Lawson reigns in Croft rain

After a brilliantly sunny day for qualifying, race day saw the Croft circuit drenched with torrential rain, leaving Round 9 of the SEAT Cupra Championship delayed by over an hour. The early rain had further consequences too, as timetable alterations meant that Round 10 could not happen. Robert Lawson (Bardon/JHR) won't be complaining though, having received the hearty cheers of his local fans from the top step of the podium and enjoying a short journey home to celebrate his increased lead in the driver standings.

Round 9 started under the guidance of the safety car that peeled off after three laps to leave Lawson heading into Clervaux as the only driver with a 'clear view' of the track. Behind him the spray created from the carbon fibre rear diffusers of these powerful race cars forced windscreen wipers into overdrive as the drivers concentrated on staying on track. Andrew Herron (Brian Herron Plant/JHR) stuck to his JHR team-mate's tail and had Jonathan Adam (Total Control Racing) and Martin Byford (AB Glass/Z Speed Racing) doing much the same to his right until the finish line where they crossed it in that order. Carl Breeze (Blue Chip/Welch Motorsport) couldn't capitalise on a rare Byford error so had to settle for 5th in what amount to a procession for the top five finishers.

There was plenty of action further down the field though with James Appleby (Hardinge Machine Tools/JHR) and Daniel Welch (Marriott/Welch Motorsport) being the main entertainers. Welch had pinched Appleby's 6th place early on but a gutsy manoeuvre from young Appleby saw him take it back, going side by side with Welch along the start/finish straight and heading into Clervaux with plenty of opposite lock needed to almost rally cross the Cupra out of the other side ahead. At Hairpin on the last lap Welch made a move on Appleby to take it back and although he crossed the line ahead, a later ruling on it gave Welch a one second penalty to hand Appleby 6th and push Welch back to 7th . Jeremy Gumbley (Millionpixeldriver.com/Welch Motorsport) meanwhile took the extra championship point for most places gained, having tangled with local driver Dan Stringfellow (Kiss the Fish/West Suffolk Racing) and gained from Daniel Rowbottom's (DRM M-sport) off at Tower Bend.

The JHR team left Croft certainly the happiest having all three of their drivers finishing in the top six and Lawson increasing his championship lead over Byford to 28 points. With a long break now until Snetterton all the drivers will have plenty of time to prepare for the second half of the season though which could mean the likes of Byford, Breeze or Adam could still have the last laugh.

Carl Breeze: "It was a bit like follow the leader. Byford went a bit wide, if only I'd been a bit closer I could have taken him on the inside."

Martin Byford: "At least we got the car back in one piece. It's hard, hard work when it's like that, the diffusers kick up a lot of spray so it's difficult to see anything."

Jeremy Gumbley: "There was a lot of spray, but I don't think it was dangerous. I couldn't see the chequered flagthough. It would have been good to have the second race as it's more time behind the wheel for me and the chance to get even faster."

Andrew Herron: "I was extremely cautious for the first couple of laps and used Robert as a marker. I was comfy sitting behind him, if I'd pushed then Adam and Byford could have caught up so I was happy to settle for a one two for the team."

Jonathan Adam: "I couldn't see a thing with the spray. I would have loved to have been Robert out in front. There's a fine line when it's like that about how much you can push it."

Robert Lawson: "There was a bit of a wait but it worked out well for me. You have to be careful with braking zones as it's easy to lock up your wheels. It was a case of I was in the position I needed to be in and I'm chuffed to pieces with the win for the team."