Round Two - Mini Article

26 April 2010 | Brian Walden

Wakefield Park Second Round 2010

JENNINGS MACHINERY GLASS

Round two in April was once again down on entries but the competitors that entered enjoyed themselves regardless of the rain in the middle of the day that meant a few competitors sat out the rain due to not having wet tyres.

Qualifying was in the dry and once again was dominated by Charlie Borg in his Honda powered Mini who ended up nearly two seconds in front of second fastest Santino Di Carlo in his crossflow followed by Andrew Bergan also in a Honda powered Mini. Fourth on the grid went to Robert Sharp with his brother Stephen next in fifth spot. Sixth spot saw Robert Byrnes in his quick Appendix “J” car. Seventh was Simon McDonald who done an outstanding job considering that he was a virgin at race meetings. Jo Bell was in position eight and Brian Walden who only completed half a lap due to a spin took ninth on the grid.

Race one was a six lap event that was run in the wet so there were only five competitors that had wets so the rest of the field had to be content with standing in the rain and watch them enjoy themselves. Borg was a none starter due to brake problems in the sedan qualifying session. With Borg out Bergan lead from start to finish with an easy win.

McDonald in his first ever race started third and on lap four passed Byrnes to secure the second spot for the rest of the race. Byrnes who started second finish in third position. Robert Sharp was outdone on the start as he tried to take off in second gear and then spun into the first corner so he really mucked up the first lap. Robert was fifth  after the first lap but by the second lap Robert had managed to pass his brother Stephen and Robert held the fourth position till the end Stephen only managed to complete five laps as he sub come to mechanical problems.

Race two was an eight race and still raining dropped the field once again to only five cars. Bergan once again without Borg to challenge him ran away with the race to make it two out of two for the day. McDonald in his iron head finished in second spot and never changed position during the entire race. Stephen Sharp started from rear of the grid to be in third by the second lap but on the third lap Byrnes passed him to take third in the race and by the fourth lap Stephen retired from the race with more mechanical problems. Fourth position went to Robert Sharp after he done his repeat trick from race one and went off the track but this time at a different spot.. McDonald, Byrnes and Robert Sharp where all within a few hundredths of a second of each other in lap times.

Race three was the ten lap trophy race that was started in the dry so the remaining competitors that had been fence sitting donned there  race gear and came out to play. Bergan once again lead from the start but on lap four lost the lead to Di Carlo who took full advantage to Bergan’s mechanical problems and took the lead plus the fastest lap of the race to score his first race win this weekend. Second place went to Robert Sharp who started in fourth position and on wets thinking it was going to rain again (Oh how wrong was he) was third by the end of lap one and then gained second post on lap six from McDonald who lost another position to Stephen Sharp on lap six. McDonald diced hard with Stephen Sharp and then took the opportunity to pass sharp on lap nine to finish in third position leaving Stephen Sharp to finish in fourth position just  three hundredths of a second latter.

Byrnes who started third was regulated back two  spots on the first lap by the hard charging Sharp boys. Stephen Sharp once again started from third from rear of the grid Joanne Bell who started from the last row also moved up in the field to finish in sixth position. Walden started from rear of the grid due to not getting a qualifying time and only managed one lap after snapping a drive shaft. Bergan only managed to do five laps due to the engine going down to two cylinders. Robert Sharp on his cool down lap broke a CV joint so how lucky was he to finish.

The next MRA round is the all British meeting on Sunday  June 27th  and we are hoping to see a lot more Mini’s on the grid.

Brian Walden

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