MITCHAM & FENNYMORE CLAIM CATERHAM CHALLENGE TITLES

Caterham Motorsport crowned not one but two new champions yesterday (Sun) at Brands Hatch, Will Mitcham securing the R400 drivers crown and Graham Fennymore the Roadsport A title after a thrilling brace of Powertrain Caterham Challenge races held in front of an appreciative 50,000-plus crowd at the Kent circuit's biggest meeting of the year.

Fifth place in both the Brands sprint and feature races was enough for 30-year-old Mitcham to clinch the R400 championship with two races in hand; Fennymore meanwhile took his title with a flourish - twin class wins on the Grand Prix circuit.

Celebrating his first racing title, Mitcham said: "It was difficult for me, as with such large crowds here I really wanted to show what I could do. But at the same time I knew that I didn't have to risk things to take the championship... a conservative finish in fifth was enough.

"I started the year with the aim of being a regular podium finisher, but the season took off quickly and I was winning races. It's been a fantastic experience and the support I've had from Taylor's Foundry Motor Sport throughout has been superb."

There was further joy for Taylor's Foundry at Brands when team patron Gerry Taylor claimed victory in the feature race - his first win at the wheel of an R400 after several seasons of trying. Another happy team was Hyperion Motorsport, which secured the Matt Bettley Memorial teams award.

Fennymore was also delighted with his emphatic championship-winning performance: "After the succession of issues we had last season, I feel that this year I have been able to consolidate my reputation and show what I and the team are capable of. It has been a fantastic experience and a great reward for me and my team and family."

Saturday's sprint race saw Jack Newland on pole but at the green light it was Jon Barnes, moving from his regular seat in the Cosworth Caterham Masters, who powered from fourth on the grid to lead the field into Paddock Hill Bend. In his wake Newland was fighting to hold off Ted Murray, with Mike Cantillon and Mitcham also in close attendance.

Barnes pushed hard to build a clear gap and so deny his rivals the opportunity of slipstreaming his crash.net/Hyperion machine to claim the lead. His tactics worked perfectly and by half distance his advantage was such that the only fight was for second.

Cantillon moved past Murray on lap three to claim second, and a lap later Gerry Taylor, making his seasonal debut in the Powertrain Caterham Challenge, gained two places to run fourth, signalling his intention of taking any chance to move into a podium position.

Caterham racing is renowned for regular shuffling of the leading pack, but the Brands Grand Prix circuit delivered an uncommonly stable field: from half distance there was little change in the top six running order, although not for want of driver determination.

A slight misjudgement late on the final lap saw Barnes lose a little of his advantage, but at the flag he was a clear winner from Cantillon, Murray, Taylor, Mitcham and Newland.

In the Roadsport A class, Graham Fennymore delivered his eighth victory from nine starts, coming home a second clear of Tony Hawkins, with Malcolm Barnett third. Riki Nash snatched fourth place on the line from Dave O'Carroll.

Barnes was delighted to have made such a strong return to R400 competition: "My last time racing in this series was last October, so I am pleased to have come back and done so well. The start and the first lap were crucial, so I just pushed as hard as I could to break the tow and give myself some space. On the last lap I got it slightly wrong towards the end, which let the others catch up a bit, but I was able to bring it home in front."

Lining up for Sunday's 25-minute race, Barnes's principle challengers were well aware of the race strategy that served the 22-year-old Hampshire driver so well the day before, but at the green light he once again showed the field a clean pair of heels and led the first two laps ahead of Murray, Cantillon and Taylor. This order held good through lap three, run under a safety car caution, but at the green flag Barnes's machine was unable to sustain the pace, Jon losing the lead to Murray with his car suffering an electrical problem that would lead to retirement.

Murray had to yield the lead to a hard-charging Taylor, who made it through at the fast Westfield corner on lap eight. In close attention behind the leading pair were Newland and Rachel Green, powering through the field after starting eighth. On lap nine Green dived through into the Druids hairpin to claim third. Ahead, Murray looked well positioned to take back the lead from Taylor, but the leader's superior speed through the back half of the circuit gave him the edge to take victory by less than two tenths of a second. Green held third ahead of Newland.

While Taylor's bravura performance entertained the crowds, a steady run to fifth place was sufficient to clinch the series title for Mitcham, his Taylor's Foundry Motor Sport team-mate. The Roadsport A title was also clinched, with another win for Fennymore, ahead of Barnett and James Gardiner.

Taylor's win was a notable first in an R400 for one of the paddock's most experienced drivers: "I've been the bridesmaid for long enough, this was really good. Towards the end of the race my tyres were going off and I was suffering understeer, but I knew where I had the advantage over Ted and that if I could still be in front three corners from the end of the last lap, the win could be mine."

Backing for the championship comes from Arch Motors, Autosport, Bilstein, Cosworth, Comma, Cooper-Avon Tyres, HSBC Insurance Brokers, Mitchell Cotts, PTP and Stack. The final rounds are at Silverstone on October 8/9.

Championship standings (provisional)
R400 class
1,  Will Mitcham,  Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk,  176 points
2,  Jack Newland,  Bicester, Oxon,  152
3,  Ted Murray,  Manchester,  143
4,  Rachel Green,  Sawbridgeworth, Herts,  138
5,  Nick Payne,  London,  134
6,  Ben Dezille Butler,  Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk,  131 etc

Roadsport A class
1,  Graham Fennymore,  Bicester, Oxon,  193
2,  Malcolm Barnett,  Norwich, Norfolk,  173
3,  James Gardiner,  Derby,  167
4,  Riki Nash,  Borehamwood, Herts,  144
5,  Dave O'Carroll,  Romford, Essex,  143
6,  Douglas Clark,  Melbourne, Derbys,  140 etc

Date : 06-10-2005