Our annual trip to Lydden Hill, on one of the hottest days so far this year, still provided us with some excellent racing. The good news was that we had enough saloons cars to run separate races for supers and production. It was pleasing to see so many new drivers and returning competitors.
Starting with the super saloons, we did have a couple of late cancellations (most notably Nick Proudlock, who suffered a road accident, and Jon Mann). It was good to see Bill Richards and Peter Thurston returning with their Mini and Holden Commodore respectively. Qualifying saw Rod Birley annex pole position, with a refurbished engine in his Escort after the Mallory Park failure. Joining him on the front was double Mallory winner Dave Cowan in his E46 BMW. The Escort duo of Martin Reynolds and Colin Claxton occupied row two, with Steve Dann and Thurston next up. Stephen Rose had Richards for company on row four, then it should have been Max Merritt (in Phil Bennett’s BMW E90), but an oil pipe failure ended their day. Lee Cleugh in his Audi TT completed the grid.
The rolling start for race one saw Cowan push Birley really hard for a couple of laps, until the turbo car started to edge clear. Reynolds and Claxton settled into third and fourth, unable to match the pace of the leaders. Thurston, Dann and Richards were all in close company battling over fifth. Cleugh pulled off at the start of lap four and he was joined by 034 racing team mate Dann seven laps later. In the mean time we also lost Richards, as the blue Mini trickled into the paddock on lap 9. Birley eased off towards the end with high water temperature, but was just over two seconds in front of Cowan. Reynolds and Claxton duly took third and fourth with Thurston and Rose completing the finishers.
Race two was without Birley, as his car refused to start. This promoted Reynolds to the front row, and he really capitalised on a slow start by Cowan. In fact Claxton also got through into second place. As Cowan tried to find a way past the turbocharged Escort, Reynolds made his escape. When the red BMW did get through, the yellow Escort was nearly five seconds ahead. Reynolds continued to edge clear and the gap was nine seconds at the chequered flag. Claxton had a lonely run in third, whilst Thurston, Dann and Richards renewed their earlier battle. Then the big Holden had a grassy moment exiting Paddock Bend precipitating retirement. Five laps later and the Mini expired in a cloud of smoke, which left the white VW Polo on its own. The drama was not over as Rose had also joined the battling group and was now in fourth spot, which he held to the end (winning class A). Dann’s lap times suddenly increased, as he was clearly nursing the car home (to win class D) along with Lee Cleugh, whose Audi sounded like it was running in two cylinders. It was a good win for Reynolds, who had clearly found some extra pace.
The production saloons had the most number of newcomers. Father and son Peter and Adam Wilks (in their Peugeots), Sarah Dennis in her Renault Megane, joined by fellow lady racer Jessica Whitehead in her Renault Clio, Michael Hartley in a Ford Fiesta, along with Chris Bushell in his Honda Civic and Olly Owen in his Renault Clio. All were made very welcome. Qualifying witnessed a three way battle for the quickest time, which eventually went to Adrian Matthews in his Volvo C30, from Adam Wilks, and Dominic Ryan going really well in his Ford Fiesta. Next up was Chris Bushell who just edged out the similar Honda of Neal Gardener, with Olly Owen only 0.039 of a second further back. Equally close was 7th fastest Sam Haywood in his Renault Megane, who should have had Glen Rossiter alongside in his Honda Civic, but a broken engine sadly concluded his day. Peter Wilks was 9th fastest with Sarah Dennis 10th, then came Michael Hartley, Ian Seale and Jessica Whitehead in a very competitive looking field.
From the start it was game on between Matthews and Adam Wilks, as these two edged clear of Ryan. The lead battle was certainly intense, as barely half a second covered them each time they crossed the start line. Time and again the white Peugeot drew alongside the red Volvo, but somehow Matthews clung onto the lead. Unfortunately it unravelled on lap 14 going into the North bend hairpin. The Peugeot looked to dive up the inside and a missed gear meant he touched the Volvo into a spin. Fortunately Matthews got going quickly, retaining his lead to take a well-deserved win as Wilks junior retired to the paddock. Just two laps earlier Bushell caught and passed Ryan for what became second place. Dominic was still pleased to win class TS in third overall. Gardiner kept Haywood at bay to come fourth, Sam taking T1 honours. A race long battle between Dennis, Wilks senior and Hartley eventually saw the red Peugeot head home the Fiesta and the Megane. Just as intense was the contest between Whitehead and Seale which saw the lady racer in front until lap 12, when the white Fiesta slipped past at the Devil’s Elbow.
Race two saw Olly Owen re-join the grid, having missed race one whilst he dashed home to get a new pulley for his Renault Clio. Sadly Dominic Ryan was a non-starter though. Whilst Matthews made a clean start to head the field away, all eyes were on the charging Wilks junior, who made his way up to third by lap three. It took another five laps to close in on the impressive Bushell, who was driving extremely well for a novice. Likewise Owen made progress up to fifth, but then came across a hard charging Sarah Dennis going much better this time. As the race progressed Matthews maintained his pace to take the win, with Bushell pulling clear of Wilks junior for second place. Dennis just kept Owen at bay to win T1, with Haywood getting the better of Gardiner for sixth. Hartley and Wilks senior renewed their contest with Michael coming out on top and winning class TP. Likewise Whitehead and Seale had another race long contest with Ian emerging in front. Sarah Dennis’s sterling drive earnt her the Mary Grinham trophy, in memory of the popular lady racer and Lydden regular who sadly died last year.
Both races provided plenty of entertainment and it was good to see Matthews and Wilks junior shaking hands after the earlier incident.
On paper the silhouettes/allcomers races looked a bit thin on numbers. However, a clever decision to make two races “tortoise and hare” contests certainly added a lot of interest. Their first race was a normal quickest at the front affair, which nevertheless saw a sprightly battle between Colin Smith and Mick Robertson. Further back Nick Bass (Mazda RX8) had the steel bodied BMW of Dave Cowan for company. In the end the Ginetta of Smith took the chequered flag by 0.226 of a second from Robertson’s Corrado. Cowan drove well to take third from Bass and Paul Cocksedge.
Race two saw Cocksedge and Bass have a ten second start from Cowan, with Robertson and Smith a further ten seconds back. With just ten laps to catch up, it saw Cocksedge make the best start and lead for three laps. Then Bass made his move, as he could see Cowan closing in. The BMW took a while to find a way past the Tigra, by which time Smith and Robertson had caught up. Lap six and Cowan was second, whilst Bass was three seconds in front. Robertson had sneaked past Smith and Cocksedge, although a lap later Colin was in third. Lap nine saw the Ginetta up to second, but ran out of laps to catch the delighted Bass. Cowan did well to hold off Robertson for third, with Cocksedge completing the runners.
Race three saw Cocksedge and Cowan at the front, Bass in the middle and Robertson and Smith again another ten seconds back. Cowan led away for the first two laps, until a rather fast starting Robertson suddenly appeared and swept into the lead. Smith took a further three laps to catch Cowan and then set about catching Mick. However, the senior driver was not going to give up easily and clung onto a diminishing lead to win by just 0.802 of a second. Cowan held off Bass’s advances until the Mazda retired, so Cocksedge took fourth. Dave’s sterling efforts in completing five races on a very hot day clearly meant he won the very special Mary Grinham memorial shield.
Although a few cars succumbed to the heat there was still some very good entertaining racing. It was especially nice to see the majority stay for the prize giving, where the special prize courtesy of Gemma Gardiner from GSpeed Hospitality went to Adam Wilks. A VIP hospitality day at the BSB meeting at Brands Hatch on Saturday July 18th. The club also handed out various discount vouchers to encourage drivers to race with us again. For the silhouettes they are back at Brands Hatch on August 1-2 at the super touring rewind meeting, whilst the supers and productions are also at Brands on August 16th. Both meetings are being live streamed