The British Automobile Racing Club (BARC) hosted the final circuit racing event of 2019 at Oulton Park when typical October weather saw heavy rain all morning improving somewhat for the afternoon.
On the programme of four-wheel action were races for the Dunlop Endurance Championship, Michelin Clio Cup, CNC Heads Sports/Saloons and Mighty Minis.
The local CNC Heads Championship had two races of 20 minutes plus one-lap duration.
A huge grid of 32 cars took the start for race one. On pole was Paul Dobson in his Locost with Allan Davies in his BMW M3 alongside.
Row two was Danny Bird in his Spire GTR and Steven Parker in his BMW Compact.
Due to the weather conditions and the size of the grid the race was started with two laps behind the safety car.
As the safety car pulled in, Dobson got the drop on everyone and was well ahead by the first corner, Bird slotting into second with Parker third.
By the end of lap one David Harvey had taken third in his Locosaki. The safety car boards came out briefly during lap two allowing Bird and Parker to close on Dobson, Bird getting the gap down to less than half a second at one point.
Meanwhile, Roddie Paterson was climbing through the field to take third on lap eight only to be disqualified for not slowing down for yellow flags which meant Harvey held onto third with Bird second and Dobson taking the win.
Race two saw Dobson again on pole this time with Bird alongside. Parker and Davies were on row two. Again the race was started with two laps behind the safety car.
As the safety car pulled in Dobson led away from Bird and Parker. Bird left the track going into the first corner on lap two and glanced the barriers restarting in twenty fourth place.
Roddie Patterson and a poor starting Allan Davies climbed to second and third by lap four at which point Dobson’s car appeared to develop a problem allowing Paterson to close and take the lead on lap nine with five minutes left.
Meanwhile, Bird had climbed back to 10th place. Dobson managed to hang onto Paterson and swept past on the final lap with only feet to spare to take the win by less the 0.046 seconds.
Davies came in a distant third and Robert Burkinshaw finished fourth, first in class and the 2019 championship winner. Bird managed to finish eighth after a sterling drive back through the field.
In other events there were wins for Ian Humphries and Steve Harris/Chris Hart in the Dunlop Endurance Championship.
Ronan Pearson and Ben Colburn took a win apiece in the Clio’s and Neven Kirkpatrick took two wins in the Mighty Minis.
