Mixed fortunes for Paul on his home circuit.

Bob Marsh - Last modified: 18th Aug 2009

With an early qualifying session there was little time for rest but had the advantage of this being his ‘home’ circuit.
Qualifying:
A maximum grid plus 1 reserve were out for qualifying on a dry and warm circuit and Paul took advantage of his knowledge of the circuit to post his fastest time on his first lap but as he got caught up in traffic he was unable to better this time, unfortunately his rivals had some ‘free space’ and managed to post faster times.
This left Paul on the third row of the grid just over 2 seconds off the pace of pole position Tom Roche.
Grid:
1 Tom Roche 2:06.821
2 Rob Boston 2:06.904
3 Jonthan Greensmith 2:07.006
5 Paul Sheard 2:08.903

Race 1:
When the lights went out at the beginning of the race the ‘big’ three of Tome Roche, Jonathan Greensmith and Rob Boston were quickly away but Paul can through from the third row on the grid to tuck into fourth place just behind the leaders by the end of the first lap.
Would Paul’s superior knowledge of the circuit allow him to move into the top three and by the end of the third lap he was still in there with a chance as he did not allow the leaders to have things their own way.
At the end of the fifth lap Tom Roche was having none of it and had pulled out a substantial lead of almost two seconds over second placed Jonathan Greensmith with Paul still in fourth almost three seconds adrift.
This was the closest that Paul got to breaking into the trio up at the front as lap by lap they started to pull away leaving Paul in a very lonely fourth place with his nearest rival some ten seconds behind.
It was, however, important that Paul kept ahead of Alyn Robson who is his nearest challenger in the overall championship but Alyn was well behind and in around 10th place by the end of lap seven.
Whilst not making any impression on the leaders Paul was able to consolidate his position and save the car for the next race of the day but up front Tom Roche notched up another win leading from start to finish with his arch rival Jonathan Greensmith in second and Rob Boston picking up another third place.
Paul finished fourth and consolidated his championship fourth place overall.
Result:
1 Tom Roche 21:25.334
2 Jonathan Greensmith 21:27.201
3 Rob Boston 21:27.499
4 Paul Sheard 21:38.897
Fastest Lap: Rob Boston 2:06.802

Race 2:
The grid for the second race was made up from the driver’s second fastest qualifying lap with Paul again on the third row.
Again straight from the start the three title contenders were away but this time it was Rob Boston leading by the end of the lap with Paul back in fifth place, but importantly, just ahead of Alyn Robson.
As the second lap came to a close there was less than half a second between positions four and seven with Paul holding off the challengers in fourth place, however, at the bottom of the Cascades at the beginning of the third lap he found himself on the grass and loosing places rapidly rejoining the race in around fifteenth place but less than five seconds behind fourth place.
The closeness of MX5 racing meant that hard work and good driving was going to move him slowly up the field but the traffic held him up together with the arrival of the Safety Car as Alyn Robson left the circuit at the Shell Hairpin and hit the tyre wall ending his immediate challenge to Paul.
When the Safety Car came in and the race resumed Paul managed to claw himself back up to seventh place, a very respectable result under the circumstances.
The race was again won by Tom Roche with Rob Boston in second and Jonathan Greensmith in third.
Result:
1 Tom Roche 21:26.431
2 Rob Boston 21:26.950
3 Jonathan Greensmith 21:27.219
7 Paul Sheard 21:34.816
Fastest Lap: Tom Roche 2:07.793
Immediately after the second race Paul was quickly away from Oulton Park for the long drive up to Knockhill to race in the Ginetta G50 Cup.
The next and final rounds of the2009 Ma5da Racing MX5 Championship will be at Brands Hatch on Saturday September 12.