Round 5 Mallory Park - Sunday June 17th
Ray and DC get Pierced!
In a meeting, fraught with race stoppages, Classic Clubmans thankfully made it through with only their second accident free race of the year. Mark Pierce took his first win of the year after a hard tussle at the front, whilst Dave Facer got his own back on Mike Evans, after his only defeat of the year at Cadwell.
Nineteen cars entered the meeting that took us up to the halfway stage in the championship. A 'no show' on the day from David Bain, left us with 7 A-Sports, 8 B-Sports and 3 F 1300's. It was good to see Mike Evans out for his second run of the year, in Mike McDermott's Mk.20 and a welcome return to Cliff Robertson in the Tasman, after his 'gammy leg' kept him out of the cockpit at Snetterton. David Gibson was returning after his accident in the first round at Thruxton and it was also great to see both Haggis's after the Snetterton disaster, a real tribute to the hard work put in by both Tony Harman and Alan Davenport, to repair their cars in time.
Practice
The day held a constant promise of rain and as the cars took to the track, those ominous streaks of water began to appear on visors. However, the strong wind kept the weather moving, keeping the track dry for the session. Predictably, it was the top trio of DC, Ray Harper and Mark Pierce well clear of the rest, although just a little surprisingly, it was Mark who secured pole. Just 0.3 secs. Separated these three and only 6 hundredths of a second kept Ray from the top slot.
Cliff Robertson secured 4th spot, with the only other time under the magical 50-second mark, to head up the F1300's and Dave F secured the class pole for B-Sport, with a time fractionally over that mark. Mike Evans joined Dave on row three, to set up an intriguing race for B-Sport, despite a plug lead coming off (He set his time with four cylinders - honestly!).
Tony Harman's sterling efforts to get the car repaired after Snetterton were rewarded with 7th slot and Peter Carter joined him on row 4. Peter's steady improvement throughout the year is a real tribute to his hard work. An all A-Sport row 5 saw Robin Booth and Gavin Childs separated by just 0.05 secs, closely followed by the all B-Sport row 6 of Ian Mitchell and David Gibson. The amount of oil coming from Ian's engine suggests it may be getting tired. David was playing himself back in slowly.
Alan Davenport and Richard Marshall were on row 7. Richard knows the car is OK he just needs to go faster! Alan had planned to use the Peterborough Motor Club meeting, the previous day at Silverstone as a test session and then failed to get a run, when the meeting was cancelled after the sad death of Steve Bell.
Chris Denham took the second F1300 slot on row 8, a head gasket causing his demise towards the end of the session. Roy Bing joined him. Roy seems to have solved the ignition problems that have been plaguing him for the last two races. He feels he just needs to get himself in gear. Tony Maher, in the Star and Garter Homes' Ellova, shared the final row with Kelly Williams. Kelly had the misfortune to last just three laps before parking on the entrance to the Lake Esses with an ignition problem.
Race
After a good talking to in the paddock, from 'Bernie' Childs about holding a line if you get away slowly, the field moved away cleanly on the green light and the front three quickly opened up a gap to the rest of the field, with Cliff a comfortable 4th. Dave Facer was tardy away from row 3, so it was Mike Evans up to 5th. And a fast starting Tony Harman in 6th. Dave settled in 7th hotly pursued by Peter Carter, Gavin Childs and Robin Booth. At the end of the first lap, there was little to separate the first three. Mark and David seemed to have the edge over Ray in a straight line. Ray was quicker through the fast bends, but lost time each lap at the hairpin with a major under steer problem ( Those Hoosiers aren't used to tight bends Ray!). Further back Dave F started to push hard and Tony graciously conceded. He saw no point in getting caught up in a fierce class battle for B-Sport honours. A definite straight-line advantage allowed Dave to ease right onto Mike Evans' tail and a thrilling battle ensued. On two occasions Dave dived inside at the Esses, but as he lifted, Mike just continued to drive around the outside. Finally, on lap 5 Dave made it stick. Much closer to Mike out of the hairpin, he drove past on the outside down pit straight and secured the line through Gerrards, not to be challenged again. An intriguing dice was also developing for 7th overall and the final A-Sport points. Tony Harman's gracious concession had delayed him sufficiently for Gavin Childs and a charging Robin Booth to catch him and a superb 3 way dice followed. Robin had changed his diff between practise and race and the difference amounted to some 3 seconds per lap. Meanwhile Peter Carter had fallen back into the clutches of Ian Mitchell and David Gibson, these three circulating in close formation for the remainder of the race. Richard Marshall had held on to these three early on, but as the race progressed, he dropped back sufficiently to be harassed by Alan Davenport. At the end, it was Mark Pierce, for his first win of the year, by a second from DC, with a very frustrated Ray Harper in third a further half a second back. Such was their advantage, that Cliff Robertson in 4th was a further 40 seconds adrift. Robin had eased away from Gavin and Tony and also succeeded in passing both Mike and Dave F, to take 4th in class and 5th overall. Dave came home a jubilant 6th to secure the B-Sport honours for the 4th time this year. Mike was 4 seconds adrift at the flag to take 2nd spot, closely followed by Gavin, who took the last A-Sport points and the honour of being the last unlapped runner. Separated from Gavin by the leaders on the last lap, Tony Harman finished a disappointed 6th in class and 9th overall. Points were still at stake in B Class and it was Peter Carter, Ian Mitchell and David Gibson finishing nose to tail who secured these points with third, fourth and fifth in class respectively. Richard Marshall and Alan Davenport continued their scrap to the end, finishing less than a second apart. Tony Maher had a lonely race for 15th and the final finisher was Roy Bing, struggling with himself, rather than the car. Chris Denham was the only non-finisher, retiring early with a repeat of his practise problems. Low oil pressure suggests the engine problem may be major. Poor Kelly Williams didn't even make the start, the car refusing to fire up in the paddock.
So, here we are, at half time. The next three races will sort out the enthusiasts and the diehards, as the circus goes to Anglesey, Lydden and Pembrey respectively. At least after Anglesey, we will be able to sit back and take stock, as we have a five week break before Lydden and then another four weeks before Pembrey. It looks like DC won't be there, as he has apparently sold his car (COWARD!). Let's hope that a sufficient number of you consider the long trips to motor racing's furthest outposts worthwhile and we continue to do the register proud with good grids and great racing.
For the brave (or slightly mad?) see you at Anglesey!
Sue Facer