Race 1:
Following Jackson’s clean sweep at Spa last time out, Nottingham man Burgess made clear his intentions to claw back the top spot from the off, converting pole position into his sixth win of the season. The RAW Motorsports man didn’t have it all his own way as teammate Jackson, who had led the standings heading into the fourth round, snatched the early race lead.
Running side by side from the rolling start and all the way round to Cascades, Jackson got the upper hand and streaked ahead in an effort to negate his maximum success second penalty.
Despite a blistering opening stint and pulling out a 5.2 second lead ahead of the pit stops, a spin at Cascades on his out lap cost Jackson dear. Re-joining down in 10th with it all to do, he managed to catch and pass Marcello Marateotto to finish eighth and pick up two further points for the fastest race lap.
The only top title protagonist without a penalty to serve, Burgess streaked comfortably ahead while two new faces for 2018 completed the podium. Mark Richards finished second, capping his best performance since Spa last year, whilst Brian Murphy made his first visit to the Radical rostrum with a fantastic third from sixth on the grid.
The fierce fight for fourth saw the youngest driver of the field, Elliot Goodman hold off race-long pressure right up until the penultimate tour when Jérôme de Sadeleer found a way through. Although Kristian Jeffrey initially followed suit, a run wide at Old Hall allowed Goodman to battle back to finish fifth.
Race 2:
Burgess made it two from two in the second battle of the day, but only just!
The 20-minute sprint race delivered a good dose of drama from the outset, with Burgess and arch rival Jackson once again battling wheel-to-wheel from the lights. Although it was Burgess that this time emerged from Old Hall with the lead, Jackson was rarely more than one second from his rear wing.
Jackson went for the lead with an ambitious move heading towards Hislops on lap nine. Although passing Burgess on the road, both drivers took avoiding action, with Jackson taking to the grass while Burgess utilised the escape road. What could have been a five minute thrash to the flag was thwarted due to a red flag stoppage, caused by the stricken car of Italian Marcello Marateotto. With the results counted back to the previous tour, Burgess remained victor.
The red flag also denied a thrilling three-way battle for third, with Richards staving off the determined Jeffrey and charging de Sadeleer to take his second podium of the weekend. Brian Caudwell delivered another fine drive to complete the top six.
Race 3:
The tables turned again for the final 40-minute pit stop race, with Jackson returning to the fore. Getting the jump at the rolling start secured the lead into turn one and, with no pit stop penalty to serve, the Lincoln ace remained un-headed in a dominant run to the chequered flag.
Whilst Jackson streaked off into the distance with Guyana’s Jeffrey giving chase, Burgess found himself under fire in third. Although he and de Sadeleer traded paint exiting Old Hall for the second time, Burgess held sway ahead of the pitstops but a full success penalty from race one was always going to make another podium a big ask. Further time lost and a spin on lap 16 meant he had to fight back to bag points for a commendable sixth.
With the stops complete, the top three of Jackson, Jeffrey and de Sadeleer enjoyed an un-hassled run to the rostrum. Mark Crader overcame what was initially a six car fight for fifth from 12th on the grid, followed home by the ever consistent Goodman, who equally can only be races away from a top three finish.
Peter Tyler and Tom Gladdis delivered a perfect weekend with a trio of Team Challenge wins to cement their class lead heading into the summer break. The Radical Challenge championship battle will resume at Snetterton, 11-12 August.
Driver quotes:
Steve Burgess (Winner race one & two): “It was close between me and Dominik at the start of race one through turn one, but I let him go as there was no point in tangling and I knew he had the 20 second penalty to serve. I got a flying start in race two and we went wheel to wheel in the first part of the lap, I pulled about a second gap but then I made a few mistakes and he stuck it up the inside and I had nowhere to go but straight. I was quite relieved for the red flag to come out to be honest!”
Dominik Jackson (Second race two, winner race three): “It was a shame that race two was red-flagged. I thought I had a little bit of pace on him [Burgess] towards the end which gave me the opportunity to have a go, which went wrong for both of us! It was nice to make amends for race one with the win in race three. Steve fell into the pack a little bit at the start and I was able to make a break and pull away.”
Mark Richards (Second race one, third race three): “It's great to be back on the podium. I settled into a rhythm at the start of race one as I knew I didn't have a success penalty to serve so it wasn't worth taking any big risks. I came out of the pits in clean air and didn't have to push too hard. Race two was tough, I was lucky that Jerome got a bad start and I got a good one so had a bit of a gap. The red flag at the end was my friend, though.”
Brian Harvey (Third race one): “It's taken me a while to get here, but I'm really pleased. I lucked into getting in front of Elliot [Goodman]. He then got into a battle and dropped away and it gave me the chance to chase after Mark. I thought as long as I could keep a gap to the guys behind me then I knew I should be okay.”
Kristian Jeffrey (Second race three): “It was a good result, it's the first time I've raced here at Oulton Park. In practice the track felt like a maze! We made changes after each of the races and I felt more comfortable with the car and P2 is a great result.”
Jérôme De Sadeleer (Third race three): “Oulton Park is a very special place, it's a historic track. It's quick, narrow and very unforgiving, so getting a podium is great. Kristian was fast this weekend and we've been trading places at each round, it's great to have someone to fight with. We're still technically in contention for the title, but it's becoming more difficult.”
For full results and timing visit www.tsl-timing.com