James Dodd wins title as John Cleland takes victory at Oulton Park

John Cleland took victory in the final race of the HSCC Super Touring Car Championship to bookend his season with trips to the top step, while James Dodd secured the honours as the series’ first champion.

The drama begun before the race had even started, with James Dodd pulling in on the pace lap to work on the left rear wheel, forcing him to start from the pitlane while Stewart Whyte, the only man capable of overthrowing Dodd at the top of the standings, started from pole position.

However, Whyte couldn’t capitalise on his enviable position, going missing on the first lap between Shell Oils and Knickerbrook, later reported to be in the gravel having gone off at Island Bend. As a result, John Cleland inherited the lead ahead of Audi A4 driver Paul Smith and the Renault Laguna of Mark Jones, who took the fastest lap off Cleland in the final two laps.

“That was really, really good,” an elated Cleland told TouringCarTimes.com. “I saw Stewart get a little loose through the Avenue and he must have hit a damp patch at Island with no heat in the rears as he went around. It’s a great way to finish the season and to finish second is unbelievable. We wouldn’t have thought we’d get that at the start of the weekend.”

While the top three stayed the same throughout the twenty minutes, James Dodd steadily worked his way through the field, picking up around one position a lap, helped in part by the retirement of Graeme Dodd and a slowing Keith Butcher, to finish fourth. Ric Wood finished fifth, while Mark Wright took sixth ahead of Butcher, who took the final point in the ST1 category.

There were also retirements for Dave Jarman and Roger Lavender, the former with engine problems, while Lavender’s BMW suffered from fuel pressure issues.

Further down the field, Kingsley Ingram came through to win the ST2 class well clear of Absolom and to secure the ST2 title, while Mark Wright once again took GA honours, finishing an impressive fourth overall in the standings.

After the retirement for Whyte and the victory for Cleland, the double BTCC champion moved up to second in the overall standings, tying on points and wins with Whyte, taking the position based on his three second placed results to Whyte’s two, with James Dodd taking the title by eight points.

“Even when Stewart went off I wouldn’t count my chickens,” Dodd told TouringCarTimes.com. “We had a wheel nut fail on the pace lap which caused my tyre to go down. I thought that was it but when I saw Stewart off I got my head down. I didn’t know if he’d get back on so I kept on going. Eventually I saw he wasn’t getting back so I settled down and just brought it home. I’m just relieved to have got through that race, it was a bit more dramatic than we intended.”