Ford Fiesta Zetec S Championship 2001

[Claire]

Ben5, I wasn't at Knockhill but reading reports from the other races it was very very wet. In race 1 Alan was part of a Stancombe sandwich!! Murray infront of him and Stancombe behind him. The grid for race 2 was the order they finished in race 1 but Alan went down to 7th, with Murray 4th and and Stancombe 5th. Colin is now only 5 points behind Nick Padley but Eion Murray has closed the gap between himself and Alan, looks like the championship is going to go down to the final race. Looking back at my predictions I wasn't to far out, Gillian Butcher had her best show of the year with a 7th and 6th place and Colin won both races. Alan will have the home advantage at Thruxton so hopefully things will be better for him.

[Claire]

Yet another great Fiesta race at Thruxton with the lead changing hands as usual!! Murray was on pole for the 2nd time but again was overtaken on the first lap. A good scrap between the top 3 of Turkington, Padley and Pinny with a little bit of Murray in there as well. Eventually after lots of three a breast racing into the corners Pinny came out on top with Padley 2nd and Turkington 3rd. Murray came in 4th with Stancombe in 5th and my favourite driver Alan Blencowe finishing in 6th,he did hold 4th for a while but had to back off to prevent being hit by Murray as they sorted themselves out, the car had a little bit of a straight line speed problem but I am sure that wil be sorted out ready for the next round at brands on Sept 15th/16th. Its going to be an exciting end to the season with it going to go down to the final race to sort out who finishes where in the top 6.

[Les]

and Andy Neate had a coming together with Jillian Butcher which sent both of them to the back from where Andy put on a spirited attack and ended up 7th. Well done.

[Claire]

By comparison yesterdays race at Brands Hatch was quite non eventfull. Colin Turkington converted his pole into another win and Padley came home 2nd with Pinny 3rd. This result was amended due to the fact that Padley made contact with Pinny and gained a place, he was given a one second time fault for this which put him down to third, considering what has gone on between the top 3 this year I was quite surprised by that decision. Alan Blencowe came home in 4th after quite a lonely race and has put a couple more points between himself and Murray who is challenging for Alan's 4th place in the championship. There were some battles going on midfield, which resulted in Andy Neate having quite a spectactular off. The last round will be in the dark and the top 6 will all want to have a good race, anyone of the top 3 could win overall and Alan is determined to hang onto his 4th place. I can't wait, although the night race will mean the end of Fiesta racing after many years.

[Claire]

Quick amendment to above, it sems that Nick Padley appealed agaisnt his time penalty and he won so the results stand as they crossed the line, 1st Colin, 2nd Nick and 3rd Matt.

[Les]

Andy managed the roll all by himself. He says he found some marbles - the back got away from him and paddock gravel trap gains another victim. Something really ought to be done there - the number of drivers who go in sideways and get rolled - not on IMHO.

Surprised Rae Claydon and Rober West were NCF & DNF - both were running at the end.

[Claire]

Well that's that no more fiestas but they went out on a high, it was a great race for the Tim Norton team with Colin Turkington winning the race and the championship after the early demise of main rival Nick Padley. Alan Blencowe (Colin's teammate) confirmed his fourth palce in the championship after finishing 4th in the race and because of that Tim Norton won the team cup for the 2nd year in a row.Matt Pinny had another good drive and managed to finish 2nd in the race and beacuse Nick Padley scored no points in the race Matt overtook him in the championship finishing 2nd and 3rd respectivley. Murray went from 15th to 4th on the first lap,not sure what they had done to the car but it worked. Everyone seemed to enjoy the night race as did the spectators it's a shame that both the series and the night race have come to an end. Not sure what the drivers are all going to be doing next season but Alan is very hopeful of a production drive in BTCC so keep an eye out for him.

[Takuma]

Congratulations to Colin Turkington on winning the championship and yet another great drive. This man will be a winner in touring cars.

Also congratulations to Alan Blencoe for his 4th place in the championship, it was greaqt to see you improve all season, good luck in touring cars next year.