Rounds 9 + 10 + 11
Cadwell Park 4/5th September
The offer from Steve Carr of three races at Cadwell seemed an ideal way of putting the Brands debacle well and truly behind us. This enabled us to use the additional race to replace the aborted opening round. However, three 25 minute races over two days would be a first, and I wasn’t sure how many cars would be left running to take the start of the final race of the weekend. What I hadn’t considered, was that the lack of cars would be down to our lowest race entries and not due to non running cars. On the day before the race we had just 14 entries. All the missing regulars had genuine reasons not to be present, the overriding factor unfortunately being financial which is a real worry. However, the three races gave us three different winners, one of whom no-one would have bet on, so, read on.
Testing
Testing on the Friday saw 10 drivers present, 9 of whom were testing, plus Dan S, who was competing in the one hour pit-stop race with Julia. During the morning sessions, Ross lost a wheel and Julia and Dan S. experienced pretty big offs. In the afternoon, Chris set the 190 pace with a 1:40.6s and in the 160 class Paul S. clocked a 1:44.5s, well under the current Trophy record for class C cars. With very few cars on the track there was a relaxed feeling about the whole day. There were no other testing problems.
Qualifying
Due to the imminent arrival of junior Hazel #2, Charles was otherwise occupied, meaning just 13 cars took to the grid for the 20 min. qualifying session at 9.38 on the Saturday morning. The early order was Chris, Paul L., Simon, Doug and Gary. Paul L moved into P1 a short while after. With Paul L still in P1, Simon moved into P2 followed by Chris, Gary and Doug. At the end of the session the order was Simon, Paul L, Chris, Ben and Gary, both Simon and Paul L getting under 1:41s. In class C Paul S clocked a very creditable 1:43.935s on lap 8 of 9. Julia, Dan and Ross were very close with less than 1.7s covering all three. Simon didn’t have a totally trouble free session, spinning twice at the Gooseneck, once in front of and once behind Julia as he found the limits of the slicks. The only post testing snag noted was a slight clutch problem for Paul L, necessitating a new slave cylinder.
Race 1
The day continued bright and dry and our first race was due to start at 13.25. However, due to the recent death of MG Car Club President, Bill Wallis, a one minute silence was held at that time with the Trophy drivers standing by their cars on the grid. An eerie silence descended over Cadwell while everyone paid their respects. The race got underway at 13.30, pole-sitter Simon losing control on the approach to Mansfield on the opening lap, damaging the left rear quarter for the first DNF, thus handing the lead to Paul L which he held to the end. One lap later Chris had a big off going airborne and landing heavily on his rear-left wheel for DNF#2. Ben moved from his 4th place grid slot to P2 passing Doug on lap 2 and inheriting another place as Chris went off. Doug tried hard to go round the outside of Ben on the approach to the mountain on lap 5 but had to back off as he found himself running up the track exit road. This lost him several seconds which he clawed back, finally passing Ben into P2 on lap 9 which he held to the end. A considerable gap built up as Ben pursued Doug leaving Mats and Phil who had been bumper to bumper in 4th and 5th places but trailing by 8 seconds. Robin was a distant 6th, 2.5s in front of class C pole-sitter Paul S. Gary had held P4 until lap 7 when he lost power, dropping down to P8. Julia had a lonely race to finish 2nd in class C followed by Dan in 3rd. Fastest lap went to Paul L with a 1:41.435s on lap 4, Paul S getting the class C fastest lap and Trophy record also on lap 4 with 1:44.604s. Driver of the race went to Doug.
Chris and Simon both had considerable work to do on their cars in order to get them ready for the second race of the day. Simon ‘borrowed’ the rear hatch from the non-running Hazel car re-designating it ‘Darkside Race Team’. Chris had to replace the rear beam and damper on his car. Paul L was still suffering with air in the clutch and they replaced the master cylinder in the hope of curing it.
Race 2
The second Trophy race was the last race of the day and this started at 17.49, both Simon and Chris’s cars being ready in time to take up their grid positions. The grid was the same as race 1 with the exception of Gary and Doug who swopped places on row 3. Simon made sure he wasn’t going to throw this race away and held his pole position as the rest followed in his wake. Ben got past a slower starting Paul L and at the end of lap one it was Simon, Ben, Paul L, Doug and Chris. These positions held until lap 5 when Doug had an off going into Hall bends with Chris narrowly avoiding him, this let Mats through into 4th before Chris regained his position on lap 6. On lap 9 the black and orange was shown to Phil for fuel spillage but Julia thought it was for her and she pitted on lap 10 followed by Phil on lap 11. The positions then being Simon, Ben, Paul L, Chris and Doug. Chris had been right on Paul L’s tail for several laps and made it count as he moved into P3 on lap 13. Doug began to suffer clutch problems and dropped back to 6th on lap 14. At the flag it was Simon, Ben, Chris and Paul L then a big gap to Mats in P5. Gary had a bad race as the previous lack of power came back to haunt him as he gradually dropped back finishing in P9. In the class C race Paul S held his pole position to the flag, Ross had a spectacular blow up at the top of the mountain on lap 12 leaving Dan to bring up the only other class C finish in 10th place.
Fastest lap went to Chris on lap 12 with a 1:40.369 which was excellent considering the previous accident damage to the car. Paul S took the class C honours with a 1:45.149 on lap 4.
Doug replaced his clutch, Gary tried everything he could think of to cure his intermittent power problem, Mats replaced his clutch cable in an attempt to find 1st gear and Alex and his crew swopped Ross’s engine finishing it off on Sunday morning. So, a fantastic win for Simon in his last Trophy race, he was voted Driver of the race AND overall Driver of the Day. (let’s hope we see him back soon).
Race 3
The third Trophy race of the weekend was at 13.45 on the Sunday, another dry but cloudy day and just 12 cars took the start. Mats hadn’t resolved his 1st gear problems so elected to start at the back much to the bewilderment of the race commentators. Although being third on the grid, Chris had a space in front of him as Simon was unable to race that day. Paul S uncharacteristically (long word !) spun on his opening lap at the Gooseneck and rejoined in last place. The order at the end of lap one was Paul L, Chris, Ben, Doug and Robin. Mats hit the rear of Gary on lap 2 and retired. Doug moved into P3 on lap 2, Ben had an off on lap 4 badly damaging the front bumper and damper. He pulled into the pit lane removed the broken bit of bumper (by hand !) and rejoined in last place. He struggled on, but got the black and orange flag and had to retire on lap 10 to prevent getting a DQ. Chris got past Paul L on lap 6 to take the lead. At half distance it was Chris from Paul L, Doug, Robin and Phil, these positions remained the same to the flag. Gary called it a day on lap 9 thinking Ben’s flag was for him! In class C Paul S picked off backmarkers one by one and finally got past Dan to take the class C lead on lap 6. Julia had the better of Ross but couldn’t catch Dan to finish 3rd in this class. Fastest lap went to Chris with 1:40.629 on lap 5, Paul S taking the class time with 1:44.944. Driver of the race went to Chris.
Paul S still leads the championship with a drop score of 185 points from Chris and Paul L tying in second on 176 and Doug 4th on 148. Once again it’s down to the wire (just how we like it) with any of these 4 being potential championship winners.