RACE THE MG - MG Trophy Championship 2011

Initially we had 21 entries for our first two rounds of the season which was an excellent start considering the difficult times we are still in. Unfortunately Robertson and Ross were unable to make the trip south so we were down to 19 starters. Total newcomers to the Trophy were Fitzsimmons in Luti’s old ZR 190, Campbell and Evans from the MGOC in their own ZR 160’s, Kitson in the ex Pritchard ZR 160 and Mike Koskela in his F 160. Returnees were Savage in the ex Hazel ZR 160 and Marc Koskela in his F 160, welcome to them all. Several cars had changed colour with some great paint jobs, they all looked very smart. Don’t forget that there will be an award for the best presented car at the end of the season once again.

Testing

Testing on the Friday saw 11 Trophy cars present, 10 actually on track mixing it with some others on this warm sunny open test day. Cole decided not to test following his recent engine problems having just fitted a non steel crank replacement. The only drama of the day was newcomer Fitzsimmons who had an off coming out of Druids in the morning session, so the pristine ex Luti car looked somewhat tardy following an introduction to the tyre wall. However, good work from the Dreadnought team soon had it looking OK. The best times of the day for the 190 cars were in the high 54’s, low 55’s, good times for the first outing.

Qualifying

The Trophy qualifying was the first of the day at 09:00 on another bright and sunny day. Luti’s seat belts were deemed out of date at scrutineering and a borrowed set were hastily installed. All 19 cars took to the track however the TSL timing screens remained blank so it was a complete guess as to who was where. Later reference to the TSL hard copy gave the 190 pole to Bray on 54.228 followed by Streather on 54.284 and Luti on 54.343... how close was that ?! In the 160 class newcomer Campbell came in on 57.125 which is a new lap record for this class followed by Barnard on 57.278 and Makar on 57.592, again very close, in fact the first four in class C were all under Streather’s year old outright record of 57.907, I think the cool morning air helped. We could be looking at some close racing this year.

Race 1

The first Trophy race was the first race of the day. Makar sweated as a broken fuel pipe was quickly rectified, Brian Luti to the rescue! The Apple sponsored race got underway following a green flag lap behind the safety car driven by ex Trophy drivers Dean Clements and Phil Standish. Luti made a storming start off the line at 11:49 but not as good as Jacques who “took him from behind” to quote Luti in the awards presentation! At the end of lap 1, it was Bray from Jacques, Luti and Cole. Streather had a disasterous start dropping back to 6th. Luti moved into P2 on lap 2 and Jacques was passed again by Cole on lap 3. Campbell was out at Paddock Hill bend on lap 2 with a broken drive shaft and Mike Koslela on lap 3 with a dropped valve. Streather moved up to 5th on lap 2 and held station behind Jacques until lap 6 where he passed him at Clearways. His next move into P3 came on lap 13 taking Cole at Clearways once again. This was obviously Streather’s overtaking spot as he passed Luti here on lap 16. Luti was experiencing clutch problems but held on to 3rd to the finish. At the flag, it was Bray from Streather by just 0.182s, Cole finishing 4th and Jacques 5th. In the class C/D race.

following Campbell’s retirement, Barnard took the lead with Makar in hot pursuit. Just behind this pair came Savage and Penfold who were bumper to bumper until lap 21 when Penfold got past to take P3 with Savage 4th and Kitson 5th. David Koskela was out on lap 10 with no water.
An excellent race endorsed by commentator Andrew Wilkins, who said it was one of the best Trophy races he had seen.
Fastest laps Class A/B was Streather 54.288 on lap 13, Class C/D was Penfold 57.872 on lap 21, a new race lap record for this class.
Driver of the Race Paul Streather

Race 2

After some delays, our second race got underway at 17.48 with two of the Church Square Auto cars of the Koskelas out of the race but with Campbell’s car repaired thanks to help from others. Once again, Jacques made a lightning start this time punting Streather up the rear!! At the end of lap 1, it was Bray, Jacques, Streather, Cole and Luti. Streather moved into P2 on lap 2 as he shot between Jacques on the left and Cole to his right on Brabham Straight. Jacques dropped further behind on lap 4 when he lost places to Luti and Cole who swopped places on lap 8 twice. Jacques finally retired after 8 laps with a punctured radiator following his start line nudge. Cole was on the grass going up Hailwood Hill on lap 11 which let Wetton and Walker through. Streather was on Bray’s back bumper as they encountered back markers until lap 15 when he got past at Paddock Hill bend as the cars touched. Streather went on to take the flag by 1.628s. from Bray who suffered from a deflating front right, the contact having damaged the tyre valve. Luti took 3rd place, again suffering with clutch problems, followed by Cole and Wetton. In the class C/D race Campbell made an excellent start initially passing two of the 190 cars by the end of lap 1. He continued to hold the lead closely followed by Barnard and Makar, Makar was dropped slightly but held 3rd to the flag. Behind these, Savage and Penfold repeated their race 1 duel, Savage having the upper hand until lap 14 when Penfold once again got ahead holding P4 to the flag. The commentator repeated his race 1 comment about the thrilling race and added that it was one of the best races he had seen on the Indy circuit here at Brands Hatch.

Fastest laps Class A/B was Bray 54.214 on lap 5, Class C/D was Barnard 57.391 on lap 12, another new race lap record for this class, demoting Penfold’s record after just a few hours!

Driver of the Race Paul Streather

Driver of the Day This was also given to Paul Streather, apparently unprecedented.