The Bank Holiday week-end started off with drizzle on Saturday morning, an inauspicious start to proceedings as sprinting returned to Ingliston the former home of motor racing in Scotland. By the end of the day Stewart Robb Snr would have established a massive lead in the British Sprint Championship however it wasnt a walk-over. The sprint start was after the exit of the Arena and the course then proceeded up through The Esses, passed the main entrance and on to Caravan the tricky right hander. There is a short straight then to the right hander onto the back straight which leads to The Hairpin. The course then doubles back to The Lefthander which then leads on towards Clock (a fast left hand corner) and then the finishing line. Practice was all about learning the track although several drivers including Colin Birkbeck, Jonathan Toulmin and Stewart Robb Snr were old hands at Ingliston. The 74 starters got three practice runs prior to the lunch break and then they were into their class runs.
There were a lot of solo runners in classes and with John McGill (Rover 25), Tony Hume (Mitsubishi EVO), Alex Graham (Vauxhall Firenza) and John Lowe (Fisher Fury) all took unopposed wins Lowe did have opposition but Jonathan Neale withdrew his Caterham after practice. The first battle proper was between Kevin Hamilton (VX220) and Stephen Hemingway (911). Hamilton was fastest on both class runs finishing over a second clear of the Porsche driver. There was then another series of solo winners Mike Hunter (Metro), Malcolm Milne (Nova), Mike Thomson (205), Richard Quinn (Striker), Graham Clark (Tiger Avon), Mike Murchie in his trusty Fiesta and Geoffrey Harkness in his rally prepared Corsa.
The Up to 1400 Sports Libre class saw another battle but it was somewhat lopsided. Simon Clemow ran out an easy winner in the Radical whilst Richard Matossian in the OMS SC1 took second ahead of Martin Clemow and Angus Buchan both in Radicals. Simon Bainbridge was another solo runner in the mighty Audi TT now fully restored to health. The Racing Car classes were next and things started to look up. In the Up to 1100 class Gary Thomas was the class act forcing his way into the lead despite a suspect clutch and finished over 7 seconds clear of Alastair Fraser (OMS) and Andrew Grover in his 1100cc powered Quest FF1600. In the 1600 class Tom Potter took the class win in the Turbocharged Jedi however he only took his first class run as the nearside driveshaft was badly twisted. Jonathan Toulmin had a navigational blunder on his first run but moved into second ahead of David Robertsons well driven FF1600 Van Diemen. The misfiring Force of George Coghill Snr retired after practice whilst Andy Potter also stood down to preserve the Jedi for Toms Top 12 challenge. The Over 1600 class saw a fascinating battle. After the first runs Ross Napier led from Wallace Menzies however Stewart Robb Snr put in a stunning second run to take the class by 4 hundredths whilst Junior acted as tyre-warmer placing fourth. Colin Birkbeck was the top 2 litre in fifth finishing ahead of Terry Holmes, Mark Smith and Graham Porrett. Brian Woffenden & Peter Howgate finally got some seat time in their Ralt-Judd but only after they had to replace several bolts in the rear hub assembly!
There then followed a series of National B classes. David Wiggins took a solo win in his 1400 205 Rallye in A1 before John Roddick outgunned Dennis Hope in the MGF to take the 1800 class A2. Donald Ross then had a comfortable win in the Over 1800 class A3 before we moved into the Sports Car classes. In A5 the three ex-Caterham Academy entries were engaged in a close battle which saw Peter Marshall keep the nose in front of co-driver Gavin Marshall with Eoin MacDonald third. John Hammond then had a solo win in his Robin Hood in A6 before A7 was decided in favour of Jamie McDonald in the Elise whose car was too light & agile for Dave Extons Toyota MR2. Classes B1 & B2 saw solo wins for Gordon Dundee (Peugeot 106) and Andrew Massie (Saxo) before we moved into the Modified Sports Cars. In B5 Len Humphries just held off David Humphries in their Shared Dutton before Harry Moody in the Westfield took B6 from the monstrous Murtaya of Chris Jackson who was making his competition debut. We then had a couple more solo wins for Andrew Scott (Escort) in C0 (the new Saloon Libre class) and Neil MacLean (Spaceframe Escort) in C3. In C4a (up to 1100 racing cars) Stuart Brown in the OMS Hornet put in two blistering class runs to take the class with the Jedis of Alan Neill and Les Campbell a whisker apart in second & third. In C4b (1101 to 1600 racing cars) George Coghill Jnr was hamstrung with the misfire in the Force which left the class for Eric Kiltie in his Hayabusa powered OMS to take with ease. The first two Rally Car classes saw solo wins for Adrian Stewart (Mini) and Caroline Lodge (Corsa) and in the final Nat B class for Rally Cars Bruce Edwards, fresh from his win at Ingliston the previous week comfortably beat co-driver John Welsh.
Jonathan Toulmin led off proceedings and after the first runs had moved up to 11th from 12th fastest qualifier. However on his second run he was unexpectedly slower and dropped back to 12th. Phil Lynch maintained his 100% qualifying record (pity he missed the opening rounds!) in the Dallara and on his first run set a PB moving up to 9th. Just like Toulmin though Lynch was slower on his second run and got bumped down to 11th. Graham Porrett just shaved a couple of tenths off his Q-time on his first run so dropped to tenth then on his second he clipped a further nine tenths off to set a PB this just failed to improve his position so he stayed 10th. Gary Thomas was certainly punching above his weight in the 1100 Force and after his first run he had made it up to 7th equal. However the clutch problems meant that he opted out of his second run and he slipped down to 9th. Tom Potter was taking it easy off the line and out of the Hairpin with the twisted driveshaft so when he was up to seventh after the first runs he threw caution to the winds clipping well over a second off on his second effort. Never-the-less he would drop down to 8th place. Mark Smiths first run was looking good until he braked a tad too late for the Hairpin. He carried too much speed into the corner and the backend spun round. Mark then tried a Scandinavian flick to spin it back into line but only succeeded in completing a 360 and was still pointing at the bank on the inside of the corner. He did eventually make it to the finish with an unrepresentative time. So from 12th the only way was up! On his second run Mark looked to be back to his usually self and was blindingly quick to the hairpin where he was cautious. He made a massive improvement on his time and climbed from 12th to 5th would it be enough though?
Colin Birkbeck was revelling in his Dallara and the ex-Paul Webster car was looking very quick. His first run was super smooth and kept him in 6th however by the time he came to the line for his second effort he had been bumped down to 8th. Up through the Esses he was stunningly quick for a 2 litre and out through the sweeps he carried the speed well. No problem at the Hairpin, unlike in practice, and the run to the line saw the clocks stop at 40.35. He had just pipped Mark Smith by 3 hundredths and moved back into a fine 6th place. Stewart Robb Jnr was acting as the tyre warmer and had been noticeably conservative on his qualifying runs to ensure that he qualified behind his father. Now on his first run he again played safe posting a 40.33 and would lie fourth when all of the first runs were completed. At this point he dutifully stood down and opted out of his second run brought about by the cracked exhaust. This action cost him a place and he would finish 5th. Terry Holmes had been taking some unique lines, especially at the Hairpin, yet they were paying off. On his first run he was over half a second quicker than his Q-time and was in 5th then on his second run he put in his best time so far and slipped through to 4th at the expense of Robb Jnr.
The top 3 in the run-off were engaged in a titanic battle for the 12 points. Ross Napier and Wallace Menzies were tied for the lead after the first runs were completed whilst Stewart Robb Snr was in third just one hundredth behind his fellow countrymen but the Judd was sounding rough a cracked exhaust was the diagnosis. Ross was the first to take his second run and he clipped 0.16 off his time to move into the lead. Wallace then put in a brilliant run with the Firestorm sounding just like its name as he hammered through the finish to slip ahead of Ross by the narrowest of possible margins. Could Stewart Robb Snr better 38.44? Off the line the anti-stall kicked in but as he climbed up through the Esses the engine started to sound really rough. Down in the Paddock you could hear the car blitzing its way round and as all eyes turned towards Clock corner the yellow Pilbeam hammered through and over the finishing line. There was a massive cheer when the clocks were checked 37.77 was the new Outright Course Record and it propelled Stewart into the lead. The 12 points were his and his domination of the British Sprint Championship confirmed. At the prize giving in the Pentland Pavilion he was asked what he thought of Ingliston I know all of these corners intimately as I have crashed at everyone!
1 Stewart Robb Snr (4.0 Pilbeam-Judd KV MP88) 37.77secs; 2 Wallace Menzies (2.7 DJ Firestorm-Cosworth) 38.44secs; 3 Ross Napier (3.5 Gould-Cosworth DFR GR37) 38.45secs; 4 Terry Holmes (3.5 Lola-Judd/Swindon ERH) 39.87secs; 5 Stewart Robb Jnr (4.0 Pilbeam-Judd KV MP88) 40.33secs; 6 Colin Birkbeck (2.0 Dallara-Vauxhall 301) 40.35secs; 7 Mark Smith (2.0 Reynard-Vauxhall/Swindon 903) 40.38secs; 8 Tom Potter (1.0T Jedi/Suzuki Mk4) 40.62secs; 9 Gary Thomas (1.1 Force-Suzuki PT) 41.78secs; 10 Graham Porrett (3.5 Lola-Judd/Swindon ERH) 41.82secs; 11 Phil Lynch (2.0 Dallara-Vauxhall/JRE 301) 42.53secs; 12 Jonathan Toulmin (1.5 Force-Suzuki/TTS PT) 43.29secs
Nat A = John McGill (1.4 Rover 25) 61.37secs; Tony Hume (2.0t Mitsubishi EVO) 51.44secs; John Lowe (2.0 Fisher Fury Spyder) 52.31secs Establishes Class Record; Alex Graham (2.2 Vauxhall Firenza) 55.57secs Establishes Class Record; Kevin Hamilton (2.2 Vauxhall VX220) 54.69secs; Mike Hunter (1.4 Rover Metro) 52.92secs Establishes Class Record; Malcolm Milne (1.6 Vauxhall Nova) 52.62secs Establishes Class Record; Mike Thomson (1.9 Peugeot 205 GTi) 52.23secs Establishes Class Record; Richard Quinn (0.9 Sylva Striker) 50.51secs Establishes Class Record; Graham Clark (2.0 Tiger Avon) 51.08secs Establishes Class Record; Mike Murchie (2.0 Ford Fiesta Mk1) 56.19secs; Simon Clemow (1.4 Radical Clubsport+) 45.62secs Establishes Class Record; Simon Bainbridge (4.2t Audi TT Replica 4-w-d) 44.97secs Establishes Class Record; Gary Thomas 42.62secs Establishes Class Record; Tom Potter 42.48secs Establishes Class Record; Stewart Robb Snr 39.44secs Establishes Class Record; Geoffrey Harkness (2.0 Vauxhall Corsa) 51.56secs Establishes Class Record;
Nat B = David Wiggins (1.3 Peugeot 205 Rallye) 54.98secs Establishes Class Record; John Roddick (1.6 Citroen Saxo) 53.45secs Establishes Class Record; Donald Ross (2.0t Mitsubishi EVO 4) 50.17secs Establishes Class Record; Peter Marshall (1.6 Caterham Academy 7) 50.58secs Establishes Class Record; John Hammond (2.0 Robin Hood 2B) 58.86secs; Colin Sutherland (1.3 Triumph Spitfire) 56.97secs; Jamie McDonald (1.8 Lotus Elise) 53.15secs Establishes Class Record; Gordon Dundee (1.4 Peugeot 106) 56.05secs; Andrew Massie (1.6 Citroen Saxo) 56.99secs; Len Humphries (1.6 Dutton Phaeton) 54.75secs Establishes Class Record; Harry Moody (2.0 Westfield SEi) 51.91secs; Andrew Scott (Ford Escort RS2000) 53.62secs Establishes Class Record; Neil MacLean (2.0 Ford Escort Spaceframe) 53.41secs; Stuart Brown (1.0 OMS Hornet) 44.29secs; Eric Kiltie (1.4 OMS-Suzuki 2000M) 52.40secs; Adrian Stewart (1.4 Morris Mini Cooper S) 58.25secs Establishes Class Record; Caroline Lodge (2.0 Vauxhall Corsa) 56.83secs; Bruce Edwards (2.0 Darrian T90) 47.09secs Establishes Class Record.