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| Track and Race Cars Magazine Monoposto Championship 25th May Lee Bennett picks up the story of the weekend a couple of hours after the exciting 1000/1600 race: The wonderful weather continued into the evening and the Monoposto BBQ organised by Joanthan Baggott and implemented by Mike Hinman was a great success. We hope this will become an annual event. It was again a huge success - as last year at Rockingham. Many thanks to all those involved. Also a big thank you for Russ Giles who let your scribe sleep in his very plush trailer for the night.
Monoposto 2000/1800 Qualifying 2 22 cars rolled out to practice in a session somewhat cooler than the previous day. Jeremy Baggott and Mike Hinman had left after clearing up the BBQ and commissioned a Van Diemen 1800 for Jonathan to peddle in this one. Russ Giles had a scare in the assembly area when a rear wheel was found to be loose, but fortunately the drive pins were OK and he made it onto the track after only a short delay. Dave Cox brought out the RT3 for his first outing since Rockingham, and was running very solidly. Tristan Cliffe worked his way into a quick pole in the low 44s with a vital clear lap, while the Magic Motorsport outfit were looking for a bit more time somewhere. It was actually Amon Needham who looked maybe most impressive on track, but then he had a massive spin down the hill into the elbow bringing out the red flags.
Monoposto 1000/1200/1400/1600 Qualifying 2 A depleted field of 15 cars set about qualifying. Stephen Brookes had been called away from the meeting, and Sara Hughes has called it a day. Immediate disaster struck Kat Impey as she accelerated out of the pit lane and a driveshaft let go. They then started dropping like flies, Mike Reed had a nasty vibration in the pretty Wingnut Racing Jedi, Dave Brady’s Van Diemen squirted out its water, and Phil Anderson had a clutch linkage fail. Even the normally imperturbable Chris Woodhouse had a gear linkage fail.
Again it was a tough session for Ferreira with another spin at the hairpin and Fryer still with braking issues punting the soft barriers twice at the hairpin. His nose took more hits than Joe Bugners. In the 1600’s Dave Parkinson was getting into his stride, and Tony Davies still had his mysterious cutting out problem. The session ended when Fryer unfortunately collected Cowell in the Hi-Tec
as it was pulling off the track. Both drivers escaped unharmed which was
more can be said for the cars, Fryer's with two damaged corners and Cowell
withdrew his Hi-Tec which stood up tremendously well to the impact, but
he would like more time to check it out for any unseen damage. Fryer did
improve on yesterday’s time though by almost 7 seconds! Let’s
hope they can both be back at the next round. Monoposto 2000/1800 Race 2 A hint of rain for the start of the 2000/1800 race met the competitors in the holding area. There was no question that it was dry tyres but this must have put doubt into the drivers heads as they prepared to start the race. The organisers perched upstairs in race control did a very good job in getting the field ontrack in record time to beat any showers. At the start Harrison got the jump on Cliffe and after just one lap the pair held a 5 second lead over 3rd place man Needham. The unfortunate Goodman in his Ralt had a tap into the hairpin and he was out on the spot. Stalled engine and no working starter motor to get him going. The safety car was deployed for the second time this season – and the Clerk of the Course subsequently complimented the drivers on their handling of this. 10 minutes remained when the safety car pulled in but on the rolling restart it was Cliffe who would lead the way, taking Harrison at the esses.
Nick Anstruther was having a much more straightforward run than the previous day to win the Classic class and take a good third overall, challenging Needham on occasion. Graham Read got up to fourth, getting the car more dialed in and David Cox was pleased with fifth. Elsewhere spins by Amiere at Gerard’s and McLay at the esses who rejoined in front of the leading pack causing heart failure among those watching from the paddock. Peter Bragg and Michael Dale repetated their class position of the previous day, with Peter again mixing it with the 2 litre cars. At the front it was still not over, but Tristan looked good, and then suddenly with 5 laps remaining he slowed on the run up to the Hairpin - a broken throttle cable giving Harrison the win with a couple of seconds back to Needham.
1st Neil Harrison Monoposto 1000/1200/1400/1600 Race 2 The true spirit of Monoposto was very much in evidence on Monday. Kat Impey's stricken Jedi looked set to be loaded into the trailer. Mike Reed came to the rescue, his Jedi becoming the donor car to lend Kat the parts she needed. Reed’s Jedi was withdrawn due to his vibration problem which was thought to be seated deep in the motor. We thought the racing could not get any better. But how wrong were we. All eyes were on Impey starting from the back of the grid. At the start she took 6 cars into the first corner. Then into 4th place by the Esses and 3rd at the end of Lap 1. This is an average of passing one car every four seconds, while lapping at 110 mph – must have looked like a video game from the cockpit. By lap 2 she was 2nd having moved past Phil Anderson into Gerard’s. The gap was now 9.6secs to Woodhouse. The gap tumbled. 9.6, 4.5, 3.5, 4.2 (traffic for Impey), 4.2, 4.2 3.2 (traffic for Woodhouse), 3.2, 4 (spin by Ferreira slowing Impey), 4.4, 4, 2.3 (43.86s lap for Impey!), 2. Woodhouse now woke up and responded taking the gap to 2.8 and 4 seconds, he really is a hard man to beat and this win made it 6 for 6. But what a fantastic gritty drive by Impey - it was frankly hard to take ones eyes off the progress of the leading pair – this was very impressive motor racing. Meanwhile Darren Freeman had saved up, bought a new jubilee clip and was giving Phil Anderson a hard time, including trying to run round the outside of him through Gerrards – not for the faint hearted. Phil is an old hand at the game though and wasn’t going to be denied the place. Parkinson again took the win in the 1600 class from Tony Cotton and Eddie Guest, in a very nice Lola T640 on his first ever circuit race. Like many Monoposti, he has speed event experience. 1st Chris Woodhouse Four fantastic races proves a mix of low budget Monoposto and Mallory Park gives a lot of bang for your buck! Lee Bennett Pics, Paddock:SD and race: TC vidgrabs Results and Award Winners. Race 15 Monday
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