Championship situation after 12 rounds

[robmar]

Following the recent round at Curborough 12 of 16 rounds have now been completed in this years speed championship sponsored by Autoglym and the class and championship standings are starting to take shape.

 

Each class is calculated based upon the best 7 scores, with each round the winner getting 100 points*.

 

In class 1 Paul Boston (699.52) is leading the way and looks in a solid position for this year, only Paul Brown (693.57) can catch him and would need to win all 4 remaining events to have any chance. The minor placing’s being fought over between Alan Johnson (693.84), Paul Brown (693.57) and new comer Robert Jacobs (495.87) who if can do enough rounds may be looking to sneak into the top 3.

 

Matthew Jenkins (700.00) in class 2 has made it 2 in row and is the 2011 Class 2 champion. 2nd and 3rd is a five way fight between Graham Howard (690.86), Paul Collins (687.66), Jon Ward (685.77), Robert Spencer (685.52) and Alan Bowler (683.81)

 

The top of class 3 is as always very competitive and the top spot looks to be a battle between Richard Price (696.03) who has the points on the board against David Nelson (597.98). However don’t discount last year’s novice championship winner Tom Price (694.98) from the running. Mark Gibson (693.88) and Jeff Smith (691.74) will be looking for some strong end of season results to try and grab 3rd place.

 

Chris Howard-Harris (700.00) has retained his class 4 champions’ status for the second successive year after a string of record breaking runs, even though he was unable to win at Curborough. 2nd and 3rd places look to be a competition between Stuart Miller (695.75), Mike Sankey (693.15), Paul Forster (691.71) and the new Curborough class 4 record holder Shaun Elwell (593.57)

 

Class 5 is a 2 way competition between 3 times class 5 champion Simon Rogers (689.39) and Mark Durrant (687.27) who is looking to add class 5 to his previous class2 and 4 championships, however Simon has confirmed he has finished for the season on Mark just needs a 97.4 score to become champion. The third place looks to be safe for Rob Margel (675.24) unless Dale Head (387.97) or Darren Luke (300.00) compete in all the remaining events.

 

In the ladies championshipwhere the best of 5 rounds count Lynn Gilbert (482.853) is almost certain to retain her crown for the 3rd year in a row with a record score already. Suzanne Gibson (469.25) is looking likely to be runner up again and with 3rd place likely to go to Judith Hickey (462.88).

 

Like the ladies the novice championship is based upon the best of 5 rounds to count and looks to be a battle between Simon Bryer (388.42) and Chris Johnson (295.66).

 

The overall champion is for 2011 decided based on each class champions score against various class records, now that the season is coming to an end and we have a clearer picture of what is happening Chris Howard Harris is in a strong position to become the first person even to retain back to back overall championships. In reality the only people likely to beat Chris are Richard Price and David Nelson who will need to put together some record breaking runs in the last few events to have any chance.

 

Rob