Mark Green remains unbeaten with 3rd win

For the 3rd round of the British 200mm Championship we visited the excellent Halifax circuit in West Yorkshire. The venue has recently undergone big improvements with a new raised pit lane and fantastic covered pits, in preparation for the upcoming 1/8th European Championships. Saturday’s practice started off with many drivers suffering with rear stability on their cars but the traction gradually improved throughout the day. It was Mark Green setting the pace getting down to 16.2 lap times, Joe Kerry very close behind with his 747 on 16.3 laps.

Onto qualifying and in round 1 it was Joe who took FTQ with a time of 19/312 just 2 seconds from the track record. The run was super consistent with just 0.11 seconds between his best and average lap times. 2nd place went to Mark on 18 laps, with Serpent team mate Alex Thurston 3rd also on 18 laps. In round 2 only a handful of drivers were able to improve their times so the overall results stayed much the same.

In round 3 Joe Kerry went close to improving his FTQ time with another 19 lap run. Alex took 2nd just ahead of Mark but neither were able to improve their best times. It was a similar story in the final round of qualifying as only a couple of drivers were able to improve. So Joe took FTQ being the only driver to complete 19 laps throughout the day. Mark would start 2nd, and also Alex 3rd. We also had the 747’s of James Conolly, Dom Carter, and Paul Bellinger, making a total of six 747’s in the main final.

Qualifying result:
1. Joe Kerry – 19L 312.79 (Serpent/O.S Speed/Xceed)
2. Mark Green – 18L 295.96 (Serpent/Novarossi/Xceed)
3. Alex Thurston – 18L 302.01 (Serpent/IDM/Contact)
4. Andy Hastings – 18L 306.56 (Shepherd/Sonic/Shepherd)
5. James Conolly – 18L 308.67 (Serpent/Xceed/Xceed)
6. Matthew Cook – 18L 308.70 (Hot Bodies/Novarossi/Contact)
7. John Zottl – 18L 309.49 (Shepherd/Sonic/Matrix)
8. Dom Carter – 18L 310.18 (Serpent/Novarossi/Contact)
9. Simon Wood – 18L 313.82 (Xray/Reds/Matrix)
10.Paul Bellinger – 17L 300.35 (Serpent/Xceed/Xceed)

The final got underway and they raced off in grid order. After a couple of laps Mark forced his way past Joe to take the lead and the two of them then began to pull away from the rest of the field. The battle at the front continued with Mark and Joe on the same lap just a few seconds apart, until the 25 minute mark when one of Joe’s pulleys went. This meant the chance for the win was over but he still had enough of a gap to slowly nurse the car home for 2nd position, ahead of Alex Thurston’s 747 in 3rd, which completed an all 747 podium.

Final result:
1. Mark Green (Serpent/Novarossi/Xceed)
2. Joe Kerry (Serpent/O.S Speed/Xceed)
3. Alex Thurston (Serpent/IDM/Contact)
4. Simon Wood (Xray/Reds/Matrix)
5. Dom Carter (Serpent/Novarossi/Contact)
6. Andy Hastings (Shepherd/Sonic/Shepherd)
7. James Conolly (Serpent/Xceed/Xceed)
8. John Zottl (Shepherd/Sonic/Matrix)
9. Matthew Cook (Hot Bodies/Novarossi/Contact)
10.Paul Bellinger (Serpent/Xceed/Xceed)

Round 4 of the National series will take place at Adur on 25th/26th May.

Source: Serpent [serpent.com]