NEWMAN’S FIRST

The new Roadsport season kicked off at Brands Hatch, where William James claimed pole for race one.

It wouldn’t take long for Geoff Newman, one of the outgoing Academy champions to steal the lead at Druids. He would get locked into a battle with his 2021 title rival Freddie Chiddicks out in front, but a mid-race red flag brought the action to a temporary halt. A brief safety car delayed the true restart, but while Newman eventually took the flag first, a time penalty for a false start pushed him down to ninth. This gave Charlie Lower victory with James in second and Paul Woodman completing the podium. Another red flag at the start characterised the second race on Sunday, which saw Lower dominant from start to finish to complete the double ahead of Chiddicks and Benja Hedley.

Snetterton was next and it provided Newman a chance to bounce back, and that he did by storming to pole by over a second before dicing with first Lower and then Chiddicks to pick up his first win of 2022. Buoyed by this result, Newman then survived three starts to the second race after startline incidents brought two red flags, before keeping Chiddicks at bay to complete the double in Norfolk, as Lower again joined them in the top three. Mixed conditions on the Silverstone GP circuit brought a challenge to all drivers, but once again Newman was in command from the front with Woodman giving chase in second before he spun out in the damp conditions. A late safety car eradicated Newman’s lead, before he was relegated to third place on the final lap behind winner Chiddicks and James, after Lower was given a track limits penalty. A lengthy five car skirmish dominated Sunday’s race, with Newman pipping Chiddicks by less than a tenth and Woodman completing the top three finishers. There was almost no stopping Newman again heading to a sunny Donington Park at the half-way stage of the season, taking two more wins to extend his championship lead. The first race saw Geoff chased down most of the way by

Theo Theato, but he would end up in fourth after both Chiddicks and Jones stole the podium spots away from him after a late safety car. Newman then had to fend off Lower early doors on Sunday and the pair ended up in a race of their own after Chiddicks faded, the two cars just three tenths apart at the finish line. Lower was then able to fight back with some superb form on the Welsh coast, as Charlie’s visit to Anglesey yielded a brace of wins for himself. From pole in the first race, he led through a safety car and then capitalised on Newman slipping from the lead to fifth on the final lap to pick up victory from Theato and Marc Jones. Lower was more dominant the next day, leaving Theato to fend off Newman until he claimed 2nd in the final couple of minutes.

Just two weekends remained to settle the title, the first being the Knockhill Super Round with racing in both directions of the Scottish circuit. Another safety car affected race occurred on Saturday, but either side of the brief pause Newman still had enough to answer any attacks from his rivals to take victory and another step towards the championship, as Lower and Chiddicks trailed in behind him. In reverse direction on Sunday, Newman had to settle for 4th after being hit early on by Woodman, while out in front a new winner was James Cook, after Lower retired late on to also promote Chiddicks and Kendle into the podium spots.

Only Silverstone’s International circuit stood in the way of deciding the champion for 2022, with a triple header to round off the campaign. Lower drew first blood in race one from Newman and Chiddicks, before Newman’s victory in the second race effectively gave him the title with Chiddicks and Lower trailing. With no need to contest the last race, Newman put his feet up and watched the scrap for runner up in points from the sidelines, with Lower managing to grab it by 12 points from Chiddicks and solidifying it with the final race win of the year, just a couple of tenths ahead in the end.