Maclachlan dominates in Supersport

Not only does James Maclachlan drive the most eye-catching Supersport on the grid but given his two wins at Brands adding to his near unbroken run of firsts, the championship outcome must surely be beyond challenge.

Not that this outcome was easy. In race one, Maclachlan was pressured by another DPR customer Iain Forsythe who, thanks to some sensational overtakes at the exit to Graham Hill bend, was able to relieve Maclachlan of his role as race leader several times. However in the final dash, Maclachlan was the first man across the line but with only 0.127 seconds separating the two drivers.

Race two saw Forsythe take advantage of the high ground on the outer side of the circuit to gain first place by Paddock only for Maclachlan to regain the lead by the end of the pit straight. Forsythe’s pressure ended with a DNF gained in an incident on the exit of Druids only for Paul Begley to take over the challenge ending the race just 0.111 seconds behind the bright blue Supersport of James Maclachlan.

Superlight R300 - Caterham novices Shaw and Packer get their first podiums

The opener of race one saw a repeat of Walker’s start line ability with a great move from his qualifying position of 5th to be 2nd on the downhill drop from Paddock. However an early-tangle at Druids saw Walker’s car out of contention for the complete race weekend.

However the remaining team members, all newcomers to Caterham racing, gained an impressive result with Mark Shaw’s first podium (3rd), Jonathan Packer (7th) and Andrew Bruce (10th).

In race two, despite this being his fifth-ever Caterham race weekend, Jonathan Packer took over Walker’s mantle with some brave opening moves that moved him up from his start position of 7th to become race leader but finished 2nd after succumbing to Trevor Fowell’s remarkable drive from the back of the grid. Despite a badly damaged rear suspension, Mark Shaw achieved 5th place and fastest lap with Andrew Bruce in 13th.

Strong DPR Motorsport results across the Caterham Motorsport Ladder

DPR team principal David Rowe said “We gained impressive results across all steps of the Caterham Motorsport ladder. This demonstrates our unique approach in combining our championship winning car preparation with driver coaching. We have developed our own in-house driver coaching programme making use of the latest video V-Box technology. In the Caterham Academy our customers were at the top of the results with Wesley Fox and Blaize Rhodes gaining 1st & 2nd in Group One.

Whilst we have just provided a set-up service to Blaize Rhodes, Wesley Fox was one of the first DPR customers to try out our newly enhanced coaching programme in combination with a highly personalised car set-up, so his result including setting a new Academy lap record has a special relevance to us. In Roadsport B, Jeremy Webb and Ben Whibley gained creditable results including Jeremy Webb’s podium in race two.

For the higher steps of the Caterham championships, team support is allowed and the Supersport championship race one saw DPR Motorsport customers James Maclachlan and Ian Forsythe in 1st & 2nd. In Roadsport A, Magd Mohaffel gained fastest lap in race one but a racing incident on Clearways put him back from the leading pack to finish 12th. For the second race, which took place on the new and wet Brands tarmac, Mohaffel climbed through the field to finish fifth. Our novice driver Fraser Greenshields achieved his best ever race results with a 15th & 13th.

However the team outcome in the Caterham Superlight R300 championship demonstrates our ability to support and mentor drivers new to Caterham motorsport. Despite two DNF’s by the 2009 champion Jon Walker, our Superlight R300 novice drivers secured podium wins against some of the most successful drivers in Caterham motorsport and all of this in probably the most competitive championship currently in UK motorsport.”