, 24. Jeremy Crook 408, 25. Peter Gillatt 352, 26. Anthony Nield 278, 27. Ray Worley 204, 28. Paul O’Neill 201, 29. James Aspinall 164, 30. David Whitmore 146, 31. John Collins 128.

Words by David Chapman.

Main image by Jonathan Elsey Motorsport Photography.

Next stop Rockingham for round 7 on September 20th & 21st.

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