Reporting from the Paddock, once again, is Susie F...
PETE REIGNS IN THE RAIN
It was business as usual for Pete Harper, taking his 4th win of the season, from a hard charging Mark Charteris, recovering from an earlier ‘indiscretion’.
Barry Webb comfortably took Class B, Bob Yarwood was alone in Class C and Jared Wood took the F1300 honours, mixing it with many of the A Class protagonists
Entry
57 years separated the oldest and youngest competitors! That must be some record. Reg Powell, our most senior driver, reputed to be in his 74th year, would be facing off against young Tom Dunstan, still weeks shy of his seventeenth birthday.
Twenty one cars entered for round six of the Classic Clubmans championship and twenty cars turned up to do battle, the lone absentee being Jeremy Banks, who elected to accept a helicopter ride into the Goodwood Festival of Speed instead. Where’s your commitment Jeremy!
The very healthy, twelve car A-Sport entry was supplemented by four B-Sports, the lone Class C entry of Bob Yarwood, two Class D Formula 1300’s (including young Tom Dunstan) and Brendan Herd in his Clubmans Cup car in the invitation class.
As well as Tom, it was a warm welcome to Mike Sales, out for the first time in Classic Clubmans and having his first race for 21 years.
Qualifying
The day dawned cloudy, but pleasantly warm as the twenty cars took to the track for a ‘very short’ qualifying session, doesn’t time fly when you’re having fun! For the first time, the cars went out to the track, directly from the garages …..the clock must have started before anybody realised!
Brands can be a very difficult place to get a clear lap, but once again, Pete Harper seemed unaffected to take pole by over half a second from Malcolm Jackson, these two being the only two drivers in the 48 second bracket, making it an all Mallock front row.
Antony Denham took a very respectable third spot in the Doris, the only non-Mallock in the top six. He was joined on row two by Mike Hickson.
A very disappointed Mark Charteris was on the inside of row three, after having to work very hard in the week to repair the car after Pembrey. (Sorry Mark, we couldn’t print your actual comments!). He was joined by Ray Harper, despite a ‘nose’ problem (have you thought about seeing an ENT specialist Ray?) Ray was the last driver inside the 50 seconds mark.
Keith Whyman was on the inside of row four, having arrived at the circuit in the early hours of the morning, after his tow car broke down and a short argument ensued with Gerry when she refused to take off her tights! However, she did part with them for the AA man to replace a broken belt. The lack of sleep being his excuse! Alongside him was Steve Chaplin, complaining of brake balance and understeer problems.
Gavin Childs was on row five with Jared Wood, the first of the F1300 runners in the very quick Batten. Jared also had a ‘nose’ problem. (Could it be contagious?)
Bob Crozier was next up, on the inside of row 6. Bob travels from the US to race with us in his Mallock Mk.11. Now that’s commitment! He was joined by the first of the B-Sport runners, Barry Webb who had a trouble free session.
Dave Facer and invitee, Brendan Herd made up row seven. Brendan was having a run in his Clubmans Cup car, having just had the engine rebuilt. John Deane Bowers in the Mallock Mk16 and Mike Sales in the ex Ray Harper Phantom, made it an all B-Sport row 8.
Ian Mitchell was having his first race in the CTG in A-Sport trim. He and Bob Yarwood made up row 9. This was Bob’s first race here for 29 years!
Tom Dunstan was on row ten, having his first ever race in the Drat F1300 car. Considering he is not even eligible for a road car license, he did very well due to
having his very proud mother (Stella) and girl friend Riann urging him on! Alongside him was Reg Powell (How appropriate. 57 years between two guys on the same row. Now that must be a record!). Reg had fitted a new fuel filter. It was so efficient, that it filtered everything, including fuel! Nice one Reg – can we all have the benefit of the name of your components supplier so that we avoid similar problems.
Race
What is it about Clubmans. It doesn’t rain all day, then just as the cars start their warming up lap, it starts to drizzle.
Nonetheless, the field got away cleanly, with the exception of Ray Harper, who lost drive leaving the line. Your 4 seconds of the race must make it all worthwhile, Ray. Everybody avoided him and the field filed into Paddock, Pete holding the lead from Malcolm, closely followed by Mike Hickson and Antony Denham.
At the end of lap one, It was Pete from Malcolm, breaking away from the rest of the field. Mike Hickson had got clear of Antt. Mark was still 5th followed by Keith Whyman, Steve Chaplin and Gavin Childs. Jared Wood was next up, the comfortable leader in class D.
Barry Webb headed class B, mixing it with Bob Crozier. This allowed Dave Facer to catch up and they crossed the line nose to tail. Ian Mitchell was mixing it with Brendan Herd. John Deane Bowers and Mike Sales were having the final B-Sport battle. Reg was already making progress from the back, ahead of young Tom and lone class C contender, Bob Yarwood.
The race settled down and seemed barely affected by the rain until laps 5 or 6. Then the intensity increased and the track started to get quite slippery, particularly under the trees at Druids and at Graham Hill Bend. Mark Charteris lost time and Keith Whyman spun whilst attempting to pass Gavin Childs.
At half distance the leading pair seemed well away. Mark was a distant 3rd. whilst Mike Hickson was holding off Antt for 4th. Barry had managed to put Bob Crozier in between himself and Dave Facer and had pulled away to comfortably lead class B. Reg Powell was closing fast on Barry, on his move up from the back of the grid. The greasy track had enabled Mike Sales to get clear of John Deane Bowers whilst Ian and Brendan continued their private battle.
On lap 11 the field posted its second retirement, Steve Chaplin grinding to a halt with a failed gearbox (or an exploding bag of spanners). One lap later, Mike Hickson went to play in the sand at Druids after lapped cars had slowed him and allowed Antt to pull alongside (Missing Iraq Mike?). Any euphoria that Antt may have felt only lasted one lap and he rolled to a stop on Bottom Straight.
As the race was drawing to a close, the rain had eased and the track was drying again. Pete and Malcolm were still 1 & 2 but Mark was driving like a man possessed and catching them both. Finally, on the last lap, Mark eased by Malcolm and set off after Pete. However, time ran out and Pete emerged the winner by just under a second from Mark, with Malcolm a further second adrift.
There was a huge gap to Gavin Childs in 4th nine seconds clear of Keith Whyman in 5th, the last unlapped runner.
Reg Powell came in 6th just ahead of class D winner, Jared Wood. Barry completed his class B victory on the tail of these two, well clear of Dave, who was coming under increasing pressure from Mike Sales. Bob Crozier separated these two, to finish 7th in class A.
A further 15 seconds adrift, Brendan Herd got the better of John Deane Bowers and Ian Mitchell. These three were followed home by Tom, who lost ground with a late race spin on the exit from Druids. Bob Yarwood was the last man home, the pre 1970 car not very happy in the greasy conditions.
A few race statistics. Twenty cars started and sixteen finished, the four failures to finish all in class A. Of these, one was an ‘off’ and the others were mechanical failures. Considering the conditions, everybody behaved extremely well!
Mark Charteris won driver of the day, for his storming drive up to 2nd. Have the more observant of you noticed ‘The Saint’ logo on Marks car? Mark’s wife is Lesley and we all know who wrote The Saint don’t we?
Andy Powell was awarded mechanic of the day, just for getting his dad to the finish! (This probably deserves sainthood rather than a mere bottle of bubbly?) Reg was delighted at just finishing. How long has it been Reg? (Don’t suppose your memory cells go back that far!!!)
In class B, Mike Sales set fastest lap. This will keep the regular runners on their toes!
So now we have the midsummer break, with six weeks before Castle Combe on August 4th. Don’t forget, that it is also the Summer Ball that weekend, kindly facilitated once again by Mike Hickson, so we need to get as many cars out as possible. If you haven’t yet booked your tickets for the Ball please do so quickly, if you need forms they can be got off the Classic web site. It’s a great evening, a chance to socialize in incredibly civil surroundings. Accommodation is more than adequate (actually I love the communal bathrooms; I’m looking for someone to share my towel again this year!!) Breakfast is the full Monty (no, not back to the communal bathrooms) and there is very secure parking for all the vehicles and trailers etc.
A personal message to all of those B-Sports out there, tucked up in garages.
Come on guys, shoo away the chickens, put some air in the tyres and come out to play.
Susie Fxxx