RugRacers Round 3 – Report
Round 3 of British indoor touring car series Rug Racers took place over the weekend where it was Schumacher’s Elliott Harper who made it three from three in the Hertford Radio Car Club series. Harper who took control from the get go setting a new FTQ time in each of the opening 3 qualifiers, which was enough for the overall TQ with Q4 proving slower. Lining up on pole behind him would be Bailey Graves and Dan Robins. The opening A-Main saw the British National Champion take a comfortable lights to flag victory with Bailey holding position ahead of Dan Robins. A2 saw Harper lead from the off but the battle behind was super close with Robins able to make his way past Bailey to take the 2nd spot. Overall Harper took victory from Robins & Bailey by virtue of a faster Leg 1 Race time. The result earns Harper the overall Modified title with 2 rounds to spare.
Modified Result
1. Elliott Harper
2. Dan Robins
3. Bailey Graves
4. Billy Fletcher
5. Richard King
6. Peter Eagles
7. Ashley Wiffen
8. Shane Chipolina
Stock touring car saw top class drivers Billy Fletcher and Finley Whitelock fight neck and neck with almost identical times through qualifying where a small mistake from Finley would give Billy the TQ spot, closely followed by Finley. The tight qualifying retained its quality straight into the finals where Finley was pushing Billy around for the first few minutes in an attempt to find a gap until unfortunate contact and a mistake for Finley would let Billy run away with the win in leg 1 with Charlie Colby in 2nd and Liam Tyrell in 3rd. After the disappointing leg 1, Finley was eager to get straight back on the hunt for leg 2 which demonstrated immediately where he was able to hang with Billy until he could capitalise on his pace, taking the lead in the early stages of the race which he would hold for almost the whole race until being collected by a crashed car in the closing stages. Despite this Finley was still able to take 2nd in the leg with Billy claiming the leg win and overall win for the day! With Billy taking the round win, this means that four drivers now have a leg win to their name which could open up an exciting 4 way title fight for the final 2 rounds between: Billy Fletcher, Finley Whitelock, Ben Moorey and Ricky Copsey!
Stock Result
1. Billy Fletcher
2. Charlie Colby
3. Liam Tyrell
4. Finley Whitelock
5. Will Everett
6. Jay Kay
7. Stewart Wilcox
8. Dave Ringsell
9. Mark Wilson
10.Matt Carey
Front wheel drive again proved just how close the racing was the battle at the front between Sam Jones, Ethan Southall & Liam Tyrrell, would run close all day, but then no one was keeping a close enough eye on Mark Buonaiuto from the heat below who would snatch 2nd on the grid in the final round of Qualy with Sam Jones taking the TQ, Ethan 3rd & Liam lining up 4th. Into the Leg 1 final, Sam would lead away with the other 3 in hot pursuit, under intense pressure for the whole 5 mins Sam was able to take the Leg 1 win ahead of Mark Buonaiuto & Ethan Southall. Leg 2 would start of just as thrilling, Sam making a slight error a few laps meant Mark Buonaiuto had to check up to avoid an incident allowing Ethan Southall through to the lead with Liam Tyrrell right behind him, Ethan would hold on to bring home the Leg win from Sam Jones taking 2nd place back from Liam Tyrrell 2 corners from home to secure the overall win for the day with Ethan Southall 2nd & Mark Buonaiuto 3rd The championship is on for 5 drivers right now so the last 2 rounds could prove very exciting.
FWD Result
1. Sam Jones
2. Ethan Southall
3. Mark Buonaiuto
4. Liam Tyrrell
5. Thomas Looney
6. Stuart Collard
7. Dan Knight
8. Gary Taylor
9. Mark Burgess
10.Jon Seals
Source: RugRacers [Facebook]
