The day started cold and windy, the rain then swept in and finally it became sunny and bright! It was a mixed-up day of sprinting in every sense of the word. Several drivers who should have been in the run-off weren't and several drivers just squeaked in! As for the result well......
Never mind that, let's start at the very beginning as Julie Andrews once said! First off Andy Platt had a grin from ear to ear, why? Well Allan Warburton had got the Opel V6 powered Dallara sorted in time and Mr Shed was relishing the prospect. Even the rain failed to dampen his enthusiasm! Late entries meant that the SBD Motorsport OMS made the trip North as did Graham Porrett and Terry Holmes, whilst John Chacksfield had managed to get a drive in Dr David Flanagan's turbocharged OMS. However on the down side Emma and John Williams had to scratch as they were still at Connaught bolting the engine into the Ralt! Tracey Ashby decided to opt out of running to give Simon the best chance of improving on his seventh place finish last year. Practice then provided the usual twist when the Flanagan OMS expired before John Chacksfield had a chance to drive it, however he did manage to switch to Phil Major's ADR sports libre.
The class runs proved highly entertaining especially when the heavy rain squalls arrived! In the Road Going classes Martin Rowe set the standard in the 1400 class whilst Steve Foster in the 205 pipped Clare Sullivan for second. In the 2000 class Gary Thomas put his Elise into an early lead and stayed there whilst the two Russells, Thorpe and Herring, took second and third in their R5T and 205 respectively. The over 2000 class was a walk in the park for Mark Wallwork in the Sapphire Cosworth once Roy Johnson retired the Skyline. George Hardman's local knowledge paid dividends in the 1700 Westfield class whilst Paul Pocklington (sometime Clerk of Course at Harewood) was second. In the Over 1700 Westfield class Ash Mason again proved unbeatable as Geoff Ward and Mike Ashton chased hard.
In the Mod Prod classes Richard Semley took a decisive win in the 1400 division in his Nova helped by Roy Bolderson (Mini) going straight on at the left hand hairpin on his one dry run! The avuncular Graham Oates was made to fight all the way to the third run when he finally put the Europa into the lead of the 2000 division. Graham's opposition came from Keith Webster in the 205 whose trip into the scenery on his second run meant he was sans front air dam for the third and final run. John Sampson duly won the Modified Kit Car class whilst in the Westfield equivalent Mark Smith, John Tomlinson and Derek Hodder all went quicker than Sampson as they filled the 'podium' positions. In the Mod Kit Car with Bike engines class (more like War and Peace than a class name) Bill Bourne in the MK Indy was top dog! However in the Westfield equivalent Terry Everall went on to beat Nick Algar as the Top Six all went quicker than Bourne's time. In the Sports Libre class Les Procter didn't arrive so when John Chacksfield switched to Phil Major's ADR we were back to two runners. However the car wasn't use to the added strain of two drivers and they retired after one run each; Chacksfield emerged the winner as Major spun out. Into the Racing Car classes; in the 1100s Chris Pritchard, who is planning a 2006 assault on the Sprint Championship, took top spot in his Megapin modified Force. Ian Scott took second whilst Paul Masters in the Jedi was third; Tony Ellis could only manage a lowly ninth after a first run spin. There was a massive entry for Formula Fords (NINE) however we lost two when Martin Pickles crashed out on his first run leaving Steve Miles without a drive. Derek Martlew was the surprise winner from Phil Nelson (Reynard) and Graham Curwen (Van Diemen). In the 1600 Racing Car class Welshman Eynon Price scored a third run class win in his OMS as Steve Broughton struggled for grip after a quick rear wing adjustment. In fact Price's pace would have won him the run-off! The 2000 Racing Car class was a battle of tactics with brinksmanship employed in the switch to slicks or not! Phil Lynch walked off with the class win on his third run whilst Terry Holmes and David Sims were second and third. In the over 2000 class Andrew Platt took the class win from Martin Dowling with Allan Warburton third. Warby would have qualified for the run-off if he had been registered but was treating the day as an end-of-season test for the rebuilt engine/car. Surprise non qualifiers for the run-off included Peter Howgate (who doesn't like the rain or Three Sisters), Kevin Lealan (on his first visit) and Roy Sims (who got the worst of the first big rain squall).
Top Twelve Run-Off
With no dual driven cars getting in it was a matter of head down and charge! Mike Musson was first up and the Dual Force was getting quicker. Musson's extra pace would elevate him to 9th after the first round of runs. Ian Scott had switched to slicks and was immediately quicker but would remain 11th. Martin Dowling remained on wets but was driving well and would end up 5th after the first runs were completed. Phil Lynch was another to move up the order. Lynch makes no bones about his love for the venue and he drove it well slotting in behind Dowling in 7th. Simon Ashby then took to the track and the Millington powered Reynard was nearly two second up on its Q-time; Ashby however would remain 8th at the break. Nick Algar was delighted to be in his second run-off in his debut season and with the prospect of the ex-Dawson DJ Firehawk for 2006 he gave it everything. He also made massive inroads on his Q-time but would slip back to 10th by just over half a second. Steve Broughton then catapulted the OMS into the temporary lead as he slashed over 4 seconds off his Q-time. John Sampson, who had benefited from a dry-ish track in qualifying, was two seconds off his Q-time and slipped down to 12th. Matt Oliver, whose Karting experience at the track was of great benefit, then moved effectively up the order as he slotted in behind Steve Broughton. Andy Platt then roared off the line and was out to set an unbeatable time. He put the car into what appeared to be impossible angles of entry but still power slid through the slower corners. When the clocks stopped at 46.53 he had the lead. David Sims was next and the youngster was intent on not spinning! His caution meant he was over a second off his Q-time and slipped back to 6th. Fastest Qualifier Terry Holmes was another who couldn't match his earlier pace on the still greasy track. 49.32 was over two seconds shy of his Q-time and meant the Chichester Chippy would be 4th at the break.
Into the second runs and Mike Musson was flying, unfortunately he carried too much pace into the left handed hairpin and spun out. The car ended up stuck on the wet grass and he had to be towed off. This mistake would see Musson plummet to 12th. Ian Scott, with the benefit of one run on slicks under his belt, then trimmed over three seconds off his time which moved him well up the order. However others would also improve and he would end up a cheerful 8th. Martin Dowling then put in his best time of the day carving nearly three seconds off his first run time. It moved the ex-F3000 Reynard into second but again he would slide back to 4th. Phil Lynch kept on wets and carved just over a second off his first run time. This moved him initially to third but he was slowly pushed down the order to 7th - a point away from the finish he needed to grab a permanent number for 2006! Simon Ashby then clipped over two seconds off his time and was the first to slip ahead of Lynch. His third place would finally end up as yet another 6th! Nick Algar's spitting, popping and misfiring Suzuki warm up heralded his last Championship run in the faithful Westie! He was soon into his stride and clipped over a second off his first run time. This moved him initially into seventh but he too would slip back and would finish 9th. Steve Broughton then put in a cracking run with the OMS. The SBD supremo had the car nicely balanced and stopped the clocks at 46.34 to take over the lead. John Sampson then rumbled the brutal Xtreme round for possibly the last time. He carved a whacking 4.82 seconds off his first run time and moved up to tenth, however it wasn't enough and he fell back one place to finish 11th. As Matt Oliver came to the line he had been pushed down to seventh. Could the youngster respond? Or would he spin out? Off the line and he looked smoothness personified. A little bit of aggression was still there but it was well controlled and the run looked quick. When the clocks stopped he had moved into second spot behind Steve Broughton to add more pressure onto Andy Platt who was next! Platt powered off the line and was super smooth through the damp lower part of the course. As he hit the left hand hairpin he put the power down and was soon rocketing into the Esses. A quick left, right and left and he was over the line in 44.57 and had retaken the lead which pushed Broughton and Oliver down to second and third. David Sims, who was currently in eleventh, then showed how mature he is with a cool and controlled run that saw him rocket up the leader board to finish 5th. Terry Holmes was the final runner. He had been slowly gazumped and was down in tenth. It required that tricky mix of aggression and control, could Terry come up with the goods. Off the line he was on target. Down past the Scrutineering Bay he was still in touch. Through the endless right hand hairpin he was teetering on the brink of adhesion then as he braked for the left hand hairpin it all fell apart. The car slewed round and he slid off the track onto the grass and registered a failed run. Back in the Paddock Andy Platt was delighted. The trouble is he now wants an Opel V6 powered Dallara for next year!
Results:
1 Andy Platt (2.5 Dallara-Opel/Pride F399) 44.57secs; 2 Steve Broughton (1.3 OMS-Suzuki/SBD CF04) 46.34secs; 3 Matt Oliver (2.0 Ralt-Vauxhall/SBD RT33) 46.49secs; 4 Martin Dowling (3.5 Reynard-Judd 88D) 46.96secs; 5 Dave Sims (2.0 Ralt-Duratec/SRD RT33/4-SF1) 47.83secs; 6 Simon Ashby (2.0 Reynard-Millington 883) 48.32secs; 7 Phil Lynch (2.0 Ralt-Alfa/Connaught RT30) 48.57secs; 8 Ian Scott (1.1 Megapin-Kawasaki/Powertek 25/05) 48.60secs; 9 Nick Algar (1.2s Westfield Supabusa) 49.23secs; 10 Terry Holmes (2.0 Reynard-Ford/Tegra SF84) 49.32secs; 11 John Sampson (5.0 Quantum-Rover Xtreme) 50.01secs; 12 Mike Musson (2.0 Dual Force-Suzuki) 50.51secs.
BTD - Eynon Price (1.2 OMS 2000M) 43.92secs.
Class Winners: Martin Rowe (1.4 Citroen AX GT) 57.14secs; Gary Thomas (1.8 Lotus Elise) 57.62 secs; Mark Wallwork (2.0t Ford Sierra Sapphire Cosworth) 53.48secs; George Hardman (1.6 Westfield SEiW) 57.18secs; Ash Mason (2.0 Westfield SEi) 56.31secs; Richard Semley (1.4 Vauxhall Nova) 55.16secs; Graham Oates (1.8 Lotus Europa) 54.45secs; Sampson 52.69secs; Mark Smith (2.0 Westfield SEiW) 48.22secs; Bill Bourne (0.9 MK Indy) 53.48secs; Terry Everall (1.3 Westfield Hayabusa) 48.89secs; John Chacksfield (1.2 ADR Mk1.5) 58.86secs; Chris Pritchard (1.0 Force/Megapin -Suzuki PT15) 46.52secs; Derek Martlew (1.6 Van Diemen-Ford RF87) 49.69secs; Price 43.92secs; Lynch 46.57secs; Platt 45.01secs.