Whyte tops the Super Tourers at Rockingham

Historic Racing News

Stewart Whyte dominated the final weekend of the Super Touring Trophy when 1990s touring cars supported their modern counterparts at the BTCC meeting at Rockingham (5/6 September).

The Scotsman’s Honda Accord won both races and Stewart was confirmed as winner of the HSCC series for the second time in three years.

On Saturday, Whyte pulled clear as former BTCC racers John Cleland (Vauxhall Vectra) and Patrick Watts (Peugeot 406) battled for second. Eventually Cleland got the place but only by half a second. Renault Clio racer Paul Rivett took his Honda Accord to fourth while Mark Smith was a class-winning fifth in his BMW M3.

Out-going champion James Dodd (Honda Accord) suffered driveshaft problems in qualifying and then retired with a broken wishbone in the race. That left him to start the second race from the back of the grid along with his father Graeme (Honda Accord) and Simon Garrad (Opel Vectra) who had also hit problems.

Sunday’s race ran was pretty much a repeat as Whyte scored another commanding victory and Cleland was again able to fend off Watts for second place.

Graeme Dodd worked up from the back of the grid to take fourth, while Smith, Tony Absalom (Vauxhall Cavalier) and Mark Wright (Ford Escort Mk2) all won their classes. Out of luck again was James Dodd who retired after a first-lap tangle with Garrad.

Whyte was a deserving title winner: “The season has been pretty good,” he said. “This is my second season with this car and it took us a wee while just to get used to it, but I think we’ve just got on top of it this year and how to get a good set up on it.”

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