Reigning Mini Challenge just fell short of a hattrick of wins in the opening rounds at Rockingham, when Chris Panayiotou clinched his maiden victory in the final race of the weekend.  Only 0.769s secs covered the top three after qualifying, with Caudle’s new John Cooper Works Class car taking pole from ex Formula Vee and Formula Ford racer Jason Mills, with Panayiotou in third. Lee Allen just had the edge over Steve Liquorish for S Class pole and debutant David Ogden topped the Club Class.

Caudle led the initial charge through Turn One from Panayiotou and Mills. But Allen made a sensational start and charged past Mills into the Deene Hairpin. As the lead duo began to escape Mils recovered third as Allen had the JCW’s of Jason Richardson and Chris Knox in formation behind.

Knox made it into fourth through Turn One for the third time and Richardson followed into Deene. Mills was next to fall as Knox charged by into Deene a lap later. Up at the front though Caudle had everything under control and cruised to a comfortable victory. “I was a bit worried at the start but I think we all made a few mistakes,” he said.

Panayiotou was a comfortable second, but although Knox retained third from lap four, he had Richardson on his tail at the flag. Mills ended his race in the gravel at the Esses after an earlier power loss gave way to brake failure. “I had started to lose power from the third lap but when the brakes failed I managed to angle into the gravel. But after I got out it caught alight under the bonnet,” he explained.

Former Sport Maxx Cup racer Chris Oakman rounded off the top five after an almighty scrap with the determined Allen. “Loved it I knew I would pick up a few places at the start, they had the edge over me at the Esses though every time,” said Allen.

Chris Smith’s R56 was seventh and former MG Champion Lee Sullivan secured second in the S class leaving Steve Liquorish to fend off Dean Raymond for third in class. Kevin O’Connor took the Club Class spoils by a whisker from debutant David Ogden, having led all the way.

Race Two

Knox got the jump on Caudle at the start of race two, but the Champion shot down the inside into Deene to take charge again. Panayiotou grabbed third with Allen fourth after another demon start.

Into Tarzan for the second time Panayiotou shot inside Knox to claim second, but the Scot fought back but was unable to regain his lost place. Back in fourth Allen was untroubled as Oakman and Richardson battled side by side behind him, but after a lap behind the safety car he became their prey.

Caudle’s lead had been eroded by the safety car and Panayiotou did his best to take advantage from the green flag. He took a look up the inside at Yentwood and a lap later was side by side into Tarzan.

But Caudle broke the tow again to secure his second win of the weekend, while Panayiotou was forced to make a late stop with a puncture. “I totally messed up my start after the safety car and made it really hard work,” said Caudle. “I think I had a slow puncture from about lap four and it just started to go down more,” replied Panayiotou. Knox therefore was back into second with a lap to go, while Oakman completed the top three. “That got a bit close at times, but what a great race,” said Oakman.

Allen continued to harass Richardson and managed to reclaim fourth with a lap to go. “I wasn’t giving that up,” he said. “I had ABS problems and it just kept on locking up,” Richardson replied.

Liquorish held second in the S class from lap eight, after Sullivan had headed him, while  Craig Freeman came in third, ninth overall behind Chris Smith’s JCW. Raymond completed the top ten and O’Connor took his second Club Class win with Ogden just as close as in their first encounter.

Race Three

With the top six reversed on the grid for the final race Panayiotou found himself in pole after his race 2 puncture relegated him to 6^th , a position he was take full advantage of.

Caudle still managed to fight his way into second on the opening lap and keep Panayiotou under threat, with Allen in third again, from Knox, Oakman and Richardson.

The lead pair began to break away again on the second lap, as Oakman fought his way past Richardson into Deene on lap two. He then worked with Knox to close on the lead duo again. Allen and Richardson were both on their own, but for seventh it was any one from four, with Sullivan holding sway over Smith, Liquorish and Raymond.

The top four then split into pairs again, with Oakman charging past Knox into Deene on lap six, before closing in to threaten Caudle’s hold on second.  Three laps later he was through and at the flag he had the closed the lead down to 0.690secs with Panayiotou left to celebrate his maiden victory. “My car felt worse than in the other races, but I had clean air at the start and that helped a lot,” he said.

Caudle held onto fourth with Knox having closed sufficient to be a late threat. “I didn’t seem to have any power n fourth gear as well as understeer,” he said. Richardson was on his own in fifth, as was Allen who once again cleaned up in the S class with sixth overall, while Sullivan and Liquorish were often covered by barely a coat of paint in the fight for second in class. Sullivan held it, as Raymond latched on too at the end.

Teenager Sam Osborne celebrated his first weekend of car racing with victory in the Club Class, leaving returnee James Whelan to hold Justina Williams and O’Connor at bay.

Published by Peter Scherer for MINI Challenge