Stewart Whyte dominates final Super Touring race of the year

Stewart Whyte once again dominated in the Super Touring Car Trophy as he took victory with John Cleland and Patrick Watts completing the podium for the second time of the weekend.

The first lap showed promise as all four ST1 cars went in to Deene Hairpin vying for position, but they exited the left hander towards Yentwood in grid order, and from then it was a rather processional affair at the front of the field.

Stewart Whyte streaked away, lapping a second a lap faster than the rest of the field and eventually winning by a clear 10 seconds after easing off on the final lap. Meanwhile Cleland and Watts stayed within a second of each other for the duration of the race, but there was never any real challenge for a change of position.

The action predominantly came from Mark Wright and Tony Absolom, who entertained the fans with Absolom’s Vauxhall Cavalier desperately trying to get past the constantly sideways Ford Escort RS1800.

There were yet more dramas for the Dodd family, despite overnight work seeing James and Graeme make the grid for the second race. An incident off the start saw James retire on the first lap with damage after being hit from the rear. Simon Garrad was also involved and also found himself in the not classified category.

Graeme Dodd, however, managed to work his way through the field to take fourth, with Mark Smith’s BMW M3 rounding out the top five and taking GA Class honours in the process. Absolom and Wright finished sixth and seventh, although both trekked through the grass on the final lap after missing their braking point at the final chicane.

Dave Ball and Ric Wood completed the top ten, while Paul Rivett, Steve Dymoke, Alan Strachan and Harry Whale were all retirements.