May 29, 2009
Published on tags: Superleague
Ten long, breathless laps.

This is how long Dave Carr-Smith had to hold on to his lead in the British Grand Prix, with a rampant Joe Consiglio looking to exploit any single mistake of the Woods Racing driver to snatch a fourth win of the season that would have put a clear mark on the Drivers' Championships. For ten laps, Carr-Smith closed every space, defended every corner and made sure nothing could get in the way of his first ever victory in the GPVWC.

Carr-Smith and Consiglio provided an incredible show for all the fans - both would have deserved full points. With two different strategies (1 stop for the English driver, 2 for the Maltese), the turning point of the race could have only been the last pit stop round: thanks to an outstanding second stint, Consiglio managed to close his gap to just 7 seconds, enabling him to mount an attack on his rival that, unfortunately for the Nordsjoen driver, didn't succeed.

Mark Wicks completed a fantastic day for Woods Racing with a third position, ahead of Jyri Lylykorpi, Phil Perkins, Steve Bridge, Chris Allen and Richard Bayes. With Adam Rouse not taking part and Janne Tanskanen retiring after yet another contact with a lapped driver, the day was a considerable success for all the drivers scoring points.

The opening laps, in true fashion for this season, were an eventful series of minor and major mistakes, costing the race to Manrique, Ponissi, Mullins and Fuller. Phil Cullen, who had started in P3 due to an amazing qualification effort, dropped low in the positions due to a poor start, and performed some good overtaking to recover places, only to eventually retire in another disappointing outing for the Irish driver. There wasn't any luck for his fellow countryman Kieran Ryan - damage to his car forcing him to limp home in 9th.