Adam takes two, while Breeze also prospers

In a three race meeting at Snetterton, following the addition of the postponed Round 10 from Croft, there were mixed fortunes for the drivers in the 2008 SEAT Cupra Championship. Jonathan Adam (Total Control Racing) will grab the headlines, taking two victories in the last two races, but local driver Carl Breeze (Blue Chip/Welch Motorsport) also had cause for celebration. With a 1st , 3rd and 4th , Breeze moved up the Championship standings to leave Snetterton in striking distance of Robert Lawson's (Bardon/JHR) lead. Adam is only just behind him though, while Martin Byford (AB Glass/Z Speed Racing), who is now sat in 4th , will be keen to make up for a disappointing weekend at the next meeting.

In Round 11, Adam, Lawson and Daniel Welch (Marriott/Welch Motorsport) all span on the first lap as they tussled for the top spot. Damage to his steering rack forced Lawson to retire while Adam and Welch managed to rejoin further down the pack, leaving Breeze the lead. Freddy Nordström (Plumbertraining.com/Advent Motorsport) made the most of things too, moving into 2nd place with Byford virtually glued to his rear bumper. By the end of the 16 laps, Nordström and Byford had almost caught Breeze but his lead was too great and the trio crossed the line together to secure podium positions, the 2nd place Nordström's best finish so far this year. Daniel Rowbottom (DRM M-sport) also looked impressive making up ten places throughout the race to finish 4th , also a best result for the season.

The JHR team worked hard to make sure Lawson's car was fixed for Round 12, and the Championship leader aimed to repay their efforts as he pushed Adam on the outside from the start. Breeze also gave Adam food for thought on the inside, forcing the Scotsman to block his advances in order to keep the lead as they hit Rivett Straight. Byford had also managed to catch up to Breeze, who had been squeezed into 3rd by Lawson, but issues with his car saw him falling back through the pack until he retired, leaving 4th place to Welch, closely followed by Andrew Herron (Brian Herron Plant/JHR). The top five remained in that order, with Nordström adding a 6th place to his earlier 2nd, but it was Adam who was celebrating the hardest with another win for the season notched up.

Adam repeated that feat in the Round 10 race at the end of the day, another strong display from the front putting him 6 secs ahead of Lawson by the time he saw the chequered flag for the third time. Herron proved his pace again with a 3rd place finish while Breeze and Byford once more found themselves evenly matched. The two local drivers, both piloting blue Cupras, stuck to each other throughout the race, their epic tussle imitating their battle in the Championship. Despite looking though, Byford couldn't see a way past his foe and had to settle for 5th place, Breeze coming out on top in both the race and in his position in the overall points standings. David Green (Daniels Motorsport) finished the top six, another driver recording a personal best finish for the season with an impressive display.

So after a three-race day at Snetterton, Lawson remains the leading driver in the 2008 SEAT Cupra Championship, but Breeze has jumped up into 2nd place just 28 points behind him. Adam's the man on the move though, two wins at Snetterton putting him just two points behind Breeze and with eight rounds left to go, including his home circuit of Knockhill, he could challenge Lawson yet. Byford's not out of contention either and with the likes of Herron, Nordström, Rowbottom and Welch all capable of taking big points, the second half of this season is shaping up to be a thriller.

Carl Breeze: "Taking the Snetterton rounds into account I was consistently the top points scorer which is good. We didn't qualify well but managed to turn negatives into positives, and we finished all three races. The third race I could have been quicker, but I picked up some damage. My teeth were chattering everytime through the Esses as the car was vibrating badly!"

Martin Byford: "A podium in the first race was great, but it went downhill from there. I started P3 in the last race so you should expect a podium from there. In general we're underperforming, but we know that and will look to improve. It was a tough weekend."

Robert Lawson: "To be fair, I had a bit of bad luck this morning. It could have been myself, Jonathan or Daniel that went off. Massive credit to the team though, to get the car back out for the second race. It was a disappointing first race but two good solid finishes after that, and in that last race Jonathan drove very well."

Andrew Herron: "We knew we had the pace all weekend. In the first race I was unlucky as I got spun, and in the second race I made some changes to the car that were a mistake. We went back to the original settings for the third race and it worked but still not able to get near Lawson or Adam."

Jonathan Adam: "It was a good weekend. We started poorly, despite qualifying well, but two wins after that was great. And I think I got a track record in that last race!"

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."

Freddy Nordström: "Started good, got worse… then got even more worse. I don't think it was anything malicious by Rowbottom in the last race, I think he just lost it. That's the problem with the grass. After the first race I thought we had it, but somehow in the second and third we lost it!"

Daniel Rowbottom: "It was a bit up and down. We came with a new shell, the set-up had been off and we struggled in qualifying. Then we made a leap forward and the first race was good but the set-up for the second wasn't. By the third race it was spot on but as I've said before if you qualify at the back you haven't got a chance of catching the leaders."