The event got underway somewhat falteringly as there were glitches getting cars lined up and timed. Eventually things got going well and despite several cars hitting ‘early season’ problems most people managed to get through practice. Notable drop-outs were Peter Howgate & Brian Woffenden with a sticking clutch, Mark Smith with gearbox & electrical problems and Chris Wise whose superb Metro 6R4 coasted into retirement. The other big talking point was the timing which went on the blink after the Lunch break with the clocks running over 50% fast! The event carried on and the times being given were relatively accurate.
The class runs started with the Sports Libres and Simon Bainbridge stamped his authority on proceedings with an emphatic victory. Existing class record holder Bernard Armitage brought the big-winged Escort home second well clear of Allan McDonald’s 2 litre Mini & Paul Bond’s pretty Crossle. Angus Buchan was a solitary runner in the small capacity sports libre class before the single seaters took to the track. In the over two litre class Roy Dawson just held off the Robbs, Junior faster than Dad again, whilst Terry Holmes took fourth. The Holmes/Porrett Lola then suffered gearbox problems and the pairing who both qualified for the run-off would end up sidelined. Heather Calder was looking likely to qualify for the run-off, as was her father Colin until the latter couldn’t get any gears and the pair had to retire. The 17 year old was taking seconds off her time on each run and I feel sure will make one of the runs offs before her 18th birthday in May.
The two litre class was decimated and saw just Steve Miles set a time. Super Mole, who now has a very neat covered trailer for hibernating in, was in fine form and would be on the pace through-out. In the 1600 class Nick Algar was still running the 1600 Hayabusa as the development work on the supercharged unit was delayed over the winter; never-the-less the local man had the legs on the rest and cruised in for the class win. Scott Pillinger took second ahead of his father Dave whilst Drew Dawson was fourth ahead of veteran campaigner George Harris who was giving the old Hydrastumper a run out. In the Formula Ford class Andrew Henson put his 1993 Swift into the lead and stayed there. Tony Jarvis & Martin Webb were second and third in their 1984 Van Diemen. The 1100 class comprised one car and two drivers; Andrew Dobson duly ran out the victor over Jeanette Hunton in their shared OMS.
Next to the line were the Porsche Speed contenders. The four class winners, Colin Belton, Ben Evans, David Strange & Graham Rose, were all well known and only Ben Evans had a struggle on his hands as he relegated Jeff Archer to second. In the first of the Mod Prod classes Colin Birkbeck just held off James Cummings in the Kit Car division. Next John Graham’s delightful looking Lotus 2 Eleven took a solo win before Gary Thomas, sharing with Sarah Bosworth, took the middle class. Finally Duncan Heseltine cruised home ahead of co-driver Mark Whitehouse in the up to 1400 division.
Then it was the turn of the Westfield Speed contenders. Jason Lamb took class WA with plenty to spare; Ian Morrison took a solo win in WB; Mark Leybourne just held off John Loudon in WC; Andrew Rushworth had an easy win in WE; Richard Kerr was another easy winner in WF; Terry Everall beat Derek Hodder & Richard Carroll in WH and finally David Hussey had a solo run to victory in WJ. There were just 9 Morgans in the next class and Simon Baines rumbled his +8 to victory well clear of the rest. The TVRs mustered 13 starters and Matthew Oakley’s purple & grey Griffith was light years ahead of the rest despite a momentary twitch in practice; top of the Vixens was Stewart Lobley who had only just got his pristine yellow example ready after off-season traumas. In the Road Modified classes Andrew Steel was another solo victor in his Hayabusa powered Westie; Simon Green took the Over 1700 Kit Car class in his Duratec powered version and Henry Moorhouse completed the Westfield clean sweep with a win in the Up to 1770 class. In the saloons Chris Fishwick was top dog in his Scooby; James Kerr, fresh from Sunday Skiing in Yorkshire, just took the two litre class from Dave Marshall whilst in the 1400 division Martin Addison kept Craig Lawton in second throughout.
TOP TWELVE Run-Off
The first car to the line to start the 2008 championship season was debutante Derek Hodder – a very good achievement to qualify on your debut. The Westie driver put in a banker first run before setting his PB for the day on his second. This would leave him in tenth and start his season off with 3 well-earned points. Dave Pillinger was next in the Royale and he straight away lowered his Q-time; he would also improve markedly on his second run but would fall away to 8th place. Steve Miles was next and Inspector Gadget was immediately quicker but only just. His second run was another marked improvement and would see him move up to a very creditable 5th place. Next should have been Graham Porrett but the Lola had been retired so it was Phil Lynch who moved forward. Again he improved on his first run and like the others his second run was again faster. All this meant the Ralt driver finished in a career-best 6th place netting 7 championship points. Stewart Robb, who had been running second of the two Robbs, was next and without the customary warming up he only just improved on his Q-time. This left him in third after the first runs but a second run charge, all the more remarkable after bogging the start, catapulted the former Scottish Sprint Champion into the lead. Hot on Stewart’s heels was the Audi. Simon Bainbridge was in fine form and had already blown away the Sports libre Class Record. His first run was a banker but was still inside the old class record! On his second run Simon gave the TT its head and clipped even more time off the Championship Record as he moved ahead of Dave Pillinger and into seventh. Scott Pillinger was next to the line and the Bristolian looked capable of a few upsets. His first run was marginally faster than his Q-time & he fell behind his father. On the second run he suffered a jammed throttle when a piece of fibreglass broke off the airbox and jammed the slides. He had to switch off and coast to retirement and ninth place.
Nick Algar clipped a useful couple of seconds off his time on run to sit comfortably in 4th. His first attempt at a second run ended when he had to slow for Scott Pillinger so on the re-run he & the car were well warmed up! Nick’s improvement was dramatic but it still left him fourth. Terry Holmes should have been next but had to sit it out. So Stewart Robb Junior was the penultimate runner. His first run had seen the youngster not only take the lead but also keep the lead after Dawson’s first effort. When he readied himself for his second shot he was in second place as his father had taken over in the lead. The 23 year old was in determined mood and he blasted off the line, swept through Croft’s sweeping curves and actually managed to slow down enough to get round the hairpin after the finish! The net result was we had a new leader and by some margin! The final runner was Roy Dawson and despite going quicker than before on his first run he found himself in third as he composed himself for the final run of the day. The orange Gould leapt away and was on the pace as the car negotiated the initial stages of the lap. Round the sweeping Barcroft & Sunny corners he just had the edge and when the clocks stopped Roy had slipped through to win by the narrowest of margins.
As the crews rushed to pack up & get on the road home there was time for reflection. Despite the problems, despite the weather & despite the breakages it had been a superb championship opener; roll on Castle Combe.
Results
1 Roy Dawson (3.5 Gould-NME GR55) 100.20secs; 2 Stewart Robb Junior (4.0 Pilbeam-Judd MP88) 101.66secs; 3 Stewart Robb (4.0 Pilbeam-Judd MP88) 103.32secs, 4 Nick Algar (1.6 DJ Firehawk-Suzuki) 105.90secs, 5 Steve Miles (2.0 Van Diemen-Zetec RF96MM05) 114.72secs, 6 Phil Lynch (3.2 Ralt-Judd RT37) 116.10secs, 7 Simon Bainbridge (4.2t Audi TTV8 4-w-d) 116.23secs, 8 Dave Pillinger (1.4 Royale-Suzuki RP27) 116.70secs, 9 Scott Pillinger (1.4 Royale-Suzuki RP27) 118.79secs, 10 Derek Hodder (2.0 Westfield-Vauxhall SEiW) 123.58secs, No other starters.
Class Winners: Dawson 104.79secs, Miles 122.40secs; Algar 113.40secs; Andrew Henson (1.6 Swift-Ford SC93) 136.06secs, Andrew Dobson (1.1 OMS-Kawasaki 2000M) 133.30secs, Bainbridge 119.77secs, Angus Buchan (1.1 Radical Clubsports) 133.94secs, Colin Belton (4.0 Porsche 993RSR) 130.34secs, Ben Evans (3.2 Porsche 911) 137.98secs, David Strange (3.0 Porsche 911S) 149.30secs, Graham Rose (2.5 Porsche 924S) 148.80secs, Colin Birkbeck (1.8 Caterham 7) 129.20secs, John Graham (1.8s Lotus 2 Eleven) 151.63secs, Gary Thomas (1.8 Lotus Elise) 136.99secs, Duncan Heseltine (1.4 Austin Mini) 164.55secs, Jason Lamb (1.8 Westfield SEiW) 144.85secs, Ian Morrison (2.0 Westfield SE) 158.55secs, Mark Leybourne (1.6 Westfield SEiW)140.37secs, Andrew Rushworth (1.1 Westfield Megabird) 137.20secs, Richard Kerr (2.0 Westfield ‘Jocksport’) 136.45secs, Terry Everall (2.0 Westfield Duratec) 123.44secs, David Hussey (1.6 RAW Striker) 143.25, Simon Baines (3.9 Morgan +8) 144.46secs, Matthew Oakley (5.2 TVR Griffith) 138.15secs, Andrew Steel (1.3 Westfield Megabusa) 143.70secs, Simon Green (2.2 Westfield Duratec) 136.28secs, Henry Moorhouse (1.6 Westfield SE) 141.52secs, Chris Fishwick (2.0t Subaru Impreza) 140.60secs, James Kerr (1.9 Peugeot GTi) 143.55secs, Martin Addison (1.4 Peugeot 106 Rallye) 144.30secs.