3rd - 4th November 2012, Brands Hatch Indy

By Brian Phillips

Another joint QMN and Tin Tops entry overflowed the available grid space for this finale. Rod Birley qualified fastest with Lee Allen's Mini second. Title contenders Hargreaves and Thomson lined up third and tenth respectively for the first race. Apart from a surprise intervention from Jez Francis before he retired the Nova with mechanical problems, Birley led all the way in race one for his first win of the year on home ground. Allen couldn't keep up in the dry but keenly anticipated a wet race on Sunday. His wish was granted, but not with the result he hoped for. Thomson moved up to third overall, but only second in class to Allen. Hargreaves fared worse with third in class B, but could have lost his championship chance completely when he visited the Paddock gravel early on after an incident with newcomer Guy Blumer. Ashley somehow extracted the Peugeot and recovered to seventh overall as Blumer and Jordan Batts contested the class lead. Andy Woods-Dean had a fire in the boot of his Megane so that class D was inherited by Vic Hope's ailing Civic. Ian Butler's fourth place was best of the Tin Tops, well ahead of Andy and Curtis Mitchell who each claimed a class. Scott Brooker was a lap down in 12th but won T2 as the only entrant. Pete Osborne represented TP and Richard Johnson won T5 despite damage inflicted in qualifying by Lee Allen in a wild moment.

The promised rain disrupted race two, which was declared over with seven laps officially recorded. Allen was a genuine threat to Birley in the conditions but lost his chance and, as it turned out, gave Thomson the title by skating off at Graham Hill Bend. This promoted Gavin into the class lead and second overall when red flags brought a halt later. Before the final stoppage the safety car intervened to allow a stranded car to be moved. Allen hesitated to avoid passing a backmarker as they approached the green flag restart and Jordan Batts, unsighted in the spray, clipped the Mini and spun it into the pit wall. Lee broke a finger in the impact and his car was badly damaged. Much of the action then switched to race control and the stewards' room while arguments over the correct finishing order were resolved. Allen was classified third on countback with Batts winning class B in fourth and Hargreaves fifth. Woods-Dean reached ninth from 31st on the grid in the limited time available and was rewarded with class D victory. The Mitchells headed the Tin Tops charge in seventh (Andy) and eighth and Butler was again successful in T1. So too were Osborne and Johnson, Richard claiming the historic Sydney Allard Trophy as a result, but Brooker had a shunt and retired. Gavin Thomson was not surprisingly named QMN Driver of the Weekend and Brett Lidsey received the Tin Tops nomination.

Chris Brockhurst and Keith White topped the finishing order in the first Quaife Intermarque race, celebrating a final success for the SR class as the series prepares to become a championship in 2013 with the main focus on HR cars. They headed HR winner Matt Simpson, with Richard Smith fourth in another SR car. Colin Gomm was fifth, earning the Driver of the Weekend prize while beating Mike Thurley and Daniel Smith in a close contest. Eighth, and winner of class A, was the Escort of Malcolm Wise. Malcolm was a reserve for the QMN finale and decided to have an outing with the Intermarques, but it took a spin by Malcolm Harding's exciting Mitsubishipowered Mercedes SLK to promote Wise into the class lead. Mick Robertson didn't even start after breaking a drive shaft on his way to the grid in the Corrado. Lewis Smith was a strong midfield runner but stopped with his Peugeot on fire from a leaking fuel overflow pipe.

Wise stormed to the front of the field in a damp second race from a fourth row start and Harding did even better from 16th on the grid to complete a class A triumph. In fact, a sideways moment for the Escort on Cooper Straight almost allowed Harding to snatch the victory. Matt Simpson wasn't too far behind in third, best of all the silhouettes and pleased with his performance racing for the first time in the wet since switching from the ovals. Brockhurst and White were next. Lewis Smith and Robertson were back in action and finished eighth and 12th respectively, and all 21 starters successfully completed the race despite some ultra-tricky conditions.

Next Race Meeting:

23rd September 2017
Brands Hatch (TinTops and Intermarque)

24th September 2017
Brands Hatch (QMS)

Latest Galleries:

Quaife Modified Saloons with Cannons TinTops,
10th September 2017

Scrapco Avon Intermarque,
3rd September 2017

Quaife Cannons TinTops,
2nd September 2017

Last Race Results

Quaife Modified Saloons:

1. Rod Birley
2. Malcolm Wise
3. Paul Adams
See full results

Quaife / Cannons TinTops:

1. Dan Fisher
2. Rod Birley
3. Bob Hosier
See full results

Scrapco / Avon Intermarque:

1. Lewis Smith
2. Malcolm Blackman
3. Keith White
See full results

2017 Championship Leaders:

Quaife Modified Saloons:

Rod Birley
See full standings

Quaife / Cannons TinTops:

Dan Fisher
See full standings

Scrapco / Avon Intermarque:

Malcolm Blackman See full standings