Needless to say that the Triumph Supersprint was well supported by our members!
We comprised 27 entrants, or 30% of the field. So it goes without saying that the Club Championship is ours if simply by weight of numbers.
This is both a good and bad thing. We don’t want to discourage the other clubs, as Lotus is the only club at present to have a marque car capable of track duties. Jaguar may come to the party but I’ll not be holding my breath and the future for the other associated Clubs could be questioned.
One certainty is that those participating at our events are having a great time enjoying each other’s company and the competition. Long may this continue!
The CSCA Driver Training Day didn’t receive the support from the Association Clubs we had hoped for, so we opened it up to other clubs in an effort to cover the costs. Unfortunately we weren’t able to reach the break even point and the Association will pick up the Triumph Club’s shortfall after running this event. Those that attended enjoyed the day and hopefully will be better drivers for the experience.
The conditions for both days were perfect. It was a bit hot on Saturday, but hot is better than wet and the heat didn’t have any effect on everyone’s enjoyment of the day.
A couple of young prospects were uncovered and entered the Supersprint on Sunday. As usual at Wakefield it was possible to start scrutineering on the Saturday afternoon and this helped get us off to a flying start on Sunday morning. We were able to start the drivers’ briefing on time and competition commenced directly after. It is usual for the majority of CLA entrants to occupy the top half of the outright times, and the competition was fierce and most enjoyable to watch.
Results: Maurice Blackwood was the first to assault the pointscore with the return of the Seven in Class A2, posting a very respectable 1:14.2452sec. for first in class.
Len Goodwin continues his blitz in Class C2 in the 26R Replica Élan with a 1:09.10sec. 6 seconds and change to the rest of the demoralized field.
Class D2 saw intense competition on the time sheets in an all Elise / Exige class. Rex Hodder had an excursion into the outfield, meaning he wasn’t trying hard (as if). He posted a 1:09.13sec. for 1st in class followed by Wayne Bower from MG Newcastle in his Elise on 1.09.77sec. Leigh Mellor followed in his Elise 2nd on 1:10.90sec., then Andrew Challenor in his Exige 4th on 11.12sec. 5th in class was James Kinghorn on 1:12.10sec. David Baigent from Sprite came home 6th having parked the Sprite for 2104 for some attention. Dennis Brady posted a 1:13.15sec. for 7th with Phil Easterbrook close behind on 1:15.79sec. Graham Hobbs rounded out the class posting a 1:17.96sec.
Class D4 saw Mark Alexander again taking a class win with a 1:06.48sec. in his Exige and an almost perfect season. He was followed as has become the norm by Duncan Andrews 2nd in class in his Exige on 1:07.04sec. the half a second in performance between these two doesn’t reflect the good humored competition between them.
Class D5 was the play ground of the V6 Exige S and we had two. Martin Duursma took the class win on the last run of the day with 1:08738sec. with Barry Mather in his new steed posting a 1.07.42sec. 3 hundredths equated to about a foot so the competition was close and very entertaining.
Class R1 was the playground of the HPE Lotus and Clubmans; Craig Drury made the effort for an event at Wakefield for the class win with a 1:06.19sec. Dave Mackie had to be content with a 1:06.66sec. time. Our outrageous pensioner Syd Reinhardt in his HPE Elise had to be satisfied (as if) with 3rd in class with a 1:07.03sec. Peter Klumper in the PRB was 4th in class on 1:09.37sec. Ross Klumper in the same car posted a 1:12.35sec. for 7th in class with Terry Waugh in the Westfield 8th on a 1:13.01sec. His son Darren was sharing the car and respectfully followed Terry on the Time Sheets with a 1:13.89sec. Terry reckons it’s harder to watch your kids compete than doing it yourself! Brian Sutton rounded out the class in the Caterham with a 1:17.89sec. Brian happy with the progress of the cars development.
James Blair took Class R2 in the Van Dieman F/Ford posting a 1:06.20sec. although the car wasn’t without braking issues till the last run of the day.
Class R3 saw Rob Bryden trying slicks on the Carbon Exige taking 4th in class with a 1:06.95sec.
Class 3AM had Team Taylor taking the major placings with John heading Peter by 0.6sec. John’s 1:11.02sec. to Peter’s 1:11.70sec. The battle of the Peugeot 205s wasn’t without another forgotten runner in Adrian Wuillemin 4th in class with a 1:13.09sec. It was good to have him back!
Class 3BM saw Adrian Weir in his Clio posting a 1:09.20sec. for 2nd in class.
Overall the day was a credit to TSOA who were hard pushed for staff as the day clashed with their National meeting. They managed it with no issues and most runners were able to have 6 runs with no incidents and no breakdowns.
Round 7 will be hosted by the Sprite Club on December 14th at SMSP South and will be the last hurrah for 2015. Entry and Supp-Regulations are on the CAMS Motor Event Website.
While we have wrapped up the Club Championship the Drivers’ Championship is less clear, with Mark Alexander a narrow leader with Syd Reinhardt and Rex Hodder 4 points behind it is still wide open and will be a case of who blinks first! It should be a fun day and hopefully will be smiled upon by the weather gods.
See you at the track,
Mike Basquil
Images thanks to Mark Alexander
