Snetterton 12 + 13
Snetterton 2nd/3rd October 2010
So, the final two rounds of the year, where does the time go? It only seems like yesterday that you were bumping into each other at Brands Hatch! The difficult financial situation has taken it’s toll on some of our drivers this season and the grid for Snetterton was down to 15. Hard to believe that we have 28 registered drivers this year. As you know it was down to the wire again which I believe means we have the points allocation dead right but that can be discussed at the drivers meeting. Both Paul’s and Chris were in striking distance of taking the title with Paul S. on 185 points and Paul L. and Chris tying on 176. Unfortunately the clashing Britcar 24hr race at Silverstone robbed us of Doug, Robin, Simon and Mats.
Testing
Testing on the Friday saw most of the Trophy drivers present. During the morning sessions Dan smashed his screen when someone (!) forgot to fit the bonnet pins, sorry guys, but no excuses for that. Paul L. was in the low 1:21’s with his new lightweight passenger door now fitted, Colin on 1:21.5 and Paul S. a creditable 1:25.7.
Snags noted were Colin with a broken alternator bolt that was soon fixed and Graham with a burst CV boot.
Just after the lunch break the rain arrived which was good because everybody present was able to try their wets, some having never run on wets before including Paul L. in the LE 500. Rain was forecast for the Sunday so some wet laps to test on was just what was needed so set ups could be checked.
Qualifying
The Trophy qualifying was at 09.45 for 15 mins on a drying track. Colin, Graham and Ben(?) were out on front slicks and rear wets with possibly some others trying that configuration. Chris soon put his marker down on his third tour being first through 1:30 with a 1:28.23. At 10 mins the order was Graham, Chris, Colin, Andrew then Paul L. Andrew later dropped out of the top five, the remaining four being joined by Ben. Towards the end of the session the order was Graham, Paul L., Colin, Chris and Ben. On the penultimate lap Paul L. was in P1 followed by Graham, Colin, Chris and Ben. On the final lap Chris jumped from P4 to P2 behind Paul L. and in front of Graham, Colin and Ben. Paul’s pole time was 1:23.68. Alastair literally finished assembling his re-built car, following his Oulton accident, during the qualifying session and just managed to do the requisite number of laps to qualify! Pole for class C/D went to Paul S. on 1:27.3 with Ross a creditable second on 1:27.84. This was one of the most exciting qualifying sessions for some time. Post qualifying showed that Paul L. had done most of the session with no clutch and Colin’s fuel pump problems were soon sorted.
Race 1
The first Trophy race was at 14.12 on the Saturday with bright, dry conditions. Fifteen cars took the start and at the end of lap one the order was Paul L., Chris, Graham, Ben, Colin. On lap six, Chris made his move and demoted Paul L. to second, Colin also having passed Ben into fourth. At around this time the warning flag was shown to the entire field as most were taking Sear with all four wheels over the line. This continued and Chris and Graham were given drive through penalties which they both took on lap ten, this then leaving the order Paul L., Colin, Ben, Chris and Graham. This order remained until the flag on lap fifteen. In the class C/D race, Paul S. held his pole position to the flag, never once being challenged. Behind him, Ross, Julia and Dan were in close contention but the gaps between them opened up leaving Ross to take P2 and Julia P3 at the finish. In class D, lone entry David K. experienced car problems which meant he was last at the flag. Fastest lap went to Chris with a 1:20.837 on lap four and Paul S. got the addtional point for his fastest lap on tour three with 1:25.214, which is a new lap record for this class. Driver of the race went to Paul Luti.
The only post race problems besides David K’s which sidelined him for the Sunday, was Paul L. with a split drive-shaft gaiter.
Race 2
Missing from race two were David K. with car problems, Graham on parenting duties and Chris, who decided not to race following Saturday’s events. This was a real shame as Chris still had a mathematical chance of winning the title again, however he felt that he had been unfairly treated, hence his decision. This left a lowly twelve cars on the grid for the start of the final round of 2010, with no-one on row two. Pole sitter Paul L. took the start at 10.45, however second place man Colin took the lead which he held until lap four, when he spun out but continued in second place. Behind them Gary took advantage of the missing cars on row two and slotted in front of Ben who stormed from seventh on the grid to fifth by the end of the first lap. Andrew moved into P4 on lap six which he held until lap eleven when he inherited third as Ben took a drive through penalty. Gary inherited P4 as Ben was penalised which he held to the flag, his best ever finish. Paul L. managed to hold off the hard charging Colin pipping him to the post by less than a second. In class C, David mistakenly read the drive through penalty car number as 41, his number, and took an unnecessary penalty which dropped him back to last. Elsewhere, class C pole sitter Paul S., had a lonely race to win his class again. Alastair had started from the back due to his poor qualifying time, however with the car now performing well he initially picked off places lap by lap moving up to 9th on lap three, joining Julia and Ross. He passed Ross on lap nine moving into 8th (3rd in class behind Julia) which he held to the flag. Fastest lap went to Paul L. on lap eight with a 1:22.574 and in class C Paul S. once again got the additional point with a 1:26.246 on lap six. Driver of the race was presented to Paul Streather.
Final Championship Placings and Awards
The championship title goes to Paul Streather which is well deserved. He will be moving up to class B next year and we look forward to seeing how he gets on in a 190. In 2nd place is Paul Luti and 3rd goes to Chris.
Class A 1st Paul L.
Class B 1st Chris, 2nd Doug, 3rd Ben.
Class C 1st Dan, 2nd Julia, 3rd Ross.
Class D 1st David K.
Highest placed lady goes to Julia who has been racking up the points all season.
There are also awards for Highest Placed Novice, Spirit of the Championship, Season Improvement Award and the Luti Endeavour Award. New for this year will be the Best Presented Race Car award, the Drivers’ Driver award and a new surprise Luti sponsored award.