Monoposto Championship Anglesey 23 May 2010 1000/1400/1600/1800

Qualifying

There were a couple of significant no-shows. Chris Woodhouse had heard a suspicious rattle in the engine and a broken valve spring was diagnosed, the car was withdrawn to prevent real damage being caused. Tony Davies couldn’t fix the cooked Renault. Ian Hughes was racing the Agent – his Van Diemen Mono Classic had lost all its oil in Friday testing, and Nigel Davers had acquired a new front left tyre. Peter Bragg’s crew deserved a medal for an all night drive back to Gloucestershire to pick up a new rear corner which was duly fitted that morning.

Given all this it was a pretty intense session with Geoff Fern taking pole from Gary Hill and Peter Whitmore – the Mono 1400s had certainly made their mark now. John Loebell took the Mono 1800 class pole, under Peter Bragg’s lap record, with the gritty Bragg himself not far behind in second. Michael Dale had a good run to take the third class slot on the grid. Nigel Davers used his new rubber to good effect and was on the Mono 1600 pole from a nippy Ian Hughes and a chastened David Parkinson, although they were all a bit adrift from Ewen Sergison’s 2008 lap record. With Chris Woodhouse missing, Len Turner saw a chance of a win and made sure he was quickest of the remaining 1 litre bike cars.

Race

Gary Hill lead off the line, and looked from the outset like a man going for the win, pursued initially by John Loebell who had done a much better start this time. Geoff Fern and Peter Whitmore quickly restored the 1400 status quo by passing Loebell, but they couldn’t do anything much about Hill. Peter Bragg’s tricky weekend continued when he and Phil Nicholson tripped over each other, both losing time and letting the Timms/Dale duel into the places. In the Mono 1600s Ian Hughes had leapt off the line, clattering against Len Turner as he went, to take the class lead. However Nigel Davers wasn’t going to be denied his first win (in only his third meeting) and soon moved past, leaving Ian to just keep away from David Parkinson.

After dusting themselves off Peter Bragg and Phil Nicholson kept everyone entertained with an energetic dice, which was resolved when Phil had a quite impressive spin on the left-hander after the pits. After his disrupted start Len Turner carved his way back up the field and took a deserved Mono 1000 class win from Geoffrey Cowell’s Hitech.

The results of this race have a dual significance. This is the first race won by a car in the Mono 1400 class, and they came 1, 2, 3 overall. Also this weekend saw the first Mono Championship win for all four Class winners: Gary Hill, Len Turner, Nigel Davers, John Loebell – Congratulations!

Magic Motorsport DoD: Henry Fryer

Simon Davey

Chris Woodhouse offered to "run" the race in this form when the engine went but failed the weight check	John Loebell waves to the marshalls on the slowing down lap

All opinions are those of the writer and not necessarily those of the Monoposto Racing Club.

Gary Hill runs the exceptionally pretty OMS to a win. It is the blue car we remember from the past, looking much different in McLaren Orange.

Peter Whitmore's car looks no different, but the engine swap has rejuvenated it.

Pete Bragg and Geoff Fern side by side in front of the pack

Winners both, Nigel Davers and Len Turner

Pics Norwich Photo