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Track and Race Cars Magazine Monoposto Championship 24th May Lee Bennett reports from Mallory Park Once again the Track and Race Cars Magazine Monoposto championship punched above its weight in providing fantastic competitive low cost racing at Mallory Park. Few championships can rival Monoposto for the variation of chassis within any grid and today was no exception. We saw cars from Van Diemen, Swift, Mygale, Dallara Reynard, Jamun, Bowman, Ralt, Gem, Speads, Jedi, OMS, Hi-Tec, JKS, Lola, Agent and Tatuus. All at various specifications, ages and Formula within. Mallory Park may not be to everyones tastes as for one the paddock surface resembles a Beirut backstreet, but for me it is the highlight of any season due to its friendly clubby atmosphere. This is the first race report I have ever done so I apologise for any mistakes or omissions. Simon Davey has also added a few observations mostly from pitside. Monoposto 2000/1800 Qualifying 1 First to kick off round 6 of the championship was the 2000/1800’s. I positioned myself for this session at the entry to Gerard’s. It was interesting to note the various lines taken by the 25 cars for this practice. It was noted that Tristan Cliffe in the Dallara suffered a misfire throughout the corner (G related I suspect), also Yunus Amiere and Paul Winterbottom both having moments on corner entry. Lou Watts and Amnon Needham were very smooth but Amnon’s Dallara a little low on revs. He had very little testing prior to the meeting and was delighted by the way the car shaped up over the weekend. All looked to be going to form with the usual suspects going quickly until Jeremy Timm’s engine let go through Gerards with a rod escaping out of his rapid Dallara’s Vauxhall block. Jeremy was philosophical about it, but it’s very unlucky to have such an unforeseeable and terminal problem right at the start of a double header weekend when you are leading a major championship. The session was red flagged due to a moment for championship contender Cliffe when he tripped over a back marker at Shaw’s hairpin. No damage done but a stalled car and a small exhaust fire prevented the Dallara from restarting. With his car stranded across the track like Schumacher at Monaco (2006) , the officials had little choice. (Come to think of it, red car…….).
The top 3 finished with: In the Mono classics Nick Anstruther was fastest, and 6th overall with
the pretty Bowman. Graham Read brought out a Mono Formula 2000 Dallara
– the first we have seen this year in the class – chaperoned
over the weekend by Vice Chairman Peter Whitmore.
Monoposto 1000/1200/1400/1600, Qualifying. This session was viewed from the top of Devils elbow. Few circuits can rival Mallory for this. The entire circuit can be seen from here now the Oak trees have been removed from Shaw’s. 21 cars started and traffic would always be a problem. This will not be about pure pace but dealing with traffic and a little luck thrown in. There were spins and moments for numerous cars. After needing a push to get out of the assembly area, Sara Hughes had a big spin at Gerard’s and at the Esses – the cause of this only becoming apparent on Monday morning (more of this later). Sara was driving the Agent on both days as the unfortunate Ian Hughes had broken his wrist in a horse riding accident (or at least, that's what Parkinson and Cotton want you to think.)
Having got out late when his ex-Ewen Sergison Swift suddenly refused to start, new man Pedro Ferreira lost it at the hairpin; and then Geoffrey Cowell’s Hitech expired on the exit of Gerard’s, bringing out the red flag. This let Tony Davies dive into the pits to get a gear change problem looked at by Ewen, but Darren Freeman didn’t get back out again when a hose clamp on a critical coolant pipe failed, ending the session early for his quick Jedi. The red flags came out again when Peter Collier’s OMS and Henry Fryers Vauxhall Junior tripped up on the entry to Devils Elbow, unfortunately plunging the pretty OMS into the barriers. Hopefully Peter will be able to get the car back to its former pristine state. Another very smart black car – Richard Evans Renault – was also in dire straights, in this case in the engine department, and was retired after practice. This is another car it would be good to see more of. The front running Mono 1000s gave notice of the exciting racing we were
to see later, with the first four covered by four tenths, although it
is interesting to see that they all got around a second quicker over what
become an intensely competitive weekend. Monoposto 2000/1800 Race 1 The temperature was hot and made more so by the fantastic on track action. Jeremy Timms was a frustrated non-starter and Nick Anstruther started from the pits with a clutch problem. Out went the lights and away the 23 single seaters charged. Harrison led the way on lap one from Cliffe with a small gap to Needham in 3rd. Attention now focused on the front two as Harrison had the upper hand through Gerard’s, with Cliffe quicker through the Esses and later on the brakes for the Hairpin. The lead changed several times: Cliffe dives up the inside to take the lead at the hairpin and Harrison responds on the next lap going round the outside into the Esses. Cliffe looking strong each time at the hairpin even taking to the grass to find a way past. Cliffe gets past once again at the Hairpin only for Harrison to retake once again at the hairpin.. Into the closing laps inches separated the leading pair. Cliffe eventually taking the win with a super late braking manoeuvre into the hairpin.
Jeremy Goodman made the most of Nick Anstruther’s tardy start to
take a very good Classic win, the RT3 looking very good round Mallory
heading a fast Mono 2000 train for most of the race. Russ Giles picked
up second in Classic, but seemed a little subdued, and Nick Anstruther
was pleased to come through to third in the Class. In the busy 1800 class
Peter Bragg had got his brakes more to his liking, but was really chasing
Jeremy Unsworth’s lap record of 48.309s – eventually missing
it by only a tenth. Michael Dale took a strong second, starting what was
to be a good weekend for him. Jock Sergison’s winged Swift had looked
to be good for second in class until it stopped, one of those difficult
problems because when it was recovered to the paddock it was going again.
1st Cliffe Dallara F398 For your chief scribe the most alarming and worrying event after this race was that Mr Cliffe celebrated his win with an ice cream! Has Monoposto gone soft?! Monoposto 1000/1200/1400/1600 Race 1 Non-starters for this race reduced the field to 19. Good starts for Woodhouse and Impey who both got their cars really coupled up. The first lap finished Woodhouse, Anderson. Impey and Wright. The 1600’s Cotton, Parkinson, Tony Davies were running closely with a big gap to Brady. The first flying lap saw Jonathan Baggott comprehensively lose the Van Diemen on the exit of Gerards, and take the classic fast arc into the lakeside barriers, demolishing two corners on the car. Dave Parkinson took the 1600 lead away from the Treasurer and Adrian Wright took 3rd from Impey, who was being very careful with the traffic. This was maybe wise because Wright got accidently edged off by a car he was lapping (an apologetic Cotton), grassed up the radiators, and that was that, letting Impey move back into 3rd. As the race started to mature Woodhouse looked to be dominating with only Ben Anderson keeping him honest 5 seconds behind. He was really trying to close the gap to Woodhouse, the Yamaha R1 screaming 14,000 rpm out of Devils Elbow with the car squirming to put the power down – quite a sight! Ben started to get the pressure on, but it looked like Chris was home and dry with a couple of laps to go. Then the red JKS came across Ferreira and Brady fighting it out down the start finish straight. A moment's hesitation as he sought a way past and momentum was lost - Ben flies past into Gerard’s to start the final lap. Woodhouse is now 50yards behind but on the approach to the Esses he carries tremendous speed across the apex to be right on Anderson into the hairpin. Up the inside he goes to take the win on the final trip round the Hairpin – classic Mallory action! It was absolutely edge of the seat stuff for the onlookers, and an excellent final lap by both men. In the 1600’s Tony Davies took the lead only to retire right at the very end. He thought he was out of fuel, and took some ribbing on the strength of it, but it turned out the Renault had developed a malevolent electrical fault which spoilt what would have otherwise been a very strong showing for the Welshman. This gave Dave Parkinson the victory, and cost Ewen a dip in the lake, having foolishly bet that Dave wouldn’t win it – not a wager many would have made we think… Drivers in the 1600 class hoping for a better race next time out included Sara Hughes with a spin at the Esses and retirement with a failed clutch, but unfortunately after the race the Agent was found to have a terminal crack in a suspension mounting point, and the team went home – at least it explained Sara’s problems with the handling. Henry Fryer had a spin and a punt into the barrier at the hairpin which looked like it was down to braking problems. After his practice dramas Pedro Ferreira had 2 spins at the hairpin but still made 3rd in class first time out - . well done to him!. 1st Woodhouse Speads RM04 Lee Bennett Results and Award Winners. Race 7 Sunday |
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