Four outstanding wins from six races contested at Donington Park over the weekend, 22nd/23rd July, enabled Ben Power (Guilsfield, Powys) to surge back into the lead of the MRF Legends Cars National Championship during the huge ‘Convoy in the Park’ event at the Leicestershire venue.
In front of thousands of spectators Power was the dominant force, but the most widely celebrated success was the first ever car racing victory for Will Gibson (Camberley) in Sunday’s rain-hit Final. Marking two years to the very meeting where his late brother Tim last attended an event as part of the TWG Automotive squad, the timely success was greeted with a huge outpouring of emotion.
Four outstanding wins from six races contested at Donington Park over the weekend, 22nd/23rd July, enabled Ben Power (Guilsfield, Powys) to surge back into the lead of the MRF Legends Cars National Championship during the huge ‘Convoy in the Park’ event at the Leicestershire venue.
In front of thousands of spectators Power was the dominant force, but the most widely celebrated success was the first ever car racing victory for Will Gibson (Camberley) in Sunday’s rain-hit Final. Marking two years to the very meeting where his late brother Tim last attended an event as part of the TWG Automotive squad, the timely success was greeted with a huge outpouring of emotion.
Championship front-runner Jack Parker (Wolverhampton), who did encounter one or two problems during the Donington weekend, was the event’s other victor with success in atrocious wet conditions in Saturday afternoon’s Final.
Reflecting on a superb event, Ben Power said: “Everything has been set up really nice this weekend – the tyres, the set-up, the engine, everything worked well and I’m driving smoothly. We got ourselves some good points back this weekend and I’m obviously delighted to be back in the lead of the championship, which is where we want to be. We need to see if we can maintain it now.”
Fighting back the very raw emotion with thoughts of his brother Tim at the forefront of his mind, Will Gibson – who is only contesting selected race meetings this year – commented: “It’s unreal – firstly the emotional part of it, but also how hard it was to go away and lead in conditions that were treacherous. We’ve always been quick in the wet, it’s phenomenal.
“All the support from Tim with the racing from when we were kids, to have my first car win is fantastic – and it’s obviously for him. I’m absolutely speechless really, we wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Tim.”
Power and Parker share the Saturday victor’s spoils
Steve Whitelegg (Bury) started the weekend strongly with the fastest time in qualifying on Saturday ahead of John Mickel (Horsham), Gibson, Belgium’s Guy Fastres and Power, but a blown engine for Whitelegg midway through race one soured the opening day somewhat for the multiple race winner.
Power emerged victorious in Heat One, having run in sixth spot at the end of lap one before making swift progress up the order. Leaping into the top four on the third tour, he grabbed second on lap four and then moved up into the lead ahead of Gibson the next time around. With nothing to choose between the pair, Power just shaded his rival by 0.178 seconds at the flag with Mickel taking third.
Power did the double in Heat Two with a stunning 4.2 second win. After taking the lead on lap two, he was initially pursued by Mickel and Parker with the latter making second his on lap three. After losing time on lap seven, Parker’s challenge faded and he slipped to third behind Mickel.
Saturday’s Final took place in atrocious conditions in which Gibson made the early running, building an advantage of a couple of seconds very quickly. By the start of lap five, though, the lead was down to a fraction from Parker and Tom Grainger (Sidcup) who, despite battling tooth and nail, managed to close up. In fact, only 0.8 seconds covered the top four with Fastres also there in the mix.
Into the second half, the pulsating action was turned up a notch further with Parker taking the lead on lap six before Gibson hit back. Parker returned the favour on the penultimate tour and went on to win by just 0.8 seconds from Power, who had scythed through with a series of fastest laps.
“To be honest it was a challenge, you couldn’t see a thing”, said Jack Parker, “I do love the wet weather, it just seems to suit me and we tend to go well in those conditions. It wasn’t easy, but obviously great to get another win.”
Third place, and a first podium of 2017, went the way of the deserving Fastres after a terrific drive with Grainger fourth, Marcus Pett (Boston) fifth and Gibson sixth – the latter bundled down from the lead battle late on.
High emotion for Gibson while Power adds two more wins
Parker set the pace in Sunday morning’s damp qualifying session, but Power had the benefit of pole position for Heat One through the grid ballot and he absolutely made the most of it by scorching to an untroubled four second winning margin.
Grainger took the runner-up spot after a terrific see-saw battle with Whitelegg, with Mickel, Nathan Anthony (Horley) and Parker all in the mix for the podium early on. Mickel ended up fourth with Parker just clinging on to fifth over the line, despite a late puncture, while Fastres raced to sixth.
In Heat Two it was that man Power again with his fourth win of the weekend, following a fantastic battle with Whitelegg, Gibson, Grainger and Parker. Smith and Parker shared the early lead but on lap three Power moved to the front and was never headed – although Whitelegg pressured heavily.
The Safety Car was required for three laps following a roll at Redgate for Mickel on lap four, from which he thankfully emerged unscathed. Gibson went on to take third ahead of Grainger, who just managed to get over the line to secure fourth after a late power problem.
Although nowhere near as wet as Saturday’s Final initially, the last race on Sunday still took place on a slippery track and Robert King (York) made the early running from pole. In next to no time, though, Gibson – who started 14th on the grid – surged through to the lead on lap two.
Opening up a remarkable 3.5 second lead inside a couple of laps, Gibson’s advantage was then wiped out when the Safety Car was deployed in time for lap six as a result of Pett’s car becoming stranded on the track halfway down Craner Curves after a tangle.
Before racing resumed on the eighth tour, rain started to fall again heavily but Gibson relished the conditions and disappeared into the distance to take his so well deserved, and incredibly emotional, first ever car racing win by 3.5 seconds.
Parker fought through well to finish second, hitting back strongly from brake issues in Heat Two, while Mickel was third in a car which, only a couple of hours earlier, had been upside down in the gravel – the fantastic work of Mickel Motorsport was rewarded with the Team of the Day accolade.
There is now a seven-week break in the MRF Legends Cars National Championship calendar, with the sixth event of the season set to take place on 9th/10th September at Snetterton in Norfolk.
Provisional MRF Legends Cars National Championship Points:
1st Ben Power, 4930pts; 2nd John Mickel, 4790pts; 3rd Jack Parker, 4185pts;
4th Steve Whitelegg, 3955pts; 5th Paul Simmons, 3605pts; 6th Nathan Anthony, 3310pts
Provisional MRF Legends Cars National Championship Masters Leader:
Paul Simmons
Provisional MRF Legends Cars National Championship Rookie Leader:
Miles Rudman
