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Silverstone 07 October 2006 Race Report
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Another win for Simon Blanckley
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Class wins for Jason Holmes, Simon Taylor, Richard Ibrahim and Simon Jackson
The season finale at Silverstone. The sun came out, and so did 25 drivers for this last race in the 2006 LMA Euro Saloons championship. Although the title had been won by Jason Holmes last time out, and most class winners were now known, there was still much to play for in terms of pride and bragging rights, not to mention the battle for the Class D title which was going right to the wire.
Qualifying
Simon Blanckley (Honda Accord) has been having things pretty much all his way this season, having won all but one race he has finished, but Peter Challis' Nissan Primera always goes well at Silverstone so it was going to be interesting to see how that battle went. Richard Hawken might have been expected to join in the battle for pole but was unable to get out in qualifying, the Primera not starting due to a solenoid lead coming adrift. An unknown would be Malcolm Wise in the Ford Escort Cosworth with over 400 bhp, how would he fare against the Super Tourers.
First blood to Challis who took pole position by 0.422 seconds from Blanckley with Wise just a tenth further behind, John Hammersley (Vauxhall Cavalier) and Tony Soper (Alfa Romeo GTV) 2-3 seconds further back still. Outgoing champion Simon Taylor (Honda Civic Type-R) headed a strong Class C entry in 6th overall, with new champion Jason Holmes (Rover Tomcat) heading Class B in 7th. A record entry in Class D saw Mark Hammersley (Ford Fiesta) put down his marker in the title fight with Tim Morgan-Barrett (VW Golf Gti) looking in trouble at the back of the group. Simon Jackson (Vauxhall Nova) headed the Class E runners.
Race
Silverstone is known as the "power" circuit, and power told right from the off with Wise getting the jump from the 2nd row and heading Blanckley and Challis into Copse. Blanckley took over the lead at Becketts on the first lap and led all the way to the finish. Challis got past Wise on lap 3, but Blanckley was already 3 seconds clear by now. Challis gave chase hard and the lead cars were soon among the backmarkers. By lap 10 the gap was down to just 0.6 seconds and Challis looked favourite to win, but the following lap he fell right back before pulling into the pits and out of the race with a broken gear lever, leaving Wise in 2nd place. Richard Hawken had started from the back of the grid and was soon carving his way through the pack, taking over 3rd place with the demise of the Challis Primera. He chased Wise down hard finishing just 3 seconds adrift in 3rd place with John Hammersley and Tony Soper filling 4th and 5th places.
In the battle of the champions, Jason Holmes and Simon Taylor spent the whole race in tandem. Holmes was not resting on his laurels, taking 6th place from Taylor by just a second and lapping a good second faster than in the race here earlier this season.
Another punching above his weight was Simon Jackson in the Class E Vauxhall Nova, being embroiled in a race long battle with newcomer Jason Newman's Class C Peugeot 306, the pair swapping places while both in pursuit of Naz Hosseinian's Class A Vauxhall Calibra Turbo. Newman finally got the better of Jackson when the Nova engine just cut out, and then just as suddenly restarted just as Jackson was parking up.
The battle for the Class D title went right to the end. Mark Hammersley was out in front, but picked up a puncture just 3 laps from the end. He needed to finish the race to have any chance of amassing enough points so we saw him driving round slowly as the flat front tyre took more and more punishment. He made it to the finish to collect enough points, the 2 points for fastest Class D lap being vital as he won the title by just 4 points despite Tim Morgan-Barrett's excellent run to third from seventh on the grid. This left Richard Ibrahim to take the Class D win in his Alfa Romeo 33.
Summary
So another successful season ends for the LMA Euro Saloons championship. LMA would like to extend their congratulations to overall champion and Class B winner Jason Holmes, and the other class champions John Hammersley (A), Jim Mepham (C), Mark Hammersley (D) and Simon Jackson (E). Here's looking forward to starting all over again next year!
.
Race:
Winner: Simon Blanckley (Honda Accord), 2nd Malcolm Wise (Ford Escort Cosworth), 3rd Richard Hawken (Nissan Primera), 4th John Hammersley (Vauxhall Cavalier), 5th Tony Soper (Alfa Romeo GTV6), 6th Jason Holmes (Rover Tomcat), 7th Simon Taylor (Honda Civic), 8th David Roberts (Rover Tomcat), 9th Nigel Ainge (Honda Integra), 10th Jim Mepham (Renault Megane)
Class Winners: Class A Blanckley, Class B Holmes, Class C Taylor, Class D Richard Ibrahim (Alfa Romeo 33), Class E Simon Jackson (Vauxhall Nova)
Fastest lap: Challis 1:02.404 (94.55mph)
Oulton Park 23 September 2006 Race Report
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Jason Holmes crashes out but wins 2006 LMA Euro Saloons title
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Mal Davison’s Noble beats the Tourers
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Class wins for Dave Roberts, Peter Felix, Mark Hammersley and Simon Jackson
Despite the forecast for wet weather, the day stayed dry and the excellent 26 car entry had an exciting day at Oulton Park
Qualifying
It seemed that all the big
guns came out for Oulton, 26 cars and 9 in Class A. Mal Davison (Noble
M12 GTR) put down his marker in qualifying again, taking pole by a
second from Peter Challis (Nissan Primera), Simon Blanckley (Honda
Accord) and Richard Hawken (Nissan Primera). Brands Hatch runner up
Derek Hale was buried at the wrong end of the grid after his fire
extinguisher went off over his clutch and was unable to get the power
down. Championship contender John Hammersley (Vauxhall Cavalier) was 5th
and had his work cut out if he was going to score enough points to stay
in the hunt.
In Class B, championship leader Jason Holmes (Rover Tomcat) seemed out
of sorts down in 12th almost two seconds adrift of Dave Roberts' similar
car. Last year's champion Simon Taylor (Honda Civic Type-R) was 8th but
conceded the Class C pole to Peter Felix (MG ZR) in 7th. The Class D was
up for grabs, and Mark Hammersley (Ford Fiesta) put down his marker to
take the class pole with Simon Jackson (Vauxhall Nova) just behind and
on Class E pole.
Race
Things weren't going well
for Jason Holmes, coming out of Fosters he and the VW Golfs of Richard
Hill and Daniel Davies all touched leaving Holmes with bent suspension
and out of the race and able to do no more than watch John Hammersley's
progress. Derek Hale had already pulled out at the end of the formation
lap, so that was more potential points for Hammersley.
The big event happened a few laps in when hard charging Simon Blanckley,
winner last time out, ended up hard in the tyre wall causing the red
flags to come out. Thankfully Blanckley was OK, but a long delay ensued
until the race was restarted as a 10 minute sprint.
Davison got away in the Noble with the Primeras of Challis and Hawken
chasing hard. The Noble pulled out a 100 metre lead but in the closing
stages Challis was hauling Davison back in, but ran out of laps. The
Noble took the race win by 1.5 seconds from Challis, with Hawken 12
seconds further back. John Hammersley finished 4th, 2 seconds clear of
Tony Soper's Alfa GTV but it was not enough and Jason Holmes is the new
2006 LMA Euro Saloons champion - our congratulations go to Jason and his
team.
Peter Felix finished 6th and took the Class C win from Simon Taylor in
7th, with Dave Roberts taking his Rover Tomcat to his first LMA Euro
Saloons win in Class B.
Mark Hammersley took the advantage in Class D with a comfortable win
from Julian Brown, who just shaded Tim Morgan-Barrett for 2nd in class,
while Simon Jackson took Class E honours rom Andy Glossop's Ford Puma.
One race still to go, but the following positions are now clear. Jason
Holmes is 2006 overall and Class B champion, while Class A and C
champions John Hammersley and Jim Mepham can both still take the overall
runner-up slot.
Mark Hammersley
must be favourite to take the Class D title, but reigning class champion
Tim Morgan-Barrett is only 8 points behind. Simon Jackson has won Class
E.
Race:
Winner: Mal Davison (Noble M12 GTR), 2nd Peter Challis (Nissan Primera), 3rd Richard Hawken (Nissan Primera), 4th John Hammersley (Vauxhall Cavalier), 5th Tony Soper (Alfa Romeo GTV6), 6th Peter Felix (MG ZR), 7th Simon Taylor (Honda Civic), 8th Dave Roberts (Rover Tomcat), 9th Jim Mepham (Renault Megane), 10th Matthew Orford (Renault Clio Cup)
Class Winners: Class A Davison, Class B Roberts, Class C Felix, Class D Mark Hammersley (Ford Fiesta), Class E Simon Jackson (Vauxhall Nova)
Fastest lap: Davison 1:04.620 (92.14mph)
Next race: Silverstone 7th October
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Brands Hatch 2 September 2006 Race Report
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Win for Simon Blanckley in epic race
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Class wins for Jason Holmes, Simon Taylor, Mark Hammersley and Simon Jackson
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Jason Holmes closes in on 2006 title
Rain was forecast for the meeting at Brands hatch, but the weather stayed dry through qualifying and the rain only started to fall lightly in the last 2 laps of the race. A bumper entry of 8 cars in Class A which included Super Tourers, an ex-DTM Mercedes and a road legal Noble demonstrated the full variety that is the LMA Euro Saloons series.
Qualifying
There had been much pre-race excitement about Mal Davison's Noble M12 GTR. Would it be quick - could it keep the Super Tourers honest? Watching it go round Paddock, it didn't look that quick, but it proved to be pole position quick. That stirred things up, the Noble qualified on pole, just a quarter of a second in front of Derek Hale's Honda Accord with Simon Blanckley's Accord and Richard Hawken's Nissan Primera on the second row. Just 0.6 seconds between 1st and 4th - it was going to be a good race. With eight cars in Class A, John Hammersley was going to have his work cut out in his quest for the championship; qualifying 5th and a couple of seconds off pole meant he was in for a tough time.
It all looked equally shady for championship leader Jason Holmes in
class B. Ian Craig's BMW M3 was 0.5 seconds and 5 places quicker than
Jason's Rover Tomcat, with Dave Roberts' matching Tomcat alongside him
on the grid. With 0.6 seconds separating 10th to 15th, it wasn't just up
front that there would be close racing. Further back too, with 17th to
19th separated by less than 0.3 seconds. Unfortunately Jim Mepham's
championship hopes expired in a cloud of steam on the slowing down lap,
he was unable to take part in the race.
Race
A very tightly packed grid came round Clearways in excellent, close formation and as the light went out, Davison's Noble got the drop on the tourers, and led the pack into Paddock with Simon Blanckley moving up to second and nibbling at the Noble all round the first lap. All 20 cars got round safely, though Mark Hammersley was very sideways through Paddock in his Ford Fiesta near the back of the pack. As the cars came round to end lap one, Davison had pulled out a two or three length gap, and Blanckley appeared to be pulling away from the rest, but the tourers were much quicker round corners than the Noble, and the front four soon closed up. Davison set fastest lap of the race on lap 3, one that stood till the final laps. Each lap followed a similar pattern, Davison would lead across the line and down into Paddock where Blanckley would gain. Going into Clearways seemed to be Blanckley's best spot, or the Noble's biggest weak spot? By now the front four were running within a second or so and had completely dropped John Hammersley's Vauxhall Cavalier who in turn was safely ahead of Tony Soper running in 6th. The pace at the front was such that they were soon lapping backmarkers, and indeed the front four lapped the whole field by the end. Mid race Blanckley finally got through past Davison at Druids, and although Davison gave chase, Blanckley was looking favourite to win.
A few laps later Derek Hale made his way past the Noble and set about chasing down Blanckley. As more backmarkers were caught, so Davison and Hawken fell a little back, but up front the chase was on. Hale was taking two or three tenths a lap from Blanckley, culminating in fastest lap and new LMA Euro Saloons lap record - such was the pace in this race that the front four all beat the old lap record, 3 of them by over a second! Over the last two laps Hale closed right up on Blanckley, but despite almost touching on occasion, Blanckley held on to win by just 0.174 seconds. Davison took the final podium position having fallen 8 seconds back, but the Noble is still road legal bar the slicks. Traffic meant that Hawken finished 4th, 3 seconds back from Davison.
If the excitement up front wasn't enough, there was plenty going on
further back, Dave Roberts got the better start of the Tomcats and
demoted Jason Holmes to third in class B for much of the running. Ian
Craig out front in the BMW M3 had opted to run wets - there had been
light rain falling in the approach to the race, although the track was
dry at the start. This decision hurt him as he fell back first to
Roberts and then to Holmes. Roberts was having an excellent race on his
first visit to Brand Hatch, but around lap 10 Holmes got by at Druids
and slowly pulled away. In the chase to get the place back, Roberts
missed his braking point coming into Paddock and ended his race in the
gravel. Holmes had played his joker and is now looking hot favourite for
the title with 2 races to go.
Near the back of the grid, Dan Modi (Honda Integra), Simon Jackson
(Vauxhall Nova) and Mark Hammersley (Ford Fiesta), all in different
classes, were running in close formation. The Integra did slowly pull
away leaving Mark and Simon swapping places all through the race. At one
point when almost touching on the run down to Druids, they were swamped
by the front four - the marshall reported a driving incident causing
Hammersley and Jackson to report to the Clerk of the Course. He had
written up a report for excellent driving standards as they both
indicated, stayed off line to let the front four through, and then
resumed battle as if nothing had happened! In the end Jackson triumphed
over Hammersley by less than a second.
Two races left, Jim Mepham is out of the running for the title, although
he's almost got Class C in the bag from Stuart Jefcoate. At the top its
all about Jason Holmes and
John Hammersley.
Jason's joker lifts him 38 points clear, John is going to need 2 wins
with Jason not scoring to take the title, so its looking like Jason's
title, but you never know. Jason has got Class B wrapped up, as has John
in Class A. Class D is going down to the wire with reigning champion Tim
Morgan-Barrett leading Mark Hammersley by just 4 points, neither having
played their joker yet, while Simon Jackson has won Class E.
Race:
Winner: Simon Blanckley (Honda Accord), 2nd Derek Hale (Honda Accord), 3rd Mal Davison (Noble M12 GTR), 4th Richard Hawken (Nissan Primera), 5th John Hammersley (Vauxhall Cavalier), 6th Tony Soper (Alfa Romeo GTV6), 7th Martin Johnston (Mercedes 190 Evo 2), 8th Simon Taylor (Honda Civic)
Class Winners: Class A Blanckley, Class B Jason Holmes (Rover Tomcat), Class C Taylor, Class D Mark Hammersley (Ford Fiesta), Class E Simon Jackson (Vauxhall Nova)
Fastest lap: Hale 50.488 (85.49mph)
Next race: Oulton Park 23rd September
Anglesey 19-20 August 2006 Race Report
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Stalemate at the top of the table
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Double win for Simon Blanckley
The three championship leaders were all present at Anglesey for this double header meet and a last chance to race at the circuit in its current format. Its that close at the top now, who is going to blink first?
Qualifying
Torrential rain had been falling at Anglesey since Friday evening, and with running water across the track the organisers took the decision to cancel all qualifying. Instead all races did 3 laps of the circuit slowly behind a pace car.
Race 1
With the grid lined up in championship order, Jason Holmes (Rover Tomcat) was on pole with Jim Mepham (Renault Megane) alongside and John Hammersley (Vauxhall Cavalier) in third. A good start saw Mepham hold the lead for the first three laps before Tony Soper (Alfa GTV6) got by. Simon Blanckley (Honda Accord) moved up from 7th place to take the race win by 4 seconds from Soper, with Matthew Orford (Renault Clio Cup) coming through from the back of the grid to take 3rd. Jim Mepham held on for 4th place and a class win, while Holmes had an excellent result beating Hammersley to 5th on the way to taking Class B. Tim Morgan-Barrett (VW Golf GTi) mopped up Class D with Simon Jackson (Vauxhall Nova) taking Class E from Andrew Glossop’s Ford Puma.
Race 2
A red flagged first race saw the Audi TT and VW Golf GTi of Jerry Bate and Richard Hill unable to restart. The restarted race saw Blanckley lead from Soper and Hammersley until the latter two came together at Radar resulting in 360 spins for each. Soper recovered first and took second place from Hammersley, 19 seconds behind Blanckley. With Jerry bate unable to restart, Jason Holmes took an uncontested class B win. No-one in Class C finished the race while new comer Graham Fields won Class D in his Ford Fiesta as Tim Morgan-Barrett joined the others in the tyre wall. Simon Jackson revelled in having Andrew Glossop’s Ford Puma to compete with and took Class E by almost a lap.
Both Hammersley and Holmes scored 30 points at Anglesey, but Jim
Mepham’s DNF in race 2 has dropped him to third. All to play for three
races remaining, it looks like one of these three will be the 2006 LMA
Euro Saloons champion.
Race 1:
Winner: Simon Blanckley (Honda Accord), 2nd Tony Soper (Alfa Romeo GTV6), 3rd Matthew Orford (Renault Clio Cup), 4th Jim Mepham (Renault Megane), 5th Jason Holmes (Rover Tomcat), 6th John Hammersley (Vauxhall Cavalier)
Class Winners: Class A Blanckley, Class B Holmes, Class C Mepham, Class D Morgan-Barrett (VW Golf GTi), Class E Jackson (Vauxhall Nova)
Fastest lap: Soper (57.167 63.50 mph)
Race 2:
Winner: Simon Blanckley (Honda Accord), 2nd Tony Soper (Alfa Romeo GTV6), 3rd John Hammersley (Vauxhall Cavalier), 4th Matthew Orford (Renault Clio Cup), 5th Jason Holmes (Rover Tomcat), 6th Graham Fields (Ford Fiesta XR2)
Class Winners: Class A Blanckley, Class B Holmes, Class D Fields, Class E Jackson (Vauxhall Nova)
Fastest lap: Blanckley (49.109 77.48 mph)
Next race: Brands Hatch 2nd September
Cadwell Park 15-6 July 2006 Race Report
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Championship leaders score zero points, Holmes is new leader
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First ever non-Class A LMA outright win for Peter Felix
With Stuart Jefcoate unable to make the meeting, it looked a good chance for John Hammersley to cement his position as championship leader.
Qualifying
Simon Blanckley (Honda Accord) set the pace in his first outing since his Mallory Park retirement, and even though he only did 4 laps, he was a full four seconds clear of John Hammersley's Vauxhall Cavalier. Tony Soper(Alfa Romeo GTV6) was another two seconds back, only just taking 3rd place from the Class C MG ZR of Peter Felix. David Roberts got the better of Jason Holmes in the battle of the Rover Tomcats, with Jim Mepham's Renault Megane in close attendance, while Mark Hammersley just edged Simon Jackson's Vauxhall Nova, the Nova having an eventful weekend shearing engine mount bolts on Friday testing, and then losing the back brakes in this session.
Race 1
After
the slowest pace lap known to mankind, the race finally started. Alas
for Simon Blanckley it was over almost as soon as the new engine in his
Honda Accord failed. With championship leader John Hammersley's Vauxhall
Cavalier losing its 100% reliability record this year with clutch
failure after 7 laps, it was time for a new race winner for 2006 to step
forward. Conventional wisdom said that Tony Soper should have mopped up
the points in his Alfa Romeo GTV6, but Peter Felix had other ideas and
triumphed over Soper by just 0.3 second. An excellent achievement and
the first time in three years of the LMA Euro Saloons where an outright
win has fallen to a car outside Class A.
Jason Holmes and David Roberts were battling hard in the Tomcats until
Roberts' car succumbed to a misfire leaving Holmes to take third place
and the Class B win, but not before Roberts had taken the fastest lap
points. Simon Jackson's expected race with Mark Hammersley came to
nought as Hammersley's Fiesta was overheating leaving him well off
Jackson's pace, but both took their respective class wins.
Race 2
With an overnight break, drivers had plenty of time to try and solve their woes. Not enough for the super tours of Blanckley and Hammersley, they both left the circuit on Saturday, never to return. Soper had changed the plugs in the Alfa in the hope of clearing a misfire, and David Roberts hoped he had cured the misfire on his Tomcat.
An excellent start saw Tony Soper pull away from Peter Felix (who was on
pole) and take a clear lead into the first corner, from which he never
looked back. The new plugs were plainly working well, it seemed like his
old plugs were now in the MG which had a noticeable misfire through the
mountain section. Felix tried to hold on gamely for the opening laps but
two or three laps in the gap was already 8 seconds and increasing at
which time his commitment levels dropped away - the marker posts were
pleased about that. David Roberts' Tomcat was still misfiring and he
retired early in the race leaving Jason Holmes to romp to an uncontested
win. late in the race Felix slowed dramatically, Holmes taking 12
seconds off him on the penultimate lap. Unfortunately for Holmes, he
didn't realise it was the last lap and he lifted off a touch when second
place could have been his. Jim Mepham also closed up late in the race
but not quite enough to threaten Holmes for that last podium spot.
Mark Hammersley's Fiesta was in much better health and he and Simon
Jackson were trading places early in the race before Hammersley made a
move stick. Even then Jackson almost got back late in the race as his
confidence in the Nova's brakes built back up. Another class win for
both of them.
All change at the top. With John Hammersley not scoring any points, and
Stuart Jefcoate electing not to enter this round, Jason Holmes moves
into the championship lead with Jim Mepham just edging past Hammersley
for 2nd. Holmes has yet to play his joker, but Mepham has already
dropped a round, so its going to be close up at the top.
Race 1:
Winner: Peter Felix (MG ZR), 2nd Tony Soper (Alfa Romeo GTV6), 3rd Jason Holmes (Rover Tomcat), 4th Jim Mepham (Renault Megane), 5th Simon Jackson (Vauxhall Nova), 6th Mark Hammersley (Ford Fiesta)
Class Winners: Class A Soper, Class B Holmes, Class C Felix, Class D Hammersley, Class E Jackson
Race 2:
Winner: Tony Soper (Alfa Romeo GTV6), 2nd Peter Felix (MG ZR), 3rd Jason Holmes (Rover Tomcat), 4th Jim Mepham (Renault Megane), 5th Mark Hammersley (Ford Fiesta), 6th Simon Jackson (Vauxhall Nova)
Class Winners: Class A Soper, Class B Holmes, Class C Felix, Class D Hammersley, Class E Jackson
Next race: Anglesey 18-19th August
Donington Park 17 June 2006 Race Report
The first ever visit to Donington Park for the LMA Euro Saloons. Hot, sunny weather and for the first time this season competitors could have left their wet tyres behind. But the hot sunshine would bring its own problems with both cars and drivers in danger of overheating.
Qualifying
Tony Soper’s Alfa Romeo GTV6 looked in fine fettle on its return to the championship having missed the last round, and was making the running at the front. With his final lap in qualifying being his fastest, pole looked to be on, but championship leader John Hammersley (Vauxhall Cavalier) put in one last effort to take pole by 0.644 seconds from Soper, with Martin Byford’s Renault Clio 3rd close behind.
The last round at Mallory Park had been hard on the Super Tourers, and with the Honda Accords of Hale and Blanckley absent, as well as the Nissan Primera of Peter Challis, Richard Hawken had reason to feel confident. Alas his Primera succumbed to injector problems and would not run cleanly. Despite this, Hawken still qualified in 4th place just a second behind Byford, but would withdraw from the race. Alex Schooledge was even less lucky, his Vauxhall Vectra refusing to start, ending his day.
The rest of the field was backed up together, with Jason Holmes’ Rover Tomcat leading Class B in 5th place by just 24/1000ths from Matt Hale’s Vauxhall Vectra. With Ian Craig’s BMW M3 next just 4/10ths further back, the battle for Class B honours looked like it would be exciting. Nigel Ainge (Honda Integra) headed the Class C cars by a second from Jim Mepham (Renault Megane) and championship contender Stuart Jefcoate (Porsche 911).
Race
First off after lunch, the spectators were provided with a spectacle, aided and abetted by a knowledgeable commentator. Soper got away first but Byford took the lead from Soper and Hammersley by Old Hairpin. Two laps in and Soper got past Byford, the three leaders separated by less than 4/10ths as they crossed the line at the end of lap 3. Hammersley moved up into 2nd the following lap while Byford hung on gamely. Hammersley kept the pressure on Soper at the front, upping the pace to set fastest lap on lap 8, and then taking the lead at Redgate on lap 9. Soper responded with both drivers trading laps in the 1:18s, the pace now too hot for Byford who was falling away at 2 seconds per lap. A big effort over the last three laps saw Soper pull back to within a second but Hammersley took the win.
Jason Holmes looked in for an easy ride to Class B making a good start while Matt Hale and Ian Craig got involved in a contest with the fast starting Trevor Nicosia (Lancia kappa). Nicosia got up to 5th on lap 2 and set about chasing down the 5 second deficit to Holmes, but under considerable pressure from Hale, and then Nigel Ainge. Craig was first to fall by the wayside on lap 5 with gear linkage problems. Ainge got by Nicosia into 5th with one lap to go, to take the Class C win and missed out on 4th to Holmes by just a quarter of a second. Nicosia’s Lancia expired on the last lap allowing Matt Hale through to take 6th place. Simon Jackson took the reshelled Vauxhall Nova to his 5th Class E win of the season despite missing qualifying due to leaving his harness in the garage.
Race Results:
Winner: John Hammersley (Vauxhall Cavalier), 2nd Tony Soper (Alfa Romeo GTV6), 3rd Martin Byford (Renault Clio), 4th Jason Holmes (Rover Tomcat), 5th Nigel Ainge (Honda Integra), 6th Matt Hale (Vauxhall Vectra)
Class Winners: Class A Hammersley, Class B Holmes, Class C Ainge, Class E Simon Jackson (Vauxhall Nova)
Fastest lap: Hammersley 1:18.148 (90.16mph)
Next race: Cadwell Park 15-16th July
With support from Mark Fish Motorsport and Alpha
Mallory Park 28 May 2006 Race Report
A 19 car entry for rounds 5 and 6 of the 2006 LMA Euro Saloons championship became 18 with the loss of Alan Cosby’s Ferrari F512M, but the crowd were still treated to some excellent close racing in both races.
Qualifying
Simon Blanckley threw down the gauntlet in style during qualifying, his Honda Accord just missing out on lap record pace (and that elusive 100mph lap) and being over 2.5 seconds clear of second placed John Hammersley in the ex-Cleland Vauxhall Cavalier. A mighty performance saw Class C newcomer Peter Felix qualify third in his MG ZR just ahead of Peter Challis' Nissan Primera in 4th. David Roberts headed Class B in his Rover Tomcat on his first ever visit to Mallory Park, while a whole gaggle of Class B and C cars running similar times promised some exciting and close racing down the field.
Derek Hale failed to get out during practice after dashboard failure in
the Honda Accord. He later ran out of session, still without any
dashboard and would start the race from the back of the grid.
Disappointingly, Alan Cosby's Ferrari F512M with newly built engine was
not running well and had to be withdrawn from the meet - it would have
been interesting to see how it compared with the Super Tourers if
running properly.
Race 1
Challis made an excellent start from 4th to get straight up into 2nd place right behind Blanckley. The two of them set a cracking pace up front, catching the backmarkers as early as lap 5. From there to the end they were separated by barely a car's length and seemed to be permanently passing lapped traffic. Challis was the unluckier of the two in traffic, being boxed in more than once as Blanckley got the rub. Such was their pace that every other car in the race was lapped, even third place Derek Hale in his Honda Accord, and everyone below 4th was lapped at least twice. The battle effectively ended about three laps from the finish when Challis slowed fractionally with a front-end vibration leaving Blanckley to take the honours by 3.9 seconds. Both drivers had beaten the previous lap record here for the LMA Euro Saloons, and both had achieved the 100mph lap, Blanckley just prevailing with a new lap record of 48.248 seconds (100.73mph).
Peter Felix was trying to hang on to John Hammersley in the battle for
3rd during the first half of the race, but Derek Hale was charging
through from the back of the grid to eventually take 3rd place for
himself. A couple of moments for Hammersley, who suspected a puncture,
slowed the Cavalier leaving 4th place and a Class C win for Felix.
Nigel Ainge, with a fresh engine in the Honda Integra, had been
circulating on his own and caught the slowing Hammersley late in the
race to claim 5th place. Matt Hale (Vauxhall Vectra), Jim Mepham
(Renault Megane), Stuart Jefcoate (Porsche 911) and Jason Holmes (Rover
Tomcat) had been scrapping all race long before finally ending in 7th
through 10th respectively, with Hale taking the Class B win. In the
first half the race Richard Buckley had recovered from a poor qualifying
session is his Honda Integra to pass the above group, but an electrical
failure saw the Integra pull off the track on lap 16, and would prevent
him taking part in race 2. David Roberts' Rover Tomcat also seemed to
have the measure of the above group until pulling off at Shaws, the
engine having shut down. He was just about to exit the car when he
realised the master cutout had tripped, then restarted the car and
joined back in, but having lost almost 2 laps.
Another who had been going well was Daniel Davies (VW Golf), sadly he
pulled off the track just as the last lap board was being shown with a
very sick sounding engine - he would also miss race 2.
Mark Hammersley making his LMA Euro Saloons debut in his Ford Fiesta took Class D honours from Tim Morgan-Barrett.
Race 2
Sadly Peter Challis also had to withdraw from race 2, the cause of vibration being found to be CV joint failure. Luckily for the spectators, Derek Hale was starting up front this time and took up the mantle of chasing Simon Blanckley. From the start, again Blanckley had the edge, but Hale was in hot pursuit. As they reached the backmarkers, Blanckley had eked out a 2 or 3 second gap and this gap would expand and contract as they chased through the pack. It all ended on lap 14 as Hale broke through to the front and then Blanckley pulled into the pits, the engine not sounding too good. Hale kept the lap speed up to win the race by a lap from John Hammersley, the Cavalier running strongly despite a worry about rear wheel bearings.
Peter Felix had hung onto the tail of the Cavalier again and was only 9
seconds adrift at the finish to take 3rd place and another Class C win.
Once again, messrs Holmes, Hale, Mepham, Jefcoate and Roberts were
having a rare old battle for the midfield places. This time Jason Holmes
worked his way through from the back of this pack to head them at the
end, taking the Class B win. He was chasing hard at the finish but Nigel
Ainge was able to hold onto 4th, with Holmes finishing 5th. David
Roberts again lost time, this time due to a spin which took him back to
the back of this group.
Richard Hill completed a day of misery for the Welsh Golf contingent
retiring on lap 15 while running well. At the back Mark Hammersley took
his second Class D win of the day from Tim Morgan-Barrett.
Another race down and still John Hammersley leads the standings from
Stuart Jefcoate, consistently putting away points proving successful so
far this season.
Race 1:
Winner: Simon Blanckley (Honda Accord), 2nd Peter Challis (Nissan Primera), 3rd Derek Hale (Honda Accord), 4th Peter Felix (MG ZR), 5th Nigel Ainge (Honda Integra), 6th John Hammersley (Vauxhall Cavalier)
Class Winners: Class A Blanckley, Class B Matt Hale (Vauxhall Vectra), Class C Felix, Class D Mark Hammersley (Ford Fiesta)
Fastest lap: Blanckley 48.248 (100.73mph) – new lap record
Race 2:
Winner: Derek Hale (Honda Accord), 2nd John Hammersley (Vauxhall Cavalier), 3rd Peter Felix (MG ZR), 4th Nigel Ainge (Honda Integra), 5th Jason Holmes (Rover Tomcat), 6th Matt Hale (Vauxhall Vectra)
Class Winners: Class A Derek Hale, Class B Holmes, Class C Felix, Class D Mark Hammersley (Ford Fiesta)
Fastest lap: Blanckley 49.219 (98.74mph)
Next race: Donington Park 17th June
Silverstone 14 May 2006 Race Report
A bumper entry of 24 cars entered round 4 of the 2006 LMA Euro Saloons championship, with an amazing 11 car entry in Class A. Seven Super Touring cars promised a spectacle for those watching, while all down the field there were cars involved in close competition.
Qualifying
Problems with a jammed starter motor (Derek Hale) and non-functioning clutch (Alex Schooledge) saw two of the Super Tourers fall by the wayside, although they were both up and running for the race and started from the back. Peter Challis (Nissan Primera) threw down the gauntlet on lap 6 with a 1:03.490 lap, but by lap 8 Alvin Powell (Ford Mondeo) was down in the 1:02s, with a 1:02.665 on lap 9. Challis retook pole on his last lap with a 1:02.293. Simon Blanckley (Honda Accord) also got into the 1:02s to take 3rd on the grid.
Tony Soper’s Alfa Romeo GTV6 had been a later starter, but just shaded Martin Byford’s Renault Clio Cup to take 6th, while an excellent performance from 2005 champion Simon Taylor resulted in 8th place (highest non Class A) in his first race in the Honda Civic Type R.
Class B was led by Ian Craig (BMW M3) from Jason Holmes (Rover Tomcat), with Class C being led comfortably by Simon Taylor, the next three protagonists Stuart Jefcoate (Porsche 911), Richard Buckley (Honda Integra) and Jim Mepham (Renault Megane) lined up in 12th through 14th just 2/10ths apart.
Race
A dry race, only the second one in four attempts this season. Challis and Powell were going hammer and tongs up front, trading places many times before Powell finally took the flag by 4/10ths, after a brief spin on lap 3 dropped Powell back 7 seconds and into 4th place. Simon Blanckley had remained in touch with the lead pair a few seconds back and took 3rd place from a charging Derek Hale who stormed through from the back of the 24 car grid to take 4th.
Simon Taylor backed up his qualifying pace with 8th overall in the race and the Class C win, collecting double points having played his joker. Buckley and Mepham moved up to 2nd and 3rd in Class C overhauling Jefcoate who had started ahead of them.
Ian Craig took Class B honours and 10th overall in his BMW M3 from class leader Jason Holmes. Tim Morgan-Barrett took the Class D win in his VW Golf GTI, up and running again after driveshaft problems at Snetterton. Simon Jackson (Vauxhall Nova) had an eventful race on the way to his 4th Class E win of the season.
New LMA Euro Saloon lap records were set in Class B and C by Jason Holmes and Simon Taylor respectively.
Race:
Winner: Alvin Powell (Ford Mondeo), 2nd Peter Challis (Nissan Primera), 3rd Simon Blanckley (Honda Accord), 4th Derek Hale (Honda Accord), 5th John Hammersley (Vauxhall Cavalier), 6th Martin Byford (Renault Clio), 7th Tony Soper (Alfa Romeo GTV6), 8th Simon Taylor (Honda Civic) 9th Trevor Nicosia (Lancia kappa), 10th Ian Craig (BMW M3)
Class Winners: Class A Powell, Class B Craig, Class C Taylor, Class D Tim Morgan-Barrett (VW Golf Gti), Class E Simon Jackson (Vauxhall Nova)
Fastest lap: Powell 1:02.308 (94.69mph)
Next race: Mallory Park 28th May
Croix-en-Ternois 29/30 April 2006 Race Report
The intrepid travellers who made their way over to France for rounds 2 and 3 of the LMA Euro Saloons championship were rewarded with a great weekend both on and off the track.
Qualifying
Saturday morning qualifying took place in a cold but dry Croix, but black rain clouds looked threatening. John Hammersley (Vauxhall Cavalier ST) and Trevor Nicosia (Lancia kappa) were straight out of the blocks setting their fastest times on their first flying laps, Hammersley taking pole from Nicosia by less than 2/10ths. By the second lap, the red flags were out, Matt Speakman’s Renault Clio being stranded in the gravel trap after a weekend fraught with brake problems. Shortly after the restart, the red flags were out again, this time for Dave Roberts whose Rover Tomcat was suffering transmission problems and had parked up.
By the time the third attempt came, the rain was with us and the track was slippery. Hammersley and Nicosia came straight back in, the rest of the drivers pounded around to set their times. Simon Jackson suffered most having spent the early part of qualifying bedding in new brake pads, by the time the rain came, his Vauxhall Nova was 8 seconds slower than it had been during dry testing on Friday.
Race 1
By mid afternoon, any suggestion of rain had long gone, the sun was out and the track was dry. Front men Hammersley and Nicosia launched off side by side at the start, arriving at the first (180 degree) corner with Nicosia no more than a bonnet length in front, and having to concede the inside line. Hammersley pulled slowly away to register his first LMA Euro Saloons victory with Nicosia coming second for his best result so far.
Behind the front pair, Matt Speakman had slowly moved through the pack from the back of the grid to reach 3rd place, but could make little impression on the front pair.
Stuart Jefcoate (Porsche 911) just shaded Jim Mepham in his first outing with his Renault Megane to win Class C, with Jim beating Jason Holmes to 5th place on the track by a car length. With the demise of Dave Roberts’ Rover Tomcat, Jason Holmes was left an easy run in his similar car to record his first Class B win of 2006. Simon Jackson ran well back at Friday’s pace to bring home the Vauxhall Nova as Class E winner.
Race 2
Sunday morning, the competitors were greeted with heavy rain, deliberation over tyre choice was reminiscent of Snetterton. This time, all bar Jason Holmes went with wets, Holmes trying slicks on the front and wets on the rear.
Once again, front men Hammersley and Nicosia launched off side by side, again arriving at the first (180 degree) corner with Nicosia no more than a bonnet length in front, and having to concede the inside line. This time Matt Speakman was in close attendance and managed to exit the first corner between them. Stuart Jefcoate had a minor spin in the Porsche which held everyone else up.
At the front Hammersley eased slowly away under pressure from Speakman and Nicosia, with Nicosia finally passing Speakman (with ailing brakes) on lap 8. A late lunge at Bridge gave Jim Mepham 3rd place and his first Class C win from Jefcoate who just shaded Speakman for 4th at the end. On a drying track, Jason Holmes set fastest lap as he collected his second Class B win of the weekend, as did Simon Jackson in Class E.
Race 1:
Winner: John Hammersley (Vauxhall Cavalier), 2nd Trevor Nicosia (Lancia kappa), 3rd Matt Speakman (Renault Clio), 4th Stuart Jefcoate (Porsche 911), 5th Jim Mepham (Renault Megane), 6th Jason Holmes (Rover Tomcat)
Class Winners: Class A Hammersley, Class B Holmes, Class C Jefcoate, Class E Simon Jackson (Vauxhall Nova)
Fastest lap: Hammersley 1:02.559 (67.90mph)
Race 2:
Winner: John Hammersley (Vauxhall Cavalier), 2nd Trevor Nicosia (Lancia kappa), 3rd Jim Mepham (Renault Megane), 4th Stuart Jefcoate (Porsche 911), 5th Matt Speakman (Renault Clio), 6th Jason Holmes (Rover Tomcat)
Class Winners: Class A Hammersley, Class B Holmes, Class C Mepham, Class E Simon Jackson (Vauxhall Nova)
Fastest lap: Holmes 1:06.412 (63.96mph)
Next race: Silverstone 14th May
Snetterton 9 April 2006 Race Report
After a long winter break, the LMA Euro Saloons 2006 season started at a cold and wet Snetterton. An engine blow up in testing meant that defending champion Simon Taylor was unable to debut his new Class C Honda Civic, but newcomers Martin Byford and Matt Speakman (Renault Clio Cup), Ray Byford (Proton) and David Roberts (Rover Tomcat) added to a grid of 19 cars, 9 of which were entered in Class A.
Qualifying
Qualifying took place just before lunch on a cold track with little grip, but at least it was still dry at this point. At the head of the grid, Simon Blanckley (Honda Accord) took pole with a sub-LMA lap record time of 1:14.444 by a second from lap record holder Peter Challis (Nissan Primera). Three seconds back, Tony Soper (Alfa Romeo GTV6), John Hammersley (Vauxhall Cavalier) and Martin Byford (Renault Clio) were covered by 0.5 second with Derek Hale in his new for 2006 Honda Accord just behind in 6th. And excellent performance saw Stuart Jefcoate (Porsche 911 Carrera 3) head Class C in 7th overall, Matt Hale (Vauxhall Vectra) heading the four Class B protagonists in 8th.
All was not plain sailing for the first race of the season. Richard Hawken’s Nissan Primera was down in 13th place with a misfire, Matt Speakman drove 3 slow laps in the Renault Clio which had vibration problems. More terminal were Paul Overton (Vauxhall Vectra) whose gearbox failure ended his day, and Tim Morgan-Barrett (VW Golf Gti) had a driveshaft failure on the slowing down lap. Finally Simon Jackson was suffering from brake problems and found his Vauxhall Nova had cracked a brake disc – a trip to Halfords in Norwich saved the day for him.
Race
Conditions were vastly different by the end of the afternoon and race time. Rain had been falling on and off all afternoon and left drivers in a quandary over tyre choice. Tony Soper made a late decision to run slicks as did some of the production class drivers who ran their “dry” treaded tyres. Stuart Jefcoate elected to play his joker after a confident qualifying run, but just as the cars prepared to leave the assembly area, a hailstorm started ensuring a very wet start to the race.
John Hammersley got the jump from the second row and headed the pack after the first lap from Martin Byford. Jason Holmes (Rover Tomcat) was hanging on gamely and heading Class B while Tony Soper and Stuart Jefcoate were falling backwards through the pack very quickly. Martin Byford hit the front on lap 2 and looked to be pulling away slowly from Peter Challis and Simon Blanckley, but Blanckley hit the front on lap 7 where he remained to the end of the race. Byford had fallen behind Challis that same lap but got back into second on lap 12 finishing 3 seconds adrift of Blanckley at the end, with Derek Hale having moved up to 3rd a further 5 seconds back.
Class B was won by Matt Hale, with David Roberts second in his first ever race. Richard Buckley won Class C closing right up on John Hammersley at the end. Further back, Trevor Nicosia (Lancia kappa) and Matt Speakman (Renault Clio) battled for 10 laps, often side by side and Simon Jackson was rewarded for his trip to Norwich with the Class E win.
Race:Winner: Simon Blanckley (Honda Accord), 2nd Martin Byford (Renault Clio), 3rd Derek Hale (Honda Accord), 4th Richard Hawken (Nissan Primera), 5th Peter Challis (Nissan Primera), 6th John Hammersley (Vauxhall Cavalier)
Class Winners: Class A Blanckley, Class B Matt Hale, Class C Richard Buckley (Honda Integra), Class E Simon Jackson (Vauxhall Nova)
Fastest lap: Blanckley 1:27.331 (80.46mph)
Next race: Croix-en-Ternois 29/30th April
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