Event results

Liverpool Motor Club

Aintree Summer Championship Sprint

Event Report

(Report courtesy of Steve Wilkinson)

Copyright of Steve Wilkinson & Liverpool Motor Club

It was a Varley Special

The second of Liverpool Motor Club’s Aintree Sprint Series started off with a track caked in mud due to ground works out at Beecher’s. It ended with a clutch of class records and Jonathan Varley taking BTD on his debut at the ex-Grand Prix circuit.

Despite the tricky conditions it was mechanical mayhem that saw Dave West (broken third gear) plus Eve and Barry Whitehead (falling oil pressure) fall by the wayside.

The meeting got underway after practice with the 1400 Road Modified Saloons and it was a close battle of the Minis. With West sidelined up stepped Steve English with a first run that annexed the lead. George Povey held second until the third runs when Les English, Steve’s brother who shares the family Mini, slipped through to make it an English 1-2. In the 2000 Road Modified Saloons LMC allows in the Elise brigade and it was Widnes driver Dave Coveney who set the pace. Dave has long coveted the class record that was held by fellow Elise driver Alan Clark however after two runs the record looked secure however he had been relegated to second so after being red flagged on his third run he had a few more moments to gather his thoughts. A perfect start saw the Elise rocket into Country; sweep through Village then teetered on the brink as he drifted round Beecher’s before the long drive to the line and when the clocks stopped Dave Coveney had his record at last! Bobby Fryers had looked destined for fourth after the second runs but his fight back took him into a temporary lead before Coveney’s record breaking run. Russell Herring had been second during the first two runs but knew it was all or nothing third time round. An over exuberant attack on Beecher’s saw the 205 spin out and he trailed home with only his pride dented. Gareth Griffiths, in the ex-Bobby Fryers Clio Williams, had held third but the final runs saw him shuffled back to fourth. In the over 2000 Road Modified Saloon class Mark Wallwork led throughout in the maroon Sapphire Cossie. His electrifying starts plus his all out attack on County and Village were the secrets to his consistent times. However he was put under pressure by Paul Gill in the mighty 8 litre V10 Dodge Viper. A little off the pace at the head of the class was Neil Trainer, who is still collecting signatures on his license, but he managed to haul his Evo 8 past David Wood in the 993RS for third spot.

Into the Kit Car classes and in the up to 1700 class there was a clear cut winner in Chris Jones in the Vauxhall/Cougar powered Westfield. With three runs all in the 50 second bracket he was well clear of Preston’s Brad Gould in the Pre-Lit Westie who in turn kept clear tarmac between himself and George Hardman in third. In the over 1700 class the current class record holder Ash Mason completed a unique hat-trick as he lowered the class record for the third time in three visits. Stuart Graham took second some two seconds adrift whilst Roger Fish only managed one run before the Cyclone cried enough but it was good enough for third.

The TVR gang were next to the line and the titanic battle for the lead saw first Paul Edwards in his new 350T smash the class record. Second time round and it was Matthew Oakley who became the new class record holder and then on the third run the record was reset by Simon Bridge in the charismatic Griffith 400. Paul Edwards managed to snatch second place back with the last run in the class whilst Matthew Oakley was back in third with three runs all under the old record to his credit!

We then moved into Mod Prod territory. In the 1400 class Phil Short had an easy run to victory with Graham Lloyd equally comfortable in second. The 2000 class was a different matter. Pre-event favourite Graham Oates was caught out on his first run as he turned into Beecher’s and spun out; this left Stuart Tranter, in his very pink Rover 216 GTi, in the lead. However on the second run Graham got the Europa round and slotted into his customary first place. Tranter held onto second whilst Stewart Webster remained in a comfortable third in his 205 just ahead of Robert Tonge in the very green Seat Ibiza. In the over 2000 Class Claude Spencer took his venerable MGB V8 to the class win ahead of a brace of TR7 V8s. Neil Sawyer was second despite losing his fibreglass bonnet on the third run whilst the fast starting Simon Allaby slipped to third. The final Mod Prod class saw an eclectic mix with Derek Speight in the GM powered Darrian rumble to victory despite a poor gear set. Simon Cole was second in the TVR 3501 whilst the smallest capacity runner, Nigel Cresswell in the Hayabusa powered Fisher Fury was only just relegated to third.

The first of the Sports Libre classes, for cars up to 1700cc, saw Phil Major take his highly modified ADR Mk1 to the class win on only his second event with the car; Dennis Doyle was second and also grabbed the top LMC Member’s Trophy. In the over 1700 Paul Bond was in record breaking mood as his swept round the Aintree track in his beautiful Crossle 9S. Paul Norris in the Cosworth Turbo powered Talbot Sunbeam was second and Mark Skillicorn in the rally prepared Escort Cosworth was third.

The 1100 Racing Car class drew a large entry but it was class record holder John Chacksfield who was the star once again. The OMS had been badly damaged at 3 Sisters back in April and after just one previous outing at Elvington Chacksfield had the Kawasaki powered car back on the pace. His first two runs were both under the old record as he finished over a second clear of the opposition. There was a close battle for second which was resolved in favour of Paul Masters in the Mk 6 Jedi as he traded times with Henryk Koslowski in the Mk 1 Jedi. Chris Pritchard brought his recently acquired Force into a fine fourth and bagged the coveted Novice’s Trophy in the process. Tony Ellis won the battle of the Megapins taking fifth whilst Andrew Dobson fell to sixth after a quick spin on his second run.

There was a five car field for the Formula Ford class and ex-record holder Graham Curwen looked to be the favourite after practice. He led initially only to be pushed back to second by Mark Moran on the second run when he went slower. The third runs saw Moran extend his lead and Curwen again failed to improve. Derek Martlew took third nearly two seconds adrift this week. The final Racing Car class had but one runner, Jonathan Varley in the March 772P. However it was Jonathan’s first visit to Aintree and after practice he looked to be well off the class record pace set back in 2002 by Guy Gibson. His first run was superb and took him to within four hundredths of the class record; his second run was slower as he bogged the start but on the third run it all came good. His start was near perfect with just a hint of wheel spin. Through Country and Village he was in touch and in the final drive to the line the BD engine was on full song. When the clocks stopped it took a few seconds for it to sink in but the young Yorkshireman had just consigned the record to the history books.

The pace then became a little more sedate with the Classic Cars. On scratch the fastest was Ronnie Clayton in the TR4A and he was also the winner on Handicap! Graham Thomas steered the Triumph based Fairthorpe Electron Minor Mk1 to second spot on handicap whilst Alan Wilson was back in third with the beautiful Austin Healey 3000 Mk2. Next up to the line were the frantic Austin Sevens in the Bert Hadley Memorial Trophy classes. Top of the five runners in the Road Car class was Gordon Tasker in the Special that featured in the latest Autosport and Motorsport News thanks to a spectacular roll at Brands Hatch last week. Geoff Harrison, a scrutineer at Harewood, was second with Neville Barr in the Rosengart LR2 third. In the Track Car class Alan Fairless took his Ulster to the win ahead of the similar car of John Mansfield whilst Alan’s wife Judy was third.

There were two One Make classes to round off the classes and first it was the Morgans. On scratch it was a battle between the Plus 8s of Adrian Smith and Nigel Leger Lomas but the Handicap went to Nigel Frow in his immaculate Plus 4. The MGCC Speed runners provided some cracking battles and on top was Richard Froggatt in the mighty ZT260. David Coulthard took second in the ZR160 whilst Paul Drake took third in his BGT. Johnathan Beresford only just scrapped home in fourth on countback as Brigid Doyle on her competition debut in the brutal ZT260 matched his fastest time. Helen Waddington was relegated to sixth in the ZR160 with Richard Watkinson in the first of the Midgets seventh.

As the LMC crew packed up and the drivers collected their prizes it was time for reflection. What had started on a down beat note ended with no less than SIX new class records being set. There were a lot of very happy speed eventers heading off to the M57.

Event results