As the motley crew gathered in the sight of Knock Hill for Round Three of the SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship the low cloud and fine drizzle set the pattern for the day. News was already filtering through of non-starters as Roy and Dave Sims were still in Devon due to running out of driveshafts! There was no sign of Terry Holmes and Graham Porrett although speculation was rife about the gridlocked M25. As the conditions worsened Guy Gibson took the unselfish decision to stand down as he didn't want to adversely affect Andrew Platt's championship chances on the obviously greasy track. All this resulted in just 25 cars taking to the track for practice and then the numbers dwindled to just 22 as Richard Williams had the oil pressure in the Judd fall off the scale and the Dowling/Payne Reynard suffered from a sticking throttle that the pair couldn't repair.
The British Sprint runners were amalgamated into a single class which started proceedings. Tony Eyles set the standard on his first run in the sparking and flame-belching Force. He then consolidated his leading position second time round and ended up with a two second cushion back to Scotland's best hope Stewart Robb. The reigning Scottish Hillclimb Champion was initially fourth but slipped through to second with a more tidy run. Tony Wiltshire had to make do with his first run as a touch of the Flymo's second time round left him a further two and a half seconds off the pace. The returning ex-champion Rodney Eyles was fourth in the F3000 car as opposed to the hillclimb Lola and he was playing himself back in nicely. Roy Dawson staggered round on his first run putting in a solitary lap but picked up the pace on his second run to take fifth. There were still problems cropping up; Steve Miles was dragging his carbonfibre undertray round and had the car stripped down between runs in a failed attempt to rectify the problem. Andrew Platt was off the pace and wasn't helped by a second run spin at the hairpin. John Sampson had the new McBeath aero package on the Quantum but still went agricultural on his first run. The Sheffield Mafia were suffering from a misfire that turned out to be a flooded ECU box!
Meanwhile in the other classes there were battles aplenty. Gary Kyle took the Road going saloons and sports cars class in his VX220 whilst in the two Classic classes Ronnie Ireland in his faithful Midget and Clive Kennedy in his pristine MG C took the honours. Just six Moggies made the trip and it was the Plus 8s to the fore. Steve MacDonald held off a spirited challenge from Simon Baines as theses two put ten seconds between them and the Plus 4s. In a combined Rally and Modified class it was Alistair Crozier in his first season of sprinting who took the win with his Elise whilst Keiron Baillie was second in the ex-Alan Minshaw BTCC VW Golf. In the Kit Car class John MacKenzie put his Westie into an unassailable lead with Anthony Brown recovering to second from a first run spin. In the Bike engined Kit Car class Chris Boyd, now in his third season with the Megabusa, snatched victory as Malcolm MacKay in the Locost dropped back. The Westfield Speed troop were also battling the elements and it was Mark Smith who is having a year out of the British Sprint Championship who took the win in his first event of 2005. Wallace Menzies was second ahead of Del-boy Hodder and Julie Black. The local Formula Ford class was poorly supported and it was Frazer Graham who was easily quickest. The up to 1600 Racing Car class saw Darren Law in the ex-Vestey OMS lead initially before James Brims took the win in his Jedi. The final class of over 1600 Racing Cars saw David Robertson in the RT30 easily win from Alistair Fraser in the Vision.
Top Twelve Run Off
For once we had no dual runners to manage and with 12 cars it was tight in the pit lane. Phil Lynch was first up and with nothing to lose he had switched to slicks. He was tenth at the end of the first runs but with two drivers not posting times maybe the decision was premature. Andrew Platt was second to the line in an unaccustomed lowly qualifying slot. However he picked up the pace and was in seventh at the end of the first runs. Simon Ashby then came to the line and he too had switched to slicks; his time was improved and he would slot into sixth. Orkadian Garry Dickson brought the first of the Westfields to the line and he rocketed round in typical style to be in eighth. The second Westie was next and it was Nick Algar in the supercharged Hayabusa engined beastie. It was Nick's first ever run-off and with loads of advice (wanted and un-wanted) he put in a steady first run to ensure at least one point, however he was in ninth. Sixth to the line was Inspector Gadget himself, Steve Miles. The Mole Racing Van Diemen went charging off but went rotational at the tricky John Weir Chicane. The mud splattered car then cut out exiting the hairpin! After Steve had been towed in we got underway again with Steve Broughton. Our series sponsor had looked good in the class runs but failed to get a time now when it mattered most. The first Scot in the run-off was Roy the Boy Dawson and with his new blue Firehawk looking very smart he fired off into the Seat Curves (that's Duffus Dip to you and me!). Unfortunately Roy got carried away and executed a neat 360 at the Real Radio Hairpin (these new names are a bit of a mouthful!). However his time initially took him into the lead (!!!!!!) which eventually translated into fifth. Rodney Eyles then rolled forward and blasted away in quick order. He had been slowly playing himself in after his short retirement but now it was serious and he posted a time that would see him third after the first runs. Tony Wiltshire then came forward and despite improving his time he would drop to fourth by the conclusion of the first runs. Stuart Robb then set himself up with a superb run that was the BTD. That is until Tony Eyles brought the V6 Opel engined Force to the line. The neat F2 sized car was quickly into its stride however on its first lap as the reigning champion passed the pit lane the front wing collapsed. He continued at unabated speed and set a stunning 108.03 to take the lead. However the damage sustained was not repairable; he had to stand down from his second run and just hope he had done enough.
Back to the start and Phil Lynch chopped a healthy 4 seconds off his time and indulged in a lurid slide en route to a final 11th place on a rapidly drying track. Andrew Platt made big inroads on his time as he carved six seconds off his first run time, however it would only be good enough for a 'gutted' 8th place in the final reckoning. Simon Ashby trimmed just over a second off his time and dropped to 10th. Garry Dickson took over four seconds off his first run time as the track continued to dry out - this would leave him in 9th. Nick Algar looked set to make big inroads into his time until on his second lap the clutch exploded half way to the Hairpin! He coasted round just crossing the line before coming to a halt halfway into the pit lane. Despite this he was only two seconds slower! Steve Miles and Steve Broughton had been fired out onto track whilst Nick was still crawling round and they both got reruns. Supermole set his personal BTD and moved into a final 7th place. Steve Broughton's neat and precise style saw him slip into 6th despite the gearbox 'starting to crumble'. Roy Dawson then set the place alight with a stunning drive that catapulted him up to Tony Eyles as he finished just one hundredth adrift. He would eventually finish 5th. Rodney Eyles was now looking at a possible victory on his return. A neat start and thunderous pace past the Pit Wall was enough for him to ease into the lead. Tony Wiltshire then set the best time of the day for a two litre as he to moved ahead of Tony Eyles and settled into second. So with Tony Eyles out this just left Stuart Robb. The Scot was grimly determined and his start was near perfect. Down through Duffus he was on the pace and as he passed the pits on his flying lap he was in touch. All eyes were focussed on the hairpin and as the Pilbeam rounded the corner and flashed across the line everyone held their breath. 103.52 was the Best Time of the Day and also meant Stewart Robb had at last won a British Sprint Championship round - it was made all the sweeter by it being on 'home turf'. Down the order and it was Rodney Eyles second; Tony Wiltshire third and a glum Tony Eyles fourth.
A delighted Stewart Robb will be smiling for days possibly weeks! Meanwhile as the championship contenders packed up all thoughts started to turn to the Pembrey double header next week-end. The championship is now neatly poised with the Two Litres at the head but the Eyles Brothers have at last got a score each registered - it will be an interesting two days in South Wales!
Results:
1 Stuart Robb (3.5 Pilbeam-DFR/Connaught MP58) 103.52 sec; 2 Rodney Eyles (3.5 Lola-Judd/Connaught T90/50) 104.87 sec; 3 Tony Wiltshire (2.0 Ralt-Peugeot/Longman RT34) 106.57 sec; 4 Tony Eyles (2.5 Force-Opel/Pride PC024) 108.03 sec; 5 Roy Dawson (1.5 DJ Firehawk-Suzuki/SBD CT003) 108.04 sec; 6 Steve Broughton (1.3 OMS-Suzuki/SBD CF04) 115.02 sec; 7 Steve Miles (2.0 Van Diemen-Zetec/Dunnell RF96) 116.07 sec; 8 Andrew Platt (2.0 Dallara-Vauxhall/Jones F397) 117.06 sec; 9 Garry Dickson (1.7 Westfield-Vauxhall/SBD SEiW) 119.30 sec; 10 Simon Ashby (2.0 Reynard-Millington 883) 121.05 sec; 11 Phil Lynch (2.0 Ralt-Alfa/Connaught RT30) 122.46 sec; 12 Nick Algar (1.3s Westfield-Suzuki Supabusa) 126.28 sec.
Championship Positions after Rd 3: 1 Wiltshire 33 pts; 2 Platt 31 pts; 3 Robb 24 pts; 4 Broughton 22 pts; 5= Dawson and Terry Holmes 20 pts; 7 Simon Ashby 18 pts; 8 Steve Miles 15 pts; 9 Rodney Eyles 12 pts; 10 Tony Eyles 11 pts; etc.
BTD: Robb 103.52 sec
Class Winners: Tony Eyles 114.66 sec; George Askew (1.3 Mini 1275GT) 156.47 sec; Gary Kyle (2.2 Vauxhall VX220) 145.20 sec; Ronnie Ireland (1.3 MG Midget) 157.79 sec; Clive Kennedy (2.5 MG C) 158.65 sec; Steve McDonald (3.5 Morgan +8) 143.83 sec; Alistair Crozier (1.8 Lotus Elise) 142.05 sec; John MacKenzie (2.0 Westfield SEiW) 141.21 sec; Chris Boyd (1.3 Westfield Megabusa) 131.61 sec; Mark Smith (2.0 Westfield-Vauxhall SEiW) 125.15 sec; Frazer Graham (1.6 Van Diemen- Ford RF87) 141.03 sec; James Brims (1.1 Jedi-Suzuki Mk 1) 128.49 sec; David Robertson (2.0 Ralt- Ford RT30) 137.11 sec.