Huntingdonshire Regional College make a great start to their Clubmans Cup season

THE Huntingdonshire Regional College Clubmans Cup race team left Donington Park delighted to be in second place in the championship after taking a well-deserved second place trophy in race two.

“The result is a reflection of the hard work the students have put in over the winter months,” said team leader Lewis Beales.

“It wasn’t all plan sailing as the crew had to exchange the final drive after qualifying. It’s normally a three hour job in the workshop and the team pulled out all the stops to complete the task in under an hour. It was magnificent achievement.”

The day started well with driver Howard Payne posting the third quickest time in the Cup category but at the end of the session he coasted into the pit lane.

“It’s the gearbox or diff which has broken,” he told his crew who quickly pushed the car into the garage and set about changing the final drive while also tracking down and curing an oil leak at the font of the car. “It was like a well-oiled machine,” said Payne.

Race one started with a rolling start which caught out Payne and he fell down the order at the opening corner before fighting back to fourth place at the finish.

Pre-race checks and more handling adjustments were carried out before race two, which again used a rolling start.

“I didn’t get caught out this time,” said Payne who was in a solid third place in the early laps. At half distance, having pulled away from the cars behind, the second placed driver’s his engine blew up elevating the HRC GEM into second place.