After his victory last time out at Brands Hatch, Julian Lay was hoping for more success in the Radical SR1 Cup at Snetterton. The wet qualifying session however left the RAW Motorsports driver on the back foot, after an off left him back in sixth for the opening race. “I came off line at Coram to take a slower car and couldn’t get back on it. So I slid off and hit the barrier, thinking I should have just stayed where I was,” he said.
Race 1: It was still damp when the first race got underway. “I had a bad start, trying to anticipate the lights,” he admitted after completing the opening lap in seventh place. He soon latched onto Matt Jones, the Fangio class leader, as both moved up when second placed Will Hunt pulled off. Gradually the fight for third became an increasing train, with Lay still on Jones’ tail for fifth, but part of the fight for the final podium place.
The battle had allowed Chris Short to close in too and on lap eight he managed to split Lay’s duel with Jones. “Chris really came good at the end but I got him back at Agostini’s, then he retook me again,” Lay explained.Jones had got away to win the class from fifth, but although Short had finished ahead of Lay on the road, a track limits penalty dropped him four places, handing sixth overall and second in the Fangio class to Lay again. “It was really tight out there and I was sliding a lot on the wet tyres, but we stayed in there,” he added.
Race 2: It was a sixth row start in the second race, but Lay was seventh again on the opening lap chasing Lee Collins.Ross Elliott then got by and Short followed a lap later, before Lay’s efforts to stay in touch ended with a spin.
My initial start was Ok, I had a bit of contact and damage but had difficulty gauging the gaps. Then I lost it into Agostini’s and spun,” he explained.He recovered in 10th place but the cars ahead had opened a two second gap, with only four laps to go. But Lay also had Rookie Sam Ashworth beginning to threaten.The gap had come down considerably on the last lap, but Lay kept his nose ahead to retain his 10th place at the flag, 0.128 seconds ahead of Ashworth. He is now fourth overall in the Championship with two rounds remaining, the next at Donington Park on September 21st.