Hat-trick success for West Wickham driver (From News Shopper)

Hat-trick success for West Wickham driver

12:22pm Wednesday 9th May 2012 in Other Sport

WEST Wickham driver Gary Duckman enjoyed a winning treble at Donington Park in his Excel r8 Motorsport run Seat Leon.

It was the perfect response from Duckman after he missed out on the top step of the podium in the opening rounds of the Dunlop Production Touring Car Trophy at Oulton Park.

In race one after qualifying in pole, Duckman found the track greasy in parts for the first race, which some rival drivers soon found out too.

It was dry until they all lined up to start, then the rain came down pretty hard and they were all caught out on slicks.

The rain only lasted a few minutes, but it was enough to make the first few laps tricky.

Duckman made a good start and was off into the lead down Craner curves all the way up to McLean’s before he lost the back in the damp conditions and thought he would go off.

However, pretty much all of the cars behind did the same, giving Duckman a six second lead as they all re-joined.

It was then a case of managing the gap and driving a sensible controlled race, with Duckman eventually setting fastest lap and winning by more than six seconds.

In race two the track was dry and Duckman made a poor start with Joe Girling getting in front of him into the first corner.

Duckman and Girling had a great battle for about six laps, with Girling building a good lead before Duckman found some extra pace and started to reel him back in while again setting the fastest lap in the process.

Unfortunately for Girling he had an alternator failure and had to retire, making the overtake easy.

Duckman then saw himself thru to an easy win as he had made a big gap on the rest of the field.

In the final race of the daym with the top six reversed Duckman shared the third row with Luke Caudle.

The new leader Stewart Calder was immediately under attack from the Excelr8 Seat’s of Caudle and Duckman, both surging past into Goddards.

“It was like a team manoeuvre I couldn’t turn in,” said Calder after dropping to third.

It was nose to tail at the front as they pulled well clear of the rest, but Caudle only managed to hold the reins until lap four when Duckman shot ahead into Goddards before hitting a kerb hard on the exit.

“If I hadn’t backed off I think Gary would have come through the side door,” added Caudle.

After completing his hat-trick of the weekend Duckman said “I had a long brake pedal and didn’t feel comfortable, as I thought I might have broken something when I hit the kerb hard.

“I was over the moon with how the weekend went.

“The guys at Excel r8 Motorsport delivered me a winning car and now we will all look forward to round six, seven and eight at my home racetrack Brands Hatch on Saturday and Sunday.”

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