Donington Park - 26/08/2001   SR2 Race Report   After Ian Flux’s qualifying heroics yesterday it seemed like business as usual at the front of the SR2 field. The #51 factory Lucchini however would start from the pitlane after Zardo failed to beat the deadline to take up his second spot on the grid. At the green the car on the move was the #61 Rowan Racing Pilbeam, Warren Carway storming through from sixth on the grid to lead the SR2 field round after lap 1. Hot on his heels was the championship leading Racing Team Sweden Lola, with Larry Oberto keen to beat the local boys, followed by Pierguiseppe Peroni in the pole sitting #52 factory Lucchini. Any hope of a charge from the back of the field by the #51 Lucchini was snuffed out as the car returned to the pits after lap 1; overheating problems would eventually end this car's campaign. Carway was still pressing on at the front but Oberto was looming ever closer. Oberto himself though was watching his mirrors as Roberto Tonetti in the #66 Lucchini was closing fast, together with the recovering #7 SR1 Redman Bright Reynard and the overall leader of the race Jan Lammers, keen by lap 13 to dispense with the lapping of the SR2 lead battle. SR2 debutant Sebastien Ugeux had put the #52 car on pole position, but sadly wouldn’t get an opportunity to show what he could do in the race as, right at the end of lap 21, partner Peroni lost control on the start finish straight and made heavy contact with the end of the pit wall. The driver was uninjured, the Lucchini not so lucky, race over for #52 and an incident which would, some laps later, require the safety car to aid recovery of the battered SR2. After half an hour the order was still 61, 76, 66. It would be 10 minutes more before the first of the leading cars pitted, Carway staying in the Pilbeam and rejoining back in sixth spot. Three laps later and Oberto made his first stop, a long one as the team discovered that the right rear wheel could not be removed. If the Lola was to challenge for the win, it would have to do so without changing one of its tyres. #66 now took the lead and delayed its stop until lap 33, emerging just as the Safety Car brought the field under control to allow the remains of #52 to be peeled from the pit entrance wall. Rowan Racing took advantage of the safety car period to pit, Martin O’Connell taking over the car and rejoining at the back of the train. As the field was released once more, Tonetti pounced, retaking the class lead from Oberto, who wisely was looking after his tyres. Oberto would bring the #76 Lola in to hand over to teammate Thed Bjork just after the hour mark, still unable to change the jammed rear wheel. By now the picture was getting a little confusing, pit strategies differing wildly meant it was difficult to keep track of the progress of some cars in relation to their closest competitors. A second placed Phil Andrews in the #68 Swara Racing Tampolli sadly flattered to deceive as its out of sync. pit schedule would leave it in a more representative sixth place, before clutch problems finally brough its race to a premature end. What was clear though was that the #61 Pilbeam, #76 Lola and #66 Lucchini (now with Massimo Saccomanno at the wheel), were the class of the field at this stage. By the 90 minute mark, O’Connell had retaken the lead and stretched his advantage to around 40 seconds, seemingly able to lap more quickly than the pursuing #66 car. With 40 minutes to go the Pilbeam pitted for its final compulsory stop and #66 led once more, pushing hard to reduce the deficit. Three laps later and Saccomanno’s push led to shove, marshals shoving the car out of the Redgate gravel that is! The Lucchini had spun on the exit: it would rejoin eventually but would lose several laps and its chance of a podium finish as a result. Into the last half hour and the finishing order seemed set. The Rowan Pilbeam was sitting pretty, almost a lap ahead of the hobbled #76 Lola, with Ian Flux adopting stealth tactics to lie third in the Rapier 6 - it was proving to be a fairytale weekend for Fluxie! At the flag, that order stayed the same, a great race for the Brits with Ascari winning SR1 and Rowan Racing taking SR2. Warren Carway was understandably thrilled, but also relieved, “Local knowledge always helps and the safety car worked well for us today, but it could all have gone wrong, we had no radio and we were running on fresh air by the end. It's put us right back in the championship hunt. I can’t wait for Mondello Park next week.” Bjork and Oberto lead 78 to 68 from Carway and O'Connell, with three races left. Graham Goodwin Copyright ©2000-©2023 TotalMotorSport