RACING EXPOSURE :: Club level motorsport e-magazine

Track Driver magazine is the new magazine that has risen from the ashes of Circuit Driver.  They were good enough to plug Racing Exposure in issue 1, so I am returning the favour!

They have sent me a feature list of what to expect in issue 2, which should arrive in the next few days for those who already subscribe.

For those that don’t, there are still places left on their free subscription offer – visit www.trackdriver.com to sign up.

ISSUE TWO – SEPT/OCT EDITION INCLUDES:

# BTCC GOLF TRACK TEST AT SNETTERTON – WHAT IT‘S LIKE TO DRIVE AND HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO RACE AS A PRIVATEER IN THE 2010 BTCC CHAMPIONSHIP

# FIVE CAR GROUP TEST OF A-SERIES POWERED CLASSICS -  SILVERSTONE GP CIRCUIT; 850 MINI; 1275 MINI; A35; A40 AND AUSTIN HEALEY SPRITE

# SAKER SPORTS RACING CAR TRACK TEST PART TWO – EVALUATED BY OUR EDITOR AND OUR TAME PRO RACING DRIVER AT OULTON PARK

# MARK HALES RACES THE NEW CHEVRON GR8 IN THEIR ONE MAKE SERIES AT CROFT

# MAZDA 3 MPS TRACK TEST – COLERNE AIRFIELD

# JAGUAR XKR-R – ROAD AND TRACK TEST AT BOTH ROCKINGHAM AND SILVERSTONE

# AIRFIELD TRACKDAYS INTRODUCTION

# ABARTH 500 ESSEESSE – SUSPENSION UPGRADE AND TRACK TEST AT BRANDS HATCH

# MARK HALES COACHING CORNER – PART TWO OF HIS ‘HOW TO’ SERIES

# TECHNICAL FEATURE – FLUID MANAGEMENT; OIL AND FUEL

# PROJECT TRACKDAY AND RACE CAR – PORSCHE 944; SET-UP AND SUSPENSION UPGRADE

# COLUMNISTS – GRAHAM CLARKE OF RMA ON FOLKS CRASHING ON TRACKDAYS – DAVID WESTON TALKS ABOUT MOTORSPORT MARSHALS – BERNIE MELDREW ON NOISE AND ALCOHOL IN THE PADDOCK

# TEAM CARS: CLASSIC THUNDER MAZDA RX-7 UPDATE AND RACING AT THRUXTON – LOTUS ELISE S1 ROAD AND TRACKDAY CAR – FORD FALCON RACING AT THE SILVERSTONE CLASSIC – LOTUS 260 CUP AT THE GOODWOOD FESTIVAL OF SPEED

# PLUS NEWS, VIEWS, REVIEWS, TRACKDAY/TESTDAY DIARY AND MUCH MORE…

Arty Cameron, qualifying in the damp, on slicks

The bank holiday race day saw the Monoposto club field over 50 cars in 3 separate grids, a great achievement for the 50 year old club.  It marked the half way point in the championship, and for 24 year old Arty Cameron it was a pivotal meeting, as he entered leading the mono 1000 championship.  His father Tim was also out, debuting his car after just installing a new engine.

There was a downpour as the cars waited to hit the track for qualifying, and everybody had slick tires on.  This resulted in many making a last minute change of tires.  Tim’s experience said change to wets, which he duly did and got pole position.  Arty had hoped it would dry, and gambled by staying on slicks- resulting in third slot.  This put formula Jedi driver Dax Ward in a ‘Cameron sandwich!’

Tim Cameron found wet tyres were faster

The Race was close and exciting, and saw Arty pass Tim and nearly get the lead from Dax Ward the long way round Gerard’s on the first lap.  After only four laps there was an ‘F1 style engine blow’ for Arty which saw him retire at the esses, with fire engulfing the rear of his car.  Luckily it was quickly put out.  Remarkably two laps later, the same happened to his father, but this time no fire.  Arty said “It was an extremely unusual failure in that identical engine casing’s came loose resulting in massive loss of oil on both cars, at almost exactly the same time.”

23 year old BOSS F1 / Mono 1000 driver Chris Woodhouse, went on to win the race and also took a new lap record, off Kat Impey by seven hundredths of a second. A 43.8 second lap.

Arty took an early lead in the race

Unfortunately this has ended Arty’s championship fight because without support he is unable to finance a new engine.

Any individuals / businesses interested in sponsorship, and in winning this year’s Championship can contact him on (07877) 827109.

Photography: Norwich Photo

Arty Cameron (no.22) Tim Cameron (no.46)

Dax Ward closely followed by Arty Cameron

Caine wins Carrera Cup round 16 at Knockhill

George Brewster, pro-am2

Michael Caine won a dramatic round 16 of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Knockhill today (Sunday 5 September) to narrow the gap to championship leader Tim Harvey to 27 points with four races to run.

Harvey rescued a potentially disastrous non-finish to claim fourth place after a trip through the gravel and into the tyre wall. In pro-am1, Tony Gilham completed a tremendous weekend double and guest racer Rory Butcher also wrapped up a second win in pro-am2 as George Brewster took maximum points.

There was action from the start when a multi-car tangle at Duffus Dip on the first lap delayed Stephen Jelley and sent Karl Leonard, Liam Griffin, Jonas Gelzinis and Tautvydas Barstys to the pits. Although none of the cars were left at Duffus, there was coolant dropped on the track and that was to provide more drama when the leading pack arrived on lap two. Caine (Motorbase Performance) scrambled through but Harvey slid wide at the following Scotsman Corner and ran across the gravel and nudged the tyre wall. He then scrabbled out of the gravel trap and bounced over the grass before rejoining, but lost his front splitter in the process. Meanwhile, Glynn Geddie (Team Parker Racing) followed Harvey through the gravel and the safety car was sent out to allow the marshals to treat the slippery track.

From the restart, Caine swept ahead as Charlie Bateman (Motorbase Performance) ran second from Euan Hankey (Team Parker Racing). While Caine pulled away to score a resounding win, Bateman and Hankey battled all the way to flag and Hankey took second after making the decisive move into Clark on the 13th lap. “I just got my head down after the safety car and looked after the car,” said Caine. “That was one for the team and a good birthday present for my mum,” he said.

Hankey was delighted to be back on the overall podium after a strong race, while Bateman earned the ‘driver of the weekend’ award for his fighting third place. “It was a great result and I think I had the pace to beat him. But I made a small mistake and he got through,” said Bateman. Remarkably, Harvey claimed fourth after running with team mate Michael Meadows (Red Line Racing) on his tail. “It’s not often you go through the gravel, hit the wall, loose the splitter and flat spot the tyres and still finish fourth,” said Harvey after a vital recovery drive in title terms.

Into a great sixth overall and first in pro-am2 went Butcher (Celtic Speed), who had Geddie in pursuit over the closing laps. “It shows that Celtic run a great car,” said Butcher after a superb weekend, which earned Celtic Speed the ‘team of the weekend’ award. Into eighth, after a tough race with Ollie Jackson (Addison Lee Motorbase) went Gilham to win pro-am1 for the second time in the day. “I struggled after the re-start to get the tyres working, but it’s been a great weekend,” said Gilham.

Top scorer in pro-am2 was Brewster (Celtic Speed) after a fine race, having had George Richardson (Motorbase Performance) as a constant shadow over the first half of the race. “That might be a defining moment in the championship,” said Brewster after points’ leader Glenn McMenamin (Red Line Racing) retired with a water leak after an early knock.

Michael Caine and Tim Harvey battle it out for race 1 honours

Harvey wins Carrera Cup round 15 at Knockhill

Tim Harvey scored one of the most important wins of his 2010 title campaign when he clinched round 15 of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Knockhill today (Sunday 5 September).

While Harvey battled ahead of early leader and title rival Michael Caine, some tremendous battling all the way down the field led to victories for Tony Gilham in pro-am1 and guest racer Rory Bucher in pro-am2. But the biggest winner was Harvey, who maintained his title lead with five races left to run.

Off the line, Caine (Motorbase Performance) got the lead as Harvey (Red Line Racing) settled into second place. Behind them, Glynn Geddie and his Team Parker Racing team mates Euan Hankey and Stephen Jelley battled for third and initially Geddie went after the two leaders.

On lap four, the fierce battle between Hankey and Jelley came to a head as they dived into Duffus Dip and contact pitched Jelley onto the grass. “It was a wild ride trying to get it stopped on the grass,” said Jelley. While Hankey retired with a damaged radiator, Jelley rejoined well down the order and faced a tough race now that the car was missing its front splitter.

Up front, Harvey shadowed Caine for 15 laps and could easily have settled for a safe second place and important championship points. But Harvey had other ideas and saw where Caine was struggling before attacking on the run out of the Hairpin to take the lead as they sprinted past the pits. Once ahead, Harvey steadily eased away for a very significant win. “That was about pride,” said Harvey. “It would have been easy to follow Michael but I wanted to win for the team. It was a special win.”

Caine accepted that he did not have the pace to re-challenge Harvey. “Out of the hairpin was a real struggle; the engine was flat and Tim just drove past me,” said Caine who took a secure second place while Geddie bagged third after a strong drive on his home track. “After a few laps I was struggling for traction,” said Geddie, as Charlie Bateman (Motorbase Performance) battled into fourth. “Hankey and Jelley made it easier for me, but I struggled in the last part of the race,” said Bateman.

A tremendous fifth overall went to Butcher (Celtic Speed), who was the leading pro-am2 racer although not eligible for points. “I’m just delighted,” said the local ace. “The car was working so well.” Michael Meadows (Red Line Racing) and the recovering Jelley were next up before pro-am1 winner Gilham (Collins ReDesign Racing), who dived ahead of Jonas Gelzinis (Juta Racing) in the final two laps. “I had the pace all race and it was a now or never move into the Hairpin,” said Gilham. Ollie Jackson (Addison Lee Motorbase) completed the pro-am1 podium, with Ahmad Al Harthy (Red Line Racing) right on his tail at the finish.

While Butcher dominated pro-am2, maximum points went to George Brewster (Celtic Speed) after he fought ahead of George Richardson (Motorbase Performance) as Glenn McMenamin (Red Line Racing) chased throughout. “Excellent,” said Brewster. “It worked out perfectly and George kept it absolutely clean.”

Caine tops Carrera Cup qualifying at Knockhill

Michael Caine, Qualifying

Michael Caine claimed a double pole position ahead of rounds 15 and 16 of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Knockhill today (Saturday 4 September).

Caine topped an incredibly close qualifying session at the Scottish track to head the grid for both races, while Jonas Gelzinis set the pro-am1 pace and Rory Butcher led the pro-am2 times for each race. However, with guest racer Butcher not scoring points this weekend, George Richardson and George Brewster shared the points for pro-am2 poles.

After a troubled day in testing, Caine (Motorbase Performance) jumped to the head of the time sheets as less than a second covered the fastest 13 cars around the challenging Fife circuit. The qualifying results also allowed Caine to trim two points from Tim Harvey’s championship lead. “After the first run I thought pole would be in the 50s bracket,” said Caine. But his best lap of 51.041s was the fastest of the session. Importantly for Caine, title leader Harvey (Red Line Racing), who qualified third and then second fastest, has a gaggle of quick drivers around him.

“I need the other boys up there,” said Caine, knowing that he needs other drivers taking points from Harvey if the championship gap is to come down sufficiently for Caine to challenge over the final six races of the season. “It’s safer at the front,” added Caine. Second for race one was a good result for Euan Hankey (Team Parker Racing). “That’s so much better; we’re back to the car feeling good and I hooked up all my sectors,” said the Carrera Cup Scholarship driver. Hankey was third fastest for race two, while Harvey will start from third and second places. “I think the car was capable of being on the front,” said Harvey. “I’ve just got to keep my nose clean in the first race,” he added.

Fourth on the grid for both races will be Glynn Geddie (Team Parker Racing) after a strong session, while Stephen Jelley (Team Parker Racing) and Charlie Bateman (Motorbase Performance) each posted a fifth best time.

In pro-am1, Gelzinis (Juta Racing) clinched both pole positions, despite being further down the overall times than he had been in testing on Friday. “I had a spin on my first set of tyres, which was not so good,” said Gelzinis, who had category rivals Tony Gilham (Collins ReDesign Racing), Ollie Jackson (Addison Lee Motorbase) and Ahmad Al Harthy (Red Line Racing) very close behind for what promises to be a pair of great races in pro-am1. “Today was my first run on new tyres and there’s more time to come,” said Gilham.

In pro-am2, Butcher (Celtic Speed) set a fierce pace, ending the session with eighth and tenth places overall. “We’ve made up a lot of time since testing and I’m now up where I’d hoped to be,” said the young Scot. The points for pro-am2 poles, however, went to George Richardson (Motorbase Performance) and George Brewster (Celtic Speed), with category leader Glenn McMenamin (Red Line Racing) also well in contention as a tenth of a second covered the three title contenders on the grid for round 15. “Our engineer Patrick said to park it; we weren’t going any quicker,” said Richardson of the later stages of qualifying.

Jelley tops Carrera Cup testing at Knockhill

Stephen Jelley was the pacesetter ahead of rounds 15 and 16 of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB during testing at Knockhill today (Friday 3 September). In an incredibly close set of times, the top four cars were covered by seven-hundredths of a second, while the fastest 12 cars were all within one second.

As Jelley (Team Parker Racing) topped the times, Jonas Gelzinis (Juta Racing) was a superb third fastest overall to head the pro-am1 category and Glenn McMenamin (Red Line Racing) set the pro-am2 pace in a fine 12th place overall. The Knockhill weather, which can so often be troublesome, was perfect with zero wind and an ambient temperature of 20 degrees, while the track temperature was up at 35 degrees when the afternoon test session started.

Though he narrowly topped the times, Jelley felt he could have gone a little faster on his new tyres. “I out-braked myself on my best lap and so I think I’ve got a couple of tenths in my pocket. We’ll see,” he said. Tim Harvey (Red Line Racing) was fastest in the morning session and ended the day second, despite not using new tyres. “I’m very happy with that,” said the championship leader. “We did a bit of a race run this afternoon and we’re looking very good,” said a confident Harvey.

Sharing the same time to be third and fourth were Gelzinis and Michael Meadows (Red Line Racing). Gelzinis was even higher up the order than usual, having for once not had to learn the track during Friday’s testing. “I had one more day to learn the circuit,” he said, after running at Knockhill on Wednesday along with most of the leading drivers. “It’s quite a tricky circuit and you have to be brave in some corners,” said the Lithuanian racer.

Meadows continued his strong form of the second half of the season to match the time of Gelzinis, with Michael Caine (Motorbase Performance) fifth fastest before the second of the pro-am1 drivers. Sixth overall, on his first experience of Knockhill, was Ahmad Al Harthy (Red Line Racing) with an excellent day’s work. “I’m really delighted with that,” said the Oman racer. “We know we have the pace to do it and we can build on that for tomorrow,” he said after making it three Red Line Racing cars in the top six overall.

Euan Hankey and Glynn Geddie were next up for Team Parker Racing, before Charlie Bateman (Motorbase Performance), while third and fourth in pro-am1 were Addison Lee Motorbase duo Ollie Jackson and Liam Griffin.

McMenamin just edged locals George Brewster and Rory Butcher (Celtic Speed) to top the pro-am2 times. “It eventually came,” said McMenamin of his best time. “It’s all about commitment here and I was just pushing and pushing,” said McMenamin.

Double Carrera Cup action in Britain

A little piece of Porsche racing history was made over the weekend (4/5 September) when two different Carrera Cup competitions ran in the same country. While the Porsche Carrera Cup GB had a pair of races at Knockhill, the Carrera Cup Germany was in action at Brands Hatch as a support race to the DTM.

The global Carrera Cup concept runs in seven countries or regions, with championships in Asia, Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy, Japan and Scandinavia. The Carrera Cup GB was established in 2003 and is a leading support race to the MSA British Touring Car Championship.

With 23 cars at Knockhill and 17 racing at Brands Hatch, a total of 40 911 GT3 Cup cars raced in Britain on Sunday.

At Brands Hatch, British racer Nick Tandy used his local knowledge to win and close the gap to championship leader Nicolas Armindo to just seven points with two races to run.

Meanwhile, at Knockhill there was a win apiece for Tim Harvey and Michael Caine as the points’ gap between these two long-established rivals reduced to 27 points with four races left to run.

The Carrera Cup GB continues at Donington Park on 18/19 September for rounds 17 and 18 of the 20-race season.

Team sunshine.co.uk with Tech-Speed Motorsport secured another three top ten finishes in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship during the annual trip to Scotland for the eighth round of the year at Knockhill.

Widnes-racer Paul O’Neill battled back from on-track incidents in the opening two races of the day, which ultimately left him lower down the results than his performances had deserved, to storm through the grid from tenth to fourth in the final race of the weekend.

Paul started the opening race from sixth on the grid although he lost two places to the LPG-powered Fords off the line. However, he soon got ahead of Tom Onslow-Cole and remained seventh through to the deployment of the Safety Car on lap 14. On the restart, Paul was one of a number of drivers to be blocked by debutant Jeff Smith, despite the Triple Eight driver being a lap down after an earlier pit-stop. Contact between Paul and the Vauxhall at Scotsman saw his Honda Integra go off across the gravel and led to damage to the steering, which meant he had to settle for eighth place.

Paul retained eighth place following the opening lap of race two and after an early safety car period, he moved up to seventh with a forceful move on the Chevrolet of Alex MacDowall at the hairpin. Paul then closed on the Ford of Onslow-Cole to move into sixth and set about chasing down the five cars ahead – consistently lapping as the quickest driver on track as the race wore on. However, having caught up with Tom Chilton and Steven Kane, Paul was in the wrong place at the wrong time when the pair collided, with Kane’s out of control BMW tipping Paul into a spin. Although he resumed, the time lost saw him drop down to tenth place at the finish.

Starting from the same position for the final race of the weekend, Paul was in fine form when the lights went out and quickly fought his way through to sixth place, where he was running when the Safety Car was deployed after Dave Pinkney went off track. When the race resumed, Paul soon got ahead of James Nash into fifth place before taking advantage of an error from Andy Jordan to go inside the Pirtek Racing man into Clark’s to move up to fourth.

Although he briefly dropped behind Mat Jackson, Paul soon found a way back ahead of the Airwaves BMW driver to finish just outside the podium positions in fourth place.

“Today is what racing is all about,” he said. “It’s been a real rollercoaster ride where we were up one moment and down the next, but the guys kept working hard and gave me the quickest car on track for race three. That was a fantastic result for us from tenth on the grid and is almost as good as the second place at Silverstone because it is so tight round here and difficult to pass.

“It might have been different if we’d not had the incidents earlier in the day but I don’t look at what might have been – I just go out there and do the best with what has been thrown at us. John was quick again in the final race of the weekend as well and it shows the good work the team continues to do with the car and the pace that the Honda Integra has.”

Guernsey-based team-mate John George qualified 14th on the grid at the wheel of the sister car, but his hopes of building on the impressive speed he showed last time out at Silverstone took a blow when he was forced to retire from the opening race early on.

Contact from the SEAT of Tom Boardman heading into turn one saw John go off across the gravel, which damaged the front of his car and forced him back to the pits. Lining up from the back of the grid for race two as a result, John battled his way through to 13th at the chequered flag, having spent much of the race stuck behind Boardman’s SEAT despite having a quicker car.

The final race of the weekend saw John once again show the way in which he has improved this season as he battled his way forwards into the points scoring positions; climbing as high as ninth when he got ahead of the works Chevrolet of Alex MacDowall on lap 17. A mistake at Clark’s saw John run wide and drop back to twelfth before a late race fight with home hero Gordon Shedden saw John briefly get ahead of the Honda driver.

Although he finished the race outside the points in twelfth, his performance was a further indication of the progress made over the course of the year.

“That last race was great!” he said. “To get ahead of Gordon Shedden like that ticks a box for me and I’d had a good race before that with the likes of Andy Neate and Alex. The car was really sorted and the team did a great job to repair it after the damage earlier in the day.

“It’s fantastic to be out there racing these guys and showing that my recent pace hasn’t been a one off. But more than anything, it is great to put in a good performance for the team as they continue to give me a fantastic car. I just want to repay them.”

Tech-Speed chief Marvin Humphries was quick to praise both drivers for their performance on race day, with the older BTC-spec Hondas again taking the fight to more modern machinery on track.

“It was a good effort in the final race and Paul and John both drove well,” he said. “John might have missed out on the points but he has a smile on his face and put in a really good performance that we’re pleased with. He had a tough start to the day but the result in race three shows how he has improved. Paul’s drive through from tenth to fourth was also a great way for him to end the day and he was right on the pace.

“Things definitely haven’t rolled out way today but Paul showed in that last race that he has the pace to run at the front. The boys have done a great job again with the cars to get them out on track for all three races and we’ll head to Donington keen to keep fighting.”

Sunshine.co.uk MD Chris Brown was also delighted with the way the weekend came to an end after difficult times earlier on race day.

“Race one and two were a bit frustrating, but the final race was great,” he said. “It’s bit like Snetterton and Silverstone, where we ended things on a high.

“Paul was fantastic again and even though his fourth place in race three was a brilliant result for him and the team, he deserved more from the day. After retiring at the start of race one, John fought back really well and he showed again that he is quick enough to fight for a points-scoring finish. We can be confident for the rest of the season.”

Report: Matt Salisbury
Photography: www.speedsnaps.co.uk

David Pinkney and his Pinkney Motorsport team enjoyed success and frustration at Knockhill for the latest round of the British Touring Car Championship.

PINKNEY ENJOYS ‘BEST QUALIFYING’ AT KNOCKHILL

The Pinkney Motorsport team enjoyed a strong qualifying session at Knockhill ahead of the eighth round of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship season.

Harpenden-racer David Pinkney secured 13th on the grid during the Scottish qualifying session after the team made drastic changes to its Vauxhall Vectra over the course of the day in an effort to find more speed in the car.

The weekend started with David setting the 13th quickest time in the opening 40 minute practice session before the NGTC-powered Vectra ended FP2 two places back in 15th, despite an improvement in lap times.

In a closely fought qualifying session, David again improved his times to post a best lap of 53.920secs and earn a place on the seventh row of the grid – just nine-tenths of a second away from pole.

“When you look at some of the cars on the grid, like the Chevrolet and the Ford, you know it will be difficult to get into the top ten,” he said. “But we’ve done a good job today and have made good progress. We made massive changes to the car during the day and have gone quicker in each session, but we just need to find that last little bit as the car still isn’t quite to my liking; it’s a bit too loose.

“I think we have good race pace as we have been consistent in our times today, so we’ll see how race day goes.”

Team manager Andrew Dean said he felt the Scottish session marked the team’s best qualifying of the season after it made large strides over the course of the day.

“In terms of progress, that is our best qualifying of the year,” he said. “After practice, we looked at the data to see where we needed to find the time and if you then overlay the information from second practice and qualifying, you can see that we found it. There was maybe another tenth of a second that we could have had as David didn’t manage to string his best lap together, but it’s been a solid performance from us.

“We have genuine pace to run with the midfield pack tomorrow and the likes of Andrew Jordan and Mat Jackson are just ahead of us, so it’s all good.”

SCOTTISH FRUSTRATION FOR PINKNEY ON KNOCKHILL RACE DAY

Harpenden racer David Pinkney suffered a frustrating end to the weekend at Knockhill after being forced to retire from two of the three Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship races on Scottish soil.

The Pinkney Motorsport driver started the first race of the weekend from 13th on the grid after a solid performance in qualifying and held his place through the opening laps of the race, setting a series of quick and consistent laps to keep in touch with the cars ahead. When James Nash and Rob Collard then went off the road in separate incidents, David moved up to eleventh and was well placed to battle his way into the points.

With a huge battle for position ahead, David took advantage of a clash between Mat Jackson and Andrew Jordan to climb as high as ninth, but on the penultimate lap of the race, he ran slightly wide through the John R Weir Chicane and put a wheel in the gravel; with the subsequent delay dropping him back to eleventh at the chequered flag.

Despite the disappointment of missing out on a points-scoring finish, David headed into race two in a strong position on the grid, but his race came to an early end when his Vauxhall got out of shape through the SEAT Curves on lap one. David went into a spin across the grass before collecting the BMW of Rob Collard as his car came back across the circuit at Scotsman and the damage sustained was more than enough to put him out on the spot.

With the car suffering heavy damage to the front end, the team faced a race against time to try and get David out onto the grid for the final race, but the battle-scarred Vectra took its place at the back of the field for race three. Making up places on the opening laps, David found himself running in 13th place behind the SEAT of Tom Boardman but his hopes of climbing further up the field were ended on lap nine when he was fired into the gravel at Scotsman by debutant Jeff Smith and forced to retire for the second successive race.

“That’s the second time in the BTCC that I have been knocked off at that corner by a driver named Smith,” David said afterwards. “It’s an annoying way to finish the day after the way the guys worked to get the car out for the final race and even more annoying that Boardman retired just after me as my car was quick; he’d just been holding me up.

“The car was good in the first race but in the second, I just got onto the marbles and there is no margin for error here. I didn’t think we’d be back out for the final race and it’s poor reward for the guys that that was the way it ended.”

Team manager Andrew Dean shared in David’s disappointing that a race day that started well had ended without the team securing any points to add to its championship tally.

“It’s a very frustrating way to finish the weekend,” he said. “We made a good start to race day with eleventh and we looked like we were set up for some good results. However, the incident in race two put us to the back of the grid, although the guys did a fantastic job in the time available to make sure we were even able to take the start for race three.

“The car was probably handling better than it had done all day but David was just unable to find a way past Tom Boardman as it isn’t easy to overtake round here – unless of course you can drive straight past on the straight as Tom Chilton did to both us and Boardman in the final race! Then, a manoeuvre by an obvious BTCC rookie, who attempted to go for a gap that wasn’t there, took us out of the race. It’s a shame as I think we could have come from the back to finish inside the top ten.”

Reports: Matt Salisbury
Photography: PSP Images

James Tucker raced at the super fast Norfolk circuit, Snetterton, this windy August Bank Holiday weekend.

The young Burntwood racing driver gained 7th place in Qualifying, making him the fastest rookie driver on the track.

The first race came, as did the rain, after a dry qualifying session, this made the first few laps a leap into the unknown with no previous practice in full wet conditions around the track. Despite this James managed to hold onto his position over the first few laps, over the more experienced drivers, getting faster every lap. Half way through the race, the gap to the lead group started to close enabling James to dive around the outside, of the pole sitter, into the Esses chicane, the fastest part of the circuit, on the brakes to take 6th place. However the move halted his progress as it caused a gap to the next car.

Race 2 and straight from the off James was stuck in a 10 way battle for the lead but as the race got further in frustrations grew, coming to a climax on lap 3 where, Josh Hill, son of 1996 Formula 1 World Champion, went for a desperate move into the second part of the Esses chicane, hitting James’ wheel. This threw Hill up into the air, breaking his suspension and putting him out of the race, the impact also bent James’ rear suspension, leaving him to struggle with a badly handling car. James struggled round for the next 4 laps only dropping one place until he was hit by another bit of bad luck, he picked up a puncture from the debris left from the incident. This forced a pit stop, something that does not normally happen in Formula Ford, this being the first one of the year, for a tyre change. James finished the race in last position due to the puncture, put managed to set 5th fastest lap on his spare tyre and bent suspension.

James said, “The weekend was looking so good from qualifying and practice, even in race 1 it was still going well. Unfortunately bad luck hit in race 2, but that’s racings ‘ups and downs’. I am still very happy with my pace in race 2 despite everything being against me and I am now looking forward to the race next weekend at Brands Hatch.”

Don’t miss this race when it is shown on Motors TV. For eleven and a half laps the top eight cars ran within a couple of seconds of one another, attacking Copse and Brooklands three and four wide. Unfortunately, there was a coming together at Brooklands on the last lap and the championship leaders, Scott Mittel and Tom Coller sustained damage and were unable to finish.

The top ten were covered by a second in qualifying. Tom Coller took pole from Alex Von Erheim and Scott Mittel.  Dave Black was on P4 from Mark Glover and Llynfel Owen.  Sian Stafford, Richard Jenkins Vicky Pickles and James Pinkerton made up the top ten.  Former Locost champion Declan McDonnel was struggling for speed and could only manage 17^th fastest on his return to the class.

The ever-changing lap chart can only hint at how good this race was.  This was hard, fair, multi-car racing at its best. There are, inevitably, several versions of the final lap accident but the Clerk of the Course decided that no one could be held responsible and the result stood. Mark Glover emerged from the chaos to win from Dave Black who has now dragged himself back into the championship battle. Alex Von Erheim was third fromn Vicky Pickles who had been running just behind the lead group. James Pinkerton and Llyfel Owen survived impacts to come home fifth and sixth.

Scott Mittel leads the championship from Tom Coller by five points after dropped scores with Dave Black another five points behind. Hopefully the championship won’t be decided until the last lap at Oulton in October but before that we will have another slipstreaming double header at Snetterton on 18^th and 19^th of September.

Full lap charts, championship positions, Motors TV schedules and information on Locost racing at http://750mc.co.uk/ .

Report: Maurice Dudley

Rockingham – Saturday 28th August 2010.

A broad range of weather was experienced by attendees at Rockingham Motor Speedway on Saturday, for round six of the 2010 Britcar season. Spectators and competitors alike were buffeted by windy conditions, then sunny periods and, rather unsurprisingly given the week we’d had, heavy rainfall during the latter part of the race. Although expected, the rain really did throw a spanner in the works for some, and was a gift to others. Certainly, the race winning duo of Witt Gamski & Keith Robinson would no doubt have been surprised at the result, given the standings just a few laps into the race.

Rockingham appeared to be a track where the GT2 cars could really give the class 1’s a run for their money and, as at Castle Combe a few rounds ago, a class two car took the honours of pole position – Aaron Scott & Arwyn Williams in the JMH Ferrari beating Witt Gamski & Keith Robinson by over 8/10ths of a second.
A further 8 tenths back was the Topcats racing Marcos Mantis of Neil Huggins & Raphael Fiorentino, who needed a strong result to bolster their championship hopes. Third on the grid was the Jones family Porsche, coming straight off the back of their strong runners up spot at Snetterton last time out.

Qualifying 9th was the TVR Sagaris of GTF Racing, whose qualifying session had been shortened due to a snapped throttle cable. Although not a difficult job to fix, it did take time to sort out, and they didn’t have the track time that they were hoping for.

Taking the Production Pole and 10th overall, were Kevin Clarke & Wayne Gibson who had gone back to using their 2009 title winning BMW M3, due to concerns with their new E92 variant. Just over a tenth further back were Mike Jordan / Steve Wood in their Ford Mustang who had complaints with their gearbox.

Perhaps slightly disappointed with qualifying were Piers and Ron Johnson (not related and Ron isn’t really called Ron, but Piers as well. I’m not sure where the Ron came from, if I’m honest. A middle name perhaps?) with their 17th fastest time to put their GT3 Ginetta down with the Production class 1 and 2 machines. Two more cars not where you’d expect to see them were the SuperCopa of Owen Thomas and Ashely Woodman, in 22nd place. The Cox family Ford Escort was not where you need to be while fighting for the Production Championship title, down in 23rd.

Qualifying did give us an early casualty. Chris Headlam and Jamie Stanley in the Orbital Sound Lotus Elise suffered an engine failure just after their first run. Jamie was trying to source another engine to swap to before the race, but to no avail. A real shame for the team, as on their first, and only qualifying run, they put in a time that qualified them for 8th place. No doubt they would have been after a strong result given that in practice they clocked 6th fastest time, and were the quickest of the GT 3 runners. However, it was not to be, and everyone who qualified from 9th downwards moved up a spot for the start of the race.

The weather was on everyone’s mind before the race was off. The blue skies of the practice and qualifying sessions had been replaced, and it was clear that rain was on its way. The only question was when, with popular theory being that it would arrive at about 4pm, just over an hour into proceedings and pretty much mid-point in the 2 ½ hour race.
Aaron Scott made a great start and led at the end of lap one. However, it wasn’t Witt Gamski following him over the line, but rather Michael Millard, who had made an excellent start from fifth on the grid. Another greater starter was Javier Morcillo in the Neil Garner / Azteca Motorsport Porsche, starting in 7th, but finishing the end of lap one in third place. Going in the opposite direction was Gamski, ending the first lap in 6th place, and Morgan Jones in the Porsche crossing the line in 8th.

From the Production point of view, Wayne Gibson made life difficult for himself and the team by leaving the grey tarmac-y bit, and going onto the green grassy bit for a while, and finished the first lap down in 21st place. Steve Wood had worse of it though – the gearbox issues suffered in qualifying proved terminal, and the Ford Mustang was retired before completing a circulation.

Another car into the pits was the purple TVR Sagaris, Steve Glynn at the wheel, for major work. They did make it back out, but had already lost 15 laps on the leaders, and unfortunately retired shortly after the mid-point of the race.
This left Gino Ussi leading production, but you did wonder whether he would be able to take the victory with Gibson storming through the field and back up to 13th after just 5 laps. There was action throughout the field in the early laps, with Mark Cunningham (suffering from power steering issues) taking O’Neill in the Topcats Mantis on the entry to Pif Paf. Morgan Jones was making moves to recover positions, taking the yellow Sagaris of Hood/Tonge & Dowling into the same corner, for 5th spot in a textbook move. Also on lap 5, Dave Cox overtook Ian Lawson for 17th spot, another smooth move on the infield section.

By lap 13 Aaron Scott had a 17 second lead over Calum Lockie, who had made steady progress up from his 6th place starting position and was in for a long afternoon as Paul White was unwell and unable to drive. A further 17 seconds back was Javier Morcillo, just 2 seconds ahead of Mike Millard in the number 7 LM3000.

In the Production race the invitation entry Simon Blanckley was leading in the Seat, 5 seconds ahead of Mark Cunningham who was in turn 2 seconds ahead of Gibson – still making his way through the field. Gino Ussi, who had been leading Production of course, had unfortunately triggered a safety car period by his off at Tarzan hairpin. An earlier handling problem turned out to be a brake problem. He was recovered back to the pits, but all credit to the team who got him patched up and sent back out – he went on to complete the 40% race distance and so will get some championship points as per Britcar rules.

The safety car period arrived just a bit too early for anyone to pit, especially considering the weather was going to change at some point. 4 laps went by and then the safety car was in, with Aaron Scott gunning it and having a lead of over 7 seconds by the end of the first green lap. A couple of laps later and Mark Cunningham was the first to pit, leaving Gibson to hound down Blanckley for the Production lead.

About an hour in and the rain, which had been on the horizon for a while, started to fall fairly steadily and consistently and caught some drivers out, including Owen O’neill who had an off track moment on the straight just before Brook corner, it sounded a hefty impact, and proved to be so. The Mantis in the pits for over 20 minutes before team boss Warren Gilbert (standing in for Henry Fletcher who had a broken arm), was able to go back out for his stint.
During the length of their pitstop nearly everyone else had come in to pit, encouraged by crossing the midpoint of the race, and the fact that the safety car came out again, to recover the Ginetta of Piers and Ron Johnson who had come to a halt out on track. It was also an ideal time to also recover the Prosport of Mike Millard back to the pits, which he had stopped due to fears the engine would blow.

By lap 50, on a drying track, Aaron Scott had a lap in hand over Javier Morcillo, Calum Lockie and Wayne Gibson (who had not yet stopped). But the man making moves was Keith Robinson who was now up to 5th place and putting in laps much quicker than the leaders through the next 10 laps and climbing his way up to third place, 2 laps down on Scott, and a lap down on Morcillo in the Azteca Porsche.

Wayne Gibson finally came in to pit on lap 56, about 2/3rds of the way through the race, for Kevin Clarke to take over driving duties. Just ten laps later, and it was all change. Lap 65 saw Morcillo pit for Manual Cintrano to take over for the final stint, promoting Robinson up to second, albeit still 2 laps down on the leader.

However, Aaron Scott came in for his second stop the following lap, for Arwyn Williams to take over for the final stint. Unfortunately, the number 12 JMH Ferrari experience a failed wheel nut, forcing him to retire a 3-wheeled Ferrari on the inside of turn 1, with Williams never having got up to racing speed. So from being in third place 2 laps down, Keith Robinson found himself leading the race, with about 45 minutes to go. The safety car was sent out for the third time to enable marshals to safety move the ex-race leading Ferrari. The JMH team did managed to fix the car and get it back out to finish the race, classified in 13th, which is a far cry from what they were expecting only a short while earlier.
The third safety car went in with 30 minutes to go, with others having pitted just to make sure they would make the chequered, and with a dry track it looked like things might just be running their course to the end. That was until about 20 minutes before the end when the heavens suddenly opened, depositing what can only be described as ridiculous amounts of water all over yours truly, and the local area.

Robinson dived back into the pits for wet tyres, followed by pretty much everyone apart from Calum Lockie who must have stayed on the intermediates and had a healthy lead at this stage. Unfortunately for him, on lap 80 the safety car came out for a fourth time. Philip Jones had got a bit carried away exiting the pits, and ended up completely across the track at turn 1. The pace car was out for three laps, and as soon as it went in Robinson put a move on Lockie to re-take the lead. Almost as soon as the pace car went in, the Cox family Escort went into the barrier at turn 1. Given there was now only 7 minutes of the race left to run, and the length of time the clear up would take, the officials decided to finish the race there and then, much to the detriment of the Lawson / Wilds combo who thought that they were undertaking a tactical masterstroke by pitting as soon as they saw the accident.

So the MJC team took their sixth straight victory, which had looked incredibly unlikely just 2 hours earlier. Calum Lockie drove a sterling race, on his own, to claim the runners up spot and the GT2 victory. Wayne Gibson & Kevin Clarke took a great third overall and Production victory.

GT3 honours went to the fourth place Javier Morcillo and Manuel Cintrano – well deserved after some bad luck in the last two races. 5th place Neil Huggins & Raphael Fiorentino in the Topcats Racing Mantis were GT2 runners up. Lawrence Fagg & Martin Byford were the Production class 2 winners in their Honda Accord, although being invitation entrees they are uneligible for points. These went to Ian Lawson and Anthony Wilds (9th overall) – putting them at the top of the Production Championship, 1 point ahead of Green & Adams who finished 3rd in class and 14th overall, and 3 points ahead of the recovering Gino Ussi. In seventh were the Cunninghams, a good result considering their power steering issues. Finishing just behind were the Hogarths in the Taylors Foundry SuperCopa – although they were awarded the moral second place by James Tucker (Britcar boss) as they were held at the end of the pitlane for 3 laps during the safety car confusion. Finishing in tenth spot were the Jones family in their Porsche, who were on for another strong result until their mishap at the end.

What looked as though it might have been a fairly run of the mill event was turned on its head with help from the weather which really challenged the drivers, and everyone else who was trying to keep up to date with what was going on.

We leave Rockingham with both Championships still open, and have a months break before the 24 hour race at Silverstone on the 1st-3rd October.

Words: Alex Ings / Images: Alex Ings.