18th Oct 2014: Ken Wharton Memorial International Results

Motorsport Ireland’s Autotest team narrowly beaten

Motorsport Ireland’s Autotest team were narrowly beaten into second place
by old rivals Northern Ireland in the Ken Wharton Memorial International
event in Warwickshire on Saturday, with less than four seconds separating
them in a total time of more than two thousand seconds.

The Ulster quartet, the pre-event favourites, led for the first three tests
but fell behind their southern opposition thanks to a series of line and
pylon penalties, giving the Irish team the upper hand for the next two
tests. However, Northern Ireland edged ahead again in the closing stages
and won by just 3.9 seconds in an exciting finish.

Navan driver Guy Foster was the hero of the Irish team, winning the
individual competition on his first visit to the event. He kept pace with
multiple champion Steven Ferguson on the opening tests and when the Tyrone
man made a slip, Foster went ahead and kept the lead to the finish despite
all Ferguson’s efforts to close the gap, winning by 4.6 seconds.

KEN WHARTON MEMORIAL TROPHY RYBROOK STRATFORD MINI INTERNATIONAL AUTOTEST
AT ARROW MILL, ALCESTER, WARWICKSHIRE:
1 Northern Ireland (Steven Ferguson, Robin Lyons, Paul Blair, Mark King)
2134.0s,
2 Republic of Ireland (Guy Foster, Eamonn Byrne, Timmy Lynch, David
Thompson) 2137.9s,
3 England (Paul Fobister, Dave Mosey, Richard Pinkney, Roger Holder)
2220.1s,
4 Guest Team (Steven Haigh/Dave Evans, Anthony Preston, Ian Chapman, Willie
Keaning) 2439.6s.

Individuals:
1 Guy Foster (Mini Special) 520.7s,
2 Steven Ferguson (Mini Special) 525.3s,
3 Robin Lyons (Mini) 525.8s,
4 David Thompson (Nova) 526.4s,
5 Eamonn Byrne (Mini) 529.5s,
6 Richard Pinkney (Caterham) 531.4s,
7 Mark King (Nova) 540.9s,
8 Paul Blair (Striker) 542.0s,
9 Paul Fobister (Haigh Special) 547.5s,
10 Dave Mosey (Mini) 554.3s,
11 Timmy Lynch (Westfield) 561.3s,
12 Roger Holder (Nova) 586.9s.
Class winners: Robin Lyons, Richard Pinkney, Guy Foster, David Thompson.

Reserves:
1 Dave Evans (Blitz Special) 552.1s,
2 Chris Grimes (Mini) 555.2s,
3 Chris Chapman (Striker) 556.4s,
4 Norman Ferguson (Mini) 556.7s,
5 Paul Mooney (Nova) 562.9s,
6 Paul Phelan (Mini Special) 564.6s.
Class winners: Chris Grimes, Chris Chapman, Dave Evans, Paul Mooney.