It was grey and damp as the competitors gathered at the North East's premier racing circuit. There were a few no shows, notably Roy and David Sims who had hit problems testing earlier in the month. Andy Kittle also didn't make it over from Northern Ireland so we were down to 29 registered runners. There were just two all new cars present, Steve Broughton with his carbon-fibre tubbed OMS and Ian Scott with his composite Megapin. Roy Dawson was still with his 2004 DJ and was nursing a broken foot which he injured in a testing accident! Practice saw many falling foul of the greasy conditions with Steve Broughton and Tony Wiltshire spinning twice on one run!
In the class runs Stewart Robb spun on his first so had to put in a 'conservative' second run to ensure he qualified; this he did and also took the over two-litre class. Martin Dowling and John Payne had transplanted the Judd engine from Payne's SPA into Martin's Reynard over the winter and were experiencing problems getting it started. They slotted into second and third respectively. Andrew Platt had had a fraught practice with firstly an absent clutch and then a blocked injector. These were fixed in time for 'Mr Shed' to take the two-litre class from Terry Holmes. Tony Wiltshire was another to have a first run spin which was so costly he aborted the run. His second class run saw him recover to third spot. Steve Miles was next despite his new aero package being too efficient and causing the front wing to ground under braking. Simon Ashby missed his second class run when wife Tracey 'lost' fifth. Simon, ably assisted by Team Tegra, stripped the gearbox only to find fifth completely shredded! As he had no replacement he had to slot in an ever so slightly taller fourth.
In the 1600 Racing Car class there were just three runners. Kim Kingham was extremely cautious on this her first outing in the new car. Steve Broughton was continuing his rotational approach but managed to qualify sixth for the run off. However the sensation was Roy Dawson who took the class and qualified fastest for the run-off. The Scot was in last years car as the all new DJ was just 48 hours away from being ready. In the Formula Ford class Iain Houston took the class win from Mark 'Elden' Smith (as opposed to Taffy Smith of Westfield fame) whilst David Hunter was third. The final Racing Car class for 1100s saw John Chacksfield rocket into the run-off with ease. Tony Ellis spun out on his first run and aborted but managed to claw back to second spot in class and just missed out on a Top Twelve spot. Ian Scott had a series of new car woes and was somewhat off the pace.
In the Sports Libre class Paul Bond was another to suffer from a first run spin which slowed his progress. John Sampson, who hadn't managed to get the new aero package finished in time, blasted the Xtreme round to good effect taking the Mod Prod class and qualifying 11th for the run-off. Nick Algar had only just finished the Winter rebuild on his Superbusa Westfield and was a little off his normal pace.
The supporting Championships provided some light relief with the over-enthusiastic Michelin Porsche antics getting the popular vote. The ever competitive Midland Speed Championship saw one of the closest battles with the Up to 1400 Road Modified class. The winner, Rhys Palmer (Rover 114), had the benefit of local knowledge (he lives 15 minutes away from the track!). However he only just beat David Wiggins and Steve Foster in their 205 Rallyes with all three covered by just 0.21 of a second!
Top Twelve Run-off
As the temperature started to fall the runners in the Top Twelve were assembled on the grid. First to the line was Graham Porrett, Team Tegra being the only two shared drives to qualify. Graham's first run was somewhat cautious with a tad too much wheel spin and although he improved over his Q-time it was by only half a second. Simon Ashby, with the hastily rebuilt gearbox, was also cautious on his first run and was slower than Graham. John Sampson was another to have a little too much wheel spin and he was the first runner to be slower than his Q-time. Martin Dowling was next and again the Judd was a bit slow to fire-up. Despite a smooth get-away he too went slower than his Q-time. Could Steve Miles break this run? Super Mole didn't disappoint and carved a superb three seconds off his Q-time to temporarily move into the lead. John Chacksfield had been fearless in his practice and class runs with the result that he qualified well up. He then proceeded to rocket off the line on his first run and the little Red machine flew round the sweeping curves to just pip Miles for the lead.Steve Broughton then started to come to the line but it all stopped suddenly when the drive chain snapped. The luckless Broughton was pushed back and Stewart Robb moved forward. The reigning Scottish Hillclimb Champion was in a grimly determined mood. He still had to break his duck in the British Sprint Championship - would it happen today? The grunt of the Connaught tuned Cosworth DFR created masses of steam as he accelerated away. The black and silver Pilbeam arrowed down to Clervaux and was soon steaming down the back straight to Tower. Round Sunny and to the finish as all eyes moved to the clock and he led! A two and a half second improvement on his Q-time meant the Scot had set the Best Time of the Day so far! Tony Wiltshire, who had been sporting a natty line in footwear, was next and he took nearly two seconds off his Q-time but was only second to the Scot.Terry Holmes was next up in the Team Tegra Reynard. He moved effortlessly off the line and seemed to have some good speed out on the back straights however when the clocks stopped the Chichester Chippy was back in third. Andrew Platt, who had been the pre-event favourite, was next. Easing the Dallara off the line he was smooth and fast through the early corners but somewhere on the back of the circuit he lost time as he dropped back to fourth. Final runner in the Top Twelve was Roy Dawson and the Scot was in no mood to settle for second. He blasted off the line and was so quick through the corners that he looked bound to take the lead. This he did with the first sub 76 second run of the day.
So it was back to the start again for Graham Porrett who was in eighth place, exactly where he had qualified. The start was far better and he was a lot quicker through the first couple of corners as he hammered through the Complex and crossed the line he had carved over two seconds off his first run time and now lay EIGHTH! Simon Ashby was equally impressive and carved over two seconds off his time but he too failed to move out of his Ninth place. John Sampson then squeegeed more water off the line as he launched the Xtreme towards Clervaux. It was an awesome sight to see as he blasted round the track. When the clocks stopped he was another to slash over two seconds off his time but also he failed to move out of Tenth spot. Martin Dowling again brought the reluctant Reynard-Judd to the line. This time he gave it plenty as he created a steam cloud on the line. The Judd bellowed off to Clervaux. Martin seemed somewhat over-cautious through the corners but once into its stride the Reynard was impressive. Over two seconds were slashed off his time but Martin was anchored in Eleventh. Steve Miles then slithered round and although quicker was only just so and had possibly left the door open to a challenge for Sixth. John Chacksfield had been five hundredths behind Miles, this had opened up to nearly half a second, could he close down Super Mole? The OMS once again set off like a scalded cat! The little car flew through the corners and as he crossed the line the improvement was there but it was not enough so he had to be content with an excellent Seventh.Steve Broughton and his team had been slaving away try to fix the snapped chain and despite all their efforts they ran out of time! So the championship sponsor registered a DNS. So once again Stewart Robb was up to the line. He was in a fine second and knew he could take the lead and that elusive first win. The start was tremendous and the Pilbeam soon into its stride. All round the track the DFR bellowed out defiance. As he entered the Complex he was well on the way to the lead and when he crossed the line he was! However his lead over Roy Dawson was less than a tenth. Then we had Tony Wiltshire to the line. The orange Ralt was visibly quicker second time round and the Devonian was flying. As he came into the Complex it was touch and go, however he took nearly half a second out of Robb's time to move into the lead. Terry Holmes was next and on the track where he had already taken two Top Twelve Run-off victories could he make it a third? As the Reynard snaked round the track it looked possible until he entered the Complex and he was too late on the brakes. The back end stepped out and Terry spun round; he clobbered the cones and crossed the line backwards! Despite this his time was quicker but it meant he was still fourth. Meanwhile Andrew Platt had already set-off so he was Red Flagged. He cruised round and slipped past Roy Dawson to take his place on the line once again. The green light came on and Andrew floored it. The Dallara went to Clervaux like an Exocet! It flew through Hawthorns and the Chicane and was en route to Tower in an instant. As he slotted through Barcroft his visor was suddenly covered in drizzle. He kept his foot planted and hung on round Sunny. Into the Complex and the drizzle was worsening but Andrew kept his foot in. As he crossed the line there was a cheer from the crowd as the clocks showed the first sub-75 second run of the day. Platt led and there was just Roy Dawson to go.Roy was off the line and away in an instant. The Firehawk arrowed down to Clervaux and through Hawthorns as he turned uphill towards the Chicane his visor was suddenly covered in drizzle the brave Scot kept his foot hard in and almost made it! Suddenly the car snapped sideways. It slithered sideways and then once on the grass Dawson was a passenger. After what seemed an age the car hit the barriers hard and spun to a halt. As Roy got out of the car and hopped away Andrew Platt was celebrating. The Scot felt robbed but he was just caught out by the heavy drizzle that had fallen. If only Terry Holmes hadn't spun! However that is another to file in the what-if pile.
Top Twelve Run Off Results:
1 Andrew Platt (2.0 Dallara-Opel F397) 74.47;
2 Tony Wiltshire (2.0 Ralt-Peugeot RT36) 75.07;
3 Stewart Robb (3.5 Pilbeam-DFR MP58) 75.62;
4 Roy Dawson (1.3 DJ Firehawk-Suzuki) 75.71;
5 Terry Holmes (2.0 Reynard-Cosworth SF84) 76.75;
6 Steve Miles (2.0 Van Diemen-Ford RF96) 80.29;
7 John Chacksfield (1.1 OMS-Kawasaki 2000M) 80.66;
8 Graham Porrett (2.0 Reynard-Cosworth SF84) 80.99;
9 Simon Ashby (2.0 Reynard-Millington 883) 80.99;
10 John Sampson (5.0 Quantum Xtreme) 82.18;
11 Martin Dowling (3.5 Reynard-Judd 88D) 83.77;
Steve Broughton (1.3 OMS-Suzuki CF04) DNS.