There were many delays in a day which started sunny & bright but rapidly clouded over. Midway through practice the rain started and stayed with us for the rest of the day. The net result was even more delays & re-runs over the lap & three quarters and ended with the organisers reducing the timed runs to just one, this to be followed by the run-off. One victim of practice was Simon Bainbridge who again had the front suspension collapse; this sidelined the Middlesboro’ man who was unable to extract the broken bolt.
In the classes the South West classes saw Bruce Graham’s indecently quick Swift take A1, Chris Underwood cruise to victory in A2 with his Elise, Pete Goodman’s Clio proved too quick for the rest of A3, whilst Matt Nichols benefited from a re-run when baulked to snatch a late win in A4 with his Megane. The winner in B2 was Pete Devall with the Ginetta whilst B3 went to James Spear in the Exige. Steve Harris’ Mini took C1 with ease whilst in C2 Chris Ferin protested the fact that he wasn’t given a time. Ferin had a very late re-run in the Fiesta and duly swept to victory. In C4 Ian Hall rumbled to victory in the Darrian and would have easily qualified for the Sprint Championship run-off if only he had been registered.
In class D1 the Cameron/Wilyman Radical was sidelined after a big off at Camp in practice so this left Martin Baker, who had forsaken his trusty Morris Minor for another Radical Clubsport, to take the class win from the Locost of David & Jan Yeo. There was just one runner in D3 after the Audi was sidelined and that was Peter Rigby in the absolutely gorgeous Osella-Abarth PA2. Rigby trundled round for the class win prior to the first of the three single seater classes. In E2 Dan Pickett was due to drive the Potter’s Jedi but after practice he was allowed to switch to his old Mk4 courtesy of new owner Andy Langley. Pickett duly ran out class winner ahead of Jonathan Toulmin, Langley and Andy Potter. In E3 for 1600 racing cars the Formula Fords were up against it! Nick Algar took a comfortable win with co-driver for the day Roy Dawson fourth. Scott & David Pillinger split the Firehawk pairing with Scottie just nicking second. Of the Formula Fords Martin Pickles was top dog & even qualified for the run-off!
In the Over 1600 class (E4) Steve Miles took the win with a confident run in the streaming wet conditions. Pre-event favourite Terry Holmes failed to get a time on his first run & when he spun out on his re-run the Chichester Chippy was reduced to the role of spectator. Co-driver Graham Porrett only just made a better fist of things. He was Red Flagged on his first attempt then had the longest spin of the day on his second; however he recovered and just scraped into the run-off. Second place went to Des Stephenson who purchased the Kevin Lealan Formula Vauxhall Lotus over the winter.
TOP TWELVE Run-Off
With the curfew rapidly approaching and the leaden skies still reducing the light and flooding the track the run-off got underway. First away was Graham Porrett but another spin saw him throttle back and stutter round to record a none representative 209.84. Brian Woffenden was next but the Yorkshireman suffered a setback when the Ralt cut-out and he coasted to a halt within site of the finishing line. The car was recovered and Brian & Peter set about getting the Ralt ready to go again. Martin Pickles meanwhile spun out at Quarry on his first lap, he had to be helped off the soaking wet grass but drove back unaided to the pit lane. Dave Pillinger then set the first representative time (175.10) and set the standard. It should have then been Roy Dawson but the Scot stood down so it was Jonathan Toulmin next up. The Marengo chauffeur, who admits to not liking the wet, put in a 186.67 and promptly drove back into the paddock. Pete Howgate had to forgo his first run as the Ralt was still out of commission so Dan Pickett was next to the line. Feeling at home in his old Jedi he clipped nine seconds off his Q-time to slip through into the lead. Scott Pillinger then moved into second ahead of his father before Nick Algar came to the line. The Firehawk looked very stable in the conditions and Nick clipped over three seconds off his Q-time to take top spot. Des Stephenson then maintained his impressive debut with the first sub 170 second run to leapfrog ahead of Algar. Steve Miles meanwhile was sat contemplating his task. As fastest qualifier he was running last but the times were not being relayed to the drivers so he knew he had to get a wriggle on! He slithered off the line and was off up Avon Rise and into Quarry. From the Control Tower you could follow the progress of the ball of spray that was the Van Diemen as he headed back to Camp Corner he looked to be ahead of Nick Algar’s time. Off on his second tour and the softly-softly approach was working for when he crossed the finishing line at Westway he was over 10 seconds clear of his nearest rival.
Unfortunately at this point with the curfew looming ever nearer the running order was abandoned and cars car to the line as they were ready. Graham Porrett just took it easy and moved up one place to 8th. Brian Woffenden managed to complete his run to grab tenth whilst Martin Pickles made no mistake this time and took 11th. Dave Pillinger had to have a re-run as he was baulked but was just two hundredths slower holding onto 6th. Pete Howgate finally got a run and set his best time of the day to slip into 9th. Dan Pickett clipped a couple of seconds off to reinforce his fourth spot whilst Scott Pillinger followed his father’s example of being fractionally slower but still held onto 5th. Nick Algar put the cat amongst the pigeons when he recorded the fastest time to date and took over the lead. Des Stephenson was a couple of seconds slower and remained third – never-the-less a fine performance on his Championship debut. This just left Steve Miles; could he pull out the stops and record his maiden Championship win? Off the line he got better traction and was soon sweeping through Quarry. Out the back on the first lap he over-braked at one of the chicanes and slowed dramatically, however he just dropped another gear and put his foot down. As he approached Camp he was on terms with Algar and he was much quicker through the corner and on his was to the second lap. A near perfect second run through the chicanes and all eyes were on Westway as the yellow Van Diemen streamed towards the finish. Suddenly the printer chattered away and as the time was read out a cheer went up as Inspector Gadget took the win.
Back in the paddock the bedraggled competitors were already packing up but the smile on Steve’s face lit up the place – I bet he is still smiling when we all get together again at Mallory Park on the 13th April.
Results
1 Steve Miles (2.0 Van Diemen-Zetec RF96MM05) 158.31secs; 2 Nick Algar (1.6 DJ Firehawk-Suzuki) 160.22secs; 3 Des Stephenson (2.0 Formula Vauxhall Lotus) 169.25secs; 4 Dan Pickett (1.0 Jedi-Yamaha Mk4) 171.36secs; 5 Scott Pillinger (1.4 Royale-Suzuki RP27) 174.83secs; 6 Dave Pillinger (1.4 Royale-Suzuki RP27) 175.10secs; 7 Graham Porrett (3.5 Lola-Judd/Connaught ERH) 183.61secs; 8 Jonathan Toulmin (1.1 Marengo-Suzuki 2) 186.67secs; 9 Peter Howgate (1.8 Ralt-Rover K RT30) 188.33secs; 10 Brian Woffenden (1.8 Ralt-Rover K RT30) 193.74secs; 11 Martin Pickles (1.6 Van Diemen-Ford RF87) 198.48secs; Roy Dawson (1.6 DJ Firehawk-Suzuki) Did Not Start.
Class Winners: Bruce Graham (1.3 Suzuki Swift) 208.26secs; Chris Underwood (1.8 Lotus Elise) 159.96secs; Pete Goodman (2.0 Renault Clio) 188.97secs; Matt Nichols (2.0 Renault Megane R26) 181.58secs; Pete Devall (1.8 Ginetta G27R) 202.46secs; James Spear (1.8 Lotus Exige) 196.25secs; Steve Harris (1.4 Rover Mini) 189.48secs; Chris Ferin (1.6 Ford Fiesta) 169.63secs; Ian Hall (5.2 Darrian T98-GTR) 171.18secs; Martin Baker (1.1 Radical Clubsport) 181.37secs; Peter Rigby (2.0 Osella-Abarth PA2) 232.51secs; Pickett 182.03secs; Algar 174.55secs; Miles 171.49secs.