26 June 2022
Croft - Triumph and Tribulation for Halfords Racing with Cataclean at Croft
Strong drives from both drivers were again tinged with bad luck! Free practice two on Saturday showed the pace of the car with a 1-2 at the finish, but when it came to qualifying it was in essence a single lap shootout with a session littered with red flags and stoppages. Both drivers admitted they didn't produce their best laps in qualifying, Dan finished a fantastic second, just 0.027 seconds off pole and Gordon was 0.112 seconds off in 5th.
Race 1 - Dan made a great start but Lloyd gained quickly to the first corner and pushed Dan back to third. Gordon was out of the action at the second corner having been collected by Sutton re-joining the circuit, this broke the suspension and he limped back to the pits and was out of the race. Dan continued a race long battle at the front and eventually brought the car home on the podium and in the points in third.
Race 2 - Saw an incredible drive from Flash, who started last, to scythe his way through the field to finish in the final reverse grid position of 12th. Dan again fought hard all race long to bring the car home in 5th. The draw for race 3 then saw Flash drawn on pole...!
Race 3 - A lights to flag victory ensued in race 3 with Gordon pacing the race from the off, quickly building up a 3 second lead and then holding onto it to the line. Disaster struck though for Dan after driving another strong race, when on the penultimate lap he suffered a puncture and had to retire.
Flash added
"Wow what a day! The car felt strong from free practice, and I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time in race one. That typically would ruin your day, but the red mist descended in race 2, after early contact, and that was the spark to get me firing through the field, the steering was off, but I just kept on pushing and lap after lap I was moving through the pack. The third race I managed to get a good lead from the off and I could see they were all scrapping behind me, so I just managed my lap times, kept a healthy buffer and brought it over the line in P1 - mega!" Dan commented
"Again a strong start to the weekend with P2 in qualifying, the race pace was there and I fought hard all weekend, but the luck just wasn't on my side again in race 3 and I got a puncture with just one lap to go! But I have to be pleased with a 3rd and a 5th as it gives me some great points"