Round 20 & 21 - Brands Hatch

Dance clinches Overall Championship

Steve Dance was crowned the 2010 LINE-X Pickup Racing Champion at Brands Hatch yesterday.

The 53-year-old took a calculated approach to the weekend, picking up vital points to stay ahead of nearest rival and 2009 champion, Pete Stevens, on his way to clinching the third championship of his Pickup Truck Racing career.

Saturday morning’s qualifying sessions saw the 20kg ballasted pairing of Phil White and Simon Carr on top of the time sheets in a rain-affected session. But it was Antony Hawkins and Dave Longhurst who would begin the last two rounds of the season from pole, having qualified in tenth place in the respective sessions.

Sunday morning’s first race was also a wet affair with heavy drizzle, lots of standing water and plenty of spray. Dave Longhurst put himself in the best possible place to deal with the conditions by getting the slingshot on Antony Hawkins at the start. Pete Stevens slotted in behind the #23 Truck while Michael Smith, who was one of six drivers still mathematically in contention for the championship title, snuck into third.

Phil White’s dramatic weekend did not look like improving. The PWR team was forced to change the Duratec engine in the #63 Truck on Saturday after qualifying which put White to the back of the grid. His desperation to make up places however resulted in a drive through penalty for a jumped start. But with true typical resilience, White dug in to claw back the places once again.

Dave Briggs race came to an abrupt end on lap three when he was involved in a racing incident with Hawkins’ #98 Truck at Hailwood Hill. Rookie Daniel Johnson was having a great first ever circuit race, having moved from the back of the grid to 11th.

Lap six saw Pete Stevens move in on the back of Dave Longhurst, who was carrying 10kg, and was now firmly parked on the Worthing driver’s rear bumper while championship leader Dance was tootling around in eighth. The leading five of Longhurst, Stevens, Smith, Simon Carr and Nic Grindrod were packed tightly on lap seven and it was this closeness that lead to the #15 Carr Truck challenging Smith coming out of Paddock Hill Bend the following lap. The two did swap places on the following lap but Carr ran wide to let Hartlepool driver Smith through again.

On lap 11 Smith slid out of third place, letting Carr and Grindrod through, while the #22 driver also spotted the opportunity to move into third. There was plenty of grass sliding action including Grindrod and Johnson among those suffering with the lack of grip. Stevens’ trip across the grass at McLaren gifted Grindrod second place on lap 13, while Simon Carr had exited the race completely after spinning at Clearways and hitting the Armco at the end of pit lane heavily.

The 70kg heavy Grindrod had one aim, try to catch Longhurst for the lead of the remaining laps, but finished just 0.362 seconds adrift at the end of the 18 laps. Longhurst secured his second win of his return season to the championship ahead of Grindrod while Stevens hung on for the final podium spot.

Going into the final round Dance was leading the championship standings by 63 points, meaning Stevens would have to beat him by at least 13 places to retain his championship crown.

The race was declared wet but the track was damp and drying, which caused a few tyre choice headaches. Once again Dave Longhurst took the initial lead, this time from Nic Grindrod with Damien Carr third. Grindrod, who had chosen full wets, was firmly glued to the back of Longhurst’s bumper waiting for his chance to pounce into the lead.

On lap six the Selly Oak driver had a look along Cooper Straight on lap six while a lap later Dave Briggs had got the better of Damien Carr to take third place. On lap nine though the younger LINE-X backed Carr was level with Briggs and back into third at Surtees.

Lap 11 saw a change in the lead with Grindrod getting the better of Longhurst going into Clearways and from there worked hard to build a small gap. A mistake by Damien Carr on lap 16 resulted in Michael Smith taking third, who had looked nowhere near getting a podium finish. And it would only get better for the 35-year-old as a mechanical problem for Longhurst saw him lose second and then third place.

The result of this at the end of the 18 laps was a perfect end to the season for Oval Champion Grindrod who crossed the line 1.492 seconds ahead of Smith, while Damien Carr scored his third podium of the season. Steve Dance had experienced a nervy second race with gear box smoke entering his Truck at each turn. But fortunately his eighth place gave him enough points to secure the Championship and signal the start to the celebrations in the Ben 10 team’s garage.