HSA SPEED CHAMPIONSHIP REPORT ARCHIVE

COTTRILL WINS CURBOROUGH FINALE

Almost threequarters of a second clear of a furious duel for second place between experienced British sprinter Steve Miles and the hard-charging Mike Andrews, split by three hundredths, Jack Cottrill stormed to FTD at the HSA's Championship finale at Curborough with the day's only sub-29sec run in his 1100cc Force-Suzuki. With rain threatening on a dull day, Cottrill closed to within a quarter of a second of Chris Jones' class record, his FTD a fine result after the car had suffered clutch problems in practice.

Justin Andrews came to Curborough with the HSA title already in the bag, but was one of several drivers who hit problems in practice when the Lambda sensor blew out of its boss in the Subaru's exhaust. With Tim Richardson's Elise also a non-starter in Class A3, this meant a walkover for Chris Berrisford. This didn't stop the Intrepid Subaru driver from setting a new HSA record as he shaved sixteen hundredths off Andrew Cottrill's 3-years old mark. Unfortunately, as the sole class runner Chris was ineligible for the event's traditional Alan Payne class winners' run-off. Practice problems also eliminated Tim Brown's Datsun 240Z and the Will Ker/Ben Hamer Mini turbo. The immaculate Datsun's engine compartment caught fire in the paddock after he'd returned from a practice run, but fortunately the blaze was soon doused by the use of nearby extinguishers. Currently rebuilding their OMS-Kawsaki, Ker and Hamer blew the dust off their old Mini turbo and wheeled it out again, only to blow the head gasket on its first practice run. Will withdrew to the spectator banks, but Ben shared the Imp turbo of classmate and fellow HSA committee member Eric Morrey and closed to within threequarters of a second of the car's owner - a fine effort considering that Eric ran inside his class C1 record set in the Clan, although as he wasn't registered this year the old record still stands. The sole Class L representative running along the 2-litre racers, Pete Goulding broke Chris Machell's record, which moved the Mygale-Ecoboost driver up from eighth place in the Championship to fifth overall, level with Berrisford but taking the place on countback.

The top three failed to improve on their first run times as the weathor cooled with rain in the air although Glyn Sketchley, fourth overall in his turbocharged Force, its Suzuki power unit buried under some serious-looking plumbing, shaved off a couple of hundredths. But in the Alan Payne class winners' run-off, based on improvement over winning times, the top three drivers all raised their game. 1600cc racing victor Mark Schlanker's 1137cc OMS-Honda found the best margin - just over a quarter of a second inside his winning time - to snatch the coveted annual trophy by four hundredths from Class B2 winner Alan Mugglestone's Raw Fulcrum. Second FTD man Steve Miles ran five hundredths inside his own target to grab third place.

A full report will follow in Speedscene 196.

Green’s FTD from Jones and Hollingworth at Shelsley

Competitors gathered for the first day of the Shelsley Walsh Speed Finale meeting and the penultimate round of the SBD HSA Speed Championship to be met with light drizzle and an uncertain forecast. However, the rain quickly stopped’ the sky lightened and the sun occasionally made a welcome appearance so that after a slightly slippery practice the track remained dry throughout.

Chris Green took FTD with a 27.05s in his 1.6 OMS 28 from Chris Jones, 1.0 Force TA (27.49s) and Richard Hollingworth’s 1.6 DJ Firehawk (27.76s) – these three drivers being the only ones to go sub 28s.

Practice ran largely without incident but the afternoon timed runs were interrupted by a series of incidents which included Mike Henney hitting the bank between Kennel and Crossing in his Lotus Elan causing extensive damage to the front of the car but optimistically described as ‘mainly one corner’. Other incidents involved a TR7 on its roof in the Esses, a Porsche and a TVR. Nonetheless MAC ran the meeting with their usual efficiency with the (newish) paddock management system being particularly effective.

The Paul Matty Championship was well represented with Geoff Stallard setting the fastest scratch time in the Saloon & Sports Car category with his Elan (34.49s) and the David Hampton doing likewise in the Racing car category with a 30.52s in his Lotus 69.The Porsche Club Speed Championship class (strangely supported by Petro Canada!) was won by Geraint Evans’ 3.2 911 Carrera (33.73s) with the next five drivers within about a second of his time! Graham Beale (Ginetta G33) took the Classic Marques Class with a 33.17s and Andrew Till was a comfortable winner of the up to 1400cc Roadgoing class in his MGZR105 on 40.25s – just 0.04s outside the HSA Class record!

After suffering battery problems all day (including finding a lost sensor on the track and taping it back up!) Dave West’s Peugeot 106 only needed a single run to take the large 2000cc Roadgoing Class with a 36.09s run just ahead of Andrew Webber’s Elan +2 with Alastair Clark (Elise) Ken Morris (MX5) very closely matched.

Similarly, Chris Berrisford took the over 2000cc Roadgoing Class in his Impreza with his single run of 31.87s – 0.16s shy of Andrew Cottrill’s HSA Class record. John Maycock was a little further back in his 240bhp (!) MX5 but planning some performance enhancements over the winter. Former HSA Champion, John Bradshaw took his ‘new’ Westfield to its maiden win in the Kit Car Class with a 32.51s run after his main competitor withdrew with ‘ROPS related issues’.

The small Mod Prod class saw a battle of the Mini Cooper’s with Michael Gallery winning by 0.04s from Tim Dennis while the larger capacity Classes were won by Paul Jones’ rapid Elise and Duncan Andrews’ Porsche Cayman. Steve Barnard won the Libre Class in his spaceframe Audi TT.

In the Racing Car classes Chris Jones lowered his own 1100cc record on T1 and did it again on T2 to leave it at 27.40s ahead of Jim Spencer’s Reynard (28.03s) and Stuart Bickley’s Jedi (28.20s). Russell Haynes won the Formula Ford Class in his unusually (but original) bodied Zeus 163 (34.00s) from Roger Jones (Jamun M90), Bernie Kevill (Van Diemen RF90) and Geoff Lancaster still learning his Swift SC93. Chris Green, Richard Hollingworth and Neil Coles (OMS CF04) took the top spots in the 1600cc Class.

Finally, in the ‘Classic Class’ Fyrth Crosse set an impressive 30.81s on his only run in the Ensign LNF3 to be fastest on scratch while Mike Broome’ Alexis MK17 was an unfortunate retirement after his Hewland MK8/9 developed an 1/8” crack in its casing during practice.

Goulding takes FTD at wet & windy MIRA in a Mygale 1-2

With a somewhat smaller entry than usual MAC had decided to have 3 practices in the morning and 3 timed runs in the afternoon, but with heavy showers expected from about noon, the plan changed to 2 practices and a first timed run before lunch, then 2 more competition runs after lunch. Everyone got a dry first practice, some got a dry second practice, but some didn't. Some had light showers affecting the first timed run and everyone ran on T2 after heavy rain at lunchtime. Many didn't bother with T3 although it was drying but still damp which meant the results were a bit of a lottery. In spite of all this MAC ran a slick meeting and it was all over by 2.45 pm.

On paper it looked as though FTD would be fought out by the 4 larger single seaters - John Wood's Dallara, Steve Miles' Van Diemen and the two Mygale's of Pete Goulding and Graham Blackwell. This is how it turned out with the Goulding Mygale taking FTD with 44.08s followed my Miles (45.16s - later disallowed) and Blackwell (45.17s) thus making it a Mygale EcoBoost 1-2 for the first time..

Dave West (Peugeot 106 on a 55.80s) won a large A2 class from Elen Worthington (Elise) and Andrew Webber (Elan+2). Andrew Cottrill is still getting his (new) Subaru sorted , fine tuning rear suspension settings, but won Class A3 with a new HSA record. Former, multiple HSA Champion, John Palmer easily won the 'small' kit car class in his Westfield while in the larger capacity Class it looked as if Alan won the Mugglestone family battle from Nick in the Fulcrum ahead of another former HSA Champion, John Bradshaw in his new Westfield. However, Alan's time was later disallowed leaving the win to Nick.

In the combined Mod Prod class, Darren Balster was first in the ex Reg Phillips/Willem Toet Peugeot 205, with Gavin Neate 2nd. Luke Trotman won the Libre/Supersports battle with a competitive 48.91s.

It was as competitive as usual in the 1100cc Racing Cars class with Stuart Bickley just edging out Derek Sweeney by a tenth.

GURSTON RECORDS FOR HAYNES AND TUNNICLIFFE

With the rolling Wiltshire downland bathed in warm sunshine all weekend, Russell Haynes was one of two SBD/HSA Championship starters in the 17-strong field to set a new HSA class record during Gurston Down's August Bank Holiday British Championship meeting. A sub-37-sec run left the Zeus ZR163 driver second overall in Gurston's popular pre-94 Formula Ford class, within half a second of class record holder Simon McBeath's Swift SC92F. The other record-breaker was Jason Tunnicliffe, as he took his Peugeot 205 GTi to the win in the dedicated HSA Speed Championship class. Of the 10 starters in this division, James Robertson finished second in his Raw Striker ahead of John Phelps' Westfield Megabusa, which was shared this time with daughter Charlotte.

Two of the overall Championship top ten battled it out in this class, both in Mazda MX5s. but even though David Newman, tenth on the table, finished over a second clear of Alexander Smith, with the pair split by Colin Bowdidge's Caterham, Smith retained his overall seventh place. Third overall coming to Gurston, Gavin Neate was mixing it with the Gurston regulars in the BARC(SW) B Licence class and lay second at the break to Martin Watson's rorty, supercharged Westfield-Duratec. But even though Watson had a problem over the finish line and didn't take his second class run, he retained his class lead and Neate was pushed down to third place by another lightweight - the Westfield of Peter Leggett. The class placing was of no consequence from the HSA scoring angle but Neate would liked to have got closer to, or better still broken, the HSA record as his 13-point score, matching that of Newman's, would in any case be dropped. With a record he would have levelled on points with Championship leader Justin Andrews.

Elsewhere among the Gurston classes, Andrew James faced tough opposition to his burly Nissan 350Z, finishing third behind the ultra-potent Imprezas of Steve Darley and Gurston regular Shaun Fudge. Although some way adrift of the class W record, Mike Broome bounced back from a poor opener, the pristine Alexis F3 jumping out of gear at the start, to win Gurston's Historically Interesting class from first run leader Sue Hayes, having her first outing in the ex.Hugh Kemp Palliser F3.

Miles Fastest at Hethel

Steve Miles (Van Diemen RF96m17) posted FTD at Borough19 MC’s Hethel sprint on 6^th August in a time of 115.32 seconds, just ahead of Pete Goulding’s Mygale FF200 ( 117.15) and Tony Beesley in a Jedi Mk4 , who recorded the same time on his third and final competition run. In doing so, Pete took the class award for over 1100cc racing cars, and Tony the one for up to 1100cc racing cars. Both drivers broke the previous HSA records in classes L and I respectively.

At the other end of the running order, Steve Riddle and Nick Tearle ran their Clios in the standard car class for 1400 to 2000cc models, with Steve establishing an HSA class record for the new category. Andrew Webber ( Lotus Elan +2) and Ken Morris ( Mazda MX5) ran in a class for 1600 to 2300cc roadgoing series production cars, and were rewarded with new HSA class records for classes V1 and A2.1 respectively.

Justin Andrews (Subaru Impreza) won the 4WDroadgoing series production class, and set a new HSA record for class A3, consolidating his position at the top of the SBD HSA Speed Championship. Stephen Laing (Caterham R500) won the well-supported “Kitcar/Elise” class, but neither he nor Elen Worthington (Elise) were able to match their own B2 and A2 records.

Gavin Neate ran alone in the up to 1400cc modified series production class, and managed to beat his own C1 HSA record. And in the 1400 to 2000cc division, both Dave Mockford (MG Maestro) and Ivan Russell ( Ford Anglia 105E) ran under Dave’s 2016 HSA record for C2, with Ivan taking the class win.

Jeff Wiltshire (Sylva Phoenix) won his class and took a big chunk out of his own HSA class D record, and Charlie Reilly (Van Diemen RF92) was also able to improve upon his own Formula Ford record in his class win over Geoff Lancaster (Swift SC92F).

Mourant's FTD as Kenrick stars at Loton

Jason Mourant took FTD with a 45.25s run in his Gould GR55 at Loton Park for the August 5th 'B' meeting but it was Robert Kenrick's time of 46.43s in the 1100 Raptor 2 which took second FTD, won the 1100 class, took a second off Darren Luke's 1100 record of 47.62s and got the most attention. (On the following day Robert did a 45.43s on his single timed run to reduce the record by another second with the Raptor 2 clearly doing a good job of exploiting the newly resurfaced Loton track).

Three other drivers got under 50s with another 1100, Chris Jones' Force TA, next up with a 49.62s followed by John Bradburn (sharing the Gould GR55 with Graham Wynn) and Simon Keen (Dallara F302) both on 49.99s.

Although the anticipated showery weather did make an appearance it only caused some mild disruption and most competitors got at least a couple of dry runs. This didn't stop a number of competitors from visiting the scenery though and one of the first to become 'hors de combat' was Robin Maryon whose Jedi speared off the track near the finish line damaging the front of the car quite badly although Robin was fortunately unhurt. A similar fate befell Alex Harris' Renault Clio.

Laurence Marks did well to take third in the small Roadgoing Production class in his Panda but is looking forward to swapping it for his 'new' Formula Ford which should make an appearance soon. Martin Rutter was present but alas, his Fiat X 1/9 wasn't - still waiting for the Colotti gearbox to be completed. The Mod Prod Specialist class was an all HSA affair with Adam Phelps' Westfield taking the win with a PB but still shy of the HSA record. Charlotte Phelps was looking good for second place but an off on the drier T2 allowed James Robertson (after an off on T1) to edge ahead followed by the Mantons (Graeme and Becky), back out in their Fisher Fury.

Gary Thomas took the 1600cc Racing Car class with his Force PC after a close battle with Chris Green's OMS28.

Andrew Webber only needed one run in his Elan to take the Classic Saloons & Sports Cars class. Finally, Jeff Allan set identical T1 and T2 times in his Nissan Leaf.

THOMAS WINS, BUT ANDREWS TOPS THE CHARTS at Roaunds 23 & 24

As expected, The Force-Suzuki single-seater of Gary Thomas led the way as eighteen contenders negotiated the twists and turns of a wet Wiscombe Park on the first day of the SBD/HSA double-header. Thomas also went on to win in much drier conditions on Sunday, with a new HSA class record that maintained his second place overall in the Championship standings. Previous leader Gavin Neate, who with seven others did not contest Sunday's event, slipped to third on the table. With a host of National B competitors elsewhere in the meeting contesting Wiscombe Park, Porsche Club and Downton points, a bonus for Thomas was that he also took the award for fastest National B contender of the weekend.

But charging to the head of the HSA table was Justin Andrews, whose HSA class record now gives the Impreza driver a maximum score in the Championship with his score at Saturday's wet meeting now discarded. Even on Saturday's wet track, records were set by Philip Stader, Andrew Webber and Peter Goulding, all of whom not surprisingly went on to lower them still further in the dry on Sunday, when Andrews, Thomas and Mike Henney also ran inside their respective records. Andrews' Impreza was right up with Thomas's Force and Goulding's Mygale, splitting them on Saturday as Neate's Peugeot ran fourth but having to settle for third place behind the two single-seaters in the dedicated HSA class in Sunday's much better conditions. Goulding's consistent form really paid off as he soared from 20th to eighth place overall in the standings, while the duel for top MX5 honours intensified as David Newman closed in to seventh overall behind his rival after a see-saw battle over the weekend. Henney and Webber enjoyed a great duel in V1, Webber getting the edge on Saturday with a new record, but with both drivers well inside the Elan Plus 2's new mark on Sunday it was the Elan S3's turn to grab the class placing by six tenths, which moved Henney from 19th place into the Championship top ten.

Tricky new Blyton track challenges competitors

The second day of the WSCC Blyton Sprint Week-end was held on the Eastern circuit, the first time a sprint had been run on this course, and it presented competitors with a couple of new challenges. The first half of the course is tight and twisty while the second is fast and flowing. However, joining the two halves is ‘Curva Grande’ which, as the name implies, is a long (very long) and fast sweeping right. So far so good but, with the car fully loaded up on its suspension, the corner begins to tighten and then the track turns sharp left into the Wiggler! Braking hard from speed and dramatically changing direction presents an almost unique (in UK race track terms) challenge as many competitors were to find out with numerous spins and offs during the course of the day.

Sandy Smith maintained his narrow advantage over Dean Cubitt to win the up to 2000cc Sports Car class ahead of John Usher’s Ginetta G40 while the (for once) competitive up to 1700cc Kit Car class saw Chris Hussey’s Striker push John Palmer down to second by a hundredth (!) ahead of Dan Hollis’ Caterham, David Hussey’s Striker and, surprisingly far back following a T2 DNF, Mike Smith in his Striker.

Ivan Russell (Anglia) and Paul Torkington (MK2 Escort) gave Ian Johnson’s more modern Polo G40 a run for its money in the up to 2000cc Mod Prods but in the smaller class Gavin Neate was in his own in the Peugeot and put in a single timed run before heading home to prepare for an early morning flight to the US on the following day. Speedscene contributor Keith Waters was out in his immaculate Rover Metro and throughly enjoying Blyton. Duncan Fraser headed a large Lotus Elise contingent with his S1 setting a creditable 74.46s time.

In the other classes the rankings largely followed the previous day. In the Mod Prod Westfield class David Cleaver again won easily from Gary Bunn, Adam Phelps, Derek Hodder and Charlotte Phelps and in the 1100cc Racing Car Class Chris Jones in the Jerroms Accounting backed Force TA was well ahead of Simon Boulter’s OMS and Graeme Harden’s Jedi – all three qualifying for the British Sprint run off. Gary Thomas was again the fastest 1600cc Racing Car in his Force PC with Steve Brown not far behind in his JKS with Mark Schlanker’s OMS third – although the three drivers managed to rack up 5 DNFs between them over the course of the day!

Close battles & new records at Blyton

The first day of the WSCC Blyton Sprint Week-end was held in glorious weather on the familiar Outer circuit and saw many of the 26 SBD HSA Speed Championship competitors setting new records and/or engaged in close battles.

There wasn’t much between Sandy Smith and Dean Cubitt’s MX5s all week-end and it was Dean who led after T1 on Saturday but Sandy found a second to reverse the position with a strong T2 time. Both drivers went even quicker on the third timed run with Sandy taking the class win on the day by a tenth.

Adam Phelps got close to Matt Hallam’s HSA class record in the Busa engine Westfield and was comfortably ahead of John Loudon and Charlotte Phelps both also Westfield mounted. In the same, Modified Specialist Production class, it was David Cleaver again who won easily and only needed a single timed run of 62.21s, faster than many of the racing cars.

Another Westfield driver was multiple HSA Champion John Palmer who won his class on the day with a single completed run – the other two involving a spin and a ‘four wheels off’ incident. Being a WSC event there were plenty more Westfields present and while the SBD Dallara is away being fitted with a new floor, Matt Hillam was sharing Keith Adams’ example on this occasion and promptly won the class and qualified for the British Sprint Run Off! Matt was also a master of consistency with all three timed runs within a couple of tenths of each other.

In the battle of the Imprezas Chris Berrisford was ahead after P2 and T1 but Justin Andrews squeezed ahead by 2 hundredths to take the win with both drivers breaking the HSA Class record. Nick Mugglestone was competing on his own (Father, Alan, away at Spa) and the RAW Fulcrum was back competing again after a few hours work spent repairing a corner and floor after its Prescott incident.

Chris Jones was going well in the Force TA and after a couple of adjustments got the handling to his liking and comfortably won the 1100 class ahead of Simon Boulter (troubled by clutch problems all week-end) and Graeme Harden – all three qualifying for the British Sprint Run Off. Gary Thomas won the 1600cc Racing Car class and took the award as the fastest non British Sprint competitor. Pete Goulding and Graham Blackwell continued their season long duel in the Mygales with Pete emerging just under a second ahead on this occasion.

Green takes Gold at Prescott

For 2017 the Bugatti Owners Club adopted a two day/two event format for their late Spring ‘cherry’ meeting – this year the cherry trees in the lower paddock were laden with fruit providing welcome refreshment to teams. The Saturday event was held for a number of familiar Championships including the Paul Matty, Porsche Club, Midland Speed and the SBD HSA, with the latter being represented by at least 34 competitors on the entry list. The general view in the paddock was positive for this format of the meeting which, despite a large number of ‘offs’, ran smoothly.

The battle for FTD turned out to be an exciting duel between the OMS 28 of Chris Green, the Force TA of Chris Jones and the Force PC of Gary Thomas. In fact it was the 1100 car of Jones that led the way after P1 but then the 1600 car of Green posted a 40.93s on T1 which was to win the Midland Speed class and stand as FTD. Gary Thomas suffered an off in P2 which bent the rear wing out of shape and left the paddock reverberating to the sound of Pete Goulding’s hammer during the lunch break as he beat the wing supports back into some semblance of shape. Gary approached the timed runs with a degree of caution, posting a 41.74s best time on T1 but was just pipped by Jones with a 41.73s for second FTD and a win in the HSA class. Pete Goulding was rewarded for his efforts by taking 3^rd in the HSA Class in the Mygale.

The MX5 runners were also anticipating a close battle and it looked to be on after P1 when David Newman quickly got under the HSA Class record but a major and potentially season ending ‘off’ on P2 put paid to his chances. Next up was Sandy Smith who, in common with many competitors set his best time on T1, but it was to be 0.13s short of the A2 record of non starting, Andy Mitchelmore following his Shelsley shunt of the week before.

Also in the HSA Class, the Mugglestones were going well in practice and Alan recorded a steady 45.96s run on T1 before Nick joined the ‘hors de combat’ ranks with a T1 ‘off’ and the team were out for the rest of the day. Gavin Neate was aiming at Wil Ker’s old C1 record but finding it quite an ask with the Peugeot 106 finishing 0.4s adrift on 49.17s. Similarly, Simon Jenks was up against a tough record with his 1600 Busa engined Caterham coming up a little short but taking a creditable fourth in the HSA class. The Mantons (Graeme and Becky) were looking forward to their first visit to Prescott but steering problems discovered during scrutineering ended their day prematurely.

Andrew Till is having a good season in the MG ZR 105 and took over a second off the HSA Class record while Charlie Reilly was troubled by a misfire and other problems leaving the normally rapid Van Diemen RF92 some way off the pace.

Elsewhere David Hampton’s 44.68s run in the BDG engined Lotus 69 to win the Paul Matty Racing class was noteworthy as was Briony Serrell’s 49.71s with her Lotus 51A to win the handicap pre ’72 Racing Class. In the same Class Mike Broom took third in his Alexis F3 while Andy Tippett’s similar car retired with gearbox problems.

Another FTD for Thomas at Shelsley

Gary Thomas steered his Langor Bridge Garage supported Force PC to his 40^th FTD with the car at Shelsley on June 18 after a close battle with Clive Austin’s 1100 Empire Wraith. After T1 Austin was ahead by a couple of tenths but a strong T2 run of 27.87 gave Thomas and the PC FTD by 0.07s.

The large A2 class for 2000cc Series Production cars was looking set for a battle between three quite different cars. After T1 Andrew Webber’s black & gold Elan +2 was ahead andof Andy Mitchelmore’s more modern Elise and Rhys Jones’ very rapid MX5. T2 saw Webber improve to a 36.06s (and take the class win) while Mitchelmore had a big accident at Kennel, hitting the bank on the right and then on the left before disappearing down into the valley. The car was somewhat damaged and the driver was left sore and frustrated but still second in Class. Rhys Jones’ 37.97s time was good enough for third in Class and a new HSA record.

In a combined Mod Prod, Libre, and Hillclimb Supersports class Luke Trotman took the supercharged, bike engined Mallock MK18B to a good win with a good 30.82s run. In another combined Class, Series Production up to 1400cc and Electric cars the unusual combination of Laurence Mark’s Fiat Panda and Jeff Allan’s Nissan leaf had a surprisingly close battle with Laurence just emerging the victor by a scant 0.06s!

Chris Green Takes Graham Hill Trophy at Curborough Figure of 8

Chris Green took FTD at the Owen Motoring Club’s Figure of Eight Curborough Sprint, and won the prestigious Graham Hill Trophy as a result. In his relatively recently acquired 1600cc OMS 28, he held off the challenge from Gary Thomas (1400cc Force PC), who was credited with 1^st in the 1100-1600cc racing car class. Gary is now lying second overall in the SBD HSA Speed Championship, having set a new Class J record for the Figure of 8 course, ahead of Steven Brown (JKSJR01) who rounded out the trio.

Some 22 HSA championship contenders took part, with a good spread of entries among the classes. This being a relatively new course, there was a good opportunity to set or beat class records, and to score strong points in the process. The largest class of the day was for the 1701 to 2000cc standard production cars, won by Paul Glendenning in a Renault Clio, but of these, only Nick Tearle , also Clio mounted, was registered in the HSA championship, setting an HSA class record for class S1.

Andrew Till took almost 4 seconds off his 2016 class A1 record and scored 17 points, some way ahead of Laurence Marks’ Fiat Panda 100hp. Rhys Jones and Ken Morris both broke Ken’s 2015 MX5 record, with Ken coming out on top on the second runs, giving them both strong points in HSA class A2.1, followed by Stephen Dally. Alexander Smith won his 1401 to 2000cc roadgoing class, ahead of Andrew Webber and Robin Holden. Alexander is now running on list 1B tyres, so his MX5 is competing against class A2 runners and records set by cars such as Lotus Elises, but despite this he has climbed to 3^rd overall in the Championship.

Andrew Webber set a new record for HSA class V1 in his Lotus Elan , just 0.03 seconds quicker than Mike Henney’s similar car which was running later in the programme in the Period Defined roadgoing vehicle class along with Philip Stader, who scored a maximum in his Alfa Romeo Berlina by breaking the old class U2 record.

Justin Andrews (Subaru Impreza) beat Andrew Cottrill’s previous class A3 record and won the over 2000cc roadgoing class, ahead of Jon Maycock in his forced induction MX5. In the modified production classes, both Gavin Neate and his old sparring partner Ivan Russell both scored maximum points by breaking the old up to 1400 and 1400 to 2000cc HSA records respectively. Gavin is now leading the overall championship with 147 points, but is starting to drop scores with more than 9 rounds completed. Ivan has moved up a class this year with a 1700 cc engine in his well-travelled Ford Anglia.

Class D for modified specialist cars has been well-supported this year, and there were three HSA runners taking part (split into 2 engine size categories for this event), with Jeff Wiltshire (Sylva Phoenix) taking second place in the over 1800 cc division, aheadof James Robertson (Raw Striker)and Graham Mintram (Sylva Phoenix) in their smaller engined versions running in the up to 1800cc division.

Finally, Peter Goulding and Fyrth Crosse both ran solo in their over 2000cc racing car and Period Defined racing car classes respectively, but both scored well by setting new HSA records for classes L and W.

Something new at Pembrey

For the second day of the BARC Wales sprint week-end something new was on offer – a new track layout. On paper it really didn’t look that much at all with the new track continuing straight on from the apex of Dibeni 2 (the paddock crossing) for about 100metres before taking a sharp left (off camber) followed by a sharp right, rejoining the old track at the Esses.

In reality, however, it made quite a difference by adding a couple of slower corners and changing the nature of Dibeni 2 and the Esses. The increase in lap times was considerable but it was hard to judge the true differential due to the changing conditions.

A deluge just as practice commenced meant that P1, P2 and T1 were all wet or damp to varying degrees. So, for most, the real event was T2 by which time the skies had cleared and the track was warm and dry. This time Sandy Smith opened up a gap of about a second and a half to David Newman to win the up to 2000cc Production Car class while Elen Worthington did enough on her single dryish T1 run to stay ahead of John Watson. Adam Phelps’ margin over Terry Everall was reduced to half a second with David Cleaver’s Westfield winning the larger Modified Kit Car class again by a comfortable margin.

Matt Carter and Chris Jones again won their classes and Matt Hillam went well to win the up to 2000cc Racing Car class.

A difficult day at Pembrey

The most significant item of note from the first day of the BARC Wales sprint week-end was that the meeting was brought to a close midway through the second timed runs. With a number of HSA competitors missing out on T2 including Elen Worthington, Mike Smith, Justin Andrews and John Watson this would mean that the event would be scored on T1 as per the HSA Championship regs.

The reasons for the over run were numerous so in many ways it was a perfect storm, particularly disappointing as the event attracted a far bigger entry than in previous years including the Paul Matty Lotus Championship who were only present for the Saturday and were unable to take part in T2.

Sandy Smith and David Newman enjoyed a good battle in their MX5s with David getting to within a couple of tenths of Sandy for a good morale booster. Justin Andrews continued to impress in his Impreza (?), winning the over 2000cc Production class by half a second from Trevor Hartland’s, always quick, Evo 6. In a sign of the times Mike Smith was on his own in the up to 1700cc Kit Car class and with only one run was unable to trouble John Loudon’s class record. Gavin Neate and Elen Worthington found themselves in a similar position to Mike but, with only a single run, Elen was able to improve upon Bob Ridge-Stearn’s Elise record.

Former HSA championship and 2017 contenders, Alan and Nick Mugglestone had spent the Friday track day setting the car up and learning the new track that was to be used on the Sunday. However, on T1 Alan left his braking optimistically late and a couple of very rapid downshifts resulted in the prop shaft letting go. With no prospect of finding a local welder on a Saturday night the team packed up and set off on their long trip home.

Adam Phelps went well in the family Westfield (sharing with sister, Charlotte, this week-end) to win a strong Modified Kit Car class from Terry Everall's and John Loudon’s Westfields. Reigning HSA Champion, Matt Carter won the battle of the Radicals with his PR6 in the Libre class ahead of Clive Wooster’s SR4. Despite a few continuing new car ‘issues’ Chris Jones demonstrated the potential of the new Force TA by easily winning the 1100cc Racing Car class ahead of Grahame Harden’s Jedi and Simon Boulter’s OMS with a time 3 seconds quicker than his previous PB but still a little adrift of Brad Hobday’s record.

In the other single seaters Bill Gouldthorpe was getting back into the swing of things and Graham Blackwell continues to make good forward progress in the spaceframe Mygale Ecoboost although he is up against the V8 powered cars of John Graham, Terry Homes and Graham Porrett who were all a little way ahead.

New records for Mugglestone & Thomas at Snetterton

For the second day of the Borough 19 run event at Snetterton things pretty much followed the pattern of the previous day. There was a very light drizzle at one point (for P2 this time) but it quickly cleared up.

The Mugglestones appeared with the Fulcrum, both drivers running in the Roadgoing class, and Alan obliterated the HSA record by about five and a half seconds (!) with a 92.94s run and win the class with ease.However, as Alan is running in the HSA's Modified championship class his time split the Loudon/Wiltshire pair, the first two bettering the new Loudon record set on the Saturday. Nick was unusually a couple of seconds behind his Father but this was likely down to his knee injury although it was still good enough to take the runner up spot in the class.

Gary Thomas also appeared for the Sunday and proceeded to win his class and improve on the HSA record by over a second.

Performances in the other classes were much the same as the Saturday with most competitors improving their times. Graham Blackwell''s improvement (to an 86.35s) was enough to reverse the positions in the Mygale rivalry with Pete Goulding to continue his progress in 2017.

The event again ran very smoothly with proceedings coming to a close by about 4pm despite one of the organising team, Roger Grimes, having his foot run over by a single seater in the Paddock. He was taken to hospital for a check but fortunately no serious injury was found.

Smith's FTD as Neate closes Championship gap at Llys y Fran

Peter Smith took FTD in his Force PT at Swansea Motor Club's Llys y Fran event on May 14th.

Gavin Neate set a new HSA Class record in his Peugeot 106 which helped him narrow the gap to Championship leader, Chris Berrisford, to five points with an event in hand. 12 HSA competitors made the trek to far west Wales and were rewarded with good weather.

Andrew Till was the only other driver to set a new record in his MG ZR105 while Sandy Smith got to within a couple of seconds of Bob Ridge-Stearn's Lotus Elise A2 record (not bad going in an MX5!) but his time was good enough to win the well supported up to 2000cc Roadgoing production class.

John Phelps (Westfield) won the Modified Kit car class from daughter, Charlotte, and Graham Mintram (Phoenix). Gordon Hick went very well to win the large Roadgoing series production class in his SEAT Leon Cupra, assisted, no doubt, by the Nankang AR-1 tyres which are becoming increasingly popular.

Dave Mockford had an eventful day, managing to nudge the bank in his Modified Maestro but still managed to take third in class with a creditable 53.05s run.

Slick (organisation) at Snetterton

Despite a full entry. a damp start on the Saturday and MSV running two days of events (including a Mini festival) on the 200 track, Borough 19 managed everything with their usual aplomb. Competitors were provided with 2 practice and 3 timed runs - and the organisers managed to fit in a pair of British Sprint Top 12 Run Offs and finish both days in good time. Well done.

The day started with a few offs and some disqualifications following corner cutting at the hairpin (competitors were warned at the briefing). Jeff Allan only managed one practice and one timed run in the Leaf and was seen searching the paddock area for a charging point! David Newman came out on top in the 'MX5 Class' and Justin Andrews continued his good form by staying ahead of Chris Berrisford's (outwardly) similar Impreza - both breaking thew HSA class record.

The Mugglestone's Fulcrum made a non appearance due to Nick sustaining a knee injury while out running (they made it for the Sunday) which gave Stephen Laing the chance to see off the other competitors in the large roadgoing kit car class. In the modified Kit Car class John Loudon (Westfield) came out ahead of Jeff Wiltshire (Phoenix) with both drivers breaking the HSA class record. The other Westfields ran in their own classes and David Cleaver's 88.24s run was notable for the fact that it would have got him into the British Sprint Run Off had he been entered!

Jeff Wiltshire and Tony Beesley won their classes and in the battle of the Mygales Graham Blackwell got to within half a second of Pete Goulding with both drivers in the 87s.

Gary Thomas Shines at Llandow Sprint

Gary Thomas set the Fastest Time of the Day at the Llandow sprint (jointly organised by the Bristol MC and Bristol Pegasus MC) in a time of 70.02 seconds in his 1400cc Force PC. In the process he reduced the previous HSA class J record for 1100 to 1600cc racing cars, held by Lee Griffiths since 2009, by over 5 seconds!

Gary was to be the only HSA record breaker at this event, although Fyrth Crosse established a Class W record for pre-1976 classic racing cars, taking third place in the 1100 to 1600cc racing car class.

The event was well supported by HSA championship contenders and some notable performances included Andrew Till’s second place in roadgoing production cars up to 1400cc in his MG ZR105, and Elen Worthington winning the Lotus Elise – dominated 1400 to 1800 cc division of roadgoing production cars in her example, with John Watson taking third place.

Mike Smith (Sylva Striker) and Gavin Neate (Peugeot 105)took class wins in roadgoing specialist production up to 1800cc and modified series production up to 1400cc respectively.

Dave Mockford came 5^th in the modified series production class over 1800cc, but his recent tuning efforts with his aged MG Maestro are paying dividends as the car was not that far behind the shared Lotus Exige which took first and second places – surely a significant achievement.

There was a battle royal in the modified specialist production class, with Charlotte Phelps just edging out John Phelps in the family Westfield Megabusa, reversing their positions after the first competition run by just 0.23 seconds. They were hotly pursued into third and fourth places by the 998 cc Raw Striker of James Robertson and Graham Mintram’s Sylva Phoenix. Finally Luke Trotman took a convincing win in the sports libre up to 1800cc class in his Mallock Mk 18b.

Thomas Gets FTD at Wet Werrington Day Two

Gary Thomas posted FTD at day two of the Werrington Hill Climb, although times were well down on those of the previous day due to the rain which continued throughout the competition runs. His FTD of 39.68 was the only run of the day under 40 seconds.

Only 8 SBD HSA championship contenders stayed on and scored points, but the day was a low scoring one in terms of championship points because of the track conditions.

Fyrth Crosse (Mallock U2 Mk2b) was the lone runner in class W. David Newman ran well in his MX5, just pipping Alexander Smith in his version by just 0.08 seconds. Dave Mockford’s Maestro is becoming increasingly competitive following winter upgrades and Luke Trotman did well to post a time of 42.65 in the wet conditions.

With 10 of the 30 rounds now completed, the championship scoreboard is starting to take shape, with the top six places as follows:-

1. Chris Berrisford Class A3 92 points from 6 events

2. Gavin Neate Class C1 83 points from 5 events

3. Gary Thomas Class J 73 points from 5 events

4. Alexander Smith Class A2 69 points from 5 events

5. Alan Mugglestone Class D 68 points from 4 events

6. Philip Stader Class U2 62 points from 4 events

Ultimately it will be the best 9 event scores which will determine class and overall championship positions.

Records Fall at Day One of Werrington

Fine weather and a good entry led to a number of strong performances on day one of the Werrington Hill Climb by HSA championship contenders.Terry Graves and Gary Thomas battled for FTD, with Terry (Gould GR55 HB) just edging out Gary (Force PC) by just 0.12 seconds in a time of 33.83. However, Gary’s time set a new record in class J, a feat matched by Chris Berrisford (Subaru Impreza) in class A3, Jeff Wiltshire (Sylva Phoenix) in class D and David Newman (Mazda MX5) in class A2.

Class A2 was well represented on the day with Alexander Smith (MX5), Helen Currie (Renault Clio Trophy) and Graeme Proctor (Fiat Abarth 500) chasing David Newman home.

New HSA records were set in class C3 by Jason Tunnicliffe (Peugeot 205), and Luke Trotman (Mallock Mk18b) in class F.

Note – the class designations above refer to the HSA class structure, not the Plymouth MC event class structure, which was significantly different.

HSA'S GURSTON OPENER

Nineteen HSA contenders turned out at Gurston Down for the first day of the BARC SW Centre's traditional April double-header meeting (see separate report). With the fast Wiltshire downland course bathed in sunshine, three of them, last year's Championship runner-up Andrew Till in his MG ZR 105, plus the Subaru Imprezas of Justin Andrews and Chris Berrisford, broke their repective HSA records. With all three running in the 9-strong, dedicated HSA class for saloons and sports cars, Andrews battled for the lead on scratch with Chris Berrisford's Impreza, coming out on top by threequarters of a second and almost two seconds inside the record. James Robertson gave chase in his Raw Striker, but Berrisford's points haul was enough to move him up to second place overall on the series table.

Elswhere in the classes, Dean Cubitt in his MX5 chased home the fleet Elan of winner Tim Forster in Gurston's Roadgoing Production 2-litre class to end up in a three-way tie for a Championship seventh overall. In the over 2-litre division, the turbocharged MX5 of Jon Maycock split the 400bhp Impreza of Shaun and Sarah Fudge to take second place. John and Adam Phelps had a stiff task on their hands against Gurston experts Mike Rudge and Anthony Orchard, former Gurston champ Rudge spectacular as ever in his Westfield-Duratec and taking the win from Orchard's Megabusa ahead of the Phelps' Megabusa.

Driving his immaculate Alexis Twincam, HSA contender Mike Broome was edged out of a first run lead in the Historically Interesting class by Gurston veteran Geoff Hunt's ex.Tom Elton Lotus 22, but got his revenge at the following day's event to take his first ever win in the class. A 5-strong Formula Ford class saw Russell Haynes out for the first time in a 'brand new' Zeus - built from 1980 parts by father Mark,- and sharing the car with his cousin George, an international saloon and GT racer making his first visit to Gurston Down.

John Graham's Aintree FTD

Another lovely sunny day at Aintree although there were a couple of major fires going on in the vicinity and on the evening before the event.

The force was obviously with Steve Brown as he won class 5C from Gary Thomas who was having major problems with a sheared stub axle, hence only managing one timed run.

Alan Mugglestone claimed class 2B on 46.05 from son Nick who was second on 46.64 (and running in HSA class B2). Team Triple M was performing seamlessly as ever. This was a new HSA record for Alan in HSA class D.

Ken Morris claimed class 1D in the MX5 Merlot on 57.45 from Michael Tindale on 62.25. Paul Trill was first in class 1E on 55.61 in the Mazda RX7 with Gavin Neate claiming second in class 3A, 3B and 3C (merged) on 51.20 with Ivan Russell on 55.67.

John Loudon won the combined 4F, 3G and 3H class on 46.21.

FTD went to John Graham in the 3500cc Gould GR55b on 36.56, and he also set a new HSA class L record during the day.

Nick Scott

Croft Records Galore

A small but select group of SBD HSA Speed Championship contenders journeyed to Croft racing circuit on Easter Monday for the 3.06 Km sprint.This being a relatively new fixture on the HSA calendar, they were all able either to set new or beat the previous HSA class records, and at the same time scored well in terms of overall and class placings. Therefore, for those attending, it was a high scoring round.

Ken Morris set the ball rolling in his MX5 with a win in the 1400 to 2000cc standard saloon and sports car class, taking 2 seconds off the previous A2.1 record. Chris Berrisford set a new A3 record with his Impreza, as did Andrew Webber in class V1 with his Lotus Elan +2, with both winning their classes.

Mike Smith scored a second place in the up to 1700cc Kitcar class, setting a new B1 record, and Gavin Neate won his modified saloon up to 1400cc class, setting a new C1 record. Graham Mintram set a class D record in his Sylva Phoenix, and Simon Boulter also set a Class I record in his 998cc OMS 2000M, qualifying for the British Sprint Championship in the process.

Matt Hillam in the 2 litre Dallara took half a second off Steve Broughton’s class K record for 1600 to 2000cc single seaters, and then the big guns rolled out in class L for over 2000cc racing cars, with Terry Holmes, John Graham , Graham Porrett and Graham Blackwell finishing in that order, each beating the previous HSA class L record by a considerable margin.

The Top 12 run off will be reported separately

Willis takes FTD and new Force TA wins on debut

HDLCC’s Loton opener took place on a chilly Easter Sunday. Trevor Willis (OMS 28) and Jason Mourant (Gould GR55) battled for FTD with Willis coming out ahead by 0.13s with a 47.71s run – a testament to the cold track.

After a short break for the local church service, morning practice was halted after an accident involving a three wheeler just after the finish line saw the air ambulance called and the riders taken away for treatment. This resulted in a single practice run for all car drivers. The afternoon saw the occasional light shower which was enough to disadvantage some batches of competitors although most had one dry run.

In the small Series Production class, sometime Speedscene contributor, Keith Waters, in his immaculate Metro Advantage won by 0.08s from Richard Keen’s Mini Cooper S. In the huge up to 2000cc Class Fred Currell’s familiar Golf GT1 beat Dave West’s Peugeot 106Gti while Bob Ridge-Stearn’s canary yellow (other colours are available!) and skinny tyred Toyota GT86 and Dean Cubbitt’s Mazda MX5 were going well. In the large Series Production Class Chris Berrisford won the battle of the Imprezas as well as the class.

The 1100cc Racing Car class was as competitive as ever with the brace of New Force TAs for Chris Bennett/Chris Jones and Darren Gumbley joined by the new GWR Raptor 2. The black TA of Bennett/Jones headed the time sheets on all three runs with Jones coming out the victor on the car’s competition debut.

Simon Andrews won the Formula Ford Class in Bernie Kevill’s Van Diemen RF90 from Charlie Reilly’s RF91 which was troubled with a misfire. Simon Keen got the Dallara F302 going well to win the 2 litre Racing Car Class by 0.4s from Dexter Le Sauvage’s F397 example.

Mike Henney’s Elan S3 is having a good start to the season and won the Classic saloon and sports car Class. Finally, Jeff Allan was all alone in the invitation Class in his electric Nissan Leaf but having fun and comforted in the knowledge that a fast charging station was available in nearby Shrewsbury!

Exciting Goodwood

What started as a cloudy Saturday turned in to a bright sunny and very exciting day at the superbly organised Bognor Regis Motor Club Regis Sprint.

In Class A2 Alexander Smith, David Newman and Dean Cubitt fought a very close battle throughout the day with both David and Alexander having fairly big spins making some very exciting viewing from the stand. Helen Currie and Stephen Dally were both very consistent throughout practice and competitive runs.

Chris Berrisford and Justin Andrews in the two Subaru Impreza’s in Class A3 were extremely quick as was Gavin Neate in Class C1, however Michael Butler in his BMW M3 was in a league of his own in the speed stakes

Mugglestone pulls ahead as Menzies takes FTD

A perfect sunny and warm Spring day greeted the many HSA championship contenders and member that made the trip to Harewood.

Wallace Menzies made FTD with a 50.97s run in the new and unpainted Gould GR59 from Richard Spedding in the 1600cc Raptor.

The quickest HSA runners were Gary Thomas (Force PC) on 55.27s who was second in class 5C to Spedding, Alan Mugglestone on 61.00s dead, winning class 2B in the very smart looking Raw Fulcrum and Nick Scott with a personal best of 62.27s.

The other class winner was Gavin Neate (Peugeot 106) on 66.41s in class 3A with Graham Mintram (Sylva Phoenix) coming 2nd in class 3F on 72.93s while Mike Henney (Elan) and newcomer (having taken part in a few events in 2016), Dean Cubbitt (MX5) went well in the enormous up to 2000cc Roadgoing Production class. Nick Mugglestone claimed third in class 2B on 62.58s in the Fulcrum he shares with Father, Alan.

Runners were given a third timed run but the weather had changed by this time and the temperature dropped giving little opportunity for further improvement.

By virtue of breaking the HSA Class record (along with Justin Andrews' Impreza, Neate and Thomas) Alan Mugglestone extended his lead in the SBD HSA Speed Championship over Philip Stader's Alfa which scored well but missed a new record.

NS

More SMiles at Rockingham Sprint!

For the fourth year in a row, BARC Midlands Centre managed to provide fine dry weather for their March sprint at Rockingham Speedway, albeit with a strong headwind facing the hairpin after the Turn 1 banking, which kept conditions cool. Several new records were set, most notably by Steve Miles in his 2 litre Van Diemen, who not only took FTD, but also lowered his own outright course record to 63.79 seconds, courtesy of some demon late braking. Sarah Munns (Mini Cooper) took the award for Fastest Lady, and Clive Wooster (Radical SR4) won the award for fastest BARC Midland Centre member, also winning the up to 1700cc sports libre class.

The event formed rounds of some fourteen championships, including the SBD HSA Speed, Midland Speed and BARC SBD Speed Championships, with 110 competitors completing their two timed runs. 27 SBD HSA Speed championship contenders took part, and there were some strong performances between them.

Dave Chesterton (Ford Fiesta) won the 1400 – 2000cc standard production class, while Steven Riddle placed second in his Renault Clio 172 Cup, setting an HSA record for his class. Mike Henney won 1401 to 2000cc roadgoing production sports and saloon class, setting a new class V1 record, with HSA runners Alexander Smith and Dean Cubitt second and third respectively in their Mazda MX5s.

Other notable performances included father and son Alan and Nick Mugglestone finishing first and second in the over 1701cc roadgoing specialist production class with their 2 litre Raw Fulcrum, breaking the HSA class D and B2 records in the process, despite Alan running on List 1B tyres, rather than slicks. Gavin Neate won the class for up to 1400cc modified series and specialist cars, and lowered his HSA class C1 record by 0.43 seconds in his very rapid Peugeot 106.

Adrian Crawley won class 9 for the “non-Westfield branch” of the 1401 to 2000cc modified series and specialist production class, hotly pursued into second place by father David in the family Peugeot 205GTI.

The well-supported up to 1100cc racing car class was closely fought with Stuart Bickley (Jedi) coming to the fore on his final run in a time of 69.04, which was good enough for 2^nd FTD, just shading out first run leader Simon Boulter (OMS 2000M) on 3^rd FTD by 0.02 seconds! Tony Beesley was third, and both Simon and Tony ran under the previous HSA class I record previously held by Simon.

Malcolm Boorman (1397cc OMS 2000M) won the 1101 to 1600 cc racing car class, 0.09 seconds ahead of Steve Brown (JKS JR01), who achieved 4^th and 5^th FTD respectively.

Class 18 for over 2000cc racing cars saw a battle between two turbocharged Mygale ex- Formula Fords and the Terry Holmes/Graham Porrett Lola Tegra T90 with 3.5 litres of Judd power. Terry Holmes was the victor, with Peter Goulding second and Graham Blackwell third, with both Terry and Peter finishing under the previous HSA class L record. Charlie Reilly (Van Diemen RF82) was alone in the Formula Ford class, but was delighted to set a new HSA record, 0.24 seconds under the previous mark set by Russell Haynes in 2016.

Philip Stader (Alfa Romeo Berlina 1750) won the period defined roadgoing production car class, setting a new HSA class U2 record, and Jeff Allan (Nissan Leaf) in the sole electrically powered entry, established a new record for HSA class Y.

The meeting greatly missed the presence of ace-BARC-organiser Noreen Ward, due to ill-health, but all those attending wished her a speedy recovery, and we were glad to be told that she is now back at home and “on the mend.”

Sunny Combe sees start of season problems

For most it was their first event of the season and for some their first event ever. And it showed with both practice and the first timed runs beset with offs and mechanical failures. However, the Bristol Motor Club stuck with it and clawed back much of the time so that the event was brought to a satisfactory conclusion by close of play at 6pm. Happily the weather played ball and remained dry and sunny throughout with even a hint of warmth during the afternoon.

Notable performances included Jon Maycock in his turbocharged MX5 having only his second ever event who won the large 1800 to 2600 Roadgoing series production class. In the same class, Sandy Smith came third in his MX5 beating the HSA A2 class record into the bargain.

Paul Torkington, son of British Sprint regular Carole Torkington, was having his first ever event with a pristine MK2 Escort which he had spent the last ten years preparing! With the experience of the SBD team (in the form of ex HSA Champion Matt Hillam) to call on, Paul improved his times and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Welcome to Speed events! Mike Butler was also running in the Class for big Mod Prod cars with his BMW M3 and easily saw off the Quattro of Clarke/Trayner.

Another pair of former HSA Champions (Alan and Nick Mugglestone) were at the tail of a long list of reserves but allowed to practice and, following a number of withdrawals, were allowed to take part. Alan was initially very unhappy with the handling of the RAW Fulcrum on its 13” wheels and tyres but this problem disappeared after a couple of runs – rubber pick up at a recent test being the most likely culprit.

For others the day wasn’t quite as successful. Geoff Wiltshire had a major engine blow up out on track while the Mike Smith Striker developed an oil leak in the oil pump area and had to be withdrawn. The Bill Gouldthorpe (good to see Bill back after missing out most of the 2016 season) / Carole Torkington OMS suffered a number of problems which ended their day and reigning HSA Champion, Matt Carter lost his diff during T2.

Elen Worthington went well in her Elise but was just pipped for the Class win by a Toyota MR2 while in the same class Andy Mitchelmore (Elise), Andrew Webber (Elan +2) and Mike Henney (Elan S3) were closely grouped with Mike viewing every run successfully completed as a minor victory!