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mail your news to editorthegrid@yahoo.co.uk Performance N Economy Chip Tuning Sports/Saloon Car Championship 2008 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.
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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.