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.
BARC SEC TinTop Championship,
17th November 2018
BARC SEC Modified Saloon Car and TinTop Championship,
22nd September 2018
Scrapco Avon Intermarque Championship,
22nd September 2018