Saturday morning’s free practice session claimed its first victim early on, Phil Bennett completing just a handful of laps in Nigel Mustill’s out-of-the-box Aquila CR1, before the silencer melted, causing a fire which damaged to aluminium tub and cooked the wiring looms. Not making the meeting at all, sadly, was the Master Motorsport Ultima, team boss Jimmy Brady explaining that  a fuelling issue had caused the them to withdraw on Friday evening.

Reigning GT champions MJC were suffering, as many were, on the bumps during 30-minute qualifying session, and the best Keith Robinson could manage, in a car that had trouble with the track’s two left-handers, was 1.08.020, which placed the red and white Ferrari third on the grid. The front row was a Class 2 lock-out, with both Aaron Scott, in the JMH Ferrari 430, and Neil Huggins’ Topcats Marcos dipping into the 1:07s. Joining MJC on the second row was the similar, Class 2 Invitation machine of Nima Khandan-Nia and Duncan Cameron, though MTECH boss Mike Edmonds had shared qualifying duties with Nima, due to Cameron’s logistic issues.

Row three was headed by the Chris Headlam/Jamie Stanley Lotus Elise, enjoying the benefit of  beefed-up suspension to contend with endurance conditions, and they were joined by the rapid BMW M3 of Keith Gent and Steve Clark, taking the Production pole. The Azteca Porsche 996 was next up, then the Intersport BMW E92, Kevin Clarke stating that the longer, heavier machine was still under development. The fifth row comprised the Class 3 Topcats Marcos, with Jon Harrison breaking his Sinatra-like retirement to join Owen O’Neill, and single-seater veteran Gino Ussi , another faux-retiree, in the Geoff Steel BMW M3.

Tim Hood qualified only 12th, the yellow TVR Sagaris suffering from burnt plug leads. Tim was joined for this race by “Lord” Darren Dowling – more on that story some other time – and they shared the sixth row with The In2Racing Ginetta G50 of Mick Mercer and Gary Smith. Struggling with gearbox problems were the Cunninghams in their Seat , placed 14th, but pleased as punch  with their new BMW were Robert Day and Paul Phipps. The ex-Kevin Clarke M3 – the silver one with the carbon fibre bodykit, grilles, fins and chimneys – was resplendent in a Union Flag livery designed  by Day’s 10 year old son on the Playstation, though Phipps had nicknamed the machine “Skippy” due to its skittishness over Combe’s bumps. Lone driver Gary Furst headed row eight in his VLN-spec Mitsubishi, next to local hero Dave Allan, giving the Synchro Honda Civic its first outing this season.

The purple Glynn/Head TVR Sagaris had a fraught qualifying session, managing just a handful of laps before succumbing to diff failure, and they would start back on the ninth row, alongside the Thomas/Woodman Renault Clio, the little black car enjoying its racing swansong; with no more development possible, the BPM boys are trading-up to a Seat Supercopa from the next round. Twentieth was the Brunswick BMW 130i of Martin Parsons and Dominic Malone, the younger man anxious to rip the “X” sticker off the back of the car once the race was over, and lining-up as the final timed qualifiers were Andre Severs and Peter James, in the ex-Barwell BTCC Honda Accord, proudly advertising author James’ latest crime thriller “Dead Like You”, which is currently topping the best sellers. Right at the back was the Bullrun Seat, which suffered a session-stopping suspension failure, and starting from the pit lane was the Ford Escort Turbo of Dave and Michael Cox, it’s new gearbox failing in the early free practice session, leaving the team a free Saturday in which to read every single tabloid and lads mag available, whilst the car’s original repaired unit was shipped down from the Midlands.

With the popular grid walkabout cleared in rapid order, there was the luxury of a little downtime on the grid, though perhaps too long for the drivers to stew in their cockpits, and too long for the temperamental machines. At the one minute board, the  pole-sitting JMH  Ferrari refused to fire up, and the start was delayed whilst it was pushed up the track, and back into the pit lane, where the team set about solving the electrical glitch. In the ensuing delay, both TVRs cut-out too, causing the teams to run onto the grid to re-start the cars.

The pack had almost completed their pace lap when Scott roared out of the pit lane, and Huggins assumed the lead from the front row, with Gamski’s Ferrari behind. Spinning on the first lap was Peter James’ Accord, and, after the first lap, Huggins was a second in front of Gamski, with Khandan-Nia’s MTECH Ferrari third, whilst a fast-starting Javier Morcillo, and Steve Clark, had demoted Headlam’s Lotus two places back. Aaron Scott came through 18th, still the best part of a lap adrift, and not yet on full pace.

Gino Ussi was an early pit visitor in the BMW M3, and, after a couple of further exploratory laps, sadly posted the first retirement, but the previously recalcitrant TVRs were moving up the order – Glynn making progress despite an untried diff/gearbox ratio combination, and Hood positively carving his way through.   Dave Allan was also pitbound in the Synchro Civic, the first of several stops that would blight his race.    

There was a nice little battle shaping-up behind Gamski, for third place. Khandan-Nia, Morcillo, and Steve Clark were running nose to tail, with Hood rapidly catching the back of this train. The yellow Sagaris, having its best run yet,  picked them off systematically, and, by lap 10, had pulled clear of the bunch, mounting a challenge to Gamski for second place. Huggins’ Marcos, nearly four seconds in front of this, was now lapping the mid-fielders, and Scott, steady  but not sensational, had hauled the Ferrari up to ninth,  but a half-minute shy of the lead car.

Dominic Malone’s BMW 1-series had attracted the attention of the officials, and was hauled in for the Brunswick team to fix a flapping exhaust; “It came clean out of the rubbers on the mounting bracket – it’s down to these bumps” rued Malone later .

Hood’s dogged harrying of Gamski’s Ferrari – the gap fluctuated around the one-second mark – dropped-off after five laps, and the Sagaris fell back to a seven-second deficit, though maintaining a three second gap to the MTECH Ferrari behind. “The temperature went right up when I was running close to the Ferrari, so I backed-off to let it cool down – trouble was, I was then too far  back to catch him up again” revealed Hood after his stint.

With the top four – Huggins, Gamski, Hood, Khandan-Nia – spread out nicely, attention was now focused on the fight for fifth. The Morcillo / Clark tussle now had Headlam causing bedlam  in its midst, the little Lotus parrying between the BMW and the Porsche. A little further back, Mark Cunningham and Mick Mercer were closely disputing the final Production podium position, but the Seat’s gearbox woes meant that the Ginetta would gradually pull away.

The luckless Bullrun team suffered more wheel-related issues, David Green bringing the Seat in on lap 18 with a sheared front upright. The team repaired the car, and managed to rejoin later in the race to be classified.

Steve Clark had hauled the Masterlay-sponsored BMW clear of the intense battle for fifth, leaving Kevin Clarke to intervene from the rear, the black E92 threatening Morcillo and Headlam’s dispute. 
 
Before he could though, Aaron Scott came along, struggling a little with handling, but nevertheless picking his way through, so much that Clarke and Morcillo were despatched systematically, though the little Lotus was at the early stages of becoming JMH’s nemesis, holding-out for five laps until Scott finally found a way through.

Just over half an hour run, and Peter James pitted the Accord for Andre Severs to take over, and Tim Hood brought the Sagaris in, handing over to Darren Dowling. Just a little premature, it turned out, for Javier Morcillo slewed out of Camp Corner with what looked like a puncture, and parked on the infield by the start line, bringing out the Safety Car.

With more than half the race left to run, this was maybe a little too early for most teams’ strategies, but nevertheless, most made the compromise. The trick now would be to get out of pits before the Safety Car train came round again, and for those that had fuelled enough to last the race, this wouldn’t be a problem, as proved by MJC and Topcats, Robinson in the Ferrari coming out ahead of Fiorentino’s Marcos, and both well before the crocodile reappeared round Camp.  It was a different matter for MTECH, however, and surprisingly, the little Lotus - “We’ve only got an 80-litre tank, there’s no room for anything bigger” revealed Jamie Stanley  - and both Stanley, and Duncan Cameron in the Ferrari, lost a lap in the process. Staying out on track, however, was Aaron Scott, another who would need a splash of fuel before the end, and sticking to the strategy , keeping the faster driver in longer. Now in the lead, the JMH Ferrari was being harried by Stanley’s Lotus, the marque expert anxious to get back on the same lap. Strangely, once the Safety Car came in, the Ferrari had no answer, and Stanley, fired up and touched by magic, reclaimed his lap. Also now on the move was Robinson, taking over the lead on lap 39, and then taking back Stanley’s lap again.

The Azteca Porsche had been recovered to the pits, where wheel and suspension damage were being fixed; “It could have been contact – we were all running close together, and though I didn’t feel anything, there are some marks on the bodywork. We’re going to fix it and try to do enough distance to claim some points” Javier Morcillo told pitlane commentator Ian Sowman. Manuel Cintrano did rejoin later, but they were too far back to be classified.

Not going the distance, though, was Keith Gent – having just taken over the BMW from Steve Clark, he was back into the pits, an oil leak spraying onto the tyres making the car undriveable.  Jon Harrison was called in for a stop-go penalty, having transgressed the safety car rules in the #36 Topcats Marcos.

Scott pitted the JMH Ferrari with half an hour to go, handing over to former rally driver Arwyn Williams, by which time Robinson was in his stride, unstoppable, and punching in laps in the 1:07s. Fiorentino and Cameron were seemingly comfortable in second and third, with Stanley a lonely fourth.  Gary Smith had now sadly retired the In2Racing Ginetta, pulling off the circuit with a lack of power, thought to be fuelling-related.

Also pulling off was Gary Furst, after an impressive run in the Mitsubishi, parking-up by the crops on the inside of Camp Corner, another perceived fuel-related retirement.

The little Renault Clio of Thomas and Woodman was ironically having it’s best run yet, but Ashley Woodman had to yield the Production Class 2 lead to Michael Cox’s Escort Turbo as the clock ran down, and there was further drama in the dying minutes, when Fiorentino scrambled into the pit lane with the front left wheel askew on the Marcos. An earlier lapping incident had seen the Marcos come together with Sam Head’s Sagaris – the TVR spun, and the Topcats machine sustained handling problems which resulted in the failure.

Paul Phipps celebrated his first race finish in the newly-acquired BMW with a lurid spin coming out of Camp on the last lap, and Robinson took the flag after 74 laps of racing, four wins out of four races for the now-dominant MJC team, although Witt Gamski revealed that the early stages had been troublesome, with confusing dashboard warning lights, and errant pit speed limiters coming on.

Duncan Cameron brought the Invitation-entry  MTECH Ferrari 430 home second,  returning to his old, successful stamping ground with fellow circuit expert Nima Khandan-Nia, whilst Jamie Stanley and Chris Headlam completed the overall podium in the Orbital Sound Lotus Elise, sealing the Class 3 win.

Arwyn Williams brought the JMH Ferrari home fourth, bagging the top points in Class 2, whilst Wayne Gibson claimed the Production win in the BMW E92 started by Kevin Clarke, the first win for the V8-powered machine.”We’ve got a car we can work with now – we didn’t before” said a delighted Clarke.  

So, the podiums – GT1 was MJC’s territory, with Darren Dowling bringing Tim Hood’s overheating Sagaris in 11th overall, and GT2 was MTECH, JMH, then the Huggins/ Fiorentino Marcos, despite it’s late drama. GT3 had the Headlam/Stanley Lotus on top, then the O’Neill/Harrison Marcos, completed by the Robert Day/Paul Phipps BMW M3, the pair reclaiming their old form of several years ago, and very happy to make the podium on the car’s debut. Production 1 was Clarke/Gibson, Gary Furst, who had done enough to be classified second in class, and the Cunningham’s Seat, which had been springing in and out of gear for the entire race, but the true heroes were in Production 2; Dave and MichaeL Cox had hauled the Escort Turbo, despite the newly repaired gearbox barely living up to its intended function, from the pit-lane start to the Class win, finishing a lap ahead of the Thomas/Woodman Clio, the best performance from the machine in its final outing. Veteran Martin Parsons partnered relative novice Dominic Malone to the final podium place, a welcome return to the prize-giving for the Brunswick team.

Not grabbing a trophy, but glad to make the finish, were Steve Glynn and Sam Head, in the TVR Sagaris, as Glynn relates: “The re-start, after it stalled on the grid, shorted the wiring, so we had no PI, and no gear shift indicator. I had brake knock off, Sam clashed with a Marcos and spun, and the water pump is cooked. We lost eight laps in the pits, but we finished, and so did Tim’s TVR”.

A disaster in the eyes of many, but a relative triumph for the spirited TVR contingent.