As soon as the 2017 season ended with Helicopter Services and JND Racing taking their class wins, the long 2 month break until the winter cup served as a much needed time to re-group and prepare for another exciting year with RHPK.

Unfortunately, we announced some devastating news in the week leading up to the first race. Michael March, who headed up March Racing had passed away, leaving shock waves across the RHPK paddock. Over the days leading up to the event, we saw some amazing tributes to a gentleman, a true RHPK family member to all of us. Round 1 – we would pay tribute.

Chris McCarthy spoke with his closest teammates and friends in a very touching interview before qualifying.

Richard Hawcutt from stickies would provide stickers for the whole paddock in honor of Mike. We held a collection for Mike raising no less than £330!

Wayne Edwards would pay further tribute by completing a solo lap after the Senna Cup which was held in between practice 1 & 2. Michael starting racing in the Senna Cup alongside many of drivers who made the jump to RHPK.

Ben Green would be starting off the RHPK Season once again! This time Ben would be driving the Zenos E10s. Unfortunately Ben was unable to demo the car for us as the gearbox linkage snapped before the start of the second lap.

The Zenos E10 is powered by a Turbocharged 2.0-Litre EcoBoost Engine that pumps out 250bhp and 400 Nm torque over a wide range of engine speeds. With just 720KG (Dry) to move, it means 0-60 mph in as little as 4.0 seconds! We hope it returns back to the track this year for a full demo!

Ben will be competing in the British GT Championship this year, you can keep tabs on his progress via Ben’s website

Qualifying

The track was dry with the weather hinting that it could rain – most teams taking to the track instantly to put in a lap. The first qualifying session of the year – we saw a very mixed grid! A combination of a very green track along with different chassis and teams still finding their sweet spot with setups.

Pole went to Custom Rods who put in a 42.275 on the very last lap of the session. ABA Racing was back and looked mighty strong,  however, just missed out on pole with a 42.314. Third went to Euro Lambo despite being in Clubman, a stunning lap time of 42.499 placing ahead of last years Championship winners, Helicopter Services who had to settle for 4th. Winter Cup winners, Spectre Racing in their newly formed team took 5th place.

Newly promoted JND Racing struggled in qualifying, taking 18th place overall. The red plated Polish Lambo fared much better, securing 9th place.

In Clubman, Euro Lambo took the pole with a 42.499, mixing it up with the supers on the second row of the grid. Artifex Racing took 2nd and 6th overall, beating a number of Super teams – a stunning qualifying session for them. Returning team this year, DAD Racing took 4th place with a time of 42.707 and Burton Power Racing rounded off the top 5th with a time of 42.711 – just missing out on 4th!

Wick Racing missed qualifying after bending a stub axel, but would go on to make the race.

Race

Chris McCarthy once again kicked off the famous RHPK walk!

As the flag dropped ABA and Custom Rods were neck and neck going into the first corner, however it was Helicopter who jumped both into the lead after a very well timed move down the inside of Custom Rods.
George Sanders from HRS Racing made a number of places on the first lap, jumping from 15th to 9th, chasing down Lambo Racing. Despite Artifex qualifying as high up as they did – they dropped 13 places on the first lap.

The newly promoted Lambo team would take three places after lap one, sitting in 7th place and Euro lambo just dropping a place to Spectre Racing in 5th.

Despite their striking day glow livery, Universal Racing found themselves on the tail end of the grid in 26th place. Emric Racing, and Monkey Motorsport ahead.

Lap 2, Helicopter are breaking away, Custom Rods drop two places – ABA and Spectre Racing taking 2nd and 3rd place. Burton Power Racing is now 2nd in class. Behind Burton is a mighty battle 11th lead by Polish Lambo V2. KA Racing, Zingrae Racing and AEC are all within hundreds of each other – JRH Racing losing out here as they drop 4 positions.

Lap 8, Spectre Racing and ABA are chasing down the race leaders, Helicopter Services. The gap down to less than a second. Custom Rods trying to keep with them – a further 2 seconds down the track.

The JRH Team, a man down as Lee Hemmings unable to make it this month are now on the move, taking KA Racing for 12th. Team Eyrie Also dropping 2 places as Silverline Racing and CSM Lambo makes a move.
Monkey Motorsport take Eyrie Also for 22nd place and put in their fastest lap – the track starting to get quicker.

Lap 20 – Euro Lambo are leading Clubman, the team are 5th overall but becoming under increasing pressure from GKD who are less than 3 tenths behind. Lap 43, GKD make the move and take 5th place. DAD Racing who looked like they were struggling at the start for grip has no climbed up to a very impressive 2nd place in class, 8th overall. Just 10 seconds off Euro Lambo.

Zingrae Racing is now in 4th – the newly formed team for this year looking to make an impression with a very strong lineup. HRS Racing looks to have issues, having to pit for an unscheduled stop.

Lap 82 and Adam from KA Racing is on a charge, taking Polish Lambo V2 for 3rd in class now chasing down DAD Racing who are just 5 seconds ahead. Adam manages to get within 0.5 seconds DAD but can’t make it past them as teams start to pit.

After the round of pit stops Spectre are chasing Helicopter for the lead, the gap down to just 1.4 second on lap 163. Lap 172 Spectre take the lead. Disaster a couple of laps later as Helicopter have a coming together with Lambo which drags a vast amount of water on Pylon bend. It cost Helicopter Services over 26 seconds.

In Clubman Euro Lambo look very strong, a lap up on 2nd place in class, Polish Lambo V2 and DAD Racing in 3rd place. Custom Rods receive a black flag for overtaking on a yellow flag – a disappointing outing for them, given that they lead the field into the first corner.

Into the last hour of the race and its Helicopter Services chasing down Spectre Racing for the lead. Both teams trading laptimes as the gap slowly decreases. They would however fall victim to a mechanical failure which ultimately takes them out of the race – A real shame for the team as no doubt we would of seen a fantastic battle for the lead nearing the end of the race.

March Racing would fall victim to a mechanical failure, a brief pit stop and helped by no less than 4 different teams – the team are back out on track.

As the race winds down into the closing stages, all eyes are on Polish Lambo & JRH. The battle for 6th place overall – the last spot on the podium in class is beginning to come alive. Sam Read from Polish Lambo closing the gap until 0.5 of a second with just 3 laps to go! It goes down to the last lap and traffic is involved as both teams cross the line in a photo finish! Just 0.081 separates both teams – Elliot from JRH Racing manages to fend off the mighty Sam Read.

Spectre Racing win the first round of the 2018 RHPK season! What a win! ABA Racing take second place with a flawless drive from all,  GKD Racing take the 3rd spot, again a very consistent drive from GKD,  a team to watch this year. Lambo Racing 4th and rounding up the top 5 in class is JRH Racing.

In Clubman the win goes to Euro Lambo! A stunning drive from all and to mixing it up with the Super teams, one to watch as the season unfolds. Zingrae Racing take second place, a stunning debut round for the newly formed team this year. A fantastic drive from Burton Power Racing sees them secure third spot. DAD Racing take a well deserved 4th and Polish Lambo V2 round up the top 5.

Awards

Team of the Day :- Euro Lambo
Driver of the Day :- Sam Read, Polish Lambo

 

Round 1 - March 2018 Qualifying

Pos	No	Team	Class	Laps	Best
1	2	Custom Rods	Super	34	42.275
2	4	ABA Racing	Super	19	42.314
3	35	Euro Lambo	Clubman	32	42.499
4	1	Helicopter Services	Super	30	42.532
5	6	Spectre Racing	Super	22	42.559
6	32	Artifex	Clubman	23	42.616
7	9	GKD Racing	Super	28	42.627
8	53	D.A.D	Clubman	37	42.629
9	19	Polish Lambo	Super	37	42.707
10	30	Burton Power Racing	Clubman	22	42.711
11	31	KA Racing	Clubman	34	42.753
12	7	Lambo Racing	Super	27	42.789
13	5	JRH Racing	Super	29	42.82
14	56	Zingrae Racing	Clubman	29	42.833
15	13	HRS 1	Super	23	42.873
16	10	Team JAM	Super	27	42.874
17	57	Polish Lambo V2	Clubman	33	42.98
18	18	JND Racing	Super	35	42.989
19	41	AEC Racing	Clubman	31	43.06
20	20	March Racing	Super	27	43.09
21	37	Team Eyrie Also	Clubman	32	43.184
22	33	Monkey Motorsport	Clubman	14	43.374
23	39	Silverline Racing	Clubman	26	43.397
24	42	Universal Racing	Clubman	29	43.415
25	34	CSM Lambo	Clubman	8	43.582
26	38	Pelam Racing	Clubman	22	44.138
27	60	Emric Racing	Clubman	31	45.388
28	46	Too Many Pies	Clubman	22	47.374
29	59	Wicks Racing	Clubman	0

Round 1 - March 2018 Race

Pos	No	Team	Class	Laps	Behind	Best
1	6	Spectre Racing	Super	335		41.993
2	4	ABA Racing	Super	334	1 Lap	42.064
3	9	GKD Racing	Super	333	2 Laps	42.28
4	7	Lambo Racing	Super	333	2 Laps	42.144
5	35	Euro Lambo	Clubman	332	3 Laps	42.344
6	5	JRH Racing	Super	330	5 Laps	42.551
7	19	Polish Lambo	Super	330	5 Laps	42.552
8	2	Custom Rods	Super	329	6 Laps	42.22
9	56	Zingrae Racing	Clubman	329	6 Laps	42.395
10	30	Burton Power Racing	Clubman	328	7 Laps	42.479
11	53	D.A.D	Clubman	328	7 Laps	42.377
12	10	Team JAM	Super	328	7 Laps	42.514
13	18	JND Racing	Super	328	7 Laps	42.787
14	57	Polish Lambo V2	Clubman	328	7 Laps	42.478
15	31	KA Racing	Clubman	328	7 Laps	42.256
16	34	CSM Lambo	Clubman	327	8 Laps	42.524
17	33	Monkey Motorsport	Clubman	324	11 Laps	42.664
18	38	Pelam Racing	Clubman	323	12 Laps	43.294
19	37	Team Eyrie Also	Clubman	323	12 Laps	42.955
20	39	Silverline Racing	Clubman	321	14 Laps	42.712
21	41	AEC Racing	Clubman	320	15 Laps	42.878
22	20	March Racing	Super	316	19 Laps	43.046
23	42	Universal Racing	Clubman	306	29 Laps	42.876
24	60	Emric Racing	Clubman	301	34 Laps	44.363
25	1	Helicopter Services	Super	299	36 Laps	42.076
26	46	Too Many Pies	Clubman	286	49 Laps	46.459
27	32	Artifex	Clubman	239	96 Laps	42.532
28	59	Wicks Racing	Clubman	131	204 Laps	44.609
29	13	HRS 1	Super	92	243 Laps	42.599

 

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