A Brace for Primett on Anglesey
CNC HEADS SPORTS SALOON CHAMPIONSHIP 2026 - RACE REPORT
Rounds 9, 10 & 11 – Anglesey
TWO FOR PRIMETT AND ONE FOR ROBERTS AT TY CROES
It wouldn’t be a CNC Heads weekend at Anglesey without drama, and we certainly had it this time around.
Two wins for Mark Primettt and one for Chris Roberts, but Connor Modro, Deri Davies and Andrew Armiger all came close to that top step of the podium.
QUALIFYING
Roberts was straight into his stride and was already four seconds clear of his nearest challenger, just three laps into the session. But when he pitted with six seconds left on the clock, the the gap to second placed Andy Thomas’s Ginetta G56 GTA had been 4.209 secs, but by the time the chequered flag came out it was halved.
“I like the wet and we are praying for rain in the first race too. I made one stop to see if we were OK, check the pressures and did one final lap to the end of the session,” said Roberts. Thomas had duelled for second best with Primett’s MG Midget for much of the session, but while he went two seconds clear on his last lap, Primett’s session ended prematurely and he was almost caught by Ryan Nelson’s Ginetta G56 GTA. “Full wets, a good session and car just felt mega,” Thomas added. “I was on skinny wets, which were OK when it’s pouring, but when it wasn’t I came in to save them,” Primett replied.
Modro’s Westfield Widebody came through unscathed to head Oliver Thomas’ Subaru Impreza on the next row, while despite a fairly short session, Garry Wardle’s Seat Cupra TCR was still seventh best, just 0.139 secs up on Armiger’s Vauxhall Tigra. “Qualifying went great, no gremlins at all,” Modro explained. “I came out late on full wets, did a couple of laps on a drying track and came in again. The car felt good though and it was nice to be back out again,” said Wardle.
Paul Rankin’s Westfield Aero and Jamie Cryer’s Ginetta G20 completed the top 10 qualifiers, but the Scot was considerably shy of his usual pace with gearbox issues.
Rob Wakelin was now using the engine from his Peugeot 205. “We are now Class B, it was very slippery and I was trying to bed in brakes and sort a new suspension set up. I struggled with a weak front LSD and lots of understeer exiting the corners though,” he explained after qualifying 11th, closely followed by Jason Hennefer’s Ford Fiesta ST180. “I still had a misfire, not too bad but my wet tyres were going off too,” Hennefer added.
Simon Hutt’s BMW Z4 and Steven Parker’s BMW M235i were split by just 0.151s, as they shared row seven. While behind them Stuart Burnett’s Spire GTR continues to improve. “Wets for qualifying, all good though, but the suspension felt a bit hard, but everything ran OK,” Parker explained. “It was my first time here, a bit slippy and slidey but fairly comfortable on the wets,” Burnett added.
Matthew Jones’ Ford Focus RS Turbo was next up, with Ric Wood’s Ford Escort RSR alongside, but Wood only completed a handful of laps. Jonty Lee’s Honda Civic then headed a trio for Class E pole, taking top spot by 0.641 secs from Paul Dobson’s Mazda RX7, with Chris Stone’s Honda Civic following to complete the top 20 overall. “That was my first time qualifying in the wet with this car. It felt absolutely mega,” said Lee.
Next up was Simon Graveley’s VW Golf GTi, from Nigel Beardsmore’s Ford Escort RSR and the Honda Civic’s of Louie Dobson and Rob Phillips. “I thought I was going to have about five cars to race with after this session, but proved how wrong I was,” said Graveley. Deri Davies’ Darrian T90 is usually a top six qualifier, he was left in 25th after just four laps of the session. “I was on the wet tyres that came with the car about six years ago and it was awful. So I did three laps and came in,” he admitted.
Errol Taylor’s Toyota Yaris, Duncan Aukland’s Proton Putra and Nick Haynes’ TVR Chimaera all made it through, but neither Mike Hurst’s Seat Supercopa nor Brian Glisenan’s Renault Clio managed to make their three qualifying laps. “We had a fuel issue, maybe a connection, a blockage or a sensor. But it’s stood for seven years since I was out last time,” said Hurst.
RACE ONE
From lights out Roberts led Primett into Target. Initially third into the Banking Hairpin, Thomas was lucky to make the exit. “There was just no grip as I turned in and I just managed to catch it on the lockstop. I had wheelspin off the line too and there just seemed to be patches with no grip at all, fortunately I didn’t get hit,” said Thomas. “It actually did me a favour and gave me more room,” Primett replied.
Modro was therefore third into Church, but Rankin was already pulling off with more gearbox issues. So Armiger crossed the line to complete the opening lap in fourth, followed by the recovering Thomas, who had Nelson’s similar Ginetta in his wheel tracks, while in seventh was Oliver Thomas who had his customary excellent launch off the line until his path was blocked. Wardle was eighth but under pressure from Davies, who had flown from the back of the grid, while Cryer rounded off the early top 10.
The lead quartet had begun to edge clear, but the pressure was now on Nelson, who had Wardle and Davies threatening, after they both demoted Oliver Thomas on lap two. Primett started to challenge Roberts’ lead and after an abortive foray into the Bus Stop, he was through on the inside at the Hairpin with four laps gone. Modro and Armiger had both been able to consolidate their positions, as Thomas’ fifth place came under attack from Davies, swapping on lap four, as Nelson and Wardle duelled for seventh with Cryer closing to.
Primett had managed to double his lead within a lap, which left Roberts under threat from the closing Modro, while behind them Davies was still flying and had his sights set on Armiger’s fourth place. Wardle was into the pits though, “something fell out from under the dash, it was on the floor and I felt it against my foot, so felt it best to pit and check it,” he explained. Nelson was now clear in seventh, with Cryer up to eighth, with the Escort’s of Beardsmore and Wood completing the top 10.
It was all change at the front though on lap six, with the top three nose to tail down to the Bus Stop. “I lost my gears, a box of neutrals and came out in third place,” said Primett, after Modro had taken full advantage to lead past the pits, with Roberts holding station in second. Modro had finally got his break and quickly extended his lead to almost three seconds by the end of lap eight, with Primett having retaken second at Peel as well. “I had really hoped it was going to wet again, as exiting the slower corners the lighter cars just annihilated me. They just take off and I was killing my brake pads too, so needed to be more sensible,” Roberts explained, after backing off in a safe third. I wasn’t over though as Primett started to reel in Modro’s lead again. “I assumed Chris’ tyres had gone off and it became clear that Connor had an issue too,” said Primett.
A lap from home Primett made his move at the Hairpin again and with Modro unable to respond, took the victory by 4.958 secs. “After losing the lead with the box of neutrals, I just had to get my head back in gear too, calm down and comeback, which I did,” said Primett.
“It was going well and then I suddenly lost power, it had been so good and then I was just happy to see the flag,” Modro admitted, after a plug had broken and got into the engine. Roberts still took maximum points for his Championship quest, “it was a bit like I got bullied by the smaller cars. The traction issue on the tight stuff, and they just reeled me in. I tried my best though,” Roberts added.
Davies’ charge had taken him past Armiger on lap eight, he was a comfortable fourth but hoped for better. “I was a bit cautious off the start, but then remembered I was here to race. It did take a while to get through, but when I caught Andrew, I made sure I did it properly,” he explained.
Class A winner Thomas closed in on Armiger too in the final laps and was only 0.250 secs shy of fifth at the flag. Nelson gradually lost ground on his rivals but still kept Cryer safely at bay, while Beardsmore and Class E winner Paul Dobson ran solo to complete the top 10.
Parker snatched 11th from Hennefer at the Bus Stop a couple of laps from home too, “we had a really good battle and I chased him for three or four laps, but I think he hit the rev limiter,” said Parker. “Going into Rocket in third gear it just went flat, it was OK on the straights, but bad out of the hairpins,” Hennefer replied.
Next home was Burnett, right in the midfield mix with more drama than expected. “A pin came out of the rear bodywork and it just let go of itself on the straight, but we recovered it intact thank goodness,” he explained. Wakelin was in the battle with Parker and Burnett too in the early stages, “it went well apart from the understeer that carried on from qualifying,” he said.
Jones was 15th, followed by Hutt, Phillips and the recovering Wardle, while Stone and Aukland rounded off the top 20. Wood was 21st after an issue in his ex Piers Grange Escort which sent him pitwards, while Graveley was disappointed not to have anyone to race with.
Haynes, Taylor and Lee completed the classified finishers. “My start was Ok and was up for a good race, but three abreast into the Bus Stop after four laps didn’t work and it damaged my steering,” Lee explained. Louie Dobson was a late retirement too, which handed Taylor the win in Class F
RACE TWO
Roberts made a storming start to head Primett, Armiger, Thomas, Nelson, Cryer and Wakelin onto the Banking. But amazingly Davies had gone from the back of the grid to seventh in just one lap, with Hennefer, Wakelin and Parker the rest of the top 10.
Primett was soon threatening for the lead again as the top three escaped, but Davies had already picked off Nelson and Cryer on the second lap and was closing in on fourth placed Thomas, who had escaped from his early dual with Nelson. Wardle was playing catch up after a spin on the green flag lap, but he wasn’t the only one as Beardsmore and Modro were charging too, the latter having changed to brother Alek’s usual Westfield.
Davies saw off Thomas and Armiger on consecutive laps, into third and closing by the end of lap four, with Modro’s progress taking him past Nelson for sixth, with Cryer, Beardsmore and Wardle covering the rest of the top 10 still. A lap later it was three for lead into the Hairpin, with Roberts just holding on as they exited. But Modro had just taken Thomas for fifth and soon had Armiger in sight.
Primett had managed to nose ahead too, but now Davies was looking for a piece of the action too, as Roberts was still well within reach. Modro had vacated fifth with a blown engine though and Wardle was first to find the oil. However, Primett was the next casualty, which put him out of the race and left Roberts under attack from Davies.
Davies almost joined the retirements a lap later, when he appeared to leave his braking way too late at the Banking. He nosed ahead of Roberts, before spinning off onto the grass before rejoining with second place still intact.
From there it was comfortable for Roberts, taking the flag 8.49 secs clear of Davies. “I tried to create the widest M4 in history, defended, backed up then used the power on the straights. Hopefully there is still one more race left in these brake pads too,” said Roberts. “Yes I found the oil as I tried to take Chris around the outside. After the spin I managed to get back in and just nursed it back to pace,” Davies added.
Primett’s demise left Armiger with a solid third, “my first time at Anglesey. I really enjoyed it but Deri was flying, then I has over cautious as I had a big gap behind,” he said. Thomas was a late casualty too with a rear puncture, which moved Cryer, Beardsmore and Nelson up to complete the top six.
Wardle and Dobson were next home, with Parker and Hennefer continuing their dual from race one, to round off the top 10, after a late spin dropped Jones to 12th behind Burnett.
Wakelin, Stone, Hutt and Aukland followed, before Louie Dobson came in to claim his Class F win. Lee, Graveley, Hurst, Haynes, Taylor and Gilsenan were the final finishers.
RACE THREE
With Davies missing from pole and Primett starting at the back, it was an interesting start to the weekends finale. Armiger had the lead through Target, from Roberts and Cryer. Primett was flying and he and Burnett went either side of Wakelin for eighth into the Banking, before he took Wardle at the Hairpin.
It was fairly comfortable at the front for Armiger and Roberts, but Primett had already seen off Dobson, Beardsmore and Nelson for fourth by the end of lap two and was closing in on Cryer’s third place. While Wardle was still in eighth, Hennefer’s ninth place was coming under increasing pressure from Thomas. The lead continued to grow as Armiger looked ever more comfortable out in front, but once Primett had got Cryer, the gap to the lead pair began to close rapidly.
Further down the order Thomas took Hennefer on lap three, while behind them Burnett was running solo, with a decent gap back to Wakelin and Hutt, before Parker, Graveley and Phillips were having a great scrap for 14th place.
Having succumbed to Primett, Cryer then lost fourth to Nelson, but as in so many CNC Heads races it soon changed, as Armiger’s door started to come open and by the start of lap five the lead trio were nose to tail. “My elbow must have caught the door release and pulled the pin out, so the door opened and I had to hold it for the rest of the race. I had the pace for the win in that one I’m sure,” Armiger explained.
By the end of the lap Primett led after taking Roberts onto the GP Loop and Armiger into the Hairpin, with Roberts into second, before Nelson and Cryer followed a lap later as Armiger fell back. Primett pushed on over the second half of the race to take his second win of the weekend by massive 15.417 secs over Roberts. “It’s all in one piece and overall two wins is a good weekend aggregate,” he said.
Roberts was an equally comfortable second too, “my strategy was just to cruise and bring it home for maximum class points again, and I did the job,” he replied.
Class A winner Nelson and Cryer retained a solid third and fourth place, despite Cryer picking up a false start penalty. Beardsmore was fifth on the road, but he picked a penalty at the start too, dropping him to sixth behind Thomas, while seventh placed Dobson took another class E win and remains the biggest treat to Roberts’ title hopes.
Burnett and Wakelin dualled for a while, but by midrace Hennefer had taken them both to come home eighth, from Wakelin, leaving Burnett to round off the top 10. Armiger finally took the flag 11th and a lap down, while a strong finish from David Jones took him past Hutt, Parker and Graveley in the final five laps to clinch 12th overall and second in Class.
After losing out to Jones at Target with two laps left, Hutt held onto 13th, aided by Parker and Graveley’s dual behind, while behind them was little to split Stone and Lee, Aukland also demoted Class F winner Louie Dobson in the final laps, while Haynes, Taylor and Gilsenan rounded off the classified finishers, after both Wardle and Phillips retired.
The weekend also had the Cam Forbes Trophy, in memory of a lost racer. It was Duncan Aukland’s turn to be the recipient after a troublefree weekend. “ Started each race and finished them,” he concluded.
Published by Peter Scherer for BARC North West, September 16th 2026