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Debut Victory with Ray - 31/05/0707
Gough Racing celebrated victory at the all new Anglesey Racing Circuit on Sunday, debuting the new Ray GRS07 in Rounds 3 & 4 of the Carphone Warehouse powering Talk Talk North-West Club Formula Ford Championship.
Running the all new Ray GRS07 chassis for first time in testing, Stuart Gough ended the two days of running fastest by over half a second, despite not running on new tyres. Qualifying, however, did not entirely go to plan, with a spark plug failing on the out lap. After frantic work by the team, Stuart was able to make it back to the circuit, but with just a few minutes of the session left, he was only able set a lap time good enough for 6th on the grid.
Race one (Round 3) was very much a case of the race that never was. The original start was red flagged at the end of lap one as Nigel Doe had spun on the exit of turn one, the unfortunate Neil Pattern collecting the spinning Van Diemen. The re-started race lasted just two laps further following another race stoppage. Mark Chadwick, having fended off an attack by Stuart, was tipped into a frightening roll by Rob Whelan. With little time to re-run the race the officials declared the race a result, Tom Bradshaw the victor for Northstar Motorsport from the Medina Sport pairing of James Cole and Gary Jones. Stuart was classified in fourth position, disappointed the race had not run its full distance.
The starting grid for round 4 of the championship was taken from the results of the first race, with Stuart starting from fourth as rain began to fell. Gambling on setup, Gough Racing set the Ray for damp conditions. Leading at the end of lap one seemed to justify their decision as Stuart began to build a lead that reached nearly four seconds at the half way point. By this point the rain had passed and the circuit quickly dried. Despite a slight misfire and losing considerable time passing backmarkers, Stuart was able to drive to his second victory of the season ahead of Gary Jones and Tom Bradshaw. A delighted Gough Racing with Oldfield's Autos were clearly ecstatic with their debut with Ray.
"I am delighted to have won on our debut with the Ray GRS07, which is a testament to all the hard work by the team on the lead up to the event", commented Stuart. "The car itself was faultless all weekend and shows real promise for the rest of the season. We are really excited by the potential of the car and it was certainly a lot of fun to drive!
"Qualifying and race one was a disappointment, but we responded in the best possible way in race two. I actually drove well within myself and was able to monitor the gap back to Gary who drove really well, although it was a bit too close at the end!
"Many thanks to the team for all their hard work, Oldfield's Autos and Ray for their support. We are leading the championship and I'm really looking forward to seeing how we go at Oulton Park at the end of June"
