Croft race report 2011
Testing
The only testing available was on the Thursday when Paul Streather and David Williams both had outings apparently with the circuit to themselves, the lack of traffic resulting in David nearly going the wrong way round ! The Friday was reserved by Lotus on Track with MG’s on Track having one of their sessions, despite 7 of our cars being present at the circuit only Julia Penfold, Dan Surridge and David Williams had reserved slots, the remainder of our cars not being eligible. No times were recorded and no problems were in evidence.
Qualifying
The Trophy qualifying started promptly at 12.35 and all 14 cars took to the track. At the 5 minute marker it was Ross, Streather, Luti, Wetton, Barnard, Walker, Cole and Williams. At 10 mins. it was Ross, Luti, Bray, Streather, Cole, Wetton, Walker, Barnard and Byrne. With 6 of the 8 laps completed the order was Ross, Luti, Bray, Streather, Cole, Wetton, Walker and Barnard, these positions holding to the end of the session. The A/B pole went to Ross for both races and the C/D pole went to Barnard for both races. There were no major problems following qualifying, however various car set ups were tweaked prior to the first race.
Race 1
The first of the two Cascade sponsored Trophy races started at 17.30 on a cool but sunny evening. Luti was alongside Ross on the front row and made it as far as Clervaux where he pulled off with an oil leak. Ross held his pole position with Streather, Bray, Cole and Wetton in close pursuit. Bray passed Streather on lap 2 to take P2, these positions holding until lap 6 when Bray dropped down to P4 following contact with Cole as he rejoined following an off. This enabled Ross to stretch his lead even further as those behind him tussled. Bray’s damage had almost shredded his front left tyre which resulted in an off at Tower which Wetton took advantage of, sneaking into P4 on the last lap. At the flag it was Ross taking his first ever Trophy win by over 6.5 secs from Streather, Cole and Wetton. In the class C race Barnard held his pole position to the flag, behind him Makar fended off Campbell and Byrne until lap 6 when Campbell got past at Clervaux. Makar dropped further back on lap 9 following an off at Clervaux after contact with Byrne.
Penfold went on a farming excursion through the wheat on lap 3 after lifting on seeing ‘yellows’ at Sunny as Walker went off, dropping her from 4th to 6th, a position she held to the flag. Williams took 4th, Evans rounding out the class C finishers. Fastest laps Class A/B, Bray 1:36.913 on lap 5; Class C, Barnard 1:41.036 on lap 6. Driver of the Race went to Cole for his spirited duel with Bray.
Race 2
Luti’s problem was down to a split oil pipe when an engine steady bracket broke. The bracket was welded and the pipe fixed in no time. Bray’s bodywork was straightened by brother Ali and a new tyre fitted. Race 2 on the Sunday was at 15.42 and all 14 cars took the start. Ross, in pole, had trouble selecting second gear as most of the grid flew past him, Streather taking the lead. Ross eventually set off at warp speed passing the class C cars along the back straight as if they were parked up. Needless to say Tower loomed large and with far too much speed on board Ross locked up under braking and took to the grass as the field all passed him for a second time ! Undaunted, he set off now in last place, in hot pursuit; at the end of lap one the order was Streather, Luti, Bray, Cole and Wetton, Ross already up to 11th. By lap 3 Ross was incredibly up to P6, the front positions remained until lap 6 when Streather, suffering with earlier contact from Luti at the hairpin, was passed by both Luti and Bray, with Cole holding 4th. The leading trio ran bumper to bumper for most of the race, Ross soldiered on but clutch problems sidelined him on lap 8 as he got close to Wetton who also had to retire on the last lap with driveshaft problems. At the flag it was another Croft win for Luti followed home by Bray just 0.26s behind and a disappointed Streather who had led for half the race. In the class C race Barnard had a race long duel with class B driver Walker with both running as high as P6 during the race. In with them initially was Makar but he dropped back a place until succumbing to fuel line problems and retiring on lap 9. Behind them came Penfold who was running as high as 3rd in class until being hit from behind on lap 6 and out of contention, finishing the race early in the pit lane. Campbell ran in 3rd from lap 3 moving up to 2nd when Makar retired. Behind him, came Byrne, Williams and Evans to round out the class C places.
Fastest laps Class A/B, Bray 1:36.577 on lap 4; Class C Barnard 1:40.471 on lap 4. Driver of the Race went to the non-finishing Ross for his determined drive from last to 6th before retirement.