At last the sun shone, the wind wasn't gale force and the temperature was bearable. On track and Tony Eyles had the Opel V6 repaired with a new crank and dominated the day's proceedings with a class and run-off double. The only sour notes came firstly in practice when Richard Williams who was back in the RT4 shunted heavily at Hatchets and then in the run-off when Tony Eyles took his second run but more of that later.
The event got underway with the Mod Prods and in the 1400 division Peter Hills, one of the Tango Troop, just managed to hold off a challenge from Tara Collinson. Nick and Peter Evans brought the family Mini into third and fourth as Giles Beck's very yellow X1/9 trundled home in fifth. The 2000 division was a one horse race as Paul Perkin slaughtered the opposition. Jonathan Milne was second in the CRX whilst co-driver Mark Roberts came over all rotational on his first run. In the Up to 1800 Modified Kit Car class regular Sprint Championship contender Nick Algar in the supercharged Hayabusa powered Westie finished over a second clear. Simon Rogers (Caterham) was second as James Howe and Martin Palmer came home third and fourth in this 12 car/13 driver class. The over 1800 category had three V8 drivers pitted against four 2 litre Vauxhall drivers. Top dog was John Sampson who pulled out a lead of three tenths over Mark Smith. Neil Clark and John Tomlinson rumbled home in third and fourth as Derek Hodder was the best of the rest.
In the single Sports Libre class Dick Hulbert took an easy win over Matthew Powell (Cox GTM) and Carole Torkington. Ross Browne took the 1100 Racing Car category from Trevor Hartland. The battling Formula Fords saw the return of Keith Sollis, who was only third after the first runs. However he fought back but could only manage second as Iain Houston scored a rare and well deserved victory over his nemesis; Martin Pickles meanwhile battled hard and finished over a second adrift. There were but two 1600 Racing Cars present and Roy Dawson continued the on track development of the new Firehawk taking a comfortable win over Jim Yardley in the Beagle.
With 21 entries the two litre Racing Car class is becoming the most populous. Up front Andrew Platt who now had the rear suspension on the Dallara properly screwed together slipped into top spot on his second run as Dave Cutcliffe slipped to second. Tony Wiltshire kept a watching brief in third as Matt Oliver, recently registered for the Sprint Championship, charged through to fourth. Terry Holmes brought the Team Tegra Reynard home in fifth a second clear of the battling foursome of Kevin Lealan, David Sims, Guy Gibson and Simon Ashby. In the over two litre class the two Eyles boys battled it out. Rodney got to within two tenths on his first effort but fell away as Tony cruised home with the only sub 47 second run so far.
Into the Classic Cars and Lyn Padfield took an easy win in the Seven well clear of Mark Jago in the Dutton Melos. Mike Griffiths once again dominated the Stage Rally Car class in his Escort finishing 14 seconds ahead of James Chappelle in the 205. With Dave West sidelined with gearbox troubles Clare Sullivan cruised home to a comfortable class win over Tony Bailey's Tigra. Dyrr Ardash again proved the pick of the two litre Road Going class in his 106 as he was clearly fastest on both runs. Second went to Gareth Griffiths in the ex-Bobby Fryers Clio and David Marshall was third in his reshelled 205. The over two litre class saw a three way fight which went to the Imprezas. Pete Goodman just kept his nose ahead of Andrew Meek whilst Simon Bridge in the glorious TVR Griffith 400 was third having equalled Meek's time he just lost out on countback. This left the Road Going Kit Cars and in the Up to 1700 class Guy & David Hussey took a 1-2 in their Striker with Toyota power. In the Over 1700 class Ash Mason once again coolly took the win with seconds to spare.
TOP TWELVE RUN-OFF
Guy Gibson led off and clipped nearly a second off his qualifying time as he gets more seat time in the Dallara. Simon Ashby then chipped away at his Q time to be followed by Dave Sims who also chopped a couple of tenths off his best to date. Kevin Lealan then followed suit as he dipped below 50 seconds for the first time. Terry Holmes, the Flying Chippy, continued the trend which was broken when Matt Oliver, who was in his first run-off, posted a marginally slower time. Tony Wiltshire then put in a stonking run to go sub 48 to be immediately eclipsed by Dave Cutcliffe. Roy Dawson was fractionally slower on his first run than in qualifying whilst Andy Platt snapped a driveshaft as he set off. Team Megashed immediately set about fitting a replacement in a race against the clock. Rodney Eyles then set a sub 48 but ended up after the first runs in a disappointing fourth as Tony Eyles posted a 46.02 and got ever so close to a new record.
So as we were about to start the second runs it should have been Guy Gibson. Team Megashed still had the Dallara in bits and the organisers were a bit lax in applying the two minute rule. After they gave the team their warning the official two minutes ticked by and as the time ran out so did Guy Gibson's involvement in the run-off. Simon Ashby then came to the line. Knowing he had to carve over half a second off his time he gave it plenty off the line, however at Hatchets he spun out and cruised round to the finish. Dave Sims then charged off and he also nearly lost it at Hatchets but hung on to stop the clocks in an identical time to Ashby's first run. This would prove vital as with a failed second run Simon dropped behind Dave Sims. Kevin Lealan then came to the line and as he dropped the clutch the car shuddered forward and ground to a halt with a broken driveshaft! The car was pushed back into te holding area and Terry Holmes called forward. The Chichester driver chopped a couple of tenths off his first run time to consolidate his position. Matt Oliver again failed to improve and thus tumbled down the order to ninth spot. Tony Wiltshire then came forward and despite a good start tried a bit too hard at Hatchets and put in a slower time. Dave Cutcliffe was next and was into his run in the twinkling of an eye. The black Van Diemen simply flew through Dibeni, round the Paddock Turn and for the first time ever he managed the Esses flat in third. However at Brooklands he had a huge tank slapper and lost so much time that he was nearly half a second slower. DC reckoned he would have been in the low 46s but that is for another day. Roy Dawson then set off in grimly determined mood and carved over half a second off to slot into fifth. Team Megashed just completed the replacement of the driveshaft in time for Andy Platt to take his run. An ultra cautious start meant he wasn't challenging for the podium but just wanted good points. He posted 47.95 and would finish sixth. Rodney Eyes then set himself for a challenge to Tony's dominance. His start was perfect and he looked well en route. The time was in the 46 second bracket but he was just over eight tenths adrift. Tony Eyles had the win in the bag but with the extra point fixed in his mind he took his second run. Neatly off the line the Force was soon into its stride. Through Hatchets, Spitfires and Debeni he was up on the clock but it all went pear shaped at Esses and the Force spun crashing over the kerb and breaking a front suspension link pin. Despite taking the 12 points Tony Eyles was in danger of not making the following days run-off.
RESULTS:
1 Tony Eyles (2.5 Force-Opel/Pride PC024) 46.02 sec; 2 Rodney Eyles (3.5 Lola-Judd T90/50) 46.83 sec; 3 Dave Cutcliffe (2.0 Van Diemen-Ford BDG DC93M) 47.50 sec; 4 Tony Wiltshire (2.0 Ralt-Peugeot/Longman RT34) 47.83 sec; 5 Roy Dawson (1.5 DJ Firehawk-Suzuki CT003) 47.86 sec; 6 Andrew Platt (2.0 Dallara-Vauxhall/Jones F397) 47.95 sec; 7 Terry Holmes (2.0 Reynard-Ford/Tegra SF84) 48.86 sec; 8 Guy Gibson (2.0 Dallara-Vauxhall/Jones F397) 49.27 sec; 9 Matt Oliver (2.0 Ralt-Vauxhall/SBD RT33) 49.51 sec; 10 Kevin Lealan (2.0 Formula Vauxhall Lotus) 49.67 sec; 11 David Sims (2.0 Ralt-Duratec/SRD RT33/34) 50.05 sec; 12 Simon Ashby (2.0 Reynard-Millington 883) 50.05 sec.
Class Winners: Peter Hills (1.4 Austin Mini) 61.90 sec; Paul Perkin (1.9 Peugeot 205 GTi) 58.47 sec; Nick Algar (1.3s Westfield Supabusa) 54.76 sec; John Sampson (5.0 Quantum Xtreme) 53.31 sec; Dick Hulbert (1.7 Westfield-Vauxhall/SBD) 55.58 sec; Ross Browne (1.1 Force-Suzuki PC10) 52.75 sec; Iain Houston (1.6 Laser-Ford HD87) 58.05 sec; Dawson 48.31 sec; Platt 48.06 sec; Tony Eyles 46.22 sec; Lyn Padfield (1.6 Lotus 7) 64.32 sec; Mike Griffiths (2.0 Ford Escort) 61.78 sec; Clare Sullivan (1.4 Austin Mini) 67.58 sec; Dyrr Ardash (1.6 Peugeot 106 GTi) 62.20 sec; Pete Goodman (2.0t Subaru Impreza WRC) 60.97 sec; Guy Hussey (1.7 Raw Striker-Toyota) 61.11 sec; Ash Mason (2.0 Westfield-Vauxhall SEiW) 57.43 sec.