Post by Dan Blake on Aug 29, 2015 20:15:20 GMT
Alex Cursley carried on his buoyant run of form in the Carbon8 Coupe Cup, taking two wins and pole position at Silverstone last weekend.
Cursley took his first win in the series last time out at Cadwell Park and made it three in a row, with two great drives at the home of the British Grand Prix.Following a very wet Friday, Saturday morning saw dry conditions as the Coupe Cup headed out for qualifying.
Dan Blake was first out on circuit, and in the first third of the session was the fastest from Simon Miles. Cursley however, put in a blistering 1:15.299 to put himself back to the top of the times. As the session came to a close the excitement levels rose again. Peter Kalpakiotis put in a 1:16.113 to put himself in second place, seemingly out of nowhere. There were improvements for Miles and Blake as well during the final stages. Miles went second with a 1:15.643, whilst Blake also snuck into the 1:15’s with a 1:15.984 to go third. The top three were the only cars to get into the 1:15’s. Kalpakiotis took fourth, Jon Winter was fifth, Ian Brunning sixth, Kevin Middleton seventh and Tony Lonsdale eighth.
Cursley made a great start from pole position and was able to hold on to the lead going through Copse and Becketts. Miles and Blake were side by side down the Wellington Straight and into Brooklands with Miles able to hold on to the position. Blake’s race would go downhill at the next corner as contact from a Tricolore Trophy car, saw the front right corner of Blake’s car damaged and Blake lose out to Winter and Brunning as a result. Blake’s car suffered steering damage as a result. Winter also suffered rear damage on lap one.The safety car was deployed on lap two with the order Cursley, Miles, Winter, Brunning, Blake, Kalpakiotis, Middleton, Lonsdale. The safety car peeled back into the pits after three laps and the race was back underway. Blake’s car had plumes of smoke coming from the right front, as the bodywork pressed against the tyre. Blake and Brunning continued their battle, lap eight saw Blake go down the inside of Brunning at Copse. Further down Lonsdale found a way past Middleton on the same lap.
Brunning took the final podium position back on lap ten from Blake and was able to hold on. Lap ten saw Winter find a way past Miles and he had a two second gap to try and claw back if he was to take victory on the road. Winter was able to take half a second off of Cursley’s lead but ran out of laps as Cursley took victory. Winter took second on the road, but a series second went to Miles in third, just 1.7 seconds separated the top three. Brunning and Blake were the next two across the line just half a second apart, Brunning taking his first Coupe Cup podium. Kalpakiotis had been involved in the fight but dropped a lap down of the Tricolore winner on the penultimate lap meaning he was unable to stay on the same lap as Blake and Brunning. Lonsdale was able to keep in front of Middleton and take seventh on the road, sixth in the series.
Between races the car of Blake was repaired enough to see it be able to take the grid for race two, even if not fully 100%. Race Two saw Cursley again make a great getaway to the delight of his watching fan club. Miles was able to get past Winter and was in second place as the cars crossed the line for the first time. Brunning, Blake, Kalpakiotis, Middleton and Lonsdale was the rest of the order. Blake and Brunning switched places on lap four, before Brunning had the place back again the following lap. Up front Cursley had a second lead over Miles with Winter lurking in third. The battling Brunning, Blake and Kalpakiotis were eight seconds behind the top three. Blake went past Brunning round the outside of Brooklands and was able to hold it until the penultimate lap when he could not find third gear going onto the Wellington Straight. This allowed Brunning through and Kalpakiotis pulled alongside.
At the front Winter was once again putting the pressure on Miles for second on the road. Winter managed to past Miles on the final lap but there was no denying Cursley, as he took victory by 2.3 seconds from Winter, with Miles third with a series second. Blake tried a last gasp move on Brunning but could not stop him claiming his second series podium of the day. Kalpakiotis was just behind with those three cars separated by less than a second. Middleton and Lonsdale completed the order.
Cursley took his first win in the series last time out at Cadwell Park and made it three in a row, with two great drives at the home of the British Grand Prix.Following a very wet Friday, Saturday morning saw dry conditions as the Coupe Cup headed out for qualifying.
Dan Blake was first out on circuit, and in the first third of the session was the fastest from Simon Miles. Cursley however, put in a blistering 1:15.299 to put himself back to the top of the times. As the session came to a close the excitement levels rose again. Peter Kalpakiotis put in a 1:16.113 to put himself in second place, seemingly out of nowhere. There were improvements for Miles and Blake as well during the final stages. Miles went second with a 1:15.643, whilst Blake also snuck into the 1:15’s with a 1:15.984 to go third. The top three were the only cars to get into the 1:15’s. Kalpakiotis took fourth, Jon Winter was fifth, Ian Brunning sixth, Kevin Middleton seventh and Tony Lonsdale eighth.
Cursley made a great start from pole position and was able to hold on to the lead going through Copse and Becketts. Miles and Blake were side by side down the Wellington Straight and into Brooklands with Miles able to hold on to the position. Blake’s race would go downhill at the next corner as contact from a Tricolore Trophy car, saw the front right corner of Blake’s car damaged and Blake lose out to Winter and Brunning as a result. Blake’s car suffered steering damage as a result. Winter also suffered rear damage on lap one.The safety car was deployed on lap two with the order Cursley, Miles, Winter, Brunning, Blake, Kalpakiotis, Middleton, Lonsdale. The safety car peeled back into the pits after three laps and the race was back underway. Blake’s car had plumes of smoke coming from the right front, as the bodywork pressed against the tyre. Blake and Brunning continued their battle, lap eight saw Blake go down the inside of Brunning at Copse. Further down Lonsdale found a way past Middleton on the same lap.
Brunning took the final podium position back on lap ten from Blake and was able to hold on. Lap ten saw Winter find a way past Miles and he had a two second gap to try and claw back if he was to take victory on the road. Winter was able to take half a second off of Cursley’s lead but ran out of laps as Cursley took victory. Winter took second on the road, but a series second went to Miles in third, just 1.7 seconds separated the top three. Brunning and Blake were the next two across the line just half a second apart, Brunning taking his first Coupe Cup podium. Kalpakiotis had been involved in the fight but dropped a lap down of the Tricolore winner on the penultimate lap meaning he was unable to stay on the same lap as Blake and Brunning. Lonsdale was able to keep in front of Middleton and take seventh on the road, sixth in the series.
Between races the car of Blake was repaired enough to see it be able to take the grid for race two, even if not fully 100%. Race Two saw Cursley again make a great getaway to the delight of his watching fan club. Miles was able to get past Winter and was in second place as the cars crossed the line for the first time. Brunning, Blake, Kalpakiotis, Middleton and Lonsdale was the rest of the order. Blake and Brunning switched places on lap four, before Brunning had the place back again the following lap. Up front Cursley had a second lead over Miles with Winter lurking in third. The battling Brunning, Blake and Kalpakiotis were eight seconds behind the top three. Blake went past Brunning round the outside of Brooklands and was able to hold it until the penultimate lap when he could not find third gear going onto the Wellington Straight. This allowed Brunning through and Kalpakiotis pulled alongside.
At the front Winter was once again putting the pressure on Miles for second on the road. Winter managed to past Miles on the final lap but there was no denying Cursley, as he took victory by 2.3 seconds from Winter, with Miles third with a series second. Blake tried a last gasp move on Brunning but could not stop him claiming his second series podium of the day. Kalpakiotis was just behind with those three cars separated by less than a second. Middleton and Lonsdale completed the order.