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3rd and 1st
at the Closing Rounds - with an injured hand and without
a clutch!
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The driver pairing of Hunter Abbott
and Nigel Redwood qualified on pole for the final two
races of the season at Snetterton, Abbott setting a time of 1:09.00
time, 0.2 seconds faster than championship rivals
Moulton/Stilp in dry but greasy conditions.
Torrential rain and strong wind
appeared just in time for the start of race one. Abbott
started and made the most of pole position, emerging
from the corner in the lead. Turning into the second
corner Abbott received a hard knock from series newcomer
Andy Demetriou, ripping the steering wheel through
Abbott’s hands and almost eliminating both drivers from
the race. The car of Stilp/Moulton took advantage of
this contact, gaining an advantage the length of the
back straight.
Poor visibility brought the safety
car out on lap 6, Abbott
diving into the pits to make his driver change, passing
the car to team mate Nigel Redwood. The safety car
period finished on lap 8 and the race resumed in a cloud
of spray. On the restart
Michael Vergers span into the fast Riches corner,
collecting Redwood on the way,
demoting the pairing to last and breaking the clutch on
the Redwood car. Redwood restarted
at the back of the field and
battle through the spray, driving
with no clutch to finish an
impressive 3rd overall.
Over-night it became apparent that
Abbott's injured hand
was more seriously
hurt than first thought in the
accident with Demetriou. Circuit doctors examined the
injury on Sunday morning and diagnosed a likely fracture
to one of the carpal bones just above the wrist. Abbott,
determined to compete in the second race, had Doctors
strap his hand as best they could and dosed him up with
pain killers.
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The gods were smiling, the clouds
parted and the sun shined, drying a very wet Snetterton.
Redwood started Race 2 from third on the grid and made
rapid progress to take the lead from Juan Barazi on lap
four. Then, the clutch failed again
and Redwood could not create a massive lead. For
5 further laps Barazi hounded Redwood, Redwood defending
well and maintaining the lead. Redwood pitted and passed
the car to Abbott. With no clutch, restarting was a bit
of an issue. After a bumpy push start Abbott emerged
from the pits just in front of the car of Juan Barazi/Nick
Dudfield. Abbott and Dudfield traded the lead several
times before Nick Dudfield attempted to overtake Abbott
round the outside into the tight Russell chicane. As
always, space became a premium through the corner and
resulted in Dudfield spinning off the circuit, giving
the win to Abbott and Redwood.
Abbott said, "Congratulations to
Simon Moulton who snatched the championship this
weekend. It’s been a great fight with these guys all
year – they’ve just been a more consistent than us!"
Abbott and Redwood may not have won
the Championship but do get the prize for the most wins
in one season. Together they won eight races in the 2004
championship, only a series of technical failures mid
season stopped the pairing from taking the Championship
title. |
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