Home News Ollie White prevails in close battle for Walter Hayes semi-final two win

Ollie White prevails in close battle for Walter Hayes semi-final two win

by Steve Whitfield

Photo: Steve Whitfield

Souley Motorsport’s Ollie White won the second semi-final from pole, but he was made to work for it in a close race.

White led at the start, with Kevin Mills Racing’s Jordan Dempsey losing second to Wayne Poole Racing’s Josh Fisher and having to fight to keep hold of third into Brooklands after going side-by-side down the Wellington Straight with Team Dolan’s Ross Martin.

The safety car was deployed for a couple of laps to recover the stricken car of White’s team-mate Mark De Rozarieux. When racing resumsed, Fisher made a bid for the lead into Brooklands, with White holding on.

A brief rain shower then arrived, adding extra spice as the track became greasy.

Dempsey moved up the inside of Fisher into Brookands for second, but couldn’t make the move stick and came under pressure from Dolan’s Matt Cowley.

B-M’s Dave McArthur, having moved into fifth past Martin, tried to join in the battle ahead but collided with Cowley and lost time following a spin.

With just over two laps remaining, Fisher snatched the lead from White up the inside through Luffield, but White refused to give up, repeating the same move on Fisher next time by. Fisher lost momentum exiting the corner, allowing Dempsey to snatch second.

White hung on to win, 0.6 seconds ahead of Dempsey, with Fisher a further 0.5s back.

Martin took advantage of the McArthur/Cowley collision to finish fourth, ahead of Low Dempsey Racing’s Bryce Aron, and Cowley ended up in sixth.

Josh Smith was in the mix late on but collided with McArthur at the final corner, sending both cars into the Luffield gravel.

Ian Campbell finished eighth, with T-M Racing’s Felix Fisher ninth despite nearly having a coming together with LDR’s Jonathan Browne at Brooklands during the rain shower. Browne had a difficult race, eventually finishing 14th.

Race results (12 laps)
Pos Driver Team Time
1 Ollie White Souley Motorsport 15m05.931s
2 Jordan Dempsey Kevin Mills Racing +0.652s
3 Josh Fisher Wayne Poole Racing +1.211s
4 Ross Martin Team Dolan +1.298s
5 Bryce Aron Low Dempsey Racing +2.992s
6 Matt Cowley Team Dolan +5.430s
7 Jamie Sharp B-M Racing +6.507s
8 Ian Campbell +9.161s
9 Felix Fisher TM Racing +11.050s
10 Morgan Quinn Team Dolan +12.229s
11 Megan Gilkes Kevin Mills Racing +13.343s
12 Dave McArthur B-M Racing +15.558s
13 Joe Porter Porter Motorsport +18.812s
14 Jonathan Browne Low Dempsey Racing +19.080s
15 Josh Smith Oldfield Motorsport +19.231s
16 Tom Brown UCLan +20.630s
17 Matthew Wrigley +21.256s
18 Richard Higgins Riadro Motorsport +21.800s
19 Benn Tilley +21.848s
20 Callum Grant B-M Racing +21.994s
21 Daniel O’Beirne ob motorsport +24.387s
22 Nigel Dolan B-M Racing +28.786s
23 Neil Fowler Neil Fowler Motorsport +29.678s
24 Steve Barlow Graham Brunton Racing +30.430s
25 Dan Fox Team Fox Racing +30.853s
26 Rick Morris Don Hardman Racing +31.625s
27 Will Everington +35.310s
28 Leanne McShane Souley Motorsport +42.935s
29 Henry Campbell +44.320s
30 Scott Rawlinson +45.593s
31 Hayden Hardyman TM Racing +45.973s
32 Neil McArthur B-M Racing +47.338s
33 Christopher Perkins +54.901s
Ret Bob Hawkins Springbridge Motorsport
Ret Mark De Rozarieux Souley Motorsport
DNS Sean Byrne Engima Motorsport
DNS John Svensson John’s Racing Team
Fastest lap: Martin, 1m04.509s