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Reserve your place for the experience of a lifetime. Watch the dedication and passion of drivers and teams alike battling wheel to wheel at speeds in excess of 200 mph! We guarantee you official prime allocated tickets coupled with a superb corporate package. So you can be confident your day will be a business success.

VIP RESTAURANT
The VIP Restaurant facility is situated just behind the Rockingham grandstand. The tented village is ideally located - within one self-contained hospitality area lies everything you will need for the perfect days racing. Your grandstand seats are in the upper tier of the grandstand overlooking the start/finish line. With views of 95% of the circuit the location offers superb views of non-stop track activity. Available to parties of 1 to 30, it offers you a perfect solution as to how best to enjoy the weekend’s racing.

PRIVATE CHALETS
A special feature of ChampCars at Rockingham is the chance to hire your very own Private Chalet. All chalets are located behind the Rockingham Grandstand with grandstand seats in the Upper Tier. You have excellent views of cars entering the pit lane and 95% views of the entire circuit. The facility will be for parties of 30 or more and will be ideal for the group or company wishing to entertain their clients in style.

Unlike other world championships, purchasing hospitality for this event will provide you with the opportunity to meet the drivers in action with your access to the Pit Lane.

See also our other Sporting / Events tickets and hospitality packages by clicking here

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Colin White won the first ASCAR race of the 2002 ASCAR Championship season at Rockingham after a dramatic finish with Torquespeed’s John Mickel. 

White, who cut his teeth on the short oval circuits, winning three consecutive National Hot Rod World titles, beat off the challenge of reigning ASCAR champion Mickel and left some star-named ASCAR drivers in his wake.

The Glastonbury man played a tactical race, conserving his tyres in the first half and then catapulting to the front after a brilliant pit stop.

The race was full of drama as pole-sitter Darren Manning in the Bintcliffe Sport-car led the bunched start from Stevie Hodgson and the Ray Mallock Ltd car of Nicolas Minassian, followed by Mickel and White.

Hodgson kept Manning under constant pressure for the next ten laps, nearly getting his nose in front into Turn One. Minassian closed up on the front two when Peter Storm brought out the yellows when crashing for the second time during the weekend out of Turn Four, clouting the inside retaining wall.

The green flag dropped again on lap 13 with the order Manning, Hodgson, Minassian, Mickel, White and Jason Plato.

Manning slammed the door on Hodgson into Turn Two, allowing Minassian to close up again as White moved passed Mickel. Plato was a lonely sixth, followed by Kelvin Burt. Further back a titanic battle raged between Anthony Swan, Toby Schecker, Rob Speak, Paul Evans and Mark Proctor.

White was on a charge and was on Minassian’s tail by lap 19, and Plato closed on Mickel.

Hodgson took the lead with a brave move on lap 23, diving passed Manning into Turn Four with a brave move. Minassian followed suit into Turn One on Lap 25, followed swiftly by White.

Manning began to drop back, coming under pressure from Mickel and Plato. Mickel then made a mistake into Turn One on lap 27 allowing Plato through.

Pit stops became crucial for track position and problems with a right front with Manning’s car held him up sufficiently to drop him to ninth, struggling to keep on the lead lap.

After the pitstops sorted themselves out it was White, who had a brilliant pitstop, who led from Mickel, 5.6 seconds back, Minassian was a further 8.5 seconds further behind in third place. Hodgson who was the fastest man on the track in fourth, with low 36 second laps. 

White held on to his lead from Mickel, with the field well spread out around the 1.5-mile banked oval, until Manning, pushing hard to make up lost  time, smashed backwards into the wall into Turn Four on Lap 48, losing the car on the way in the corner. The field bunched up behind the safety car before the green flag dropped for a dash for the chequered flag with just five laps left in the 60 lap event.

Mickel glued himself to White’s rear bumper into Turn One as the leaders battled for the first ASCAR race win of the new season. The backmarkers, through their spotters, moved over to let the leaders through at the restart, although both Minassian and Stevie Hodgson got blocked, while West-Tec’s Anthony Swan cut through the pack to move up to a remarkable fifth place.
With Minassian and Hodgson unable to close on the two leaders it was left to former short oval stars White and Mickel to battle it out for the curtain raiser of the ASCAR season.

Mickel closed right on White as the yellows came out again with two laps to go when Phil Weaver spun out of Turn One, which allowed White to win the sprint to the flag from Mickel, Minassian, Hodgson, Anthony Swan and Plato.

Result
1   Colin White
2   John Mickel
3   Nicolas Minassian
4   Stevie Hodgson
5   Anthony Swan
6   Jason Plato
7   Kelvin Burt
8   Phil Weaver
9    Paul Evans
10  Rob Speak
11  Mark Proctor
12  John Steward
13  Roland Rehfeld
14  Toby Scheckter
15  Lee O’Keefe
 

Driver quotes:

Colin White – winner (his first ASCAR victory)
“It isn’t always the fastest car that wins. I was confident I could pass cars at the start as I’m used to close contact racing, so I was able to get through to fifth place at the start.
“I followed John Mickel, who wasn’t quick enough into the corner at that stage and then reeled in Minassian. He was pushing too hard into the corners – they all were and so they cooked their tyres.
“I chose to run a tactical race – we thought the best way was to conserve the tyres.
“Before the race I thought I’d get fourth or fifth at the finish. I told my team that I’d make up places on the track if they worked well in the pit stop.
 “They did such a good job I came out in front. As I came back out on the track after the pit stop it was a weird feeling racing flat out round the track and not seeing another single car. 
“I said to the team ‘I can’t see anyone – is anyone racing?’ and they said, ‘They’re all behind you!”
“I was following Manning when he went off near the end. I could see him pushing harder and harder and going wider and wider.
“The safety car period helped cool my tyres, but I made a mistake. I should have driven the safety laps faster so that the race could have finished under yellows!
“I was happy for Mickel to get tight up my exhaust pipe at the restart because I knew then he wouldn’t have enough room to slingshot me into the first corner. I moved my line to protect my lead but it was a bit close. There again, Schuey does the same thing!”

John Mickel – second place
“To be honest, I didn’t know there was only one lap to go. The finish was like me and Michael Vergers all over again.
“The car was bad early on. We adjusted the car during the pit stop, which was why I was slow out of the pits.
“The changes transformed the car so I was able to get back on it straight away.
“The racing is a lot quicker than last year and it’s harder to overtake – but then I’m a bit ring-rusty.”

Nicolas Minassian – third place
“I’m a bit frustrated because the restart was a bit mucked up. I got held up which may have cost me the race, but overall it was good.
“We’re still learning about the set-up of the car, but we are competitive and it’s important to score big points.”

Stevie Hodgson – fourth place
“I got chopped four times during the first part of the race by Darren Manning. We asked for a bit of room but we didn’t force the issue as it’s the first race.
“The car was really strong but it started to get tight in the middle of the corners.
“I didn’t think our pit stop was that bad and thought Minassian and us were running first and second but clearly not.
“At the restart I asked Evans’ spotter for room but I think he thought he was racing for position. It probably didn’t make much difference to the result.
“The most annoying thing is that we have a race-winning car.”

Anthony Swan – fifth place
“I had problems with communicating with my spotter at the start – I started on the high line and everybody got by because I couldn’t move back in. I had to work my way from the back and pick them off.
“If I had another five laps we could have been on the podium. My pitstop was fantastic.”

Jason Plato – sixth place
“I was having a ball. I got into my groove but we didn’t have a good pit stop. We went in half a lap ahead of Kelvin Burt and we came out quarter of a lap behind him. I nearly crashed going into the pits. I came out of Turn Three flat out, which caused me to lock up into the pitlane.
“We need to improve our pit work, but it got exciting near the end. I looked after my tyres with consistent laps. The car is in great shape. 
“My main problem was that I couldn’t lift my right arm up near the end of the race. I must be sitting in a bad position or pinched a nerve or something, but I started getting pins and needles and shook my arm and suddenly it just flopped down to my side like when you sleep on it and it goes dead.
“I had to drive one-handed until I could get some feeling back into it during the safety car period at the end.”

Nicolas Minassian stamped his authority on the rest of the pack in his Ray Mallock Ltd-prepared ASCAR with a dominant drive to win the second ASCAR race at Rockingham from race one winner Colin White and Stevie Hodgson.

Minassian shot passed both White and John Mickel on the inside of Turn One to lead the pack at the start and dictated the pace from then on. Minassian and White pulled clear of Anthony Swan and Stevie Hodgson with Kelvin Burt, Jason Plato and Paul Evans next up. 

Reigning champion Mickel appeared to have problems straight away and dropped back through the field to tenth place and was never a factor for the remainder of the 60-lap event. 

Roland Rehfeld was another to suffer problems and came into the pits on Lap 4. The German return to the race but eventually retired with mechanical problems.

Anthony Swan’s West-Tec car shed a section of exhaust manifold on Turn Four to bring out the yellows which gave Toby Scheckter time to come into the pitlane to fix a problem with his radio.

On the restart on lap 7 Hodgson moved up to third with Burt storming through to fourth. 
The order on lap 10 was Minassian, White, Hodgson, Burt, Swan, Plato and Evans with a large gap to the rest of the pack.

The French star held a solid lead while Hodgson pressured White for second when Tom Guinchard smashed the wall out of Turn One on Lap 15 to bring out the safety car once more.
During the safety car period Plato came into the pits, to check a possible oil leak and rejoined the track in last place as the safety car pulled into the pitlane for the restart.
Minassian shot into a sizeable lead on Lap 23, from White, Hodgson, Burt, Swan, Evans and Rob Speak.

Hodgson and White then demonstrated the skill of driving on high-speed banked ovals by running side-by-side for a complete lap before Hodgson forced himself into second place.

Minassian went further clear, 3.7 seconds ahead on Lap 27, from Hodgson, White, Evans, Swan, Speak and Burt.

As in race one, Minassian was again the first to pit on lap 29, as the rest pitted within the two-lap window and continued to lead after the pitstops, pursued by Hodgson, White, Swan, Burt, Proctor and Speak.

White passed Hodgson into Turn Two on lap 34 but Minassian charged on with an eight-second lead.

The yellows came out again on Lap 40 after John Steward spun in Turn Three to bunch the field up once again. Local driver Swan then pulled off onto the grass in front of the stands a lap later after heat from the bare exhaust burnt through the wiring loom and caused him to be overcome by fumes.

The green flag dropped again on Lap 49, Minassian keeping White at bay with Hodgson unable to keep with the two leaders. Burt was just under a second back in fourth with Speak now up to fifth place after passing Proctor on the outside of Turn Four.

Minassian began to pull clear on Lap 55 and cruised to a well-deserved victory by 2.2 seconds from White, Hodgson, Burt, Speak and Evans.

Result
1   Nicolas Minassian
2   Colin White
3   Stevie Hodgson
4   Kelvin Burt
5  Rob Speak
6    Paul Evans
7  Mark Proctor
8   Jason Plato
9  Lee O’Keefe
10  Toby Scheckter
11   John Mickel
12  John Steward

RACE TWO DRIVER QUOTES

NICOLAS MINASSIAN – winner
It was great. We scored good points in the first race and then we changed the car quite a bit which made it quicker.
The pitstops were great as well. White was closer to me at the last restart than I thought and my car was understeering quite a bit but I’m happy to win on the first weekend of the ASCAR season.

COLIN WHITE – second place
I made a mistake. I thought I was in the lead after the pitstops. I born and bred to race side-by-side – it’s what I enjoy. I you have trust in people you can do it – it makes the whole job interesting.

STEVIE HODGSON – third place
It was good fun but frustrating. Colin and I gave each other room, it was really good.  All in all, we’ve had a good weekend.

KELVIN BURT – fourth place
That was better. I had too much understeer in the first race and I was too conservative trying to save the tyres. 
I was in with a shout in the second race – it was a car I could race with. I was hacked off at the end of the race, though, because a couple of slow guys held me up at the end. 
For a new team Ray Mallock Ltd has done a great job.

ROB SPEAK – fifth place
We’re not good enough yet. We’re on the pace once the tyres are warmed up. When the tyres are good we can run with the best of them. 
The problem is that by the time the tyres are good we have to come in for a pitstop and take them off! I need more track time to work on set-up.