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mail your news to editorthegrid@yahoo.co.uk Performance N Economy Chip Tuning Sports/Saloon Car Championship 2008 Dobson takes Title Michael Blomfield and Robert Pritchard may have won the 'battles' but it's Paul Dobson who wins the 'war'’ Rounds 11 &12, Oulton Park, September 27/28th, 2008 As is traditional now, the seasons finale at Oulton Park was not only a double header, but a double points final round too . With fine weather and a capacity grid, good close arcing was on the cards. Michael Blomfield’s Sierra and Robert Pritchard’s Caterham Vauxhall shared the victory spoils, but for the second successive year it was Paul Dobson’s Mazda RX7 that took the overall title. Championship sponsor Ric Wood took pole after the mornings qualifying session, but his DTM Opel Astra was far from well. “The engine is just not right, it’s not due for a rebuild for another 1000k, so it should be able to do two more long races,” he explained. So Blomfield assumed pole effectively, with the Caterham’s of Alastair Chalmers and Pritchard on the second row. “Well it’s fixed after croft, but I was a bit lethargic,” said Chalmers. “I have got a new piston on after Croft but forgot to tighten the battery, stopped briefly on the circuit and had to head for the pits,” Pritchard added. “I just need some more specials to race against, serious stuff,” said Blomfield. Iain Gorrie’s Darrian headed the next row from Rob Chalmers Caterham. “No complaints, I had a good run,” said Gorrie. “It was a bit busy, but nice that way,” replied Chalmers Jnr. Dobson had the edge over his mentor Chris Maries’ MK Indy on the fourth row, “well everything is in full working order, so I came in early to save my tyres,” commented Dobson. “There was a bit of fuel starvation and it was cutting out towards the end and maybe the shockers were a bit too stiff,” Maries added. Dennis Crompton had more problems with his BMW M3, “we rebuilt the gearbox after the problems at Croft, but now we have a vibrating driveshaft, so just hoping for the best,” he explained. Alongside the BMW was Peter Davies’ Caterham. 2I have had the engine out since Croft and tried a new set up for qualifying. I haven’t really had a dry set up this year,” he reckoned. Kevin Cryer was celebrating not having any water loss from his Caterham and shared the sixth row with Robert Spencer’s Stuart Taylor Locasaki. “I found 0.75secs a lap more with my new fuel pump,” said Rover driver Duncan Aukland, enough to head Chris Allanson’s Z Cars Mini. “I could do with rain for us underpowered cars,” Allanson reckoned. Cam Forbes was looking forward to his first dry race at Oulton, “the car is still a bit bent after Croft though,” explained the Westfield driver. He still just had the edge over Mike Sidgwick’s Morgan +8 though. The Z Cars Mini’s of Jeremy Snowden and Paul Woolfitt shared the ninth row and the tenth was all Lotus, with Steven Hibbert’s Elise heading Jon Rotherham’s Esprit. Graham Taylor’s Westfield shared the 11th with Chris Thomas’ Z Cars Mini, while the solitary class F car of Phil Hall (Banks Europa) was next up. Ralph Underwood’s TR7 V8 headed the rest, with Peter Wann’s Westfield, Bob Claxton’s Renault 21 Turbo, Tony Glover’s Nissan 200SX and Dave Maries’ Westfield, all heading debutant Carl Woodiwiss’s Caterham C400. “I got locked in fourth gear and only managed my three laps,” he explained. Woodiwiss is a regular European Caterham competitor along with Alastair Chalmers. Brian Allen’s XR2i, Patrick Smyth’s Elan and the two reserves Andy Wilson (Suzuki SC100) and Phil Simpson (Sierra XR4i) completed the capacity grid. RACE ONE Blomfield managed to hold his advantage from pole as they arrived at Old Hall for the first time, despite Alastair Chalmers taking a brave dive down the inside. Pritchard slotted into third, but by the time they crested Hilltop he had battled his way past Chalmers and into second place. Rob Chalmers was in fourth and managing to hold the gap to his father. Gorrie and Maries were next up, with Dobson and Davies wheel to wheel for seventh as were Cryer and Crompton for 11th. The top seven had started to spread out by the end of the third lap, with Davies trying to hold on too. Allanson held ninth but behind him, Crompton, Woodiwiss and Cryer were nose to tail, after Sidgwick’s Morgan pulled off from 10th place. Davies caught and passed Dobson a lap later and both started to close on sixth placed Maries. But Woodiwiss was back where he started, “I spun at Island, I don’t think Dennis saw me being so low down in the Caterham. Once I was on the grass it was history,” he explained. Blomfield’s lead had continued to grow and both Pritchard and Chalmers Snr managed to consolidate their positions too. Chalmers Jnr finally started to drop back in fourth but was under no pressure as fifth placed Gorrie picked up a misfire and Maries started to slow too. Davies picked them both off by the end of lap eight, but was still well down on the top four. Gorrie managed to keep pressing on but Maries came to a virtual halt. Cryer was the beneficiary of the problems and started to work his way through the order, taking Gorrie for sixth with four laps to go. As the flag was readied Blomfield’s comfortable lead started to reduce, “It was fairly easy early on, that was until the crown wheel went and I only managed to nurse it home,” he explained. Pritchard was still over six seconds adrift though and well clear of Chalmers Snr. “It started to handle well once it was up to temperature, then I started to catch Robert a bit too,” said Chalmers. Chalmers Jnr retained solid fourth, “I knew as soon as Dad warmed up he would leave me. It was a lonely race, thank goodness for backmarkers,” he said. Davies also consolidated fifth during the second half of the race, “fun but hard work,” he reckoned. Cryer completed the top six and Gorrie limped home in seventh. Dobson took a step nearer the title with a class win and eighth, “I just took it steady,” he said. Spencer made it past Crompton at half distance for ninth and Woodiwiss made another recovery to complete the top ten. Maries kept going but dropped to 11th, “it’s something in the fuel pick up, foot down and nothing there, but it was OK on the straights,” he explained. Crompton held on for 12th, “I had to slow down as it kept cutting out and vibrating. I was having a good time at the start,” he said. Forbes, Aukland and Rotherham were on their own in 13th to 15th, but Hibbert only just held off Woolfitt for 16th. Snowden, Thomas and Underwood completed the top 20, but after the thrill of his maiden win at Croft last time out, Allanson failed to make the finish after his Mini broke a driveshaft. RESULTS
Fastest lap: Blomfield 1m27.809ss (91.26mph).
RACE TWO With Blomfield sidelined it became an all Caterham front row, with Pritchard and Alastair Chalmers. Pritchard made the best of the start again to head the Chalmers duo through Old Hall, but it was to no avail as red flags were out before the lap was completed. Rotherham had spun at Cascades, hit Spencer and then caught Aukland too. But back up the Avenue Cryer had crashed heavily and was taken to hospital with concussion and bruising. Rotherham was the only casualty to make it back for a pitlane start. As the lights went out though it was as before, with Pritchard heading the Chalmers, from Allanson, Maries and Gorrie. As Pritchard quickly started to stretch the field, Maries, Gorrie and Davies made their way past Allanson, while behind them Dobson, Crompton and Woodiwiss ran nose to tail. Maries and Gorrie had both started to close on Chalmers Jnr, only for Gorrie’s misfire to return and leave him under threat from Davies. As Allanson pitted from seventh with more driveshaft problems, Woodiwiss got the better of Dobson, but they were still only inches apart. Forbes was up to 10th and chasing Crompton, while Woolfitt’s Z Cars Mini disputed 11th with Mike Jackson’s Suzuki SC100. As Gorrie fell back Maries was able to concentrate on his pursuit of third place. He briefly made it by on lap seven, but it was the beginning of a race to the flag. Davies gradually reeled in Gorrie and took fifth through Island on lap seven. Back at the front though Pritchard’s comfortable lead had started to reduce. Lap by lap Chalmers chipped away and at the flag he was only 0.609secs off snatching a dramatic victory. “Robert had the legs of me, but then his car started to smoke,” said Chalmers Snr. It had been just as close for third until the final lap, when Maries pulled away.”The car ran clean again from the start and went like a bat out of hell. I caught Iain Gorrie and then got mixed up in traffic a bit. Then I caught Rob and had an absolutely cracking time,” said Maries. “What great fun with Chris. It was brilliant swapping places at nearly every corner, until I got stuck in fifth gear at Cascades on the last lap. Davies held onto a solid fifth, “a good way to end the year. Back next season with more horsepower,” he reckoned. The duel for sixth went down to the flag too, before Woodiwiss claimed the place and Dobson the title. “I was just having so much fun, I had to get involved as I had paid my money and wanted to race. Winning the championship again was good too,” said Dobson. Gorrie spluttered home in eighth and Crompton saw off a brief threat from Forbes to hold onto ninth. Hibbert and Woolfitt had brief midrace duel before the Elise driver secured 11th, while Snowden, Thomas, Hall and Underwood were fairly well spread behind. Wann just kept the closing Rotherham at bay to hold onto 17th, while Simpson, Glover and Allen rounded off the finishers. RESULTS
Fastest lap: A.Chalmers 1m29.840ss (89.19mph)).
Issued by Peter Scherer for BARC (NW) September 30th, 2008.
Chris Allanson takes maiden win while Pritchard wins again,.. but only just Rounds 9&10, Croft, August 30th/31st, 2008 Robert Pritchard made it three wins in a row with victory in the first of the double header races at Croft. But he only just made it home as his Caterham’s engine was starting destroy itself. In a weekend of high attrition only 14 of the 29 cars that started the weekend, actually finished the second race, with Chris Allanson’s Z Cars taking a maiden victory, after Chris Maries’ MK Indy was excluded for technical reasons. Pritchard claimed fairly early in the session, but at the end was only 0.065secs up on Blomfield. “It was way off on time, I had worn out tyres and there was lots of traffic. It just didn’t feel quick,” said Pritchard. For Blomfield it was his first time out for nearly 12 months. The second row was an all Chalmers affair, with Alastair’s Caterham CSR heading Rob’s R400. “It was my first time here, I was impressed,” said Rob. “I am moderately happy as it’s close enough to the front,” Alastair added. Paul Dobson’s Mazda RX7 headed the next row, “the car was great, but it was a bit slippery. No real dramas, but I did have two wheels on the grass at the chicane on one lap,” he admitted. Alongside was Peter Davies’ Caterham R400, fractionally out qualifying Chris Maries’ MK Indy Busa. “Apart from a bit of understeer it was fine,” said Chris. Kevin Cryer’s Caterham was alongside Maries junior, “I got some reasonable laps in and fairly happy with my time,” he said. Down in ninth Iain Gorrie’s Darrian had a misfire, but after completing the top ten, Dennis Crompton’s BMW M3 was already on the way home. “The gearbox is in pieces,” he explained. The ever quickening Westfield of Cam Forbes headed the next row, with Robert Spencer’s Stuart Taylor Phoenix sharing. Debutant Andy Harvey had his Subaru Impreza in 13th, the car having usually been seen in Time Attack events. Chris Allanson’s Z Cars Mini was down on the seventh row, sharing with Duncan Aukland’s Rover. “I made changes but it was slower, so we will revert back to the original settings, “said Chris. “I had a big slide in front of Paul Dobson at Tower, it was oversteering slightly, “Duncan explained. Paul Sampson’s Suzuki SC100 managed to split the Aukland brothers, as James found his Capri down on power. Jeremy Snowden’s found his Z Cars very economical on fuel, but down on power, while Andrew Wilson’s Toyota Starlet was stuck in third gear and had front wheel bearing failure on his first time out with the car. The rest of the grid was made up of the Mini’s of Christopher Thomas and Paul Woolfitt, Phil Hall’s Banks Europa, Paul Ingram’s XR2, Bob Claxton’s Renault 21 Turbo, Peter Wann and Dave Maries’ Westfield’s and Brian Allen’s XR2i. Keith Gent failed to get out having already crashed his BMW in an earlier session. RACE ONE Ingram’s XR2 joined Crompton’s BMW on the sidelines with a blown engine, and Duncan Aukland’s Rover had dramas in the assembly area when the wiring loom caught fire on his Rover. But with Simon Deaton’s Mitsubishi Lancer E5 and Joachim Ritter’s Ginetta G50 starting on the back, it was still a 27 car grid. But further dramas on the green flag lap also counted for Hall whose Europa had a cvj fail. As the lights went out Blomfield led into Clervaux, from Pritchard, Alastair and Rob Chalmers. Dobson picked off Rob on the run to Tower and Pritchard soon found his way past Blomfield for the lead. Back at the grid though Gorrie made a late getaway when he had a clutch problems. Behind the lead group Maries was in sixth, from Davies, Forbes and Allanson, with Spencer completing the top ten. Davies started to challenge Maries for sixth, while James Aukland managed his customary spin at the Hairpin. “It wouldn’t be Croft without a spin,” he reckoned. While Pritchard set about building on his lead, the top five increased their advantages. But Dobson wasn’t among them and was heading pitwards with clutch failure. Wilson was also heading in the same direction with an oil leak. “I had a straight on onto the grass on the escape road chasing Robert, a bit rusty after so long out,” said Blomfield. By the end of lap four Blomfield was being caught by Alastair Chalmers, while Davies still hadn’t managed to find a way past Maries, despite running side by side on occasions. Sixth placed Forbes also had Ritter closing in, while Cryer had Allanson chasing him for ninth, after both Spencer and Harvey joined the retirements. But the fight for sixth allowed Cryer to close, before they all moved up after Alastair Chalmers took a corner off his Caterham on the chicane. “I was behind Mike and a bit unsighted, hit the chicane, tore into a corner so it was game over,” he explained. Pritchard seemed to have everything under control, but suddenly showed signs of slowing. The gap reduced rapidly, but Pritchard still had over a second in hand at the flag. Rob Chalmers had also managed to close on second placed Blomfield, but the places remained unchanged. “I reeled Mike in through traffic, I could see him all the time but just couldn’t catch him enough, “said Chalmers. The battle for fourth was settled in Maries favour after Davies, his racelong pursuer, spun exiting the Hairpin on lap 11. “Close good clean racing with Peter, we trusted each other and worked together, but he kept coming back,” said Maries. “I would love to have said I was letting Chris lead and it was all under control, but it wasn’t,” Davies added. He was still fifth however, well clear of Ritter, who finally demoted Forbes with a couple of laps to go. Cryer had also made it past but Forbes after he spun at the Complex, but he reclaimed seventh on the last lap. “That was a really good scrap with Cam and Joachim,” admitted Cryer, which Forbes concurred. Deaton worked his way through to ninth, but was being caught by the recovering Gorrie at the flag. Allanson made it past class rival Sampson in the closing laps to finish 11th, with Snowden a solitary 13th. James Aukland and Woolfitt were next home, nose to tail despite having exchanged places four laps earlier. “That was my best race yet, I thought I got stuck in,” said Sampson. Thomas, Wann, Claxton, Dave Maries and Allen completed the finishers. Results Race 1
RACE TWO The weather had taken a turn for the worse as the grid started to form up for Sunday’s race. With cars on slicks and the conditions ever worsening, it was a wise decision to return the cars to the paddock and try again later, a move welcomed by a number of drivers. With Blomfield electing not to run and both Pritchard and Alastair Chalmers casualties from the first race, Rob Chalmers was effectively pole, from Dobson, who had made the round trip to his Cheshire home for a new clutch, Maries, Davies and Cryer. Davies grabbed the early lead with Chalmers, Maries, Harvey, Allanson and Dobson all in close formation behind. Into Tower Maries rocketed through to lead, while Dobson and Allanson shared a couple of exchanges into and out of Tower. But at the Esses Forbes spun and collided with Thomas and Aukland. The Capri was launched over the Westfield and crawled back to the pits with a deranged rear axle. “I could see Cam was going to spin, but couldn’t turn in any more to avoid him,” said Aukland. “I locked a front wheel and just lost it,” Forbes explained. Maries had started to build a good lead. Allanson having already seen off Chalmers and Harvey, then started to challenge Davies for second into the Complex, while Harvey successfully took Chalmers too at the Hairpin, with Dobson poised to follow. Allanson had just managed to gain second at the Complex when the red flags were out after Claxton had spun in the middle of the Jim Clark Esses and stalled. The restart was over nine minutes and down to 16 cars. Although Harvey took full advantage of his four wheel drive Impreza, Allanson nosed in front at Clervaux, with Maries into third, followed by Davies, Ritter and Dobson. Maries was second into the chicane and joined Allanson in a fairly decisive first lap break, which he then led out of the Hairpin. Ritter was also on the move, taking Davies for fourth at the Complex, while the rest just fought for grip. Allanson was a determined mood and seemed well suited to the conditions. He retook Maries into Clervaux, only to lose out again on the exit. But for Davies it was all over, as he slowed and eventually retired. Ritter began to attack Harvey for third and made it by into the chicane on the third lap. Dobson had started to consolidate fifth for a while but was making no impression of Harvey. As Davies’ continued his slide, Deaton not only moved up to sixth, but started to close in on Dobson too. Exiting the chicane for the fifth time Dobson got a little sideways and Deaton was almost through. A lap later he made it and by the flag had opened up an eight second advantage. Back at the front Maries had pulled away briefly, but by the end of lap five Allanson had closed the gap to just over a second. A lap later he left his braking remarkably late and darted back in front, but it was too late and Maries led again on the exit. At the flag Maries had it by 0.481secs, but was later excluded for a technical infringement, declaring Allanson the winner. “I was quite happy out there, despite the weather. It was going well if not a bit sideways and Chris had a really good go at me, I just had to keep in there we I did,” said Maries. “Absolutely delighted with that. I beat a Subaru to the first corner. It was a good decision to have the full wets on and I was determined to stay with Chris. It made up for the previous disappointments,” Allanson replied. Ritter and Harvey therefore completed the revised podium, from Seaton and Dobson. “There just no way I could keep up with the four wheel drive stuff today in the wet,” said Dobson. Snowden recovered from an early spin and lack of visibility through his screen for sixth. Woolfitt settled in seventh and Rob Chalmers struggled home eighth. Thomas and Cryer completed the top ten, but at the back there had been a three way scrap for most of the race, which Wann won from Dave Maries and Allen.
Issued by Peter Scherer for BARC (NW)
Rounds 7&8, Anglesey, August 2nd/3rd, 2008 Pritchard unstoppable! Robert Pritchard’ Caterham Vauxhall proved to be unstoppable as he coasted to two easy victories in the double-header at Anglesey. With his main competition not in action at the Welsh circuit, Pritchard was never really challenged all weekend. ‘It’s not the way I like to win,’ he said, at the end of the race meeting. ‘But I’m still very pleased.’ The first qualifying session took place in dry but cloudy conditions, on the shorter Coastal circuit. From the outset, the Pontiac of Paul Sheard was in trouble. It was smoking badly as he pulled into the pits, having completed only one lap. ‘It’s pushing oil out,’ Sheard explained. ‘And it might be beyond remedy.’ Sheard had faired only slightly better than Joachim Ritter’s Ginetta. Ritter was unable to take part at all in the first race. An incident in an earlier qualifying session for another race caused severe damage to the car. The other car involved was Paul Woolfitt and he was hastily trying to get his Mini ready for the first race. ‘I’ll definitely be back out,’ he promised. ‘I want to go racing.’ Another driver who was having problems was Paul Dobson, who pulled into the pits during the session with his Mazda RX7. ‘It was over-boosting,’ Dobson said. ‘I was worried I was going to blow the engine.’ Despite qualifying in third place, Dobson’s weekend was over. He would return to Chester where he could check the engine. Pritchard topped the timesheets, despite a moment off track on the last corner, and he had a significant gap to second-placed Peter Davies’ Caterham. Chris Maries’ MK Indy was in fourth and was pleased with his position on the grid. ‘I suppose it’s where I ought to be,’ he commented. ‘I’m quite happy with that.’ Iain Gorrie was another driver whose weekend was over before it had really got started. His fifth place grid slot was not much use to him when the new engine in his Darrian GT wouldn’t work properly. ‘It’s worse than the old one,’ he said, totally fed up by the whole situation. ‘It won’t change gear and it won’t work the clutch. I’m going to have to put the old one back in.’ Kevin Cryer was satisfied to have qualified sixth in his Caterham. He had Dennis Crompton’s BMW M3 and Darren Smith’s TVR Tuscan behind him in seventh and eighth respectively. Cam Forbes’ Westfield was in ninth place and was pleased with his position. ‘It’s the best I’ve ever qualified,’ he enthused. Mike Sedgwick’s Morgan rounded out the top ten on his first venture out after his Oulton Park crash. ‘My first time back out after the huge shunt,’ he said. ‘So I’m pleased to be in the top ten.’ RACE ONE Pritchard made a good start off the line and, as he had expected, he was soon away in the distance. Within a few laps, he had built up a huge lead and his only task was to stay on track. ‘It was fairly straightforward, unfortunately.’ he remarked. ‘Peter Davies had held onto second and he had a fairly lonely race. ‘I knew I wasn’t going to catch Pritchard,’ he said. ‘I was keeping an eye on Maries in the mirrors too and was just waiting for the last lap board.’ Maries held third position but, behind him, there was a three-way battle for fourth between Smith, Crompton and Cryer. Smith was running in sixth but was closing in rapidly on the pair in front of him. The three diced for a few laps until Smith was able to get through. Once he had disposed of Crompton and Cryer, Smith set off after is Maries for third, but he was not about to give up the final podium place without a fight. By the penultimate lap, Smith was past, and he stayed ahead until the flag fell. ‘I would have been pleased to just finish!’ Smith said, afterwards. Contact was made between Cryer and Crompton though. ‘Kevin outbraked himself,’ said Crompton. His BMW bore the wounds of battle. ‘It’s damaged two wheels, and they were brand new,” he said. I only put them on this morning.’ Mike Sedgwick had a solid race to finish in seventh, with Cam Forbes behind him in eighth. ‘I had a brilliant start, there was a gap in the middle and I went for it,’ he said. Robert Spencer and Duncan Aukland’s Rover completed the top ten finishers. As he had expected, Paul Sheard’s Pontiac only lasted three laps before he was forced to retire. Chris Allanson was the other non-finisher. RESULTS -Race 1
Fastest lap: Pritchard 1m14.047s (75.35mph).
DAY 2
The circuit conditions were much the same for the second day’s qualifying and most of the drivers felt that there was little change in the track. There was a difference in the track layout, however, as they now had to get used to the International circuit, which would be used for the day’s racing. Pritchard was once again straight to the top of the time sheets and he stayed there for the remainder of the session. Taking up second position now was Joachim Ritter, whose mechanics had worked until seven at night to finish the repairs to the car. Peter Davies had third with Darren Smith and Kevin Cryer in the spots behind him. ‘I’ve had one or two problems over the season but it all went well today,’ Cryer said. Cam Forbes continued with his good form by qualifying in sixth and Chris Maries was just behind in seventh, with the BMW of Crompton alongside. Chris Allanson and Mike Sedgwick finished the top ten qualifiers. ‘I’ve never been here before so I cycled round the track on Friday to find out where all the corners went,’ Sedgwick explained. Paul Sheard qualified in eleventh, but his Pontiac was still causing problems and he finished the session early. ‘It’s been taken to a few races lately and it’s not behaved itself,’ he said with some exasperation. James Aukland also had a trip into the pits during the qualifying session. He wanted to ensure that the bonnet on his Capri was firmly closed and, once reassured, he continued on his way. Jeremy Snowden’s Z-Car Mini pulled out of the session however, when a broken conrod had ended his weekend prematurely.
RACE TWO The race was over before it began for Paul Sampson when his Suzuki gave up the ghost as the cars assembled on the grid. The marshals were able to push the car into the pitlane as the rest of the field streamed off onto their green flag lap. ‘It’s snapped the gear linkage,’ he said, as he peered under the bonnet. Pritchard made another good start and quickly vanished into the distance on his way to his second win of the weekend. He had dominated all weekend but he would have preferred some closer racing at the front. ‘It was a bit better today with the Ginetta there,’ he said. Ritter, however, was more used to rolling starts and he had expected to lose places off the line. He quickly recovered from the sluggish start and was soon chasing after Davies, Maries and Forbes, who had all passed him as the lights went out. By the start of lap two, Ritter was past Forbes and putting a move on Maries. He was up to second again by the start of lap four, where he remained until the end of the race. Smith had been running well until the tyre on his TVR Tuscan began catching on the rim. The smoking tyre looked more alarming than it actually was but he still retired from the race. Davies was running well in third and seemed to have the place secured until the final laps of the race, when Maries closed up on him. Maries made his pass stick and stayed ahead to snatch the last podium place. ‘We were together for a few laps, so I could see where he wasn’t brave enough to do what he had to do,’ said Maries. ‘Third overall, first in class, fastest lap in class – that should do!’ Cryer came home in fifth, with Forbes recovering from a spin in his Westfield to finish sixth. Crompton had another solid finish in his BMW in seventh. Steven Hibbert was thrilled, not only with his eighth place finish, but with the way that the weekend had gone. ‘For about two years, we’ve had a faulty ECU on the Lotus Elise and we haven’t known,’ he explained. ‘This is the first race meeting where it’s been performing absolutely spot on.’ Robert Spencer and Duncan Auckland completed the top ten finishers. Sedgwick’s Morgan had been experiencing a misfire. ‘It’s just a top end misfire, but we don’t know what it is,’ he said. ‘But I still enjoyed a good battle with James Aukland.’ Phil Hall had an eventful race when he lost the rear bodywork on his Banks Europa. Hall had felt some contact but hadn’t realised that he had lost part of his car. ‘I felt a huge bang. Then I saw the bodywork on the track and thought to myself, who has a red car?’ he laughed afterwards. ‘Then I realised it was mine!’ Hall was able to finish the race, despite only having half of his red bodywork. Chris Allanson and Dave Maries were only able to complete a single lap, whilst Sheard experienced yet another DNF in his Pontiac. Race two:
Class A: 1 Ritter; 2 Sedgwick; 3J Aukland. Class B: Pritchard; 2 Davies; 3 Cryer; 4 Forbes. Class C: 1 C Maries; 2 Spencer; 3 Thomas. Class D: 1 D Aukland; 2 Underwood. Class E: 1 Crompton; 2 Hibbert; 3 Allen. Class F: Hall. No other starters. Fastest lap: Pritchard 1m34.725s (79.80mph).
Round 6, Mallory Park, July 20th, 2008 Paul Dobson survives big shunt in qualifying to go on and win It was a win against all the odds for Paul Dobson after a qualifying incident that nearly stopped him taking part in the race. The clouds were looming ominously as the cars took to the track for their qualifying session, but the rain never amounted to more than a spit. Dobson’s Mazda hit the top of the timing sheets from the off, running almost a second ahead of nearest challenger Chris Maries. Disaster struck on lap seven of the session as Dobson headed into Gerard’s Bend. ‘I was just trying too hard,’ he acknowledged. ‘I tried to slip down the inside of a few cars and didn’t make it round the corner.’ Fortunately, Dobson wasn’t injured in the incident, although he was fully expecting to have a bit of whiplash when he awoke in the morning. The car, however, had suffered extensive damage. ‘I hit the tyres side on and it’s pretty bad,’ he added. ‘We might get out for the race. We’ll have a go.’ The session was red-flagged while Dobson’s car was being retrieved from the gravel. Once underway again, Maries set about bringing down the gap at the front. There was just not enough time, although he managed to get within a tenth of Dobson’s time. ‘I seemed to pass everyone I came across,’ Maries said, afterwards. ‘I was right on the rev limiter.’ Iain Gorrie would line up in third, but it had not been a smooth session for him as his Darrian was not going well. ‘It’s got a misfire,’ he explained. ‘It’s totally intermittent.’ Work would be needed before the car returned to the track. Fourth-placed Piers Grange was pleased with his grid position, but even more delighted with the running of his Sierra. ‘We’ve had a load of issues with the cooling,’ he said. ‘We were on our last set of things to try and we’ve cured it. I’m really happy.’ Chris Allanson’s Z Cars Mini took the fifth spot on the grid with Robert Spencer’s similar car right behind him in fifth. ‘I didn’t do too bad considering it’s only a road car,’ Spencer remarked, pleased with his position. Peter Davies and Dennis Crompton lined up on the fourth row, with Duncan Aukland occupying ninth place. Qualifying had not been all smooth sailing for Aukland. ‘I’ve discovered what the clanking noise was in the session,’ he commented, afterwards, as he examined his Rover. ‘It’s a loose bolt in the suspension!’ Paul Sampson rounded out the top ten qualifiers in his Suzuki. RACE It was all hands on deck to get Dobson onto the grid. With the Mazda rebuilt but still bearing the evidence of the shunt, Dobson took up the pole position for the start of the race. ‘I can’t believe how everyone just chipped in and helped me,’ Dobson said. ‘I want to thank everyone.’ When the lights went out, Dobson held onto the lead, but second-placed Chris Maries was right with him as the cars piled into the first corner. The early laps of the race saw Dobson pulling away from the pack and he was able to put some space between his Mazda and Maries. By lap three, Dobson had managed to build a lead of over three seconds. Maries was not prepared to settle for second, however, and began to eat into Dobson’s lead. He had got the gap down to just over a second when the red flags came out. Mark Proctor’s Z-car Mini had ended up in the gravel at the hairpin and, although Proctor was uninjured, the car was in a dangerous place. Although only eleven minutes of the race had been completed, the officials made the decision not to restart the race and Dobson was declared the winner. He was thrilled with the outcome. ‘So nice to win it,’ he said. He was pleased with the pace of the Mazda in the race. ‘The top speed on this is unbelievable.’ This third consecutive premature conclusion to the race brought mixed responses from the drivers. Maries was more than satisfied to have finished in second. ‘I was beginning to lose first gear,’ he explained. ‘That might have made the rest of the race difficult.’ Third-placed Iain Gorrie was even more relieved that the race had been red-flagged. ‘The chain broke moments before the race was stopped,’ he said, very aware of his good luck. ‘I started coasting but, just as I got to the hairpin, the red flags came out.’ Gorrie had been steadily catching the leading duo in the latter laps of the race, having pulled a significant gap back to fourth-placed Spencer, when the Darrian’s chain had snapped. ‘I knew something was amiss. I wouldn’t have been able to carry on if the race hadn’t been stopped,’ he added. Not all of the drivers had such good fortune. Chris Allanson was forced to pit after seven laps, whilst a spin for Paul Woolfitt on the opening lap dropped him right down the order. Piers Grange had finished sixth but was disappointed with his start. ‘I lost a load of places,’ he acknowledged. The race had been stopped as he had just caught up with the battle for fourth that was ongoing between Spencer and Davies. ‘I reckon I’d have been right on them that last lap,’ he commented. Cam Forbes finished in seventh, whilst Dennis Crompton was pleased with eighth place. ‘I had a poor start but got a few places back,’ he said. ‘I won my class and that’s all that really matters.’ Aukland and Woolfitt completed the top ten finishers. RESULTS
Class A: No finishers. Class B: 1 Davies; 2 Forbes; 3 Woolfitt; 4 Barry Chantler (Caterham); 5 Dave Maries (Westfield SE1). Class C: 1 Chris Maries; 2 Iain Gorrie; 3 Robert Spencer; 4 Christopher Thomas (Z CarsMini); 5 Paul Sampson (Suzuki SC 100). No other finishers. Class D: 1 Dobson; 2 Grange; 3 Aukland; 4 Ralph Underwood (Triumph TR7 V8). No other starters. Group E: 1 Crompton; 2 Steven Hibbert (Lotus Sport Elise); 3 Brian Allen (Ford Fiesta XR2). No other starters. Group F: 1 Phil Hall (Banks Europa). No other starters. Fastest lap: Dobson 49.409s (98.36mph).
Published by Peter Scherer for BARC (NW) July 23rd, 2008.
Round 5, Oulton Park, June 21st, 2008 Pritchard's win - courtesy of Sampson's Suzuki
It was another capacity grid and more at Oulton Park, with classes E&F both run in a separate race. Dennis Crompton’s BMW starred overall for his first win in over 30 years, while in the main race Robert Pritchard led home Alastair and Robert Chalmers in a Caterham whitewash. Qualifying Pritchard’s Caterham Vauxhall topped the times after wet qualifying session, taking pole by only 0.067s from Chris Maries’ MK Indy. It was madness, the conditions were awful but I loved it,” said Pritchard. Third best was GT racer Paul O’Neill deputising in Mark Proctor’s Z Cars Mini. “I couldn’t see out of the windows and began to wonder what was I doing,” he reckoned. He had Z Cars boss Chris Allanson alongside. “I was happy with that, there was a lot of traffic,” he said. Championship sponsor Ric Wood was next up, shaking down a new engine in his Opel Astra, prior to his forthcoming Dutch Supercar race at Hockenheim. Tim Evans’ Phoenix Honda managed to split Alastair and Robert Chalmers Caterham’s in seventh, eighth and ninth. “I was going for a quick lap on a clear track and I had a bit of a spin at Old Hall. For a while all I could see was the tyre wall getting closer,” said Alastair. “I was surprised by my time, it was very slippery but it just kept getting better,” Robert replied. Paul Woolfitt’s Z Cars Mini headed row four, with Paul Dobson’s championship wining Mazda RX7 alongside. Peter Isherwood’s Sylva Phoenix was next up, before almost a two second gap to Darren Smith’s TVR Tuscan in 12th. Iain Gorrie is still acclimatising to his now bike engined Darrian, “I have nothing to say about the smoke coming from the dashboard. There is still a lot to do with the car though,” he said. Bob Claxton venerable Renault 21 Turbo shared the row, while Kevin Cryer found his Caterham in an unusual lowly 15th. I Just didn’t seem to get a clear lap, with traffic and the wet,” he explained. Jeremy Snowden completed row eight, debuting his Z Cars Mini with a supercharged V-Tec engine. “It was the first time out in qualifying, as our shakedown was a run down Chris’s lane,” he explained. Having failed to survive qualifying last time, former Rallycrosser was back with his Metro 6R4. “The power steering belt came off on the first lap, so the alternator didn’t work either,” he said. Paul Sampson’s Suzuki SC10 was next with Duncan Aukland’s Rover. “I had to pit to take the side window out, I just couldn’t see,” said Aukland. Chris Thomas’ Z Cars completed the top 20 RACE The track was wet but starting to dry as the grid formed up. Maries won the charge to Old Hall from the start, with Pritchard, Alastair Chalmers and O’Neill tucked in behind. But both Pritchard and Chalmers A soon surged past and made it a Caterham one two at the end of the opening lap. Maries still had third from O’Neill, Robert Chalmers, Dobson and Allanson, while Evans, Smith and Isherwood completed the top ten. Maries reclaimed second a lap later as the top five started to edge away from the pack, despite Dobson’s efforts to stay in touch. Allanson was pushing hard too, trying to consolidate seventh over Evans and Smith. As Pritchard started to build a lead, Chalmers R slipped past O’Neil at Knickerbrook and started to close on his father’s third place. Smith had also found his way past Evans and had Allanson in his sights too. But Maries was in trouble as he arrived at Lakeside for the fourth time. “The master switch flicked off,” he explained. By the time he recovered he was down to sixth, while Iain Gorrie’s Darrian was on the move, taking Evans for ninth, before rapidly closing in on Smith. As O’Neill’s pace eased, Dobson shot into fifth. But all through the field it began to close up. The Chalmers duo latched onto Pritchard who was trying to look after his wet tyres. Gorrie took Smith at Old Hall, before both were joined by Evans and Isherwood and all closed on Allanson. It got closer and closer for the lead and even the Chalmers duo started to fight between themselves. But before the climax was reached, red flags brought another early end with Paul Sampson’s Suzuki stationery in a dangerous position. “I had to keep coming off line as the tyres had gone like putty. If we had carried on I would have lost the lead,” said Pritchard. “Rob got ahead of me at the Hairpin and down the Avenue, it was entertaining but he wasn’t staying there,” said Chalmers Senior after securing second. “He was holding me up again,” reckoned Rob. Dobson held onto fourth, “I was coming good, so there wasn’t enough laps for me,” he said. O’Neil was classified fourth on countback, but had lost the place to Maries at Old Hall on the red flagged lap. “It was scary on wets but good fun. I had the wrong set up, so went to steady and kept out of the way,” said O’Neill, whose drive will be featured in a Motorsport News article in a few weeks. So Maries had to settle for sixth with the fastest lap too, while Gorrie’s charge claimed seventh at Allanson’s expense as they went down the Avenue. “That was hard work, the tyres had gone right off,” said Allanson. Isherwood pipped Smith ninth, “I should have run slicks, it was Ok after three laps,” said the Tuscan driver. Evans was just behind, while in 12th Rowlance was delighted to complete his maiden race. “The power steering went again, and Duncan’s Rover had the legs of me on the straights,” he said. Aukland had just taken the 6R4 though when the race was stopped, “it was good fighting my way through, and my car suited the conditions,” he said. Cryer was a lowly 14th, with “no grip at all.” Woolfitt made up for a poor start to follow Robinson M3 over the line in 15th and 16th. Davies, Grange, Taylor and Collinson completed the top 20.
RESULTS
Class A: 1 Smith; 2 Ian Rowlance (MG Metro 6R4); 3 Jeremy Snowden (Z Cars s/c); no other starters. Class B: 1 Pritchard; 2 A.Chalmers; 3 R.Chalmers; 4 Kevin Cryer (Caterham); 5 Paul Woolfitt (Z Cars Mini); 6 Peter Davies (Caterham R400); 7 Graham Taylor (Westfield SEi); 8 Peter Wann (Westfield SEi); 9 Graham Wynn (Z Cars Mini); 10 Dave Maries (Westfield SEi). Class C: 1 O’Neill; 2 C.Maries; 3 Gorrie; 4 Allanson; 5 Isherwood; 6 Tim Evans (Phoenix Honda); 7 Christopher Thomas (Z Cars Mini). Class D: 1 Dobson; 2 Duncan Aukland (Rover 3500SE); 3 David Robinson (BMW M3); 4 Piers Grange (Ford Sierra); 5 Alan Collinson (Rover SD1 Vitesse); 6 Tony Glover (Nissan 200SX); 7 Dave Mepham (Rover SD1). Class E: 1 Dennis Crompton (BMW M3 Crompton; 2 Steven Hibbert (Lotus Elise); 3 Joss Ronchetti (Talbot Sunbeam Lotus); 4 Brian Allen (Ford Fiesta XR2i); no other starters. Class F: 1 Paul Ingram (Ford Fiesta XR2); 2 Phil Hall (Banks Europa); 2 no other starters. Fastest lap: C.Maries 1m40.011s (80.12mph). Issued by Peter Scherer for BARC (NW) June 24th, 2008. All Pictures Paul Williams
Round 4, Oulton Park, May 26th, 2008 Spencers roll brings out the reds as Wood wins in 8 minutes There was a capacity 32 car grid and reserves as the championship returned to Oulton Park. But an incident packed race limited the racing laps to only four after two red flags. Championship sponsor Ric Wood managed to get to the front in his DTM Opel Astra before the final stoppage. 38 cars took part in qualifying, so it was guaranteed some would go home without a race. Wood was comfortably on pole by 1.5secs over Alastair Chalmers’ brand new Caterham CSR. “Sweet as a nut,” said Wood. “My new car is definitely quicker than my R400,” Chalmers added. It was all Caterham on the second row with Robert Pritchard sharing with Rob Chalmers. “I was losing water, I should have changed the headgasket,” said Pritchard. Chalmers Jnr had a new front left corner after his Rockingham shunt. Reigning Champion Paul Dobson’s Mazda RX7 shared row three with ex Champion Iain Gorrie’s Darrian, now with Hyabusa power. “It seemed a bit soft at the back I had altered the settings. There’s enough power though,” reckoned Dobson. “I am feeling extremely rusty after four years out,” Gorrie added. Darren Smith’s TVR Tuscan had a troublefree session in seventh, but it panic set in later when Darren lost his glasses and sent one of his crew on a mercy mission for a spare pair back to Swinton. After a successful debut at Rockingham Peter Davies lined his Caterham R400 up alongside. Mike Sidgwick only managed one lap in his Morgan Plus 8 before being sidelined. “A nut came off the alternator going into Druids and the knock on effect was that the oil pump belt was split and came off,” he explained. He was still ninth best, sharing the fifth row with Dennis Crompton’s BMW M3, “everything was fine for me,” he added. Kevin Cryer was a little disappointed down in 11th with his Caterham, “it felt quicker,” he reckoned. Tim Evans’ Sylva Phoenix was next quickest he was only a reserve so Chris Maries was alongside with his MK Indy Busa. “My first lap was my quickest then ran out of talent. We tried a new aerodynamic set up but it didn’t work,” he said. Peter Isherwood’s Sylva had to wait as a reserve too, so the Z Cars Mini’s of Chris Allanson and Mark Proctor completed the seventh row. “I had changed the springs and it was a lot better,” said Allanson. “It was as much as I could do and Chris was still a 10th quicker,” Proctor added. Another former champion headed the next row, as Duncan Aukland’s Rover 3500SE made a belated seasonal debut. “Everything seemed OK,” he said. Rob Gough was alongside with the third Z Cars Mini, “I lost water out of the radiator cap and it got on the rear tyres,” he explained. Paul Sampson’s Suzuki SC100 found some reliability and headed Robert Spencer’s Z Cars Mini on row nine, while Alan Collinson’s Rover SD1 Vitesse headed the tenth. Christopher Thomas’ Z Cars Mini was alongside. Graham Taylor’s Westfield should have been ahead of Collinson but he withdrew after breaking a driveshaft. Peter Wann’s Westfield had also outpaced Thomas, but was on the reserve list. Among the rest of the capacity grid were Jon Rotheram making a return to the championship with a brand new Lotus Esprit, former 750MC Kit Car racer Anton Landon in Westfield and seasoned campaigners Phil Hall (Banks Europa) and Brian Allen (Fiesta XR2i). Ian Rowlance’s Metro 6R4 never made a lap after its Jaguar engine seized. Race With Taylor and Rowlance missing, Allen, Wann and Evans were added at the back of the grid for the start. It was dry but very windy for the start and there were no last minute dramas. As the lights went out Pritchard led the charge to Old Hall from Alastair Chalmers, Dobson and Rob Chalmers. Dobson had made it into second by the end of the lap, and as they headed for Old Hall for the second time Wood shot into third. Chris Maries had been a casualty at the start when he shed a rear tyre when the wheel broke. Evans had blown his Honda engined Sylva Phoenix and when Sidgwick crashed heavily at Island, red flags came out. The rest of the reserves were able to join the grid due to the casualties, so it was almost back to capacity for the restart, but Rotheram headed for the pits from where he made his start. Pritchard made another flying start and shot between Wood and Chalmers Snr to lead into Old Hall, with Chalmers Jnr heading Wood for third. But Wood was quickly on the pace and as the top three went clear he hit the front from Cascades on the second lap. Pritchard pitted from second as his headgasket gave cause for concern, which promoted Rob Chalmers as father Alastair played catch up from seventh. “I had lost it completely at the Island Hairpin, with arms full of opposite lock,” he explained. Dobson had settled in fourth and on the second lap both the recovering Chalmers Snr and Davies made it past Gorrie into fifth and sixth. Behind them Cryer had broken clear in eighth while Crompton, Allanson and Smith ran nose to tail for ninth. While Wood extended his lead Chalmers Snr took second from son Rob. “I could have had him but he pays the bills,” Rob declared. Smith had also made it past both Crompton and Allanson and joined Cryer as they both started to close in on Gorrie’s sixth place. Dobson was still a solitary fourth as was Allanson in tenth, after dropping off the back of his earlier three car battle. Just outside the top ten though Isherwood, Spencer, Proctor and Aukland were line astern until Spencer went off in a most spectacular way. “I saw him go off, he went wide onto the grass spun and dug in. It barrelled rolled and completely cleared the barriers, before landing the right way up in the lake,” said Aukland. The race was immediately red flagged. The results were declared after four laps, with Wood victorious by well over seven seconds. Alastair and Rob Chalmers held station to take second and third with Dobson, Davies and Gorrie completing the top six. “It was a rubbish start and they got away,” explained Dobson. “I kept looking in my mirrors, but no one there. It was more like a test session for me,” added Davies. Smith just managed to snatch seventh from Cryer before the stoppage. “I dropped at the start s usual. I got away well but lost out in the bunch up and had to work my way back,” said Smith. Crompton and Allanson rounded off the top ten, while Isherwood, Proctor and Aukland ran in close formation behind. “I hadn’t got into that. I surrendered some places at the start because I knew in a 20 minute race I could get them back, but then it was stopped after eight minutes,” said Proctor. RESULTS
Class A: 1 Wood; 2 Smith; no other finishers. Class B: 1 A.Chalmers; 2 R.Chalmers; 3 Davies; 4 Cryer; 5 Peter Wann (Westfield SEi); 6 Paul Woolfitt (Morris Mini); 7 Anton Landon (Westfield SEi); 8 Dave Maries (Westfield SEi). Class C: 1 Gorrie 2 Allanson; 3 Peter Isherwood (Sylva Phoenix); 4 Mark Proctor (Z Cars Mini); 5 Christopher Thomas (Z Cars Mini); 6 Rob Gough (Z Cars Mini); 7 Paul Sampson (Suzuki SC100). Class D: 1 Dobson; 2 Duncan Aukland (Rover 3500SE); 3 Alan Collinson (Rover SD1 Vitesse); 4 Jon Rotheram (Lotus Esprit); 5 David Robinson (BMW M3); 6 Tony Glover (Nissan 200SX) Class E: 1 Crompton; 2 Steven Hibbert (Lotus Elise); 3 Brian Allen (Ford Fiesta XR2i); no other starters. Class F: 1 Phil Hall (Banks Europa); 2 Paul Ingram (Ford Fiesta XR2); no other starters. Fastest lap: A.Chalmers 1m29.206s (89.83mph). Issued by Peter Scherer for BARC (NW) May 27th, 2008.
Round 3, Rockingham, April 20th, 2008 Guest is a Gent at Rock show The guesting BMW M3 of Keith Gent made impact in more ways than one, when after starting a chain reaction after colliding with Chris Maries on the grid, he came through to win the race. Qualifying Gent took pole too in wet morning qualifying, with Mark Proctor’s Z Cars Mini sharing the front row. “It was good fun again, I lost it once at Deene though. I was hardly using gears, just using the power,” he explained. Chris Maries was next up with his MK Indy Busa. “I thought I had qualified well down, it understeered everywhere and frustratingly where I should have been quicker. But I have a brand new set of wets for the first time in my life, thanks to my wife’s bank,” he said. Andy Wilson’s Mini was fourth best, just edging out Z Cars Mini boss Chris Allanson. Paul Woolfit’s Mini was a surprising sixth, and repaired after the Oulton Park off, Dennis Crompton’s BMW M3 was back in seventh, “we had to take the gearbox out to fix the clutch,” he explained. Unusually down in eighth was Alastair Chalmers, “it was just terrible out there,” said the Caterham driver. Fellow Caterham R400 driver Peter Davies was next up, making his first appearance in the championship. “I was just trying to stay on,” said the ex 750MC racer. Defending champion Paul Dobson was struggling down in 10th too with his Mazda RX7,”It’s the slippiest place I have ever been. I overshot the Deene Hairpin a couple times and take to take to the oval,” he reckoned. Robert Spencer’s Z Cars shared the sixth row with Ralph Underwood’s TR7 V8, for once the race was on Ralph’s doorstep, even though he had never been to the circuit before. Cam Forbes was enjoying his baptism to circuit racing, placing his Westfield 13th, with Rob Chalmers alongside in his Caterham R400. “With eighth year old very hard wets, I was struggling for any grip,” said Chalmers Jnr. Jeremy Snowden’s Z Cars shared the next row with James Aukland’s Ford Capri, and although Graham Brindley qualified his Escort turbo 17th, an ominous death rattle persuaded him to withdraw. Graham Wynn edged out Z Cars Mini rival Rob Gough for 18th. “I spent most of the session in the gravel at Yentwood. One full lap and off, it was my own fault,” said Gough. Way off the pace was Kevin Cryer, “I have got my misfire back from last season. I think it’s the wet in the ignition,” said the Caterham driver. Brian Allen’s XR2i, Dave Maries’ Westfield and Paul Sampson’s Suzuki SC100 completed the line up. RACE Only the brave opted for slicks in the damp and greasy conditions. Poleman Gent was slow away, Maries went to go by and was clipped on the rear corner as the BMW started to move. Maries became airborne and landed on Proctor’s rear corner, before ending his race on the pit apron. “It’s wrecked the rear corner and I was past him,” said Maries. Alastair Chalmers led to Deene from Proctor, with Crompton slotting into third and Rob Chalmers fourth. But into Yentwood Proctor was in trouble. “After Chris Maries had landed on me it pushed the rear bodywork onto the tyre, so when I turned right the back wheel locked and I spun. I had just got the lead too,” said the ex Touring Car man. It was all over for Rob Chalmers though, “when I arrived at Yentwood Mark Proctor had spun, I had nowhere to go and hit him. It’s damaged my chassis,” he confirmed. So Chalmers Snr completed the first lap heading Crompton, Gent, Dobson, Wilson, Davies, Gough and Allanson. With the leader struggling for grip Gent surged from third to lead on the second lap, with Chalmers back to fourth behind Dobson. Wilson was also dropping like a stone, while Gough was really flying in fifth place. While Gent extended his lead, Dobson started to reel in Crompton. Gough and Spencer both shot past Chalmers, who was then caught a lap later by Davies. By the end of lap four the top five were well away, but Chalmers and Davies were wheel to wheel in a duel that was to last for the rest of the race. Wilson’s eighth was also under threat as Aukland closed in, while Proctor was still managing to circulate just outside the top ten. The lack of grip and the right tyre choice played right into Gough’s hands and Dobson was his next target after shaking off Spencer. Aukland’s persistence took him past Wilson on lap six, and both Proctor and Snowden followed, after they had swapped places too. But Snowden fought back and reclaimed the place, as their battle took them past Aukland too. With Gent long gone Dobson had an exploratory lunge at Crompton into Deene on lap nine. A lap later he tried the same move and came out second. Their duel had allowed Gough to get even closer and by the time they reached Gracelands, the erstwhile second man was down to fourth. “I got Dennis on the brakes, I knew it was wet and was careful not to slide into him,” said Dobson. It was rather ironic that the driver who caused the first lap mayhem, not only escaped undamaged but won the race too. Dobson held onto second but Gough was still closing as they took the flag. “No one was more surprised than me, I could have won with another four laps. I tried to be consistent and make no mistakes. I made one when I was chasing Paul Dobson,” he explained. Crompton and Spencer held station behind, while Chalmers clinched fifth over Davies in a dash for the line, after numerous exchanges throughout the race. “I lost fuel pressure towards the end and just wanted to get home in one piece,” said Crompton. We tried a few things after qualifying and they worked well in the race,” Spencer replied. “tyre choice was critical, inspired or stupid, no grip on the infield sections, so I struggled, but it was Ok on the oval,” added Chalmers. Snowden consolidated eighth and Aukland managed to reclaim ninth from Proctor. “After the disappointing qualifying I went on a bit of a charge,” said Aukland. Cryer was a lowly 11th having demoted Wilson a couple of laps from the end. Allanson never got up to pace after the wrong tyre choice, while Woolfitt, Forbes, Wynn, Sampson, Allen and Dave Maries al made it home, after Underwood fell off on lap nine. “I was brave and silly, spinning twice on slicks,” said Allanson, RESULTS
Class A: 1 Aukland; no other starters. Class B: 1 A.Chalmers; 2 Davies; 3 Cryer; 4 Cam Forbes (Westfield SEiW); 5 Graham Wynn (Z Cars Mini); 6 Dave Maries (Westfield SEi). Class C: 1 Gough; 2 Spencer; 3 Snowden. 4 Proctor; 5 Andy Wilson (Morris Mini); 6 Chris Allanson (Z Cars Mini); 7 Paul Sampson (Suzuki SC100). Class D: 1 Gent; 2 Dobson; 3 Paul Woolfitt (Morris Mini); no other finishers. Class E: 1 Crompton; 2 Brian Allen (Ford Fiesta XR2i); no other starters. Fastest lap: Gough 1m41.448s (69.14mph). Issued by Peter Scherer for BARC (NW) April 21st, 2008.
Rounds 1&2, Oulton Park, March 29th, 2008 The weather did its best put a dampener on the opening double header. But despite pouring rain two hard fought battles saw the victory spoils shared between defending champion Paul Dobson’s Mazda RX7 and the Caterham Vauxhall of 2006 champion Robert Pritchard. It was dry for qualifying and Pritchard captured pole by 0.432secs over the Caterham R400 of Alastair Chalmers. “I had a little of at Knickerbrook, it was slippery on slicks and I was about five yards late on the brakes and glanced the tyre wall,” said Chalmers. New championship sponsor Ric Wood headed the second row in his Opel Astra DTM. “It was fine, a bit boring actually. If it rains though I won’t go out, as I start the Dutch Supercar Challenge in Germany in two weeks,” he explained. Starting directly behind father Alastair was Rob Chalmers, with slicks now on his Caterham R400. “We were losing a bit of coolant but the temperature seems OK,” he said. Dobson was also in trouble after his Mazda RX7’s subframe split. “It needs a quick dash back to the workshop to weld it up,” he said as he loaded the car for a lunchtime dash. “Good job we are only at Oulton too,” he added. “I had new tyres on and it felt OK straight away,” said Caterham racer Kevin Cryer after qualifying sixth. Darren Smith is planning to branch out from Oulton Park for his second season, if this rain comes we will take it easy though, but at the moment it’s spot on,” said the TVR Tuscan driver. A fully fit Dennis Crompton completed the fourth row in his BMW M3, “driver and car both fine,” he reported. In ninth was Mike Sedgwick’s Morgan Plus 8, previously a regular in the Northern Saloon & Sports. Chris Maries rounded off the top ten, his first time out in his new MK Indy Busa. Another welcome returnee was John Garnett, his ex DTM was plagued with engine problems all last season and never made it out. It’s still only two thirds throttle, hoping we had cured it with a new management system,” he explained. Graham Taylor was also baffled why his Westfield had been troublefree in testing and was now overheating again. “I really thought I had cured it,” he said. Lining up 13th was a championship debutant Mark Proctor. The former Touring Car privateer and Eurocar star has decided to return to grass roots and have some fun.” I want to rediscover myself, and when I saw the Z Cars video at the Autosport Show I decided to buy one. Doesn’t mean to say I will never return to Touring Cars though,” he explained. Z Cars boss Chris Allanson was alongside Proctor in his new car, “it hadn’t run before the pre race test. I was playing with the brake bias, then heard a graunching sound so didn’t do the full session,” he said. Paul Isherwood’s Sylva Phoenix headed the next row with Kevin Begley’s Caterham Roadsport alongside. Alan Collinson’s trusty Rover SD1 Vitesse was just behind. “It’s going probably the best yet, everything is working,” he reckoned. He was haring the row with another debutant, Robert Spencer in the third Z Cars Mini. Cam Forbes’ Westfield shared the next row with James Aukland’s trusty Capri. “I was a bit rusty and only got the car back Friday,” said Aukland. Jeremy Snowden’s Z Cars shared row 11 with Phil Hall’s solo Banks Europa. “I had a new starter motor but it still failed. Otherwise it was good,” said Hall. Andy Wilson’s Mini had Ralph Underwood’s TR7 V8 alongside, and Anthony Wilson’s Mini shared with Peter Wann’s Westfield. The grid was completed by Brian Allen’s XR2i, Paul Ingram, 16 year old son of ex racer/rally driver Kingsley in an XR2, Dave Maries, brother of Chris and Graham Wynn’s Z Cars Mini. “I had a moment at Druids and got a bit sideways,” said Ingram. I managed one lap before the fuel pump went,” said Wynn. RACE ONE With the rain falling heavily Ric Wood opted not to race, and both the Chalmers Caterham’s and Crompton’s BMW headed for the pits for tyre changes as the grid formed up. When the lights went out Smith was left, and Pritchard headed the charge to Old Hall, from Dobson, Cryer, Sedgwick and Maries. Cryer spun, “I had a touch with Chris Maries into Knickerbrook,” he explained. He wasn’t the only one as Pritchard had a huge spin approaching Lodge. “It went round six, seven or maybe eight times and just kissed the barrier,” he said. The result was a six second lead for Dobson, with Pritchard recovering in eighth. Maries headed the chases from Sedgwick, Proctor, Isherwood, Begley and Rob Chalmers, but both Garnett and Allanson were already in trouble. “It’s still the management system,” said Garnett. “I broke the driveshaft at the start, first second and crunch,” said Allanson. Pritchard was soon back on the pace, reeling in Maries to reclaim second on lap three. Alastair Chalmers had also charged from the back of the grid to oust Maries for third on lap four.
It was all getting very fraught in the lower top ten, with Sedgwick gradually being outpaced. Begley fought his way through to fifth behind Rob Chalmers and snatched fourth on the penultimate lap, after both benefited from Maries’ spluttering pitstop.
Pritchard had caught Dobson and got alongside a couple of times, but the Mazda just did enough to claim a narrow victory. “I had managed to get away when Rob spun, I got a bit sideways and at the end I had to block him through Cascades,” said Dobson. “I had to back off for yellow flags on the last lap, I was alongside Paul at the time,” Pritchard replied. “I lost a lot of time in traffic, but third’s OK,” said Chalmers Snr. “I was just playing catch up after starting from the pitlane, but still had a couple of moments,” said Jnr after just losing out fourth to Begley. Cryer recovered to claim sixth and similarly Smith came home seventh, aided by a clash between Sedgwick and Proctor at Knickerbrook. “It was 50/50 between fun and terror,” reckoned Smith. “I had too much bias to the back, missed my braking point at Knickerbrook and spun, I almost held it, but as I came back on and hit another car,” said Proctor who was left with a front wheel hanging off. “As I turned into the chicane, he came back across me into the side. It’s buckled my wheel and damaged the wishbone,” Sedgwick replied. A delighted Collinson was a solid eighth, “I couldn’t believe it, I was actually closing on the TVR too. Hope it stays wet,” he said. Crompton and Taylor completed the top ten. “I stopped for wets, it should have been intermediates,” said Crompton. Isherwood, Spencer and Anthony Wilson all finished on the lead lap. Underwood had a late charge to secure 14th, “I had been all over the place then it seemed to come good at the end,” he said. Hall was next home, “it was scary out there, glad to be back in the paddock,” he reckoned. Anthony Wilson, Allen, Snowden, Forbes, Wann, Dave Maries and I gram all made it to the finish too, after a few slips, slides and mishaps along the way. RESULTS
Class A: 1 Smith; no other finishers. Class B: 1 Pritchard; 2 A.Chalmers; 3 R.Chalmers; 4 Cryer; 5 Taylor; 6 Cam Forbes (Westfield SEiW); 7 Peter Wann (Westfield SEi);8 Dave Maries (Westfield SEi). Class C: 1 Begley; 2 Paul Isherwood (Sylva Phoenix); 3 Robert Spencer (Z Cars Mini); 4 Andy Wilson (Mini); 5 Anthony Wilson (Mini); 6 Jeremy Snowden (Z Cars Mini). Class D: 1 Dobson; 2 Collinson; 3 Ralph Underwood (Triumph TR7 V8); no other starters. Class E: 1 Crompton; 2 Brian Allen (Ford Fiesta XR2i); no other finishers. Class F: 1 Phil Hall (Banks Europa); 2 Paul Ingram (Ford Fiesta XR2); no other starters. Fastest lap: Pritchard 2m09.708s (74.71mph).
RACE TWO It was even wetter for the second race, as the grid was formed from the second fastest lap in qualifying. There were still 25 starters, with Alastair Chalmers taking pole from Pritchard, Rob Chalmers and Dobson. RACE The start was relatively troublefree given the conditions. Pritchard, led Alastair Chalmers, Crompton, Cryer and Rob Chalmers, with Dobson challenging as they went down the Avenue. Both Dobson and Maries soon made it past Cryer, and Proctor followed as they completed the opening lap, taking Rob Chalmers too, who then headed for the pits to retire with an intermittent misfire. Crompton was flying and had a couple of second lap exchanges with Chalmers Snr for second. But cresting Deer Leap he lost it, went sideways and crashed into the barriers opposite the pits. “The hydraulics went on the clutch, I was snatching through the box, into fifth and it just lit up the back wheels,” he explained. Pritchard had started to take command and although Chalmers was back into second he had a queue forming behind. He held on for six more laps though, before Dobson made it by and eased himself into second. Proctor harassed Maries until he got through on lap six, taking Chalmers for third a lap later, before shadowing Dobson to the finish. “I didn’t want to take any risks, I could have won maybe. I had a little touch with Paul Dobson, but overall it’s been brilliant,” said Proctor. Maries got the better of Chalmers too over the closing laps, “I am on a promise of new wets after that,” said Maries. “I softened it too much and lost grip. I was struggling and then found I had a queue. I then made a mistake at Island when Paul Dobson got past and then others followed,” said Chalmers after finally finishing fifth. Things were slightly better for Garnett too, he held sixth from midrace. Smith saw off Isherwood shortly afterwards for seventh, both having pulled clear of Cryer. “After I lost touch with Mark Proctor I just seemed to be going backwards,” said Cryer. He still held onto ninth though, well clear of Begley. Aukland and Hall had a terrific scrap for 11th, which went Aukland’s way eventually. “That was great fun I got a bit of grip this time and it made all the difference,” said Aukland. “That Capri was very wide,” Hall replied. Spencer, Snowden and Forbes remained unlapped and Underwood got his revenge on long time rival Collinson, by heading him in 16th. Allen, Dave Maries and Wann rounded off the finishers, while Taylor made a late but spectacular exit, almost copying Crompton’s earlier spin but avoiding the barriers.
RESULTS
Class A: 1 Smith; 2 James Aukland (Ford Capri); no other starters: Class B: 1 Pritchard; 2 A.Chalmers; 3 Cryer; 4 Cam Forbes (Westfield SEiW); 5 Dave Maries (Westfield SEi); 6 Peter Wann (Westfield SEi). Class C: 1 Proctor; 2 C.Maries; 3 Isherwood; 4 Begley; 5 Robert Spencer (Z Cars Mini); 6 Jeremy Snowden (Z Cars Mini). Class D: 1 Dobson; 2 Ralph Underwood (Triumph TR7 V8); 3 Alan Collinson (Rover SD1 Vitesse); no other starters. Class E: 1 Garnett; 2 Brian Allen (Ford Fiesta XR2i); no other finishers. Class F: 1 Phil Hall (Banks Europa); no other finishers. Fastest lap: Dobson 2m11.260s (73.83mph).
Issued by Peter Scherer for BARC (NW) March 31st, 2008.
The opinions expressed on this site are not necessarily shared by 11/56 MotorSport or any of theGrid team Material Copyright © 2005 11/56 MotorSport
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Earlier
in the day the Class E&F drivers joined the Mod Saloons. Dennis
Crompton’s BMW M3(pictured) had a great wheel to wheel to
wheel scrap with Joss Ronchetti’s Talbot Sunbeam Lotus, until Ronchetti
pitted after losing power. Steve Hibbert’s Lotus Exige pipped the ailing
Ronchetti for third second in class, while Paul Ingram’s Fiesta had the
legs of Phil Hall’s Europa in class F.