Monoposto - Oulton Park International - June 13th

Morgan McCourt returned to the Oulton Park International circuit last weekend as the Monoposto Championship made its annual visit to the picturesque Cheshire track. The Selco-backed Leastone 1000 ran consistently inside the top three of the M1000 field, leaving Morgan encouraged by his pace, despite circumstances preventing the results to match.

Qualifying

McCourt built on a strong showing from Friday testing, to establish himself as a podium contender during qualifying, steadily improving throughout the 15-minute session, and ending up 3^rd of the M1000 runners and 5^th overall.

Race 1

An early safety car prevented Morgan from taking advantage at the start but he held position through the opening laps. His consistent pace after the restart enabled him to keep in touch with the lead group before settling into a comfortable 3^rd place. For much of the race he held fifth place overall and looked well placed to secure the final M1000 podium spot.

However, as the race entered its closing stages, the handling balance of the Leastone began to deteriorate. His pace dropped off dramatically on the penultimate lap and he slipped to 5^th in class, nursing the car home for some valuable championship points. A rear hub issue was cited as the cause of this dramatic drop in pace and with a compressed timetable, the team faced a race against time to get his Leastone 1000 ready for Race 2.

Race 2

The second race promised an opportunity for McCourt to build on his early Race 1 pace, starting again 5^th overall and 3^rd in class. However, Race 2 was a short lived affair when a suspension component failed on the opening lap, possibly as a result of the Race 1 issue.

Despite the disappointing results, Morgan and the team drew encouragement from the pace shown throughout the weekend and their ability to contend for a podium, with Morgan also recording his fastest-ever lap around the demanding International circuit.

The Monoposto Championship now moves to Snetterton on 25/26 July, where the field will tackle the technical 300 layout at the former Norfolk airfield.

But first, team boss Paul Heavey will travel to Autodrom Most in Czechia to tackle the Carbonia Cup on the 9^th of July!