Awards Night Report from Lee

For the second year running our awards night was held at the village hotel in Maidstone. Again it was a “sell out” with all three categories well represented comprising of the drivers, partners, team members and friends present.
Following a nice three course meal, we then had a few words from Stuart (Motor Addicts) explaining that the filming and interviews have now been concluded and the programmes will soon appear on You Tube. He then moved on to the actual prize giving, starting with the super saloons for which Gemma Gardiner (from Ashstone MEP) presented the trophies.
The super saloons certainly had an entertaining season, with six different winners: Rod Birley, Paul Watson, Ronan Bradley, Adrian Bradley, Martin Reynolds and Alex Sidwell. There was drama when Rod had a massive crash at the Brands GP circuit meeting, which curtailed the whole event. At Lydden a tin top, driven by Chris Bassett, took an amazing outright win beating all the super saloons. There were plenty of battles throughout the classes, which resulted in some very close finishes.
Due to the edict from Motorsport UK, the club is unable to declare champions as we do not run championships. We run series, which are considerably cheaper, but we can declare trophy “winners”. This is based on how a driver fares in the various races and in each class.
In class C we witnessed a terrific tussle between a trio of BMWs, driven by Dave Avis, Jacques Whitehead and James Hunt. There was not a lot to choose between them, so it came down to consistency. Taking the runner up spot it is the green version of Jacques Whitehead. By finishing every race the class award went to our 1976 Formula One world champion James Hunt……..well at least it was his namesake, who had a really strong season
Moving on to class B, there was a lone Mk.2 Ford Escort taking on a horde of BMWs. This driver proved there was life in the older car by taking 3 outright wins (one at Lydden and two at his home circuit Snetterton). The runner up is therefore Martin Reynolds
Taking an outright win at Castle Combe and Lydden (until his tyres wilted in the second race), plus 4 other class wins. This means the class award goes to Paul Watson.
Class S saw the mighty Holden Commodore of Alex Sidwell take a brace of outright wins at Brands Hatch and Silverstone.
In class A we saw a couple of Audis take on a BMW, well in fact it was 2 BMWs as we know what happened to the black one. There was also an appearance by the Ford Sierra of Paul Restall, taking a class win at the final meeting. The runner up position goes to newcomer Wayne Shorney. We don’t have one outright “winner”……….that’s because we have two. In a season when these two drivers had the same number of wins (ten each) and second places (three each) plus one DNF each, it was therefore impossible to separate them. So the joint award goes to Martyn Scott and Rod Birley
With the help of Knobby Knowles, the co-ordinator for the Ashstone MEP Ltd tin tops, we then moved on to their awards. Starting with class TP and despite a hiccup at Castle Combe, it was a perfect season of class wins for Ian Seale.
Class T2 saw four different winners during the year. In third place, with a strong final couple of rounds, it is Honda driver Matt Rowling. Just pipping Matt with a good start at Combe followed by a consistent mid-season run it is another Honda driven by Neal Gardiner. Although not present, the T2 award went to Peugeot pilot Chris Bassett (collected by James Hunt).
In T1 we had a good variety of cars, with 3 BMWS, a Honda and a Renault Megane. Taking the runner up spot was the ever smiling Rick Skelsey, who is one of the BMW drivers. Winning anything is never easy. Consistency plays a key part. So by finishing every race and winning ten times with four seconds it proved to be just the ticket for Sam Haywood.
We then moved on to the Hoosier Tyres Intermarque Silhouettes and it was great to welcome Looby Postance to dish out the awards. Although the main class was slightly down on competitors in 2024,, it did nevertheless provide some fantastic racing.
The driver who finished third we know would have competed more often if he had the budget. None the less he found better pace this year and was particularly impressive at Mallory Park and Silverstone. So it was a big “well done” to Warren Farazmand. The runner up had a busy year racing in another category, but managed to find time to take five wins and one second it was Ray Harris.
The best results winner laid down a marker when he had a great battle with Malcolm Blackman at the Brands Hatch GP meeting. Taking a win and a second that day cemented his great start at Castle Combe in the first meeting. Consistency at the other events culminated in two class wins at the Silverstone finale, thus concluding a very good season for Russell Humphrey
In the senior class there was a season long battle for supremacy. The class had 13 drivers appear and it produced a variety of podium finishers. In third place, which is a position he took 6 times in the races, it was Keith White. Unfortunately the next driver was not present, but an honorary mention goes to Paul Knight who challenged hard all year
Taking the top spot with five wins, six second places plus a third and a fourth. In fact he only failed to finish one race, which was the very last one at Silverstone it was still his best year to date for Colin Smith
And then we came to the special awards. With the assistance of Martyn Scott first up was the BMR super saloon driver of the year. This driver wrecked his car before the season started, it was a VW Golf. Undeterred he joined the BMW brigade and quickly adapted to rear wheel drive. He took five class wins in class C, but sadly a few DNFs proved costly in the final reckoning. However, the award went to a very deserving Dave Avis.
Next up we saw Paul Restall to present the Caesar Electrical best prepared car award. This went to a driver who is a prolific racer with an interesting stable of cars. The machine he chose to contest the super saloons was always immaculately turned out and quite often punched well above its weight. The award therefore went to Martin Reynolds
For the final two awards we saw Kelly Dann present them. Kelly has done a sterling job all year, especially at the race meetings running around making sure the drivers are in the right place at the right time. The first award went to someone who has been a stalwart with the club for several years. He races a slightly unusual car, it is not the quickest, he didn’t take any class wins but that did not deter him. He competes in the true ethos of our club, enjoying his racing and often finding someone to have a battle with. The hardest tryer award went to the Volvo driver Adrian Matthews.
The last award might have been a bit tongue in cheek and we are sure the recipient will see funny side. This driver never misses a meeting with our club, always has a smile on his face, likes cake. Unfortunately he seems to have a penchant for incidents, which always result in these words from his long serving mechanic “What has he done now”. So the award was for the most visits to see our race clerk (Andy Stevens) and it went to Mick Robertson, collected by team mechanic John Boy.
The club then presented some race entry fee discount vouchers on a lucky dip basis. This proved popular, especially from the budget racers. Fittingly the highest amount went to tin top racer Rick Skelsey.
Finally Kelly Dann received a photo yearbook and other gifts as a “thank you” from the club and drivers.

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