Sutton’s pair of heat wins gifted him pole position for the final with Palmer alongside and Robinson and
Williams on row two. Walsh’s consistency netted him fifth starting spot with Hall sixth and Fletcher only tenth after he failed to back up his opening heat victory with any other meaningful results.
With a clear track ahead of him Sutton wasted no time in confirming his rivals fears and jetting into a substantial early lead. Palmer broke free of the pack in second and began to give chase, getting the gap down to just a shade over half a second by mid distance. Both drivers traded fastest lap after fastest lap with Palmer getting the gap down to just three tenths as they entered the final tour. However Sutton saved his best for last and laid down the fastest lap of the entire day on the last lap to keep Palmer at bay and end a static yet breathless chase.
Nearly five seconds behind the top two Walsh edged out Robinson and an ecstatic Williams for third place while Bowyer gained six places from grid 12 to finish sixth. Coleman won the battle of the ladies with a fine run to eighth place while Fletcher dropped to 13th at the flag, behind the resurgent Gardiner.
One driver who didn’t feature in the fight for any of the major placings was the unfortunate Hall, who came off worst in an opening lap skirmish and failed to complete the lap thus ending a frustrating weekend for the round one winner.
JUNIOR ROTAX
Despite the addition of Philip Haworth to the fold, several absences had reduced the number of Junior Rotax competitors to a still very healthy 26 with all eyes on Scottish duo Robert Gilmour and Ross Dougan, who entered the weekend sitting 1-2 in the championship standings. But with just 41 points separating the top six drivers both Gilmour and Dougan knew that they had a fight on their hands to keep their overall advantage.
