FUELFORCE CLASSIC CLUBMANS CHAMPIONSHIP 2005
Jackson On Borrowed Tyres!
Starting on his own from the front row, after poleman Pete Harper’s practice demise, Malcolm Jackson dominated the race, lapping the entire field lower than 5th.
Dave Facer secured a ‘fortuitous’ B-Class win, after Mark Charteris and Ian Mitchell clashed at the hairpin.
Entry
After the poor showing (lack of numbers, not from those who did turn up) at Silverstone, it was a much improved entry that arrived to do battle at a warm, if slightly damp, Mallory Park.
20 cars had made the trip to the Leicestershire countryside, for the first of the two Non BARC meetings on the calendar. This meeting was run by the Aston Martin Owners Club (for those of you what was wandering what AMOC stood for!) and it was a welcome change to share the paddock with a whole range of vintage Astons and similar machinery (Those early cars really don’t look safe. I’d check the insurance before I’d allow Dave out in one!).
The twelve A-Class cars included seasonal debuts for Mike Evans, Ewan Bason in the pretty Myers, and Ray Harper in the extremely quick Phantom. Also having his first race of the year was Mike Hickson, fresh from his recent ‘holiday’ observing the British Army’s finest in Afghanistan.
The five B-Sports who appeared at Silverstone were joined by 2004 runner-up Ian Mitchell, who ‘raced’ his Clubmans Cup car at Silverstone, and a warm welcome to Simon Andrews, a complete newcomer, in the ex Mike Gurr/Stuart Ward Mallock.
Also out for the first time this year, was the singleton Class D car of Jared Wood.
Practice
Any remaining dampness(as in overnight thunder and torrential rain) was dispersed very early, so it was on a completely dry track that the cars took to, just before midday. And what a frustrating session it must have been, with two incidents at the hairpin in the latter half of the session, rendering it impossible to log a time late on. Therefore the grid was determined in favour of those who dropped their quick time in early. Tough on those who were bedding something in or slowly getting faster. Immediately into the swing was Pete Harper, posting a pole time dangerously close to breaking the 46 second barrier. Sadly Pete’s session was brought to an abrupt end, after a coming together with another car at the hairpin. The resultant damage meant an early bath for Pete(and not a moment to soon) and the trip back to Yorkshire to start the repairs before Brands.
The other front row position was annexed by Malcolm Jackson in his Mark 20, despite bedding in new tyres and new brakes. Sadly his session also finished early when one of his brand new Avons lost it’s pressure, which any tyre would do with six visible to the naked eyes holes.
Also in the 46 sec. bracket, was Mike Evans in Mike Mcdermott’s Mk.20, Mike taking the inside of row 2. Joining him was ‘Anttt’ Denham in the Doris, the first of three runners in the 47 sec. bracket.
The other two 47 sec. runners sat on row three. These were DC in son Gavin’s Gryphon and Mike Hickson. Mike was immediately a second faster than last year. Let’s put it down to low fuel, after discussion with BAR and Jenson, shall we Mike?
On row 4 sat the Staffordshire pairing of Graham Onion and Ewan Bason, both having trouble free sessions and logging times in the 48’s.
Ray Harper was surprisingly far back on row 5. His practise dogged by handling and brake problems and then terminated by a catastrophic valve failure. Sadly, Ray was to be joining Brother Pete on that early drive back to the North, but hopefully not the bath together. Steve Campbell took the other row 5 slot in the Raffo(not Raggo as stated in the programme – these Aston owners might be posh, but they can’t spell) His practice was shortened by a plug lead coming off. It might go faster if you take those plastic bags off the tyres Steve!
Reg Powell was on the inside of row 6 in the Pink Panther. Reg had a coming together at the Hairpin with a Class-B car and was stranded for four laps. He was joined by the first Class-B runner, Mark Charteris. Mark had a trouble free run, but was concerned by the amount of oil building up on the rear brakes – claimed it affected the handling!
Hot on Mark’s tail however, were the IM1 of Ian Mitchell and the Mk,18 of Dave Facer. Dave sporting new tyres for the first time since 1989! No we haven’t won the lottery, I must have had a major senior moment when Dave told me I had agreed to this essential expenditure. On Row 8 were the Mallocks of Steve Chaplin and Alan Davenport. Steve had a trouble free run, but Alan’s session was curtailed when the car suddenly died and would not fire up again until it was safely in the paddock. Sensible car.
The final A-Sport runner was on row 9. Geoff Cogan’s practise was cut dramatically short with a front hub failure. Joining him was Jared Wood in his first outing of the year and continuing to suffer from gearbox problems.
Finally on row 10, we had Simon Andrew and Tony Harman. Poor Simon suffered a real baptism of fire, being involved in both of the incidents at the hairpin. Tony sported a new race suit, but it didn’t help the car go any faster!
Race
So, with the absence of the Harper brothers, eighteen cars made it to the start line. Malcolm Jackson sporting a pair of front wheels/tyres borrowed from Graham Onion and Geoff Cogan with a pair of front hubs on loan from Dave Facer.
Borrowed tyres or not, at the red lights went out, Malcolm used his lone front row starting slot to good advantage and eased into a lead never to be lost. Mike Evans lost a couple of places with a lousy start, but not as bad as Steve Campbell, who got completely bogged down.
Further down the field, B-Class got away very much in grid order, with Mark Charteris just in front of Ian Mitchell and Dave Facer.
At the end of lap one, Jackson had already built up a comfortable lead from a fast recovering Mike Evans. DC was in 3rd. place, hotly pursued by Antt Denham. Then came Mike Hickson, Graham Onion and Ewan Bason in close formation, pursued by Reg Powell, Steve Campbell and Geoff Cogan.
There was already a small gap to the B-Class, where Mark Charteris had a few yards on Ian Mitchell and Dave Facer. Jared Wood, the lone F1300 runner followed, then Steve Chaplin and Alan Davenport nose to tail. Finally, Simon Andrew was enjoying a tidy dice with Tony Harman.
As the first half of the race developed, Steve Campbell worked himself up to the dice between DC and Anttt in the Doris. On lap five we lost Mike Hickson with fuel starvation and Reg Powell started to lose ground with a misfire.
Then, on lap ten, Mark Charteris took the wrong gear exiting the hairpin and Ian and Dave seized their opportunity to get past. Mark recovered quickly and the three went into Gerrards nose to tail. Ian slowed through the Esses, catching Dave out and as the trio moved towards the hairpin, Mark pulled inside of Dave. Sensing trouble, Dave moved out wide. Mark, with badly oiled rear brakes, locked up and slid into Ian, losing his nose in the process. Dave drove around the outside and off into the distance. Ian recovered, but Mark retired on the spot.
A lap later, Graham Onion tried an adventurous manoeuvre on DC and Anttt, whilst overtaking a brace of B-Class cars. Sadly all came to nought and Graham took up his usual grass cutting role before retiring. Then, on lap 15, we lost the only F1300 car, Jared rolling to a stop with no clutch.
As the race entered its final phase, it was Malcolm Jackson well clear of the rest of the field, followed by Mike Evans in an equally comfortable 2nd. place. DC was just keeping ahead on Steve Campbell, but Antt retired with a recurrence of his practise misfire, leaving Ewan Bason in a lonely 5th. spot. Geoff Cogan was equally lonely in 6th.
In B-Class, Dave Facer eased off at the front, being well clear of the recovering Ian Mitchell, who was just ahead of Alan Davenport and Steve Chaplin. Tony Harman had just managed to creep ahead of Simon Andrew for 5th. in class.
At the end of 15 minutes (19 laps for the leaders) it was Malcolm, some 13 secs. Clear of Mike Evans. Mike was a further 22 secs. Clear of the 3rd. place battle, which was won by DC in the Gryphon. 4th. went to Steve Campbell in the Raffo and Ewan Bason completed the unlapped runners in 5th.
Geoff Cogan was 6th. a lap down, followed by Dave Facer, taking the B-Class win and 7th. overall.
Ian Mitchell, Alan Davenport and Steve Chaplin were next, a further lap down. Reg Powell misfired his way to 11th. overall and Tony Harman just managed to stay in front of debutant Simon Andrew, for 12th. overall and 5th. in class.
Doesn’t that just show that the way to win a race is to borrow somebody else’s tyres! (Of course, talent has nothing to do with it!)
Nonetheless, a great result, even if the field was quite spread out at the end. A few early season gremlins for some of the A-Class cars and the first non-finish of the season for a class B car (albeit accident damage).
Malcolm Jackson got a second bottle of champagne as driver of the day and it was Geoff Cogans mechanic,…….., who was awarded mechanic of the day for his sterling work in changing Geoff’s front hubs over.
Now firmly established back in the UK, the Hickson family are varying their pursuits. Mike’s wife Sophie has given up horse riding and taken up Clay Pigeon shooting! The rumour is, that her new gun will cost more than Mike’s car! However I think Sophie is worth more than that! (Sorry Sophie – you know telling me not to mention something is like saying publish it on the wwwdotcom)
Another rumour is, that we will soon see Reg Powell’s son Andy in a Classic Clubmans car. If his Formula Ford performances are anything to go by, the rest of the field had better watch their backs! Or more to the point Andy’s back.
If you have any more good goss to pass on to the world just whisper your secrets to me, and I promise to be ultra discreet. NOT. Also if you have any spare parts, bring them to race meetings so that you can lend them to someone else to help them beat you. That’s the real spirit of clubmans coming out.
See you at Brands for a super weekend’s entertainment and racing
Love from
Sue ‘the demonic big hair perm’ Facer
Following the disappointment of his retirement at Silverstone, Malcolm Jackson produced a ruthlessly dominant display to win the second round of the Fuelforce Classic Clubmans Championship at Mallory. Jackson’s caused was aided when both Harper brothers had problems during practice – Peter having claimed pole - and with Mike Evans making a particularly tardy start from the front row.
Ray and Peter Harper set the pace during the early laps of qualifying, but Evans and Jackson both worked their way down to the 46s bracket as the session wore on. Both were eclipsed however when Peter recorded a 46.051s on his 15th lap, a third of a second faster than anyone else, one lap before disaster struck. “There was a class B car in the middle of the road in front of me on the way into the hairpin, so I went for the outside but he pulled over and spun me into the barriers backwards,” he explained as he surveyed the wreckage. The bodywork was badly damaged, but more seriously the back axle was too.
Brother Ray fared little better on his first outing of the season, pitting mid-way through the session after his engine dropped a cylinder and picked up a front puncture. It was certainly a day to forget for the Harper’s and both were on their way home before the race had even started.
The race itself was by no means a Classic, with Evans poor start allowing Jackson to sprint off into the distance. Having briefly slipped to fifth, Evans had recovered to third by the end of the opening lap, with the Gryphon of Silverstone winner David Childs passed on Stebbe Straight on lap two as if he was standing still!
Although Evans had second Jackson led by half the length of the straight, a margin which was doubled when Evans was delayed during lappery and yellow flags. After cruising through to victory, Jackson took the flag 13 seconds clear of Evans, an achievement he reckoned was against the odds. “It went pretty good, especially when I had to borrow a second hand set of tyres and wheels,” he explained, one tyre having blistered badly in qualifying.
Childs had been shadowed by Antony Denham’s Doris for most of the race, but with Denham coasting pitwards with less than two laps to go, Childs was left to take third, from the rapidly closing Raffo of Steve Campbell. Ewen Bason’s Myers Special and Geoff Cogan’s Gryphon completed the top six.
Class B winner Dave Facer was seventh overall, after an entertaining – if perplexing race. Facer, Mark Charteris and Ian Mitchell were all in contention, but after briefly hitting the front Charteris retired with indications of contact, considering the stat of his bodywork. Mitchell’s IM MkI followed facer home second, with Alan Davenport and Steve Chaplin completing the top four.
Issued by Peter Scherer for the Clubmans Register April 17th 2005. Contact 01332 362577/07802 853244 or peter@scher.freeserve.co.uk