Great grandfather David Childs returned to winning ways at Brands after faltering at Mallory, but it was the older of the Harper brothers who starred, with a fine run to third place from the very back of the grid.
Entry
The big Brands CSMA meeting attracted a super entry of 24 cars, easily the best of the year so far. The Classic entry was bolstered by two K-Sport cars running in the invited class. Marcus Bicknell is no stranger to Classic Clubmans, having previously had runs in the ‘Wasp’ back in 2001, but the other ‘invitee’ was Martin Mansell having a run in Tony Pouyanne’s Phantom. Martin had been a Clubmans regular for many years, so it is a warm welcome back. Can we tempt you on a permanent basis Martin??
In A-Sport it was season openers for Finlay Bason and the Harper Brothers. In particular an A-Sport debut for Pete.
In B-Sport, it was a surprise return for Peter Carter, having a one off outing in the Mallock works hire car. After his catastrophic engine/transmission failure at Mallory, this was a birthday present from his wife!
In F1300, Alan White-Aldworth was a welcome addition to the class, struggling to expand its numbers.
Qualifying
Although not the warmest day in May, the weather was pleasant enough, so it was a dry track and the promise of some fast times as 23 of the 24 cars left the collecting area.
.Sure enough, it was the Phantom duo at the front, DC emerging just 0.2 seconds ahead of Ray Harper, both under the lap record. The first Mallock was on row 2, with Mike Hickson, the only other runner under 50 seconds. He was joined on row 2 by the ever improving Anthony Denham.
Malcolm Jackson was on the inside of row three, having had a traumatic practice with no brakes. He was joined by invitee, Marcus Bicknell, who set his time after losing his undertray at Paddock half way through the session (and giving a following Dave Facer a fright!).
Row 4 saw the first of four runners in the 51 second bracket. Darren Green was joined by Gavin Childs. Both having trouble free runs, but neither as fast as they would like to be.
Row 5 saw Finlay Bason and Martin Mansell. Finlay trouble free, but not as quick as he wished. Martin relearning the ropes after a long absence of 8-10 years.
Row 6 saw the other two class polesitters. Barry Webb comfortably under the Class B record and Jared Wood, a surprise pole in F1300.
Dave Facer shared row 7 with Richard Hypher. Both problem free, Richard running new tyres. Ian Mitchell and Peter Carter were on row 8. Peter in the Mallock works hire car showing that it is his own car slowing him down, not his driving!
Graham Onion and Alan Davenport made up row 9. This was Graham’s first visit to Brands, so he was on a ‘scouting mission’. Alan’s mechanic (date for the day! You know how to show a girl a good time!!) failed to show, so he had to manage on his own.
Phil O’Halloran’s session was curtailed with a broken driveshaft, so he finished on row 10, alongside Alan White-Aldworth, whose axle was badly leaking oil. Steve Chaplins miserable luck continues. He had to pit twice due to the throttle sticking open. He was joined on row 11 by Pete Harper, making his A-Sport debut. Pete had axle and ignition problems and was restricted to just a lap and a half.
The final row saw Steve Clamp who was having serious icing problems (I thought that was a cake making excuse Steve!) and Reg Powell, whose car failed to start due to his brand new fuel pump giving up and who practised out of session.
What is amazing, is that of the first 18 cars on the grid, only one (Malcolm Jackson) reported any problem at all, let alone one that affected their performance. Race drivers are normally the first to find something, on which they can blame their poor grid position!
Race
Green lights are a thing of the past! Nonetheless, the field got away cleanly as the red lights went out, David Childs leading Ray Harper through Paddock and up the hill to Druids, with Mike Hickson in close attendance.
Barry Webb comfortably retained the B-Sport lead from Dave Facer and in F1300, Richard Hypher had got a flyer and grabbed the class lead from Jared Wood. The big winner however was Pete Harper, flying through the grid at tremendous pace. He had probably cleared half the field by Druids!
It all changed on lap 2 as Ray Harper spun at Paddock, pushing just a little too hard to keep in contact with DC. This elevated Mike Hickson to second, Malcolm Jackson to third and Anthony Denham up to fourth.
Ray resumed in 7th. Close behind the Gryphon of Gavin Childs. Finlay Bason and Graham Onion were having fun, mixing it with the K-Sport cars of Marcus Bicknell and Martin Mansell.
Barry Webb had a comfortable lead in B-Sport, having Richard Hypher and Jared Wood between himself and Dave Facer. Dave in turn was being slowed by Jared, allowing Ian Mitchell and Pete Carter to draft their way onto his tail.
Lap five saw the first of three retirements. Darren Green pulled off with a broken nose (something you said Darren?).
By half distance, DC had pulled out a two second cushion to Mike Hickson, these two well clear of the rest of the field. The man on the move though was Pete Harper, still making progress through the field. Having quickly disposed of the B-Sport cars, he was now working on the rest of the A-Sport pack.
Good dices continued down the field. Gavin was continuing to hold off Ray Harper and the B-Sport dice for second was really hotting up. Peter Carter had sneaked by Ian Mitchell and was closing on Dave, when suddenly chaos loomed on the exit from Clearways. Richard Hypher, under no pressure, suddenly spun and ended up broadside across the track. Jared Wood and the duelling trio of B-Sport cars descended on him at speed and only a miracle kept contact to a minimum. Dave Facer and Pete Carter benefited, whilst Ian Mitchell and Jared lost out on the outside of the track. Richard recovered to keep the F1300 lead.
Steve Chaplin continued his run of bad luck as a carburettor leak sprayed fuel all over him and he retired on lap 9. Meanwhile Marcus Bicknell’s strong run was hampered by gear selection problems and he lost a lap in the pits.
David Childs cruised to victory number two with Mike Hickson just two seconds adrift at the end. Pete Harper had moved majestically up to third place albeit a further seven seconds back. Malcolm Jackson was fourth having solved his brake problem by taking a washer off the engine mounting (don’t ask!!?!) and Anthony Denham was fifth, regretting his lack of power. Ray Harper had finally eased by Gavin Childs to take sixth. Gavin came home seventh, under severe pressure from Finlay Bason.
Martin Mansell completed his first race for a decade, picking up the invited class spoils after Marcus Bicknell’s gear problems. He finished just in front of Graham Onion. Reg Powell completed the A-Sport runners with a solid run to eleventh from the very back of the grid – if the race had been another couple of laps the result might have changed dramatically.
Although the first man to finish a lap down, Barry Webb eased home to comfortably take B-Sport honours, seven seconds clear of Dave Facer. Peter Carter picked up his first trophy, finishing third, a second and a half behind Dave.
Richard Hypher recovered to finish right on Peter Carter’s tail to take the F1300 honours, well clear of the next man home, Marcus Bicknell. Marcus delayed by gearstick issues – ‘It came off in me hand guv, honest!’
A further six seconds back was a disappointed Ian Mitchell, much delayed by the Richard Hypher spin. It was very much a case of what could have been. He was only four seconds clear of a much improving Alan Davenport.
The final B-Sport runner home was Phil O’Halloran, a further lap down. Steve Clamp claimed second in F1300, followed home by a disconsolate Jared Wood, who spun after contact with Ian Mitchell, avoiding Richard Hypher.
Alan White-Aldworth’s weekend came to a sorry close when the engine just died on the last lap. This following a first lap spin and a race, watching his mirrors.
Driver of the day went deservedly to Pete Harper with a storming run on his A-Sport debut. Mechanic of the day went to an equally deserving Darren Green, whose unselfish actions helped other competitors get to the grid on time and race ready.
So in summary, a good grid and an entertaining race for the huge crowd. A really good advert for Classic Clubmans. It was a great shame that competitors from other formulae cannot follow the paddock guidelines laid out in the final instructions, otherwise we could have put on an equally good show in the paddock.
Looking forward to seeing you all at Snetterton.
Yours in racing
Sue
Facer
Aka
The Demonic
Veteran
racer David Childs took his second win of the season in a tense third round of
the Fuelforce Classic Clubmans championship at Brands Hatch on Saturday (22
May).
As
part of the annual CSMA Classic Festival, the race was witnessed by a large
crowd, and an excellent entry turned in an entertaining race with battles all
the way down the order.
Fastest
in qualifying, Childs (Phantom P79) leapt into a lead that he would throughout
but he was never able to relax. Fellow front man Ray Harper (Phantom P79),
making his seasonal debut, snapped at his heels until spinning at Paddock Hill
Bend on lap two. “I overcooked it,” confessed the Chesterfield man.
Harper
resumed eleventh and forged his way back up to sixth by the close, while his
brother Peter upheld family honour, coming up from 22nd on the grid to take
third place. A broken differential after just one lap of qualifying was the
culprit that left him so far back.
“It
was a question of what might have been,” he said, after a storming drive
during which he smashed Childs’ three-year old lap record. It was also a clear
indication that Peter will be a major force in the overall race battles, having
stepped up to class A over the winter.
Meanwhile,
Childs had to deal with a new threat, in the form of the charging Mike Hickson
who got his Mallock Mk20B to within 0.4s of the Phantom at one stage. But Childs
was able to raise his game in response for what was ultimately a 2.4s winning
margin.
“It’s
never easy at my age and Mike really kept me honest,” said a delighted Childs.
Having been runner-up in both previous rounds, Malcolm Jackson had to make do
with fourth this time in his Mallock Mk20B. Barry Webb maintained his winning
run in Class B to keep up his bid for success in both 2004 Clubmans
championships while Richard Hypher was best of the F1300 machines. Racing
veteran Martin Mansell was a clear winner of the Invitation class on his return
to racing with his Phantom.
1
David Childs (Phantom P79) 11m38.059s (88.62mph); 2 Mike Hickson (Mallock Mk20B)
11m40.471s; 3 Peter Harper (Mallock Mk20B); 4 Malcolm Jackson (Mallock Mk20B); 5
Antony Denham (Doris); 6 Ray Harper (Phantom P79); 7 Gavin Childs (Gryphon
C73/75); 8 Finley Bason (Myers Special); 9 Martin Mansell (Phantom); 10 Graham
Onion (Mallock Mk14E). Class winners: Childs; Mansell; Barry Webb (Mallock
Mk16BW); Richard Hypher (RAE Type E1). Fastest lap: Peter Harper 48.598s
(90.83mph) lap record.
Issued
by Paul Lawrence on behalf of the Clubmans Register
(tel
01952 510382)