Sheard in four car thriller at Cadwell Park 18 April 2009

Bob Marsh - Last modified: 20th Apr 2009

Qualifying:

The full grid of 28 cars was out for the first qualifying session of the day, this would establish the grid for the first race and the second fastest time established the gris for the second race.

Right from the start of the session it was Tom Roche who was setting the pace with the rest of the field playing catch up.

At about the half way stage of the session Paul made some suspension adjustments as the car was not handling well and once back out on the track set about closing the gap between himself and the rest of the front runners.

Times were always going to be close on this testing circuit but on lap 10 he managed to put in his quickest lap to gain fifth spot on the grid, however, Tom Roche was over a second and a half ahead of the rest of the field and was the man in form.


1 Tom Roche 1:45.764
2 Rob Boston 1:47.307
3 Jonathan Greensmith 1:47.636
5 Paul Sheard 1:48.316


Race 1:

From the start Tom, Rob Boston and Jonathan Greensmith were away quick leaving the rest of the field to sort themselves out as they climbed up the hill towards Charlies. Rob Boston led at the end of the first lap but being hard pressed by Tom and Jonathan Greensmith by the end of the first lap and Paul was back in sixth place, just behind Charles Plumley.

At the front Rob Boston lost the lead to Tom whilst Paul moved up to fifth place by the end of lap two.

As lap three started to unwind Tom Roche started to move away from the field which was now settled into a pattern for the next six or seven laps but by the half way stage of the race Paul was starting to suffer from engine trouble which was periodically cutting out, whilst he was able to hold his position the field ahead were getting further and further away.

The engine problems were not getting any better and by the end of lap 13 Paul was down to eighth position and by now there were going to be nobody to stop Tom winning the race with Rob Boston in second and Jonathan Greensmith in third.

At the end of the race Paul had fallen back to tenth place with much ‘head scratching’ to be done before the second race of the day to resolve the issue.

There was, however, comfort from the fact that Pauls best lap was not far off the pace of Tom Roche, therefore, if the problem could be resolved he would be on par with the leaders.

Result:

1 Tom Roche 25:11.512
2 Rob Boston 25:19.432
3 Jonathan Greensmith 25:24.204
10 Paul Sheard 25:54.950

Fastest lap: Tom Roche 1:46.642 Avg. Speed 73.356mph

Race 2:

Grid:

1 Tom Roche 1:46.183
2 Rob Boston 1:46.316
3 Charles Plumley 1:47.923
5 Paul Sheard 1:48.419


The grid for race two was established by the second fastest lap time in the earlier qualifying session.

Pauls pit crew worked hard over the period between the races but could not find anything definite which was causing the earlier problems.

It was now a case of wait and see.

From the start Paul was away much better this time and challenged the first three from race one but by the end of the first lap he was back in fifth place, one up from the grid position. This time it was Jonathan Greensmith leading the way with Rob Boston second and Tom Roche back in third.

Paulheld fifth until lap five when he moved ahead of Charles Plumley and started to chase the leaders which by now was established as Jonathan, Rob and Tom.

As the next few laps passed the gap between Paul and the first three was getting smaller and smaller, the front three pushing each other to the limit.

By the end of lap ten there was nothing between the four of them, who if anyone was going to crack under the pressure.

On lap twelve an error by Tom at the bottom of the mountain nearly cost him the dearly, however, he recovered enough to rejoin the race just ahead of Jonathan but both were now behind Rob Boston in the lead. Paul was waiting for another mistake before making his move.

On the final lap Paul could not make up the difference but Tom just snatched the win away from Rob with Jonathan third and Paul fourth, to reflect on what might have been in race one had the problems not occurred.

As the season unfolds there are going to be more races this close, lets hope that next time Paul gets the advantage.




Result:

1 Tom Roche 25:30.768
2 Rob Boston 25:30.868
3 Jonathan Greensmith 25:31.552
4 Paul Sheard 25:32.062

Fastest Lap: Rob Boston 1:47.627 Avg. Speed 72.684mph


The next round will be at Castle Combe on Monday 4 May.