Arriving at Croft for round 8 of the Skoda Octavia Cup, Steve Pearce found himself in the midsts of a frustrating period of racing, having run at the front in almost every race so far of the season but seemingly finding a way to lose it at the death. That was however put to bed with a superb victory at the track in deepest Yorkshire.

Qualifying saw a battle between Pearce and Senna Grand Prix's Paul Todd, the pair miles clear of the rest of the field. It was Todd who took pole position though, thanks to an error by Pearce on his final timed lap.

The start though in this Endurance round would be more crucial than ever, and it was Pearce that made the better one, taking the lead half way around the first lap, as the pair pulled away from Andy Paxton and Craig Sharpe behind. Steve Jones had good initial pace but found himself spinning 3 times in a row at the same corner, before taking his pit stop early and setting about catching Graham Larder in the battle for 5th.

So that left a battle for victory between Todd and Pearce and a battle for 3rd, some 20 seconds behind, between Paxton and Sharpe. To his surprise and immense satisfaction, Pearce's race pace matched that of qualifying and he found himself opening up the slenderest of leads over Todd, which grew so large that by the time of the pit stops, only a McLaren-esque debacle in the pits would see him rejoin in 2nd.

As it was that didnt happen, with the vMax Sim Racing driver emerging ahead and settling in for an easy run to the flag. Behind though it was all go between Paxton and Sharpe, the former on a charge in the closing laps before a mistake would see him come up just 2 seconds short. And at the back it was Jones that caught Larder right at the end to take 5th.

Jesper Bayers is quick, we know this. Most people can deal with being a second or so behind in qualifying, but Tuesday night saw something exceptional. Granted, the 13.8km Circuit de la Sarthe at Le Mans is quite a long lap, but a pole position by almost 7 seconds from your own teammate and 14 seconds from anyone else is truly breathtaking.

And the race didnt change for the other challengers much either. Carstend Dyndegaard put up a brave initial fight, staying close to Bayers for the opening lap before fellow Dane Bayers got into his groove. A mistake shortly after would allow Steve Pearce in to 2nd place briefly, before he fell off and dropped back to 3rd. Paul Selvidge had the worst luck, hitting the dreaded Escape key and retiring on lap 2 much to everyones amusement.

Meanwhile Steve Jones was plodding along in 4th, having pitted early on for repairs to his Maserati MC-12. But the race would get really tough around midway with a shower making the track even more treacherous. First to get caught out was Pearce who lost it at the first Mulsanne Straight chicane and hit the barriers hard, and retiring there and then. Dyndegaard would follow later, falling out of a healthy second place and handing it to Jones.

But truly the race was all about Bayers' pace at the front, on a track he claims to have done hundreds of laps around. And with pace like that he'll be difficult to beat anywhere!

Ben Crocker doesnt race Porsche's often; he claims not to like them. But that would have been obvious for all those in attendance at Croft, after the Welshman's blistering pace in the pair of races that made up round 3 of the championship.

It was championship leader Steve Pearce that took pole position despite his ballast penalty from Mariusz Wisniewski and Steve Jones. But it didnt take long for Crocker to find his way to the front, where he would lead all but the opening 2 laps on route to his first victory of the season. Behind, Jones outdueled a struggling Pearce for second place, whilst Wisniewski recovered from early spins to finish 4th.

Race 2 saw Crocker therefore loaded up with maximum success ballast and, coupled with starting at the back of the grid, it was expected he would struggle a bit more. Wisniewski would prove to be the closest challenger early on, leading the opening lap before losing out to Pearce and Jones Wisniewski, before Crocker took the lead ultimately on lap 5.

Pearce found the walls altogether too inviting and would retire with heavy damage on lap 9, whilst Wisniewski joined the retirees on lap 15, leaving Jones and Crocker to fight it out to the finish. Crocker's excellent pace though saw him home, by just 6 seconds from Jones.

Round 2 of the Champcar Series took place last weekend from Texas Motor Speedway, a track known for its ultra high speeds and very close racing. Senna Grand Prix found themselves in the mix throughout but it was Paul Todd who survived the drama behind to take a comfortable victory.

Andy Paxton had taken pole position, on a grid where less than 2 tenths seperated the front 5 with speeds reaching well in excess of 240mph. Steve Jones though managed to get the best start and soon got into the lead, as a 4 car group emerged at the front. Behind them were last weeks winner Steve Pearce and Scott Webber, both struggling with understeer, who were soon joined by Ken Hunter and Graham Larder.

Meanwhile at the front, pit stops came with the race running green for much of the opening half leaving Todd way out in front, but a yellow flag thanks to a spin by Pearce bunched the field back up, but trapped a number of drivers a lap down. Some quick yellows allowed Paxton to get back towards the lead lap, and with 40 laps to the finish it was anyones race. Not, that is, unless you count Larder who having received a black flag for pit speeding was unable to clear it and would finish 38 laps behind.

On the restart Todd made a break with Paxton and soon put some distance between him and the cars behind, crucially breaking the draft. Jones and Mariusz Wisniewski teamed up to chase Todd down, but would ultimately come up a long way short. Meanwhile behind them Pearce got the best of the battle for 5th with Ken Hunter coming home a further 2 laps clear, just infront of Scott Webber.