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4th September 2004
Aintree
Event Report
(Report courtesy of
Copyright
After a dull morning the afternoon was lit up by the timed runs and the Top Twelve run off. Martin Dowling repeated his victory of 12 months ago and swept to victory in the tenth round of the British Sprint Championship.
With several none starters and the practice accounting for a couple of more runners we were down to a more manageable 107 runners. Leading the way were the Roadgoing Modified Saloons and in the 1400 Division it was Yorkshireman Mike Geen in his 205XS who led the way. Geen was on record breaking form from practice and duly broke the old record on each of his three timed runs. George Povey slotted his immaculate Mini into second with Paul Webb taking third in the Charade. The 2000 Division included three Lotus Elise rocketships and they duly swept the board. Dave Coveney took the win from Bobby Fryers and Gary Thomas whilst the first none Elise home was the 205 GTi of Russell Herring. In the Over 2000 Division there were four late entries and it was Tim Hanlon in his WRX Impreza who led throughout. David Wood in the Boxster took second whilst the evil black EVO 7 of John Cartwright was third.
In the Roadgoing Kit Car class for up to 1700cc engines John Palmer was back with a vengeance. His first run was off the usual pace but a quick mod to the engine management box - he ran an extra earth lead to the casing - solved the high speed misfire and he lowered the three year old class record. Bob Bellerby was just outside the old record in second in his Striker whilst Brad Gould brought his pre-lit Westie home third. David Drucker was the only over 1700 'kit car' runner in his 'production' TVR Cerbera and duly cruised home to victory.
Mod Prods
were thin on the ground and with no 1400s it was straight into the 2000 Division.
Graham Oates once again proved that a good little 'un that is well prepared and
well driven will beat the rest and the Formby Flyer duly took the class in his
well developed Europa. Paul Norris in his two-litre Pinto engined Chrysler
Sunbeam took second just shading out Paul Hughes in the two-litre Corsa. Sean
Bramhall was another solo runner in the over 2000 Division but still
flogged the Porsche round to good effect. With just four Modified Kit Cars the
competition was thin on the ground however it was very interesting. Top slot
went to Devonian John Sampson in the brutal but effective Quantum Xtreme. In
second was the extremely enthusiastic Garry Dickson who brought his
Into the Racing Car classes and the 1100s saw the return of Barry Whitehead and his new RBS6. The Flying Vicar was on tremendous form but could only manage sixth whilst daughter Eve trailed in seventh as they start to get the new car sorted. Up front and it was John Chacksfield who was on form and the Yorkshireman was inside his own class record on every run to take the class. Second spot went to the ever enthusiastic Tony Ellis in the latest Megapin whilst Andrew Dobson brought his spaceframe OMS home in third. In the Formula Ford class Graham Curwen was facing the prospect of seeing his class record lowered. David Bailey was inside the old mark in practice and duly lowered the record on each successive run. Graham Curwen was second whilst Mark Moran was close behind in third. However Bailey's performance was exceptional and although he only carved just 0.35 seconds off the record by the end of the third run it was worthy of more than a class winner's trophy.
With two of
the three 1600 Racing Car entries withdrawing due to mechanical problems
sustained at the previous week's Colerne sprint Jim Yardley was left on his
own. The Beagle constructor was fast immediately finishing just 0.27 second off
the class record in his Honda powered car. The two-litre class featured another
class destroying performance from Tony Wiltshire. Making his first visit to
Aintree for some five years the Devonian was inside the class record on
both practice runs. His first timed run carved a massive 1.59 seconds off the
2001 record set by Steve Liptrott. Simon Ashby continued his rich vein of
form by taking second in the Tramway Forge Reynard whilst Steve Miles in
the Mole Racing Van Diemen was third . The over
two-litre class had just three runners and Martin Dowling led throughout. His
main opposition this week came from co-driver John Payne who just pipped Tony
Eyles. Eyles was still recovering from a nasty motorbike accident whilst on
holiday in
The Classic
Car class, which is decided on handicap and is very difficult to keep track of,
went to Diane Griffiths in the family Sunbeam Alpine. Husband Bryn was second
despite being the quickest on scratch whilst Bernard Mooney brought his pretty
914 Porsche home third. The penultimate class was for the Lotus Seven Club
Speed contenders and after their support at
TOP TWELVE RUN OFF
Problems, problems, problems, when is Mike Musson's season going to settle down? As the Duel Force blasted off the line everything looked OK however by Country corner those nasty grey gremlins had struck again. Musson was having gearbox problems of a major magnitude. With two gearboxes synchronisation is imperative and as he went to take third one engine changed up and the other didn't! He had to drop both back to neutral and start again, this handicap saw his run-off times increase by over three seconds over qualifying and relegated him to 12th and last place. Tracey Ashby only just shaved a couple of hundredths off her qualifying time on the first run then bogged her second start to drop off the pace and ultimately end up 11th. John Sampson's wrestling match with the Xtreme continued and the result was a conservative first run followed by a second run under the new class record. Tenth place was not a just reward for the effort put in! John Chacksfield on the other hand was enjoying his first Top Twelve Run-off. The Yorkshireman had qualified well enough but his two runs were dynamite. Both were inside his new class record and typified his gritty approach to sprinting. Graham Porrett took eighth, his first run was off his earlier pace then on run two he nailed the start and clipped over 4 tenths off his Q-time. Steve Miles couldn't reproduce his qualifying pace and dropped down to seventh whilst Terry Holmes made huge strides forward in the run-off but still remained anchored in sixth spot. Simon Ashby took fifth as he put in two massively improved runs but was still nearly a second off the pace of the rest. Tony Eyles painful day came to an end with fourth spot. His inability to press too hard on the clutch pedal made gear changes slow and laborious but he still chipped a couple of tenths off his Q-time. Tony Wiltshire needed to finish in the first two to add to his overall score due to dropped points. His first run ended with 10 foot of the start line as he stalled. There were rapid repairs by Tony and the Sheffield Mafia (Pete Howgate and Brian Woffenden) and despite an initial stall on his second run the Peugeot engine blasted him round in an unofficial class record but just failed to secure second spot. John Payne has taken some time to acclimatise to the 88D of Martin Dowling but at Aintree he was flying. His first run was his fastest of the day and was good enough for second. Meanwhile Martin Dowling put in two stunning runs to annex top spot and repeat his 2003 win at what is rapidly becoming his favourite venue.
After a 'fun' run and the prize presentation were completed most people were on the road by five o'clock. Once again Liverpool Motor Club's excellent organisational team had run a superb meeting and must be in line for the coveted Les Edmunds Trophy for the best organised British Sprint Meeting of the year. Well they have my vote at least!