MANY OF OUR RICH ENERGY-BACKED TEAMS AND AMBASSADORS WERE IN ACTION THIS WEEKEND AND AS IS USUALLY THE CASE IN SPORT, THERE WERE MIXED RESULTS FOR ALL
photo: Chris Dittmann Racing/Jakob Ebrey
Professional sport isn’t easy, if it was we would all be doing it. A well-used phrase to describe a race weekend is ‘full of ups and downs’ and that describes the trials and tribulations of our RICH Energy ambassadors and supported teams as they competed across Europe in their chosen fields. From British F3 to FIM World Sidecars and from BTCC to the Porsche Supercup, it was a weekend of drama and excitement in equal measure.
British F3 driver, Max Marzorati, continued his learning curve in the championship with his Chris Dittmann Racing team as Round 2 got underway at Silverstone. Qualifying 16th and 14th on the grid for the opening two races, it was a tough start as despite making ground up through the opening race he was handed a 5-second penalty for exceeding track limits. Race 2 was a more positive affair as Marzorati progressed to 13 overall which, with the reverse grid for race 3, meant a front-row start. The CDR man got off to a flying start and lead the pack before being clipped by another driver, causing a puncture and retirement from the race; a disappointing end to a race that had so much promise for the young driver.
Former BTCC driver and Sears Trophy winner, Michael Crees was in action in Austria in the Porsche Supercup. After the near-miss last time out in Monaco, it was a chance for the Kent man to make his mark on the series. Having never driven the Spielberg circuit before there wasn’t much time to get bearings before Qualifying, during which the Team Parker Racing driver spun out, bringing out the red flag. Technical issues blighted the weekend and the race was, unfortunately, the same story for Creesy and the team but with back-to-back races in Austria, they don’t have to wait long to go again.
Brands Hatch was the scene for Rounds 7, 8, and 9 of the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship this weekend as RICH Energy-backed Adrian Flux with Power Maxed Racing was looking to bounce back after a tough last outing at Snetterton. Qualifying was one of the closest sessions ever as the top 20 were covered by less than 0.7s and as the flag dropped it was P17 and P12 for the duo, Jason Plato and Dan Lloyd, for Race 1 of the weekend. Progression came in the race as the pairing battled their way to 11th for Dan and 13th for Jason. Race 2 brought a return to the top ten for PMR as some strong determined driving thrust the Astras into 6th and 8th respectively before a crescendo finish was almost realised as Jason Plato agonisingly missed a podium in the third race by just a fraction of a second; P4 for Jason Plato and P7 for Dan Lloyd and his 33kg of success ballast.
While the British Sidecar Championship enjoyed its opening round at Oulton Park, Rich Energy’s own sidecar man, Tim Reeves was with passenger Kevin Rousseau in Hungary hoping to back up their success in Le Mans at the opening round of the Sidecar World Championship. The weekend didn’t quite work out the same way as France as, after winning the race, a technical discrepancy saw the duo disqualified due to a non-homologated engine part. It was nothing underhand from the team, just a genuine mistake with a recently-purchased engine as explained by Reeves after the race.
Finally, RICH Energy OMG Racing was in action at Oulton Park for the opening round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship. Small technical issues prevented the squad from reaching their full potential but a phenomenal performance from Brad Ray and Kyle Ryde in Race 2 of the weekend gave a real buzz to the team and a big glimpse of the potential of bike and riders. National Superstock contender, Billy McConnell debuted the white and gold sugar-free livery over the weekend and to the delight of the team took a deserved 3rd place in the race.