Pembrey 2009

17th & 18th October - National Championship
Rounds Twelve & Thirteen
Pembrey (provisional as Legends have a habit of putting in non-scoring guest drivers)

The title hunt for his years crown remains far from settled after a weekend in South Wales, where John Higgins, Lee Fitzpatrick and Stephen Treherne had their share of ups and downs.

Fitzpatrick started from pole for the first of Saturday's heats. "I had a great start but got hit about eight times on the run into Hatchets Hairpin and the last one spun me," he explained. Nick Brace emerged as the new leader from Treherne, Higgins and Simon Belcher, while Lawrence Davey was also delayed after Treherne had pushed him into Fitzpatrick.

Brace's glory lasted for about half a lap before Higgins hit the front," I had been fifth into Hatchets and then they all tangled up and no one was in front of me. But John got me when he had a better line at Brooklands," Brace explained. "I only wanted to lead one lap," he added.

By the end of the opening lap Belcher and Treherne had moved up to and became three for the lead. Belcher suddenly slowed at Dibeni and pulled off on lap four, "the propshaft broke and ripped out the fuel line and my electrics," he explained. Although Treherne pushed hard for the lead, Higgins held on. "I had seen Stephen hit Lawrence at the start and then he hit me again with a couple of laps to go," said Higgins. Treherne was initially excluded from his second place, but was reinstated after appealing to the stewards.

Pape came home third, "that's my best ever finish, I got away and left the others to make their own mistakes," had said. Brace regained fourth on the last lap after a number of exchanges with Richard Pocklington and Davey recovered to complete the top six, from rallyman Mark Higgins.

Higgins led the second heat from Hatchets on the opening lap, with Ben Power, Treherne and Glenn Burtenshaw fighting over second. Once Treherne had made it into second, it was nose to tail for the lead, with Treherne ahead by the end of lap two. It remained desperately close and although Higgins tried down the inside into Hatchets on lap five, he was forced to back off but was more successful as they arrived at Honda for the final time. "I had lost second gear but still got him on the outside into Honda," he said. "I thought I had him covered, but he was so quick on that part of the track," Treherne replied.

Fitzpatrick held third from Hatchets on lap four, with Davey following as Belcher lost out. "I used Simon and Lawrence to work my way through, but the leaders were too far gone," he said. "I was fairly happy having come from the back, but still had no rev counter and shift lights as they hadn't had time to fix my electrics," said Belcher after recovering fourth from Davey with a lap to go. Davey held onto fifth, but had Brace inches behind at the flag.

Belcher made the best getaway in the final, as Power, Stephen Whitelegg, Burtenshaw, Paul Mansell and Fitzpatrick all jostled for places behind. Fitzpatrick shot through them all to take second into Hatchets, while Treherne closed on fourth placed Davey and Higgins closed on them both.

Into the Hatchets Hairpin for the fourth time it was nose to tail for the lead, as a three way fight for third ensued. Fitzpatrick made his move on the next lap into Honda. "The car was great and I took Simon on the outside as I knew I could trust him. Although I pulled a slight gap on him, he tried the same move on me on the last lap. But it didn't work," he said after taking victory by 8/100ths. "I knew I had to get away at the start and just kept for watching for someone catching me, then it was just me and him on the last," Belcher replied.

Treherne retained a fairly solitary third from lap four, "Lee and Simon were too clear, but at least at pulled away from John," said Treherne. "I was struggling for pace and couldn't stay in the draught," Higgins added. Davey slipped back to fifth, "I knew I was going to have trouble keeping them back," he admitted. Mark Higgins completed the top six, "I really enjoyed that, as I didn't really know what to expect" said the former British Rally Champion. Brace just missed out on the top six, "I had a bit of an off and had to come through again," he explained.

Davey set the pace in the first of Sunday's heats, after a second lap exchange with Treherne exiting Spitfires. Pape had briefly led and was right on the tail of the lead duo, with Fitzpatrick making it a four car train. Into Hatchets for the third time Fitzpatrick grabbed third, as all four continued to run nose to tail.

With a lap to go Treherne made his push for the lead, but Pape bump draughted Belcher from third to lead into Hatchets for the final time. "It was hard chasing when you are after two cars, then Matthew picked me up. If he had stayed with me I am sure he could have held second. Either way he deserves a big hug for that," said Fitzpatrick after taking the victory spoils.

Treherne also made it into second, "my game plan went out of the window on the last lap, as Lawrence was so competitive," said Treherne. "Awesome," is all Pape could say with his fourth place. "To be up with the top four the whole race is fantastic," he added.

Belcher finally secured fifth over Brace after a couple of swaps and changes. "I had spent too long trying to get ahead of Peter Morton," said Belcher. "I was gutted to lose that place to Simon again at Brooklands," Brace added. Noticeable by his absence from the lead pack Higgins was way off pace and struggled home in 10th.

There was drama before the second race had started when Treherne headed for the pits, "the gear linkage broke so we got him fourth gear and sent him on his way," said a team spokesman. It was a Burnett Motorsport whitewash for a while with Brace, heading Higgins and Fitzpatrick out of Hatchets, before Higgins took charge into Dibeni. Davey broke the domination when he slipped ahead of Brace at the end of the opening lap, but into Brooklands for the second time it was Fitzpatrick with the lead as the top four pulled clear. "I had a straightline advantage over John." said Fitzpatrick, after he cruised through the remaining laps for his third win of the weekend.

Higgins managed to hold off a determined Davey to retain second, "we changed the engine overnight, but it's still not right," he said. "I was just out of the draught, but happy with the result," said third placed Davey. Brace was only fractionally down in fourth, "I ran on Lawrence's pace so I am quite content," he said. Belcher emerged from a multiple scrap for fifth after Pape had gone off at Hatchets, while Power completed the top six.

Pape successfully held the lead on the opening lap of the final, after starting on pole. Treherne led the chasers from Higgins and Richard Pocklington, and grabbed the lead into Honda on the second lap. But Pape fought back and led again into Hatchets, with Higgins doing his best to split the dicing duo. Belcher joined in too and made it a four way battle, with Treherne back at the front again into Hatchets on lap four.

As Belcher progressed to second behind team mate Treherne, Pape dropped to the back of the quartet. The closeness of the four allowed Davey to close in too, but it was lap seven when it was finally decided. Higgins bump drafted Belcher into the lead and followed through himself for second into Hatchets. Treherne was unable to respond and had to settle for third, as Belcher took a well deserved win. All four were covered by only 4/10th's, with Davey retaining fifth from the closing Pocklington. "That's was really close," Belcher enthused. "I got out of the corners quicker this time and was determined to follow Simon through," Higgins added. "I was just in the wrong place when it counted," Treherne concluded.

Peter Scherer

Pos	Driver	R1	R2	R3	Score
1	1 - John 'Jon' Higgins	1	1	4	560
2	12 - Stephen Treherne	2	2	3	540
3	19 - Lawrence Davey	6	5	5	440
4	8 - Nick Brace	4	6	7	430
5	2 - Lee Fitzpatrick	15	3	1	420
6	34 - Mark Higgins	7	8	6	390
7	16 - Richard Pocklington	5	11	8	360
8	11 - Simon Belcher	0	4	2	350
9	72 - Glenn Burtenshaw	9	9	10	320
10	24 - Matthew Pape	3	7	0	305
11	59 - Paul Mansell	10	14	11	250
12	66 - Steve Whitelegg	17	10	9	240
13	69 - Roger Cousins	13	13	14	200
14	9 - Nick Barrow	12	12	17	190
15	43 - Mick Mercer	11	15	16	180
16	29 - Richard Corbett	14	16	15	150
17	55 - Ben Power	8	0	0	130
18	76 - Dave Vernon	16	18	13	130
19	99 - Brian Cooke	19	17	12	120
20	47 - David Jones	18	0	0	30