Middlehurst makes 30 overtakes to win WHT last chance race

Photo: Ida Wood

Chris Middlehurst made 30 overtakes to win the Walter Hayes Trophy’s last chance race and go through to the semi-finals.

Earlier in the day the Team Dolan driver had won the progression race, which put him 19th on the last chance race’s grid.

KMR Sport’s Mikel Bezuidenhout started strongly from pole, and was already two car lengths clear of TM Racing’s Cody Hayhurst by the opening corner.

The track was still slick from early morning and moisture, and Middlehurst was up to seventh by Becketts. He made two more overtakes before Brooklands, when red flags waved as Tim Fitzgerald crashed and Vertical Racing’s Ian Campbell got involved so exited the race too.

Middlehurst was cast back down to 17th for the restarted 10-lap encounter, and this time he got up to eighth by the time he reached the Wellington Straight for the first time.

Bezuidenhout kept the lead off the line, but went too deep into Brooklands and that allowed Hayhurst to attack him through Luffield. Swift Cooper driver Sam Skellett got in Hayhow’s tow as well, while Middlehurst made up one more place.

Hayhurst had a look into Maggotts for the lead on lap two, then around the outside at Brooklands. He ran side-by-side through to Woodcote, where a brief touch of wheels dropped Bezuidenhout to third.

Middlehurst got up to fifth before Maggotts, overtook Jaap Blijleven through Becketts then had three seconds to make up on the trio fighting ahead.

Skellett went down Hayhurst’s inside at Copse next time by to take the lead but went off and lost two positions. Bezuidenhout returned to first at Brooklands, making a great move around the outside on turn-in but now Middlehurst was in sight as he was less than a second behind.

A double pass at Maggotts on lap four earned him second place, then he took to Bezuidenhout’s inside through Luffield and was in the lead before Woodcote. From there he pulled away, winning by 3.562 seconds.

The fight for third continued as they were gapped by Bezuidenhout, with Skellett having a shot on the outside of Hayhurst at Brooklands on lap six then getting ahead down the pit straight.

Hayhurst got alongside Skellett through Brooklands and Luffield on the penultimate lap, both sliding at times, but then fell back.

“Same tyres [as yesterday]. So just had to finish the race and not try to take too much life out of them,” Middlehurst told Formula Scout after winning.

“It’s wet a little bit, greasy out there too, so it’s not going to wear them [tyres] out much. I’ve got to come through [the order] in the semi-final now and try and get as high up as I can. It’s not going to be easy, because I think that it’s going to probably be a drier line and then grease off the circuit which makes overtaking a bit more difficult. I’d rather it be like full wet, or dry, but I don’t think it’s going to be either.”

Further down the order, there was some drama. Shift Point Racing’s Michael Dolzer briefly mounted Dave Porter’s car at Copse on lap four, with Porter able to continue after spinning off and leading to several behind using the run-off, and an intense battle between Stuart Adam and Cal Bennett was settled in the former’s favour by just 0.032s.

Race results (10 laps)