Allaway and Roberts win at Donington Truck Meeting

CNC HEADS SPORTS SALOON CHAMPIONSHIP 2026 - RACE REPORT

Rounds 7 & 8 - Donington Park

ALLAWAY & ROBERTS TAKE WINS IN RED FLAG DOMINATED WEEKEND.

It wasn’t the best weekend for the CNC Heads Sports Saloon Car Championship, as it visited Donington Park for the second time this season.

After a twice red flagged qualifying session, Simon Allaway won a red flagged race one on the road, but he was later penalised and a first CNC victory went to Richard Wright. The penalty was later rescinded handing the win back to Allaway.

Only two racing laps counted in race two, but two red flags curtailed the action, and Chris Roberts was declared the winner.

QUALIFYING

Championship leader Roberts qualified his BMW M4 on pole, over a minute quicker than second placed Richard Wright’s Solution F BMW. “I managed to get some decent laps in and was going for a quicker one at the end when Dobbo spun,” said Roberts. “I had a few decent laps too, but maybe more to come, we’ll see,” Wright replied. Simon Allaway and Chris Roberts

Allaway’s Lotus Esprit V8 headed the second row, “we had tweaked the suspension and it was awful, all over the place under braking,” he explained. Zack Booth’s Renault Megane R26 was alongside, “it’s fast but it was just the traffic,” he said. Connor Modro had hopefully solved his electrical maladies from Oulton and qualified fifth best. “More to come though,” he reckoned. He had Anton Landon’s Fisher Fury sharing the third row, “it got faster but I tried hanging back to get a better time, not too bad though,” Landon reckoned.

It was an all Ginetta GTA line-up on the next row, and both white too. Andy Thomas just pipped Ryan Nelson by 0.647 secs. “I never got a clear lap, so nowhere near my testing times,” said Thomas. “I didn’t even have time to bed my brakes in and had issues with the master cylinder,” Nelson added. Jas Sapra’s BMW 1M and CNC debutant Thomas Dilly’s Escort RSR completed the top 10. “It’s only my second ever race after moving from Hot Rods,” said Dilly, who was out in the ex Lea Wood car.

“Everything was working Ok but I was two seconds off my best without a clear lap,” said Cryer. “I was disappointed too after a good test day. I just couldn’t get clear, but it’s fired me up for the race,” said BMW M3 racer Ross Hampson in only his second weekend of racing. Paul Dobson’s Mazda RX7 had a fairly troublefree run and set his best time on his last completed lap for 13th best. “Trying to take Chris Roberts around the outside at Coppice would be a lunatic manoeuvre, so I tried it,” he explained after bringing out a second red flag to end the session.

Jon Price was fairly happy with his Vauxhall Tigra too. “It was a bit like a three-lap wonder session, I was just warmed up,” he said. James Owen was out in Dad Darren’s Escort RSR,” the slave cylinder went and we’ve only just had a new clutch,” said Daz, as he headed Jason Hennefer’s Fiesta ST180 on the eighth row. “It’s still misfiring, but it was all over just as I was getting a sweat on,” he added.

Tom Frankland and Lee Bull were both out for their CNC seasonal debuts. Frankland had an issue with his Renault 5GT Turbo, “there was a loose electrical connection, it was OK but got worse,” he explained. But for Bull it was all over for his Clio, “a cylinder intake valve snapped , the engine’s destroyed,” he confirmed. Andrew Armiger had been trying to bed in the brakes on his Vauxhall Tigra, “I couldn’t get a clear lap in though, then it was red and red again,” he said.

Riccy Walker’s Mini F56 rounded off the top 20, despite a spin exiting the chicane. “It wasn’t nice facing oncoming traffic, I think it was one gear too much,” he reckoned. “It was OK I suppose,” said Howard Hunt, as his MG ZS180 was next best, with Jonjo Lee’s Honda Civic alongside, closely followed by Chris Stone’s Honda Civic and Steven Parker’s BMW M235i. “I had road tyres on with the sensors and it kept giving me tyre pressure warning messages,” Parker explained.

Jon Madoc-Jones was back out in his BMW E46 330 and just managed to outqualify Richy Briscow’s Renault Megane, as the latter still seeks to make his first race start. “It felt good, I just need to stop the rear brake pads from binding,” said Briscow. Gary Warburton’s Spaceframe Mini was next, “I came in early as it was getting hot and didn’t seem worth staying out,” he reckoned.

Stuart Burnett is now able to learn to drive his Spire GTR now it’s runs cleanly. “So many things were wrong, so we have made lots of changes,” he admitted. Marshall Groves’ Vauxhall Vectra and Simon Hutt’s BMW completed the top 30 qualifiers. “I was bedding pads in and then it was red, then just got on the throttle and was it was red again,” said Groves. Stuart Burnett in his Spire GTR

“I just drove around,” said Rob Wakelin, but was still quickest in Class F. But next to him was Mark Primett’s MG Midget, which had to pit when the bootlid began to act like an air brake. “It bent the rear wing and mounts too, plus the clutch was dragging,” Primett explained.

Louie Dobson went for caution when his Honda Civic showed signs of overheating. “I we had a new radiator and I was just playing safe,” he admitted. Paul Wright’s Subaru Impreza, Bob Claxton’s VW Golf and Daz Owen’s Mercedes SLK followed, “we had to pull out there were too many problems,” Owen explained.

Errol Taylor’s Toyota Yaris came through unscathed too, while Nick Haynes’ TVR Chimaera, Andrew Gash’s Peugeot 207 Gti, Simon Graveley’s W Golf, Robert Buckland’s misfiring Clio and Ralph Underwood’s TR7 V8 completed the 42 car line-up. Alek Modro’s Westfield Widebody didn’t even make the assembly area though, before the clutch went.

RACE ONE

From lights out Roberts led the charge into Redgate, from Allaway, Wright and Booth, with Modro taking Landon for fifth. But Modro’s race was soon over, “it just cut out at McLeans, it’s our same electrical problem,” he explained. The top four soon started to pair off leaving Landon in a solitary fifth, while Paul Dobson was in sixth, as Cryer came under pressure from Hampson for seventh. Parker’s charge was soon thwarted when he spun on the second lap and dropped to 32nd. “Unbalanced tyres, I hit the rumble strip at McLeans and was off,” he said.

Allaway had the lead on lap three, as Roberts pace began to reduce. After slipping down to 11th within the next two laps, the pitlane beckoned for the Championship leader. “I was penalised for a jump start then started to lose boost from lap two. It got worse so I came in and then just rejoined and cruised,” said Roberts. Booth was now second but under growing pressure from Wright, while Hampson was flying in fourth, having taken the duelling Dobson and Cryer, who had also shared a couple of exchanges.

Both Armiger and Primett had qualified well down but had made rapid progress and were into the top six by the end of lap six, with Landon still on his own, but now seventh, ahead of the continuing Dobson v Cryer dual. Although Allaway continued to set the pace, Wright’s pressure finally told on Booth as he took second on lap seven. With the top four well clear, Primett took Armiger on the Craner Curves for fifth, while the dual for eighth had allowed Thomas to close. Mark Primett coming from the back to Class win in his MG Midget

It was now fairly settled at the front, with Allaway having gradually extended his lead to just under four seconds. “I had a good start, second in Redgate and then went ahead on the Exhibition Centre Straight with a run on Chris. I was relieved to a get a finish after all my hard work,” he said.

Both Wright and Booth had issues at the end, but Wright was retained second by just over a second from the Megane driver. “I got a good start, and it was a hard dual with Zack. I started to lose power with a coil pack issue, but made good progress with the car,” said Wright. “I was fourth and managed to catch Richard and got him at Coppice on the third lap. I couldn’t get away and lost third and fourth gear, and he got me back at the chicane four laps later,” Booth replied.

But the race was prematurely ended when Hampson hit the wall exiting the chicane a lap from home, bringing out the red flags. Primett therefore picked up a clear fourth and Class B win over class rival Armiger, with Landon completing the top six. “Once I got past I shook off Andrew with relative ease, but couldn’t catch the BMW. “It was fairly easy progress through the field, but didn’t want red mist as I played my joker and was cautious not to throw it away,” he explained. “It was good early progress with Mark, then I lost the gap to him among the backmarkers,” Armiger replied.

It was Landon’s first time back since the Oulton opener and he was delighted with sixth. “I lost a couple of places at the start, then it got a bit lonely. Loads of traffic though and my first time on slicks, but I still haven’t found the limits,” he admitted. Once Thomas had managed to split Cryer’s dual with Dobson, it took him a couple of laps to see off Cryer too. “I had a great scrap with Dobbo and then Andy’s Ginetta too. But once he got me, I got my head down and closed the gap again at the end,” Cryer explained. “Jamie had got me earlier when I lost a few places, but I got him back into the chicane,” Thomas replied.

Despite a 15 secs track limit penalty, Dobson still held onto ninth and keeps his 100% record intact in Class E. “I had a great dual in the first half, but then got the back off warning,” he said. Dilly’s ex Lea Wood Escort RSR and Price’s Vauxhall Tigra was another dual that went down to the wire, split by just 0.267secs after swapping a lap from home. “Not bad for only my second ever race in the car,” said Dilly. “We were swapping and changing and then I lost my brakes,” Price added.

Hennefer was a lap down in 12th. “I had a god start and kept up, but then my misfire came back so I tried to drive around it short shifting,” he explained. Sapra’s BMW had issues too, “it just felt flat, but I still made progress, despite a couple of grassy excursions,” he admitted.

Second in Class D and 14th overall left Walker delighted. “That Parker BMW was in front of me until he spun, but after I got away from Jonjo it was a bit lonely,” he said. Lee still followed him home but the gap had grown to eight seconds. It was still enough for second in Class E though. “I’m still getting used to the car, but I did hang onto Riccy for a while,” he said.

Parker’s recovery brought him back to 16th, after taking Hunt’s MG a couple of laps from home. “It was lonely and then I got lapped,” Hunt admitted. “After the spin I drive within my limits, then it overheated and the warning lights came on,” Parker added.

Warburton, Burnett and Stone rounded off the top 20. “Great scrap with Gary and no issues,” said Burnett. “Absolutely buzzing,” Warburton replied. Louie Dobson was next home and the Class F winner, after taking rival Wakelin on lap eight. “Apart from running wide through the gravel at Coppice, no issues, but great passing Rob to win the class,” he said.

Madoc-Jones was next home from Wakelin. “I just lost power, I think it was the fuel pump and I just limped to the flag,” Wakelin added. Briscow came in next on his debut, “I had an off at Redgate, but the slave cylinder’s gone,” he explained. Paul Wright made it home too, “but the fuel pump went with a few laps to go,” he added. He was followed by Taylor, Graveley, Haynes, the ailing Roberts and Gash.

James Owen had been a first lap casualty when his alternator failed, Claxton soon joined him, while Nelson retired with brake issues and Frankland was on three cylinders after four laps. Groves retired with gear selection problems, Hutt broke a suspension strut at the Old Hairpin, a misfire claimed Buckland’s Clio, while Underwood completed the 10 retirements.

RACE TWO

There had been a number of casualties from the first race, including Wright’s second placed BMW. But it was still a 33 car line up.

Allaway led into Redgate, but Roberts was soon ahead, while Booth and Landon settled in the top four, from Thomas and Sapra. Into Coppice for the second time Groves and Price were chasing Frankland and there was contact, with both of them in the gravel. Back at the front Roberts was clear but Allaway was struggling to keep Booth at bay, as the exited the chicane side by side.

The safety car was out to recover the stricken cars from Coppice, but Booth was parked up too. “No gears, I just had to pull off,” he said. Out too was Wakelin, whose engine went bang with a flash of flames exiting the chicane and the caution became a red flag. Gary Warburton before hitting the barrier

Attempts to restart again for 10 minutes came to nought when Warburton was tapped as they left the grid, spearing him hard into the pitwall. Gary came away with severe back ache and bruising, but his car was not so lucky. The result was declared at two laps, with Roberts the winner, from Allaway, with Landon, Sapra, Thomas and Modro the erst of the top six. “I was away cruising and listening to Taylor Swift,” Roberts reckoned.

Published by Peter Scherer for BARC NW, August 11th 2026