Rounds 7 & 8 – PREVIEW
Oulton Park Island – 16th July 2022
It’s not just the anticipated ambient temperatures that are going to make the competition hot when the ever-popular Milltek Sport Civic Cup visits Oulton Park for rounds seven and eight this Saturday 16th July. It’s the size of the grid and the level of competition!
Enjoying its biggest and most competitive season yet, this weekend’s two Milltek Sport Civic Cup races will again feature near-capacity grids. And, if last year’s visit to the historic Cheshire circuit is anything to go by, the spectacle of 28 Type-R Civics that have been built to a series of carefully controlled technical regulations is likely to provide spectators with the championship’s now familiar blend of intensely close, fair and cleanly-fought racing.
Two meetings and six rounds have taken place so far: three at Cadwell Park in May and another three at Brands Hatch in June. Winners at the first meeting of the year were Dan Thackeray, George Alp-Williams and Morgan Bailey. But it was 2021 runner-up Matt Luff who came away from the event topping the championship tables, following a fourth, third and second place finish from the weekend’s three races.
When the championship moved to Brands Hatch for the second meeting of the year, it was 2021 Champion Alistair Camp who put his 2022 title hopes on track by scoring two wins from the three races. Ben Sharpe crossed the line first in race two but as a guest driver on this occasion, it was Morgan Bailey who took away maximum points by finishing second.
Camp’s Brands Hatch performance, coupled with a second place at Cadwell, sees him jointly lead the championship with last year’s runner-up Matt Luff, whose three second and one third-place finish, means the Area Motorsport-run pair are on equal points heading into the Oulton Park weekend. Alp-Williams lies third following his round two victory and a series of strong performances in the remaining five rounds.
In the Production Class for cars with fewer modifications, Alfie Jeakins has proved almost unstoppable, having scored five victories from six races, with Loui Hounsell the only driver to have interrupted his clean sweep having won round five at Brands. In keeping with the Cup Class standings, the Production Class is also tied at the top, with Dave Marshall’s five second and one third place results seeing him and Jeakins share the lead, with Hounsell third.
With both classes so close, the scene is well and truly set to see which drivers will leave Oulton Park holding an all-important advantage as the championship heads into the second half of the season.
The action gets underway on Saturday with a 15-minute Qualifying session starting at 10.10, followed by the two 15-minute races at 12.50 and 17.00 respectively.
Qualifying and both races can be watched live on the following platforms:
Facebook: @CivicCupOfficial
You Tube: @CivicCup
The Milltek Sport Civic Cup is supported by Milltek Sport, Goodyear, Maximum Networks, Liqui Moly, MaxiCloud Hosted Telephony, Co-ordSport, Berkshire Turbo, Joyce Design, Steel Seal, PRS braking systems and Maximum Performance. The Championship is administered by Club Time Attack.