Dunn dominates MaX5 opener

The 2016 MaX5 Racing Championship got off to an absolutely thrilling start this weekend at Oulton Park and it was a weeked dominated by Nick Dunn.

Initially in qualifying it looked like Richard Breland would be quickest after he set the fastest lap on his first and only flying lap but a late session push from Nick Dunn propelled the number seventeen car into pole position by 0.757 seconds with a time of 1:44:018. Mark three cars locked out the top eight positions with Chris Webster, Steve Dolman, Ged Kelly, Russell Tamplin, Geoff Gouriet and Ian Loversidge lining up behind Dunn and Breland. The new mark four in the hands of Paul Roddison made a solid debut, qualifying nineth with a 1:47:004 with Jeremy Shipley rounding out the top ten just 0.073 seconds behind Roddison. The mark one class saw it's highest qualifier in position fourteen for Guy Carter with class rival Ben Hancy just 0.028 seconds behind.

Race one proved to be an action packed race. Drama started on just lap five where Chris Bexon and Richard Smith, both making their debuts in a mark three, suffered accidents wiping both out on the spot. Bexon would start race two but Richard Smith was done for the day, not an ideal start to the reigning mark one champions season.

Elsewhere there were plenty of battles to keep the fans excited, Dunn took the lead of the start but he would be very closely pursued by Richard Breland and the pair would never be more than a second apart ultimately ending the race with just 0.948 seconds between them. However a five second penalty would be handed to Breland for exceeding track limits but such was the dominance of the lead pair, Breland would still be classified second as third placed Chris Webster was a full 9.638 seconds behind the race winner. Russell Tamplin very nearly clinched a podium as he finished just 0.421 seconds of the back of Webster. Steve Dolman rounded out the top five. Paul Roddison would bring the new mark four home in seventh, two places ahead of where he'd started, just under sixth tenths of a second behind the sixth placed Geoff Gouriet. Ben Hancy won the mark one class in fifteenth 4.311 seconds ahead of his main rival Guy Carter with Simon Orange completing the mark one podium.

Race two would once again see a total domination by Nick Dunn and Richard Breland this time though it was Richard Breland who took the victory with just under one second splitting the pair at the chequered flag. Once again Chris Webster and Russell Tamplin would have a race long battle for third and Webster would come out on top for the second time in the weekend with just 0.330 seconds splitting them but both would be well over fifteen seconds off the pace of the lead pair. Steve Dolman again completed the top five just over half a second behind Tamplin. Roddison would again bring the mark four home in seventh. Ged Kelly, Ian Loversidge and George Grant would round out the top ten. The drive of the race though came from Chris Bexon who stormed up the field from twenty sixth on the grid to sixteenth by the end of the race. Guy Carter would win the mark one class ahead of race winner Ben Hancy with Andrew Bayliss completing the mark one podium.

Oulton Park proved to be a thrilling weekend and Nick Dunn and Richard Breland have already established dominance at the head of the field, the others have a lot of catcing up to do. Similarly, Ben Hancy and Guy Carter are set to have an epic battle for the mark one class championship. Croft is the next round of the championship on the 23-34th of April and it should be an absolutely epic weekend that you won't want to miss.

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