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NEXT ROUND, CASTLE COMBE JULY 19/20.
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Continued from News mail your links to editorthegrid@yahoo.co.uk
BARC WESTFIELD SPORTSCAR CHAMPIONSHIPS Simon Pryke takes second win and Andrew Spencer his fifth He may have to wait patiently for his first win, but Simon Pryke followed his Croft victory with a last lap win at Castle Combe, over Ben Elliott. A broken mudguard stay robbed Andrew Spencer, but he made up for it in race two, heading home Pryke for his fifth win of the year. Race 1 Out for the first time this season, Didier Prongue started from pole but lost out in the first lap sort out. Spencer led at Quarry but Roger Green emerged with the lead, from Spencer, Elliott and Brian Small, after the latter made a sensational start from the sixth row of the grid. “I just decided to stay left and took it flat to Quarry,” he explained. Small was the first to lose out to Prongue’s recovery charge, but by the end of lap three it was still line astern for the top five, with Martin Gartside doing his best to hold on too. Spencer had been putting the pressure on Green and it finally paid off on lap four as they went through Folly. Prongue also demoted Elliott and set about chasing down the lead pair. While Spencer set about building a lead, Prongue’s efforts were stopped momentarily when he spun at Bobbies. Gartside also took the opportunity to challenge Small for fourth, while Pryke shot up three places to sixth. As Green and Elliott started to fight over second, Spencer managed to increase his lead again. But on lap seven Elliott finally made it by into Camp. Pryke’s charge was also bringing him closer to Small’s duel for fourth with Gartside. A lap later Spencer had smoke pouring from the rear of his car. He held on until lap nine before heading pitwards, “a mudguard stay had broken and it was rubbing on the tyre,” he explained. Green and Elliott shared a couple of exchanges, but when Spencer pitted it was Elliott that took charge. Gartside had made it past Small and Pryke followed a lap later. Small’s storming start faded when he ran wide at Camp on lap 10, which allowed Sansum and Prongue to go by. Pryke was on a roll and took second from Green at Bobbies on lap 12, before reeling in Elliott’s lead. Although still fourth Gartside was under pressure, from the recovering Prongue and Sansum. Onto the last lap the lead pair were nose to tail, but Pryke found the extra bit of pace to pip Elliott by 0.4secs on the run to the flag. “That felt great, if a little unexpected. I had a poor start so put my racing head on and got down to it,” said Pryke. Green and Gartside managed to retain third and fourth, as Prongue retired with a broken exhaust. “The car is beginning to work really well now,” said Green. “I had a bad start and had to work hard, it took me ages to get past Brian as usual,” said Gartside. Nick Flowers snatched fifth from Sansum on the last lap at Bobbies and Small finally settled in seventh. “The right hand side of the grid didn’t seem to move at the start, it delayed me a lot and I was playing catch up for the rest of the race,” said Flowers. Will Chappell just held off Brian Dean for eighth and Michael Ellis completed the top ten. RESULT RACE ONE
Class A: 1 Elliott; 2 Green; 3 Sansum; 4 Ellis. Class B: 1 Pryke; 2 Gartside; 3 Flowers; 4 Small; etc. Fastest lap: Pryke 1m15.933s (87.70mph). Race 2 There were no casualties after the first race and so all 15 made it out for race two. From the start Spencer and Pryke were side by side until the exit of Camp, when Spencer eased ahead. Gartside had third, from Green and Elliott, but on the second lap Green and Prongue were battling for third, after Elliott and Gartside touched. “I took two cars at Tower but then we touched wheels and spun,” said Elliott. “I got pushed off at Bobbies and had to restart last,” Gartside replied. Prongue had third at the start of lap three, but lost out to Green again through Camp, while behind them Flowers and Sansum disputed fourth. As Spencer’s lead continued to grow, Prongue spun again and dropped to ninth. “I spun at the Esses and Bobbies, I don’t seem to be able to go around corners any more,” he said. Flowers started to catch Green for third and took Sansum with him, while Elliott charged back through the field to make it a four car battle for third. Elliott took Flowers through Camp and demoted Green a lap later.” I had a banzai start on the limiter, but went into Bobbies too fast on lap 11 and lost out on the exit, a bit sideways,” Flowers explained. Spencer took victory by just over three seconds from Pryke, with Elliott and Flowers completing the top four, as Green fell to sixth behind Will Chappell with a lap to go. “I just ran out of grip at the end,” said Green. Sansum held onto seventh from Dean, with the recovering Gartside and Prongue completing the top ten. “It was a good race for me and at the start everyone gave each other enough room, said Spencer. “I had a go at Andy, but when I realised he was too strong I eased off,” said Pryke. RESULT RACE TWO
Class A: 1 Elliott; 2 Green; 3 Sansum; 4 Ellis. Class B: 1 Spencer; 2 Pryke; 3 Flowers; 4 W.Chappell; etc. Fastest lap: Spencer 1m16.784s (86.73mph).
Published by Peter Scherer, July 22nd, 2008.
Pryke wins as Spenser spins Having threatened to take his maiden victory for some time, Simon Pryke finally made it at Croft. Although he dominated the first half of the opening race, Andrew Spencer loomed large towards the end, and it was contact between the duo at the final hairpin that settled it. Spencer was back to his championship winning form in the second race though. It was a 16 car grid for round four at Croft, which included four class A cars. Poleman Spencer lost out massively at the start, “I couldn’t get second gear,” he explained. But Pryke shot through from the second row to lead into Clervaux, from Martin Gartside, Roger Green, Nick Flowers and Michael Ellis. “I thought I had a good start, but not compared to Simon’s,” said Gartside. Fulvio Mussi also made a slow getaway and had to join Spencer in playing catch up. By the end of the second lap Spencer had already taken Brian Dean and Ellis for fifth and was rapidly closing on Flowers. Mark Callahan lost ground though with a trip through the field at Tower. The lead pair had begun to escape, but Green, Flowers, Spencer and Ellis ran nose to tail in third. But Flowers and Mussi both spun at the Complex, with Mussi retiring to the pits. Spencer’s charge was relentless and after taking Green around the outside at Tower, he soon reeled in Gartside. Down in sixth Brian Small led a five car train too, with Will and Jon Chappell on his heels from the recovering Flowers. But it was still all eyes on Spencer after he took second from Gartside at the Complex on lap five. Ellis was after Gartside too after taking Green a couple of laps earlier. Pryke was probably looking for Spencer in his mirrors throughout, but on lap 11 he was not only there, but led into Tower. They changed again into the Hairpin, before Spencer charged back at Clervaux. It came down to the final Hairpin though, with Spencer leading out of the Complex, Pryke went for the inside, they touched and Spencer spun. “I worked so hard for that, just the Hairpin I couldn’t get power out of it,” said Spencer after suffering his first defeat of the season. “I had a good start, threw it inside Martin and got away. It’s nice to win but I didn’t want it to be like that,” said Pryke after collecting his laurels. Gartside was delighted to have fought off the determined Ellis for third, his first podium finish. “That was hard work,” he said. Green retained fifth and Flowers consolidated sixth, after taking Small at half distance. Jon Chappell secured eighth, after leaving Will to duel with Seamus Harding for the final top ten places. RESULT RACE ONE
Class A: 1 Ellis; 2 Green; 3 Darren Sansum; no other finishers. Class B: 1 Pryke; 2 Spencer; 3 Gartside; 4 Flowers; etc. Fastest lap: Spencer 1m33.927s (81.44mph).
All 16 cars made it to the grid for the second race and it was front row men Spencer and Mussi that held their advantages from the start. Pryke got the better of Ellis for third and Gartside had Green inches behind in the battle for fifth. But Callahan was in the wars again, hitting the tyres at the Complex after a sort out with Chappell duo. The leading quartet started to spread out on the second lap, while Green made it past Gartside and tried to join them. Pryke was the first to change things, nosing alongside Mussi into Tower a lap later. His aborted move allowed Ellis to close though, and he snatched third after Pryke ran wide out of the Complex on lap four. The loss of a place seemed to increase Pryke’s pace, he not only retook Ellis, but took second from Mussi into Clervaux a couple of laps later. Ellis was then left nose to tail with Mussi, as were Green and Gartside again for fifth. It may have been a clear road ahead for Spencer, as he cruised to his fourth win out of five to consolidate the defence of his title, but it was far from settled behind. “The gearbox was graunching in third and second either way and I thought I had lost fourth too,” Spencer explained. After Ellis had taken Mussi at Tower on lap seven, he reeled in Pryke again and had second by the end of lap nine. They swapped again on the next lap before Ellis slowed and headed pitwards and left Pryke with a clear second. “I started eighth and made five places at the start, I had a scrap with Mussi, but Mike Ellis was hard work,” Pryke admitted Once Gartside had finally shaken off Green, he quickly claimed third from Mussi. “That was a perfect outbraking manoeuvre on him at Clervaux, it was the only place I was quicker than him,” said Gartside on claiming his second podium. A rather subdued Flowers also came through at the end and had fifth placed Green in his sights at the flag. Small had a spin that dropped him behind Dean and Will Chappell. Sansum claimed tenth, despite a clash at the Complex with Harding on the last lap, which sent Harding airborne and into retirement. RESULT RACE TWO
Class A: 1 Mussi; 2 Green; 3 Sansum; no other finishers. Class B: 1 Spencer; 2 Pryke; 3 Gartside; 4 Flowers. Etc. Fastest lap: Ellis 1m34.780s (80.71mph). Published by Peter Scherer, June 17th, 2008. Spencer stays on course Andrew Spencer kept his title defence on course with another double win at Pembrey, making it three out three so far this season. Race 1I t wasn’t the best of starts for Spencer though in Saturday’s race having lost out to Simon Pryke from the start. Both managed to outbrake themselves at Hatchets and Nick Flowers gratefully accepted the early lead. Pryke chased hard but that was his undoing, when on lap four he spun at Hatchets again and dropped to ninth. “I had gone wide to avoid Andrew and then outbraked myself trying to challenge Nick,” Pryke admitted. Roger Green’s class A car moved into third, but had Jon Chappell, Brian Small and Martin Gartside breathing down his neck. On lap five Spencer past the pits side by side with Flowers for the lead and darted ahead into Hatchets. Chappell also made it past Green for third, while the recovering Pryke started to reel in Small and Gartside. But Chappell then spun at Spitfires and after battling past Small, Gartside fell behind his rival again through Hatchets. All the changes had allowed Green to go clear for a while in third, but once past the Gartside/Small duel, Pryke started to close once more. The battles continued to rage with Pryke finally catching Green to reclaim third from lap 10, with Gartside having taken Small at Hatchets on lap 12, also claimed Green at the same spot a lap later. “I had got bogged down at the start and was just trying to hard to get the lead early on. It settled more after that,” said Spencer after win number two. “I just kept it on the black stuff and was pleased to come in second,” said Flowers. Pryke managed to retain third for the rest of the race and Green retook Gartside again to secure fourth. “The car was much better than Snetterton, I lost out when I half spun as Simon got me, but I got Martin back into Brooklands,” he explained. Small followed Gartside home in sixth, “I was watching the battle for fourth and fifth thinking it might gift me a place, but it didn’t,” said Small. “I was determined to finish and recovered from chucking it off after a good start,” said Gartside. Seamus Harding was a solitary seventh and Chris Gould survived a late spin at Honda for eighth. The recovering Chappell and Nic Grout completed the finishes, after Paul Taberner and John Dolan had collided at the Esses. Will Chappell had retired earlier with a blown headgasket.
RESULT RACE ONE 1 Andrew Spencer 19 laps in 21m01.007s (78.96mph); 2 Nick Flowers + 3.379s; 3 Simon Pryke; 4 Roger Green; 5 Martin Gartside; 6 Brian Small; 7 Seamus Harding; 8 Chris Gould; 9 Jon Chappell; 10 Nic Grout. Class A: 1 Green; no other starters. Class B: 1 Spencer; 2 Flowers; 3 Pryke; 4 Gartside. etc. Fastest lap: Spencer 1m01.234s (80.34mph). Race 2 With Paul Taberner, John Dolan and Will Chappell all victims of Saturday’s race, Sunday’s was reduced to a 10 car grid. Pryke was slow away at the start and Jon Chappell took to the grass to avoid him, restarting last. Spencer had the lead from Green, Flowers, the recovering Pryke, Small and Gartside. Into Hatchets for the second time Flowers arrived third and exited with the lead as both Spencer and Green ran wide. Pryke then latched on and took Green for third at Hatchets a lap later. Chappell’s recovery had taken him past Harding and had started to bring into range of the Small and Gartside duel for fifth. Spencer was soon back to challenge Flowers for the lead again, going into Hatchets side by side before coming out with the lead again on lap four. Flowers briefly lost momentum and both Pryke and Green pounced on the same lap. Small and Gartside had also closed before the ex Champion started his own comeback. Pryke was continuing to push as hard as he could and charged past Spencer on lap seven to lead into Hatchets. Flowers was poised to rechallenge Green again too, while Gartside finally made it past Small. Spencer nosed back in front through Honda on lap nine and for the next few laps it was alternating as hey circulated wheel to wheel. But on lap 13 Spencer had gone ahead at Hatchets and in his efforts to stay with him, Pryke spun at the Esses. “I was having a bit of a go, we had a light touch and I spun,” Pryke explained. Having retaken Green on lap nine, Flowers was left to chase down Spencer and collect his second second place finish of the weekend. “I had lost out behind Simon at the start, but when they both went wide I found myself with the lead for a while,” said Flowers. Pryke came back again and claimed third from Green with four laps to go, while Gartside and Small completed the top six again. Chappell had closed before backing off to accept seventh, Harding and Nic Grout completed the finishers. Gould was the only non finisher having pitted at the end of lap 11. RESULT RACE TWO 1 Spencer 18 laps in 19m56.914s (78.81mph); 2 Flowers +1.294s; 3 Pryke; 4 Green; 5 Gartside; 6 Small; 7 Chappell; 8 Harding; 9 Grout; No other finishers. Class A: 1 Green; no other starters. Class B: 1 Spencer; 2 Flowers; 3 Pryke; 4 Gartside. Etc. Fastest lap: Pryke 1m04.912s (80.74mph).
Published by Peter Scherer, May 12th, 2008. Spencer carries on as he finished off Andrew Spencer began the defence of his 2007 title in race winning form at Snetterton, but Simon Pryke made sure the young Yorkshireman had no time to rest on his laurels. Pryke got the lead from the start, with poleman Spencer joining a first lap break as Ben Clucas’s class A car struggled to stay in touch. Spencer was almost pushing Pryke through Coram on the second lap, as the top seven all closed up again. Nick Flowers took Clucas, but Andy Mowbray, Martin Gartside and Jon Chappell were all close too. Into Sear Spencer made it through on the inside, but lost out into the Esses, Pryke nosed in front and Flowers then took them both. “I just outbraked myself,” said Spencer. All three made another joint break, with Spencer back into second at Russell, before running side by side past the pits with Flowers, taking charge once more into Riches. Clucas was also under pressure from Mowbray and Gartside, which allowed Jon Chappell to close. Mowbray had fourth on lap five while Chappell found his way past Gartside too. There was no respite back at the front though, with Pryke all over Flowers, before they swapped on lap seven and both found themselves in front of Spencer again when he outbraked himself again into the Esses. Gartside battled his way back to onto Clucas’ tail for fifth, as Mowbray headed pitwards, “overheating again.” Spencer quickly responded and within two laps he had the lead yet again, but Flowers started to lose touch after losing third gear. Despite running nose to tail for the remaining five laps, Spencer still just held the narrowest of advantages to seal the win by 0.137secs. “I am so grateful for my Dad for building me a winning car again,” said Spencer afterwards. “That was very close, I had a cracking start and was able to close when I wanted. But Andrew seemed to be able to do the same. I failed to capitalize on Andrew’s mistake at Russell because I was in third gear too,” said Pryke. Flowers held onto third, “without third gear I am pleased with that,” he said. The battle for fourth went all the way to the flag though, finally settling in Chappell’s favour after he arrived at Russell on the penultimate lap behind Clucas and Gartside. As they delayed each other he shot through and claimed the place. “My steering wheel came loose and it put me off a bit. But I really wanted to beat that superstar Ben and I did,” he said. Gartside held onto fifth, “frustrating as I had a good start and was outdragged on the back straight. I got overwhelmed each time by Clucas and Jon Chappell,” he said. Clucas completed the top six but struggled for straightline speed too in his class A winning car. “It was Ok but almost felt like I was running out of fuel. It was good for slipstreaming though and on the brakes,” he confirmed. Will Chappell and Brian Small had lonely races in seventh and eighth, while returnee Chris Gould and debutant John Dolan completed the top ten. RESULTS
Class A: 1 Clucas; 2 Ellis; 3 Green; no other finishers. Class B: 1 Spencer; 2 Pryke; 3 Flowers; 4 J.Chappell; etc. Fastest lap: Pryke 1m19.467s (88.42mph). NEXT ROUND, PEMBREY MAY 10/11. Published by Peter Scherer, April 28th, 2008
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