Round 1 Report 2010 - The Fast Show

Qualifying saw many new faces take to the track for the first time in Euro Sports Compact, but some things always stay the same, and that was Andy Waite rising to the top in his lairy Golf. Fellow VW drivers James Hodson and Paul Jordon also were hitting stunning 10’s with big terminal speeds, and Mark Gunns following on with a low-11. All three Vauxhall drivers of Sam Bolton, Robert Johnston and Chris Sutton were in the 11’s. Drama whisked Dan Olorenshaw out of the competition when he made contact with the wall, and Tom Barnes, Chris Green, Tim Orpen and Sam Lukac all ran respectable 12s to finish off the field.

1st Round

In round 1, Andy Waite had a straightforward win over Sam Lukac, Robert Johnston was slow off the line but managed to power past Chris Sutton.

Both Paul Jordan and Tim Orpen failed to show for their elimination, presumably due to mechanical problems.

Sam Bolton got a free ride against Dan Olorenshaw, who was still out due to his earlier accident. James Hodson had an empty track ahead of him when Chris Green failed to show, and Mark Gunns had a tough time against Tom Barnes’ stunning reactions and quick run. Ultimately, Mark just managed to feed enough mph into his Corrado to pip Tom at the finish line by mere inches. A thrilling race!

Quarter Finals

In the quarter finals, Robert Johnston had a mountain to climb against the unstoppable Andy Waite, and he was off to a great start with a reaction time a Top Fuel racer would have been proud of! Unfortunately he was still in reverse! The 138mph terminal speed for Andy tells the tale of his race.

Sam Bolton had a bye due to the pair of no-shows from the previous round, which he took with a passionate mid-11.

James Hodson had a real race on his hands against Mark Gunns, and they both left the line at the same time. James had a little bit more momentum over the line and took a solid victory.

Semi Finals

In the semis Andy Waite found himself with a lucky bye-run from all the chaos that had gone before. He wasn’t hanging around though, and did a full-bore run anyway to the delight of the crowd.

Newbie Sam Bolton was up against experienced racer James Hodson in the other semi, and a great race lay ahead. James was out of the traps marginally quicker, and ran on to a stunning 10.9, but Sam was never far behind him, right on his bumper to the finish line, with just a couple of mph in it.

Finals

The two finalists had met each other under similar circumstances before, and historical evidence put this in Andy’s favour. His lightweight car and 4WD making James’ job extremely difficult. But if anyone could pull this out of the hat, James could.

That said, as the lights turned green, Andy was off like a shot, beating James off the startline and giving him an almost impossible job to do. James would just have to drive his very best and hope Andy came unstuck, but his prayers went unanswered. Andy ran a twitchy but otherwise flawless run, and left James with nothing but a view of his back bumper.

The Round 1 points and championship tables can be found on the 2010 Points page.