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BRSCC LMA Euro Saloons Championship

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Rockingham 12-13^th July 2008 Race Report 

• Wins for Nick Williamson and Steven Taylor, double win for Rhys Lloyd
• Class wins for David Hinde and Simon Parker, double win for Jim Mepham
• Jim Mepham is the new championship leader

With 49 entries in place the decision was taken to run split races, but to even up the numbers, the races were split as Class A and D, and B and C with two guest entries racing in the first group. 

Qualifying – A/D

The Lotus Exiges of Rex Stamp and Steven Taylor set the pace at the front of the field, but Tony Soper in the Harrier LR9 ran them close to qualify third. With Richard Gould’s Noble in 4^th, the front two rows comprised mid-engined cars, before the Honda Accord Super Tourers of Stewart Whyte and Derek Hale headed the front engine cars. Series leader Nick Williamson was a lot further back than usual in the Escort Cosworth, back in 8^th place. 

Simon Taylor led the Class D cars back in 11^th overall – hardly surprising as Rockingham offers the fastest cars the chance to stretch their legs on the banking. Jim Mepham (Renault Megane Coupe) was just 0.5 seconds back from Taylor with Andy Neal (Honda Integra) and Simon Jackson (MG ZR) taking the 3^rd and 4^th grid positions in class. 

Qualifying – B/C

Joss Ronchetti (Talbot Lotus Sunbeam) set the pace in the Class B & C race with the Seat Leons of Simon Blanckley (back after his sojourn with the BTCC) and Rhys Lloyd in close attendance. Top running Class C car was David Hinde in the first of six Vauxhall Vectra challenge cars competing in this race, with the similar cars of Simon Parker and Craig Odams taking 2^nd and 3^rd in class. Davod Roberts’ Rover Tomcat may have felt outnumbered but narrowly missed 4^th in class which fell to Derek Kelly-Cooper. 

Race 1 – A/D

Nick Williamson launched through from 8^th place to end the first lap in second place splitting the two Lotus Exiges, but the following lap Steven Taylor had passed Williamson to take 2^nd, but already 3.4 seconds behind Rex Stamp out front. One of the guest entries ran off on the first lap and on lap 3 the safety car was brought out while it was retrieved, bunching the pack right up again. The safety car was out for just two laps, but one lap later came a sudden shower. Williamson took full advantage of his Escort’s four wheel drive and was lapping fully 5 seconds faster than anyone else. In the space of three laps he went from 3^rd place to take a 16 second lead from Taylor, Stamp having fallen away after a slow first wet lap. As the track dried, lap times dropped to something approaching fully dry times, but Williamson’s lead was unassailable and he won by 10 seconds from Taylor. John Hammersley also fared well in the wet, moving up from 8^th to 3^rd as the rain fell.

Class D was thrown wide open on the first lap with Simon Taylor’s Honda Civic suffering gearbox failure. Jim Mepham was holding a steady 2 second advantage over Andy Neal from the first lap and maintained this lead throughout the race to record his first class win of 2008. Jason Newman (Peugeot 306) and Simon Jackson were scrapping for 3^rd in class, Jackson initially looked to have the place in the bag but Newman responded quicker to the drying track conditions to make the pass and hold onto 3^rd place. 

Race 1 – B/C

With the track dry again, Joss Ronchetti headed the 2 Seat Leons for the first four laps, but all three cars were running little over a second apart. Rhys Lloyd upped the pace on lap 5 to take the lead, Simon Blanckley followed him through 2 laps later, but by now Lloyd had a 6 second lead. Douglas Ellwood (Marcos Mantis) was running a steady 4^th some 8 seconds behind Ronchetti who slowly fell back from Blanckley. The race finished with a win for Lloyd from Blanckley by 9 seconds, with Ronchetti 3^rd a further 11 seconds back and Ellwood bringing up 4^th. Andy Glossop headed the Renault Clio contingent to take the win in the Mark Fish sponsored Clio Cup. 

With 6 Vauxhall Vectras out in Class C, the odds on a Vauxhall victory were good. David Hinde converted his class pole into a class win (7^th overall), and the only Vectra not to be lapped by the winner. Craig Odams enjoyed a good tussle with a pair of Class B Clios (David Pierce and Mark Crook) and ended up splitting them on his way to 2^nd in class. David Roberts prevented a total Vauxhall podium bringing his Rover Tomcat home in third. Hinde played his joker which contributed to Vauxhall scoring a massive 104 points in the MSE_Performance.com manufacturers’ cup.  

Race 2 – A/D

With Rex Stamp unable to take part, and no interference from rain, Steven Taylor was able to take full advantage and cruise to a comfortable win from Derek Hale by over 20 seconds, with Richard Gould further back in third. The real drama during the race lay further back. Stewart Whyte missed race 1 and started this race from the back – a storming start saw him drive through the pack and up into 5^th place as lap 1 ended. A collision with Tony Soper saw Whyte pit to have the Honda’s front splitter repaired, and then Whyte put it a massive effort to pull back through the pack from last to finish 8^th, just taking fastest lap away from Soper in the process. Williamson was struggling in the dry and lost 2 spokes from a front wheel lapping a slower car near the end of the race, amazingly he was able to complete the race and just outdragged Soper’s Harrier to the finish line as they exited the chicane side by side on the final lap. 

With Simon Taylor unable to repair his Honda’s gearbox, Mepham played his joker and took full advantage scoring his second win of the weekend. This now moves Mepham out front in the championship, the third leader is as many events. Simon Jackson was getting to grips with his MG ZR and found himself challenging Andy Neal for  2^nd place, losing out by just 0.4 seconds, the best showing for the MG so far. 

Race 2 – B/C

Blanckley had a poor start to race 2 and found himself down in 4^th place after lap 1 behind Lloyd, Ronchetti and Ellwood. He slowly moved back up to second on lap 4 but was already 6 seconds down on Lloyd. Blanckley maintained the gap until lap 10 but then damaged two wheels which slowed his Seat finally allowing Lloyd to extend his lead. With two laps to go, Ellwood caught and passed Blanckley and finished second, but 14 seconds adrift of Lloyd, and a second ahead of Blanckley. Fergus Trenholme got the better of Glossop in the Mark Fish supported Clio Cup, just avoiding being lapped. 

David Hinde looked set for a second class win of the weekend but his race ended on lap 13 allowing Simon Parker to take over the lead and go on to record the Class win. David Roberts had been feeling confident after race 1, his Tomcat was performing well on the banking so he played his joker for this race. A good start saw Roberts move past Parker and into 2^nd place, but on lap 2 a tap from a Clio caused the Tomcat to spin and Roberts fell to last. Undeterred, Roberts set about chasing down the Vectras again, but worn tyres caused a couple of lock-ups near the end of the race, and to add insult to injury, the Tomcat started to misfire on the last lap! 

Joker-playing Mepham now leads the championship on 138 points from Williamson (134), Lloyd and Neal (both 128). Of these, only Lloyd has yet to play his joker. 

Andrew Glossop (112) moved past David Pierce (110) in the standings for the Mark Fish Clio Cup, while Vauxhall’s massive 202 point haul brings them up to third (276 points) in the MSE_Performance.com manufacturers’ cup, but still some way behind Hinda (456) and Renault (414) 

Race 1 A/D  Result:

Winner: Nick Williamson (Ford Escort Cosworth),

2^nd Steven Taylor (Lotus Exige),

3^rd John Hammersley (Honda Accord),

4^th Tony Soper (Harrier LR9),

5^th Derek Hale (Honda Accord),

6^th Rex Stamp (Lotus Exige),

7^th Jim Mepham (Renault Megane Coupe),

8^th Andrew Neal (Honda Integra)

 

Class Winners: Class A Williamson, Class D Mepham, Class F Jochim Ritter (Ginetta G50)

Fastest lap: Rex Stamp 1:28.787 (79.00mph)

 

Race 2 A/D  Result:

Winner: Steven Taylor (Lotus Exige),

2^nd Derek Hale (Honda Accord),

3^rd Richard Gould (Nobe M12),

4^th Nick Williamson (Ford Escort Cosworth),

5^th Tony Soper (Harrier LR9),

6^th John Hammersley (Honda Accord),

7^th Jochim Ritter (Ginetta G50),

8^th Stewart Whyte (Honda Accord)

 

Class Winners: Class A Taylor, Class D Mepham, Class F Ritter

Fastest lap: Stewart Whyte 1:27.861 (79.84mph)

 

Race 1 B/C  Result:

Winner: Rhys Lloyd (Seat Leon),

2^nd Simon Blanckley (Seat Leon),

3^rd Joss Ronchetti (Talbot Sunbeam Lotus),

4^th Douglas Ellwood (Marcos Mantis),

5^th Alex Heynes (BMW M3),

6^th Andy Glossop (Renault Clio),

7^th David Hinde (Vauxhall Vectra),

8^th David Pierce (Renault Clio)

 

Class Winners: Class B Lloyd, Class C Hinde

Fastest lap: Rhys Lloyd 1:28.662 (79.12mph)

 

Race 2 B/C  Result:

Winner: Rhys Lloyd (Seat Leon),

2^nd Douglas Ellwood (Marcos Mantis),

3^rd Douglas Ellwood (Marcos Mantis),

4^th Alex Heynes (BMW M3),

5^th Simon Parker (Vauxhall Vectra),

6^th Fergus Trenholme (Renault Clio),

7^th Andy Glossop (Renault Clio),

8^th Derek Kelly-Cooper (Vauxhall Vectra)

 

Class Winners: Class B Lloyd, Class C Parker

Fastest lap: Simon Blanckley 1:28.751 (79.04mph)

Brands Hatch 15th June 2008 Race Report

Nick Williamson triumphs after race cut short

Class wins for Joss Ronchetti, Lee Reynolds and Simon Taylor

2007 Champion Simon Taylor is back in front 

Another full grid of 32 cars after the entry was closed 6 weeks before the race due to oversubscription!

Qualifying

32 cars on the short Brands Hatch Indy circuit makes for a crowded qualifying session and sets a premium on getting out on track early. The queue in the pitlane to join the track was so long that 4 cars had still to join the circuit when Rex Stamp had completed his first lap! The chase for pole was a straight battle between Rex Stamp (Lotus Exige) and Stewart Whyte (Honda Accord) as they traded lower and lower laps culminating in Stamp beating the LMA lap record by ¼ second with 50.358 to Whyte’s 50.608. Eight further cars lapped in the 51s with Joss Ronchetti (Talbot Lotus Sunbeam) taking Class B pole and 4th overall from Rhys Lloyd (Seat Leon Cupra R) back in 8th. Championship leader Nick Williamson had to be content with 6th fastest in his Ford Escort Cosworth. 

The Class C entry was halved when Ian Craig (BMW M3) spun after Graham Hill and Mark Crook (Renault Clio Cup) was unable to avoid the collision. Craig was unable to continue further in the day, but an unbelievable effort by Crook’s team using a Range Rover to pull the chassis back into shape, and making a borrowed Peugeot radiator fit, meant that Crook was able to take his place in the race. Class C pole went to Lee Reynolds (Citroen Saxo) while Simon Taylor (Honda Civic Type R) put in his best performance of the season to take Class D pole from Andrew Neal (Honda Integra) and Jim Mepham (Renault Megane). 

Race

Stamp got a storming start and led Whyte by 0.9 seconds after one lap, Williamson had launched the Escort Cosworth from 6th to 3rd but was already 2.2 seconds off the lead and closely followed by the Nobles of Mal Davison and Richard Gould. A second lap collision at Paddock left Jason Tarling (Renault Clio) and Jason Newman (Peugeot 306) parked in the gravel and the race continued under yellow flags for the next 3 laps. By the end of lap 2, Stamp had extended his lead and Gould had swapped places with Davison,  but coming round Clearways on lap 3 Whyte and Stamp touched leaving Stamp’s Lotus spinning off to resume in 9th place. Davison had fallen back to hard charging Ronchetti who was now up to 4th and climbing all over Gould’s Noble which he would pass for 3rd the following lap.  

Whyte looked on for the win as he opened up a 5 second gap back to Williamson, with Ronchetti right his tail, but on lap 8 Whyte went off at Druids and was unable to rejoin, leaving Williamson narrowly leading from Ronchetti and Davison. Gould was falling backwards in the second Noble while Richard Hawken (Nissan Primera) was making good progress to 5th on lap 8, and 4th on lap 9 as both he and Derek Hale (Honda Accord) passed Ronchetti’s nearest Class B competitor Rhys Lloyd. But on lap 12 Antony Harrison (Rover Tomcat) went off at Paddock narrowly missing the 2 cars parked there since lap 1. Harrison kept his foot in, but just failed to get out of the gravel. This caused the safety car to be deployed and the pack closed up behind Williamson who was relieved to get some respite, his power steering having failed on lap 4. 

Two laps under the safety car, and a very abrupt decision to come in, and the race was back on. Williamson led from Davison and Ronchetti, with Hawken closing fast. On lap 16, Davison passed Williamson, Hawken passed Ronchetti and Williamson as the Escort lost power, but at the same time Clive Anderson (BMW E30) went off at Paddock and stopped just short of the 2 cars still parked there – only Harrison’s Rover had been moved under the safety car period. With 4 cars off the circuit and only minutes to go, the race was red flagged. Under the rule of counting back one lap, Williamson was declared the winner from Davison and Ronchetti. 

With Ian Craig unable to race, Class C’s sole representative Lee Reynolds took the win but spent the whole race mixing with the Class D trio of Taylor, Mepham and Neal. Taylor was struggling to pass Bernard Hogarth (Class A Ford Mondeo) and this allowed Mepham and Neal to stick close by, but Taylor held on to take the Class D win from Mepham and Neal, with just 1.7 seconds separating the three. 

In the Mark Fish Motorsport Clio Challenge, honours fell to David Pierce, with the patched up Clio of Mark Crook taking a well earned second.. 

Taylor played his joker and his 44 points haul puts him at the front of the championship with 112 points from Williamson (100) and Neal (92). The class leaders are Williamson, Lloyd (86), Angus Dawe (80) and Taylor. In the newly announced MSE_Performance.com cup for manufacturers, Honda (354) lead from Renault (284) and BMW (214). 

Race  Result:

1st.Nick Williamson (Ford Escort Cosworth),

2nd Mal Davison (Noble M400),

3rd Joss Ronchetti (Talbot Sunbeam Lotus),

4th Richard Hawken (Nissan Primera),

5th Derek Hale (Honda Accord),

6th Tony Soper (Harrier LR9),

7th Rex Stamp (Lotus Exige),

8th Richard Gould (Noble M12),

9th Rhys Lloyd (Seat Leon Cupra R),

10th John Hammersley (Honda Accord)

 

Class Winners: Class A Williamson, Class B Ronchetti, Class C Lee Reynolds (Citroen Saxo), Class D Simon Taylor (Honda Civic Type R). 

Fastest lap: Rex Stamp 50.859 (84.84mph)

Castle Combe 5^th May 2008 Race Report

• Outright win for Rhys Lloyd in race of attrition
• Class wins for John Hammersley, Angus Dawe and Andrew Neal
• Only 4 points separates top 5 drivers

A measure of the success of the LMA Euro Saloon and Sports Car Championship is that the Castle Combe Racing Club invited us to race at Castle Combe shortly after the 2007 season completed. Another 33 car entry justified their faith.

Qualifying

A wet overnight track started drying as the morning pushed on, and by 10am most LMA drivers faced a difficult choice of tyres – would the track be dry enough for their dry tyre option, or too dry for the wet option? Qualifying times plainly show the track was still slippery in places although this didn’t stop Castle Combe regulars Mark Funnell (Lotus Exige) and LMA championship leader Nick Williamson (Escort Cosworth) from setting stunning lap times, 1:11.989 for Mark, with Nick just ¾ second adrift. A measure of their dominance was that 3rd in qualifying, and another local driver, Mark Harrison (Mitsubishi Evo 8) was over 5 seconds back from pole. Fastest Class B car was Alex Heynes (BMW M3) in 4th place, just 3/100ths of Harrison’s pace.  

Angus Dawe (BMW M3) headed Class C in 5th, just 2/10th behind Heynes and ahead of a multitude of Class A and B cars. Pole man in Class D was Andrew Neal (Honda Integra) back in 15th place on 1:21.304. But even as qualifying was drawing to a close, the weather was visibly improving giving optimism for the afternoon race. 

Race

Mark Funnell stormed away from the start and held an incredible 5 second lead at the end of the first lap. Fellow front row man Nick Williamson bogged down and was 4th coming into Quarry for the first time, but had repassed Mark Harrison and Angus Dawe by the end of the first lap. Funnell increased his lead by 2 seconds on lap 2, and a further 4 seconds on lap 3. Behind Williamson, Doug Ellwood (Marcos Mantis) was heading the BMW M3s of Dawe and Ian Craig, but on lap 4 the DNFs started with Ellwood pulling off the track after Quarry with fan belt failure. Almost straight after this we lost Gareth Porter (Peugeot 205GTi Turbo) to the infield as he and Rhys Lloyd (Seat Leon) both darted sideways to the same piece of track. As if Funnell wasn’t pulling away quick enough, Williamson slowed dramatically on lap 4 as his alternator had failed and the battery could not provide sufficient power. 

With Ellwood’s demise, Rhys Lloyd was leading Class B but Joss Ronchetti was pulling through the pack from last on the grid after a driveshaft broke in qualifying. His team did an excellent job to repair the little Sunbeam but on lap 6 a front wheel collapsed on the entry to Quarry and the Sunbeam parked in the tyre wall. The BMW M3s of Dawe and Craig were running in formation challenging Harrison for 2nd place while battling over Class C honours. Back in Class D, Jim Mepham (Renault Megane) was tapped into the infield and last (33rd) position on the opening lap before storming back through the pack to miss second in class D (Simon Taylor – Honda Civic) by 3/10th and gain 21 places on his way to 12th, with Taylor 11th and Class D winner Andrew Neal 9th. 

The real drama started on lap 6, Funnell was already 32 seconds clear of second place Harrison after 5 laps, but after rounding Quarry slowly, Funnell parked up the Elise, also an alternator belt failure. This left Harrison leading from Dawe, Lloyd and Craig, less than 2 seconds covering the four places. Lloyd was looking favourite, but Hammersley (9 seconds back after 6 laps) was on a charge and started to bring the gap down. By lap 12 he was on the pack of the leading pack, by the end of lap 13 he was second, just half a second behind Harrison. An overtaking manoeuvre at Old Paddock Bend saw Hammersley lose the Honda Accord’s front bumper during an excursion to the grass and drop to 4th behind Craig, while Lloyd got by both drivers to take the lead. Hammersley managed to recover to 2nd place on the final lap and win Class A, but finished some 12 seconds adrift of winner and Class B winner Lloyd. Craig was challenging Harrison for 3rd but lost brakes on the final lap and the ensuing collision allowed Dawe to retake 3rd and the Class C win, with Harriosn 4th and Craig 5th.    

In the Mark Fish Motorsport Clio Challenge, honours fell to Fergus Trenholme from Jason Tarling and Mark Crook. 

Williamson’s DNF means he now only jointly leads the championship (80 points) with Dawe while Craig, Richard Gould (Noble M12) and Andrew Neal (Honda Integra) are all in close attendance on 76 points. The Class leaders are Williamson, Lloyd (66), Dawe and Neal. 

Race  Result:

1^st  Rhys Lloyd (Seat Leon Cupra R),

2^nd John Hammersley (Honda Accord ST),

3^rd Angus Dawe (BMW M3),

4^th Mark Harrison (Mitsubishi Evo 8),

5^th Ian Craig (BMW M3),

6^th Julian Long (Peugeot 306),

7^th Ilsa Cox (Peugeot 206Gti),

8^th Brian Cox (Peugeot 206Gti),

9^th Neal (Honda Integra Type R),

10^th Richard Gould (Noble M12)

Class Winners: Class A Hammersley, Class B Lloyd, Class C Dawe, Class D Neal 

Fastest lap: Mark Funnell 1:10.481 (94.49mph)

Championship Positions

Class  Name            points 

1=.C Angus Dawe  80

1=.A Nick Williamson      80

2=A  Richard Gould     76

2=D Andrew Neal  76

2=C Ian Craig        76

6.D Simon Taylor 68

7.B Rhys Lloyd      66

8.   Julian Long     64

9=. Douglas Ellwood   54

9=. Jim Mepham   54

Next race: Brands Hatch 15^th June

Oulton Park 19 April 2008 Race Report 

3 wins out of 3 for Nick Williamson

Class wins for Andrew Morrison, Ian Craig and Andrew Neal

Another bumper entry saw 33 cars contest the second round of the 2008 LMA Euro Saloon and Sports Car Championship on the Oulton Park International circuit. 

Qualifying

With a lap time not far off 2 minutes, a 15 minute qualifying session meant drivers had just 7 laps to get in a good time. This was reduced to just 5 laps courtesy of a 2 lap red flag incidents during qualifying, meaning some drivers qualified lower down the grid than they might have expected. Not Nick Williamson though, a storming lap crashing across kerbs everywhere saw his Escort Cosworth take pole by 1.7 seconds from Rex Stamp (Lotus Exige), with Simon Scuffham (Lotus Elise) a further 0.7 seconds back. Joint championship leader Richard Gould was fourth in his Noble M12, with Mal Davison (Noble M400) just behind. 

Ian Craig (BMW M3) headed Class C in 6th overall, with Douglas Ellwood (Marcos Mantis) heading Class B in 7th place. Julian Long headed the Class D times in 10th overall in his Peugeot 306. The Vauxhall Vectra contingent turned up in force with no fewer than 5 of the ex-Vectra Challenge cars partaking in this race, Simon Parker setting the fastest time in 12th overall. Fastest of the six Renault Clio Cup cars in the Mark Fish Clio Challenge was Andrew Glossop, but only by 0.25 second from Fergus Trenholme. 

Race

With second place man Rex Stamp starting from the pitlane, Nick Williamson was free to make his usual good start unhindered by his strongest competitor and led from Simon Scuffham by 2 seconds after lap 1. Ian Craig made a storming start from 6th and ended lap 1 in third place, ahead of Derek Hale and Andrew Morrison, already 10 seconds off the lead having lost time when Richard Gould left the circuit. More spinners on the second lap meant the introduction of the safety car on lap 3, slowing the cars to almost half normal speed and allowing them all to bunch up. By now Ian Craig was up to second as we lost Simon Scuffham, with Andrew Morrison third and Derek Hale fourth. Rex Stamp was up to 17th by the end of lap 2 having started from the pitlane in 32nd. 

From the restart, Morrison and Hale both got past Craig quickly, while Stamp was racing through the pack, finishing lap 5 in 9th, lap 6 in 6th and lap 7 in 4th, still some 6 seconds adrift of third place Hale. Williamson was able to control the race up front and recorded his third win in three races by just over a second from Morrison. Two stunning laps in the 1:49s saw Stamp close up and pass Hale on the last lap and finish 3rd, just 2 seconds off the win. Douglas Ellwood drove a steady race to finish 2nd in Class B and 5th overall while Ian Craig won Class C and finished 6th, some 10 seconds clear of 7th place and Class D winner Andrew Neal, who won Class D from Julian Long by just 0.14 seconds after a race long battle with the pair never far apart.  

Andrew Glossop took the win in the Mark Fish Renault Clio Challenge, with nearest qualifier Fergus Trenholme having spun off on lap 2, and Antony Sullivan the next Clio 9 seconds (and three places) further back. Glossop also finished 3rd in Class B thus making good use of having played his joker for this race. Simon Parker got the best of the Vauxhall Vectras, finishing 14th overall (and third in Class C) from Craig Odams by less than 0.3 seconds, the two Vectras being sandwiched by the two leading Clios. 

Williamson now leads the championship (80 points) from Julian Long (64) and Richard Gould and Angus Dawe (60). The Class leaders are Williamson, Douglas Ellwood (54), Dawe and Long. 

Race  Result:

Winner: Nick Williamson (Ford Escort Cosworth),

2nd Andrew Morrison (Seat Leon),

3rd Rex Stamp (Lotus Exige),

4th Derek Hale (Honda Accord),

5th Douglas Ellwood (Marcos Mantis),

6th Ian Craig (BMW M3),

7th Andrew Neal (Honda Integra Type R),

8th Julian Long (Peugeot 306),

9th Simon Taylor (Honda Civic Type R),

10th Angus Dawe (BMW M3) 

Class Winners: Class A Williamson, Class B Morrison, Class C Craig, Class D Neal 

Fastest lap: Stamp 1:49.341 (88.63mph)  

Snetterton 30 March 2008 Report 

For most drivers, it’s been 5 long months since the end of the last season, and here we are back at Snetterton, just where we left off. For some drivers, maybe the season has started too early, the 76 registrations for the championship translated into 38 entries, a full grid at Snetterton. 

Qualifying

The LMA Euro Saloon and Sports Car Championship were first out on the Sunday morning, and the expected wet weather had not materialized. However, the track was still very slippery as a result of multiple oil spills the day before. The session was red flagged almost immediately as Trevor Nicosia spun at the Bomb Hole, Mal Davison was unable to avoid him and the incident ended with Nicosia’s Lancia parked on top of Davison’s Noble. 

Davison did get back up to complete the mandatory 3 laps, but was well off the front-running pace. Nick Williamson (Escort Cosworth) set the pace at the front with Richard Gould’s Noble M12 fully 1.5 seconds further back. Douglas Ellwood (Marcos Mantis) headed Class B in 4^th overall but with Joss Ronchetti (Sunbeam Lotus) and Rhys Lloyd (Seat Leon) within 0.13 seconds of Ellwood, the race for Class B honours looked an interesting one. Angus Dawe’s BMW M3 headed Class C by two seconds from Ian Craig’s similar car with Julian Long (Peugeot 306) setting a marker in Class D 2 seconds clear of Andrew Neal (Honda Integra) and 3 ahead of 2007 Champion Simon Taylor (Honda Civic Type R).  

Race 1

Nick Williamson led from start to finish, but it was far from an easy win. A poor starting Richard Gould finished lap 1 in 5^th place and took a few laps to recover. By lap 6 Gould was on the move, up into 3^rd  place but nearly 9 seconds off the front. A string of quick laps, including setting a new lap record, brought the gap down to 2.4 seconds with one lap to go. On the final lap, Gould was almost broadside out of Russell, but Williamson held on to win by 1.2 seconds. Richard Hawken (Nissan Primera) and Derek Hale (Honda Accord) were involved in a race long battle which Hawken won by 0.17 seconds to take 3^rd in Class A and 4^th overall. 

Rhys Lloyd made a fine start from 8^th on the grid to end lap 1 in 3^rd place, and although he succumbed to Gould on lap 10, he too smashed the class lap record ion his way to taking his first LMA Class win. Douglas Ellwood also smashed the old lap record  and got within 0.1 second of Lloyd’s new record on his way to 2^nd in class from Joss Ronchetti. 

Angus Dawe took a comfortable Class C win from Ian Craig, while Class D saw an easy win for Julian Long, the battle for second in class being a much closer affair that eventually went to Andrew Neal from Simon Taylor.  

Race 2

Both Williamson and Gould was confident for race 2, both playing their jokers to score double points. This time Gould was even further handicapped finishing the first lap in 10^th place, 11 seconds down on Williamson. The safety car caem out on lap 3 bunching all the drivers back up so the gap was down to 3.8 seconds after lap 4, but Gould still back in 9^th place. Gould again chased through the pack to reach 2^nd place but this time 8 seconds back from Williamson who took his second win of the day. 

Starting from 3^rd this time, Rhys Lloyd found himself 2^nd after the first lap, a position he held until lap 10 when Gould’s Noble finally got by. Lloyd fell to 4^th overall two laps from the end when Rex Stamp’s Lotus Exige moved up to 3^rd, but Lloyd recorded his second class win of the day with Douglas Ellwood six seconds back in 5^th. Angus Dawe took 8^th overall and the Class C win from Ian Craig while Julian Long took the Class D win from Simon Taylor. 

The joker playing Williamson and Gould head the championship after round 1 with 60 points apiece, but 2 class wins each for Lloyd (44), Dawe (42) and Long (44) give them the Class B, C and D leads. 

Race 1 Result:

Winner: Nick Williamson (Ford Escort Cosworth), 2^nd Richard Gould (Noble M12), 3^rd Rhys Lloyd (Seat Leon),  4^th Richard Hawken (Nissan Primera), 5^th Derek Hale (Honda Accord), 6^th Rex Stamp (Lotus Exige), 7^th Douglas Ellwood (Marcos Mantis), 8^th Joss Ronchetti (Talbot Sunbeam Lotus), 9^th Angus Dawe (BMW M3), 10^th Alex Heynes (BMW M3) 

Class Winners: Class A Williamson, Class B Lloyd, Class C Dawe, Class D Julian Long (Peugeot 306) 

Fastest lap: Gould 1:13.487 (95.62mph) – new lap record

Race 2 Result:

Winner: Nick Williamson (Ford Escort Cosworth), 2^nd Richard Gould (Noble M12), 3^rd Rex Stamp (Lotus Exige), 4^th Rhys Lloyd (Seat Leon),  5^th Douglas Ellwood (Marcos Mantis), 6^th Derek Hale (Honda Accord), 7^th Alex Heynes (BMW M3), 8^th  Angus Dawe (BMW M3), 9^th Julian Long (Peugeot 306), 10^th Bernard Hogarth (Ford Mondeo)  

Class Winners: Class A Williamson, Class B Lloyd, Class C Dawe, Class D Long 

Fastest lap: Gould 1:14.102 (94.83mph) 

Supported by Mark Fish Motorsport  & Alpha Composites