The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Andy Molsom held onto his lead at the top of the Caterham Graduates Championship after another strong showing at Thruxton.
The Spalding racer, of Molsom and Associates Optometrists, managed finishes of fifth and third at rounds seven and eight of the series.
Qualifying went well for Molsom at the United Kingdom’s fastest track as the South Holland race ace secured two fine fourth-placed starts.
Race one then saw Molsom make a good start from fourth on the grid and he was soon up to third. However, he was caught out by some oil left on the track on the second lap and his progress was halted.
Upon re-joining he was in last place, but Molsom quickly set about chasing down the pack ahead.
He soon made his way back up to fifth, but despite breaking the lap record with an average speed of over 96mph, he couldn’t catch the lead group of cars.
Race two was closely fought from the off, with an excellent start propelling Molsom into the lead at the end of the first lap.
Due to the slipstreaming nature of the high speed Thruxton circuit, there were multiple lead changes every lap. It also began raining on half of the track, so grip levels were changing every lap.
Molsom eventually finished the race in a creditable third to maintain his championship advantage.
Molsom said: “Thruxton is unlike any other circuit, it is flat out for most of it, with just two braking areas.
“This lends itself to close racing, as slipstreaming makes a huge difference to lap times. It was a good weekend. I was unlucky in the first race, but still a solid weekends results.”
Another positive for Molsom was that the fastest lap he clocked in the first race broke the existing lap record by nearly half a second.
