by Steve Wilkinson
In a compelling final round Top Twelve John Chacksfield on only his second appearance in the championship took a fabulous win against all the bigger cars. The pace of the Yorkshireman throughout the day made him odds on to win but in the run-off he came under pressure from Roy Dawson.
As the competitors started to arrive at the circuit there were grey skies and drizzle. Then during the morning there were a couple of rain squalls before the weather changed for the better. Before practice even started there were several alterations to the programme.Tony Eyles was in Northern Ireland on a golfing week-end whilst Tony Wiltshire was at his stately home in Longleat (well he was competing in 2 days of hillclimbs there, but it sounds impressive anyway, where he secured 1st and 2nd FTDs over the 2 days. A gentleman's agreement meant both saved an expensive trip North which would not have affected the championship outcome. Graham Porrett was another not to make the trip but this was due to his Cosworth engine not being fixed in time. Glenn del Medico didn't make the trip to Three Sisters as he couldn't arrange the practice session he wanted so went to Curborough instead! Terry Holmes was present and sharing Sue Griffiths' Chevron again.
Practice started on a wet track and there were spins galore including Fred Currell; fortunately no one did any damage and following straight after the second practice was the first timed run. On a still damp track most people were out to put in a banker however Mark Smith was a tad over enthusiastic and spun out. After the lunch break on a now almost bone dry track the second runs got underway. In the Road Modified classes there were victories for Mike Geen in the indecently quick 1400cc 205, Bobby Fryers menacingly black Elise and Roy Johnson in the high tech Skyline. With the Westfield Speed Championship present the Kit Car classes were buzzing. In the 1700 division Tim Nunn and Kevin Bamber recorded identical times but Nunn won on count back. In the over 1700 class Ashley Mason lowered the class record, one of only two to fall all day, in his Vauxhall powered Westie whilst David Uren scrabbled home in second. Stars of the class were undoubtedly James and Ray Turner in the SEight for their sideways exits from the multiplicity of corners at Three Sisters kept the crowd entertained. Into the Mod Prods and in the 1400 class Nigel Hepburn recovered to snatch the win on the third run from Phil and Andrew Wood. The two litre class went to the dapper Graham Oates whose mastery of the Europa at most circuits is a joy to watch. Stuart Tranter brought the garish Rover 216 home second well clear of the rest. In the Modified Kit Car classes Garry Dickson took the Up to 1800 class with a time quicker than the winner of the over 1700 class could muster! In the over 1700 class it was John Sampson who won defeating Mark Smith once again. Since switching to the Avon tyres John has been invincible! The final Mod Prod class for Motorcycle engined Kit Cars was led by Nick Algar from the get go. His pace was sufficient that had he been registered for the Championship he would have easily qualified for the run-off. Joe Openshaw brought the pretty XTR2 home in second as Henry Carr fell off the pace. In the first of the Sports Libre classes Stuart Nelson led home father Peter in a Haggispeed 1-2 as Phil Major was off the pace in third. In the second Sports Libre class Paul Bond in the oh so pretty Crossle took the class despite a second run spin. John Beardmore was second in his highly developed and modified Moggie Minor.
Into the single seater classes and first on track were the 1100s. John Chacksfield broke the class record en route to a dominant victory that also saw him qualify fastest for the run-off. Phil Burton was second in the Pink Panther OMS with Tony Ellis third in his Megapin. Craig Powers had threatened but fell back to fourth as he retired with a spin on his third run. In the Formula Ford class it was business as usual for David Bailey as he recorded yet another win. Phil Nelson, Derek Martlew, Graham Curwen and Mark Moran battled for the minor placings in a scrap that ended up with them covered by less than a second! In the 1600 class the battle for the lead was between Roy Dawson and Steve Broughton. Initially Broughton led then on the second run Dawson took the lead he wouldn't let slip. Third spot went to Peter Hamilton who was giving the Speads RM04 its sprint debut and his pace gave quiet a few people food for thought. In the two litre class Allan Warburton, who was guesting in Andy Platt's Dallara, took the win from Mr P. Steve Miles was third just ahead of Phil Lynch and Fred Currell. With just two runners in the one car the over two litre class was a bit of a no contest as Martin Dowling swept to victory over co-driver John Payne.
TOP TWELVE RUN-OFF
First to the line for the final run-off of 2004 was John Payne who put in an initial time that matched his qualifying position and would leave him tenth. However on his second run he found just over a second improvement and would finish up in sixth. Garry Dickson was next and the Orkadian must have felt the long trip was worthwhile with another qualification. However despite making significant improvements on his Q-time he remained anchored in twelfth. Then it was John Sampson in the mighty Quantum Xtreme. Having qualified eleventh his first run saw him still in that placing. Second time round and he was on maximum attack. Through the Esses the Xtreme clambered over the kerbs and bellowed over the line to clip 0.8 off his time and climb to seventh. Terry Holmes was next and he immediately carved one and a half seconds off his Q-time. This moved him up to eighth however on his second run he only narrowly improved and as a result tumbled down to tenth. Simon Ashby then brought the Tramway Forge Reynard to the line. A controlled and pacey run saw the Hereford blacksmith move up to seventh however his second run was a disaster. Hammering towards the Esses he fluffed a gear and ended up coasting through the left/right/left and over the line. Despite the lack of drive through to the finish he was a meagre half a second slower but he fell back to ninth. Mole Racing's number one driver was next! Inspector Gadget, sorry Steve Miles, had qualified seventh and straight away he upped his game by slotting into fifth. He did improve second time round but by not enough to climb higher but sufficient to hold onto his well earned fifth place. Fred Currell was like a dog with two tails! Having qualified again for the run-offs his season was getting better. However his first run was slightly slower than his Q-time and when he came to the line for run number two the engine sounded awful. Crackling and popping he moved off and managed to clip a couple of tenths off his first run time. It was not enough and from sixth fastest qualifier he crashed down to eleventh. Phil Lynch always goes well at Three Sisters and with a fifth place in qualifying it looked like he would score big points again. His first run was just off his qualifying pace but it dropped him to sixth. On his second run he was pushing too hard and running wide on several corners as he crossed the stripe the clocks told the story as he was nearly three tenths slower and dropped to eighth. Martin Dowling was his usual calm self as he blasted off the line and in a smooth and calculated run more or less guaranteed fourth. On his second run he managed to find nearly half a second and slipped through into a very creditable third place. Steve Broughton's third qualification spot for the run-off put him in with a chance of victory. His first run kept him in third and still in with a chance. On his second he too over drove and slithered through several corners to end up slower and he dropped down to fourth. Roy Dawson was starting to believe he could win. As he rocketed away from the line there was an air of expectancy. Through the tight infield the Firehawk was wrestled and cajoled. Exiting the Hairpin there was a vicious tail snapping slide but Roy kept his foot firmly planted and arrowed through the Esses to take the lead. On his second run he was on the pace all the way round and as he exited the Hairpin there was less of a slide and the Firehawk screamed towards the Esses. However there was too much pace and as he entered the tricky series of corners the front end ran out wide and the Scot took avoiding action. His trip over the grass ended in a spin and retirement. Would he have done enough first time round? Or had the door been left open? John Chacksfield was bemused at having qualified fastest. His first run was controlled and marginally faster than his Q-time. However he had fallen back to second! As he sat waiting for his second run he was fully informed about his position and knew Roy Dawson had failed to improve. John was safe in second. Now first place was his prime objective. In a blur of red and yellow the little OMS flew over Cowards Summit and into the Scrutineering Bend. Hardly slowing he was at Paddock Bend and off to the Hairpin. Down into the Esses he was flying and as he clipped the foot of each to the kerbs it looked quick. As he blasted towards the line all eyes focussed on the Timekeepers clock and there was a cheer and applause as he posted a 40.48 to take not only the run-off but FTD.
Results:
1 John Chacksfield (1.1 OMS-Kawasaki 200M) 40.48s; 2 Roy Dawson (1.3 DJ-Suzuki Firehawk) 40.90s; 3 Martin Dowling (3.5 Reynard-Judd 88D) 41.40s; 4 Steve Broughton (1.3 OMS-Suzuki 2000M) 41.58s; 5 Steve Miles (2.0 Van Diemen-Ford/Dunnell RF96M) 42.40s; 6 John Payne (3.5 Reynard-Judd 88D) 42.94s; 7 John Sampson (5.0 Quantum-Rover Xtreme) 43.26s; 8 Phil Lynch (2.0 Ralt-Alfa Romeo /Connaught RT30) 43.28s; 9 Simon Ashby (2.0 Reynard-Millington 883) 43.34s; 10 Terry Holmes (2.0 Chevron-Millington B47) 43.38s; 11 Fred Currell (2.0 Reynard-VW/Speiss 913) 43.51s; 12 Garry Dickson (1.6 Westfield-Vauxhall/SBD SEiW) 45.31s.
Final Championship Positions: 1 Tony Eyles 108pts; 2 Tony Wiltshire 105pts; 3 Holmes 96pts; 4 Broughton 93pts; 5 Dawson 90pts; 6 Dowling 89pts; 7 Simon Ashby 87pts; 8 Miles 72pts; 9 Payne 61pts; 10 Graham Porrett 46pts; 11 Sampson 43pts; 12 Lynch 40pts;
Class winners: Mike Geen (1.4 Peugeot 205XS) 51.86s; Bobby Fryers (1.8 Lotus Elise) 51.99s; Roy Johnson (2.8t Nissan Skyline GT-R) 49.23s; Tim Nunn (1.6 Westfield SE) 48.60s; Ashley Mason (2.0 Westfield SEi) 47.88s - New Record; Nigel Hepburn (1.4 Mini) 50.27s; Graham Oates (1.8 Lotus Europa) 48.91s; Dickson 45.15s; Sampson 45.53s; Nick Algar (1.2 Westfield Supabusa) 45.89s; Stuart Nelson (1.6 Haggispeed-Rover) 46.39s; Paul Bond (2.0 Crossle 9S) 48.31s; Chacksfield 40.76 - New Record; David Bailey (1.6 Swift-Ford SC93F) 46.63s; Dawson 40.88s; Allan Warburton (2.0 Dallara-Vauxhall F397) 41.62s; Dowling 41.40s.