Mixed fortunes for Desborough racer Roger

There were mixed fortunes for Desborough racing driver Roger Owens in round four of the Hyundai Coupe Cup at Mallory Park.

While the circuit was wet for the practice session, by the time qualifying started the sun had come out and the track was dry.

Qualifying, which took part in two stages due to a red flag after three laps, was the closest of the year so far and while Owens qualified in 15th there was less than one second between him and second place and less than two hundredths of a second between Owens and seventh.

In race one, Owens made significant progress in the early stages, climbing to 12th after a number of committed overtakes around the outside of the slow and tight hairpin, before gaining a further place by switching to the inside of the same corner to grab 11th where he eventually finished for his highest position yet.

There were high hopes of building on that momentum in race two but running wide into turn one put the car into a spin and off into the grass, narrowly avoiding the tyre wall.

Owens was able to rejoin the race in last place. He was able to gain a couple of places due to others mechanical misfortunes and finished 16th.

While disappointed, Owens is optimistic for the remainder of the season, with the next event on the Silverstone National circuit on August 21 in a single 45-minute endurance style race.

“I was really pleased with qualifying although a little disappointed with the result as I think we could have progressed further if I wasn’t held up by a slower car in the latter stages of qualifying,” Owens said.

And, after race two, he added: “I’m absolutely gutted, not only for myself but the team, this whole year has been about developing and today we showed we have the pace to compete with the mid pack.

“Silverstone is going to be a completely different challenge, we’ve not raced for that long before, car reliability and tyre preservation is going to be key to a strong result.”

You can follow Owens’ progress on Instagram and Facebook @rogerowensracing and enquire about corporate sponsorship opportunities by email to [email protected]