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Round Eight, Donington Park, July 21st/22nd 2001 - The finishing positions in the Sprint race determine the grid order for the twelve-lap Feature, which begins with a rolling start. By taking third in the previous day’s event Barbara had the inside line into Redgate for the Sunday race, but her old adversary Craig Rapp was directly alongside her in fourth.

This time there was no repeat of the start-line tangle that had been such a feature of the Sprint and all twenty starters made it safely into the first corner. Barbara held tight to the kerbs with Craig Rapp tracking her around the outside. At first he looked to be gaining ground, but just as suddenly he fell back as they began their run down the Craner Curves. "We had an agreement," explained Barbara. "If we were side by side into the corner we’d keep three feet between us. I was amazed. He kept to the deal!"

For much of the opening tour Rapp continued to press his case. "He tried to drive up the inside once or twice on that first lap," admitted Barbara afterwards, "but I kept him behind me and after that I started to pull away from him."

In truth, Barbara and Craig Rapp were pretty evenly matched for the first two or three laps, but by lap four the gap had widened to almost two seconds. Out at the front Nigel Rice was also generating quite a sizeable advantage over Pete Chambers, extending his lead to three and a half seconds at one point before Chambers cut it back again. These four stretched away from the rest and from each other, with the real battles for position being waged through the middle orders.

Any threat to Barbara’s third place disappeared on lap 10 when Craig spun at Goddards. He came into the tight left-hander a little too quickly and the back of the car simply slid away from him. Briefly facing the on-coming traffic, he pulled back over the grass to regain the track just up from the pitlane entry. The spin cost him about six seconds and one place, as Basil Demeroutis sped around the outside to steal fourth. Before the race ended Rapp was to lose another place, but by then it was of little consequence to Barbara. She crossed the line a massive 28 seconds clear of Demeroutis to claim her second third-place podium of the weekend.

"She was too good for me today," said Rapp afterwards as they gathered in Parc Fermé. "She just pulled away. I couldn’t catch her, but didn’t I behave myself on that first lap?!" Craig has something of a reputation for being a forceful racer, so perhaps having a lady in the championship is having a beneficial effect even there!

Paul Robe, team manager at Parr, was again delighted by Barbara’s performance. "She’s shown that she has stabilized her performance and pulled herself up into the top three or four in the championship," he said. "Her commitment, her ability, her racecraft - it’s all greatly improved. She defended really well in the early stages of this race and then went on to drive a very solid race. It’s really good for the team and icing on the cake for the weekend."

The next round in the Championship is at Knockhill in two week’s time. "I’m excited by the prospects," admitted Paul. "It will be her home ground and there will be tremendous support for her. I’m sure she’ll do exceptionally well."