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Caterham Masters Championship

Backers for Caterham Motorsport’s UK and European race series include Autosport, Bilstein, Brian James Trailers, Caged, Cheesman Products, Comma, Cosworth, Cooper-Avon Tyres, Demon Tweeks, evo, HSBC Insurance Brokers, Mitchell Cotts, Motorsport News and Stack.

BELL & JENKINSON PROCLAIMED THE MASTERS

 
Nathan Bell and Rob Jenkinson are the 2006 Cosworth Caterham Masters Champions. They were crowned at the French circuit of Pau-Arnos on Saturday (14 Oct) with a triumphant victory – their seventh of the season – in a thrilling penultimate round of the series.
 
Even though there was no fairytale final-round win for the Acre Jean/Hyperion Motorsport duo on Sunday, they beat their great rivals Richard Hay and Clive Richards to the title by four points.
 
It’s the second year in succession that Richards and Hay have finished as Masters runners-up, but on this occasion their defeat was cruel luck, Richards coasting into retirement with an electrical fault after he and his team-mate had led their title rivals for 33 of the 42 laps. The 10 laps prior to Richards’ demise were spectacular, Clive using every trick in his repertoire to keep Jenkinson at bay. Rob was moved to comment: “Those 10 laps were probably the greatest Caterham racing ever…”
 
Richards and Hay knew they had to win on Saturday to take the title fight down to the wire, and duly annexed pole position for their Colards Motorsport/Hay Fisher CSR 260, four-hundredths quicker than the sister Colards car of father-and-son team Simon and Cameron Jackson. Bell and Jenkinson were just four-thousandths further behind to secure third on the grid, despite a late-session scare for Nathan when he clouted the barriers, breaking a rear upright, on the exit to the Parabolique.
 
Hay set a cracking pace to lead the early laps, with Cameron Jackson and Bell squabbling over second until Nathan was pushed back to fourth after a robust manoeuvre from Loïc Martinez. Nineteen-year-old Jackson moved ahead of Hay to seize top spot on the sixth lap and held on in front until his 22nd lap stop to hand the car over to his father.
 
Hay had pitted from second on lap 17 – two laps after Bell’s pit call – and when Richards took over he inherited a lead of some five seconds over Jenkinson, a gap which Rob narrowed to nothing within six laps. The stage was set for a titanic battle of wills between the two old foes, with Clive thwarting Rob’s every attack – and these came at almost every corner of the 1.9-mile Pyrenean track.
 
A favourite strike point for Jenkinson was the sharp right/left kink at the end of the main straight, and it was here on the 30th lap that Richards may have undone all his good work. Jenkinson feinted right then tried to pass on the outside; Richards blocked aggressively, ran wide off the track and Jenkinson followed him off, both cars kicking up debris.
 
Clive held on in front despite intense pressure for a further three laps until his engine died, courtesy a severed electrical cable under the nosecone which may have been damaged during his earlier off.
 
Richards was philosophical: “As I tell the Roadsport Challenge novices my team looks after, that’s just motor racing…”
 
All Jenkinson had then to do was to stroke it home for nine laps, a massive anti-climax for the appreciative crowd but a major relief to Rob, who said: “It was real man-to-man stuff for those 10 laps and it’s a shame it ended as it did for Clive. But I’m not complaining because it’s my first championship win since I took the Superlight Challenge title in 2000. It’s been a long time and it feels very good.”
 
For 27-year-old Bell it is his maiden championship victory in a track career which started only in 2003, in the Caterham Academy. Hyperion boss Steve Hindle paid Nathan a glowing tribute: “In his short career Nathan has firmly established himself as a major talent and a man to beat, and we are all very proud of him.
 
“As for Rob, he is quite simply in a class of his own and this win is richly deserved. But perhaps the biggest praise must be reserved for Ross Maxwell and Acre Jean, for without their car and support Nathan and Rob would not even have been on the grid.” It’s the second successive Masters championship win for the Acre Jean CSR, following last year’s success for Luke Stevens and Jon Barnes.
 
Martinez and his team-mate Frédèric Réal upheld French honour by claiming second, 5.7s behind the victors, but their joy came at the expense of Simon Jackson, who was catching the French car at a rate of knots before a lurid slide while entering the Parabolique four laps from the end lost him several seconds. The Jacksons nevertheless secured a comfortable third ahead of newly crowned Eurocup champ Ben de Zille Butler, who was thoroughly enjoying his first taste of CSR power and his first real experience of slick tyres.
 
Italy’s Michele Tommasi seized fifth from Sarah Reader, who was sharing driving duties with Oliver Bull, five laps from the end. Malcolm Johnstone took seventh ahead of Pau-Arnos director Michel Mora, the car of Olivier Guerin/Philip Simon, and that of Philip and Natasha Gladman. Nigel Bent and Nick Phillips claimed 11th ahead of Kurt Hoffmann and Wolfgang Becker, both German drivers struggling to get to grips with a borrowed right-hand-drive CSR after their left-hooker suffered a fault in testing. Esmond Smith was the 13th and final finisher.
 
With the Hay/Richards car later discovered also to be suffering from a cracked sump, and with their championship second under no threat, Richard and Clive elected to sit out Sunday’s race, and that should have left the way clear for the new champions to crown their titles with another race victory, but things did not turn out as planned…
 
Jenkinson opted for the first stint and led comfortably from Martinez and the Jacksons until his lap 17 stop, but that lead evaporated in the pits thanks to a twisted safety harness and Bell found himself fourth behind Réal, Simon Jackson and Reader by the time all the field had stopped and rejoined.
 
Bell fought back to third past Reader and was going for second three laps later when it all went wrong into turn one. “I put a wheel on the dirty stuff,” said Nathan, “and then had to lift to avoid hitting the Jackson car. Whoosh and I was gone…” His CSR clouted the barriers hard and the champions’ race was run.
 
Championship debutant Réal had by this time capitalised on the good work done during the first stint by Martinez and was never in danger of losing the lead. The French team went on to record a popular home victory by 15.7s over Simon and Cameron Jackson; it was the first win this season for a French-entered car and a maiden victory for Martinez.(Pictured right)
 
Tommasi survived an early-race assault from another car, which led to a spin, to chase down and pass Reader for third with four laps to go. It was Michele’s first podium finish and completed a French/British/Italian podium line-up.
 
Bull led for a spell during the stops and Reader carried on his good work to secure fourth and, with it, third place in the championship behind Bell/Jenkinson and Richards/Hay. Oliver was delighted: “We’re very pleased in our first season to have achieved what we have; third is a great result.”
 
Johnstone made up plenty of ground in the second half of the race to take fifth ahead of Mora, with the Gladmans seventh from Serge Cazzani/Alain Girardot, Bent/Phillips, Hoffmann/Becker and Smith. de Zille Butler was an early casualty; he was forced wide and off the track in the first-lap jostling and damaged his car’s sump.
 
Provisional results
Round 11  Pau-Arnos  FRA  14 October
42 laps / 79.08 miles
1,  Nathan Bell / Rob Jenkinson,  GB,  1h 1m 39.847s
2,  Loïc Martinez / Frédèric Réal,  FRA,  +5.693s
3,  Simon Jackson / Cameron Jackson,  GB,  +12.452s
4,  Ben de Zille Butler,  GB,  +22.460s
5,  Michele Tommasi,  ITA,  +38.886s
6,  Sarah Reader / Oliver Bull,  GB,  +40.431s
Fastest lap: Jenkinson 1m 22.885s est rec
 
Round 12  Pau-Arnos  FRA  15 October
42 laps / 79.08 miles
1,  Loïc Martinez / Frédèric Réal,  FRA,  1h 2m 17.998s
2,  Simon Jackson / Cameron Jackson,  GB,  +15.735s
3,  Michele Tommasi,  ITA,  +40.316s
4,  Sarah Reader / Oliver Bull,  GB,  +42.491s
5,  Malcolm Johnstone,  GB,  41 laps
6,  Michel Mora,  FRA,  41 laps
Fastest lap: Jenkinson 1m 22.729s rec
 
Provisional final championship standings
1 Bell/Jenkinson 192 points
2 Richard Hay/Clive Richards 188
3 Reader/Bull 162
4 Simon Jackson 154
5 Tommasi 150
6 Nigel Bent/Nick Phillips 118 etc.

BELL & JENKINSON MASTER MONZA

The scene is set for a dramatic final-round showdown to the Cosworth Caterham Masters following the action-packed Italian rounds of the series at the weekend (30 Sept/1 Oct).
 
Nathan Bell and Rob Jenkinson took twin wins at Monza, both achieved with less than a tenth of a second to spare, in their Hyperion/Acre Jean CSR 260 to bring to six their collection of race wins for the season.
 
Their arch rivals Clive Richards and Richard Hay took home trophies for second and third and saw their overall championship lead cut to 16 points. But with dropped scores taken into account, Jenkinson and Bell in fact now have a four-point advantage, which means Clive and Richard need to aim for victory in both the French races, at Pau in a fortnight.
 
No fewer than seven different cars led Saturday’s Monza opener, and the result was in doubt right to the exit of the final corner. The most surprising leader was Cameron Jackson, the 19-year-old achieving the unprecedented feat of taking the lead on the opening lap despite starting from dead last on the 15-car grid, the result of an engine failure in qualifying.
 
Of Bell and Hay there was no sign at the sharp end of the field in the early laps; Bell had lost ground after nudging the back of another car and being launched skywards at the Lesmo curve, while Hay was nudged into a spin at the Rettifilo chicane.
 
While the championship frontrunners absented themselves from the party there was no shortage of people queuing to be race leader… Oliver Bull took over at the front from Jackson for a spell, as then did Nick Phillips and Philip Gladman.
 
Bell was the first to stop, peeling in from fifth on lap 10 to hand over to Jenkinson, with Hay following him in a lap later. Gladman and Bull stayed out eight laps longer to earn their respective team-mates a useful advantage. When the driver-change dust settled it was Sarah Reader out in front by 8.5 seconds from Natasha Gladman – the first time the championship has seen an all-female 1-2 – but with Jenkinson and Richards, as ever locked in mortal combat, bearing down on them fast.
 
Reader held on to the lead for two laps before the customary Jenkinson/Richards victory duel swept past her. Rob and Clive went at each other for the remaining nine laps, swapping position countless times, and as ever the fight went right down to the last corner, the Curva Parabolica, on the final lap.
 
“I tried everything I knew to make sure that I wasn’t leading into the final lap,” said Clive, “but it just didn’t work…” Perfectly placed, Jenkinson popped out of his rival’s slipstream to win by 0.083s.
 
The fight for third was just as absorbing, with Nigel Bent in the thick of things having taken over from Phillips, and Cameron’s father Simon Jackson in contention also. Things looked to be going Bent’s way with two laps to go until a wingstay broke and bodywork started to rub a front tyre, slowing him enough to allow Jackson to nip past for the final podium slot.
 
Reader and Gladman took advantage also to snaffle fourth and fifth in the closing laps, leaving Bent an unlucky sixth ahead of Ed Morris, Michele Tommasi, Loïc Martinez/Hervé Cordel and Kurt Hoffmann/Wolfgang Becker.
 
Overnight downpours left a wet, but drying track for Sunday’s early morning race. All the principal challengers opted to start on wet tyres, apart from Philip Gladman, whose slick rubber came into its own after just four laps to propel him from fifth on the grid towards the battle for the lead.
 
At the front, Bell took the first lap advantage over Hay, but the man of the moment was Morris, the 18-year-old Caterham debutant mastering the tricky conditions to lead by lap three. Morris held off Hay until lap nine, with the fast-rising Gladman, Loïc Martinez and Simon Jackson contesting third to fifth places.
 
At this point, Bell, having fallen more than eight seconds behind the leading pack, took the earliest opportunity to take his pit stop and allow Rob Jenkinson to re-enter the fray on slick tyres. Morris, Hay, Martinez and Jackson followed suit two laps later, enabling Gladman to move to the front. His advantage was not to last, however: taking his opening stint through to lap 16, he was swayed by a brief shower to make an unwise call for wet tyres on the hand-over to his wife and racing partner Natasha.
 
After all the stops were completed, Hyperion team-mates Jenkinson and Morris ran first and second, stroking out an ever-growing advantage over Richards in third. Jenkinson’s second win of the weekend nearly fell from his clutches when he encountered a spinning back marker on the final lap. Jenkinson clipped the gravel trap to avoid contact, and survived to position himself for a perfect pass through Parabolica on to the finish straight to take the chequered flag six hundredths of a second clear of Morris.
 
Richards was more than seven seconds back in third, with Bull unchallenged in fourth. Malcolm Johnstone added excitement throughout the second half of the race, cutting through the field from last place on the grid to mount a battle for fifth with Tommasi which raged for 11 laps, the Italian edging the advantage at the flag. Hervé Cordel sustained the initiative gained by Martinez in the early stages to round off the top six.
 
“Coming into this weekend we knew that it was going to difficult, as once the tow is broken here, it’s very hard to get back on terms, and today the slippery conditions added to that risk,” said Jenkinson. “Taking that into consideration, it’s very satisfying for us to come away with two wins.”
 
 

A reflective Richards(below) said: “After the pit stop it took a lap to find the grip with the slicks, but with no tow I just couldn’t get on terms with the guys at the front. The pressure is on us now, as we will have to win the last two races of the season to be sure of the championship.”
 

Provisional results
Round 9  Monza  ITA  30 September
29 laps / 104.39 miles
1     Nathan Bell / Rob Jenkinson   GB    1h 02m 10.880s    100.73mph
2     Clive Richards / Richard Hay  GB    +0.083s
3     Simon Jackson / Cameron Jackson     GB    +16.108s
4     Sarah Reader / Oliver Bull    GB    +16.182s
5     Philip / Natasha Gladman      GB    +17.362s
6     Nigel Bent / Nick Phillips    GB    +25.611s
Fastest lap: Richards 2m 00.166s / 107.84mph Rec
 
Round 10  Monza  ITA  1 October
28 laps / 100.79 miles
1     Nathan Bell / Rob Jenkinson   GB    1h 02m 52.001s    96.20mph
2     Ed Morris   GB    +0.061s
3     Clive Richards / Richard Hay  GB    +7.406s
4     Sarah Reader / Oliver Bull    GB    +42.625s
5     Michele Tommasi   ITA   +1m 19.682s
6     Malcolm Johnstone GB    +1m 20.377s
Fastest lap: Jenkinson 2m 03.432s / 104.99mph
 
Provisional championship standings
1 Richards/Hay 188 points; 2 Bell/Jenkinson 172; 3 Reader/Bull 145; 4 Simon Jackson 130; 5 Tommasi 128; 6 Bent/Phillips 115 etc.
 

Final rounds: Pau-Arnos, France, 14/15 October.

MASTERS SPA DOUBLE FOR RICHARDS & HAY

The deadlock between front-running Cosworth Caterham Masters teams Rob Jenkinson/Nathan Bell and Clive Richards/Richard Hay was broken at last yesterday (Sat) at Spa-Francorchamps, with Hay and Richards notching up twin wins to take a clear series lead as their rivals faltered.

The Hyperion/Acre Jean and Colards Motorsport pairings arrived in Belgium separated by just four points; Hay and Richards left Spa 20 points in the clear with four rounds remaining…

Bell and Jenkinson found themselves in trouble right from the start of the first of the Spa one-hour races, Nathan unable to capitalise on the team's third pole position of the season and slipping behind the cars of Hay and guesting journalist John Barker on the opening lap.

The Hyperion team had opted to use a set of part-worn wet Avons on the Bell/Jenkinson car, but Nathan found them less than able to cope with the tricky wet-but-drying conditions. He slipped further back with each lap.

Barker, in his first race outing in eight years, was on superb form in the evo-backed CSR 260, overhauling Hay for the lead through Eau Rouge on the second lap. Richard was forced to pursue John for two laps before he was able to regain the lead and pull away. "I was quicker than Richard through Blanchimont," said Barker, "but he followed me and worked out why, unfortunately."

Hay pitted to hand over to Richards having built them a 12-second advantage, a lead which was converted by Clive into a 39-second victory margin. He said: "Richard was the star today - he handed me a big lead and my job was easy after that."

Third before the pit-stops, Simon Jackson handed over to son Cameron two laps before Barker paused to exchange places with fellow evo journalist John Hayman. Within four laps 19-year-old Cameron had closed the gap between his CSR and Hayman's and went through to claim second. It was the family team's best result to date and brought a 1-2 for Colards Motorsport.

Hayman staved off a late challenge from Oliver Bull, aboard the car he shares with Sarah Reader, to take an excellent third. "We're delighted," said Barker. "It's a far better result than we dared hope for."

Bell/Jenkinson struggled on to fifth behind the Reader/Bull car, with Scots team George Brewster and Iain Cowie an impressive sixth on their championship debut and Frenchman Serge Cazzani seventh.

The Caterham Germany pairing of Kurt Hoffmann and Wolfgang Becker were eighth and Malcolm Johnstone a disappointed ninth after collecting a one-minute penalty for making a late stop. Michele Tommasi - the only driver brave enough to opt for slick tyres - slithered to 10th ahead of Nigel Bent/Nick Phillips, Philip and Natasha Gladman and Gregoire Audi.

Bell and Jenkinson's miserable weekend continued in race two when, having built a useful 10-second lead over Hay in the opening six laps, Rob felt his CSR die beneath him on lap seven, the catastrophic result of nothing more serious than a blown fuse.

With Simon Jackson in trouble also and Hayman busy battling with Philip Gladman, Hoffmann and Johnstone over second place, Hay was able to make an excellent escape once more, pitting on the 10th lap to hand over another sizeable lead to Richards, who romped home to record the pairing's fourth race victory, this time by a 50-second margin.

"We came here needing to win both races," said Hay, "and that's what we have achieved. It may look like we have a useful championship lead but the reality is that when drop scores are taken into account we are now dead level once more. There's a long way to go yet."

The battle for second and third places was the highlight of the race, Barker holding on to the runner-up spot after the pit visits but with Johnstone closing him down and Bull reeling in both. After his first-race error, Malcolm was not to be deterred. "I made a mistake on the penultimate lap and lost some ground," said Johnstone, "and that made me even more determined that I was going to have that second place." The last corner of the last lap, the tricky La Source hairpin, provided him with the perfect opportunity to displace Barker.

Bull closed to within three seconds of the second-place battlers to take fourth, with Tommasi recovering from a mid-race spin to claim fifth ahead of Brewster/Cowie, Hoffmann/Becker, Audi, Bent/Phillips, Cazzani and the Gladmans.

The Jacksons' car joined Bell/Jenkinson in retirement with gearbox problems, a cruel blow after Cameron had hauled his way back to fourth following opening-lap electrical problems for dad Simon which had left them dead last.

Provisional results
Round 7  Spa-Francorchamps  BEL  5 August
19 laps / 82.3 miles
1,  Clive Richards / Richard Hay,  GB,  1h 6m 6.530s,  74.7mph
2,  Simon Jackson / Cameron Jackson,  GB,  +39.590s
3,  John Hayman / John Barker,  GB,  +50.576s
4,  Sarah Reader / Oliver Bull,  GB,  +52.709s
5,  Nathan Bell / Rob Jenkinson,  GB,  +1m 12.606s
6,  Gorge Brewster / Iain Cowie,  GB,  +1m 13.361s
Fastest lap: Bull 3m 0.890s / 86.2mph

Round 8  Spa-Francorchamps  BEL  5 August
23 laps / 99.6 miles
1,  Clive Richards / Richard Hay,  GB,  1h 4m 31.122s,  92.6mph
2,  Malcolm Johnstone,  GB,  +49.580s
3,  John Hayman / John Barker,  GB,  +49.913s
4,  Sarah Reader / Oliver Bull,  GB,  +52.941s
5,  Michele Tommasi,  ITA,  +1m 18.677s
6,  Gorge Brewster / Iain Cowie,  GB,  +1m 20.210s
Fastest lap: Jenkinson 2m 38.077s / 98.6mph

Provisional championship standings
1 Richards / Hay 152 points
2 Bell / Jenkinson 132
3 Reader / Bull 112
4 Simon Jackson 106
5 Tommasi 99
6 Nigel Bent / Nick Phillips 90 etc.

Backers for Caterham Motorsport's UK and European race series include Autosport, Bilstein, Brian James Trailers, Caged, Cheesman Products, Comma, Cosworth, Cooper-Avon Tyres, Demon Tweeks, evo, HSBC Insurance Brokers, Mitchell Cotts, Motorsport News and Stack.

Next rounds: Monza, Italy, 29/30 September.

STATUS QUO MAINTAINED IN PORTUGAL

A new venue for the Cosworth Caterham Masters in the shape of the Estoril circuit in Portugal made little difference to the continuing rivalry between Nathan Bell/Rob Jenkinson and Clive Richards/Richard Hay.
 
Throughout the weekend (22/23 July) their cars were locked in combat, as they have been all season, with Richards and Hay winning Saturday’s encounter, four tenths ahead of their great rivals, and Jenkinson and Bell taking victory on Sunday, by three-hundredths of a second. The two teams arrived in Portugal separated by four points and left with that position unaltered.
 
Saturday’s race provided a fascinating four-car battle for the lead up until the mandatory pit stop period, involving Bell, Hay, Luc Paillard and Philip Gladman.
 
Paillard was the first to stop for a driver change, and Gladman the last. In fact, Philip was so absorbed with his race that he missed the pit-stop window, coming in too late to hand over to his wife, Natasha, and was given a one-minute penalty for his tardiness.
 
After the stops there were just two cars remaining in the victory tussle, Richards and Jenkinson exiting the pits together and circulating for the duration as if connected by a short piece of elastic. But the outcome was decided in peculiar fashion: neither man saw the last lap board hung out on the pit wall by race officials and each was expecting a further tour. Thus Jenkinson was content to sit on Richards’ tail, and extremely discontented to see the chequered flag. “The last-lap sprint is what Caterham racing is all about and that was denied us,” said an aggrieved Rob. “I was as surprised as Rob to see the flag,” added Clive, “but probably rather more happy!”
 
Third, 20 seconds adrift of the frontrunners, was the Paillard/Vannelet CSR, Luc believing that their early stop had been a tactical error.  Simon Jackson and his son Dominik were fourth, a good result given the drive-through penalty they were handed for pit-lane speeding.
 
French team Loïc Martinez/Hervé Cordel were fifth ahead of the Sarah Reader/Oliver Bull car, with Malcolm Johnstone seventh on his seasonal debut and Michel Mora eighth.
 
Sunday’s race got away to a dramatic start when Philip Gladman’s front-running CSR was punted into a crash at the Parabolica by the Martinez/Cordel car. Phil was launched into the air, turning over before coming to rest right way up in the gravel.
 
“He just lunged at me,” said Gladman, who was unhurt. “Contact was unavoidable.” The French car continued to the end of the race but was excluded from the results.
 
At the front, Hay this time managed a small escape from his pursuers, Bell, Dominik Jackson, Paillard and Johnstone. By the time Richard pitted, two laps after Bell had come in to hand over to Jenkinson, he’d built a useful four-second lead which Clive gratefully accepted and set about preserving.
 
But Jenkinson was in no mood to be denied victory this time, steadily whittling away at the gap until, seven laps later, it was all but gone. Just as at Hockenheim, Donington and in the first Estoril race, Richards and Jenkinson stayed locked in combat to flag fall, with Rob this time just in front when it mattered.
 
Paillard/Vannelet were once again a lonely third, with Michele Tommasi – driving alone after his first-race partner Lee Cunningham tweaked his back – getting the upper hand in a long battle with Johnstone to take fourth. The top eight was completed by Olivier Guerin/Phillipe Simon, the Jacksons and Mora.
 
Provisional results
Round 5  Estoril  POR  22 July
32 laps / 83.2 miles
1,  Clive Richards / Richard Hay,  GB,  1h 1m 29.322s,  81.2 mph
2,  Nathan Bell / Rob Jenkinson,  GB,  +0.445s
3,  Luc Paillard / Gilles Vannelet,  FRA,  +20.860s
4,  Simon Jackson / Dominik Jackson,  GB,  +52.785s
5,  Loïc Martinez / Hervé Cordel,  FRA,  +54.077s
6,  Sarah Reader / Oliver Bull,  GB,  +56.605s
Fastest lap: Jenkinson / 1m 49.411s, 85.5mph est rec
 
Round 6  Estoril  POR  23 July
31 laps / 80.6 miles
1,  Nathan Bell / Rob Jenkinson,  GB,  1h 1m 49.131s,  78.2 mph
2,  Clive Richards / Richard Hay,  GB,  +0.033s
3,  Luc Paillard / Gilles Vannelet,  FRA,  +29.461s
4,  Michele Tommasi,  ITA,  +38.816s
5,  Malcolm Johnstone,  GB,  +40.073s
6,  Olivier Guerin / Phillipe Simon,  FRA,  +52.070s
Fastest lap: Jenkinson / 1m 48.626s, 86.1mph rec
 
Provisional championship standings 1 Bell & Jenkinson 116 points; 2 Richards & Hay 112; 3 Simon Jackson 88; 4 Paillard & Vannelet 79; 5 Reader & Bull 78; 6 Tommasi 72 etc.
 

DONINGTON DOUBLE TOP FOR BELL & JENKINSON

Nathan Bell and Rob Jenkinson seized the Cosworth Caterham Masters points lead this weekend (17/18 June) with twin wins at Donington Park in their Acre Jean-backed CSR 260.
 
The Hyperion Motorsport duo, who arrived at the UK rounds tied at the top of the standings with Clive Richards and Richard Hay, pipped their great rivals for victory by a whisker in Saturday’s hour-long event and went on to a handsome – by Caterham standards – win by a three-second margin on Sunday.
 
After four of the 12 rounds, Bell and Jenkinson now enjoy a four-point overall lead.
 
As in Germany in April, Saturday’s third round of the 2006 Masters provided a fascinating duel for victory between the Colards Motorsport car of Hay and Richards, and the Hyperion machine piloted by Bell and Jenkinson.
 
But it was Philip Gladman who set the pace in qualifying and in the early laps; he posted a practice time nearly half a second better than anyone else could manage to claim pole position, and then led almost all the way to lap nine, when gearbox problems forced him into the pits and a frustrating end to his team’s weekend.
 
That left Hay and Bell to battle it out for the lead, with Luc Paillard close behind for third. The leading trio pitted together on the 18th lap to hand over to their respective driving partners; Richards emerged from the pits with a 3.5 second lead over Jenkinson.
 
Rob narrowed the gap to Clive with relentless precision, moving on to his older rival’s tail by lap 28 to set the scene for a 20-lap dogfight to the chequered flag. Richards and Jenkinson swapped the lead several times every lap, but there was only one corner which would matter – the final charge through the Goddards chicane.
 
“I got a good run on Clive down the straight,” said Rob, “and so it was a question of who would be the last of the late-breakers into the chicane…” Jenkinson appeared to be a fraction more brave, and Richards felt it necessary to take avoiding action: “Rob got crossed up and I didn’t want to hit him, so I took to the grass.”
 
Thus Jenkinson emerged ahead to claim the second race win of the season for the Acre Jean/Hyperion team, with Richards eight seconds behind after recovery from his half-spin. The Paillard/Gilles Vannelet car was a distant third, suffering from the loss of sixth gear, with Sarah Reader and Oliver Bull fourth in their down-on-power CSR.
 
Simon Jackson spun away his hopes of a podium finish with an opening lap error at the chicane, but he recovered and fought back to hand over the car in good shape to his 19-year-old son Cameron, who went on to claim fifth ahead of Kurt Hoffmann/Wolfgang Becker, who made an impressive series debut in their new Hyperion-run CSR 260.
 
Michel Mora led his fellow Frenchmen Loic Martinez/Philippe Simon home for seventh, with Italy’s Michele Tommasi ninth after losing time with a spin. Serge Cazzani took 10th ahead of Esmond Smith, with the car of Nigel Bent/Nick Phillips 11th. Nick was another who spent several laps beached in a gravel trap.
 
Sunday’s enduro provided a three-way tussle for victory, the Richards/Hay and Bell/Jenkinson cars joined for the dash to the flag by the Jackson family CSR. There were no errors from Simon during his stint this time, and indeed he led for several laps after Hay and Bell had headed to the pits to hand over to their respective partners.
 
One of the last of the frontrunners to stop was Tommasi, Michele leading for a spell after his exit from the pits before being swamped by Richards and Jenkinson. Cameron Jackson swept past the Italian, too, and went on to lead his first Masters race before the 19-year-old was put firmly back in his place by the older hands.
 
The crowds were denied another Richards/Jenkinson duel to the wire, however, by a gear selection problem which manifested itself in Clive’s car. “Richard struggled with it in his stint,” said Clive, “and it got worse for me. There wasn’t much I could do about Rob.”
 
Jenkinson started to pull away with eight laps to the finish: “I thought if I didn’t try to make a break for it then, it would go down to the last corner again,” said Rob, who crossed the line nearly three seconds in front, with the Jackson car close behind Richards for third.
 
An exhausted Tommasi was fourth ahead of the clutchless car of Reader and Bull, with Bent/Phillips sixth thanks chiefly to a storming first stint from an on-form Nick. Hoffmann/Becker, Martinez/Simon, Mora and Smith completed the finishers.
 
Provisional results
Round 3  Donington Park  17 June
48 laps/93.95 miles
1,  Nathan Bell / Rob Jenkinson,  GB,  1h 1m 32.987s,  91.55 mph
2,  Clive Richards / Richard Hay,  GB,  +8.064s
3,  Luc Paillard / Gilles Vannelet,  FRA,  +40.162s
4,  Sarah Reader / Oliver Bull,  GB,  +47.383s
5,  Simon Jackson / Cameron Jackson,  GB,  +54.410s
6,  Kurt Hoffmann / Wolfgang Becker,  GER,  47 laps
Fastest lap: Richards 1m 12.437s / 97.27mph est rec
 
Round 4  Donington Park  18 June
48 laps/93.95 miles
1,  Bell / Jenkinson,  ,  1h 1m 26.842s,  91.70 mph
2,  Richards / Hay,  ,  +2.981s
3,  Jackson / Jackson,  ,  +4.228s
4,  Michele Tommasi,  ITA,  +35.098s
5,  Reader / Bull,  ,  +55.391s
6,  Nigel Bent / Nick Phillips,  GB,  +1m 11.495s
Fastest lap: Jenkinson 1m 12.413s / 97.30mph rec

 
Provisional championship standings
=1 Bell & Jenkinson 78 points
=3 Richards & Hay 74
=5 Reader & Bull 64
7 Simon Jackson 59
8 Tommasi 56 etc
 

HONOURS EVEN FOR THE MASTERS AT HOCKENHEIM

 

The Cosworth Caterham Masters enjoyed a competitive start to its 2006 season at Hockenheim, with pre-season favourite pairings Clive Richards/Richard Hay and Nathan Bell/Rob Jenkinson (pictured above) leaving Germany tied for the championship lead after sharing the victory spoils. Richards and Hay won Friday’s (21 Apr) tense one-hour opener for Colards Motorsport, with Bell and Jenkinson out front on Saturday for Hyperion Motorsport.
 
Rob Jenkinson, the 2000 Superlight Challenge Champion, made a seamless return to Caterham racing, starting race one from the pole in the Acre Jean CSR 260 and leading all the way to his hand-over to Bell on the 17th of the 32 laps.
 
Jenkinson had built up a lead of 6.9 seconds over his closest pursuers, Philip Gladman and Hay, by the time the latter made for the pits for an early driver change. It was an inspired move from Richard and the Colards team, for by the time Bell had taken over on track from Jenkinson, Richards was but 1.8 seconds behind and was closing fast.
 
It took Clive only two laps to close the gap and find his way into the lead – one of those laps the fastest of the race – and then his escape was aided by a small spin by Nathan. “It was all about consistency,” said Richards, who beat Bell to the chequer by 14 seconds.
 
Ice racer Gilles Vannelet, who was making his Caterham debut alongside Luc Paillard in a Hyperion machine, fought off a spirited late-race challenge from Italian Michele Tommasi to claim the final podium place for France. Tommasi slipped to fifth on the final lap, outpaced by Ollie Bull in the TFL Racing CSR he shared with Sarah Reader.
 
Husband and wife team Philip and Natasha Gladman placed sixth ahead of the cars of Nigel Bent/Nick Phillips and Tony Murray/John Hayman, with father and son Simon and Dominik Jackson a disconsolate ninth after losing several laps in the pits with ignition problems.
 
Saturday’s race was even closer, with the Jackson car restored to health, Philip Gladman in strong form and Bell driving a storming first stint to take the fight to Hay. All four CSRs took their turn at the front, with Reader and Tommasi in close attendance.
 
Bell and Hay were the first to break, both choosing lap 12 to make their respective hand-overs; Jenkinson exited the pits a few yards ahead of Richards, setting the scene for a thrilling second stage to the race. Gladman and Jackson were meanwhile making all the running, Philip waiting until the last possible moment to hand over to Natasha.
 
Jenkinson and Richards went at each other hammer and tongs over the course of the final 30 minutes, Clive waiting eight laps before nosing in front of his rival, who responded in kind. Lap after lap they traded the lead, but a grandstand finish to the race was denied by a freak penultimate-lap shower which lasted only seconds and affected only one part of the track, the Spitzkehre hairpin.
 
“It was suddenly like a skating rink,” said Clive. “I saw Rob’s car slither but before I knew what was happing I was spinning. It was such a shame because I had a cracking last-lap plan and I’m sure Rob did, too.”
 
Richards recovered unscathed from his spin and went on to finish less than two seconds behind. Rob was delighted with his win: “I haven’t raced a Caterham since 2000 but this makes it feel like I’ve never been away. It was a good clean race and great fun; Nathan did a brilliant job in his stint to set it all up.”
 
Reader and Bull were an excellent third, Ollie overhauling Natasha Gladman and Simon Jackson (the latter’s car suffering clutch trouble) during his final stint. “I drove much better today,” said Oliver, “made no mistakes, and the car was great. Sarah and I are very pleased with our championship debut.”
 
The Jackson and Gladman cars claimed fourth and fifth spots, ahead of Tommasi, Hayman/Murray and Bent/Phillips, Nick blotting his copybook with a late-race spin. Paillard/Vannelet finished a troubled ninth after losing time in the pits with clutch problems.
 
Provisional results
Round 1  Hockenheim, Germany  21 April
32 laps/90.9 miles
1,  Richard Hay/Clive Richards,  GB,  1h 01m 54.202s,  88.2mph
2,  Nathan Bell/Rob Jenkinson,  GB,  +14.641s
3,  Luc Paillard/Gilles Vannelet,  FRA,  +43.190s
4,  Sarah Reader/Oliver Bull,  GB,  +44.221s
5,  Michele Tommasi,  ITA,  +51.341s
6,  Philip Gladman/Natasha Gladman,  GB,  +1m 26.061s etc
Fastest lap: Richards 1m 50.261s 92.8mph est rec
 
Round 2  Hockenheim, Germany  22 April
32 laps/90.9 miles
1,  Bell/Jenkinson,  1h 02m 12.171s,  87.7mph
2,  Richards/Hay,  +1.858s
3,  Reader/Bull,  +22.051s
4,  Simon Jackson/Dominik Jackson,  GB,  +43.266s
5,  Gladman/Gladman,  +53.976s
6,  Tommasi,  +1m 01.471s
Fastest lap: Richards 1m 50.160s 92.9mph rec
 
Provisional championship standings
=1 Richards/Hay & Bell/Jenkinson 38 points
3 Reader/Bull 33
=4 Tommasi & Gladman/Gladman 29
6 Paillard/Vannelet 28, etc
 

 
Next rounds: Donington Park, 17/18 June
 

pic: Chris Schotanus - Imagevaults
 

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