KIRKALDY IN CONTROL DURING TESTING
ELF Clio Renaultsport UK Cup championship leader Paul Rivett (Banstead)
could wrap up the 2002 title at Brands Hatch on Bank Holiday Monday but
it
was Scottish rival Andrew Kirkaldy (St Andrews, Fife) who led the way
in
testing at the Kent track today.
The Bintcliffe Sport Racing driver, who trails Rivett by 35 points in
the
provisional standings, looked comfortable around the 1.2 mile Indy
Circuit
as he lapped with a best time of 52.384 seconds, a full two 10ths of a
second quicker than Mardi Gras Motorsports Daniel Buxton (Cuddington)
Solihulls Oli Wilkinson posted the third quickest time for Stancombe
Vehicle Engineering, as he looks to build on a seasons best finish at
Knockhill in Scotland two weeks ago, while Martin Byford (Sudbury,
Suffolk)
was fourth with a time of 52.782.
Knockhill winner Jason Templeman (Newark) was fifth for Total Control
Racing, champion-elect Rivett was ninth for Team Firstair, a full seven
10ths of a second behind Kirkaldy, and Cambridges Robert Huff was 11th
for
Tim Sugden Motorsport.
Taking the end of season "dropped score" ruling into account at this
stage,
Paul Rivett actually leads the championship from Huff by virtue of the
fact
the Cambridge driver failed to finish round 7 of the series at Thruxton
and
therefore has zero points to deduct.
Kirkaldy meanwhile has to drop eight points as things currently stand
so a
win is vital if he has any hope of taking the championship down to the
wire
at Donington Park next month.
The battle for the NGK Laser Platinum Pole Position will be decided in
Sundays half-hour qualifying session which starts at 16.25. Mondays
25-lap
race starts at 15.20.
For full times go to www.mstworld.com
Points (provisional): 1st Paul Rivett 277pts; 2nd Andrew Kirkaldy 242;
3rd
Robert Huff 241; 4th Martin Byford 234; 5th Daniel Buxton 181; 6th Ed
Pead
179.