OZZY OZANNE has added another autocross championship to his collection. The 33-year-old carpenter has been the dominant force in the sport locally for a number of years. So it was no surprise when at Chouet he picked up the 2007 Summer Championship crown at the last meeting.
Ozanne finished on 36 points ahead of runner-up Colin Bromley, who came home on 34. But the champion has some good news for his rivals - next year he will be changing his powerful two-litre 1986 Honda Prelude for his Jaguar Saloon XJ6 that he drives in the sand racing season.
‘It was pretty close this time but I’m retiring the Prelude,’ said Ozanne.
‘I’m going to be in a Jag so I probably won’t be winning it any more.’
To qualify for the main race at the last meeting, Ozanne defeated Richard Smith in the qualifiers, while Bromley got the better of Latvian driver Gatis Liepa.
Ozanne took the final race as Bromley crossed the line in second followed by third-placed Peter Jory and Darren Leadbeater in fourth.
Ozanne also claimed the grand slam championship. Both he and Leeroy Sebire failed to finish the last race but Ricky Bromley defeated his brother Colin and the title was Ozanne’s.
The champion pointed out that the conditions were not the easiest for the competitors.
‘It was a bumpy track and I was a bit worried about the car,’ said Ozanne.
‘The track hadn’t really recovered from the previous meeting the week before. It was very bumpy and very wet.’
For Jory it is clear why Ozanne is such a force in autocross.
‘He’s got a good car and at the end of the day, the machinery and his dedication to the sport have paid dividends,’ he said.
While Ozanne had a relatively easy time in taking the men’s title, the women’s was a different story and it came down to the last race.
Rosy Harding was celebrating come the end having taken the crown off Marilyn Robilliard, who was never challenged during this final encounter.
However, Harding had done enough during her debut season to score in every meeting to give her a decisive three-point advantage. It was a great achievement for Harding who only holds a provisional driving licence.
Peter Rose retained his standard tyres championship after he won the last race having gained points in every meeting. Nigel Ozanne came second despite registering nine wins to Rose’s five.
The large cars event also went to the final event as Sebire took a single point to finish ahead of race winner Liepa who had picked up enough points to clinch the runner-up spot from Shane Le Poidevin.
The small cars championship was awarded to Nigel Ozanne despite Darren Leadbeater taking the final event.
The reverse track accolade was given to Sebire who also took the reverse-track-with-chicane championship.
The team one went to Top Bangers made up of Ozzy Ozanne, the Bromley brothers and Andrew Sparkes with 222 points.
Silver went to the Starfish Patrollers team of Dean Leaver, Nigel Ozanne, Doug Le Fevre and Jory who ended on 194. The ASBOs outfit of Sebire, Bob Green, Lewis Fisher and Martyn Lowe finished third.
‘It got a bit tight early on in the season,’ said Ozanne.
‘There were only two of us racing at times but we got there in the end.’
Article posted on 14th May, 2007 - 12.00am
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