Richard Hay |
Ben Samuelson |
Guglielmi and Shepherd |
Shepherd leads |
'The Boss'
Wheeler at the wheel |
Advertising for Williams? |
Richard Hay |
PW in the dirt |
Urquhart trying too hard |
Sunday at Snetterton saw more great racing from the Tuscan Challenge. The
only two drivers who've won races this season - Steve Guglielmi and Jay Shepherd
- lined up on the front of the grid with TVR Centre proprietor Giles Cooper in
third after a storming qualifying session. A frustrating season continued for
Cooper however as his car ran into problems on the start line and had to be
pushed off.
Darren Dowling also ran into mechanical problems when the lights turned
green. The rest of the pack weaved around him although when Wayne Phelan backed
off to avoid the incident, Rod Barrett launched into the back of him resulting
in a messy front end on the Hawthorns car.
The race was on though at the front of the pack where Steve Guglielmi and Jay
Shepherd finally battled it out head to head. Previously this season one or
other driver has managed to escape into a comfortable lead, but on Sunday we saw
them giving their best as they tried to pass one another lap after lap -
thrilling stuff.
Behind them David Mason and Lee Caroline were also having a great tussle,
with Andy Britnell quietly on their tail. Britnell showed mastery in his Tuscan
by then passing them both and securing third place behind Guglielmi and Shepherd
who took first and second respectively.
The second Tuscan race of the day was more important than the first, offering
twice the number of points for each position. The stakes were high and many
drivers could be seen to be trying particularly hard!
Guglielmi shot off into the lead, with Shepherd in pursuit. David Mason and
Andy Britnell followed, with a gaggle of cars behind them.
One driver trying too hard was Rob Urquhart. After a haphazard first race, he
was hungry for more points to maintain his position in the championship and it
was obvious from his driving style. Constantly nudging the car in front, he was
making his presence felt. It was to end dramatically for him though with a
servere punt resulting in a very restyled front end, but he still managed to
finish in 9th place.
More glass fibre went flying when Andy Britnell and Ben Samuelson clashed at
the Esses. Samuelson had worked his way up to a very creditable third place but
Andy Britnell was on good form again and also worked his way through the field.
They both dived into the Esses with Samuelson edging ahead as they exited, but
the 88 car crosed the path of the flying Britnell. Both cars went off with
Samuelson able to rejoin but Britnell's car was severly damaged. "The
move was never on" exclaimed an infuriated Britnell after the race.
Jay Shepherd recovered after losing places early in the race to make it back
to third place behind the CDL Racing team of Guglielmi and Mason.
Whilst Guglielmi looks assured to win the Tuscan Challenge for a second year
running, the battle for second and third is hotting up - expect more explosive
action at Thruxton and more frayed tempers!
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 4 3"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1 1"%3E%3C/svg%3E)