De Sadeleer doubles up as title rivals stumble
Jerome de Sadeleer took advantage of dramas and success penalties for title contenders Steve Burgess and Dominik Jackson to win the opening two races of the Radical Challenge Championship triple-header at Rockingham’s final MSVR – supported meeting.
Burgess and Jackson set the pace before the mandatory pitstops in race one, and their enforced handicaps enabled reigning SR1 Cup champion de Sadeleer to grab a lead he would never lose. Burgess salvaged third behind Brian Caudwell despite struggling with “a lack of pace”. A five-second penalty for exceeding track limits left Jackson fifth.
De Sadeleer’s win in race two came after an incident-strewn contest. Two safety-car periods had already disrupted the early part of the race before leader Burgess was spun into retirement by Jackson on the 10th lap.
Jackson would later be penalized for his part in the collision in an event that would be brought to a premature end by a four-car shunt along Steel Straight.
Burgess was out of luck again in race three when differential problems forced him to retire while lying fourth. Jackson made amends for his earlier frustrations by taking victory ahead of Mark Richards and de Sadeleer, setting up an intriguing title decider at Silverstone next week.
