MaX5 Rounds 7 / 8 Mallory Park

1st Jul 2007

Qualifying:

In wet conditions qualifying went well for Paul and he secured a front row start for race 1, just 0.044 seconds behind pole position man Jeremy Clark. The second row was to be made up by Jonathan Blake and Championship rival Jonathan Greensmith. Steve Price put in a good performance qualifying 19th, Paula Sheard was to start 26th in her first race of the season after a substantial break from the sport.

Race 1:

Conditions were changeable which led uncertainty in terms of car setup. Most of the grid anticipated a wet race and hence the majority of cars looked to be set soft to accommodate such conditions ... however, the race remained dry.

Paul got off to a good start and held position out of Gerrards, this enabled him to stay close and make a move on leader Jeremy Clark at Shaws Hairpin later in the lap … Paul took the lead.

At the race mid-point, the first three cars driven by Paul Sheard, Jonathan Greensmith and Jeremy Clark had broken clear from the pack, but all were eager and continued to battle hard for the win. Paul was constantly challenged for position and had to defend almost continuously to the line; he eventually took the chequered flag at the conclusion of lap 12.

Greensmith took 2nd place and the fastest lap point earning him a Sheard-equalling 60 points for race 1.

Paula Sheard made up 2 places coming home 24th after a strong performance, Steve Price came in 25th.

Race 2:

The second MaX5 race was the last of a day that had exhibited changeable weather to say the least. It looked dry as the competitors went out for a race that was to be extended to 18 laps in duration - this in order to make up for the previous time keeping error and shorter than expected first race.

The grid formed in finish order from race 1 and they were ready for the off. A good start was had by the majority of the lead cars, Steve Greensmith made ground getting up behind Paul in the pack. Paul endured a heavy impact at Shaws Hairpin on the first lap as a gaggle of cars jostled for position at this, the slowest part of the circuit. This incident pushed Sheard into leader Jonathan Greensmith, however, this did not unsettle his position and Greensmith managed to pull away in the laps that followed. Jonathan was eventually able to take the win, Paul came in second.

Steve Price and Paula Sheard swapped places numerous times throughout the race but Paula finished one ahead in 23rd place. The fastest lap was taken by Wayne Le Montais.