POLLEYSPORT/YOKOHAMA SAXMAX CHAMPIONSHIP
SEASON REVIEW 2009
Consistency was the key to Oliver White's championship-winning Saxmax season, the West Country youngster doing enough to wrap up the title with the final Snetterton round to spare. Disappointingly in the fourth season of the championship, entry levels were down – the impact of the recession, maybe – but with only 14 points scorers – the majority competing at every round – the standings remained tightly-bunched right until the end.
Despite spinning at the first corner of the season, Anton Spires left the opening meeting at Snetterton as a firm championship favourite. Having rounded off 2008 in sixth position in the points, the Buckingham lad came back strongly to finish second in round to Chris Warburton – who claimed his only victory of the season at the initial round. Anton backed up his pace with a victory – over White – on the Sunday, to leave Norfolk with the early points lead.
Spires first corner spin was trumped by Patrick 'Patch' Fletcher's first free practice session inversion, but the Reading driver had a solid opening weekend besides that, with a third and a fifth. He would be a force to be reckoned with as the season went on.
At Brands Hatch, as at Snetterton, Spires again lost ground on lap one. This time he could only surge back to fourth as White – who had made a couple of forays into Saxmax racing at the back end of 2008 – claimed his maiden win. Essex boy Aaron Trigwell was second, a result that he would not better all year – he matched it at the second Brands meeting, at Silverstone and the Snetterton finale, however.
In race two, Spires and White traded the lead until the latter developed mechanical problems and dipped to third position, Spires going on to win from Fletcher – who was on the podium for the second time in the weekend.
The third double-header wasn't held until the beginning of June at Anglesey, but the weather conditions were far from summery. White defeated Josh Wakefield (the Colchester lad would end the season as top rookie, improving as the year went on) by 15 seconds in the horribly wet Saturday race, while Fletcher finally scored a deserved first win on Sunday. White finished outside the top six in this one, while Spires could only manage fifth and second despite the support of his extremely committed fan base.
With half the season down, it was back to Brands Hatch for another pair of races. It was this weekend that did much to cement the title for White, as he claimed both wins – one with fastest lap – with some style. He took over the points lead from Spires, who took a ragged third and fourth, but Fletcher remained in the hunt with second and third.
Silverstone was the venue for the first of two single rounds, with the national circuit – that lends itself so well to this type of racing – producing a thriller. Although White led into Copse corner, Fletcher emerged ahead at Becketts and somehow kept Trigwell, White and Spires at bay for the duration. Fifth place there was a season high for Ryan Ratcliffe.
At Oulton Park White again demonstrated maturity beyond his years as he sealed what would turn out to be his final victory of the season, taking the lead from Patch in the first half of the race. Fletcher was, by now, the main threat to White in the championship, but he compromised his chances with a mistake that dropped him back to third position. In his stead, Scott Moakes claimed a personal best second position.
And so back to Snetterton for the final two rounds – a replacement for Donington, which was being dug up in a futile bid to host a Grand Prix. Fletcher drove his heart out in Norfolk – he won both races and only dropped one fastest lap bonus point – but it wasn't enough. Behind his dominant race one drive, White survived an early tap and a last corner lunge from Spires to take second position, a result which was enough to wrap up the title with a round to spare.
It was just as well White did finish second in that race – a broken gearbox left him as a spectator for race two. Fletcher blitzed that one too, from Trigwell and Shaun Clay, who ended the year with a season's best third.
White therefore took the title by just two points. The Bath driver changes tack for 2010 – he moves from tin-tops to single-seaters, and will base himself at his local circuit in the Castle Combe FF1600 Championship. Second place man Fletcher had a SportMaxx outing before the year was out, while Spires – who didn't win after April – was third in the standings.
Trigwell, Wakefield and Welsh driver Clay completed the top six, while Ministox racer Anthony Whorton-Eales was constantly threatening to break into the on-track top five. He finished the year in seventh, one place ahead of Ratcliffe. Zoe Wenham had some strong results – notably fourth in the penultimate round at Snetterton – but will recall her race-stopping Anglesey roll with less fondness. Moakes finished the year in 10th, and possibly deserved slightly better – on at least one occasion he was unfairly sidelined.
Newcomer Jordan Willson finished every round, and thereby gathered useful experience on his way to 11th, ahead of Josh Davey, who had much travelling to do from his Truro base. With only part seasons behind them, round one winner Warburton and Ryan Jenkinson completed the finishers.
So while not the most numerically strong of Saxmax seasons, the quality of the racing and standard of driving seemed better than ever, with White proving a determined champion. The category once again enjoyed the support of Polleysport and Yokohama, and from Ferguson Motorsport – in the guise of the Driver of the Day award – from mid-way through the season.
Ian Sowman
FINAL STANDINGS
1 Oliver White 230
2 Patrick Fletcher 228
3 Anton Spires 212
4 Aaron Trigwell 203
5 Josh Wakefield 165
6 Shaun Clay 162
