Lundqvist & Reid Remain On Course For Sunoco Challenge Titles

Linus Lundqvist tightened his grip on this year’s Sunoco Whelen Challenge last weekend at Spa-Francorchamps where the BRDC Formula 3 Championship was joined by British GT. Meanwhile, at Oulton Park, Kyle Reid’s march towards Sunoco’s 240 Challenge was slowed only slightly during the latest Mini Challenge Cooper and JCW rounds.

Whelen: Lundqvist’s Competition To Lose

Linus Lundqvist’s lead now stands at a very healthy 14 points after two victories helped maintain his 102-point season average.

By contrast, Phil Keen scored just 55 points during his British GT3 outing in Belgium, which cut his overall average by 4.58 to 88. That might have been enough to retain second overall but the Barwell driver now requires an exceptional end to his 2018 campaign and a dip in Lundqvist’s form if he’s to become the first-ever two-time Sunoco Challenge winner.

Troubled weekends for several other British GT3 Pros and F3 drivers has allowed Radical European Masters racer Stuart Moseley to move back up to third. However, he will be relying on bigger grids next time out if he’s to apply serious pressure on Keen and Lundqvist ahead.

Lundqvist’s bid for this season’s British F3 crown and Sunoco Whelen Challenge Rolex 24 At Daytona prize drive both benefitted from a poor weekend for Nicolai Kjaergaard who’s now unlikely to recover from his current 68-point season average, while British GT3 Pro team-mates Marco Sorensen and Nicki Thiim also saw their slim chances effectively ended at Spa. The TF Sport pair are separated by just 0.79 points in fifth and sixth, the latter a position Thiim now shares with British GT title rival and former Whelen winner Jonny Adam.

Yelmer Buurman and Kush Maini both remain inside the top-10 and one place ahead of new British GT4 Championship leader Jack Mitchell whose consecutive class victories have helped improve his season’s average no end.

240: Reid Gives Rivals A Glimmer Of Hope

Kyle Reid’s supreme start to the season ensured even a slight wobble would impact on his high average score, and so it proved for the first time in 2018 at Oulton Park. Nevertheless, extra points for Race 2 pole position and victory ensured his overall score remains a still formidable 116.67.

That’s 14.59 more than Radical Challenge racer Steve Burgess, who wasn’t in action last weekend, and another 3.51 ahead of Mini Challenge JCW championship leader Ant Whorton-Eales who rocketed from eighth to third after improving his average by more than 10 points.

Dominic Jackson, just like Radical rival Burgess, has another chance to make inroads into Reid’s advantage next weekend, while Mini Challenge JCW duo Nathan Harrison and Jordan Collard complete the top-six with 90 and 88.57 points, respectively.

Kelvin Fletcher has slipped from fourth to seventh despite finishing second in British GT4’s Pro/Am class. Robbie Dalgleish (Mini Challenge Cooper), Jon Minshaw (British GT3 Am) and Rob Smith (Mini Challenge JCW) complete the top-10.

Lundqvist & Reid Gear Up For Crunch Sunoco Challenge Weekends

There’s been little change at the top of both Sunoco Challenge standings despite two bumper weekends featuring myriad Whelen and 240-eligible series.

Instead, attention has switched to Spa-Francorchamps and Oulton Park on July 21/22 when both competitions’ current front-runners – Linus Lundqvist and Kyle Reid – continue their respective BRDC British F3 and Mini Challenge Cooper campaigns.

However, that’s not to say recent events have had no impact at all on the pursuit of a fully-funded seat in 2019’s Rolex 24 At Daytona and its official 240-mile GT4 support race.

Indeed, the senior Sunoco Whelen Challenge now appears a two-horse contest between current leader Lundqvist and 2015 winner Phil Keen – currently 9.92 points behind – following Stuart Moseley’s frustrating Radical European Masters outing at the Hungaroring last weekend.

 

Moseley once again demonstrated his undoubted pace en route to a brace of victories, another podium, two pole positions and one fastest lap. However, an entry comprising just five cars meant far fewer marks were available for each of those achievements, which reduced his overall season’s average by almost 10 points. Thus, Moseley’s new 75.89-point total is not only 26.61 lower than Lundqvist’s current benchmark but also only good enough for fifth overall.

The two beneficiaries, Nicolai Kjaergaard and Nicki Thiim, ensure that British F3 and British GT3 Pro drivers now lock out the overall top-four, as well as filling positions six to nine. Patrik Matthiesen is the best placed British GT4 Pro in 10th, while Brad Smith remains LMP3 Cup’s leading contender in 15th despite another low turnout at Spa two weeks ago.

It’s a similar story in the Sunoco 240 Challenge where runaway leader Kyle Reid must continue his incredible start to the Mini Challenge Cooper campaign at Spa next weekend if he’s to once again strengthen an already significant advantage.

The SCK Motorsport driver’s lead has actually increased in recent weeks after both Steve Burgess and Dominic Jackson failed to make inroads during their Radical UK Challenge outing at Spa. Their respective deficits now stand at 21.49 and 26.9 points ahead of Reid’s upcoming assignment at Oulton Park.

A host of leading British GT3 and GT4 Am drivers will also be competing simultaneously at Spa-Francorchamps where Kelvin Fletcher will be eager to continue his recent climb up the rankings. Fletcher has been British GT4’s standout amateur in recent rounds and now lies less than 10 points behind Jackson in fourth.

Robbie Dalgleish has the power to boost his own 240 score while taking points out of Cooper rival Reid when he also visits Oulton Park, while Jon Minshaw is best placed of British GT3’s Am contingent in sixth overall.