Paul Sheard joint leader of the Max5 Championship

Bob Marsh - Last modified: 3rd Sep 2008

There are now just two meetings and three rounds to go before the season draws to a close and there is everything to play for.

Qualifying: Conditions dry

Straight from the start of the qualifying session Scott Kirlew was determined to make an impression on the remainder of the field by posting his fastest lap on lap 2.

Tom Roche, Paul Sheard and Joachim Ritter all trying desperately to close the gap and by the end of the session just over half a second separated the quartet.

James Maxfield had a good session and whilst twelfth on the grid his fastest lap was less than 2 seconds off the pace.

Joachim had the unfortunate experience of clutch failure in the last moments of the session and he had to be towed back to the paddock.


Grid Race 1

1 Scott Kirlew 1:44.915 Average speed 72.91 mph
2 Tom Roche 1:45.015 Average speed 72.84 mph
3 Paul Sheard 1:45.215 Average speed 72.70 mph
4 Joachim Ritter 1:45.236 Average speed 72.69 mph
12 James Maxfield 1:46.867 Average speed 71.58 mph

Race 1

Conditions: dry

As the green lights went out Scott Kirlew was away the quickest and lead into the Chicane, only to be past at Tower by championship leader Tom Roche with the following pack closely bunched. As the lap came to a close it was Tom followed by Scott, Paul Sheard and Matt Robinson.

A spin by Nick Wright at the Chicane on lap two effectively put him out of the race and he retired at the end of the lap.

Meanwhile up at the front the lead had changed with Scott who leading Tom by 0.3 seconds with Paul Sheard in third.

By the time Tower had been reached on lap three Tom was again in the lead followed by Paul and Scott and these three were now starting to pull away from the rest of the field with Matt Robinson and Richard Breland leading the chasing group.

Tom held the lead over the next couple of laps until on lap 6 when Scott opened up a lead of almost a second over Tom.

At this stage of the race Tom and Paul were keeping a very close eye on each other as one mistake could have seen the championship disappear.

The chasing group was now being led by Jonathan Halliwell, Joachim Ritter and Richard Breland.

The gap between Scott and second and third place was getting bigger with Paul Sheard now up in second place but being pushed all the way by Tom.

At the back of the field James Maxfield was off his qualifying pace but was struggling to keep Dean Parker and Mark Pierpoint in his sights.

In the final quarter of the race the gap between Paul and Tom was forever changing with neither being able to close the gap on Scott.

The final lap started with only 0.3 seconds between second and third place and as they left the Chicane they were side by side, into Tower and through the Esses, still locked together with Paul just managing to lead into Sunny and out into the Complex.

At the chequered flag it was Scott Kirlew followed by Paul Sheard and Tom Roche with Joachim Ritter in fourth and James Maxfield thirteenth.

Paul gained another point by having the fastest lap which now left the Championship leaders equal on points going into race two on Sunday.

Result:

1 Scott Kirlew 21:32.236 Average speed 71.04 mph
2 Paul Sheard 21:35.597 Average speed 70.85 mph
3 Tom Roche 21:35.834 Average speed 70 84 mph
4 Joachim Ritter 21:39.069 Average speed 70.66 mph
13 James Maxfield 22:11.131 Average speed 68.96 mph


Fastest lap: Paul Sheard 1:46.291 Average speed 71.97 mph on lap 7


Race 2

Conditions: Dry

Grid:

1 Scott Kirlew 1:45.219
2 Paul Sheard 1:45.273
3 Joachim Ritter 1:45.328

The second race of the weekend was promised to be another close encounter with every point now counting.

Again as in race one Scott Kirlew was away the quickest with Paul and Tom Roche in close attendance and at the end of the first lap it was Paul in the lead followed by Scott and Tom with Richard Breland close behind.

Into laps two and three Paul held the smallest of leads but Tom had moved up to second and Scott relegated to fourth behind Richard Breland. The following group of Joachim Ritter, Matt Robinson and Wayne le Montais were closely matched and at the rear of the field Dean Parker, James Maxfield and Nick Wight were having their own well matched race.

At the end of lap five Tom was down into fifth place and starting the long haul back to catch Paul who was never able to get enough space between himself and the chasing pack to be comfortable.

At the end of lap nine Tom was up into second and on lap ten took the lead going down towards Sunny In with Scott snatching second at the Complex from Paul who had regained second place by the end of the lap.

The race was now entering the final two laps and Paul taking the lead back from Tom at the Esses, opening up a small lead of 0.3 seconds by the end of the lap.

Lower down the field Jonathan Halliwell had problems at the Hairpin loosing a couple of places and less than two seconds covering the places four to seven.

As the final lap came to a close Paul just held on to the lead from Tom and Scott with Wayne le Montais a creditable fourth.

James Maxfield was having a better race than Saturday and finished the race some 35 seconds quicker than the previous day.

Tom Roche had the fastest lap which now left Tom and Paul still equal on points going into the next round in two weeks time.



Result:


1 Paul Sheard 21:23.805 Average speed 71.50 m ph
2 Tom Roche 21:24.567 Average speed 71.46 mph
3 Scott Kirlew 21:24.813 Average speed 71.45 mph
6 Joachim Ritter 21:27.346 Average speed 71.31 mph
13 James Maxfield 21:38.791 Average speed 70.68 mph

Fastest lap: Tom Roche 1:45.088 average speed 72.79 mph on lap 7

The next two rounds will be at Pembrey, South Wales over the weekend of 13/14 September.