Anglesey 2009

8th & 9th August - National Championship
Rounds Nine and Ten
Anglesey

Round Nine

Title contenders John Jon Higgins and Lee Fitzpatrick once again conquered all before them on the visit to Anglesey. Despite team mates Stephen Treherne and Simon Belcher attempting to work in unison, the Burnett Motorsport duo were unbeaten, with Higgins taking four wins over the weekend to creep closer towards retaining his title.

Saturday's races were on the longer International circuit and in the opening heat it was Fitzpatrick that outran Treherne through School to grab the first lap lead. Higgins, Richard Pocklington, Belcher and Nick Brace slotted in behind, but at Rocket on the second lap it was side by side for the lead with Higgins closing in.

Fitzpatrick held his advantage over the next few laps but the top three were nose to tail as Belcher closed in too. But on lap four Higgins made his move, taking second through School before leading onto the pits straight. "I hooked onto Lee on the straight and into the braking point, so was ready to get him," said Higgins. Belcher had closed in fourth, while in fifth Lawrence Davey, headed Peter Morton, Niki Meredith and Matthew Pape in the fight for fifth.

A lap later Fitzpatrick was back ahead through School and successfully beat off Higgins last lap attack to take victory by 0.2secs, as Treherne slipped back to a clear third. "It's always nice to beat John Jon in a battle. He tried up the inside again on the last lap, but I held my line so I didn't need to outbrake him," said Fitzpatrick.

Belcher held onto fourth and Pape piped Davey for fifth on the last lap. Morton shared a couple of exchanges before reclaiming seventh from Meredith, which left Brace and Darren Gaulton to complete the top ten.

Higgins had the lead from the start of heat two and left the rest to do the chasing. Belcher led the pursuers after ousting Davey on the opening lap, with Ben Power briefly in fourth before Fitzpatrick joined in. The lead duo stayed in the clear as Fitzpatrick struggled to find a way past Davey. Behind them it was just as close as Treherne finally find a way past Power after three laps.

Into Turn One for the fourth time Fitzpatrick finally shot into third, as Davey had Treherne edging ever closer too. Davey finally succumbed with a lap to go as Treherne shot ahead into Turn One. But at the front there was no catching Higgins, taking his first win of the weekend by well over two seconds from the equally comfortable Belcher. Fitzpatrick had to settle for third, "I tried to use Lawrence to draft back up to the leaders, but when it wasn't working I should have got by earlier," he said.

Treherne retained fourth, from Davey, Meredith and Pocklington. Power slipped back to eighth, finishing just ahead of Ross Marshall. "I had quite a good start then rattled the brake pads out on the kerbs and went straight on at Rocket on the first lap," said Marshall. Gaulton was tenth by inches from Brace.

There was little space to be had at the start of Saturday's final, but after Gaulton led the charge out of Church, Marshall eased ahead at Peel and led the opening lap from Gaulton, Fitzpatrick, Belcher, Higgins and Steve Whitelegg.

Fitzpatrick was second onto the Banking, but had Belcher, Treherne and Higgins all forming up behind. Marshall and Gaulton got mugged as the rest muscled in and Fitzpatrick just led over the line at the head of a six car train. With Higgins soon into second, he began to work with Fitzpatrick to build on their advantage, as did Belcher and Treherne once they had got ahead of Marshall into Turn One and Rocket respectively.

Both of the lead pairs gave a perfect display of bump drafting on the long straights, and it was Higgins who nosed ahead again at the end of lap four. "Seniority rules and I wanted the points," said Higgins after defending from his team mate over the final laps. "I was happy with that. It was as close as we could be without hitting each other," Fitzpatrick replied.

Belcher had been third still until a clash at Rocket on the penultimate lap dropped him to 17th, "Stephen and I were working together to close the gap, then he made a mistake and clipped my rear corner and spun me. Then I lost the engine and couldn't restart. Everyone's allowed one mistake and that was his," said Belcher. "I had decided to go up the inside and then changed my mind as he's my team mate. Anyone else and I would have just slung it through, so it was my mistake," replied Treherne, who still managed to retain third.

Marshall held onto a strong fourth, with Pape in fifth, while Meredith pipped Brace for sixth on the last lap. "I foolishly let him through and then thought last lap, why did I do that," said Brace. Gaulton inched out Pocklington for eighth and Power rounded off the top ten.

The Coastal version of the seaside circuit hosted Sunday's races, with the weather looking less settled than the previous day. Fitzpatrick charged ahead of Belcher through School on the opening lap of the first heat, with Marshall, Higgins, Treherne and Morton in pursuit. Higgins was shot into third at Turn One on the second lap, before ousting Belcher onto the pits straight a lap later. Treherne latched onto Belcher too as Marshall fell back, leaving the lead quartet with some daylight from the pack.

Although Fitzpatrick held onto his lead Higgins lay in wait ready to pounce, which he did on the final lap. "We were working together until the end, Lee made a mistake and it gave me the chance," said Higgins, after hitting the front on the run up to Rocket. "If I had tried to get back at the Corkscrew we would both have ended up in the wall," Fitzpatrick replied.

Belcher held off team mate Treherne for third, "I had trouble staying with Simon and that's why we struggled to close up," said Treherne. Davey emerged in fifth after a great scrap with Morton, while Meredith finished strongly to pip Morton for seventh on the last lap. Marshall was eighth with Brace and Pocklington completing the top ten after Pape slipped up on the last lap.

A determined Davey set a cracking pace at the start of heat two, leaving the rest to sort themselves out behind. Gaulton headed Morton, Meredith and Higgins for second, but Treherne was already off on the left approaching Rocket and careered across the track in front of the pack before hitting the right hand tyre wall. Belcher then spun at the final turn and gaps soon began to open.

Higgins had second before the end of the opening lap, but Davey was in no mood to surrender. Gaulton was overwhelmed on the second lap, dropping from third to sixth, as Morton, Meredith and Fitzpatrick surged past.

Onto the banking for the third time Higgins had the lead, but lost out to both Davey and Morton as they drafted ahead into School. Fitzpatrick was all over Meredith for fourth, likewise Pocklington challenging Gaulton for sixth. It was another three laps before Higgins regained second on the inside of Turn One, when it had become a five car train for lead. Fitzpatrick had taken fourth at School and was poised to challenge Morton as the top six then paired off.

Davey started the last lap with inches in hand over Higgins. They were side by side through Turn One but Davey just held on until Higgins breezed by through Church to secure another win. "I just needed a little more horsepower and I would have had him. But that was a great race," said Davey after coming in second. Fitzpatrick headed Morton for third from Rocket with a lap to go, "it took me a long time to get past Nikki Meredith, he was like a dog on heat," said Fitzpatrick.

Meredith was fifth with Pocklington almost pushing him over the line. Gaulton was seventh from the recovering Belcher, with Brace and Power ninth and tenth.

Sundays final was into its fifth lap with Fitzpatrick heading Treherne, Davey and Morton, when Belcher touched the grass going into Church and crossed the path of the pursuing Brace, who was launched over his rival into an alarming multiple roll. The race was immediately red flagged but both drivers emerged relatively unharmed.

From the restart Marshall and Fitzpatrick outran Treherne up to Rocket, before Treherne briefly led at the same spot a lap later. But from lap three Fitzpatrick took charge and started to stretch the field and left Marshall to defend second from Treherne.

Davey and Higgins worked together and usurped Treherne a lap later, before Higgins made it into third at Turn one with a lap to go. Fitzpatrick eased through the remaining laps for his second win of the weekend. "After Ross had the lead I could see all the changes behind in my mirrors, then got in front made a break and just held it all together," he said.

Treherne emerged with second after a late sort out, in which he tapped Higgins into a spin on the run up to Rocket. "That was a wild ride up the hill," said Higgins. Marshall held off Davey in the fight for third, followed by Morton and Pape and a long gap to seventh placed Gaulton, who had Pocklington on his tail. Power and Gerard McCosh completed the top ten.

As mentioned in Peter Scherer's report above Nick Brace had a great weekend's racing in his first time at Anglesey until the last race on Sunday when he had a coming together after Simon Belcher lost it after the hairpin just getting flat out to go up the long straight up hill. Nick hit the back of Simon's car and both rolled, Nick's some 10 times before he was back on four wheels. All in all it was a fast weekends racing he loved it can't wait to get back there in 2010. Darren Gaulton got to grips with his weekend and after some seat time was driving well. He had some good dices all weekend. Ross just diid not seem to get it together until the final when after the restart he drove his car really well taking 3rd place in final. Dean Brace was out in the #7 team car - he's only just qualified as a race driver but had a great weekend's racing - his first time in circuit racing and of course his Legends debut as well.

Pos	Driver	R1	R2	R3	Score
1	1 - John 'Jon' Higgins	2	1	1	585
2	2 - Lee Fitzpatrick	1	3	2	555
3	12 - Stephen Treherne	3	4	3	500
4	95 - Niki Meredith	8	6	6	400
5	11 - Simon Belcher	4	2	15	395
6	24 - Matthew Pape	5	13	5	370
7	19 - Lawrence Davey	6	5	12	370
8	4 - Darren Gaulton	10	10	7	330
9	8 - Nick Brace	9	11	7	330
10	16 - Richard Pocklington	11	7	9	330
11	3 - Ross Marshall	15	9	4	320
12	55 - Ben Power	13	8	10	290
13	69 - Gerard McCosh	12	12	11	250
14	43 - Mick Mercer	17	15	13	150
15	40 - Roger Cousins	16	16	14	140
16	32 - Peter Morton	7	0		135
17	59 - Paul Mansell	14	14	0	125
18	7 - Dean Brace	19	17	16	80
19	17 - John Hilbery	20	20	17	50
20	66 - Steve Whitelegg	18	18	0	45
21	99 - Brian Cooke	21	19	0	25

Round Ten