Twin triumph for lightning Lawson

The charge of rookie SEAT Cupra Championship racer Robert Lawson (Bardon/JHR) shows no signs of relenting as two convincing race wins at Donington Park proved. Having qualified in pole position for both rounds he made sure he capitalised, crossing the line in each case with seconds to spare between him and his nearest competitor.

From a maximum of 44 points over the weekend, Lawson took 41 including the extra point for the fastest lap in Round 5 that also smashed the existing SEAT Cupra Championship lap record. That now makes four wins from six, with one 2nd place and one 4th to give him a commanding lead in the Championship. Martin Byford (AB Glass/Z Speed Racing) also ran well, two late charges giving him a brace of podium finishes and with a fastest lap bonus point in Round 6 he now sits just ahead of fellow challenger Carl Breeze (Blue Chip/Welch Motorsport) in the Championship standings.

Breeze is proving to be one of the quickest drivers off the line this year and it proved the case again in Round 5 as he looked to turn his front row start into a race lead, heading side by side with Lawson into the first turn. But Lawson was wise to it and kept pushing to head into Craner Curves still in possession of 1st place, Breeze keeping 2nd and Andrew Herron (Brian Herron Plant/JHR) in 3rd . The trio started creating distance between the rest of the pack too as Jonathan Adam (Total Control Racing) battled to defend his position from Byford. Adam, clearly not happy with his car, was unable to hold Byford off for long, and while the blue AB Glass/Z Speed Racing car darted ahead looking to make up ground on the front runners, Adam was left exposed to the attentions of both Daniel Welch (Marriott/Welch Motorsport) and Dan Rowbottom (DRM M-sport). Again, Adam's race pace looked lacking and both Welch and Rowbottom passed the struggling Scot going on to secure 5th and 6th places respectively. Lawson meanwhile continued untested at the front going on to secure the win. Herron however found Byford closing in on him and with one lap to go was the subject of a fine overtaking manoeuvre through Redgate, Byford going wide then cutting sharply on the inside and carrying the momentum through to 3rd place. As he screamed onto the final straight it looked like he may be able to upset Breeze too, but the Kings Lynn driver had enough left to cross the line in 2nd , his third podium finish this year.

Byford clearly enjoys leaving the drama until late, waiting until the last lap of Round 6 too before making the decisive move. Lawson had once again pulled well ahead of the rest and was crossing the line in convincing style for his second win of the day, while the drama unfurled behind him. Breeze had been pushing for a way past Herron in 2nd place for much of the race and with the last corner to go he made his move. But confusion reigned as Breeze went across the grass and Herron dropped his concentration to let the predatory Byford blitz past the battling pair in the dying seconds. Moments later Byford crossed the line in 2nd place, while Breeze could do nothing about Herron taking his first podium of the season with a 3rd . Elsewhere Adam and Freddy Nordström's (Plumbertraining.com/Advent Motorsport) nightmare weekend continued with neither finishing the race, but both Welch and Rowbottom will take heart from their performances. Welch had started from the back due to a technical infringement in qualifying but dodged through the pack into an impressive 5th position, Rowbottom performing a similar act and coming from 11th to 6th .

The mix of fortunes at Donington was large, but there's no doubting the talent that courses throughout the field and with the popular Thruxton circuit next on the calendar it's gearing up to be a riveting Championship. Lawson is the man to beat now, but with other drivers knowing they can really perform at the fast flowing Hampshire circuit should everything be in place to allow them, it may be a very different story in Rounds 7 and 8.

Robert Lawson: "The most important thing for me here was to get the wins. The team's done a great job and to do this here with so many supporters from Bardon Aggregates here to watch was great. I couldn't be happier. There's no secret, I'm just doing the best I can and hopefully I'm still improving as this is still only my third season racing. There's any one from about five drivers who can still challenge for the title and their all great drivers having won championships before, so it's not going to be easy."

Andrew Herron: "We came to this weekend after testing well at Thruxton, but had a problem during qualifying. If it wasn't for that we should have had pole. During the races I had a bit of a problem with my tyres too but getting on the podium is great. When I was in the Clios I got one podium finish and it kick started from there."

Martin Byford: "We thought it was going to rain for the second race… but we got it wrong! I was struggling with the car but just managed to keep on their [Herron and Breeze] tailcoats. I could see Andrew's tyres going off again and when the were side to side down the back straight I could see what could happen so just stuck my snout in and it paid off. I got a point for fastest lap too, so that's one more point for me and one less for Lawson."

Jonathan Adam: "It was a really bad weekend for us. It wasn't great in testing on Thursday and if anything it's got worse over the weekend. I was really struggling, but we're going to strip the car right down and find out what the problem is now."

Carl Breeze: "I was in second place until I got turned around on that last corner. I ended up fourth and it's lucky we didn't actually have a similar incident earlier. On a positive note, it's another thirty points and I think I'm one point ahead of Byford or thereabouts. We're also going to my favourite track next."

Daniel Rowbottom: "In the second race it was really enjoyable for the first few laps, but like the first race I had a problem with grip shortly after that. If we can sort that out then I'm pretty sure we can get on the podium. At the moment though all we can really do is pick up points as other drivers drop them."

Daniel Welch: "I'm actually a little disappointed. I ran out of brakes on lap three and only had rear brakes to stop. I'm thinking if I'd had them I could have caught the others up. It's not too bad, but you can't really go home happy with two fifth places!"