News
Brands Hatch - Daniel Welch
sets fastest Round 1 lap at 51.348 seconds.
9th March 2008 - The 2008 SEAT Cupra Championship looks set to be the most competitive
yet as two new drivers to the competition clinched race wins in Rounds
One and Two at Brands Hatch.
Reigning champion Jonathan Adam (Total Control Racing) now finds
himself in fourth spot in the Championship after the first meeting of the
season, with 2007 rival Carl Breeze (Blue Chip/ Welch Motorsport) above
him in second and well poised to challenge for this seasons’s title.
 The first race of the day was all about tyre choice, with Byford and Adam
both opting for wets. But it was soon clear that the track was drying and
with no sign of more rain the leading pair was soon loosing places at an
alarming rate. Lawson had pushed his slick tyres hard to keep on their
tails in the early damp and it paid off handsomely as he was able to power
past them once their wet tyres began to be ineffectual. Breeze and Daniel
Welch (Marriott/ Welch Motorsport) who both return to the Championship
this year, had also made the right choice and went on to secure second
and third spots respectively behind the impressive Lawson. Their fellow
team mate Jeremy Gumbley (millionpixeldriver.com/ Welch Motorsport)
also made a note-worthy debut, having not raced competitively for eleven
years yet still managing a fourth place finish in his first time back in the
driver’s seat.
It was a different story in Round Two though, Byford and Adam keen to
erase the earlier memories and the Kent weather putting no doubt in the
teams’ minds about what tyres were needed. Byford, starting from pole
position, launched hard and made sure victory was his to loose by the end
of the first lap with Lawson looking to make a similar statement about
second place. Behind them the real action was happening with Welch
making a great start to lead Adam and Breeze. But a problem with
Welch’s car (broken drive shaft) sent him wide at Druids on lap four which
allowed not only Adam and Breeze to pass, but also Freddy Nordström
Adam had soon caught up with Lawson and could smell a second place,
while Breeze was caught between chasing Adam or making sure the
eager Nordström didn’t usurp him from fourth spot. The attacking and
defending quartet of Lawson, Adam, Breeze and Nordström cancelled
each other out for the remainder of the race though, and by the end of the
22 laps they crossed the line in the same Lawson, Adam, Breeze and
Nordström pattern.
With Welch and Breeze finding their form, Adam will definitely have to
work hard this year if he is to retain his crown.
Quote
Carl Breeze: "If someone had offered us a second, third and a fourth after
qualifying we probably would have taken it. I think that puts me second in
the Championship now and we’ve got two weeks before Rockingham to
have a think about things, so were in a good position."
Round 1 Results.
1. Robert Lawson (Bardon/JHR) 19:17.827
2. Carl Breeze (Blue Chip/ Welch Motorsport) 19:21.581
3. Daniel Welch (Marriott/ Welch Motorsport) 19:22.054
4. Jeremy Gumbley (millionpixeldriver.com/Welch Motorsport)
19:24.166
5. David Nye (DW Nye Limited/ Daniels Motorsport) 19:43.882
6. James Appleby (Hardinge Machine Tools/ JWR) 19:46.917
Fastest Lap: Daniel Welch (Marriott/Welch Motorsport) 51.348
Round 2 Results.
1. Martin Byford (AB Glass/ Z Speed Racing) 19:03.898
2. Robert Lawson (Bardon/JHR) 19:03.898
3. Jonathan Adam (Total Control Racing) 19:06.694
4. Carl Breeze (Blue Chip/ Welch Motorsport) 19:08.109
5. Freddy Nordstrom (Plumbertraining.com/Advent Motorsport)
19:08.480
6. Daniel Rowbottom (DRM M-sport) 19:17.009
Fastest Lap: Martin Byford (AB Glass/ Z Speed Racing) 50.712*
* New SEAT Cupra Championship lap record
Championship Standings
1. Robert Lawson (Bardon/JHR) 37pts
2. Carl Breeze (Blue Chip/ Welch Motorsport) 30pts
3. Martin Byford (AB Glass/ Z Speed Racing) 26pts
4. Jonathan Adam (Total Control Racing) 19pts
5. James Appleby (Hardinge Machine Tools/ JWR) 17pts
6. Daniel Welch (Marriott/ Welch Motorsport) 16pts
= Daniel Rowbottom (DRM M-sport) 16pts
Rounds 3 and 4 the SEAT Cupra Championship take place at
Rockingham Motor Speedway on April 12/13.
Jeremy Gumbley ready for round 1 of the SEAT Cupra Championship 2008.
 March 2008 . . . . West Sussex multiple Kart Champion Jeremy Gumbley will this season be competing in this year's SEAT Cupra Championship in one of the top teams, Welch Motorsport.
After a positive testing program, Gumbley is confident that he can challenge for the title alongside his two team mates, Carl Breeze, third in last years championship and Daniel Welch who won several races in 2007.
Gumbley (pictured above left) said: "My aim is to be challenging for race wins from the first round and to ultimately win the SEAT Cupra Championship. Welch Motorsport are a fantastic team to be involved with and offers me a great package to be able to deliver the results."
Welch team boss John Welch said: "It's great to have a third driver of the calibre of Jeremy on board and with three talented drivers in the team it will help us be where we want to be, and that is winning races and having a great shot at the SEAT Cupra Championship.”
"We believe that we now have the strongest driver line-up on the grid."
Development work and testing will take place over the next few weeks, with testing planned at, Brands Hatch.
Gumbley hopes to be fully prepared for the season opener at Brands Hatch on Sunday, March 29th and 30th.
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February 2008 . . . . Welch
Motorsport will field an impressive driver line-up in this year’s SEAT
Cupra Championship, with multiple race winners Carl Breeze and Daniel
Welch teaming up in a pair of 300PS turbocharged Leon Cupras, run by the
Fleet-based team.
