RACING EXPOSURE :: Club level motorsport e-magazine

This weekend saw a range of championships, as part of the CSCC Spring Race Weekend, take to the track at the Snetterton circuit in Norfolk. Amongst those was the Pirelli Ferrari Open, in this series a range of top line Ferrari GT cars from across the years compete in two 25 minute races – one on Saturday the next on the Sunday. The series is split into four main categories; Class C1 is for the Ferrari F355 Challenge and the sole 456 GT, Class C2 is for the Ferrari 360 Challenge cars produced in 2002, C3 is for the F430 Challenge cars and finally C4 is for the Ferrari 458 Challenge, 360 GT2, F430 GT2 and F430 GT3.

In qualifying Paul Bailey in his Ferrari F430 GT2 would show that he had the pace to win, he qualified 0.517 seconds ahead of Gary Eastwood in his modified Ferrari 458 Challenge. In Pirelli Ferrari Open they work on using a rolling start, this provided Gary Eastwood the boost he needed to overtake Paul Bailey within the first few turns – it would then prove to be a battle between the two for the rest of the 25 minute race. Paul Bailey remained to be just on the limit, finishing the race in 2^nd position and only 7 seconds off the leader. The win was of course handed to Gary in his F458 which showed a lot of potential for the second race of the weekend.

Race 1 Results (Top 3) –

1 – Gary Eastwood – Ferrari 458 Challenge (C4)

2 – Paul Bailey – Ferrari F430 GT2 (C4)

3 – Wayne Marrs – Ferrari 360 GTC (C3)

For the Sunday the track had changed from the Snetterton 300 circuit to the 200. This would make the circuit more focused upon straight line speed rather than cornering ability –qualifying showed that this played to the 458s strengths as Gary Eastwood set pole position followed by Michael Dwane in his Ferrari 458 Challenge, Paul Bailey qualified in third position in the F430 GT2.

Come race time the conversation to be found in the pit lane was heavily revolved around the question “slicks or wets?” The weather at Snetterton had been changeable across the entire day switching between sunny spells and even hail this meant that the teams were struggling to predict what weather could arrive in the next 25 minutes. Gary Eastwood in the Ferrari 458 decided to opt for slick tyres whereas Paul Bailey in the F430 GT2 went with wet tyres – this would be a vital decision for both drivers. As the drivers lined up on the start a hail storm arrived at the circuit making the track surface very wet – many other drivers dived into the pit lane to change tyres thinking it would provide an advantage as the hail continued. In the first few laps Gary & Paul battled for the lead although Gary would slip back on the second lap from the lead by 7 seconds due to the worsening conditions.

On lap eight of the race track conditions were beginning to improve, the sun was shining on the Snetterton circuit. This would play into the hands of Gary Eastwood in the 458. By lap 9 of the race Paul and Gary were once again battling for position but this time Gary had the upper hand, the drying out track meant that he had a better overall pace so could really put the pressure onto Paul Bailey for the lead. Lap 10 saw Gary Eastwood take the lead of the race; Paul would unfortunately feel the effects of wet tyres on a drying out track as he slipped down the leader board. By the next lap Paul had dropped 8 seconds from the leader, this now meant that the 77 car of Michael Dwane could potentially move up to second position. The track was, at this point, essentially dry and Dwane was moving up quickly gaining on Paul’s F430. On lap 16 Michael would take 2^nd position.

Gary Eastwood would eventually win the race by 42 seconds, Michael Dwane finished in second position whilst Paul Bailey completed the podium. Michael Dwane also acquired the fastest lap of the race with a 1:15.699.

Race 2 Results –

1 – Gary Eastwood – Ferrari 458 Challenge (C4)

2 – Michael Dwane – Ferrari 458 Challenge (C4)

3 – Paul Bailey – Ferrari 430 GT2 (C4)

4 – Wayne Marrs – Ferrari 360 GTC (C3)

5 – Jacques Duyver – Ferrari 430 Challenge (C3)

6 – Nick Kaye – Ferrari 360 Challenge (C2)

7 – Darren Laverty – Ferrari F355 Challenge (1A)

8 – Vance Kearney – Ferrari F355 Challenge (1A)

9 – James Shirely – Ferrari 360 Challenge (C2)

10 – Tim Ingrahm Hill – Ferrari 360 (C2)

11 – David Hathaway – Ferrari 360 Challenge (C2)

12 – Paul Brooks – Ferrari 456 GT (1B) – DNF

13 – Sam Smeeth – Ferrari 430 Challenge (C3) – DNQ

Roger Duckworth's impressive Impreza storming down the Mountain.

On Easter Sunday rallying returned to Cadwell Park for the first time in 7 years. The rally was organised by the Border Motor Club and was being run in memory of their late president Alan Healy. The rally was set across ten stages around the Cadwell Park grounds including various tarmac access roads across a competitive 46 miles. Forty seven cars were entered into the rally and this included a range of both ex-World Rally Championship machinery and classic rally cars.

The stages included some of the circuit’s most famous sections in reverse, such as travelling down the Mountain as well as going up the Gooseneck providing spectators with a real treat. The weather for the event remained mostly overcast with the constant threat of showers – luckily the circuit remained dry for most of the day.

Graham Coffey was pushing his car to the very end of the rally.

In the early stages of the rally the battle for the overall lead was between Roger Duckworth/Aled Davies, Graham Coffey/John Vance and David Turnbull/Matthew Whattam all in their Subaru Impreza WRC’s. After two stages only 2 seconds separated the top three.

Unfortunately on stage 5, Turnbull did one lap too many giving him the maximum time for the stage of 8:48. This ultimately pushed his overall position down to 29th ending his hopes of taking the rally win. Meanwhile with half of the rally completed Roger Duckworth and Graham Coffey were still battling it out with only six seconds separating Coffey from a potential rally win.

Through the forest, Turnbull's rally win hopes would end prematurely.

In Class D Pete Rayner & Richard Bonner were dominating the rally in their fantastic Ford Escort Mk2, managing to even secure a few 2nd/3rd’s in some of the stages against the much quicker 4WD modern counterparts. Pete and Richard would ultimately end up winning their class by a phenomenal one minute and four seconds – despite receiving a one minute time penalty for arriving at SS10 too early. They finished the rally in fourth position overall.

Over the last 5 stages Roger Duckworth and Graham Coffey would continue to push for the lead of the rally. The final stage saw a new problem for the competitors to tackle as rain fell heavily upon the track causing competitors to struggle for grip – particularly in the Mountain section of the course.

Escort Mk2 powersliding around the Hairpin entertained the crowd.

After a dramatic rallying return at Cadwell the victory fell into Roger Duckworth’s & Aled Davies hands completing the rally in a total of 41 minutes and 22 seconds. Graham Coffey finished 13 seconds behind giving him the second spot on the podium. The spirit of the rally award was given to Tony Wales and Julie Dungey who had to retire before SS1 of the rally but after fixing the problem completed the rest of the stages (despite not being part of the official results) in their white Vauxhall Chevette.

This was a great event; the competition was strong, there was even a reasonable amount of spectators on the banks (despite the weather). I really do hope it becomes a fixture in Cadwell Park’s calendar for 2013 and onwards.

One of the classic rally cars going around the picturesque Cadwell Park circuit.

Overall Awards

1 – Roger Duckworth/Aled Davies – Subaru Impreza WRC (Class E) – 0:41:22

2 – Graham Coffey/John Vance – Subaru Impreza WRC (Class E) – 0:41:35 (Diff: 0:13)

3 – Chris Marshall/Simon Hunter – Mitsubishi Evo 5 (Class E) – 0:44:10 (Diff: 2:48)

Class A

1 – David Martin/Richard Simmons – Vauxhall Astra Mk1 (A) – 0:47:31

Class B

1 -  Andrew Turner/Dennis Turner – Peugeot 106 (B) – 0:45:34

2 – Graham Gibbs/Tom Hutchings – Peugeot 106 Cup (B) – 0:48:02 (Diff: 2:28)

Class C

1 – David Tinn/Stephen de Vere – Ford Escort Mk2 (C) – 0:46:20

2 – Chris Langthorne/Michael Hollis – Ford Escort RS (C) – 0:47:12 (Diff: 0:52)

3 – Stuart Popplewell/Gary Hirst – VW Golf (C) – 0:47:29 (Diff: 1:09)

Class D

1 – Pete Rayner/Richard Bonner – Ford Escort Mk2 (D) – 0:44:14

2 – Graeme Bell/Russ Radford – Ford Escort (D) – 0:45:18 (Diff: 1:04)

3 – David Patrick/Jonathan Stockdale – Opel Manta (D) – 0:46:18 (Diff: 2:20)

Class E

1 – Roger Duckworth/Aled Davies – Subaru Impreza WRC (Class E) – 0:41:22

2 – Graham Coffey/John Vance – Subaru Impreza WRC (Class E) – 0:41:35 (Diff: 0:13)

3 – Chris Marshall/Simon Hunter – Mitsubishi Evo 5 (Class E) – 0:44:10 (Diff: 2:48)

Award – Best Border Motor Club Crew

1 – Mel Hudson/Roy Bell – BMW E30 325i (D) – 0:48:05

Award – Spirit of the Rally

1 – Tony Wales/Julie Dungey – Vauxhall Chevette (C)

Words: Adam Pigott

Photographs: Adam Pigott Photography

Last weekend the Avon Tyres British GT Championship took to the track to compete in a 3 hour endurance race at Donington Park. Partnering the GTs – as per usual, was the Cooper Tyres F3 International Series. This series ran 3 races across the weekend: 30 minutes on Saturday, 20 minutes Sunday morning and finally to round up the weekend, a 40 minute race in the afternoon.

The weekend kicked off to a great start for the 2011 Cooper Tyres British F3 Champion Felipe Nasr, after setting a storming lap in the Qualifying session on the Saturday morning, he secured the final points needed to claim the Sunoco Daytona Challenge. Winning the Sunoco Challenge has secured Felipe’s drive in the 50th running of the Rolex 24.

The first race of the weekend (30 minutes/21 laps) was won by Rupert Svendsen-Cook after a flawless drive – leading the race from start to finish. 2nd place was taken by Carlos Huertas followed by Jack Harvey.

Top 3 of Race 1

1st – Rupert Svendsen-Cook – Carlin
2nd – Carlos Huertas – Carlin
3rd – Jack Harvey – Carlin

Jack Harvey managed to achieve a podium finish in the first race of the weekend

Sunday’s first race was set to be a 20 minute dash for the finish across a somewhat damp Donington circuit after rain had fallen in the early morning. Although the track was drying out drivers still couldn’t decide which tyres to go out on – many drivers including Felipe Nasr and Kevin Magnussen decided to start the race on slicks – although Magnussen very quickly made the choice to change to wets.

After a relatively clean start, Valtteri Bottas (2011 GP3 Champion) had managed to catapult himself from 3rd on the grid to first position and within 5 laps he had stretched his lead to 5 seconds. Whilst Bottas was dominating the race, the battle for 2nd place was hotting up. Harry Tinckell, Scott Pye and William Buller all were in contention for potential podium positions. Unfortunately Scott Pye put an end to his participation in the battle, when he made an ambitious dive into the Melbourne Hairpin which ultimately resulted in his return to the pits with a punctured left front tyre, and a drop to 18th position.

With Pye now out, Menasheh Idafar had joined the battle for 2nd place after an incredible drive from 11th on the grid. The fight remained incredibly close right to the very end, where Buller crossed the line in 2nd literally wheel to wheel with Idafar who finished an incredible 0.182 seconds behind. An elated Valterri Bottas took pole position beating the rest of the field by 14 seconds.

Top 3 of Race 2

1st – Valterri Bottas – Double R Racing
2nd – William Buller – Fortec Motorsport
3rd – Mensheh Idafar – T-Sport Powered by Volkswagen

Race 2 saw a great start from 2011 GP3 Champion Valterri Bottas

Race 3 lined up on a damp grid, but the weather rapidly deteriorated. The majority of the grid appeared to be running slicks but after a quick warm-up lap discovered there was very little traction so they darted into the pits to change to wets.

Valterri Bottas had a very slow start and would have been in last position if it hadn’t been for the numerous cars that had pitted. Felipe Nasr led the race for the first lap until Kevin Magnussen hit into Nasr as they entered the Esses, causing Nasr to lose several places. At the end of the first lap the British driver Jack Harvey was leading the race followed by Rupert Svendsen-Cook. Kevin Magnussen was clearly under pressure from the Brazilian driver, Pipo Derani as Magnussen ran off the track at Melbourne Hairpin, but managed to retain 3rd place. Svendson-Cook also appeared to be struggling with the conditions after running wide at Goddards and dropping to fourth position.

The wet conditions certainly made the racing interesting

Soon came the pit stops, Bottas was one of the early pitters along with Buller who had also pitted at the very start of the race to change from slicks. After most the field had completed their pit stops, Derani was found to be rapidly catching the two front runners. Magnussen and Harvey were still battling for the lead with Magnussen eventually overtaking Harvey going into the Esses with 23 minutes to go.

Magnussen continued to take control of the race gaining a 4.8 second lead over Harvey who was attempting to hold off Derani in 3rd position. Harvey was unsuccessful in holding Derani from 2nd as Harvey unfortunately had mechanical trouble which led to a late retirement with only 5 minutes left on the clock.

Kevin Magnussen took the checkered flag in 1st position with a 4.8 second lead over Pipo Derani who finished in 2nd position. It was Magnussen’s 6th win of the season and 24 laps were completed, Derani also achieved his best ever result in British F3.

Despite the weather, a superb race to end what was a great weekend for the Cooper Tyres British F3 International Series; they really had a bit of everything!

Top 3 of Race 3 –

1 – Kevin Magnussen – Carlin
2 – Pipo Derani – Double R Racing
3 – Rupert Sevendsen-Cook – Carlin

Magnussen took the wet race win

Report: Adam Pigott
Photography: Adam Pigott Photography