Defending
Champion Peter Harper was back on the top step of the podium on the first of
three visits to Snetterton this season. First round winner and double class B
Champion Mark Charteris was an early threat, before a couple of spectacular
excursions left him to settle for second.
Harper
claimed pole in his Mallock Mk20, fractionally ahead of Charteris and Dan
Eagling. “I was very pleased with that. I broke a mudguard stay and was on new
tyres, otherwise it was all OK,” said Harper. Charteris was slightly more
critical, “I messed it up and shouldn’t have come in for the tyre check when I
did,” he explained.
Eagling took
time out of his Renault Clio campaign to race Sid Marler’s Diamond, “a lot of
grip but no power on the straights,” he reckoned. Malcolm Jackson was
disappointed to be down in fourth. “I beat my old lap record and thought I had
done enough, but Peter and Mark were in the 1m9s bracket,” he explained.
Following
Jackson was former Clubmans Cup Champion Michael Mallock in Bob Crozier’s
Mallock MKII, making his Classic debut. “It’s just not fast enough,” he
concluded. Keith Whyman was alongside, but had his session cut short when the
rotor arm snapped on his Mk20B.
Having
missed the first round Steve Chaplin was back with his Phantom P79 in seventh.
“We had the engine rebuilt and it’s pulling beautifully. But I felt a bit alien
having not been in the car since last season,” he said. Ray Harper continued to
have problems with his Mallock’s nose. “It was vibrating so much it broke the
trackrod end. We are running out of ideas now,” he said.
Mike Hickson
was another usual frontrunner struggling for pace. “It wouldn’t rev above 6500,
driving like a pig,” he explained.
Sam
Lancaster’s Mallock completed the top ten, just heading Gavin Childs’ Gryphon.
“It was slow, I think it’s geared wrong for here,” he reckoned. Antony Denham
was also in trouble after the Doris pitted with a diff problem. “The gearstick
broke and when I pitted something went bing,” he explained descriptively.
Robin Booth
was next up, before class B pacesetter Dave Facer. “I never got a lap in where I
thought I had really nailed it. Not just quite right,” said Facer. Reg Powell
lost time when his Gryphon’s fuel pump failed. The grid was completed by class B
runners John Deane-Bowers and Ian Mitchell, Jeremy Banks’ class A Mallock and
Bob Yarwood’s Class C Mk8. “I had the oil light on, the pressure went very low,
but it was Ok,” said Mitchell.
RACE
As the 19
cars were started to leave the assembly area to assemble on the grid, there were
dramas for Hickson. “It just wouldn’t fire up,” he explained as he was reduced
to spectating.
Harper
grabbed the immediate lead from pole as they dived through Riches, with
Charteris and Eagling slotting in behind. But Charteris was quick to challenge
and was nose to tail as they came through Russell at the end of the opening lap.
Eagling led the chase from Jackson, Chaplin and Whyman, but the action was only
just starting. For Whyman though it was soon over. “I got a good start and then
the rocker arm broke at Sear,” he explained.
Charteris’
charge almost came to a spectacular end exiting Coram on the second lap, when he
left the track and bounced across the grass before navigating his way to the
tarmac. “Peter was slower into the Bombhole, so I decided to have a go, waited
and then ran wide when I lost grip,” he explained. He still held his place,
while behind Eagling had mounting pressure from Jackson.
Jackson made
third on the third lap, “I attacked Dan going under the bridge after a run down
Revetts straight,” he said. But third soon became second after Charteris had
another excursion.”I spun at Riches and it carried on to Sear. There was so much
grass and dust afterwards I could hardly breath,” he said.
With
Charteris down to sixth, Mallock started to chase down Chaplin for third. Ray
Harper struggled on in seventh and Childs moved up to eighth after Denham, had
taken to the grass at Russell.
Harper’s
lead continued to grow, as Charteris set about battling past the dueling Chaplin
and Mallock. He had taken them both by the end of lap five and then started to
get Eagling in his sights. But it was another couple of laps before he made it
past, which coincided with Jackson retiring from second into the pits. “The rear
suspension broke. Through Riches and Sear I almost lost the back end, it felt
like a puncture at first,” he explained.
Although
Charteris pushed hard, Harper was safe and won by over three seconds. “I knew I
had got it after I saw Mark chucking it off,” he said. Eagling nursed the
Diamond home third, “the rear upright was broken and it was rear wheel
steering,” he said.
Mallock made
a brave move on Chaplin through Russell on the last lap, but lost the place
again when he missed a gear onto the straight. “I was pleased with fourth as I
was running out of brakes at the end. Fantastic straightline speed though,” said
Chaplin.
“I hadn’t
got a clutch from the start, just banged it into first when for it,” Mallock
replied.
Ray Harper
completed the top six, “I had serious understeer and was out on the concrete at
Sear,” he said. Childs was a solitary seventh, “the gearing was still very
wrong, but quicker than qualifying,” he said.
With
Denham having retired with a broken gearbox, Lancaster and Booth had a late
fight over eighth, with Lancaster snatching the place on the last lap. Facer
topped class B from Mitchell and Banks completing the finishers. Deane-Bowers
retired after a spin at the Esses and Powell was blackflagged after losing
water.
1 Peter
Harper (Mallock Mk20B) 12 laps in 14m28.432s (97.09mph); 2 Mark Charteris
(Mallock Mk20B 14m31.474s; 3 Dan Eagling (Diamond R6); 4 Steve Chaplin (Phantom
P79); 5 Michael Mallock (Mallock Mk11); 6 Ray Harper (Mallock Mk20B). Class A: 1
P.Harper; 2 Charteris; 3 Eagling; 4 Chaplin. Class B: 1 Dave Facer (Mallock
Mk18BW); 2 Ian Mitchell (IM MK1); no other finishers. Class C: 1 no finishers.
Fastest lap: P.Harper 1m10.534s (99.6mph)
Issued by
Peter Scherer for the Clubmans Register April 10th 2007. Contact
01332 362577/07802 853244 or
peter@scher.freeserve.co.uk