Ives wins bizarre Sports Special race
The 750 Motor Club headed to a packed Silverstone International Circuit as entries thrived on racing at the home of British Motorsport. Racing was frantic throughout the weekend with 23 races filling out the schedule. The
Protech Sports Specials championship has been superb all season and Silverstone was no exception. A strange, incident-filled opener was won by Edward Ives (Elite Pulse).
Ives had to reel in a six second lead which Clive Hudson (Eclipse SM1) had pulled out. He did this quickly and made a move through traffic to take the victory. Hudson held on to take the honours in class A, however. Nick Holden (Ariel Atom Cup) came home in a strong third after Paul Boyd (Eclipse) pulled in after witnessing teamate Andrew Sterling impact heavily with the armco after the curbs fired him off the circuit exciting Stowe. Thankfully Andrew was uninjured, meanwhile Stephen Lansley (Procomp LA Gold) and Mark Bowd (Ford GT40) were involved in an incident at Abbey.
Race two was another 2014 thriller with Ives battling the two Eclipses for the lead. Hudson defended hard and never relinquished the lead. Ives and Boyd swapped places throughout but a last lap dive saw Ives spin out handing Boyd the position. He still came through in the lead of class C ahead of Holden and Paul Collingwood (Slyva J15).
Adrian Cooper (Procomp) was dominant in class B and took two clear victories. Paul Cooper (RAW Striker) beat Colin Benham (STM Phoenix) in two tight battles for second. The SR & GT Challenge also shared the mighty 39 car grid and Cheng Lim (RAM Cobra) was well clear of his challengers in both races. Peter Samuels (MGB GT V8) and Robert Frost (Dax Tojiero) won class C and B respectively.
Luke Sedzikowski took the early advantage in the opening race for the
Tegiwa Civic Cup. Gaugler fell to fifth from pole position by the end of the second tour. A seven car battle then began for the lead with Mark Higginson and Sedzikowski trading positions for the lead at mid-distance. Rich Hockley, who was sixth in the early stages, slowly started to move his way through the field and was third by the end of lap nine.
Higginson attempted to take the lead at Stowe for the final time but Hockley squeezed his way ahead of both Higginson and Sedzikowski giving him the victory. Sedzikowski came home second after leading much of the race with Higginson got third. Andrew Gaugler passed Chris Coomer on the final lap for fourth with Bernard Galea and Nick Chatburn completing the top seven in a cracking battle.
A crazy first lap from a reverse grid in race two saw Coomer come through first ahead of Sedzikowski, who came from the fourth row of the grid. Michael Hamlett made an impressive start but got caught up in an incident with Chatburn. Rich Hockley got the better of Coomer on the eighth lap and held on to take the victory. Coomer lost out at the end of the contest as Gaugler, Sedzikowski and Galea got ahead of him.
The
Demon Tweeks/Yokohama Stock Hatch and Classic Stock Hatch championships combined for the second time this season which made a wonderful sight as a capacity 44 cars lined up to race. Red flags flew in the opener when Martyn Fowdrey (Ford Fiesta) rolled at Vale. The car spun round on its roof and made contact with Jon Hobbs (Peugeot 106). A shorted restart was dominated by Tom Bell, who took only his second victory of the season. After contact, Carl Swift grabbed second away from Lee Deegan with Toby Bearne in fourth ahead of Steve Powlesland. Championship contender Shayne Deegan finished P36 with a misfire.
Andrew Thorpe (Citroen AX) conquered the Classic Stock Hatch race. Martin Cayzer (Fiesta) ran in second for most of the contest before Gordon MacMillan (Peugeot 205) and Imran Khan (Fiesta) passed him. Championship contenders Lee Scott (Fiesta) and Andy Philpotts (Fiesta) both hit misfortune. Scott was involved in a first corner incident while Philpotts made the restart from the pits.
Swift took Sunday’s race with Bell hot on his heels. With his car fixed, Shayne Deegan finished third. Scott also made up for Saturday’s misfortune as he won the Classic division. Philpotts held on to second ahead of a charging Pip Hammond (Vauxhall Nova), who started tenth in class.
The
Safety Devices/Gaz Shocks Compact Cup was another grid at its capacity.Stuart Voyce dropped back to sixth from pole after a couple of off-track excursions on the opening lap. Steve Roberts made the most of this and galloped off with a three second lead. Mike Tovey was the man that ran in second until lap four when Voyce took that position away from him. Only four further tours later Voyce closed in Roberts. Roberts defended hard but on the final lap Voyce cemented his position in the lead and passed the chequered flag ahead. Tovey finished third ahead of Owen Hunter, who had passed Alex Dew.
A red flag halted the second contest when Pawel Blachut was involved in an incident at Club. A shortened restart was won by Voyce with Roberts chasing him all the way. This was enough for Voyce to be crowned champion with just the two races remaining at Donington Park. An almighty battle for third broke out behind with Tovey successfully holding off Hunter. James Gornall, a Compact Cup rookie but former British GT champion finished in ninth. David Drinkwater recovered to 15th after having to start 42nd after issues in the morning.
The
Demon Tweeks/Yokohama Locost championship provided a couple of classic slipstreaming races. On Saturday there was a 6-way tussle for the lead before Danny Andrew spun into the gravel at Vale while leading when Richard Jenkins outbreaked himself. This also held up Lee Bankhurst, who recovered back to third when passing Sian Stafford Atkinson on the final lap. Mathew Brooks and Stuart Sellars were left to dice for the lead after Jenkins pitted with a puncture. Brooks broke the slipstream to Sellars and took the victory.
On Sunday, Brooks seized the lead away from Andrew on the final lap to take the victory with the top four cars separated by just 1.21 seconds. Andrew held onto to second ahead of Bankhurst and Jenkins. Stafford Atkinson made contact with Ian Allee, dropping them off of the lead pack. Richard Bradley was also held up in the incident which depleted the seven car battle for the lead.
Matt Palmer has been the dominant force in the
Millers Oils Toyota MR2 championship this season and it was no different at Silverstone as he clinched both victories which gave him the championship with still two races to go. Jim Davies finished second in both duels and therefore won class C.
Tim Heron and Alex Knight both took their first podium of the season as Stuart Nicholls had a couple of spins, one caused a DNF. Stuart’s sister Maxine was involved in a race stopping incident on Sunday morning which also involved Nick Jones and Wayne Lewis.
Matthew Higginson (Spire GT3) took a double victory in the
Disklok RGB championship. Scott Mittell (Mittell MC-52B) led the majority of the first race as he attempted to break the Spire run of wins. Higginson muscled his way up ahead of Mittell on the final run into Vale and the reigning champion held on by 0.59 seconds. Alastair Boulton (Spire) and John Cutmore (Spire) finished just behind. The second encounter was easier for Higginson once he passed Boulton. Cutmore rounded off the podium as he beat Mittell.
Austen Greenway (MNR GM3) won both battles in the front engine class. James Walker (Phoenix) finished second in race one but was involved in a red flag incident at the start of the second which allowed David Watson (MNR GM2) and Stephen Malyon (MNR GM2) to complete the podium.
Jon-Paul Ivey (Radical PR6) returned to the
Spire Sportscars Bike-Sports championship and dominated both races with Tim Gray unable to make either start due to engine failure in qualifying. Ivey’s two victories brings his tally up to four. Philip Cooper (PR6), in only his second circuit meeting, took a couple of second places where in race two he was only seven second adrift of Ivey.
Gary Patterson (Radical SR3) finished third in race one after briefly being ahead of Cooper and won class A. Adrian Reynard (SR3) took that place (both overall and in class) in race two following an incident with James Breakell (PR6) earlier in the day. Richard Wise (Spire GT3) took a further two class C victories.
Martin Farmer led home a Bears Motorsport GAC 1-2-3 in the opening
Tillotson Formula Vee contest ahead of Craig Pollard and Paul Taylor. The race was halted early when Jack Wilkinson (Sheane Mk3) barrel-rolled at the link after an clipping a spun Pete Belsey (Spyder Mk2). Farmer won race two ahead of an excellent battle for second which Belsey won ahead of Pollard and Ian Jordan (Sheane Jordan).
Alec Livesey (Jensen Healey) took the lead prior to the pit stops in the
Cartek Roadsports race. Livesey held on to take a victory of twenty seconds ahead of Allan Gibson (Lotus Exige). Steve Brown (Porsche Boxster) finished in third and claimed the class B honours ahead of the pairing of Leon Bidgway and Andy Chapman (Toyota MR2). Eliot Dunmore (Mini Cooper) won class C ahead of Martin Farrelly (MR2).
Christian Pederson dominated the lone
750 Trophy race as he utilised the power of his Single Seater Austin 7. Martin Kemp (Racekits Merlin) won the battle for second, albeit over 40 seconds behind Pederson. Andy Schulz (JoMo) completed the podium ahead of Michael Harvey (JB Special). Ian Grant won class A for Austin 7’s after Mike Peck spun at Vale on the final lap.
Billy Albone (Batten 3) dominated another
Premier Choice 750 Formula race, bringing his winning tally up to eight. Championship rival Bill Cowley (Cowley Mk4) finished third behind David Bartholomew (PRS 1B) after car issues in qualifying. Graham Rice (GRM/750) took the honours in class B ahead of Dick Hartle (Tristesse Mk7).
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Words: Joshua Barrett