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Monoposto Championship Rounds 10 & 11 David Parkinson reports on the MM/16/18 races. It was requested that I do a report on the 1600/1800/MM races for this meeting instead of just the 1600s as I normally do. I apologise for the quality of said report. The reason will become apparent. Qualifying. Saturday As was expected the first eight qualifying positions were the incredibly fast motor cycle engine cars of Dave Connor, Dan Clowes, Dax Ward, Jason Timms, Adrian Wright, Marc Fortune, Mike Scott and Geoff Fern. Then John Whitbourn taking the 1800 pole from fellow 1800 driver Paul Britten. Next was Christian Parker in the Seward followed by Olly Thorpe in his Pinto engined Royale and Ewen Sergison in the 1800 Swift. Mike Reeds Jedi came next followed by the two 1800s of Ryan Hayes and Mark Edwards closely followed by Mat Jordan, the first of the 1600s, hotly pursued by the three 1800s of Michael Dale, Douglas McLay and guest driver George Fowler. Len Turner's Jedi led in the 1800s of Marcus Sheard, Jonathan Baggott and Will Howe, another guest driver, with me, myself, I following, and being chased by Adie Heath's Formula Vauxhall Junior. Jock Sergison led in another guest driver, Mary Whittaker in the Pinto engined Van Diemen. Dane Catanzaro was next in the Formula Renault in I believe his first race of the year. Kevin Rootes, Eddie Guest, Peter Bassill and Joe Venor took the final positions. Both Matt Hayes and Nigel Davers failed to get a lap in and failed to qualify. Nigel Davers had problems with his gearbox and when rectified went off in another session to get his three laps in only to blow his engine. He then made a seven hour round trip back to Fern Manor to bring back another one of the Fern collection in time for the Sunday event. I’m not sure what happened to Matt Hayes but the car didn’t run again over the weekend so it must have been something terminal. Adrian Wright qualified but didn’t bring the car out again all weekend so must have had a major problem. Marc Fortune, Mike Scott, Will Howe and Dane Catanzaro all had various problems and only completed a minor number of laps. Richard Evans had entered his immaculate Formula Renault for his first appearance this year but after failing to get it fired up at home over several late nights he called it a day and came to support Dane. Peter Bassill, mentioned above, was out for his first ever meeting. His father, Dave plans to also start racing next year. I was going to have further words with them but ran out of time. Saturday Race Unfortunately I didn’t get the chance to talk to drivers about individual battles so can only give the final results which were a win for Dan Clowes who was followed home by Dax Ward, Jason Timms, Dave Connor, Geoff Fern and Mike Scott. The first six all being motor cycle engine cars. Pigging sewing machines. Next home were a clutch of 1800s with John Whitbourn leading in Paul Britten, Ewen Sergison, who got the fastest lap and a new lap record, Olly Thorpe and Ryan Hayes. The JKS of Stephen Brooks was next who was hotly pursued by the Jedi of Mike Reed. These were followed in by the 1800s of Mark Edwards, Douglas McLay and Marcus Sheard with Len Turner bringing in the last of the Jedi’s. The 1800s of Jonathan Baggott and George Fowler were next with Mat Jordan following, taking the 1600 win from myself. Jock Sergison's 1800 was next with the 1600s of Dane Catanzaro and Adie Heath leading in the Van Diemen of Mary Whittaker. Kevin Rootes, Eddie Guest, Joe Venor and Peter Bassill completed the finishers. Michael Dale, Will Howe and Marc Fortune were all non finishers. I completed the race and was weighed by the scrutineers and was just pulling out of the bay when Simon Davey told me that Michael had crashed. I’d seen the dust on the last bend but didn’t know that it was my friend Michael so drove down to the paddock and got out of the car to find the truck with his badly damaged car on arriving but minus Michael. Myself and Ewen shot over to the medical centre where after a few minutes we were able to see him. We stopped with him until they loaded him into the ambulance to take him off to hospital. Back to the paddock and showered and changed then rang the hospital who advised that they were very busy and it would be an hour or so before they could tell us anything. All we knew at that time was what the medical centre staff had told us which was that Michael had fractured his knee and sustained second degree burns to both legs. The latter from hot water and steam from the broken radiator. Thanks to Jonathan Baggott who allowed us to get the first serving at the barbecue so we could get off quickly and also to Sarah who packed Michael some cake. We went to the hospital, Darent Valley in Dartford to find them replacing the dressings on Michael’s leg and learned that they were going to transfer him to the Burns unit at Broomfield hospital in Essex. He was quite perky and even had the nerve to eat the cake we’d took him in front of us. The little git. He’s now been transferred to Withernshaw hospital which is near his home and I spoke to him on Monday to check how he’s doing. It appears he requires skin grafts to both legs but otherwise he’s OK and is remarkably cheerful. The Avit crew had got the damaged car into the truck before we got back from the medical centre and got the lot back to Doncaster on Sunday night. Many Thanks. Thanks to all those who enquired about him and also those who left donations with Simon. He’s talking of coming to Cadwell to see us all but that’s obviously subject to when they do the skin grafts and when they throw him out of hospital for being a moaning little git. Update It’s now Thursday and I spoke to Michael this morning. He’s quite happy but they’ve moved him into a room by himself as traces of MRSA have been found. He tells me that there are facilities for anyone visiting him to wash their hands when they arrive and leave. I told him that they’ve isolated him because he’s a boring little git. And as regards the hand washing I would want a full Greenpeace suit before I touched him. I’ve talked to him several times since he’s been there and I was quite surprised to find that I can ring him on his mobile and he can keep it switched on. At our local hospital you have to switch all mobiles off on entry. Qualifying Sunday Dan Clowes took pole from Jason Timms, Dax Ward, Marc Fortune, Chris Scott and Geoff Fern all of whom were in motorcycle engine cars. The 1800s of Paul Britten and John Whitbourn were followed by Stephen Brooks in the JKS, Olly Thorpe in the Royale and the 1800s of Ewen Sergison and Matt Hayes from Mike Reed in the Jedi. Next up was Mark Edwards Mygale, Len Turners Jedi and Nigel Davers heading up the 1600s in the spare Team Fern car. The 1800s of Douglas McLay, Will Howe and Marcus Sheard were next followed by Mat Jordans Formula Vauxhall, George Fowler and Jonathan Baggotts 1800 Van Diemens, Adie Heath, Kevin Rootes, Myself and, Jock Sergison and Mary Whittaker. Dane Catanzaro, Eddie Guest, Peter Bassill and Joe Venor completed the grid. Sunday Race Dan Clowes took his second win of the weekend from Jason Timms, Dax Ward, Geoff Fern all in 1000cc machines. Next were the four 1800s of John Whitbourn, Ewen Sergison who again broke the lap record he’d set on Saturday, Paul Britten and Olly Thorpe. Mike Reed was next followed by Matt Hayes, Mark Edwards, Len Turner, Will Howe, Marcus Sheard, Jonathan Baggott, Douglas McLay and Mat Jordan taking his second 1600 win of the weekend. I came next followed by Adie Heath, Jock Sergison, Dane Catanzaro, Kevin Rootes, Peter Bassill, Eddie Guest and Nigel Davers. Nigel set the fastest 1600 lap and was leading when a minor fault slowed the car down. I understand it was a plug lead that had worked loose. So a bad weekend for Nigel and a great one for his team mate Mat Jordan. Marc Fortune and Chris Scott failed to finish as did Mary Whittaker. I’m not sure what happened to Stephen Brooks as he qualified ninth in the JKS but didn’t actually start the race. Disclaimer: The above represents only the unofficial view of the writer and not of the Monoposto Racing Club in any way whatsover. Subheadlines and captions are not originated from the named author. We are unable to reproduce results due to copyright reasons. If any pictures are copyright and the owner wishes them removed please email us.
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Dan Clowes Jedi 6
Well TSL says its a VD RF98 but it looks strikingly like a VD FVJ 16V to the asst ed. And now for something completely different: a selection of FF2000s.
Ollie Thorpe, Royale
Michael Dale, RF82 Mary Whittaker, Van Diemen, presumably RF82
George Fowler, Van Diemen RF82
Pictures from the indispensible Norwich Photo |
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