It was a calm and measured weekend from Bobby Thompson, who collected a win and a second, to move him back into the championship fight. After a poor start to the VW Racing Cup, Thompson was a threat to reckon with seemingly unaffected despite success ballast at Snetterton.
It was also a strong weekend from Tom Witts, who maintains his championship lead due to winning the second race. Title contenders Phil House and Jamie Bond would also feature on podiums through the weekend, while Kieran Gordon maintained his reputation with another second place. The top six in both races were the same.
The result was positive for Team HARD as they look to mount a teams challenge, while Speedworks Motorsport suffered with issues on both cars, putting them out of contention in both events.
Qualifying
Pole: Bobby Thompson – Team HARD Racing
As expected, it was championship leader Phil House who set the early pace as Bobby Thompson was quick to lower the benchmark by over a second.
Having been fairly anonymous for most of the session, it was Jamie Bond who jumped to the foray, but was unable to usurp Thompson’s best. The Team HARD provisional pole sitter returned to the pits soon after, along with Bond and fourth place Benjamin Wallace.
This would turn out to be valuable in saving tyres, with no other contender improving. This left Thompson on pole with Bond and Kieran Gordon just behind. Wallace took a commendable fourth, while championship leaders House and Tom Witts filled the third row due to extra success ballast.
Tom Witts now leads the championship by 14 points. (Credit: Jakob Ebrey Photography)
Race One
Winner: Bobby Thompson – Team HARD
Despite starting in fifth, Phil House wasted no time making up places at the start, challenging Jamie Bond into the first corner and taking second. Bond though was not one to settle back, running around the outside of Corrum, taking House and polesitter Bobby Thompson to establish a lead.
The move demoted House behind four competitors, putting him back into fifth as Kieran Gordon disposed of Tom Witts for third. All of this allowed the leaders to break away with Bond continuing to hold off Thompson.
Thompson mounted an attack on lap five, but ran onto the marbles at Brundle, cutting Nelson and slowing to give the place back. A loss of momentum put him at a disadvantage, with Gordon and the catching House occupying his attention.
Behind them, Witts continued to struggle with his ballast, further dropping behind Jack Walker-Tully.
As the clock counted down, Bond would succumb to the pressure, also being forced to cut Nelson thanks to pressure from Thompson. He’d do this once again on the following lap, incurring a penalty from the stewards after the race.
Penalties post-race saw Thompson take the win from House and Bond, who salvaged a podium. An outstanding race, compromised by a penalty, saw Gordon take fourth, with Witts rounding out the top five.
Behind them, it was a sixth place from Walker-Tully who failed to maintain his early pace, from Benjamin Wallace and Darelle Wilson.
Race Two
Winner: Tom Witts – Maximum Motorsport
It was a typically strong start from Tom Witts, taking the lead before the first corner as polesitter Jack Walker-Tully hung on to second place. The biggest jump from the front-runners had been Tom Walker, gaining five places into fourth.
Walker-Tully though would run into problems as his bonnet ripped off on the front straight, almost hitting Kieran Gordon’s car square on. The #99 continued with a lighter vehicle.
This allowed Witts to initially break away as Gordon soon made it into second, past Walker-Tully’s ailing machine. Behind them, Phil House started making progress, as he and Darelle Wilson made it past Walker.
Elsewhere, a disastrous encounter from the Audi TT’s continued, with Owen Walton pulling into the pits with further issues.
Wilson had been making significant progress, but a late race off saw the DW Racing driver fall outside the points, allowing Bobby Thompson to gain another position, into fifth.
Despite obtaining significant ballast for winning race one, Thompson was now making great progress as he overtook House and chased the podium, with Walker-Tully and Gordon still close together.
Witts though would take an easy victory, 1.5 seconds ahead of Thompson, who put in a spectacular final lap to demote Gordon and Walker-Tully.
House would hang onto fifth, ahead of Jamie Bond, the dropping Walker and Over-40s winner Mark Smith.
