Wright on the money: Cockshoot Cup recovery
Better known for his exploits in Ford Sierra RS500 and Escort Mk2 machinery, Mark Wright produced a stunning performance to win the first Cockshoot Cup race at Cadwell Park in his MGF Cup car.
A failed alternator prevented Wright setting a qualifying time among the 29-car Cockshoot entry and forced him to start from last in his car from the manufacturer-backed one-make series of 1998-2000.
Wright enthralled on his charge through the pack at the challenging circuit known as the ‘mini Nurburgring’, relieving Paul Wignall’s MG ZS 180 of the lead at the start of the penultimate lap.
“As much as I love racing my Sierra, this is bringing it more to grassroots again where I’m enjoying my racing,” beamed the winner.
Wright was denied a repeat result when his engine blew, having climbed to third, in the second race.
Car racing returns to Bishopscourt
Car race meetings at Bishopscourt don’t come along very often, once a year as a rule, but last weekend's large gathering was the first since COVID-19 struck.
The organising team, overseen by Dale Wells, had a pretty large task on their hands with a total of 23 car races to fit into just two days.
But the sun shone and red flags were comparatively rare once everybody had got used to what was, for many, a first visit.
Irish Legends provided some of the best action, with the first race won by Geoff Richardson by a gnat's whisker from Peter Barrable. The order was then reversed in the second, Barrable ahead by a massive 0.4 seconds. Barrable went on to defeat Richardson in all three of the Sunday contests.
Generous fatherly act of the week: John Bridge
Having won the opening round of the MG Car Club’s Midget & Sprite Challenge at Brands Hatch in March, Richard Bridge was an early casualty at Cadwell Park when his fully-modified Austin-Healey Sprite’s engine ingested a broken spark plug in qualifying.
Bridge could only watch the opening race, as multi-champion Paul Sibley took the first of a brace of wins.
But Bridge’s father John stepped in to lend Richard his own car for race two. Bridge Jr would have to start from the back of the grid in the Sebring Sprite in which his dad had earlier finished sixth, fourth in the race-modified class.
The younger Bridge made light of that handicap, carving through the field to third overall (second in class), despite a safety car reducing the number of racing laps.
Old record smashed: Harewood hillclimb best
Reigning British Hillclimb champion Wallace Menzies was on form in Yorkshire, winning both of Sunday's Harewood top 12 run-offs.
Menzies’s 2019 hill record of 47.81s was always going to come under attack as the current generation of cars competed at a dry and warm Harewood for the first time in nearly three years. By the end of the afternoon, Menzies had the record back at 46.86s.
But he was not the only driver setting fast times, six-time title winner Scott Moran, last year's runner-up Alex Summers and rising star Matthew Ryder all eclipsed the previous record.
Blast from the past: Jeff Simpson back to Pickups
The inaugural Pickup Truck Racing champion Jeff Simpson returned to the formula for the first time in 23 years when he raced at Pembrey last weekend.
“The truck was just sat in the garage after my son Matt [former British Touring Car driver] raced it, so I decided to bring it out,” he explained after a best finish of 12th in the third and final race.
After a previous lay-off, Simpson returned to motorsport to become the 2012 Silhouette champion, a feat that he almost repeated the following year, but crashed at the final round and hadn’t raced since.
Pics of the week
