Reporting from the Paddock, once again, is Susie F...
JACKSON STRIKES GOLD
Malcolm Jackson took a comfortable win at the prestigious Gold Cup meeting, after pole man, Pete Harper, succumbed to a head gasket failure and the other front row man, Mark Charteris, had to pit to remove grass from the radiator after an excursion.
Dave Facer took an easy B-Sport win from Mike Sales and Ian Mitchell.
Entry
Invited for the first time by the HSCC, to the very prestigious Gold Cup meeting, Classic Clubmans responded in style, with a very impressive entry of 28 cars. This is just one short of the record set at the Snetterton double header in late 2006. Sadly, illness prevented Steve Chaplin making the journey, so it was 27 cars trying to squeeze into an already congested paddock by Monday morning.
The thirteen A-Sport cars included all of the usual protagonists. Anttt Denham was missing from the line up, but there was a very welcome return for Geoff Cogan, having his first outing since 2005.
B-Sport also made double figures and that didn’t include Clive Wood or Barry Webb!
Graham Onion in the Myers and Tony Harman in the Haggispeed, having their first meetings of the year.
Bob Yarwood and Jared Wood were the lone Class C and D entrants. The invitation class included the Clubmans Cup cars of Phillip Allen and Michelle Haywood, Michelle driving Chris Hart’s Mallock Mk.27.
Qualifying
Sadly, Keith Whyman’s car failed to fire up, as the distributor had disintegrated. Keith and Gerry had got held up on the motorway and when they eventually arrived at 11.30 pm the gates were locked! No wonder nothing was firing up. So 26 cars took to the full Oulton Park circuit for the first time in a long while. This circuit is completely new to the Classic Clubmans’ Championship, all previous rounds being run on the shortened circuit, incorporating the Island hairpin. For most, the daunting Island bend, the heavily banked Shell hairpin and the Foulstons chicane were a new experience.
The front runners had taken the opportunity to test and it immediately showed, Pete Harper logging a time of 1 min 42.697. Not only was Pete a second clear of the rest, his time was quicker than many of the Formula 5000 and Formula 2 cars!
Mark Charteris joined Pete on the front row, with a time in the 1 min 43 second bracket, Mark complaining of a lack of down force (I did offer to lean on the car for him, but apparently that’s not the sort of downforce he wanted)
The Mallock domination continued on row two, with the Mk 20B’s of Malcolm Jackson and Mike Hickson, both drivers finding it difficult to get a clear lap. Mike even had to take to the grass on one occasion, to avoid a slower car!
Mallocks again on row three, with Ray Harper and ‘Oultonmeister’ Mike Evans. Ray has STILL got a nose problem (I’d go private if I were you Ray, it’s quicker!) and Mike Evans had engine/carburation problems. Mike was definitely not a ‘happy bunny’.
Row four was an all Gryphon affair. Geoff Cogan, back after a two year break, was in the groove quite quickly and was the last runner under the 1 min. 50 sec. bracket alongside him, Gavin Childs was also going very well in his C73/75, although finding it very slippery early on.
Next up was travelling New Yorker, Bob Crozier in the works run, Mallock Mk.11. Still learning the circuits, Bob is improving race by race. Alongside Bob was Sam Lancaster, also improving, despite sticking brakes and a vibration (You’re supposed to leave that at home Sam!).
On the inside of Row six was Robin Booth. Robin’s Mk.20 was the seventh Mallock Mk.20 occupying the top eleven grid placings. Now there’s an advert for the car to have! Jared Wood in the lone F1300 car shared the row with Robin.
Dave Facer took the B-Sport Pole with a very respectable 1 min. 53 secs, some five seconds clear of the next car in the class. Joining Dave on row seven, was Michelle Hayward, the first of the ‘invitees’ having a run in Chris Hart’s Clubmans Cup car.
Row eight saw the B-Sports of Mike Sales and Ian Mitchell, both trouble free and separated by just .013 secs.
Bob Beazer was also very close and he sat on the inside of row nine. He was joined by the second Clubmans Cup invitee, Phillip Allen in his Phantom.
John Deane-Bowers and Graham Onion were on row ten. John spun at lodge on his out lap and managed only one flying lap. Graham had no complaints, other than more speed needed!
Jeremy Banks had a solid run on his first visit to the circuit. He shared row eleven with lone Class C runner, Bob Yarwood.
Tony Harman and David Childs shared row twelve. Tony was relatively happy, having his first race of the year. David complained of numerous problems in the ex Peter Green Centaur, but I’m sure that they all just excuses!
The final runners were Ewan Bason in the A-Sport Myers and Alan Davenport in his Mk.18 Mallock. Ewan had a clutch problem that restricted him to just three laps. Alan just needs to be more brave (his own words! Honestly).
Race
No casualties from qualifying, so all 26 cars that had practised, assembled in the collecting area for the penultimate race of the day. Keith Whyman was not allowed to practice/qualify out of session, so it was a fruitless journey for him.
Full credit to the HSCC for their revised starting procedure. The cars left the collecting area in grid order, straight onto their green flag lap. As soon as the cars were assembled on the grid, on with the lights and away.
Everybody got away cleanly with Pete Harper holding a very slender lead. Mark Charteris tried an early move, but ended up on the grass at Lodge for his troubles, so it was Pete, Mark then Malcolm Jackson followed by Mike Hickson, Ray Harper and Mike Evans. Jared Wood got away very well and started to mix with the more powerful A-Sport cars, whilst Dave Facer held the B-Sport lead, but with Mike Sales climbing all over him for the first few bends.
At the end of lap one, it was Pete from Malcolm in second and Ray Harper third. Mark dived for the pits, as the grass from his excursion was starting to cause overheating and Mike Evans was struggling with engine maladies. This temporarily promoted Mike Hickson, whose seat had worked loose, closely followed by Gavin Childs and Robin Booth. Geoff Cogan had fallen back into the clutches of Sam Lancaster and Bob Crozier, who in turn were being hounded by Jared Wood in the F1300 Batten
In Class B, Dave Facer had pulled away from Mike Sales and was heading off into the distance. John Deane-Bowers had made a great start and he held third from Ian Mitchell and Bob Beazer. Michelle Hayward had been tardy off the line, but she was starting to get her act together and was closing fast on the squabbling B-Sport pack.
Phillip Allen in the Clubmans Cup Phantom was next, pursued by Graham Onion and Bob Yarwood. Ewan Bason was doing his best to progress from the back of the grid. He was next up, followed by the remaining B-Sports of Tony Harman, Jeremy Banks, David Childs(still trying to look competitive, despite the fact that Ann had given up with the stopwatch and produced a month-per-view calendar) and Alan Davenport.
Then suddenly, on lap 2, the leader was gone. Pete Harper pulled off at Cascades with a blown head gasket and Malcolm found himself all alone up front. Ray Harper was desperately trying to hang on and these two were drawing clear of the rest.
The main interest now, featured on Mark Charteris’s climb back through the field, having rejoined the race dead last, after the grass had been removed from the air intake.
By half distance, the only other casualty had been Ewan Bason retiring the Myers with a broken driveshaft. Malcolm had established a cushion to Ray and these two were well clear of Mike Hickson, still struggling with a broken seat, Gavin Childs and Robin Booth. A great dice had developed between Sam Lancaster, Bob Crozier, Geoff Cogan and Jared Wood and then there was a big gap to a fast recovering Mark Charteris.
Dave Facer was having a lonely race at the front in B-Sport, well clear of Michelle and then the B-Sport battle between Mike Sales, John Deane-Bowers, Ian Mitchell and Bob Beazer.
Mike Evans finally called it a day on lap seven, his engine problems worsening. An unfortunate accident also saw the end of Phillip Allen’s race, as he made heavy contact with the barriers after losing control on the exit of Cascades.
Mike Hickson called his own proceedings to a halt on lap 10, his movement in the cockpit causing a spin at Cascades. Gavin Childs also suffered a spin at Old Hall, trying to keep a charging Mark Charteris off the podium.
The race drew to a close without further incident, Malcolm some four seconds clear of Ray in second. Mark Charteris made it comfortably onto the podium with a sterling drive, setting the lap record on the way.
Gavin recovered to finish fourth, Robin Booth was fifth and Sam Lancaster a very impressive sixth. Jared Wood took the F1300 honours in seventh overall, followed by Geoff Cogan in eighth and Bob Crozier in ninth, having run out of fuel just before the line.
B-Sport honours and the new lap record went to Dave Facer, the last unlapped runner, some 47 seconds clear of his nearest rival. Michelle Hayward was next home comfortably clear of the B-Sport battle for the podium places. Mike Sales eased home in second, hotly pursued by a battling Ian Mitchell, who had got past Bob Beazer and John Deane-Bowers. Bob was fourth and John a somewhat disappointed fifth.
Graham Onion was sixth and Tony Harman seventh, this pair split by the lone Class C car of Bob Yarwood. Jeremy Banks was eighth after a huge spin and David Childs ninth, after missing the Knicker Brook chicane on his last lap (did your sat nav give you one of those anomalies off the beaten track routes David?). Alan Davenport was the last runner home, a further lap down, still struggling with a badly mishandling car.
Points of interest
New lap records set as this was Classic Clubmans first foray on the full circuit in its current format. Mark Charteris’s 1 min 43.741 secs. Looks a tough target to beat, but Dave Facer is convinced that there is a further second or two to be had off his new B-Sport mark of 1 min 53.809.
Ian Mitchell was awarded driver of the day, for his tenacity in taking the final B-Sport podium slot. Once again, Darren Green was mechanic of the day, for trying to get Keith Whyman onto the grid amongst others.
Mark Charteris has Richard Mallock to thank for pouring oil onto troubled waters. Mark could well have been penalised for his exit speed following his pit stop. However, a quiet word with the marshal from Richard, eased the tension somewhat.
Did you know, that Bob Crozier runs a very large Art storage business in New York? Once, when he went to a house to discuss storage of the owners art collection, he was let into the house by a monkey? Seriously, ask him about it.
Finally gentlemen, (this doesn’t apply to you Michelle) it’s all getting rather tense out there. PLEASE remember, this is Classic Clubmans and we race for fun. We also want to go home at the end of the day with our cars intact and the women folk not chewing their acrylics off and then having to rush home to withdraw the pennies before they get used up on re-builds etc.
See you at Snett.
Love
Susie Fxxxxxx
The Demonic Perm.