Modified Ford Series Donington Park 7th June 2026
ALLEN DENIES JAMIESON BEFORE DAVIES DICTATES DONINGTON PACE
The third meeting of 2026 for the Modified Ford Series saw the field return to Donington Park after a break of two years, with the 33-car entry taking on the National layout for the first time since 2021.
Preview: Lloyd Jamieson was thrilled to have joined the ranks of race winners at Snetterton, qualifying his Class SA machine on pole position before seeing off the threat of Piers Grange and James Allen to do so. The Escort Maxi Cosworth driver’s confidence will have only gone up with the result and the Scot took two podium finishes on his last visit to Donington Park so should be a contender for glory. Simon Light brought out his self-developed 32-valve V8 Capri for the first time in the series this year and will be in the hunt for at least a podium. The thunderous coupe should be right at home on the flowing National layout and the car has pedigree in the rain too, after winning the sodden second race overall at Castle Combe two years ago. Chris Harrison returned to the series after missing the Snetterton meeting and filled the gap between the season-opening Oulton Park and Donington Park events by taking his RSR up the Harewood hillclimb course. Harrison won his class on the opening day in his first ever hillclimb but lost out to the decorated father-and-son Moran pair’s 800 bhp Fiesta on the the second day, when the event formed part of the British championship, but there was no shame in that as Scott Moran is a six-time British Hillclimb Champion with 157 run-off wins to his credit and his one-time-winning father Roger claimed the title in 1997. Nigel Beardsmore’s similarly-powered RSR is finished in a gorgeous metallic green livery and the former oval racer joins the series for the first time, the car would be putting in the miles over the weekend as it would also be racing in the CNC Heads Sports/Saloons. Malcolm Wise scored a second-in-class finish in the opener at Snetterton before issues in Race Two but the veteran’s Escort Cosworth should like the Leicestershire venue. Jim Newins’ switch from a Cosworth map sensor to a Link unit finally cured his turbocharged Mk2 Escort’s persistent misfire and he now has a car he can fine tune and race with, grabbing a class runner-up trophy last time out at Snetterton. Alan Tolley makes his Modified Ford Series debut in an unmissable YB-motivated Sierra XR4x4 and it was the former Time Attack driver’s first competitive action in nine years. Midlander Darren Owen reappeared at Donington Park in the two-car Class SB field after taking part in the season-opening Oulton Park races, the Duratec-motivated RSR claimed an eighth-placed finish in the first encounter before plumping for slicks on the drying track and racing to a class-winning sixth overall, with the sometime short oval racer on paper the favourite for the class honours here. Chris White will be putting the lessons learned at his Oulton Park racing debut into practice with his Mk2 Escort rally car. Class A was stacked with potent machinery in Leicestershire as Jason Davies joined the series for the first time this year, the hugely fast Sapphire Cosworth has only raced sporadically this term but ominously lapped the whole field in its other outing at Easter and the Welshman will be gunning for glory in Leicestershire. Event sponsor James Allen came back from a retirement in Race One at Snetterton to charge through the field to second place and the fleet Focus RS will be towards the sharp end once more at his local circuit. Dan Brown joined his father Sean on the entry list for the first time and the former British GT racer will definitely be one to watch in his Group A Sierra RS500, which has been a front-runner in MRL’s Historic Touring Car Challenge. The multi-talented Mike Manning takes in his first races in the series since a damaging day at Castle Combe two years ago but the glorious Texaco Sierra RS500 is a more than welcome addition to the grid and watch the Group A car fly if it rains. Scott Matthias went well in his Sapphire Cosworth at Oulton Park and the Leicestershire circuit should be no different, after sealing a pair of third-In-class finishes in Cheshire. Stefan Marsh has suffered with a few issues on his Focus ST so far this year but raced well in the second Snetterton bout to climb up to seventh overall from the back of the grid. The stunning V6-powered Mk1 Escort of Trig Bishop returns to the series after a tricky debut at last year’s finale and the West Countryman was hoping that the 3-litre machine would be firing on all six this time after fitting a bigger alternator in a new location. Mick Head put in his first entry since making a ‘Driver of the Day’ performance at the close of the 2025 season at Silverstone with his Monster-liveried Focus. 2025 series winner Paul Nevill has scored three Class B+ victories already this term and the long-serving RS2000 will be a contender again at Donington Park. Kester Cook made a triumphant return to the series at the end of 2025 after an extensive rebuild for his Fiesta Ecoboost and the turbocharged hatchback will be vying for honours with Nevill in Leicestershire. Iain Blackley covered a lot of the ground in 2025 as the Scot contested the vast majority of the Modified Ford Series calendar and the Puma Turbo makes a welcome return at Donington Park. Sean Brown had a scintillating day last time out at Snetterton, qualifying inside the top six overall and took an overall podium placing as he flew to both Class B wins with his lovely Mk1 Escort BDG and he will be pushing for more success this time. Chris Baker’s rev-happy Mk3 Escort isn’t wanting for horsepower, which should help the rapid RS1600i to fly at Donington Park but reliability hasn’t been its strong point this year. The Zakspeed Mk1 Escort of Mike Thurley can always be found towards the pointy end of the class but the ex-National Hot Rod pilot felt his Duratec engine was down on power despite taking a second and a third in the split at Snetterton, with the banter between Baker and Thurley given some extra spice when the Mk1 Escort nicked second-in-class out of the final corner during the later race in Norfolk. Oliver Bullion makes his seasonal debut at Donington Park and the Fiesta has the speed to threaten the class leaders, especially when the going gets slippery. Gary West-Johnson’s beautiful bronze Mk1 Escort is always a head-turner and is an outside bet for some silverware. Jason Stone’s Mk2 Escort suffered suspension woes at Snetterton but the combo should continue to improve with less rocking and rolling in the corners. Sam Daffin’s unique RWD ’SuperFestaMk2’ has been fitted with a 2.1-litre Duratec motor in place of its previous Ecoboost unit over the winter as Daffin chases reliability and results. John Ward and Mike MacKenzie fought hard in Race One at Snetterton, with MacKenzie's Fiesta narrowly getting the upper hand before Ward’s Focus turned the tables later on and both would welcome some rain. Friends Lucas Dryden and Leslie Chapelhow both entered with their Fiestas, with the former’s Zetec-powered XR2 one to watch in the wet. Stephen Primett took 14 straight class victories as he dominated Class C in 2025 and the sweet-sounding 1600cc BDA-engined Mk1 Escort will take some beating for honours when he makes his return to the class at Donington Park, having raced at the Oulton Park season opener with a 2-litre unit installed. The meeting would be something of a family event with his cousin Mark Primett racing a spaceframed MG Midget in the CNC Heads Sports/Saloons on the same bill. Gary Littlewood was back after a tricky day at Snetterton that finished with a class win, having suffered a suspension drama in qualifying before a power steering hose came off in the opener but the brightly-coloured Fiesta has always been one of the leading lights in the split.
The third meeting of 2026 for the Modified Ford Series saw the field return to Donington Park after a break of two years, with the 33-car entry taking on the National layout for the first time since 2021.
Preview: Lloyd Jamieson was thrilled to have joined the ranks of race winners at Snetterton, qualifying his Class SA machine on pole position before seeing off the threat of Piers Grange and James Allen to do so. The Escort Maxi Cosworth driver’s confidence will have only gone up with the result and the Scot took two podium finishes on his last visit to Donington Park so should be a contender for glory. Simon Light brought out his self-developed 32-valve V8 Capri for the first time in the series this year and will be in the hunt for at least a podium. The thunderous coupe should be right at home on the flowing National layout and the car has pedigree in the rain too, after winning the sodden second race overall at Castle Combe two years ago. Chris Harrison returned to the series after missing the Snetterton meeting and filled the gap between the season-opening Oulton Park and Donington Park events by taking his RSR up the Harewood hillclimb course. Harrison won his class on the opening day in his first ever hillclimb but lost out to the decorated father-and-son Moran pair’s 800 bhp Fiesta on the the second day, when the event formed part of the British championship, but there was no shame in that as Scott Moran is a six-time British Hillclimb Champion with 157 run-off wins to his credit and his one-time-winning father Roger claimed the title in 1997. Nigel Beardsmore’s similarly-powered RSR is finished in a gorgeous metallic green livery and the former oval racer joins the series for the first time, the car would be putting in the miles over the weekend as it would also be racing in the CNC Heads Sports/Saloons. Malcolm Wise scored a second-in-class finish in the opener at Snetterton before issues in Race Two but the veteran’s Escort Cosworth should like the Leicestershire venue. Jim Newins’ switch from a Cosworth map sensor to a Link unit finally cured his turbocharged Mk2 Escort’s persistent misfire and he now has a car he can fine tune and race with, grabbing a class runner-up trophy last time out at Snetterton. Alan Tolley makes his Modified Ford Series debut in an unmissable YB-motivated Sierra XR4x4 and it was the former Time Attack driver’s first competitive action in nine years. Midlander Darren Owen reappeared at Donington Park in the two-car Class SB field after taking part in the season-opening Oulton Park races, the Duratec-motivated RSR claimed an eighth-placed finish in the first encounter before plumping for slicks on the drying track and racing to a class-winning sixth overall, with the sometime short oval racer on paper the favourite for the class honours here. Chris White will be putting the lessons learned at his Oulton Park racing debut into practice with his Mk2 Escort rally car. Class A was stacked with potent machinery in Leicestershire as Jason Davies joined the series for the first time this year, the hugely fast Sapphire Cosworth has only raced sporadically this term but ominously lapped the whole field in its other outing at Easter and the Welshman will be gunning for glory in Leicestershire. Event sponsor James Allen came back from a retirement in Race One at Snetterton to charge through the field to second place and the fleet Focus RS will be towards the sharp end once more at his local circuit. Dan Brown joined his father Sean on the entry list for the first time and the former British GT racer will definitely be one to watch in his Group A Sierra RS500, which has been a front-runner in MRL’s Historic Touring Car Challenge. The multi-talented Mike Manning takes in his first races in the series since a damaging day at Castle Combe two years ago but the glorious Texaco Sierra RS500 is a more than welcome addition to the grid and watch the Group A car fly if it rains. Scott Matthias went well in his Sapphire Cosworth at Oulton Park and the Leicestershire circuit should be no different, after sealing a pair of third-In-class finishes in Cheshire. Stefan Marsh has suffered with a few issues on his Focus ST so far this year but raced well in the second Snetterton bout to climb up to seventh overall from the back of the grid. The stunning V6-powered Mk1 Escort of Trig Bishop returns to the series after a tricky debut at last year’s finale and the West Countryman was hoping that the 3-litre machine would be firing on all six this time after fitting a bigger alternator in a new location. Mick Head put in his first entry since making a ‘Driver of the Day’ performance at the close of the 2025 season at Silverstone with his Monster-liveried Focus. 2025 series winner Paul Nevill has scored three Class B+ victories already this term and the long-serving RS2000 will be a contender again at Donington Park. Kester Cook made a triumphant return to the series at the end of 2025 after an extensive rebuild for his Fiesta Ecoboost and the turbocharged hatchback will be vying for honours with Nevill in Leicestershire. Iain Blackley covered a lot of the ground in 2025 as the Scot contested the vast majority of the Modified Ford Series calendar and the Puma Turbo makes a welcome return at Donington Park. Sean Brown had a scintillating day last time out at Snetterton, qualifying inside the top six overall and took an overall podium placing as he flew to both Class B wins with his lovely Mk1 Escort BDG and he will be pushing for more success this time. Chris Baker’s rev-happy Mk3 Escort isn’t wanting for horsepower, which should help the rapid RS1600i to fly at Donington Park but reliability hasn’t been its strong point this year. The Zakspeed Mk1 Escort of Mike Thurley can always be found towards the pointy end of the class but the ex-National Hot Rod pilot felt his Duratec engine was down on power despite taking a second and a third in the split at Snetterton, with the banter between Baker and Thurley given some extra spice when the Mk1 Escort nicked second-in-class out of the final corner during the later race in Norfolk. Oliver Bullion makes his seasonal debut at Donington Park and the Fiesta has the speed to threaten the class leaders, especially when the going gets slippery. Gary West-Johnson’s beautiful bronze Mk1 Escort is always a head-turner and is an outside bet for some silverware. Jason Stone’s Mk2 Escort suffered suspension woes at Snetterton but the combo should continue to improve with less rocking and rolling in the corners. Sam Daffin’s unique RWD ’SuperFestaMk2’ has been fitted with a 2.1-litre Duratec motor in place of its previous Ecoboost unit over the winter as Daffin chases reliability and results. John Ward and Mike MacKenzie fought hard in Race One at Snetterton, with MacKenzie's Fiesta narrowly getting the upper hand before Ward’s Focus turned the tables later on and both would welcome some rain. Friends Lucas Dryden and Leslie Chapelhow both entered with their Fiestas, with the former’s Zetec-powered XR2 one to watch in the wet. Stephen Primett took 14 straight class victories as he dominated Class C in 2025 and the sweet-sounding 1600cc BDA-engined Mk1 Escort will take some beating for honours when he makes his return to the class at Donington Park, having raced at the Oulton Park season opener with a 2-litre unit installed. The meeting would be something of a family event with his cousin Mark Primett racing a spaceframed MG Midget in the CNC Heads Sports/Saloons on the same bill. Gary Littlewood was back after a tricky day at Snetterton that finished with a class win, having suffered a suspension drama in qualifying before a power steering hose came off in the opener but the brightly-coloured Fiesta has always been one of the leading lights in the split.
Qualifying: The 15 minutes of qualifying on Sunday morning were held in bright and dry conditions. The biggest field of the year so far of 32 cars took to the circuit in the absence of Nigel Beardsmore’s RSR after an incident in another series on the first day of the meeting. Chris Harrison topped the times after the first flying laps were completed before improving his marker next time around but Scott Matthias bumped the RSR straight away to temporarily top the pile. Simon Light, Jason Davies and Lloyd Jamieson successively went fastest with their following attempts before the latter improved his benchmark one lap later. Davies' Class A car took provisional pole back around half a minute after the Scot went quicker and another improvement from the Sapphire two minutes later meant that the Welshman narrowly grabbed pole position by just 0.108 seconds from Jamieson, whose final effort wasn’t quite enough to unseat Davies. Simon Light’s 5-litre Capri ended the session third fastest, some 1.137 seconds off the polesitting Davies and qualified second to Jamieson in Class SA. Just under half a second split the pair of Group A Sierra RS500s that filled the fourth and fifth spots as Mike Manning bested Dan Brown’s example, the latter caused a late session yellow flag at Redgate when he was forced to stop with engine issues. The Sapphire Cosworth of Scott Matthias secured a third row start in sixth and meeting sponsor James Allen’s Focus completed a quartet of Class A machines lining up in a row, the latter contending with a loose boost pipe on his way to the seventh-best time. Chris Harrison qualified third of the Class SA entries in eighth aboard his RSR and Paul Nevill’s RS2000 topped Class B+ with ninth. Darren Owen completed the top ten with his RSR and qualified first of the Class SB machines. Leading Class B qualifier Sean Brown shared the sixth row with returnee Oliver Bullion, the Fiesta second fastest in Class B and 0.385 seconds off the Mk1 Escort BDG in 12th. Stefan Marsh’s Class A Focus qualified 13th ahead of the third Class B runner Sam Daffin in 14th, despite the uniquely RWD Mk4 Fiesta losing power at the top end with a failing alternator. Classmates Chris Baker and Mike Thurley were due to share the eighth row but the former's Mk3 Escort pitted early with a misfire and the Duratec motor was found to have lost compression on three out of four cylinders to force its withdrawal, after the engine was believed to have sucked in pieces of its air filter. Debutant Alan Tolley performed well in 17th despite a misfire and shot tyres on his Class SA Sierra. Stephen Primett joined the Class SA car on the ninth row as the Mk1 Escort BDA led Class C in 18th. Chris White was second fastest in Class SB and the Mk2 Escort would start beside Mike MacKenzie’s Fiesta from 20th. Gary West-Johnson struggled to 10th in Class B and 24th fastest overall after having to drive his Mk1 Escort one-handed when the bolts came out of his sequential gear leaver. Iain Blackley's ill-handling Puma Turbo wound up 26th overall, with the Scot grappling with understeer and wheelspin brought on by running a different gearbox and diff after his previous unit blew at a Croft track day. Gary Littlewood was second of the pair of participants in Class C and the Fiesta would line up 27th. Trig Bishop's V6 Mk1 Escort set the 28th-best time as the West Countryman gained confidence in the developing machine. Malcolm Wise was next in 29th after contending with bodywork rubbing on the offside-front tyre, with the Escort Cosworth's front bumper mountings thought to have moved in an incident at Snetterton. Kester Cook's Fiesta would have plenty of work to do from an uncharacteristic 30th overall, after the pipe to the Ecoboost engine's inlet manifold air temperature sensor blew off. The Class B cars of John Ward and Leslie Chapelhow made up the qualifiers.
Qualifying results: Click here
Qualifying results: Click here
Race One: The weather was still dry for the opening bout and Lloyd Jamieson used his many horses to get the drop on polesitter Jason Davies down to Redgate but the four-wheel-drive Escort Maxi Cosworth slid wide and Davies slewed sideways in sympathy exiting the corner. This gave gave an inspired Dan Brown the chance to get up the inside of both and take up the running by Hollywood, The Group A Sierra had already threaded down the inside of Simon Light and Mike Manning to make it three wide for third place into the first corner, with the latter’s RS500 taking to the gravel after leaving his braking a fraction late as he sought to get around Light’s Capri. Brown’s RS500 streaked clear down the hill and led by over two seconds after the opening lap, whilst Davies took second from Jamieson into the Old Hairpin for the first time and Light’s Capri moved up to threaten the Escort Maxi Cosworth next. The polesitter's Sapphire dragged up to the race-leading Sierra and took over top spot at the chicane for the second time. Davies pulled clear at lap record speed but his march to victory toughened when the Sapphire Cosworth’s boost pipe split inside the final five minutes and his chasers began taking chunks out of his lead. James Allen had slipped behind a fast-starting Paul Nevill and Scott Matthias out of Redgate at the start but the Focus got back in front of Matthias’ Sapphire exiting Coppice and dived ahead of the Nevill RS2000 into the chicane to end opening the lap in fifth. Allen threw the Focus up the inside of Light’s Capri at McLeans for fourth on lap three and used his car’s strength on the brakes to sail past Brown into third at Redgate starting lap four, a few hundred yards after Jamieson had blown by the Sierra for second on the Exhibition Straight. Allen was up to second within a lap as he repeated his Light move on the Escort Maxi Cosworth despite his splitter starting to sag on the left-hand side. The leader’s straightline speed evaporated as the chasing Allen’s vibrating splitter worsened, the damaged aerodynamics didn’t hinder the Focus too much as it took almost three seconds from Davies’ lead to almost catch the Sapphire heading onto the last lap but one. Allen sliced through into the lead down to the Old Hairpin for the penultimate time but the Focus still had Jamieson for company on the final lap, after the Scot followed Allen past Davies and the pair encountered traffic at the final chicane to set up a grandstand finish. Jamieson's Escort Maxi Cosworth switched from the right side to the left powering out of the s-bend and accelerated alongside Allen towards the flag but the Class A Focus just prevailed by a scant 0.045 seconds, the narrowest margin in Modified Ford Series history. The time difference beating the previous mark of 0.085 seconds set in 2024 when Piers Grange’s Mk2 Escort almost caught Dave Cockell’s slowing Escort Cosworth on the line during Race Two at Navarra. The down-on-power Davies eventually trailed home some 24.092 seconds down but still managed to hold third overall and finish as the runner-up in Class A. Light's V8 Capri was the long-time fourth place holder after getting by Brown’s quick-off-the-mark Sierra into the chicane on lap four but a front-left suspension breakage sent the Capri into the gravel at Redgate with just a couple of minutes remaining, Brown couldn’t capitalise as he had already pulled off down the Craner Curves on lap five with a broken throttle cable. Mike Manning recovered from dropping outside the top ten after his Redgate rallycrossing to take fourth overall, the Eggenberger replica Sierra had repassed Sam Daffin and Stefan Marsh by the end of the opening lap before storming by the Class B battle between Oliver Bullion and Sean Brown through Hollywood on lap two and taken eighth from Chris Harrison by the end of the lap. Paul Nevill was Manning's next target and the Texaco RS500 charged up to seventh during lap three before passing Scott Matthias on lap six. The Sierra moved up two more spots to his final finishing position of fourth with Light and Brown's exits, claiming third in Class A. Manning's classmate Matthias had driven around the outside of Nevill's Class B+ car at Redgate on lap two to move into sixth and lapped quicker than his qualifying time as the Sapphire pulled clear of the RS2000 but the YB unit developed a top end misfire and faded down the order. Series head Nevill's RS2000 went past again to win Class B+ in fifth from Harrison's RSR that finished second in Class SA with sixth. Kester Cook stormed up the order from qualifying 30th, the Fiesta passed 11 cars on lap one alone and had claimed another three on lap two before a lock up from Class C leader Stephen Primett at the chicane made it four. The Class B cars of Mike Thurley and Sam Daffin followed on laps three and five respectively before Cook gained another when Oliver Bullion slowed. The Fiesta then caught the tussling Class B leader Sean Brown and Stefan Marsh, with the Focus from Class A passing the Mk1 Escort at McLeans before Cook's Fiesta followed suit up to Coppice and steamed past Marsh towards the chicane to sit ninth by lap six. A seemingly lonely run to the flag would follow, gaining one spot when Brown’s RS500 throttle cable broke and another with Light’s departure but Cook caught Matthias’ ailing Cosworth on the final lap and just outsprinted the Sapphire to the line by 0.158 seconds for seventh overall and second in Class B+. Marsh brought his Focus home in ninth and was fifth in Class A behind Matthias. The battle for Class B honours saw a side-by-side duel between Bullion and Brown for the class lead on the opening lap, Brown's Mk1 Escort led out of Redgate before Bullion's Fiesta went ahead at the top of the Craner Curves. Brown then sped ahead again through Schwantz Curve, having taken the long route at the Old Hairpin but Bullion reclaimed the lead at Redgate for the second time before a broken gearbox forced the Fiesta out on lap five. Brown then led once more before Sam Daffin stepped up to take the class lead at half-distance, the rear-wheel-drive Fiesta began to edge away but went out four laps after taking the class lead when the Duratec engine’s oil cooler split to leave Brown to claim the silverware in tenth. The Mk1 Escorts of Mike Thurley and Gary West-Johnson filled the next two positions and finished second and third in Class B, with the latter caught by classmate Jason Stone but the Mk2 Escort had blown its clutch and a piece of which had forced its way out of the bellhousing! Inspired by his cousin Mark Primett winning the CNC Heads Sports/Saloons race earlier in the day with his MG Midget, Stephen Primett recovered from his chicane overshoot to win Class C by a good margin in 18th from Gary Littlewood but reported hearing a noise from the rear of the Mk1 Escort. Alan Tolley finished third in Class SA and 19th overall on his debut despite a misfire at high boost. Class C runner-up Littlewood’s Fiesta was caught in a multi-car dice behind the Escort Cosworth of Malcolm Wise involving Trig Bishop, Jim Newins, John Ward and Leslie Chapelhow. The latter failed to finish after a spin in the Craner Curves for the third time with a loss of coolant and three of the remaining cars from the group also encountered difficulties. Bishop’s 3-litre Escort Mk1 from Class A snapped a steering arm, Newins’ Class SA Mk2 Escort pitted with a failing alternator and the Class B Focus of Ward was a late retirement with electrical woes. Darren Owen’s son James felt a severe vibration in their shared RSR during the earlier CNC Heads Sports/Saloons race and the Class SB machine only completed an exploratory opening lap before pitting, the problem was initially thought to be a diff issue but the cause could actually have stemmed from the clutch.
Race One results: Click here
Race One results: Click here
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Race Two: The second race for the Modified Ford Series started with leaden skies bearing down on the circuit from the south-west, with spots of rain present in the air. With Lloyd Jamieson officially withdrawing after stopping on the cool down lap of Race One with a wheelbearing fault, Jason Davies moved up to the front row and the Welshman would be first into Redgate off the rolling start. However, the Sapphire Cosworth got squirrelly further into the opening lap at McLeans and polesitter James Allen got ahead into Coppice but Davies stormed back into the lead before the opening lap was complete with a move into the chicane as Allen tried to hold his ground on the outside. The pair had pulled away from the field at a high rate of knots but Allen's splitter-less Focus bounced over the Old Hairpin gravel on lap three to gift Davies a couple of seconds advantage. Paul Nevill, Chris Harrison, Kester Cook and Scott Matthias were running closely in the early stages but disaster struck for the latter’s Sapphire Cosworth on lap three when it clouted the chicane tyre stack when challenging Cook, Matthias sacrificing his own car to avoid clattering into Harrison's RSR. The impact tore off the front bumper and offside headlight as well as damaging the wing and front door to leave his pride and joy in a sorry state. The race was soon red flagged and the rerun would be held over ten minutes from the positions held at the end of lap three. Harrison had passed Nevill through Hollywood with a great exit from Redgate to move into the top four just before the red flag but the RS2000 would line up for the restart on the second row on countback. After effecting repairs in time, Lloyd Jamieson took a place right at the back of the grid and the Escort Maxi Cosworth had climbed up to seventh overall by the time of the stoppage, having passed Class B leader Mike Thurley up the hill to McLeans. The clock started to tick as the field set off on the formation lap and seven-and-a-half minutes remained when the pack charged towards Redgate for the first time. Jason Davies held sway throughout, with James Allen gamely giving chase in his Focus. Davies had turned up the wick on his Cosworth engine to build an early gap before turning down the boost to manage his advantage. The Class A Sapphire took the flag after seven laps of racing by 6.940 seconds from its classmate Focus. Lloyd Jamieson's Escort Maxi Cosworth restarted in eighth, after losing out on the countback to lap three, and passed Thurley's Mk1 Escort immediately. The Scot then followed Paul Nevill past Kester Cook on the opening lap before taking fifth from the series head at the chicane. Chris Harrison's RSR was dispensed with along the Exhibition Straight on lap two before powering past Mike Manning away from the following chicane to reach the top three but Jamieson was already more than eight seconds adrift of the second-placed Allen. Manning's Sierra had ran in third from the start but the Texaco RS500 was forced out with two right-side punctures on the penultimate lap whilst maintaining fourth, which caused a hairy moment when he speared across the grass approaching McLeans. Kester Cook took the Class B+ lead through Hollywood at the restart, after Paul Nevill drifted wide at Redgate. The RS2000 lunged back ahead into McLeans and Jamieson followed Nevill past at Coppice. The 4x4 Mk6 Escort passed the Mk2 RS2000 into the chicane and gave Cook the opportunity to draw alongside Nevill down the start/finish straight, with the Fiesta moving past the RS2000 exiting Redgate using a neat switchback. Cook pulled a few car lengths clear but the series head stole the class win on the last lap with another dive at McLeans, after the Fiesta’s brake pedal began to go long and the pair took the flag line astern in fifth and sixth overall. Mike Thurley led Gary West-Johnson and Sam Daffin throughout for Class B honours in seventh but the latter passed the bronze Mk1 Escort for second on the run to the chicane during the penultimate lap. Daffin’s replacement oil cooler was delivered by his mother from his Pershore base a short time before Race Two and the item was plumbed in with moments to spare, with the Fiesta taking the restart in 13th. Having broken into the top ten on lap three, Daffin reeled in the class-leading Mk1 Escorts but the latter’s defence of second place allowed Thurley to break away in seventh for the class win as the steer-from-the-rear Fiesta and the chasing Mk1 Escort crossed the line in eighth and ninth. Chris White brought his Mk2 Escort rally car home for another Class SB win a short distance behind the Class B battle in tenth. Stephen Primett changed the offside-rear wheel bearing after the opening race and the crisp-sounding Mk1 Escort felt much better as he scored another Class C victory in 11th. Alan Tolley persevered with his Sierra’s misfire and brought the turbocharged XR4x4 home for another third in Class SA with 15th overall. Mick Head improvised some air ducting from a foam mat and his ingenuity was rewarded with third in Class A and 17th overall, after battling with Gary Littlewood’s Class C runner-up Fiesta in 16th and Malcolm Wise’ Class SA Escort Cosworth that followed the Focus home in 18th. Neither Dan or Sean Brown started, nor Darren Owen, Iain Blackley, Jason Stone, Leslie Chapelhow, Oliver Bullion and Simon Light too. Stefan Marsh pitted his Focus with a driveshaft vibration on the opening lap before the stoppage and Trig Bishop retired his Mk1 Escort after its V6 engine got hot.
Race Two results: Click here
Scalextric 'Driver of the Day' - Gary West-Johnson took home the 'Driver of the Day' award after a taking two Class B podium finishes after a strong day for the Mk1 Escort pilot.
Race Two results: Click here
Scalextric 'Driver of the Day' - Gary West-Johnson took home the 'Driver of the Day' award after a taking two Class B podium finishes after a strong day for the Mk1 Escort pilot.
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A European jaunt for the Modified Ford Series is up next, with a trip to the Zolder circuit in Belgium for three races from Friday the 26th to Sunday the 28th of June. The next round on home soil is at Snetterton in support of the British GT Championship on the 15th and 16th of August.