Rounds 7 and 8 
Croix en Ternois, Saturday/Sunday July 19th/20th, 17 and 15 Laps

Slinn quickest but fails to finish - twice.

Mike Luck and James Lindley took the spoils during a double header round of the MG XPOWER Clubmans Cup at the French circuit of Croix-en-Ternois over the weekend (19/20 July). However, for championship leader Matthew Slinn it was a tough weekend. Despite being the fastest driver on the track, he was forced to retire from both races and left France with a reduced lead in the championship that enjoys support from Powertrain Ltd and Ricardo Plc. 
Slinn was on target to win the opening race on Saturday when a puncture forced him into the pits on the 10th lap of 17. Luck, who had earlier fought ahead of Lindley, was ideally placed to profit from Slinn's drama and took the Dart to its first win. However, with Lindley less than half a second behind, Luck could never relax for a moment. 
A cracking three-way battle raged for third as Barry Webb just fended off Adrian Lester and Guy Woodward as a scant second and a half split the three cars at the flag. For Lester, this was a best result so far in the new Mallock Mk35. 
After an early re-start, the second race provided more pain for Slinn. Having started from the back of the grid after his non-finish on Saturday, Matthew had carved his way through to fourth place in the space of five laps. He then spent the next five laps working ahead of Lester and Webb, only to be forced out of second place with two laps to run. 
Ahead of all this, Lindley scored a fine victory, extending his winning margin to almost seven seconds with a classy display. Lester went even better than in the first race to grab second from Webb as Peter Richings battled through to fourth after a troubled opening race. Luck spun early on at L'Epingle and dropped down the order before climbing back to fifth. 

(Paul Lawrence)

Adrian Lester shelters from the monsoon conditions at Croix in the cockpit of his Mallock Mk35.