RACING EXPOSURE :: Club level motorsport e-magazine

The legendary Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit will echo to the sound of V8 engines once again when the GT Trophy Endurance Series headlines the MSVR GP Weekend on 20/21 August.

Spectacular Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Porsches and BMWs will populate the grid for a fascinating and gruelling three hour endurance race around the Brands Hatch Grand Prix, which will test drivers’ skill to the limit.

The sleek Ferrari 458 of Rob Barff and Leon Price has been the star of the field so far this season with victories at Snetterton and Oulton Park, but there will be a whole host of drivers eager to add their names to the winners’ list for 2011. Joining the Ferrari 458 on the grid will be two Lamborghinis, one of which driven by former SEAT British Touring Car star James Pickford. There will also be a rare appearance from a race going Ferrari F40, courtesy of Simpson Motorsport. With three hours of racing around the famous Grand Prix circuit, an unpredictable on track battle is on the cards.

While the GT Trophy cars will provide the main attraction, the single-seaters of the MSVR run F3 Cup, Monoposto Championship and the Champion of Brands will provide wheel-to-wheel action around the 2.3 mile Grand Prix circuit. The F3 Cup is set to produce is biggest grid of the season so far, and local man Aaron Steele will be aiming to continue his impressive form in the series. The Monoposto Championship will see a mix of single seaters of all shapes and sizes including Formula Renaults and other variants battling around the track.

Edge of the seat racing will be produced by the Formula Fords of the Champion of Brands with 22 drivers ready to battle it out in the final round of 2011. The series has witnessed some epic battles around Brands Hatch this year, producing three different winners in the shape of Josh Barnett, Jordan Skinner and most recently Craig Currie.

Huge grids will be expected in the MK2 Golf GTI Championship as the title battle heats up with only three rounds of the season remaining. Class 1 runner Guy Stevens holds a narrow one point lead over James Bark ahead of yet another intriguing battle at the Kent venue. Volkswagen will also be represented in the VAG Trophy, which caters for pre 2006 machinery from Audi, Volkswagen, SEAT and Skoda. The SEAT Leon of Daniel Rose leads the championship.

Iconic touring cars from the past will also tackle the GP circuit when the Heritage Grand Touring Car Challenge embarks on its penultimate round of 2011. The Lotus Sunbeam of Joss Ronchetti and Julian Westwood and the Chevrolet of Boysie Thurtle shared the victories last time out on the Brands Hatch Indy circuit.

Also providing thrilling tin top race action will be the Dunlop Motorsport News Saloon Car Championship and the BRSCC Alfa Romeo Championship. Darren Blys’ Nissan Skyline leads the Motorsport News Saloon Car Championship but Brands Hatch specialist and West Kingsdown resident Rod Birley will be looking to claw his way back into the title race in his World Rally Championship spec Ford Escort.

The battle for the BRSCC Alfa Romeo Championship is even closer with just 10 points separating the top four drivers. Emma Karwacki currently leads the standings just a point ahead of Neil Smith in his 156 touring car.

Tickets for the MSVR GP Weekend at the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit on 20/21 August are available priced at £13 for adults with free admission for children aged 12 and under. For more information call 0843 453 9000.

Spectacular GT cars will roar around Oulton Park this Saturday 2 July when the GT Trophy Endurance Series headlines MSVR’s Blast in the Park event.

A host of highly powerful Porsches, Ferraris and BMWs will be on show as they battle around the Cheshire circuit in a two part endurance race.

The GT Trophy Endurance Series will be joined by the Production BMW Championships, Project Eight Racing Saloons, MK2 Golf GTI Championship and single seaters from the Monoposto Championship.

The GT Trophy Endurance Series features two 1 hour races which are combined to contrive an overall result. Teams are required to make a 90 second pit stop in each race. The last round of the GT Trophy Endurance Series saw the Ferrari 458 GT3 of Leon Price and Rob Barff win the two hour race, adding to their triumph in the opening round of the season at Donington Park. There will be several drivers hoping to add their names to the winners list on Saturday.

Single seaters will be represented in the Monoposto Championship with a mixture of Formula Renaults, Dallaras and Van Diemens set for some thrilling on track action. The series is split into Mono 2000, 1800, 1600, 1400 and 1000 classes, depending on engine size.

Close tin top racing will be provided by the MK2 Golf GTI Championship, Production BMW Championship and the Project Eight Racing Saloon.

James Bark will hope to continue his impressive form after a double win at Cadwell Park, as he bids to reel in MK2 Golf GTI Championship leader Guy Stevens. Only three points separate the pair heading into the next instalment on Saturday.

Bumper grids will be expected in the Production BMW Championship and Project Eight Racing Saloons for their only visit to Oulton Park this season. Ben Winrow dominated the last round in tricky wet conditions at Brands Hatch, but Tim Wilson remains the series leader, as the championship heads towards the business end of the season.

Meanwhile a selection of BMW, Ford, Volvo and Renault saloons will populate the grid for round six of the season. Adam Sharpe is the man to beat after winning eight of the nine races so far, but he will face a stern challenge to continue his charge.

The Lubricant Consultancy Mk2 Golf GTI Championship 2011 - Rounds 5 & 6,  Cadwell Park – 22nd May.

The Mk2 Golf GTI Championship had its 5th visit to the Lincolnshire Wolds miniature Nurburgring, namely Cadwell Park. The narrow and challenging venue, with undulating topography is a real driver’s circuit and is always popular with the Mk2 Golf competitors.

A new format was introduced by the organisers, to accommodate the large entry. Due to the tracks narrowness only 28 cars were allowed to start which meant that the entry list was full very quickly. The revised format featured 2 qualifying sessions and 3 races, allowing up to 42 entries. As all the action took place on the same day, a frenetic day’s racing was in store !.

Qualifying.

The strategy for a quick time at Cadwell Park is to make sure you have enough space for a clear lap and, following on from Brands Indy, we had some very early queuing in the holding area indeed one competitor had previously suggested that he might turn up the day before !.

Q1.

As the cars snaked onto the track and through Hall Bends, Q1 was underway. The previous lap record was, unusually, set in 2008; the times at other circuits have fallen substantially over the subsequent years. Local man James Bark immediately looked like setting the pace, but other front runners Lewis Hopkins and Jamie Martin were clearly not going to make it easy for him !. Bark dipped under the previous record by more than a second in the end to take fastest time. In Class 1 Clive Belton and Guy Stevens were setting a hot pace with the former just getting the nod. The Q1 results were as below :

Class 1

1st Clive Belton.

2nd Guy Stevens.

3rd Jonathon Done.

Class 2

1st James Bark.

2nd Lewis Hopkins.

3rd Jamie Martin.

Q2.

The second qualifying session followed immediately after Q1, providing 30 minutes of (almost) continuous action for the spectators. Michael Thurston screamed around, almost taking off over the Mountain with the constantly improving Josh Johnson just behind. In Class 1 Alex Harris and Dawn Boyd traded times and the results are listed below :

Class 1

1st Alex Harris.

2nd Dawn Boyd.

3rd Andy Holley.

Class 2

1st Michael Thurston.

2nd Josh Johnson.

3rd John Mawdsley.

Race structure.

To allow all competitors 2 races, they were divided into three groups as follows :

Q1 Class 2 competitors – Group A.

Q2 Class 2 competitors – Group B.

All Class 1 competitors – Group C.

The 3 races would take place between the following groups :

Race 1 – A & B.

Race 2 – B & C.

Race 3 – A & C.

The grids would be based on actual qualifying times.

Race 1

The skys opened up just before the start to provide a wet start to this ‘Class 2 only’ race. Hopkins got an absolute flyer of a start to lead from pole man Bark on lap 1. Bark pursued mercilessly and had re-taken the lead by lap 3. There was a small gap back to Martin, then Thurston, followed by a fantastic battle for 5th between Wright and newcomer Traves. The latter moved through to take 5th spot on lap 4 – a great performance for his first race at Cadwell. Further down the field Milne and Johnson looked like they were glued together at times, behind Mawdsley, and the Bedford / Reynolds / Drury battle for 10th ran right to the end.

The results are provided below.

Race 1 Overall results :

1st James Bark.

2nd Lewis Hopkins.

3rd Jamie Martin.

4th Michael Thurston.

5th Simon Traves.

Race 2

The second race of the day reverted back to the usual split of Class 1 and 2 competitors, with Thurston on pole. The 3 race program provided a grid with a slightly different twist to normal and it was good to see Johnson and Mawdsley lining up 2nd and 3rd. Class 1 was as per qualifying order. Thurston got a very good start, but was immediately pursued very closely by Johnson and Mawdsley. We are use to very close racing in the Mk2 Golf GTI Championship and as the race got into its stride, this was no exception with Johnson looking like he was attached by a tow rope to Thurston’s rear !.

In Class 1, Harris, having carefully planned his strategy before the race slotted through a gap to take the lead from Belton and had opened up a gap of nearly a second by the end of lap 1. As the race progressed, Harris, Belton and Stevens continued in close company until a small error allowed both Belton and Stevens past on lap 7.

At the front, the Thurston / Johnson train continued with Mawdsley carrying out a watching brief a little way back and this was the order over the line. Remarkably Johnson was never more than 0.8 of a second behind Thurston for the entire race !. The top 5 in each class are listed below :

Race 2 overall results :

1st Michael Thurston ( Class 2 Winner).

2nd Josh Johnson.

3rd John Mawdsley.

4th Clive Belton (Class 1 Winner).

5th Guy Stevens.

Class 1 results :

1st Clive Belton.

2nd Guy Stevens.

3rd Alex Harris.

Class 2 results :

1st Michael Thurston.

2nd Josh Johnson.

3rd John Mawdsley.

Race 3.

Both Class 1 and Class 2 competitors lined up for the third, and final, race of the day. Top 3 on the grid from Class 2 were Bark, Hopkins and Martin and in Class 1 the order was as per race 2.

Bark got an excellent start, as Hopkins bogged down allowing Martin through into second spot. Traves and Bedford were close behind followed by Milne and Reynolds. In Class 1 the close dice of the previous race continued unabated though the order changed a little to Belton, Harris then Stevens. By middle distance a ‘5 car freight train’ had built up with Reynolds and Sedwell in close company with the top 3 Class 1 runners. Back at the front Bark was stretching his lead as Martin and Hopkins diced behind, the gap see sawing between 0.4 and 1 seconds. On lap 7 Bedford got the better of Traves and eventually took 4th overall and in class.

In Class 1 the order remained Belton, Harris and Stevens with none able to open up a gap, nor overtake on the tight Lincolnshire circuit.

Qualifying and race results are posted on this site under ‘Race Information’ then ‘Overall Results 2011’. More detailed information is available from the TSL website ( www.tsl-timing.com ).

Race 3 Overall results :

1st James Bark ( Class 2 Winner).

2nd Jamie Martin.

3rd Lewis Hopkins.

4th Darren Bedford.

5th Simon Traves.

Class 1 results :

1st Clive Belton.

2nd Alex Harris.

3rd Guy Stevens.

Class 2 results :

1st James Bark.

2nd Jamie Martin.

3rd Lewis Hopkins.

The Lubricant Consultancy Mk2 Golf GTI Championship 2011 - Rounds 1 & 2 - Donington Park – 3rd April.

The Mk2 Golf GTI Championship returned to the sweeping Leicestershire track for the first time since 2008, on a slightly revised layout with the chicane having been moved further up the Dunlop Straight.

There were 34 entries (following a couple of late withdrawals due to a head gasket failure and a skiing injury (!)) for the ‘double header’, providing an excellent mix of well prepared Class 1 (8V) and Class 2 (16V) vehicles. It was good to see several new faces as well as some old friends in the paddock !

Qualifying.

As the field left the paddock and headed for Redgate, many were speculating whether the previous lap record would be broken and if the new layout was indeed faster. With space at a premium on some parts of the circuit strategy, as ever, formed a part of the proceedings and following the frenetic 15 minute session the top five in each class were as follows :

Class 1

Pole : Alex Harris.

2nd Guy Stevens.

3rd Andy Holley.

4th Antony Theaker.

Class 2

Pole : James Bark.

2nd Mike Thurston.

3rd Lewis Hopkins.

4th Jamie Martin.

5th Jamie Packham.

Race 1

As the engine revs rose and the red lights went out 17 rows of Golfs charged down the pit straight towards Redgate and, thankfully, out the other side heading for Craner curve. James Bark was charging ahead lead Simon Hill, who had a fantastic start, and had opened up a full second gap as the cars crossed the line for the first time, with just over 2 seconds separating the next 5 cars. Mike Thurston had worked his way up to 3rd position by lap 5 as the gap at the front widened further still.

New comers Lewis Hopkins and Jamie Martin were running a very creditable 2nd and 5th by lap 7 – not easy in such a closely fought Championship !. Mike Thurston kept the pressure on in 3rd and had passed Lewis for 2nd by the next lap – a position he maintained until the end.

Meanwhile in Class 1, Alex ‘Bomber’ Harris got a good start from pole in class and had a near 2 second gap by the end of lap 1 over Guy Stevens, with Andy Holley Tony Theaker and Dawn Boyd close behind. As the crossed the line on lap 8 Guy was just 7 thousandths of a second behind and made his move up the inside into Redgate, to take the class lead. This order remained to the end with Guy winning by 1.4 seconds and Andy Holley and Dawn a further 18 and 19 seconds back respectively.

James Bark was the lights to flag overall winner with an impressive 8 second lead at the end, the remainder of the results are provided below.

Race 1 Overall results :

1st James Bark ( Class 2 Winner).

2nd Michael Thurston.

3rd Lewis Hopkins.

4th Jamie Martin.

5th Jamie Packham.

Class 1 results :

1st Guy Stevens.

2nd Alex Harris.

3rd Andy Holley.

Class 2 results :

1st James Bark.

2nd Michael Thurston.

3rd Lewis Hopkins.

Race 2

The clouds had unfortunately opened up prior to race 1 and though it appeared that the track might dry off a little during the previous race, by the time the cars lined up for race 2 it had already started to rain again. James Bark, the winner of race 1, decided to fit some brand new tyres and found the grip levels something akin to an icing rink on formation lap !. The grid was based on the second fastest qualifying time during the single session.

Off the line, the top 10 were all fighting form position, to their credit especially in the wet conditions the racing was very clean and contact free. At the end of lap 1 Jamie Packham, something of a wet weather specialist, was leading with Jamie Martin, Lewis Hopkins and Simon Hill in ‘hot pursuit’. Another change of leader Jamie Martin in front on lap 2, a position he held until lap 6 when Jamie Packham again passed him for the lead – remarkably at more than half race distance, the top 10 were separated by just over 5 seconds !.

The leader changed again the very next lap, with Lewis Hopkins taking charge after Jamie Packham had a ‘moment’ during the lap; this also let Jamie Martin through proving just how close things were !.

In Class 1 Guy Stevens started well with Bomber close behind keeping him very honest – the gap was less than a second after lap 1. Dawn Boyd followed next pursued by Tony Theaker a mere 0.4 seconds from her rear. A little further down Andy Holley and Clive Belton were having a great battle for 4th place in class. At lap 6 the top three were separated by under 2 seconds and Guy went on to take the class win by a similar margin from Bomber.

Overall, the results was similarly tight Lewis taking the win, closely followed by Jamie Martin them Jamie Packham.

Qualifying and race results are posted on this site under ‘Race Information’ and ‘Overall Results 2011’. More detailed information is available from the TSL website ( www.tsl-timing.com ).

Race 1 Overall results :

1st Lewis Hopkins ( Class 2 Winner).

2nd Jamie Martin.

3rd Jamie Packham.

4th Simon Hill.

5th Nick Porter.

Class 1 results :

1st Guy Stevens.

2nd Alex Harris.

3rd Dawn Boyd.

Class 2 results :

1st Lewis Hopkins.

2nd Jamie Martin.

3rd Jamie Packham.

Pics: Norwich Photo