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Ben Collins maitains his lead over Roland Rehfeld Ben Collins is now a firm favourite to win the Days of Thunder series after an impressive pillar-to-post victory in the ninth round of the championship at Rockingham on Sunday. Collins had to withstand intense pressure from the ‘The Darkness’-represented Pontiac of Roland Rehfeld throughout the 60-lap race to take his third race victory of the season, becoming the first driver to lead every single lap of a Days of Thunder race. Right from the green flag Collins got the better start to take the lead from Rehfeld and Colin White, who was followed by Anthony Swan, Mark Proctor and Andrew Kirkaldy. Almost immediately the waved yellow flags were being waved as Irishman Kieran Dynes spun into the Turn Four wall. The race was restarted on Lap 8, with Collins maintaining his lead in the Territorial Army Deuce Racing RML Chevrolet, but Rehfeld kept him honest in second, tracking the leader’s every move. White started to drop back but was ahead of Swan in the LEGO Racers Chevrolet. Proctor was close on Swan’s heels and he was being chased by Rob Speak and Michael Vergers.
Kieran Dynes spinning into the wall at turn 4 Further back Kirkaldy began to lose touch as Ian McKellar Jr in the Torquespeed/ dsiAnyDoc Chevrolet began a surge up through the pack. After passing Andy Smith for tenth place, McKellar Jr overtook Kirkaldy and closed down on the leaders. Further back Derek Hayes in the MacDonald’s Pontiac dropped out of the race with gearbox problems. Up front Collins and Rehfeld were glued together, with Rehfeld making a number of attempts to take the lead. By Lap 15 White was 1.4 seconds back, but was 1.3 seconds ahead of Swan. The field began to stretch out with Proctor fifth ahead of Speak, Vergers, Shaun Richardson and McKellar Jr. On Lap 26 Vergers began to drop back with both Richardson and McKellar Jr moving ahead of him. With only one yellow flag period the pitstop window approached quickly with all but the leader Collins diving for the pits on Lap 29. White had a superb stop to get out in front of Rehfeld, but Collins had a blindingly quick change a lap later and shot out of the pits with a commanding lead of more than four seconds. As the field sorted out it was Collins who led from White, Rehfeld, Swan, Richardson, McKellar Jr and Vergers. Speak lost a lap with problems in the pits, while John Mickel moved up to eighth. On Lap 33 Rehfeld passed White after the pair ran side-by-side for an entire lap, with White only giving up the position into Turn One on Lap 34. The positions stayed the same until the second and final yellow flag period for debris on the track came out on Lap 40 after Alejandro Lince glanced the wall between Turns Two and Three. The race was restarted on Lap 46, but Rehfeld was unable to take advantage and Collins soon powered ahead again. Swan tried to move past White, but White kept his foot in and held position. Behind them, however, McKellar Jr was making rapid headway, and forced his way past Swan and took third place from White on Lap 48.
Ian McKellar Jr on his way to 3rd place With ten laps to go, Collins edged ahead of Rehfeld, the German star unable to keep tabs with the leader. McKellar Jr was now being harried again by White and Swan, while Richardson held off Vergers. On his own in eighth place was Mickel, while Smith had moved ahead of Proctor after a long battle, only to lose that position on the last lap. Collins was able to stroke his Chevrolet home to win as he pleased, with Rehfeld second 1.4 seconds back. McKellar Jr was 4.2 seconds back in third, just six-tenths ahead of White. Swan had made a desperate bid to move ahead of White on the last lap but his attempt unravelled and with the pack bunching up behind him, Vergers came out best to finish fifth ahead of Richardson. Swan came home seventh, with Mickel, Proctor and Smith rounding out the top ten. Collins was delighted with his win. “My pitstop was absolutely mega,” he said. “The team have worked really hard on pitstops in the last couple of weeks. The RML team is a championship-winning team.” DAYS OF THUNDER ROUND 9 RESULT
DAYS OF THUNDER POINTS AFTER ROUND 9
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Photo's
of the Minardi 2 seater Formula 1 in celebrity race at Rockingham
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Photos
from the meetings gig at Rockingham Motor Speedway by THE DARKNESS
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