The BRSCC Alfashop Alfa Romeo Championship's appearance as one of the support races for the Britcar 24 Hour race in 2008 was a major highlight of the year. On that occasion, there were still two more rounds to go and the season finally ended on November 1 at Donington. This year things were different. The 24 Hours had been replaced by a 6 hour event on the Saturday evening which meant that instead of qualifying on Friday afternoon and racing on Saturday morning, everything could be accommodated on the Sunday. However, the meeting was still due to run over three days and to make sure it was a financial success there many more support races, some as double headers, the Mazda MX5s even having three races. There were to be 20 races in all. Importantly for us, it would be our final race of the year, bringing to a close the 13 race championship, that started in March, somewhat earlier than usual. The race would be run for the Kevin Griffiths Trophy which, for the past two years, had been won by Roger Evans.

Saturday evening was the time for a major changeover in the paddock and it was not until the Palmer Audi trucks had been loaded up and moved that we were able to get into our allotted area, happily before dark. The final entry list had been growing and changing right up the last minute but some guesswork had enabled most people to be included in the glossy Britcar programme put together by our old friend David Addison. Paul Plant had made his points total for the overall title unassailable at Oulton Park and was keen to try something different for the final race. An agreement was reached with John Griffiths for Paul to rebuild the Class B 156's engine which he would then race at Silverstone while John himself tried out John Day's 155 which he hoped to buy for his wife Gemma to race in 2010. Paul's class winning 156 was to be driven by Gethin Llewellyn whose 33 still had a broken gearbox. All this was very last minute, the final engine parts for the Class B car only arriving on the Friday before the race!

In Class A, Roger Evans was returning after missing Oulton, his new brakes now complete with the rather essential pads! Both he and Tim Lewis were keen to get their names on the Kevin Griffiths Trophy again, as was Chris Snowdon with the Lahoma 33. Sadly, another possible contender, Neil Smith had to withdraw his 156 as he found a crack in the block, previously unsuspected in the rebuild following Oulton. Neil would still be there, however. Having wondered what he was now going to do with his Sunday he borrowed fiance Emma's 33 on the condition that he brought it back in the same pristine state! Chris Oxborough, not having raced his interesting supercharged 75 12v since Snetterton was back to join the other normally aspirated 75s of Keith Waite, Robin Eyre-Maunsell and Christina Holley (24v) in Class A.

Gareth Haywood and Nev Simpson were hoping to resume their Brands and Oulton battle, and there was still a mathematical chance that Nev could win Class B in the Championship. They now had to reckon on Paul Plant though. The five car class was completed by John Griffiths in the 155 and the 33 16v of Kevin Reynolds. Kevin now has the engine from the Class D 33 that Nik Mantikas crashed at Castle Combe a couple of years ago but it was another case of "last minute" as Paul Legge helped |Kevin complete the car's preparation in the Alfatune garage after the Britcar 500. John Griffiths had found an added complication with the 155 - no seat! It had been stolen while the car was in John Day's lock up but another was produced and fitted before scrutineering.

No fewer than 11 Class E cars appeared on the entry list. It was good to see Ray Foley back for the first time since his accident at Cadwell in April, his 156 (now black and red) having been rebuilt by Alfa Restorations and Peak Alfa. Chris Healey, Sarah Heels, Andy Inman, Paul Buckley were all in their regular 156s, joining newcomer to the class Gethin Llewellyn. Martin Jones, Keith Williams and Graham Hall were waving the 145 flag, the class being completed by the two 147s of Graham Heels and Andrew Bramah.

Alfa competitors who were around on the Saturday evening spent an enjoyable time in and out of the Brunswick and Alfatune garages talking to old friends while ex and current Alfa racers Martin Parsons, Chris Bentley and Christina Holley were among those taking part.

Qualifying (for 25 minutes) at 11.10 meant that it was in theory a leisurely morning but there still seemed to be an air of frantic activity around, probably accentuated by everyone being squashed into a fairly small paddock space. 35 cars eventually made their way onto the track but up in the commentary box the first thing we saw, full screen on the TV monitor, was the GTV of Shaun Hazlewood, stopped off the track. He had succumbed again to the ECU problem which has blighted his recent races and would have to try qualifying out of session. Almost as quickly, Barry McMahon and Gareth Haywood suffered suspension problems - not a good start! However, after three relatively cautious laps Roger Evans put his head down and set a 2'08.217" which was a couple of seconds below his previous lap record - and then promptly spun off into the gravel! We thought that Tim Lewis, with two thirds of the session left would eclipse Roger's time but the GTV stayed persistently at the top of the list. The Alfasud Sprint was seemingly not at its best with a misfire while Tim was also having to learn the part of the circuit on which he had never raced. The gap as the flag came out was still 2.071" and Chris Snowdon had come close to grabbing a front row slot but couldn't go quicker towards the end of the session.

Joining Chris Snowdon on the second row would be the Alfetta GT of Nev Simpson who had set a best time over a second quicker than Paul Plant. Paul was not at all happy with the handling of the 156 and there was much muttering afterwards over the car's front shock absorber settings. 6th quickest was Chris Oxborough, the only other driver to break the 2'20s mark and 2.3" clear of Christina Holley. Mind you, Christina was probably still recovering from the 2 hour stint on a damp track, in the dark, that she had done the evening before in the Alfatune Porsche she was sharing with Chris Bentley and young Danish girl Vibe Smeds.

Neil Smith just had the edge over Mel Healey in Class D with Ian Brookfield third quickest. Both James Trett and Nick Gooch were suffering gearbox problems and Nick would not start the race. An interesting situation was developing in Class E as Gethin Llewellyn and Graham Heels finished the session just 0.293" apart. Ray Foley and Paul Buckley were equally close, only 0.676" separating the top four. Just ahead of them, though, would be the Class A 75 of Robin Eyre-Maunsell and the remarkably quick "classic" Alfasud Sprint of Mike Watson which might complicate the issue during the race. Of the rest in E, Chris Healey headed Andy Inman, Graham Hall and Martin Jones but Graham was later handed a penalty for being 8kg underweight and would start at the back of the grid with a 10 second penalty. David Messenger was the only Class C competitor to complete the session, 17th overall, and might also find himself involved with the Class E cars while Keith Waite, only 22nd, would undoubtedly be coming through the field at a rate of knots. Second quickest classic class car was the 2000 GTV of Jim Nairn.

Back in the paddock, we waited for Roger Evans' GTV to return on a truck, its previously pristine black bodywork covered in sand and gravel, everyone anxious to see if it had suffered any terminal damage, not least Roger himself. Also coming back not under their own power were the 33 of Mark Bevington which had cut out on the Hangar Straight and the GTVs of Shaun Hazlewood and Barry McMahon. Mark had done enough laps to qualify but Shaun and Barry would joining Gareth Haywood and co-ordinator Michael Lindsay in visits to the Clerk of the Course to see what arrangements could be made for them to do enough laps behind the Safety Car to enable them to satisfy the MSA stewards. Sadly, only Gareth Haywood was able to complete the necessary laps and both Shaun and Barry would become non starters which, including Nick Gooch, brought the final field down to 32, Roger Evans  happy that his car was fit to run. In the interval before the race, it was good to welcome several members of the Griffiths family. Kevin's brother Simon and children Abby and Ollie would be on the podium to present the trophy.

At the start of the 25 minute race, with the likelihood of 12 laps of the 3.19 mile circuit ahead for the winner, it was Roger Evans who had an advantage initially over Tim Lewis but by the time they reached Copse the Alfasud Sprint was in front. From that point on Tim never lost his grip on the lead but that was not for want of trying by Roger who kept the gap to under a second for the first two laps and at the end of lap 6 was still only 3 seconds adrift, both cars lapping in the 2'05s, well below last year's lap times.  Lying third, Chris Snowdon couldn't keep pace and quickly decided that a finish was his priority. Paul Plant had wasted no time in moving up to fourth on the first lap, just ahead of Nev Simpson from whom he rapidly pulled away. Nev was challenged initially by Chris Oxborough while Christina Holley, in 7th place found that she had Neil Smith and Mel Healey on her tail. Keith Waite had spun at Stowe on the opening lap as he carved his way through the field but was soon making progress as was Gareth Haywood who had overtaken no fewer than 17 cars lap 1. Gethin Llewellyn had managed to end that first one with four cars including classic leader Mike Watson (and 5 seconds) between himself and nearest Class E challenger Graham Heels. This was much to Graham's irritation as he had hoped to have a close race with the class leading 156. Ray Foley, Paul Buckley and Chris Healey were next in line ahead of Ian Brookfield and Dave Messenger, now the only runner in Class C.

On of the best battles mid race was that between Nev Simpson and Christina Holley for 5th and 6th places overall, the two cars passing the pits side by side at the of lap 7. However, Christina then started to drop back as her tyres went off and Chris Oxborough took up the challenge. Gareth Haywood was now only 3 seconds behind them, having driven really hard all race but he was now having to keep his eye on Keith Waite.  Keith passed Gareth on lap 9 but despite another error by Nev just didn't have enough time to catch the green Alfetta but Gareth passed the now obviously slowing Christina. Further back, Paul Buckley's attempts to wrest 2nd in E away from Graham Heels had come to nothing.

Gethin Llewellyn was delighted to take Class E at his first attempt in a car that he described afterwards as "a bit tired". Graham Heels finished  2nd, his third runner-up spot from three starts ahead of Paul Buckley, Ray Foley, Martin Jones, Andy Inman and Keith Williams. Sarah Heels was delighted to come out on top of a lengthy battle with Andrew Bramah. Newcomer James Trett was equally happy to finish 3rd (in D). Mike Watson drove a storming race to win the class invitation class and to finish 14th overall just ahead of Graham Heels. Will Morton was the second classic Alfa home. Saddest comment at the end of the race was perhaps from John Griffiths "well I wanted to finish - but not last!!"

The Kevin Griffiths Trophy was presented on the podium and the first three interviewed by Brian Jones. Simon, Abby and Ollie Griffiths then did all the presentations at the main prize giving at which Paul Plant was confirmed as the 2009 Champion and the class winners as Tim Lewis, Gareth Haywood, Shaun Hazlewood, Mel Healey and Paul Buckley. Mel also jumped up in the points standing to third overall ahead of the unlucky Shaun. Interestingly, this is the first time in the 28 year history of the championship that the final champion has not also won a class, Paul having switched from D to E and finally B during the season.

The "ping pong ball" for the first free entry for 2010 was drawn by Alfashop's Philip Clay and went to Chris Snowdon. After the prize giving I was delighted to be presented with a surprise cake to mark 60 years of visiting Silverstone (see News & Gossip).

Our thanks go to James Tucker, Claire Williams and the Britcar team for making us so welcome and to Rita Ashman and her colleagues from the BRSCC who smoothed over the many event issues over the weekend.

We are already taking with Britcar about races in 2010 and hopefully will be back with them on both the International and GP circuits.

 

It seems hard to believe that our 2009 season is almost over with the final round at Silverstone on October 4 as the only meeting after the Oulton Park double header. That being the case, it was perhaps not surprising that the entry for the Oulton was one of our best of the year. Another attraction was a return to the 2.69 mile International circuit .

Class A enjoyed a very varied entry at Oulton - Tim Lewis was joined by the 33 16v's of Adie Hawkins and Chris Snowdon, while Lee Penn was making his first championship appearance in the ex Jonny Heynes 8v car. Neil Smith seemed very much part of Team Dynamics with his usual 156 while it was good to see Andy Page having another outing with his venerable Giulietta Turbo. Christina Holley was reappearing with Chris Snowdon's 75 24v although lack of slicks meant that it was on some old Dunlop control tyres. Clive Hodgkin had entered his 75 12v although he was not sure that the misfire that stopped it at Rockingham had been cured. If it failed to run, he had the Avon 156 renta' there just in case!

 

Paul Plant had been busy re-building his 156 after an Oulton testing accident but the car looked reasonably ship-shape. Andy Inman, Sarah Heels, Paul Buckley and Chris Healey had their usual 156s and were joined by the 145s of Martin Jones, Keith Williams and Graham Hall, the latter having his second outing in the championship.

 

There was clearly going to be some good inter class rivalry in mid field. Paul Plant was way quicker than any other Class E car and even finished ahead of Graham Seager and Clive Hodgkin with Mel Healey, Emma Karwacki and Christina Holley only fractions slower. Emma was particularly happy with her effort as were Neil and Mark. Christina, by contrast, thought the handling of the 75 was a bit sloppy and also suffered a broken propshaft doughnut. Happily Clive Hodgkin had a spare which Chris Snowdon duly fitted before race one. Apart from Paul Plant, the times in Class E were very close. Andy Inman would line up second quickest, just 0.147" in front of old rival Paul Buckley with Martin Jones, Sarah Heels, Keith Williams, Chris Healey and Graham Hall completing the field.

The proper front spoiler for Chris Snowdon's 33 had been left behind in Bourne and only arrived in the assembly just as the rest of the cars were going out for their formation lap. It was decided to fit it and Chris would start from the pit lane. Away from the grid it was Neil Smith and Adie Hawkins who were quickest away, Tim Lewis taking his usual cautious approach while Dave Pinkney was already half way through the field by the time he reached Old Hall. At the end of lap 1 Neil still had the slenderest of leads (a mere 0.33") over Tim and Adie who had crossed the line together. Dave Pinkney was up to 6th chasing Lee Penn and Andy Page. 6" back, Nev Simpson and Gareth Haywood were already continuing their Class B contest, now 2.5" in front of Class C leader Shaun Hazlewood and Class E front man Paul Plant.  Barry McMahon had established himself 11th overall with Christina Holley not too far behind while eyes were on Mel Healey and Emma Karwacki who were starting a battle that was to last the whole race. In E, Paul Buckley had emerged ahead of Andy Inman and Chris Healey who was already showing much more speed than in qualifying.

 

Further back, there was some great entertainment from Paul Plant, Barry McMahon, Graham Seager and Christina Holley with a small gap to the 33 16v's of Mel Healey and Emma Karwacki who continued to be very close. Andy Inman was giving Paul Buckley no peace for the runner-up spot in E , the same being true of Keith Williams and Martin Jones just behind Chris Healey.

 

The race came to a premature end on lap 8 when Graham Seager crashed his GTV on the approach to the Shell Hairpin, ending up broadside across the road. Everyone somehow managed to avoid him, including Mel and Emma who went one either side, Emma emerging in front.  However, all was to no avail as the red flag appeared and a result was declared at the end of lap 7. Graham was happily unharmed although the car had severe frontal damage. Tim Lewis was adjudged the winner by 4.9" from Adie Hawkins, Neil Smith 3rd a further 8" back. Lee Penn finished a comfortable 4th ahead of fellow Class A runners Andy Page and Chris Snowdon. Nev Simpson finished 7th to win class B from Gareth Haywood while Shaun Hazlewood was an easy Class C winner, 9th overall. Christina Holley had passed Paul Plant to finish 10th. A disappointed Emma Karwacki was robbed of her Class D lead but in E the order behind Paul Plant remained the same - Paul Buckley, Andy Inman, Chris Healey. Sarah Heels had driven another good race to chase Ian Brookfield home, lapping within a second of Paul and Andy in the process. Tim Lewis had set a new Alfa lap record in 1'50.107" and all the class records had also been broken.

It was a long afternoon as we waited for the second race which was the final one of the day but we held a prize giving for the first race, the presentations being made by Joanne Eastwood, while the championship panel was able to put the time to good use by holding a meeting to settle the class structure for 2010. Clive Hodgkin had decided to race the Avon 156 renta' instead of the 75 which was still not running well although he would have to start from the back of the grid. The programme had been running early until some red flags in the Ford XR Challenge and the need to hospitalise one of the drivers meant that the 6.30 curfew was going to impinge on our supposed 20 minute race. A decision was made by the Clerk of the Course to cut the preceding Formula 3 race and also our own by 5 minutes to meet the deadline. Eventually the cars left the assembly area at around 6.05 but arrived on the grid without Tim Lewis who had gone into the pits with a flapping door. Quick work with some tank tape saw him able to start from the pit lane and this would add some further excitement to the proceedings.

 

Throughout the first lap Neil seemed to have things well under control, ending the lap nearly 2 seconds clear of Lee Penn but that was as far as he got. Coming out of Old Hall there were some unpleasant noises under the bonnet as a cambelt had broken, the 156 stopping on the grass - race over. This gave Andy Page just the incentive he needed and we were able to watch a real old style modified battle into which Chris Snowdon was also determined to become involved. Tim Lewis was charging through the field and by the end of lap 2 was up to 4th place, some 10 seconds behind the leaders but lapping some 4 seconds quicker as the race progressed. However, the tank tape holding his door closed had not held and the door was flapping open although Tim was able to hold it shut most of time with his elbow! The Clerk of the Course was pondering a black and orange flag (Diana Lindsay was listening to the radio conversations with the Stewards!) but by the time a decision had been made the chequered flag had appeared.

Gareth Haywood had managed to turn the tables on Nev Simpson while Barry McMahon was now leading class C as Shaun Hazlewood had lost fourth gear and had dropped behind Christina Holley. The Class D battle was on once again with Mel Healey just ahead but unable to risk any mistake as Emma Karwacki was only too ready to pounce . In E Paul Plant had been slow away but was still leading E although this time it was Chris Healey leading the pack behind while Andy Inman had also managed to get ahead of Paul Buckley.

Lee Peen, Andy Page and Chris Snowdon crossed the line together at the end of lap 4, Tim Lewis now having them in his sights, 4.5" back while Neil Smith looked on from behind the barrier on the exit of Old Hall convinced that he could have won this one! Tim took another 4 seconds off the leaders on lap 5 and Andy Page was determined to get the Giulietta past Lee Penn before Tim could make his challenge for the lead, the two cars going into Old Hall side by side at the start of the lap. A lap later, Lee Penn ran a little wide at Cascades allowing Andy Page to contemplate a challenge on the run from Cascades to Shell. Racing  defensively to protect his lead,  Lee ended up easing Andy to the left, so that the Giulietta had all four wheels on the grass, losing momentum but fortunately not direction in the process. This allowed Chris Snowdon through into 2nd place while Tim Lewis looked on and waited his moment.  Through Foulstons, Knickerbrook and Druids battle was joined between Lee Penn and Chris Snowdon but after the road bridge, the two 33s side by side made contact, Chris glancing the barrier and Lee spinning as Tim and Andy Page passed through the dust cloud. Chris was able to carry on while a disgruntled Lee made for the pits with what turned out to be a bent rear axle. Tim Lewis, who had been watching it all just behind, immediately inherited the lead - not that he wouldn't have taken it anyway - with Andy Page running 2nd with Chris Snowdon 3rd.

Gareth Haywood was still driving a superb race in 5th place to keep ahead of Nev Simpson while Barry McMahon was comfortable in 6th (leading Class C), 2 seconds clear of Christina Holley. 4 seconds further back, Mel Healey and Emma Karwacki continued to keep each other on their toes, 0.4" apart at the end of lap 6 while Shaun Hazlewood was battling hard with Paul Plant, despite being a vital gear short. Chris Healey was having by far his best outing since Rockingham  leading Andy Inman, Keith Williams, Martin Jones and Clive Hodgkin, 2.5 seconds covering this group with the Class D 33 of Ian Brookfield in their midst.

Tim Lewis eventually crossed the finish line at the end of 8 laps, 8.5 seconds clear of Andy Page who was having his best result of the year. Chris Snowdon came home a relieved third a further 4 seconds back. Nev Simpson had made a last lap effort to displace Gareth Haywood for 4th overall and the Class B lead, Barry McMahon (winning Class C) and Christina Holley following them home. We didn't know what the outcome of the Class D fight would be until the two red 33s reached the line but it was Mel Healey ahead of Emma Karwacki by a mere 0.245". Shaun Hazlewood managed to get ahead of Paul Plant by the end, 10th and 11th overall, with Chris Healey keeping his cool to come home in E ahead of Andy Inman, Keith Williams and Paul Buckley. Martin Jones should have been just behind Keith but he left a gap for the following Clive Hodgkin to lunge into at Cascades. They touched, Martin spun and then, having recovered, was caught out at Foulstons, as were Paul Buckley and Clive, by some fluid on the track, splitting his sump on the kerbing and trailing a cloud of smoke before pulling off, hoping that he had not damaged the engine.

It had all been pretty frantic but enjoyable for those watching. Gareth Haywood's girlfriend Louise presented the awards for the second race - only disappointed that Gareth had lost his class win at the last minute.

Driver of the Day awards went to Emma Karwacki and Chris Healey.

 

 

 

 

Perhaps you have wondered recently why Brands Hatch doesn't get the support from Alfa racers that it used to enjoy years ago. The reasons are probably diverse. Back in the days when we had split grids and loads of Suds or 33s, a large number of the racers lived, worked and played in and around the Surrey/Sussex downs or in the immediate London hinterland. A lot of them were regular members of the AROC Surrey section and anyone who regularly attended those meetings at Reigate will know what a hotbed of enthusiasm they were, with Mike Buckler as the driving force. These days, our competition base is spread much more widely. Coming to Kent, unless the attraction of the Grand Prix circuit is on offer, means putting up with the M25 on a Friday night, queues for the Dartford Tunnel (now £1.50 we discovered) or getting round Heathrow. Nonetheless, we thought that a double header meeting with the added bonus of filming for Motors TV on Sunday would pull people in. Unfortunately not. Yes, the higher entry fee there is higher than other MSV circuits but negotiation pre-season had made it lower than it might have been! So what did we have in the end - 21 cars but the quality was there!

Following his win at Donington Tim Lewis was hoping to repeat the success - twice - with his Alfasud Sprint but both Adie Hawkins (33 16v) and Neil Smith (156) were plotting to give him as hard time a time as possible. But as so often, nothing was to go according to the script! The fourth car in Class A was Robin Eyre-Maunsell's 75 3 litre which meant that maximum points would be available. This was important for Tim in his quest for the Championship now that dropped scores had shown him to be leading overall alongside Paul Plant.

A very welcome return was that of Nev Simpson who, having tested his Alfetta GTV 2.5 successfully at Goodwood on the Friday morning, rang up to see if he was too late to put in an entry! The BRSCC being helpful as usual fitted him in but please don't rely on it, particularly for circuits in other parts of the country. The Alfetta brought Class B up to three cars. Gareth Haywood had repaired the transmission of his 156 after Donington and John Griffiths had fitted a "spare" but unknown engine in his 156 after the original had broken at Silverstone. Class C was made up of the GTV 3 litres of Shaun Hazlewood, Ron Davidson and Barry McMahon and they were housed under the large awning attached to Barry's smart Aspin Group truck.  Ian Brookfield was entered for his first race of the year with the 33 8v previously driven by his stepson Matt Daly who is having to sit out this season, the idea being to help Mel Healey by providing another car in class D. Matt was there, though, to give moral support. Gethin Llewellyn made up the class in his black, increasingly quick 16v.

Graham Heels had decided to make his re-appearance as a driver at Brands, preferring that perhaps to the roles of photographer (which he handed over to Andrea again) and replacement co-ordinator. The 147 had undergone some tidying up and had a new gearbox, and Graham was feeling reasonably confident that he could get back in the groove quite quickly. Paul Buckley was back from holiday in Australia to resume his chase for the Championship, or at least the class, Andy Inman, Sarah Heels and Chris Healey being in the other 156s. Sole 145 on this occasion was Martin Jones.

Qualifying and the first race were due to take place on Saturday and with a promising weather forecast, it looked as though the wet tyres could be put away. On the Brands Indy circuit you don't need a full grid to make it look busy and up at Druids, on the inside between the entry and exit where I was watching during the 15 minute session there was plenty to watch and photograph. It is the one place that you can get really close to the cars and with no debris fencing in the way. However, just as everything was beginning to settle down there was a flurry of interest down at the bottom of Paddock. There was a car in the gravel, not far off the tarmac, but on its roof. Out came the red flags. Adie Hawkins had gone into the corner too quickly, lost the back end of the 33 16v, and had just failed to recover the situation. The final roll was very slow and Adie emerged completely unhurt - pride apart! Having been checked over at the scene he was able to get back in the driving seat once the car had been righted and steer it behind the tow vehicle back to the paddock, giving us hope that it could be repaired for the race.

When the session resumed, Tim Lewis was immediately setting a pace that no-one else could match even though he complained afterwards of a lack of grip. Also having tyre problems was Neil Smith, added to which an alternator problem brought his session to a halt after managing just three flying laps. Tim would be on pole with a best lap in 51.228" with Adie alongside having set a 53.859" on the lap before his "off".  Neil's 55.189" was next quickest ahead of Nev Simpson (57.201") half a second quicker than fellow Class B runner Gareth Haywood. 6.5" may have covered the top 5 but the next fifteen cars were covered by just 3.6" which meant that there was going to be some very close racing as usual mid field. Interestingly the leading cars in C, E and D came next in line - Shaun Hazlewood, Paul Plant and Mel Healey, 6th,7th and 8th overall. Ron Davidson was pleased to end the session quicker than fellow GTV driver Barry McMahon heading Gethin Llewellyn, John Griffiths and Ian Brookfield.  John would probably have been further up the grid had his engine not started to sound like a "bag of nails", eventually stopping after nine laps (Nev Simpson had managed to complete 14).

Paul Plant continued his recent domination of Class E with a best lap of 58.443" while Graham Heels was happy enough to lead the rest, just breaking the minute, ahead of Chris Healey - continuing his current run of form - Martin Jones, Paul Buckley, Sarah Heels, Andy Inman and Len Brock. Len was especially pleased as he had cut 0.9" off his previous best on his final lap, bringing him within 0.6" of Sarah. Somewhat out of place amongst the E cars was the 75 3 litre of Robin Eyre-Maunsell but he was hoping to go better in the races.

In the paddock there was much work surrounding the Hawkins 33 with the usual "spirit of the championship" coming to the fore as various people pitched in to help out. Leon Bailey, Keith and Tom Waite, John "Lancia" Day and Paul Edwards (yes, Adie's mentor from the Sud days) were among those spied around the car. A new screen was located and eventually fitted to John Monk's satisfaction.

The 20 minute race was due to start at 2.15 and only John Griffiths failed to make it to the grid. Away from the start, Adie Hawkins was quickly into his stride, Tim Lewis tried to take the lead through Paddock but had to drop back while Neil Smith was hanging on as best he could. Nev Simpson had established himself in fourth place with Shaun Hazlewood just behind the green Alfetta having got ahead of Gareth Haywood's black 156. The rest of the field was still tightly bunched headed by the battling Barry McMahon and Ron Davidson. Paul Plant was 9th and leading Class E while Gethin Llewellyn had enjoyed an excellent first lap and was ahead of Mel Healey to lead D, while another who had made all the right first lap moves was Graham Heels who had managed to keep both Ian Brookfield and Robin Eyre-Maunsell between himself and the next Class E cars, the 156s of Chris Healey and Paul Buckley.

Rushing through Paddock on lap 2, Tim Lewis took the lead away from Adie Hawkins but sadly the rhythm of the race was about to be interrupted. A cloud of dust at the top of Paddock heralded the departure of Len Brock who had been right on the tail of Sarah Heels at the tail of the field. Fortunately the 146 didn't hit the barrier or roll but a Safety Car was the result as the leaders completed lap 3. By this time Tim had established a 1 second lead with Adie trying to keep pace and Neil now 4 seconds adrift with tyres that were just not up to the job. Nev Simpson, Gareth Haywood and Shaun Hazlewood were next in line while Barry McMahon had managed to put Paul Plant between himself and Ron Davidson. In D, Gethin Llewellyn still led Mel Healey, Graham Heels frustrating Ian Brookfield but keeping himself solidly 2nd in E.

Three laps were effectively lost behind the Safety Car but when racing resumed Adie Hawkins once again tried his best to keep on Tim Lewis's tail, setting his fastest lap in 52.605" just after the re-start whereas Tim's best (52.069") had been set on lap 2. Neil Smith once again dropped away but was well ahead of the Class B battle headed by Nev Simpson. Lying 5th, Shaun Hazlewood was in control of Class C throughout, despite the best efforts of Barry McMahon who had his hands full of Paul Plant's 156 which passed him on lap 11 and thereafter just managed to stay ahead for the remaining 9 laps. Mel Healey had also put on a spurt, first passing Gethin Llewellyn and then Ron Davidson before closing to within half a second of Barry at the finish. Gethin Llewellyn was right on Ron's bootlid for the final lap but 3 litre power told in the end. Graham Heels maintained his 2nd in E while Paul Buckley, Martin Jones and Andy Inman were evenly matched across the line ahead of Chris Healey and Sarah Heels with Robin Eyre-Maunsell remaining the interloper just behind Graham with his 75.

Adie Hawkins slowed dramatically over the last few laps giving Neil Smith a sniff of the runner-up spot but it was all too late, Adie crossing the line still 9 seconds clear. Tim Lewis had taken another excellent win with Nev Simpson, Shaun Hazlewood, Mel Healey and Paul Plant scooping the class wins and only one car retiring, Len Brock's 146 which was due to be driven by Tom Allen the following day (once handfuls of stones had been removed from underneath).

A plan was hatched between Paul Plant, Harry White, Gethin Llewellyn and John Griffiths to remove the engine from John's 156 in the paddock, take it back to Bianco's workshops, assess its state and hopefully (optimistic this perhaps) rebuild it for Sunday's late morning race! We went to bed not knowing the outcome but a 5 a.m. there, in the van, was an engine. Not, however, the one that had been taken out of the car but the engine that was intended to go into Paul's new but uncompleted Class E 156. In no time, this engine was installed and as the morning progressed we saw John running it in slowly round the lower paddock. He would get a race and "Spirit of the Championship" was alive and well.

The late morning race meant that there wasn't too much waiting around although the weather was kind all weekend. We waited for somebody from the TV company to appear but in the end only Mel Healey was interviewed, briefly, after some "atmosphere" footage had been taken around a few of the cars. All 21 cars made it out to the grid and race 2, also over 20 minutes, was quickly underway. At Paddock there was confusion just behind the leading four as Shaun Hazlewood was seen fishtailing towards the gravel after contact with Barry McMahon. Happily for Shaun he ended with his front wheels on one of the emergency roads and was able to re-join, albeit dead last. A retirement on lap1 was the third GTV when a steering arm broke on Ron Davidson's car.

Tim Lewis was established once again at the front as they passed the pits at the end of lap 1. Then suddenly, at the bottom of Paddock Hill we had the unusual sight of the Alfasud Sprint pulling off to the inside, Tim having felt a severe front end vibration. It later transpired that most of the bolts had fallen out of a split-rim front wheel which could easily have collapsed but fortunately Tim had stopped in time. A tyre had been changed by an outside factor who was new to Tim and in order to make it easier it seemed that the rim bolts had been loosened and then not replaced properly! Whatever, Tim's championship chances had been dealt a major blow.

Neil Smith was feeling much more confidence in the handling of the 156 on new tyres and proceeded to push the surprised leader, Adie Hawkins, very hard indeed for the first few laps. Gradually, however, the gap started to open out, being up to 2.3" by the end of lap 10, the two cars having lapped much of the field by then. Gareth Haywood had passed Nev Simpson into the Class B lead on lap 2 and had gradually edged away. Paul Plant had again had a superb opening lap and from then on had established himself in somewhat lonely 5th overall as Gethin Llewellyn, Mel Healey and Ian Brookfield had been involved in their own Class D battle with Mel quickly getting to the front. By lap 5 John Griffiths and Shaun Hazlewood were both working their way through the field, passing the pits together 11th and 12th with Graham Heels next in their sights. Over the next three laps they overtook Graham, Ian Brookfield, Gethin Llewellyn and Barry McMahon to end up on Mel Healey's bumper by the end of lap 13, challenging her for 5th overall.

At this point the script took another diversion from the expected when Adie Hawkins suddenly slowed on lap 14 as he descended Paddock Hill having gone for 4th gear and found nothing but neutral! So Neil Smith now led with Gareth Haywood and Nev Simpson 2nd and 3rd. Shaun Hazlewood was ahead of Mel Healey with Paul Plant probably his final accessible target. On lap 19 they passed the pits together but it was obvious that Shaun would take over the place. John Griffiths eventually managed to pass the Class D 33 with a lap to go but Shaun was by now 5 seconds up the road. Further back Gethin Llewellyn and Ian Brookfield were engaged in their own battle which involved some barging by Gethin at Druids (and a subsequent call to the Clerk of Course), he blaming a gearchange problem. Graham Heels had been pacing himself but saw Andy Inman emerging from the pack and becoming a definite challenge as time ran out. Andy had also pulled Paul Buckley along with him but Graham had it in hand and would cross the line with a 1.06" advantage. Only 5 seconds behind,  Martin Jones and Chris Healey had been in each others company all race, finishing in that order with Sarah Heels the final finisher. She had had Tom Allen for company for the first half of the race before the 146 disappeared in a cloud of smoke on the exit of Druids with a blown engine. Robin Eyre-Maunsell almost took Ian Brookfield's overall place on the line but had been disappointed by his day.

So we had a different podium for race two - Neil Smith and the delighted Class B pair of Gareth Haywood and Nev Simpson. All were interviewed afterwards by Motors TV's Natalie Thomsett.

Saturday's trophies were presented by the "resting" Will Inglis, including the Driver of the Day Award to Paul Plant while on Sunday we were glad to see Alfashop's Philip Clay having a day off from his building works. The Driver of the Day on this occasion went to Shaun Hazlewood. Laura (Gethin Llewellyn's Girlfriend) drew Martin Jones's number in the free entry draw.

Our thanks to Carol Glenn and the South Eastern Centre of the BRSCC for running a slick race meeting and to Motorsport Vision for providing a circuit and facilities where most things look tidy and work!

Paul Plant (178) now leads the Championship on discounted scores from Shaun Hazlewood (162) Tim Lewis (158), Mel Healey (156) and Paul Buckley (150). There are still three rounds to go. A double header at Oulton Park on September 12 and the final round at Silverstone (GP circuit) on October 4.

 

 

Pot holes! 2009 has probably been the worst year in recent memory for parts of the road surface disappearing to produce suspension jarring mini craters but we don't expect it at our supposedly well tended racing circuits. Certainly not two visits in a row! Thus it was to some consternation that we arrived in the Donington paddock on Saturday evening to find some disconsolate Formula Ford competitors whose race had been cancelled, along with a Jedi round while Superleague and Historic Formula 1 qualifying had been disrupted because the very heavy rain had washed away a large chunk of the run-off at the new tunnel between Macleans and Coppice corners. Rumours were spreading around that racing on Sunday was in danger. However to give Donington boss Simon Gillett his due, emergency repair work was immediately put in hand although one questioned why the job hadn't been done properly in the first place. With a dry day ahead forecast, it was fingers crossed, not least by the BRSCC. Happily the work was done to the satisfaction of the FIA and MSA Stewards and the programme was able to get underway on time.

The big plus about our return to Donington is that we were to be part of a major promoted meeting. Superleague is a single seater concept that is now in its second year and involves some extremely noisy, large single seaters with V12 engines that produce some 750 bhp and are well suited to the full GP layout at Donington, including the Melbourne Hairpin. The cars are supported by 18 of the leading football clubs from the UK, mainland Europe and South America, including Liverpool and Spurs with drivers that have a wide range of experience including some who failed to make it big-time in F1 such as Antonia Pizzonia, Giorgio Pantano and Enrique Bernoldi. Those running the cars include such well known names as Zakspeed and Alan Docking Racing.  Also on the programme was a round of the FIA Historic Formula One series that seemed to be dominated by Arrows and Williams cars from various eras plus the odd McLaren, March and Ferrari. Being a major meeting, TSL were providing a lot of extra timing information for us to digest such as sector times and speed traps. The latter were positioned halfway down the Craner Curves, on the straight from Coppice to the Fogarty Esses, where the old Dunlop bridge used to be, and at the start/finish line.

Happily for us, most of the drivers who had been at the original wet day on June 7 were able to compete again - those missing being Paul Buckley, Lee Penn and Neil Smith The only addition we had was Chris Snowdon in the Lahoma 33, encouraged by the second place finish at Rockingham. Since June, Paul Plant had also switched from his 33 to the ex Philip Ellwood 156. Tim Lewis arrived following a successful Saturday at Brands competing in the Dunlop Motorsport News Modified Saloon Championship, joining Roger Evans, Andy Page, Chris Snowdon, Keith Waite and Christina Holley in a well supported class A. Gareth Haywood was the only Class B entry but class C had the GTVs of Shaun Hazlewood, Ron Davidson, Barry McMahon and Graham Seager plus the 75 3 litre of Dave Messenger. Mel Healey and Steve Fletcher were on their own in D while E enjoyed its usual strong entry with Paul Plant being joined by Andy Inman, Sarah Heels, Chris Healey and Ian Fisher in their 156s, the 145s of Martin Jones and Keith Williams and the lone 146 and 147 of Len Brock and Andrew Bramah.

Scrutineering produced no glitches although Shaun Hazlewood had found himself with a GTV that would not run properly. This was eventually traced to a damp ECU but by the time it had been dried out it was too late to take part in the correct qualifying session and Shaun had to go out with the Fiats for three laps and would start from the back of the grid.

There was a slight delay to the start of qualifying while a Mazda MX5 was removed from the barrier at the Old Hairpin and the tyres replaced but in the end we were only four minutes late getting underway. As we had not raced on the full circuit since May 2000 when the overall lap record became the property of Enzo Buscaglia's 75 24v in 1'49.381", almost everyone was going to have to learn the different layout and the strengths and weaknesses it might reveal. Of those entered, only Andy Page, Keith Waite, Graham Seager, Ron Davidson and Andrew Bramah had been at that meeting in 2000. Not surprisingly perhaps, Andy Page was an early pace setter, recording his best time on only his fourth lap while everyone else was either still experimenting or looking for a clear run as the minutes ticked away. Half way through the session, Tim Lewis was leading the way by half a second from Roger Evans, both in the 1'45s but by the end of the 20 minutes both had gone quicker, Tim annexing pole with 1'43.765", Roger making a fine effort on his final lap to end just 1.178" behind. Chris Snowdon and Andy Page would end third and fourth before an 8 second time gap brought us to the 75s of Keith Waite and Christina Holley which only just took away a third row slot from Gareth Haywood.

Unexpectedly, Barry McMahon beat Graham Seager to the Class C pole, Paul Plant appearing between them on the timesheets, showing his undoubted talent as the only class E driver to break the 2 minute barrier, a massive 4.3" ahead of the next car in E. The second quickest in the class was certainly a surprise as Andrew Bramah headed Keith Williams, Andy Inman, Martin Jones and Chris Healey. The quicker of the two Class D drivers, Mel Healey,  would line up on the sixth row, with Steve Fletcher two rows back. Totally out of luck was Ian Fisher whose 156 Selespeed suffered an engine failure after three laps.

The sector splits and speed traps had already produced some interesting figures - revealing how quick Ron Davidson was through sector 1 (to the Craner Curves) before losing time elsewhere while Tim Lewis's ideal lap should have left him nearly 0.7" quicker than his actual pole. Also in sector 1, Roger Evans' speed in the GTV of 190.5 kph was 10 kph quicker than Tim Lewis, while in sector three Tim had turned it round by some 4 kph. The amusement in it all was endless! The only one who couldn't play was Christina Holley whose transponder was not functioning. This would be fixed before the race so that she could join in!

 

It was a long wait for our race which was due to start at 5.45 but, on the other hand, there was much to watch (and be deafened by!) and walking around there were plenty of Alfa competitors by the fence on the exit of the Melbourne Hairpin, the closest place you can get to the track, or in the grandstand at Red Gate. In the paddock, everyone seemed fairly relaxed - Paul Plant was fitting new discs to his 156, there seemed to be a "spirit of the championship" moment around the Lahoma 33 although much of it seemed routine while Tim Lewis's Alfasud Sprint, bonnet off, was just being admired by the passing football club supporters.

As the lights went out, the Modified cars at the front were careful getting away but it was Roger Evans who arrived first at Red Gate and proceeded to lead for much of lap 1 before Tim Lewis rushed by on the Dunlop Straight to assume his "normal" position at the head of the field. Not that Roger was going to give up - quite the contrary! He would pursue Tim relentlessly for the next six laps before the Sud Sprint appeared more nimble as they started lapping the slower cars in earnest. Chris Snowdon had never looked like holding on to the leading pair but was 6 seconds clear of Andy Page by the end of lap 4 and seemingly secure for a third place finish. Further back there was an excellent nose to tail battle going on between Barry McMahon, Keith Waite, Christina Holley and Gareth Haywood, Barry gradually dropping to the back of the group as Shaun Hazlewood, having passed no fewer than ten cars on the first lap was on Graham Seager's tail by the end of lap 3, passing him on lap 4. A lap later Shaun was in the class lead, running 8th overall but not looking likely to get much further.

Paul Plant was running very strongly just in front of Ron Davidson who took until lap 6 to pass the 156 but by that time the GTVs of Barry McMahon and Graham Seager were already ten seconds up the road and it looked as though 4th in C was the best he could manage. Keith Williams was having another tidy race in his 145 and for a couple of laps was ahead of Mel Healey's 33 16v. Andy Inman was unable to challenge Keith but kept himself in front of Martin Jones, Dave Messenger and Andrew Bramah from the start. Lap 4 brought an unfortunate incident when Andrew Bramah's 147 ran into the back of Martin Jones' 145, then spun and hit his nearside wing. Martin was able to continue but the considerable frontal damage to Andrew's car meant that his race was over there and then.

At Macleans on lap 8, Barry McMahon got his GTV out of shape just as Roger Evans was about to lap him, the two cars making contact although both continued. This dropped Barry behind Graham Seager and into the clutches of Ron Davidson and was a contest that would continue until Barry managed to pull a couple of seconds clear before the flag. Roger felt that all was not well with his GTV - a wheel  and front spoiler had been damaged- and he eased off a little. He was also delayed slightly lapping a couple of cars at the hairpin, Tim got through before the corner, Roger didn't.

Meanwhile, attention was fixed on Andy Page's chase of Chris Snowdon. The gap between the red 33 and blue Giulietta had been 6 seconds at the end of lap 5 but Andy's lap times then started to drop and by the end of lap 8 it was down to 1.8". Chris responded to keep it static until Andy really closed in with a lap to go. It was too late, however, and Chris crossed the line to keep his third place just 0.871" clear, much to John Sismey's relief. By that time, Tim Lewis had already taken the chequered flag, 17" ahead of Roger Evans, Chris finishing a further 34" behind. Gareth Haywood had dropped out of the battle for 5th place with two laps remaining, a driveshaft being suspected although the V6 engine had been misfiring. Keith Waite led Christina Holley home by just 3.2".                                                                                        
The four 3 litre GTVs finished in the next four places, in the order Shaun Hazlewood, Graham Seager, Barry McMahon, Ron Davidson although Ron had Paul Plant right on his tail again at the flag. Mel Healey finished 11th to win Class D with Keith Williams, Andy Inman and Chris Healey the next three home. Martin Jones had continued after his encounter with Andrew Bramah but it was clear that something was the amiss as the car seemed to have sunk down on one side at the rear. When he returned to the paddock Clive Hodgkin brought over a rear spring which had been dislodged from the 145 and embedded itself  in the front of the 147!! Well done Martin for doing 7 laps with the car in that state. Sarah Heels was disappointed to have lost some of her Silverstone speed but given another lap she might have finished ahead of Dave Messenger's 75 3 litre. Len Brock continued to learn the 146 Ti which he will share with Tom Allen at Brands.

The sector times and speed traps continued to give us more to ponder. Roger Evans continued his advantage over Tim Lewis through the Craner Curves speed trap but an astonishing third (her transponder now fixed!) was Christina Holley, 5 kph faster than Chris Snowdon. Across the finish line, Chris Snowdon was shown as 14 kph slower than Tim Lewis while Andy Page here was quicker than Roger Evans. Its all in the gearing you know! And in sector 2 (Dunlop Straight), Sarah Heels was the second fastest Class E car and third across the start/finish line but lost it all through the Craners. You could go on for hours………… One thing for certain though, Tim likes to leave his mark. On lap 10 he set a new outright Alfa lap record in 1'42.767"!

For some reason, our trophies had failed to arrive, apart from the Driver of the Day award - won by Andy Page - which is the reason why none appear in the group "prize giving" pictures. Winner of the free entry, drawn for us by Ron Davidson, was Mel Healey.

 

Rockingham Motor Speedway, built originally to host the Champcar series in 2001 , has always produced mixed reactions from competitors, teams and spectators. Too much concrete, inadequate paddock, too many stairs and tunnels - and that's before you get to the track we use (grandly called the International Sportscar circuit) which, for a large part is slow and not a huge challenge. Plus points - yes,  a flat out 20 seconds on the banked oval leading to some heavy braking for the Dene Hairpin,  the pit balcony - a flashback in time to the much loved (although far narrower) balcony at Silverstone - and the Indianapolis type tower giving the qualifying or race order. Race Control and the Commentary Box are housed in the main grandstand building and I sat for a while with Senior Clerk of the Course, Glyn Lee, after our qualifying session. He has a great view and does not have to rely for the most part on TV monitors as at most other tracks - in the darkened rooms of Silverstone and Donington you could be anywhere.

With some damaged cars undergoing rebuilds, drivers on holiday or - would you believe - racing elsewhere (!) the entry for Round 7 was not one of our best, but we were still expecting some close racing. Class A had Roger Evans and Neil Smith with their GTV 3.8 and 156 respectively, and it was nice to get a call from John Sismey three days before the race saying that testing of the Lahoma 33 had gone well at Mallory and that Chris Snowdon was "smiling"! So Chris would be another entry, the class being made up by the two Avon Racing 75 3 litres of Robin Eyre-Maunsell and Clive Hodgkin.

After going so well at Castle Combe, Simon Bird was back with his 156 2.0 in Class B where he joined the 2.5 V6 version of Gareth Haywood. Gareth had been disappointed with his race at Silverstone and was hoping for things at Rockingham. Graham Seager and Barry McMahon were the only Class C GTV entries this time but amazingly Dave Messenger and his team had repaired their 75 3 litre which had suffered huge side damage at Silverstone after he had spun and been hit hard by Will Inglis's 145. They were to be congratulated for their efforts. Mel Healey had the only 33 16v in D but Nick Gooch had decided to make one of his spasmodic appearances in his 33 8v, Wayne Ashford looking after the car for him.

Paul Plant had decided to put his 33 16v away after his troubles at Silverstone. To sustain his chase for the championship he had bought Philip Ellwood's distinctive cream 156 which had been which had been considerably tidied up since the last time we saw it, including some large new Bianco logos. Other 156s were in the hands of regulars Andy Inman, Chris Healey and Silverstone "star" Sarah Heels. Martin Jones had reappeared with his yellow 145, joining the silver version of Keith Williams, the class being completed by the single 146 of Tom Allen with father-in-law Len Brock in support.

Scrutineering was happily in situ in the outer paddock under the eye of John Monk, avoiding the necessity to go through the tunnel to the main scrutineering bay as well as for qualifying and the race.  It was cloudy but dry as the cars made their way onto the track at 10.25 and there were to be some surprises as the session developed. Pole position, following a superb fourth lap, was to be taken by Neil Smith who broke the 1'30s barrier, getting below Ian Stapleton's lap record with a 1'29.611". That it was a banzai one-off was shown by his inability to get within 0.8" during the rest of the session. However, it was good enough to be over 4 seconds quicker than Roger Evans who, to be fair, was on old tyres and pretty sure to be on the front row as Chris Snowdon was taking everything cautiously as he wished to be on the grid at all costs.

Fourth and fifth were the two class B cars, Gareth Haywood leading Simon Bird by nearly 2 seconds but sadly Simon was having a gearbox problem and this would make him a non-starter much to the disappointment of Simon himself and David Thomas and Chris Baker who had come along to help him. Mel Healey was running very quickly, with times very close to Mark James' lap record and would eventually line up 6th, a mere .004" ahead of her frequent rival Robin Eyre-Maunsell in his Class A 75. She would also be starting in front of the two Class C GTVs, Barry McMahon finally finding some speed to end up ahead of Graham Seager on his final lap. Going very well on this, his fourth outing, was Dave Messenger who would end up 11th on the grid, just behind Clive Hodgkin and in front of Nick Gooch. Clive should really have been further up the grid but the 75 was giving him a very uncomfortable time, cutting out all over the place, and it was a miracle he was not down among the Class E cars as he only managed one reasonable lap just at the end of the session.

Chris Healey (and Mel) had been to the circuit during the previous week with a road car, so perhaps this gave Chris something of an advantage but it should take nothing away from the fact that he was only Class E driver to break into the 1'43s with his blue and orange 156. Keith Williams and Andy Inman had chased hard, Keith eventually getting to within 0.201" of Chris, with Andy 0.221" further back. Tom Allen had also been in the hunt and at one point was fastest of all before dropping to 4th ahead of Martin Jones. Martin just edged out his wife Sarah, despite her big effort as the seconds ticked away. And what of Paul Plant|? 2 slow laps was all he could manage - a broken driveshaft being suspected. He would have to start from the back which could provide us with some excitement although he would have to be careful as he was under observation by the Clerk of Course following the implementation of championship rule 4.2.3

Dark clouds appeared several times as the morning and early afternoon wore on but as the 3.10 race start approached, it looked as though it would stay dry - a not inconsiderable bonus as it would be virtually impossible to return from the assembly area to the outer paddock for a quick late tyre change. Roger Evans had some new slicks on his GTV and was expecting to go considerably quicker in the race as was Paul Plant, driveshaft replaced but starting from the back. As the lights went out Neil Smith seemed to bog down slightly letting Roger pull away but as soon as the 156 was into its stride, his challenge was underway. Chris Snowdon was clinging on in third place with Gareth Haywood quickly established in 4th while further back, Paul Plant was off like a jack rabbit and soon passing cars on his way towards the front of Class E.

At the end of lap 1 Roger Evans led Neil by just 0.919", the 156 getting even closer on lap 2 but it was clearly going to be a two car race for the lead as Chris Snowdon was losing some three seconds a lap . Behind Gareth Haywood, Graham Seager, Barry McMahon, Robin Eyre-Maunsell and Mel Healey were engaged in a fine scrap which ebbed and flowed until lap 9 when Barry, who had led the group on lap 4, outbraked himself and slid off at the end of the run on the oval. Paul Plant had closed quickly on Class E leader Chris Healey, the pair running side by side for a while on lap 2, until Paul edged ahead. But Chris wasn't giving up and the pair touched lightly at the Esses where Paul took to the grass, returning in 2nd place. On the third lap he made it stick though and it looked as though he would pull away to his first class E win. It was not to be, however, as he slowed in front of the main grandstand at the end of lap 5 and although he continued at reduced speed, eventually dropped to the tail of the field before losing a lap with a pit stop.

The sight of the two GTVs running alongside each other through the banked Turn 1 had been quite dramatic and we were also kept entertained by Mel Healey's efforts to get on terms with Graham Seager after Robin Eyre-Maunsell had managed to pass Graham on lap 8. And if Chris Healey thought that the disappearance of Paul Plant was going to leave him a quiet stroll to the class E win he hadn't reckoned on the persistence of Keith Williams who started to make a strong challenge with his 145. For four laps they were tied together until Keith put himself in front on lap 10, only to slow dramatically as they came out of the Esses on lap 10 with a clutch problem. This gave Tom Allen, who had been having an impressive race in the 146, the chance to move up into 2nd ahead of Martin Jones.

While all this was happening, at the front Neil Smith had managed to keep his 156 within 2 seconds of Roger Evans until lap 6 but a brush with a kerb had, he thought, broken a roll bar and the handling had detiorated, losing him 2 or 3 seconds a lap. Then just when 2nd place seemed secure, a driveshaft failed and a very surprised Chris Snowdon was able to grab the runner-up spot although Neil did manage to crawl home a valuable 3rd. Roger carried on untroubled to take a well deserved win only just failing to take a new Alfa lap record.

Gareth Haywood came home a comfortable 4th, half a minute clear of Robin Eyre-Maunsell while the Mel Healey/Graham Seager battle went on to the finish, with Graham a second ahead at the flag. To complete an excellent Spur Motorsport day, a composed Chris Healey won Class E by 6.5" from Tom Allen with Martin Jones a further 3.5" back although he had to give best in the overall result to the well driven 75 3 litre of Dave Messenger. Martin was nearly caught on the line by Nick Gooch who led the rest of the finishers - Andy Inman, Sarah Heels, Paul Plant and Barry McMahon who had managed to get himself going again. The one retirement was Clive Hodgkin, the 75 cutting out for good on lap 2.

We were able to count ourselves lucky as immediately after the race the heavens opened and everyone dashed for shelter but just as quickly the rain stopped and we we rounded everyone up for the prize giving. The trophies were presented by Angela Fletcher, the "Driver of the Day" award going to a delighted Chris Healey. Joanne Eastwood drew the winning number for a free entry at a future race, the winner on his occasion being Neil Smith.

The Rockingham result produced a "First" for the Championship when a woman driver, Mel Healey, ended the day leading the overall championship, the only occasion this has happened in the 28 seasons since we started at Snetterton on Good Friday, 1982. Well done Mel! The full points table can be found elsewhere on the site.

Round 8 of the Championship will be the re-scheduled race at Donington on Sunday, August 2.

 

 

After the wash-out at Donington, everyone just wanted to get back to racing and if the sun shone, that would be a bonus! In some ways, the Silverstone entry might have been helped by the Donington problem as the National circuit is not always the most popular of the three versions we use. By the time everyone arrived for signing-on, there were a satisfying 24 cars, a last minute surge in Class D with the addition of Neil Smith, Paul Plant and Gethin Llewellyn having boosted the numbers. For my part, I was just happy to be back with the Championship again after missing Donington although Graham Heels was continuing to look after the co-ordinating duties on the day.

Following his successes at Snetterton and Castle Combe, Tim Lewis was undoubtedly  the favourite to win the 20 minute race. However there are always suspicions about the fragility of the Alfasud Sprint although, so far, the recurring gearbox problems have only manifested themselves in qualifying. Roger Evans was aiming to give Tim a close run with his 3.8 GTV while the class was made up by the 75s of Robin-Eyre Maunsell (3 litre 12v) and Christina Holley in Chris Snowdon's 24v version. Christina was hoping that it would be third time lucky after a non finish at Castle Combe and the abandoned race at Donington.

Gareth Haywood had entered his 156 2.5 24v in Class B after qualifying strongly at Donington and would be joined by John Griffiths whose 2.0 156 had been rebuilt after its heavy impact at Cadwell in April. Class C was to see a major strengthening of its entry with the return of 2008 winner Kevin Evans with his GTV and the 3.0 155 of Michael Walsh. Both drivers had been in the medical "wars" recently with knee and shoulder problems. Graham Seager's GTV had been seen at Donington and he couldn't wait for the opportunity to race it, making the comment that he didn't know why anyone wanted to run anything else now. He was joined in the GTV camp by Ron Davidson and Barry McMahon but sadly the class 2009 "benchmark" Shaun Hazlewood couldn't be there as his gearbox was awaiting a re-build by Brunswick.

In Class D, Neil Smith had decided to take the opportunity to run Emma Karwacki's car as Emma had complained at the end of last year about handling problems and wanted Neil to sort it out! Also Neil was waiting for a new final drive for his 156 which he reckoned would be off the pace on the National circuit. Good news in Class E was the return of Will Inglis whose 145 had received a new engine, Will doing the work himself with advice "down the phone" from Clive Hodgkin. Andrew Bramah was expecting a much better day with the upgraded ECU on his 147 while Len Brock was back for another try with the 146 he shares with son-in-law Tom Allen. Sarah Heels had been to an Easytrack test evening on the previous Thursday, brother Graham sitting alongside her once again and reporting some very productive sessions. The remaining cars in E were the 156s of Andy Inman, Paul Buckley and Chris Healey, plus the 145 of Keith Williams.

I arrived at the end of qualifying to find a worrying number of cars either stranded on the track or returning to the paddock to investigate problems.  The most "terminal" was the 156 of John Griffiths which had suffered engine failure while Tim Lewis had another transmission failure to contend with, asking for his spare box to be brought up from London. Mel Healey had a serious gearbox oil leak, Ron Davidson a suspect gearbox, Will Inglis an electrical problem and Christina Holley a loose oil pressure gauge sensor which had allowed the car to fill up with smoke. When Chris Snowdon put a spanner onto it, the sensor fell into the engine! Christina would start without it. There was plenty of other work going on - Neil Smith was dealing with the brakes on his 33 and while Dave Messenger's team spent a considerable time under the 75 sorting out the transmission. Barry McMahon also reported a failed air-flow meter on his GTV.

Tim Lewis had only done 5 laps (17 was the most done by any driver - in this case Roger Evans) but he was still able to set a best time (1'03.556") which was quicker than Ian Stapleton's two year old lap record. Roger Evans set a quickest time of 1'04.969" on his eigthth lap but it seemed like a "head down" (and maybe traffic free) effort as he only came near on a couple of other occasions later in the session.

Tim and Roger may have been in a class of their own, but the rest of the grid was closely matched, led by the Class C GTVs of Kevin Evans and Graham Seager. Fourth to nineteenth on the grid were separated by just 3.2". Robin Eyre-Maunsell would line up on the inside of the third row with Paul Plant alongside him, Paul having edged out Neil Smith by a mere 0.135". A close race for Class D was plainly on the cards. Ron Davidson had been putting in some quick  laps until the gearbox started to play up and he finished 8th fastest, less than a second away from Graham Seager's similar GTV. Christina Holley was enjoying herself in the 75 and would start next to Gareth Haywood who was disappointed in the performance of his 156 which he thought felt "flat". Gethin Llewellyn was showing better form in his 33, ending less than half a second slower than Neil Smith in Class D, he and Mel Healey sandwiching Michael Walsh's 155.  Andy Inman was the fastest Class E runner by a surprising margin - 0.56" - getting well below his own lap record. Keith Williams maintained his strong form by ending up second quickest ahead of Paul Buckley who was chased hard on the timesheets by Sarah Heels.

It seemed quite a long wait until race time but it did allow all the cars with problems to be returned to raceworthy condition apart from John Griffiths' 156. I was able to make my way up the 80 odd steps to the commentary box where I joined regular commentator Andrew Wilkins. As the view from the main box opposite the start/finish line is impeded by the pedestrian bridge and the BRDC buildings it was good that there was another commentator (Tony Coles) in the box at Becketts from which you get a close look at an always busy part of the track.

Tim Lewis took it very easily away from the start, putting no strain on his transmission, letting Roger Evans lead into Copse. Tim was initially boxed in by the Class C GTVs but by the exit of the corner he had already moved into second place. Graham Seager managed to get himself ahead of Kevin Evans pursued by Ron Davidson, Paul Plant (who ran wide at Copse two laps running, bringing out a black and white flag), Neil Smith and Christina Holley. The first lap ended in that order with Michael Walsh running an excellent 9th ahead of the closely matched Gareth Haywood, Gethin Llewellyn and Mel Healey. Robin Eyre-Maunsell had had a poor first lap  and was only just ahead of Class E leader, Andy Inman. But who was this just behind Andy? The superb Sarah Heels who had Chris Healey, Dave Messenger (Class C 75) Paul Buckley, Keith Williams and Will Inglis all behind her.

It was all a little busy at Becketts on lap 2 (as it had been on lap 1!) but everyone survived until Dave Messenger got the 75 broadside and was hit amidships by the unsighted Will Inglis. Both cars were severely damaged, the 145 stopping there and then while the battered 75 hobbled off towards the pits. Tim Lewis had taken the lead as the Safety Car emerged behind him and in front of Roger but Tim was well aware and let the Safety Car by so all was in order as the field started lap 3. The order at this stage was Tim Lewis, Roger Evans, Graham Seager, Kevin Evans, Ron Davidson,  Christina Holley, Paul Plant and Neil Smith, Neil contriving to make contact with the back of Paul Plant on the pit straight behind the Safety Car as something distracted him inside the car. Further back Andy Inman and Sarah Heels continued to lead E, with Chris Healey an unexpected 3rd.

The Safety Car was out for two laps while Will Inglis's 145 was towed away, racing resuming on lap 5. What wasn't realised (and there were no "fluid" flags) was that Will's car had dumped its power steering fluid at Becketts (slippery stuff!) causing some wild moments and contact between Neil Smith and Paul Plant. It all got pretty physical again at Brooklands, the two red 33s eventually ending up on the left before Luffield, with Neil on the grass, dropping behind Michael Walsh as a result.

Tim Lewis started to edge away from Roger Evans on lap 6 while Kevin Evans had got himself ahead of Graham Seager. The Class C leaders were now 3 seconds clear of Ron Davidson who was driving an excellent race despite an encounter with Paul Plant on lap 1 which had loosened his rear bumper. Christina Holley had pulled clear of Paul Plant while Neil Smith was being kept in his place by Michael Walsh, a situation that would last for some 5 laps before Neil found a way past. Gethin Llewellyn was running 10th (3rd in D) but was being pushed hard by the Mel Healey. However, attention was now rivetted on Class E where there was a great contest going on. Andy Inman still led from the splendid Sarah Heels but Chris Healey had been demoted by  Paul Buckley, Keith Williams and Andrew Bramah.

By lap 9, Tim Lewis's lead had opened up to 5 seconds and we were watching Christina Holley pushing on in her attempt to relieve Ron Davidson of 5th place which she succeeded in doing a lap later. She was now lapping faster than the other two GTVs ahead of her, there was a good chance she might be very close to a podium at the end. It was a delight to see the way Tim Lewis and Roger Evans, lights ablaze, worked their way carefully through the various groups of cars they were lapping. Paul Plant continued to lead Class D, lapping slightly quicker than Neil Smith who had Michael Walsh ahead of him running an excellent 9th until lap 11. Gethin Llewellyn, Robin Eyre-Maunsell, Gareth Haywood and Mel Healey were enjoying their own contest not far behind. In E, Keith Williams had passed Paul Buckley and was starting to look as though he might menace Sarah Heels' second place, Paul looking on with interest. As they entered their 14th lap, Keith was looking at the inside at Copse but at Becketts he ran wide over the kerbs and split his sump. Fortunately he knew what had happened and cut the engine before there was any damage. This opened the way for Paul Buckley but Sarah responded only to lose out on the very last lap, the slowing Mel Healey also getting involved. So Andy Inman took another fine Silverstone Class E win from Paul and Sarah with Andrew Bramah fourth, his best result so far in the 147. There was consolation for Keith Williams who took fastest lap and a new lap record.

While all this excitement was happening, Tim Lewis had set his fastest lap and a new outright Alfa lap record of 1'03.817"  on his 14th lap, not that he needed to as the gap to Roger Evans was already 15". He eased off slightly over the final two laps, as did Roger. Kevin Evans and Graham Seager crossed the line 3rd and 4th, just 1.8" apart, with Christina Holley an excellent 5th having closed to within 3.8" of Graham. Ron Davidson was next home but Paul Plant had suddenly slowed and made for the pits with overheating, the legacy of an early encounter with the rear of Christina's 75 which had damaged the 33's radiator. This elevated Neil Smith to his first Class D win although Gethin Llewelleyn was pressing on hard, finishing only 4" behind, having fought all the way to the finish with Gareth Haywood's Class B 156, an indication of better things to come. Michael Walsh might well have finished higher than 10th, had it not been for a power steering belt failure. Having worked his way up to 10th, Robin Eyre-Maunsell was another late retirement, sliding into the gravel at Brooklands accompanied by a huge dust cloud. After the race both Paul Plant and Neil Smith were called to see the Clerk of the Course but the race result remained unchanged.

Trophies were presented by Will Inglis's fiance Abigail. The "Driver of the Day" award went to Sarah Heels for her fine performance in Class E and Paul Buckley was the winner of the free entry draw.

 

 

Almost every race has its highlights and one of the many positive points of multi-class racing is that if one class doesn't deliver the goods, then another one certainly will. At Snetterton on May 3, it was really all about Class E but three weeks later the emphasis switched to some superb racing from Class A for the overall win. As at Snetterton race victory went to Tim Lewis but at Combe he was at least being chased home by a furious battle going on between Adie Hawkins and Neil Smith rather than having the task of threading through the rest of the field as he lapped them as his only entertainment.

Not that Tim's was a straightforward or easy day. He managed to break 2nd gear in qualifying after taking pole. 1.7" quicker than Ian Stapleton's lap record. After some lengthy discussion that went from no we won't bother, to yes we will and back again, the decision was finally taken after Adie Hawkins appeared brandishing the necessary shaft in an "I always carry one of those" moment. But it didn't end there as the Spirit of the Championship came into play with a vengeance as Tim's team plus prime-mover Adie and the always practical Leon Bailey set to on the task of rebuilding the gearbox with time always a pressing factor.

Meanwhile, second quickest in qualifying, Neil Smith had his own problems when a misunderstanding with Paul Buckley at Quarry had resulted in some re-arranging of his 156's very smart new wide wheel arches (shredded glass fibre rather than tangled metal) which left him applying a large amount of silver tank tape, followed by Emma Karwacki who was presented with a roll of relatively colour matching red to complete the job! Neil had always looked extremely quick in qualifying, and his fasest lap was also under the lap record. He reported phenomenal grip as result of the new 9" wheels so that his speed through the corners almost made him feel a lack of power down the straights. The rear end of Paul Buckley's car had also suffered in his incident with Neil but this too would be put into raceable shape by the time the cars were called to the assembly area. Paul had the consolation of emerging as fastest of the six Class E cars present.

Adie Hawkins' qualifying session seemed very quiet by comparison and, in normal Adie style, gave the impression that the race might be a different story. Shaun Hazlewood's GTV (the only Class C car present) was a strong fourth quickest ahead of the evenly matched Clive Hodgkin, Simon Bird and Mel Healey. Clive was giving his 75 3 litre its first run of the year after a large amount of t.l.c over the winter that had included finding some more power. Now, however, he found that he was running out of revs on the run to Quarry! The superbly turned out 156 of Simon Bird was giving him his most competitive opportunity for some time while Mel Healey was pushing hard in her Class D 33 16v, almost matching the two year old lap record of Nik Mantikas. 8th quickest was Robin Eyre-Maunsell's 75 just ahead of Paul Buckley. Chris Snowdon had spent some 30 man hours sorting out John Norrington's 145 after Snetterton and it arrived at Castle Combe with a combination of silver and the original black panels, but at least ready to race. 2nd quickest in E was his reward ahead of Keith Williams and Andy Inman, the Class D 33 of Gethin Llewellyn splitting them on the grid. Chris Healey ended with a time within .24" of Andy Inman with Sarah Heels a mere .59" further back. Lining up alongside Sarah would be newcomer to the Championship, Christina Holley, at the wheel of Chris Snowdon's 75 24v. Christina raced in Sports 2000 last year and before that had been hillclimbing and sprinting in Jersey with an American engined (and powerful!) single seater. On the back of the grid was Paul Plant who had suffered a disintegrating rotor arm on his qualifying out lap, ending up on the grass before quarry. He had suspected a fuel pick-up problem and his weaving had incurred the wrath of the Clerk of the Course. However, despite threats to the contrary, he was eventually allowed to take the start.

Creeping, then stopping, by Robin Eyre-Maunsell and Simon Bird, as everyone waited for what seemed a long time for the red lights to go out caused some confusion in the middle of the grid, delaying Mel Healey in particular. However, at the front Adie Hawkins was quickly away from the second row, grabbing the lead from Tim Lewis and Neil Smith before the field reached Quarry. Shaun Hazlewood and Clive Hodgkin were next in line ahead of the Class E leader Paul Buckley, Robin Eyre-Maunsell with Keith Williams and Chris Snowdon alongside each other. Paul Plant had made another of his banzai starts and actually ahead of the delayed Mel Healey going into Quarry, although both were being led in D by Gethin Llewellyn. Paul, however, was on the outside and ran wide onto the grass coming out of the corner. Andy Inman, who confesses to not really clicking with Castle Combe, got his braking all wrong on the approach to Quarry, skittering across the grass and happily re-joining without hitting anybody. Christine Holley had made good use of her sprinting experience to be well in the mix at Quarry with the 75 24v but would then get into first instead of third at the second chicane, finally cooking the clutch and retiring at the end of lap 3.

Adie Hawkins was not about to give away his lead without a fight, crossing the line in front (just!) at the end of the first lap with Tim Lewis sitting on his tail and Neil Smith in hot pursuit. Shaun Hazlewood and Clive Hodgkin with Paul Buckley looking well set in Class E and keeping Robin Eyre-Maunsell between himself and the 145 duo of Chris Snowdon and Keith Williams. Gethin Llewellyn was surprised to find himself with a 3" lead in D over Mel Healey and Paul Plant while Simon Bird was trying to gather himself up from his disrupted start.

By the end of lap 2 it was clear that Tim Lewis, reliability permitting, was going to dominate the race but all eyes were on the battle behind for second place between Adie Hawkins and Neil Smith which, as Adie described afterwards was a "titanic" struggle, for some 9 laps before Neil nearly tripped over a slower car at the second chicane and had to take to the infield. Before that, he had attempted to go round the outside of Adie on more than one occasion, causing our old friend David George, who was commentating at Old Paddock , to get very excited and exclaim that "it wasn't possible there!".

Meanwhile, Shaun Hazlewood and Clive Hodgkin had established themselves in fourth and fifth places while Robin Eyre-Manusell passed Paul Buckley into sixth on lap 2, thereafter keeping pace with Clive and sometimes lapping a fraction faster. Making rapid progress was Simon Bird who had moved ahead of Paul Buckley, Chris Snowdon and Mel Healey by the end of lap 4. Out of the Class D equation was Gethin Llewellyn who had lost four seconds somewhere on lap 2 and was now under threat from Paul Plant. Gethin was quickly despatched on lap 3 and the serious business of trying to pass Mel Healey began but Mel was not to be panicked, Paul having a "wild" day including another dusty moment on the exit of Camp. Not that he was alone, Neil Smith went a long way with two wheels off the track "I just remembered how Touring Car drivers do it and kept my foot in….!"}. Simon Bird had gradually edged onto the tail of Robin Eyre-Maunsell, passing him on lap 5 and setting off to try and grab 5th place from Clive Hodgkin who was just three seconds clear.

As the race entered its second half, we thought Tim Lewis might have a problem as the gap to Adie Hawkins, now free of the attentions of Neil Smith, came down to under 4" but lap times quickly showed that Tim had merely eased off. Nonetheless, he must have thought it was getting a little close for comfort as he soon speeded up again and eventually took the flag, having completed 16 laps, with a comfortable 9" advantage, helped by Adie also slowing when reaching the chequered flag became to main objective. This had allowed Neil to come within 3 seconds of the 33 but it was all too late. Shaun Hazlewood proceeded happily on his way to finish fourth while Simon Bird had never given up his chase of Clive Hodgkin, eventually slipping by with a lap to go although Clive never let him forget that he was right behind. Also closing in on both of them had been a fired up Robin Eyre-Maunsell who set his quickest lap right at the end to finish just 1.5" behind Clive in an excellent 7th overall.

In D, Mel Healey kept her composure to record a fine class win, probably her best drive in the Alfa Championship to date, which won her the Driver of the Day award. Paul Plant was second 2.8" adrift with Gethin Llewellyn a further 11.6" behind but happy to finish. Behind them, Paul Buckley took another excellent class win which had looked on the cards from the start of qualifying. Chris Snowdon had managed to break free of Keith Williams attentions to take second place but Keith had the consolation of his best finish of the year in third place. Andy Inman, Chris Healey and Sarah Heels had enjoyed a great scrap at the tail of the field with Sarah less than a second behind Chris at the flag.

Three hot looking drivers took to podium car for their "tour d'honneur" after the race. Small field it might have been but the entertainment had been excellent. Our thanks to Steve Burns and his team at Castle Combe for their welcome and hospitality. We hope to back next year.

Seeing Tim Lewis's Alfasud Sprint sitting on the grass, a front wheel askew, at the end of qualifying for Round 4 of the BRSCC Alfashop Alfa Romeo Championship at Snetterton, brought the possibility that we might not see a Class A car winning the race later in the day. Nick Anderson had already retired from the fray with a hole in the top of the 33's block and Chris Oxborough's supercharged 75 was facing a very strong challenge from Shaun Hazlewood's Class C GTV. It brought back the memory of Martin Parsons winning overall in  his  production 164 3.0 24v several years ago.

Perhaps the biggest disappointment at Snetterton was the non appearance of Anthony George's 300 bhp plus turbocharged 156. It had tested the previous Tuesday but had suffered a serious overheating problem and had been withdrawn. This left a situation where Tim Lewis was going to be unchallenged if the car proved reliable as the likes of Adie Hawkins, Roger Evans and Neil Smith had not entered for various reasons. In qualifying, however, a persistemt misfire meant that Tim couldn't match his times in testing before a front hub collapsed. Nonetheless, he was still over 7 seconds quicker than Chris Oxborough who would share the front row. A fine sight at the start of qualifying had been the three Class C GTVs in line astern, Shaun Hazlewood, Ron Davidson and Barry McMahon, and they would end the session in that order just ahead of Class D leader Paul Plant, now back in his 33 16v, and the Class A 75 of Robin Eyre-Maunsell who was having his first outing of the year. Mel Healey (33 16v) ended qualifying 8th overall and 2nd in D, having outpaced Gethin Llewellyn who was returning to the Championship after five years away. His very smart black 33 16v was the much rebuilt ex Alan Hudd car but with a road spec' engine and virtually no testing, it was always going to be a hard task for Gethin, particularly on a circuit he had never visited before.

Talking to Lewis Beales (Motorsport News) and Oliver Timson (Autosport) I had emphasised that the best racing - "and please report it!" - was going to come in Class E. The nine car entry comprised the 156s of Andy Inman, Chris Finch, Paul Buckley, Chris Healey and Sarah Heels, the 145s of Martin Jones, Keith Williams and Chris Snowdon (in John Norrington's car) plus the lone 147 of Andrew Bramah. The qualifying times were very close indeed with Andy Inman just edging Martin Jones out of his first possible pole position by just 0.2". Despite being some 70kg overweight, Chris Snowdon would end up third quickest, almost pipped by class points leader Paul Buckley. Chris Finch had hoped to be nearer the front but suffered a clutch failure after only 6 laps (most people managed 16 plus in the 25 minute session). Nonetheless he set a time quicker than Keith Williams, Sarah Heels and Chris Healey. Sarah's aim had been to break the 1'30" barrier and this she managed on several occasions, showing how much she has improved this year, ending just 1.1" off Andy Inman's class pole time.

There was much work to do before the cars were called to the assembly area in mid afternoon. Tim Lewis and his team were trying to build up a new front hub for the Sprint, while Bianco were busy fitting a new clutch in Chris Finch's 156 and Avon Racing were busy sorting out Paul Buckley's brakes. In an effort to lose weight, there were various items being discarded from Chris Snowdon's 145, including water from the washer bottle which was found to be full - not part of the "standard" regulations!! Everyone was eventually ready to run , apart from Nick Anderson, although it was agreed with Tim Lewis that he would start from the pit road to prevent any problems should his "new" front hub not prove up to the job. As a result, Shaun Hazlewood had the chance to lead at least a couple of laps in the impressive sounding GTV before Tim caught him and powered away, obliterating the lap record on a clear road and eventually, after lapping the entire field except Shaun, setting a new mark of 1'13.981" on lap 9 - a shade over 2 seconds quicker than his previous best.

Chris Oxborough had ended the first lap 4 seconds behind Shaun while Barry McMahon had had an excellent first lap and was running just in front of Ron Davidson but Ron used his Snetterton knowledge to good effect (and his fresh Peak Alfa built engine) get past on lap 2 , staying there despite the efforts of Barry McMahon who was having his best drive so far. Paul Plant, Robin Eyre-Maunsell and Mel Healey were next in line but all eyes were soon focussed on Class E where a terrific three car scrap had developed at the front, later to become a six car train as the race developed. Surprisingly it was Chris Snowdon who held the lead, driving a "defensive" race to keep Andy Inman and Chris Finch. Martin Jones, although he had lost out at the start, was still in front of Keith Williams and Paul Buckley with Sarah Heels hanging on gamely and in front of Chris Healey and Andrew Bramah.

Behind the flying Tim Lewis, Shaun Hazlewood was showing impressive speed and by the end of lap 5 had opened up the gap between himself and Chris Oxborough to 11 seconds. Only a couple of seconds behind the white and green 75. Ron Davidson was still being pursued by Barry McMahon who closed to within 1.5" on lap 6, sliding the car through Russell on opposite lock on the way. Paul Plant was only 3" further back while Mel Healey had got herself in front of Robin Eyre-Maunsell. Chris Snowdon continued to lead the Class E "train" but Chris Finch was looking hard for a way to get past Andy Inman as he reckoned that Chris Snowdon was certainly beatable. However, it was to take him until lap 10 before he could move ahead, quickly closing on the Snowdon 145 although it was a further two laps before he could take over the lead and pull away slightly.   

A gearchange error by Chris Finch at Riches meant that Chris Snowdon was right on his tail down the Revett Straight. At the entry to the Esses he tried a late passing manoeuvre down the inside which Chris Finch had not expected and the two cars made contact. Chris Finch spun on the grass but was then out of control, coming back onto the track and hitting the black 145 hard in the passenger door. Sadly this was the end of Chris Finch's race with severe front end damage. Through all the dust, Andy Inman sailed unharmed into the lead, Chris Snowdon recovered to stay a dented second, albeit with smoke coming from a tyre rubbing on the bodywork, with Martin Jones, Paul Buckley and Keith Williams making up the pursuit. Sarah Heels was still maintaining her position ahead of a frustrated Chris Healey. After two more laps Paul Buckley was beginning to make progress by passing Martin Jones and managed to pass Chris Snowdon, only to have a similar incident to that of Chris Finch, as a result of which he spun but was able to continue, now back behind Keith Williams with only 2 laps left.

Tim Lewis continued to sing along at the front, finding his way smoothly past the rest of the field, in the case of some of the Class E cars three times in the 25 minute race. The speed differential was at times quite spectacular and required everyone to keep their wits about them. Tim eventually crossed the line in the middle of Class E which caused confusion as to who still had racing to do. Shaun Hazlewood had retained his excellent 2nd place with no problems as Chris Oxborough had gradually drifted back with a return of his clutch problem and was passed by Ron Davidson, Barry McMahon, Paul Plant and Robin Eyre-Maunsell. Chris was also almost caught on the line by Mel Healey who finished 8th overall and 2nd in D. Andy Inman had opened his lead in Class E to 17 seconds with Chris Snowdon coming home as runner-up. Martin Jones, Keith Williams and Paul Buckley were given almost identical times while Chris Healey had managed to pass Sarah Heels with a couple of laps to go, much to her disappointment as she had stayed ahead so long. Her best lap in 1'29.766" was within 1.25" of the fastest class lap set by Paul Buckley . At the tail of the field, even Andrew Bramah was able to feel he had made progress with his 147 chopping 1.5" off his quickest lap in qualifying.

The trophies were presented afterwards by Philip Clay, the Driver of the Day Award going to Ron Davidson. Alastair Iles pulled the winning "lottery" ball for the free entry prize. For the second time this was won by Nick Anderson but he very graciously declined to accept and at the second attempt the winner was Shaun Hazlewood.