TWO more wins and two more pole positions kept Billericay's Bradley Smith's 100 per cent record intact in the latest rounds of the Radical SR3 Challenge on Brands Hatch's Grand Prix circuit.
Smith had pole for race one by 1.055sec from Paddy McClughan and in the second by only 0.003sec from Bradley Ellis, after both Ellis and last year's main rival Matt Bell had briefly led qualifying.
The start of race one was fairly straightforward, with Bradley taking the lead into Paddock before heading an early three-car break.
By lap six the lead had grown and looked fairly comfortable, but with the pit-stop window approaching the safety car was called into action and the hard-earned lead was all but gone.
Bradley decided to make his stop first but somehow lost out to James Abbott on rejoining. It became a frustrating second half of the race for Bradley as he sat patiently in Abbott's shadow, waiting for a mistake or an opportunity to challenge and regain his lost lead.
"The safety car messed it all up for me, until then I thought the gap was OK. I got held up a little rejoining after my stop but sat behind James. I got a nose alongside a couple of times, but had to back off again. He made a couple of small mistakes but then another one at Stirlings and I was through," he explained after taking victory with only a lap to spare.
With the fast-starting Ellis alongside for race two, the start was critical and Bradley did not disappoint.
"I made sure I didn't get mugged at the start as I knew they would be pushing hard," he said.
Ellis kept the pressure on, however, so Bradley was unable to ease up. He pitted early once more and only lost his lead for a couple of laps during the stops. "The safety car wasn't my friend again, I just had to keep going though but could have done without it," he said.
At the flag the lead had been restored to more than five seconds and so win number four and the championship lead were secured once more.
The next round of the championship is at Brands Hatch on June 1 and 2.
