K-Tec Racing Clio 182 Series
The inaugural round of the new for 2014 K-Tec Racing Clio 182 Series provided the two of the best races of the day with ex-Stock Hatch champions Patrick Fletcher and Jeff Humphries fighting hard to take the first victories.
Mark Armstrong, who put his Clio on pole position for both races, was unable to compete in either race due to an engine failure in qualifying which meant that Caterham graduate Dan Livingstone was on a lonely front row. A storming start from the outside of the second row put 2011 Stock Hatch champion, Patrick Fletcher into the lead at Copse. He pulled clear of the pack by a full second on the first lap ahead of Mark Hammersley and Livingstone. However, it was Jeff Humphries who started in sixth that would work his way up into second place by lap three as he prepared to hunt down Fletcher. Humphries, who won the Stock Hatch title in 2009, whittled down a two second gap to challenge Fletcher but was unable to find a way ahead of him. Meanwhile, behind the leading pair, Benny Seybold had moved into third before Matt Fincham passed him at Becketts to stand on the third step of the podium with Livingstone and Hammersley following him through. The first race of the season saw the top six separated by less than three seconds proving that the series is set for a competitive year.
After a stunning first race of the day, it was unlikely that the second race would be able to deliver anything more – nevertheless the Clio boys were out to deliver. Once again it was Fletcher that powered his way into the lead from the second row of the grid, as front-row man Livingstone had an off at Copse which dropped him to the rear of the field. Humphries followed Fletcher to move into second position but once again had to close down a second gap. Fincham, who started in tenth, only took two laps to move into third. The pair pushed hard to close the gap to Fletcher to make a three car battle for the lead. Using the slipstream around the fast Silverstone National Circuit both Humphries and Fincham challenged for the lead. On the eighth lap the trio went three abreast heading into Copse corner and Humphries used the outside line into the corner to cut back to move ahead of his rivals to lead the race. Fletcher didn’t waste any time to move back to the front as he dived up on the inside of Humphries at Becketts to move back into the lead. After sitting behind Fletcher for the next few laps Humphries made a challenge into Copse on the final lap and took the lead, which became the victory, ahead of both Fletcher and Fincham. Meanwhile, Hammersley got the better of Seybold and Daniel Spencer in the battle for fourth.
Disklok RGB Championship
The Disklok RGB Championship brought another strong grid of thirty cars to Silverstone and the first race of the day would see a Matt Higginson and John Cutmore battle for the lead. The pair were separated by only 0.01 seconds in qualifying and Cutmore would stick on the gearbox of Higginson for the opening seven laps. Using the slipstream Cutmore moved up on the inside of Higginson at Brooklands on the eighth lap to take the lead but then spun out at Luffield, giving Higginson a seven second margin to him. However, Higginson was cautious when lapping back-marker traffic which allowed Cutmore to close the gap back to under a second, but there wasn’t enough time for him to make a move for the lead. With Paul Rogers spinning at the start of the race at Copse, Scott Mittell took his first podium of the year with Rogers passing the chequered flag right behind Mittell. Duncan Horlor completed the top five just ahead of Alastair Boulton and David Wale.
Starting from pole in race two, Cutmore took the early advantage to lead the way until Brooklands when he spun and dropped to the back. Despite a second spin Cutmore would eventually recover to sixth. Higginson had Mittell challenging for the lead in the opening stages but Mittell was unable to go with the reigning champion, so had to settle for second. Rogers had a lonely race to finish in third behind both Higginson and Mittell. Horlor fought off Wale for a second race, this time for fourth. Tony Gaunt was involved in the battle but spun down to seventh on the final lap.
In class F, for front-engined cars, Stephen Bell took a close fought victory in race one ahead of James Walker, with Colin Spicer in third. The second race saw Walker take the honours ahead of Bell and Spicer.
750 Trophy
A strong grid of 750 Trophy cars graced the Silverstone Circuit with the supercharged Austin 7 of Christian Pederson taking the early advantage in race one before Barry Pike passed Pederson for the lead into Becketts on the third lap. Pike would pull clear and take a victory of seven seconds. Michael Harvey struggled to work a way ahead of the more powerful car of Pederson but was assisted when a misfire hit Pederson’s machine. Despite this, Pederson held on to finish in third behind Harvey. Gregan Thruston, who was running in fourth, was forced to retire from the race with mechanical problems which allowed Cliff Ringrose to claim that position.
Race two saw a similar beginning with Pederson charging off before Pike took the lead on the second lap into Luffield while Harvey made a similar move on Pederson into Becketts on the following lap. Harvey was able to take the lead at Woodcote on lap seven when he made the most of the traffic, but a spin at Luffield on the penultimate lap dropped him back to second behind Harvey. Roger Rowe, who started down in fifteenth, fought his way into third in the first race for his RWR in twelve years, ahead of Pederson who had another misfire. Ron Welsh, who was going well in his Lotus 6, had to retire from the race due to a mechanical failure.
Tim Myall took the victory in the first encounter for the class A cars for Austin 7’s ahead of John Skeavington and David Whetton. With Myall unable to start race two, Skeavington took the class victory ahead of Whetton and Andrew Hobson.
Spire Sports Cars Bikesports Championship
Tim Gray took a convincing double victory in the Spire Sports Cars Bikesports Championship after struggling at Donington Park. Jon-Paul Ivey, who was himself a double victor at Donington took two second place finishes. In both races Ivey stayed within five seconds of Gray. James Breakell and Adrian Reynard both scored a third position each. Reynard had to work his way up into fourth in the first race after a slow start.
Class B were once again the quickest class on the circuit with Gray taking both honours in the class, as well as overall. Adrian Reynard won both races in class A, for the bigger engined cars. Tim Porter came second in both races. Richard Wise was the only runner in class C but didn’t finish either race.
CARTEK Roadsports Endurance Series
Rob Horsfield was the dominant force in the 45 minute CARTEK Roadsports Series race. Even with a ten second longer pit-stop, he took his modified Toyota MR2 to a twenty-six second victory. Anthony Day finished in second in his modified Toyota MR2 (Roadster version). He had to move up into that position after a poor first lap when he dropped back to fourth.
The Ginetta G27 of David Gardner and Christopher Mills ran in third in the early stages before having to retire a sick car after sixteen laps. This allowed Matt Cherrington and Martin Gambling to take their BMW Z3 to finish in third position overall and a victory in Class B. Steve Hewson and Robert Gilham’s Porsche 924 held of Rebecca Jackson in her Porsche Boxster for fourth overall and second in class.
Leighton Norris and John Sadler took the Class C victory in their Porsche 944 and finished in eighth overall. The pairing finished just one second clear of the standard Toyota MR2 of Shaun Traynor.
75km Race for Historic Sports and GT Cars, featuring the SR> Challenge
The 75th anniversary of the 750 Motor Club was celebrated with a one-off 75km Race for Historic Sports and GT Cars, featuring the SR> Challenge. Twenty-one cars turned up for the twenty-eight lap encounter. John Wilson took a dominant victory in his MGB GT V8 to take a forty-five second victory ahead of the TVR Tuscan of Graham Walden. Walden had a spin on the first lap of the race at Becketts which meant he had to battle through the field to re-take that position.
Alec Hammond finished in third in his Chevron B8 after Mark Wright pitted the Chevrolet Corvette he was sharing with Bernie Chodosh. The Wright/Chodosh pairing still claimed fifth despite the pit stop. Nigel Brown claimed fourth position in his Sports Specials machine.
The SR & GT Challenge class victors were Wilson (A), Mark Bowd (B), Phil Walker (C) and Charles Best (D). Hammond was the winner in the invitation historic class, where Walden won the invitation Allcomers part of the race.