Once again the run-off was the high point of the day with some cracking battles throughout. Tony Eyles eventually grabbed the 12 points and continued to close the gap on leader Tony Wiltshire.
The class runs followed a short lunch break and kicking off proceedings were the Roadgoing Cars. Roy Standley took a comfortable win in his EVO 5 with Mike Gale's bargain bucket Pulsar in second. The Road Going Kit Car class went to NSCC stalwart Mike Simpson whilst Lindsay Mercer trundled home in second. Gordon Hick crunched a driveshaft in his Fisher Fury and had to be towed off site at the end of the day. The Mod Prod classes followed and in the single production class Gary Jeffs just kept co-driver Mark Oswin in check. The Mod Prod Kit Car class went to the brutal Xtreme of John Sampson with Tony Brumfield's Suzuki powered Striker a close second. The shared Kellforms Retoga of Steve Naish and Kevin Goater fought over the Sports Libre honours and it was Kevin who prevailed.
Into the Racing Car classes and in the Up to 1100s it was the fabulous Jedi of Hamish Lindsay that took the honours. Tony Ellis was second and Jonathan Toulmin third in the Lola. The Formula Ford class went to Graham Emmett in his Van Diemen whilst Richard Summers just held off second run charges by John Owen and Ken Emmett. The 1600 Racing Car class went to Steve Broughton in the OMS who just kept Jim Yardley in second spot. John Wood used his local knowledge to take third in his ancient RT3 whilst James Williams brought the TKD Dallara home in fourth. In the two-litre class it was current championship leader Tony Wiltshire who led throughout. Andy Platt was second but only took the one run as the Dallara expired with what transpired to be terminal engine problems. Terry Holmes was third whilst Kevin Lealan on his first trip to MIRA took a well earned fourth. In the over two litre class Jim Robinson never made it to the line in the MP58 whilst the other Hart engined Pilbeam of Tony Luxton ran out third. Top spot went to Tony Eyles but Martin Dowling wasn't that far behind with the Reynard.
The Westfield Speed runners were next and in the Up to 1800 Roadgoing class it was the young Guy Hussey who annexed the lead on his first run. Steve Batchelor closed the gap in the Megabird whilst John Loudon took third spot. In the Over 1800 class Martin Palmer put his Megabusa into the lead and stayed there whilst Terry Everall took second in his bike powered Westie. The Racing Westies saw a close battle for the lead which finally went to Dick Hulbert in the SBD Motorsport device whilst Big John Tomlinson brought the ex-Tom Green SEight home second. Del Boy Hodder was third just ahead of Paul Wright.The Ginetta Speed runners were thin on the ground with just seven runners. Top spot went to Nick Stephens in the G4 who just fended off the challenge from Tim Moore's similar mount. The Reliant Cars class was equally thin on the ground with Ben Gough in the supercharged GTE winning by light years from Dave Greenhalgh in the SS1. The final class for the Michelin Porsche runners saw an early bath for the Boxter when it rolled at the final corner. Up front it was Colin Belton who was unchallenged in the 51s bracket. Second was Andrew Norris in his 911 whilst Cornwall's finest Jonathan Williamson was third.
TOP TWELVE RUN-OFF
The run-off got underway with Tracey Ashby, the first of our lady drivers to qualify this year, taking to the track. Her first run was slower than her Q-time but on her second she clipped a few tenths off to remain 11th. Dave Sims, another on his first visit to MIRA, then clipped a second and a half of his Q-time finally dropping into the 44 second bracket on his second run and grabbing 7th from his lowly qualifying place. Phil Lynch shaved a few tenths off initially then on his second run got really stuck in and moved up to ninth. Simon Ashby seemed stuck in the 46 second bracket and only managed a three tenths improvement. This saw the Hereford Blacksmith tumble down the order to tenth spot. Kevin Lealan then made a complete porridge of his first run nearly spinning out on the long initial left hander. His second run was better but he could only manage 9th with his best time so far. Jim Yardley, who is a self-confessed MIRA specialist, put in a storming first run to drop into the 44s; his second run was slower but he still held onto 6th spot. Terry Holmes had qualified sixth but his steady progress saw the Chichester Chippy move effortlessly into fourth. Steve Broughton was in a lot of pain from broken ribs suffered in a push-bike accident. Our series sponsor gritted his teeth and first put in a time only slightly slower than his Q-time. His second run saw him clip over three tenths off his best but it meant he dropped back to 5th. Andy Platt should have been next but Team Megashed was fighting an unequal battle to get the Dallara running - they would fail completely and it subsequently transpired that the engine had run for the last time! Martin Dowling then moved up and set his BTD on his first run. However he went even quicker on his second and leapfrogged into the lead. Would that be for good? Tony Wiltshire was flying on his first run and moved ahead of Dowling despite a missed gear at the Control Tower Bend. However when he came to the line for his second run he was down in third; he was off the line in a flurry of tyre spin and was his quickest through the speed trap. However when the clocks stopped he had moved up into second but Dowling still lead. Tony Eyles had been at his quickest on his first run but ended up in second behind Wiltshire. When he came forward for his second run he was languishing in third spot! Quickly into his stride he was marginally slower through the speed trap but more balanced through the Control Tower Bend and beyond. As he flashed across the line all eyes darted to the time clocks and with the only sub 42 second run of the day Tony had snatched victory.
All minds now switched to Llandow. Would Team Megashed make it? Could Wilt regroup and fight off the challenge from Tony Eyles? All would be revealed in South Wales.
Results:
1 Tony Eyles (2.5 Force-Opel PC024) 41.87sec; 2 Martin Dowling (3.5 Reynard-Judd 88D) 42.09sec; 3 Tony Wiltshire (2.0 Ralt-Peugeot RT34) 42.53sec; 4 Terry Holmes (2.0 Reynard-Ford SF84) 44.11sec; 5 Steve Broughton (1.3 OMS-Suzuki CF04) 44.40sec; 6 Jim Yardley (1.6 Beagle-Honda Mk5D) 44.86sec; 7 Dave Sims (2.0 Ralt-Duratec RT33/34) 44.94sec; 8 Kevin Lealan (2.0 Formula Vauxhall Lotus) 45.71sec; 9 Phil Lynch (2.0 Ralt-Alfa Romeo RT30) 45.73sec; 10 Simon Ashby (2.0 Reynard-Millington 883) 46.62sec; 11 Tracey Ashby (2.0 Reynard-Millington 883) 47.63sec; Andy Platt (2.0 Dallara-Vauxhall F397) DNS.
Class Winners:
Roy Standley (2.0t Mitsubishi Evo 5) 51.98sec; Mike Simpson (2.0 Westfield-Opel SEi) 53.73sec; Lee Griffiths (1.9 Peugeot 205) 54.93sec; John Sampson (5.0 Quantum-Rover Xtreme) 49.09sec; Kevin Goater (1.0 Kellforms Retoga) 55.48sec; Hamish Lindsay (0.5 Jedi-Abbott Mk 2) 48.46sec; Graham Emmett (1.6 Van Diemen RF89) 53.52sec; Broughton 44.75sec; Wiltshire 43.25sec; Eyles 42.85sec; Guy Hussey (1.6 RAW Striker-Toyota) 53.84sec; Martin Palmer (1.3 Westfield Megabusa) 51.54sec; Dick Hulbert (1.7 Westfield-Vauxhall SBD) 47.98sec; Nick Stephens (1.7 Ginetta G4) 53.92sec; Ben Gough (3.0s Reliant Scimitar) 52.52sec; Colin Belton (3.8 Porsche 993 RSR) 51.33sec.