Last lap crash robs Power of first win

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Mid Wales racing driver Ben Power was robbed of his first win in the UK Legends Championship, when drivers close behind him caused a last-lap crash.

Power, aged 21, from Guilsfield, near Welshpool, was set for his most successful meeting since switching from rallycross three years ago, until the dramatic incident.

In heat one at the Mallory Park event, he finished 4th from 12th on the grid, and in the second he took third place after starting 10th.

In the final, Power, who had worked his way from 13th on the grid, took the lead with a daring move around the outside of the two leading cars, three laps from home, and looked set for his first victory in the championship.

He entered Shaw's hairpin for the last time, with three cars close behind. Contact between them under braking, shunted them into Power, forcing him to spin off and out of the race.

A post-race altercation in the paddock resulted in two of the drivers involved in the incident - John Mickel and Stephen Treherne - being disqualified from the day’s racing, but Power’s position was not reinstated.

“It was an extremely frustrating day,” said Power, the former British Junior Rallycross Champion. “I deserved to win that race, and would have been overall top points scorer on the day too, giving me the event win”

“It’s hard to find the positives from the day, but at least it does show I have the ability to win at this level. Now we have to build on that as we prepare for the next round in South Wales in October.”

Legends racing originated on the US oval tracks, and the cars have an American look, being 5/8-scale replicas of classic US models. Guttercrest Racing runs a Ford Coupe 1937 replica, with a 1250cc Yamaha motorcycle engine.

With identical cars and the fastest drivers having to start at the back of the grid, there is said to be more overtaking in a single Legends race than in a whole season of Formula 1. Motors TV broadcasts most rounds of the series.

Guttercrest Racing is backed by the family-owned aluminium guttering company Guttercrest, based in Oswestry. The team has further Welsh support from Cardiff-based PR consultancy Weltch Media, as well as Ripla Designs.

The series continues at Pembrey in Carmarthenshire on October 8 and 9.