The 750 Motor Club’s seventeen race programme at a sunny Snetterton was headlined by a 150 minute race which completed the weekend’s action. The Summer Endurance Cup was won by the West Suffolk Motorsport team racing a pair of BMW M3’s with Lee Spencer, Dave Griffin and Stephen Pearson at the wheel.
JM Littman, who was racing alone, in his Porsche Boxster led the first couple of laps but pole man Spencer didn’t take long to make the most of his slow start to lead once more. Littman made the most of the first Safety Car which incidentally occurred at the right time for him. That meant he was almost a lap ahead of Griffin, who took over from Spencer, and Neville Anderson (Vauxhall Vectra) who had relayed to Rob Horsfield (Toyota MR2).
The second pit stops, which again occurred with a Safety Car period, helped the Anderson/Horsfield pairing and put them into the lead marginally over Littman. Littman was then handed a 30 second stop and go penalty after overtaking under yellow flags. His race got worse with a gearbox issue but he managed to finish, but only in ninth.
It looked like Horsfield would go on to win but a broken throttle linkage ended their chances especially after Anderson broke a driveshaft following a stop and go through penalty. Therefore Pearson was given an easy end to a dramatic and exciting race. He, Griffin and Spencer went on to win by three laps.
Robert Gilham, Steve Hewson and Phil Brough took second overall in their class B relayed Porsche 924S and Peugeot 106. They ran consistently throughout the race and beat the Honda Integra of Ken Lark and Nick Starkey by just under a lap. Lark/Starkey finished fourth overall, just behind Stewart Mutch and Ben Short’s class A Mazda MX150R. Peter and Matt Smith (Ginetta G40) came fifth overall and third in class B after the Honda Civic of Vic Hope, Ben Taylor and Steve Brady retired at half distance after battling for class honours.
Nicholas Jackson and Dylan Brychta, who relayed a VW Golf VR6 and Seat Ibiza, were the dominant winners in class C and took an impressive seventh overall. They completed two more laps than their nearest rivals who were Alan Robson and Ed Gay (Mazda MX5), who beat the similar car of Matthew Short and Ben Hancy by 38 seconds.
Stuart Sellars was able to make a break in the opening Demon Tweeks / Yokohama Locost race. That gave him a fairly easy run to the victory. Danny Andrew got into second by lap four and chased Sellars but the gap was too large to catch. Sian Stafford-Atkinson and Ian Allee traded positions for third on multiple occasions but Roger Haylock and Jack Coveney slipped through with just a couple of laps remaining.
Sellars led the opening stages of the second contest but spun out when Andrew passed him on the third lap into Brundle. Both Allee and Richard Jenkins would go on to run in second behind what would be the dominant victor, Andrew. Allee and Jenkins spun on the last lap, although they’d already fallen behind Coveney and Tim Neat. Neat and Coveney switched places a couple of times on the final lap and Neat won the battle for second by just 0.01 seconds.
Scott Mittell raced masterfully in both Disklok RGB Championship races to take his self-built Mittell to a double victory despite only starting seventh on both occasions. Alastair Boulton and John Cutmore took a second apiece in their Spires. They switched places multiple times on Saturday before Cutmore was the quicker on Sunday.
Matthew Higginson (AB Arion S2) was the undoubtable the star of class F. He won the class by 40 seconds in both races and finished fourth overall. Stephen Bell (AB Arion) was the best of the rest in the opener, beating Sam Cook (TGM Pulsar). Again Bell was second in race two with Colin Spicer (Wildmoor DM1) third.
The opening Demon Tweeks / Yokohama Stock Hatch race saw Shayne Deegan initially lead but he had brake knock-off which caused a grassy excursion, dropping him back to third. That let Scott Sharp head the pack but a misunderstanding with a backmarker on lap seven saw him fall back. That allowed Deegan to lead once more, he passed Paul Jarvis a Chapman Curve a few laps earlier. Lee Deegan fought back to second after only coming across the line after the first lap in sixth after an off at Montreal. He beat Sharp and Jarvis.
The second race was more straight forward with Shayne Deegan beating Sharp and Lee Deegan. Tom Bell took both Hot Hatch victories with Eliot Dunmore winning in the Super Cooper Cup. Newcomer Stephen Kelly was the second Mini on both occasions.
Paul Boyd looked set for a double victory in the Protech Shocks Sports Special Championship but he made a mistake whilst lapping a backmarker which allowed fellow Eclipse racer Clive Hudson to take the second race. Stephen Ward (Westfield Aerorace) came third on both occasions after fighting off Paul Collingwood and Charles Sterling, also both in Eclipses. Anton Landon (Cyana Duratec) and Rob Johnston (Cyana Mk2) claimed a win apiece in class A whereas Adrian Cooper (Procomp LA Gold) dominated class B with another double victory.
Ben Short beat Will Blackwell-Chambers in both 5Club Racing MX5 races which gave a dominating double 1-2 for BS Motorsport. Jason Greatrex headed a fantastic battle for third in the opener. He drove fantastically from tenth on the grid with brother Kris behind, who only started eighth. James Rogers, Jack Sycamore and Sebastien Fisher made it five cars separated by just 1.5 seconds at the flag. Rogers took third in the second encounter.
The power of Christian Pederson’s methanol-powered Austin 7 was untouchable in the opening 750 Trophy race. He beat Roger Rowe (RWR Trophy) by 46 seconds with Michael Harvey in third. With Pederson not present on Sunday, Rowe beat John Slatter (Centaur Mk16). Slatter had a good battle with Harvey but the latter retired on the final lap promoting Gregan Thruston (Austin 7) to third. Ian Grant (Austin 7) took both class A races.
Matt Digby’s throttle cable broke while he was leading the opening K-Tec Racing Clio 182 race which gave Patrick Fletcher the win for the third time this season. He was joined on the podium by Phil Wright and Andrew Harding, who scored their first podiums in Motorsport. Digby fought back to win the second contest with Fletcher and Wright behind. Andrew Tibbs was running second but retired after four laps.
William Smallridge (Sunbeam Tiger) dominated both SR & GT Challenge / Bernie’s V8’s races. He beat a slow starting Arthur Thurtle (Chevrolet Camaro) in the opener by 13 seconds. John Plant (Allard J2) took both SR & GT victories with a third and second overall. Plant finished 48 seconds behind Smallridge in the second encounter. Wayne Rothwell (Tiger ZR6) came third.