Johnson Finishes in Winning Style
The Final round of the 2007 BRCA 200mm Touring championship took place at the Aldershot circuit, This demanding circuit usually results in some close racing and didn't disappoint.
Saturday practise was run in good conditions, and with the timing computer running, everyone could check the pace of the fastest runners. The usual suspects were all fast, with local drivers Darren Johnson and Stephen Brown at the to of the list.
After qualifying, Darren Johnson took TQ, from Kyle Branson, Ben Cosgrove and Stephen Brown. Darren's time finally managed to beat Mark Green's, very impressive previous track record, as well as 12 second laps for the first time. Darren's new track record of 23 laps in 305.03 left him over five seconds clear of second!
Darren managed to get a good clean start to lead from a fast starting Kyle with Ben in 3rd, Stephen Brown was the unlucky driver who was left last after some early contact. As at previous races there were some different fuel strategies being used, Darren was supposed to be pitting at 5 minutes, but must have been concentrating hard as he missed a numbers of calls from the pits ! He made it to the pits just as he ran out of fuel, Roki got him going quickly, but Darren lost nearly a lap in the process.
This let Mark Gilliland through into the lead, which together with fewer fuel stops would make him hard to beat. Darren pushed really hard to get back on terms with Mark and by the time of the last fuel stops they were within a second on the track. With some very close racing in the last five minutes, Darren just managed to stay ahead for his 4th win of the season. A fantastic race to end another great season of 200mm.
Darren managed to get a good clean start to lead from a fast starting Kyle with Ben in 3rd, Stephen Brown was the unlucky driver who was left last after some early contact. As at previous races there were some different fuel strategies being used, Darren was supposed to be pitting at 5 minutes, but must have been concentrating hard as he missed a numbers of calls from the pits ! He made it to the pits just as he ran out of fuel, Roki got him going quickly, but Darren lost nearly a lap in the process.
This let Mark Gilliland through into the lead, which together with fewer fuel stops would make him hard to beat. Darren pushed really hard to get back on terms with Mark and by the time of the last fuel stops they were within a second on the track. With some very close racing in the last five minutes, Darren just managed to stay ahead for his 4th win of the season. A fantastic race to end another great season of 200mm.
