Track and Race Cars Magazine Monoposto Championship Donington, 18 July 2009, 1000,1400,1600,1800

Second time lucky

Forty six competitors came to Donington Park for the seventh round of the season. On this occasion the atrocious weather occurred the day before the event, weather on the day being bright and blustery with a few heavy clouds passing through to concentrate the mind. Sunday’s weather was probably far more interesting, we had the best day.

Qualifying: Mono 1000/1400/1600/1800

The long period between meetings seemed to have done nothing for reliability of some competitors. Geoff Fern, Tim Cameron & Philip Nicholson suffered engine problems, a polite term for engine failure. As soon as qualifying started Tim came to rest at the turn in point for Redgate with a seized engine – mixture too lean - so the red flags were bought out. This allowed Jim Timms, stationary at the other side of the track with fuel pump failure, to be towed in. Sheared suspension bolts were also popular, Stephen Brooks was the first to suffer this failure, followed by Geoffrey Cowell, who completed four laps. Later in qualifying, Tony Cotton neatly parked his Van Diemen near the pit exit with CV joint failure, no doubt a relic of his collision last time out at Mallory Park.

As you can tell, Redgate was providing spectators with plenty to keep them interested, and I have not mentioned the spinners. Those using Formula Ford rubber seemed to be having problems when they turned into the corner, especially if they were driving a car without wings. Working from memory and in no particular order the spinners were: Henry Fryer, Doug McLay, Rupert Reader & Yunus Amiere. My apologies if I have included you on the list and you did not spin, and to those who did spin and I have failed to mention. Some found the experience so entertaining that they gave repeat performances, scoring the spins for style and elegance, I gave top marks to Yunus for a long curving 270 degree effort onto the infield , a spin that occurred towards the end of qualifying.

At the sharp end of the grid Chris Woodhouse (fresh from a Boss race with the Speads!) and Kat Impey were in a class of their own, five seconds ahead of the opposition. They put in their quick laps circulating in company early on in the session, and then neither could find a better gap in the traffic. The bad news for Chris’s competitors is that the team believe that, to date, he has been using a down on power engine. The team have now rectified the problem after a a mid-week scare when most of the engine’s compression was found to be AWOL. Not so fortunate was Geoff Fern, who had a catastrophic but unspecified engine failure after only two laps in the handsome JKS 09. Darren Freeman continues to improve in his first season and headed the irrepressible Peter Bragg in the 1:16s group, Peter looking completely comfortable with his wingless Mygale as he threw it round Redgate. He was followed by Stuart Digby and Peter Whitmore in the 1:18s. Len Turner and Michael Dale were in the 1:20s, but in reality Michael was the at the head of a bunch of 1800s on 1:21s: Jock Sergison, Doug McLay, Rupert Reader, Geoff Pashley, and Bill Janson. The bulk of the 1800 field had an excellent race in prospect but this did not include the unfortunate Geoff Pashley who had lost the RF83, and damaged the left hand corner quite lightly, but Geoff lacked the upright and wishbone necessary for the repair.

The two leading 1600s were David Parkinson and David Tony Davies in the 1:23s, followed by the 1800s of Philip Nicholson and Jonathan Baggott. Jonathan had covered a number of eventualities by having his 1600 available at the circuit. Following David Parkinson's shameless recent plugs for the 1600 class your scribe can only comment that Jonathan made the correct decision when he chose to race the 1800. A failed water pump belt, combined with a failed water temperature gauge gave the unfortunate Philip Nicholson a cooked engine and a DNS. Chris Anstruther completed the group on 1:23s, he was followed by Tony Cotton, Yunis Amiere, Richard Evans, Henry Fryer, Geoffrey Cowell and Brian Jones. Stephen Brooks, Tim Cameron, and Jim Timms failed to set a time. Stephen and Jim would start at the back of the grid.

Race: Mono1000/1400/1600/1800

The story of the lead is readily told. Chris Woodhouse made an excellent start putting himself clear of Kat Impey by Redgate. On the opening laps Kat maintained a constant gap of less than a second, but when the pair came to lap the tail end group, at the start of lap four, Chris got past them before the entry to Redgate while Kat had to follow the tail enders through Redgate, and beyond, as they assumed a Domino Four formation, there was simply no clear tarmac available. Given Chris's speed Kat was unlikely to get back on terms but she gave it a go, eventually finishing 3.29s behind the winner after setting a fastest lap of 1'09.071s nearly 0.9s faster than Chris's best effort and about a second faster than Nigel Reuben’s Mono1200 lap record. This was another really fast motor race from this pair of excellent drivers.

Chris Woodhouse	Kat Impey	Chris Anstruther

Stephen Brooks was next up, finishing nearly a minute behind also after an excellent drive from the back row of the grid, naturally he took the Mono1400 win. Darren Freeman's Jedi was third Mono1000, Darren had spent most of the race battling with Jedi mounted Stuart Digby but Stuart lost speed over the latter stages of the race and fell behind Pete Bragg's class winning 1800, the Bragg Mygale winning its now traditional race long battle with Peter Whitmore's Van Diemen 1400, the Mygale going ahead with a tyre smoking manouvre at Redgate. Len Turner initially held onto the two Peters but fell away to finish 8s ahead of Jock Sergison's Swift 1800.

Jock Sergison in front of Stephen Brooks	David Parkinson in front of Jim Timms and Tony Davies	Tony Cotton spins at the Old Hairpin

The 1800 battle for second in class had lived up to expectations. Jock's winged Swift was the only constant, he lead this group for most of the race but on the penultimate lap Michael Dale, who had worked his way steadily forwards, took him at Redgate, only for Jock to box Michael in behind some lapped cars later in the lap and retake the place. Ewen Sergison, who was watching from the award podium, nearly expired with the excitement of it all. The other places in this group constantly changed. Eventually Bill Janson was fourth, and Rupert Reader fifth, but Doug McLay dropped to the tail of the field on the opening lap, when reportedly he took to the escape road at the Esses. Doug then joined Jim Timms who started at the back of the grid, and was working his way through the field. By half distance Jim was with the 1800 group, however, his Van Diemen didn’t co-operate, going sick in the last few laps, it limped to the finish and was parked at the pit exit, falling behind Doug and several other 1800s in the process . Even so Jim’s rise through the field netted him the Aztec Motorsport Driver of the Day Award. Jim’s Van Diemen was the last car to finish 11 laps, He was followed by Chris Anstruther and Jonathan Baggott, who had an entertaining race with Tony Cotton in the later stages of the race. Yunus Amiere was the final 1800.

David Tony Davies won the 1600 class, he split the battling 1800s by finishing just ahead of Rupert Reader. David Parkinson had initially lead Davies but fell back to finish second in the 1600 class. The latter stages of his race seemed quiet by David’s usual standards with no reliably problems spoiling his run this time.. Third in class was Tony Cotton who went considerably faster than in qualifying, but after overtaking Jonathan Baggott, he spun at the old hairpin and fell back to race with the 1800, a battle that Tony won. Henry Fryer bought his similar Van Diemen Vauxhall Junior home fourth in class after a solid drive, much of which was spent competing with Yunus Amiere. Geoffrey Cowell's repaired Hitec finished ahead of last man Brian Jones. The only retirement was the 1600 Formula Renault of Richard Evans on lap seven.

Fastest laps were by: Kat Impey, (new lap recond) Stephen Brooks, Peter Bragg and David Tony Davies, Peter Bragg taking over 4s off Geoff Pashley’s old 1800 record.

Patrick Huston
21/09/09

Pix: Patrick Huston, Simon Davey. Race pics - Andrew Cliffe, Norwich Photo

Waiting for practice, Douglas Maclay's Mygale SJ04 closest to cameraGeoff Pashley's cars always look better than new.Philip Nicholson in the former editorial mount?, Swift SC97.Queue in pitlane during the red flag periodGeoff Fern's immaculate JKS about to go home in disgrace with a blown engine. Is Geoff's hisory of Mclaren paint schemes being carried on by using orange?Geoff Pashley's RF83 showing excessive toe out.

Rupert Reader, FVJ 16V

Winner Chris Woodhouse cranes forward to take in the full horror of the commentator's shirt.