There was just no stopping RAW Motorsports James Lay in the Radical Challenge at Snetterton. Three pole positions were followed by three fastest laps, three dominant wins and now the Championship lead.
From the start of race one Lay had soon shaken off any threat from Championship leader Noah Degnbol, ending the opening lap with a clear second lead.
“I managed to lead into Riches and was good on cold tyres, then nailed it in the early laps and enjoyed the solo run,” he explained.
John Macleod was in the top six too, “I had started well in fourth, but lost out to Rishover through Hamilton, which held me up a bit and Sweetnam followed,” he said.
He held onto sixth however, with Matt Jones closing in over the final laps.
Both Ben Stone and Chris Preen were in the top 10 on the opening lap, but Preen soon lost out to teammate Chris Short.
But Stone went out after incident on the 12th lap and after Preen retook Short, he then snatched a late ninth after Lowe spun at Coram. “The car was Ok, but I just didn’t feel confident,” said Preen.
Short finally finished 11th, “I lost two places at the start and spun at Agostini’s battling with Chris Preen,” he explained.
Chris Myhill completed the RAW runners after he spun too.
Race two started similarly, but Degnbol was a threat until he locked up at the Wilson Hairpin. “I had to defend at the Hairpin, but didn’t really feel threatened,” said Lay.
He eased his way clear again and was even more dominant with win number two over nine seconds clear.
Preen was on form too, “sixth to fourth at Riches on the opening lap and maintained it. My confidence was back, and I proved it,” he said after retaining fourth with a win in the Fangio Trophy.
It was a much better race for Short too, from 10th on the opening lap he was into the top six by the end of lap 10 at the expense of teammate Macleod. “I was close to fifth too, maybe another lap,” he reckoned.
“I did fourth to sixth again on the first lap,” said Macleod after just holding off Matt Jones for seventh. Myhill was 11th after another spin and Stone completed the finishers after colliding with Tyler at Murrays a couple of laps from the flag.
Not even two safety car interventions could stop Lay from completing his weekend whitewash. Unfortunately, the second had claimed sixth placed Short.
Lay pitted from the lead and not only rejoined with it still intact, but with rival Degnbol picking up both a stop go and drive through penalty, teammate Macleod was in second.
With victory by over 15 seconds Lay had led every lap in all three races, “apart from a bit of a fluff after the second safety car it was great. In fact I was a little bit surprised myself this weekend,” he admitted.
Macleod was still in second onto the final lap, but under tremendous pressure from Ayres. “I made a couple of mistakes which let him close up. I expected a challenge but not there,” he said after they touched at Hamilton.
Ayres nosed ahead but was offline into Oggies and slow on the exit. They touched and Ayres spun, leaving Macleod a clear second and Fangio Trophy winner.
Preen and Myhill completed the top 10. ” I just avoided Jones’ spin at the start, then got hit up the back later when Lowe slowed,” Preen concluded.