Paul Sheard wins at Oulton Park but has to settle for second in the Championship

Bob Marsh - Last modified: 4th Oct 2008

After a hard season Tom Roche was crowned the Max5 Champion for the 2008 season at Oulton Park on Saturday 27 September.
The day started with Tom 3 points ahead of his rival Paul Sheard, who was on his ‘home’ circuit, and favourite to be crowned Champion. Paul, however, had other ideas and was determined to win the race and put as many other drivers between him and Tom to stand any chance of overcoming the deficit.
The final race also saw team members Justin Newnam, Joachim Ritter, James Maxfield, Paula Sheard and former Max5 driver Christian Dick racing.
Qualifying: Conditions Dry
There was tension as the drivers came out for qualifying with Paul Sheard determined to be on pole position on the grid and set about the task.
Lap times were constantly faster than Tom throughout the session and guest driver Christian Dick, a former Max5 5 driver, was also pushing Tom hard for the second place on the grid.
The conditions were perfect and Justin Newnam had an inspired qualifying session to be fifth on the grid
All was set for the final race of the season with all to play for:

Grid:
1 Paul Sheard 1:47.520
2 Christian Dick 1:47.743
3 Tom Roche 1:47.787
4 Joachim Ritter 1:48.054
5 Justin Newnam 1:49.281
12 Paula Sheard 1:50.805
13 James Maxfield 1:51.294
The Race: Condition: Dry
From the start the front row were away quickly but at the first corner Christian Dick went wide and onto the grass allowing Tom Roche, from the second row, to come through followed by Joachim Ritter. By the end of the lap Tom had a slight advantage over Paul Sheard with Joachim Ritter third.
On lap two Paul Sheard passed Tom to move into the lead with Christian Dick closing the gap on the pair of them. Lower down the pack Matt Robinson was just holding off Richard Breland in their battle for third place in the Championship.
The third lap also saw Paula Sheard retire from the race at the Warwick Bridge
Meanwhile at the front the race was developing into a close race between the three front runners on the grid and these were starting to pull away from the remainder of the field with Matt Robinson, Richard Breland and Justin Newnam battling for fifth spot.
The gap was, however, closing between the front three and the following three cars led by Joachim Ritter and by the end of lap seven there was less than 4 seconds between the front 6 cars with Paul Sheard still having the advantage.
On lap eight Joachim Ritter put in the fastest lap of the race to move closer to Christian Dick before retiring on lap 9 when he ran out of fuel.
The final lap started with Paul Sheard ahead but with Tom closing quickly.
Tom was by now able to relax and settle for second place to take the Championship, but continued to press Paul right up to the chequered flag and finishing just less than 0.3 seconds behind Paul with Christian Dick in third.


Result:
1 Paul Sheard 18:40.496 Average speed 71.51 mph
2 Tom Roche 18:40.772 Average speed 71.50 mph
3 Christian Dick 18:41.270 Average speed 71.46 mph
4 Justin Newnam 18:43.055 Average speed 71.35 mph
10 James Maxfield 19:16.161 Average speed 69.31 mph
DNF Paula Sheard Lap 2
DNF Joachim Ritter Lap 9

Fastest lap: Joachim Ritter 1:48.262 average speed 74.02 mph on lap 8
Congratulations went to Tom Roche on winning the Championship with Paul in second place in what has again turned out to be a final race decider, as in previous seasons, showing just how exciting MX5 racing can be.


Championship table
Pos Driver Points
1 Roche 719
2 Sheard 717
3 Breland 680
4 Robinson 679
5 Halliwell 669