Motorsport: Liam Doran Takes First Win

Lydden Hill Motorsport Club Winter Series - Round 1 - 03.01.09 - Liam Doran Takes First Win

Liam Doran made the quantum leap from a spectacular, but erratic teenage racer to a mature, successful Rallycross driver with a well-judged victory in Saturday’s opening round of the Lydden Winter Series.

Driving the ex-Dermot Carnegie Fiesta now owned by his father Pat, motorsport supremo at the circuit, Doran, 21, refused to be rattled when he was beaten away from the start. He pushed on consistently, made only one small mistake when he clipped a course marker and went on to win by almost six seconds.

The event featured a welcome novelty: the “joker” lap. Each driver had to choose one lap of each race to complete an extra loop at Chesson’s Drift. The trick, of course, was to choose when to leave the pack and when to dive back into the fray.

Koen Pauwels’ Focus ST made the best start to the Supercar Final, while just behind him Doran found the nose of Steve Hill’s Mitsubishi Evo nuzzling his driver’s door. Once the Belgian had built up a couple of lengths lead he baled-out early for his joker and left Doran to pull out a useful lead over Hill.

When Pauwels swooped back onto the main track he had the momentum to squeeze past Hill as they slithered out of Chesson’s Drift and that was sufficient to secure second place. Hill, who had set a new track record during the heats, had to be content with third.

Afterwards a delighted Doran said “I hit Koen up the back when he braked early for the first corner. The impact shifted my mirrors and so I had no idea I was home and dry until the last lap.”

Julian Godfrey made the successful transition to Supermodifieds when he led all the way in the Final. Ryan Lawford emerged triumphant after a tremendous Stock Hatch battle with Darren Clark and Tom Keet won the RX150 Final after Ollie O’Donovan had spun out of a comfortable lead.

Two drivers from the Canterbury area starred in the best race of Saturday’s first round of the Winter Rallycross Series at Lydden Circuit, Ryan Lawford, from Blean was the quickest qualifier for the Stock Hatch event but Darren Clark, who lives at Chartham was not far behind. So the scene was set for a thrilling final. Their two 205 GTI Peugeots raced away from the start side by side, but then Clark elected to take his joker lap early and swerved onto the extra loop which has recently been added at Chesson’s Drift.

That left Lawford way out in front, but when he played his joker next time around he discovered that he had fallen behind Clark. Nevertheless he launched his car off the loop with extra momentum, drew alongside Clark and then inched ahead as they raced across The Meadow.

For the next two laps their cars seemed tied together until Clark lost control, skidded sideways through the slime at the Devil’s Elbow and ended up in the sand trap. Even so, he was still able to scramble back onto the track and claim second place ahead of Robert Ward’s Peugeot 205 GTI. Lawford, 22, was delighted to do so well in his first race of the year. The technician for the British Touring Car Championship’s Eurotech team said “I've just rebuilt the engine and the track was very, very slippery so I was pleased to finish so well.” He added “I think the joker lap is a brilliant new idea – it makes the racing even more exciting.”

Lydden Motorsport Club Winter Series – Round One
Supercars: 1 Liam Doran (Ford Fiesta ST) 3m37.451s;
2 Koen Pauwels (Ford Focus ST) 3m43.279s;
3 Steve Hill (Mitsubishi Evo) 3m45.930s.

Supermodified: Julian Godfrey (Ford Fiesta ST) 3m57.544s; 2 Stuart Emery (Peugeot 306); 3 Ray Morgan (Ford Escort Mk.3); 4 Daniel O’Brien (Ford Ka).
Stock Hatch: 1 Ryan Lawford (Peugeot 205 GTI) 4m19.251s; 2 Darren Clark (Peugeot 205 GTI); 3 Robert Ward (Peugeot 205 GTI). No other finishers.
RX150: 1 Tom Keet 4m03.834s; 2 Joe Shrimpton; 3 Ollie O’Donovan; 4 Alex Ingham.

Juniors: 1 Bradley Bailey (BL Mini) 4m34.352s. No other starters.