Race Report |
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| ACE VEHICLE DELIVERIES - HILLSIDE of
HEYWOOD Sports/Saloon Car Championship 2006 Round four, Oulton Park, June 17, 2006 It was another fairly easy ride for Robert Pritchard’s Caterham Vauxhall, with his dominance from qualifying turned into a lights to flag victory. Pritchard secured pole by just under four seconds from fellow Caterham driver Kevin Cryer. “It was a bit warm out there, but the car was fine,” said the poleman. “Everything was Ok for me too, except I did have a bit of a moment at Druids, but changed down and got on with it,” replied Cryer. Having been forced to miss the last round at Cadwell, John Garnett was back with his BMW M3, third quickest. “Two big end bearings had gone, but we are back on the pace now,” he said. Qualifying alongside Garnett was Shane Crumpler, still working hard to develop the potential of his Nissan Sunny Gti. “I think it’s overfueling. It was Ok for most of the session, but when I slowed down a bit the misfire came back again,” he explained. Mark Primett’s Banks Europa headed the third row, “the car was too noisy at scrutineering, but the session went fine,” he said. Chris Maries was alongside debuting his Z Cars Mini in the championship, with its rear mounted Honda Integra engine. “I had huge chunks of rear tyre coming off, they were a bit soft and I murdered them. It’s a learning curve with the car, it’s already feeling different, so we are getting there,” he explained. Paul Sheard was next up in Charlie Newton’s Eurocar V6 Mondeo. “We broke a front hub, but went as quick as we could,” said Paul. The spectacularly driven Mazda RX7 of ex XR racer Paul Dobson completed row four. Dobson normally contests the 750MC Roadsports and was still on his road tyres. After his off last time out at Cadwell, Graham Taylor only got his Westfield back the day before the race. “It went well, but I was preserving the tyres a bit,” he said. Richard Winter’s session was “uneventful.” When I tried hard I sometimes scared myself,” added the Banks Europa boss. Nick Pakes explained, “I had my usual spin, it was Cascades when I was bedding in new brakes on the second lap, otherwise Ok.” Peter Wann had a “no problem” session in his Westfield and Graeme Smith felt a little disappointed when his original time, some three seconds quicker than Pritchard, was understandably corrected and put him back to 13th. “I am keeping the original and putting it on my wall,” said the Caterham Graduate maestro. The grid was completed by Bob Claxton’s Skoda, Phil Hall’s Banks Europa and Brian Allen’s XR2i. “I am still sorting the car after nearly three years out with it. We had problems last time out at Croft,” said Claxton. Hall was to become the only victim of the session when his Europa succumbed to gearbox problems. “There was just no selection when I got to Knickerbrook,” he said.
GRID é
With Hall sidelined 15 cars made it to the grid. Pritchard shot straight into the lead from pole, as the lights went out, with Cryer, Garnett, Maries and Primett in close formation through Old Hall. Dobson’s charge was interrupted by a lurid spin at Fosters, from which his recovery was swift. The top five has started to pull well clear by the end of the second lap, with Maries and Primett struggling to stay in touch too. Crumpler headed the next group with an ever increasing queue starting to form up behind. Primett took fourth from Maries on lap three, and Sheard slipped past Crumpler. While Pritchard gradually increased his lead, Garnett kept second placed Cryer well in his sights. As Winter started to close in on Taylor after a couple of earlier exchanges, both battled their way past Crumpler on the fourth lap. The recovering Dobson was also back in contention having caught and past Pakes for 10th. Garnett was poised to challenge for second place on lap seven, before gradually dropping away again for a safe third and class win. “I wouldn’t have got Kevin, I had the odd chance though,” said Garnett. “I had a lucky break with backmarkers and broke the tow to John. I missed a gear at Knickerbrook early on and gave him his best chance,” explained Cryer. But neither were able to put Pritchard’s win in any serious doubt. “It was difficult because it was very warm, but I cruised all the way. It would have been nice to have had someone to race again,” said the victor. Primett gradually consolidated his fourth place over the closing laps. “I was kept busy trying to keep up with John. I worked hard but spun at Old Hall near the end,” he explained. Maries had held fifth for much of the race, but retired to the pits as Sheard closed in on lap eight. “I destroyed the front tyres in the race with chunks coming off as big as my hands. It felt great before that,” he said. After dropping Winter, Taylor closed to take Sheard for fifth on lap 10 and was the last unlapped runner. Sheard completed the top six from Winter. “My tyres started to go off, so I backed off a bit and seemed to go faster, “explained Winter. Dobson’s recovery was halted in eighth place, with Pakes and Crumpler rounding off the top ten. “I didn’t have anyone to play with most of the time, but didn’t spin,” said Pakes. Smith was a solo runner in 11th, while Claxton finally saw off Wann for 12th after a racelong duel. Allen’s XR2i completed the finishers. Most of the drivers expressed their hopes that the Anglesey double header will tempt out a number of this years absentees, to buck the trend of disappointing grids so far this season. Results 1 Robert Pritchard (Caterham Vauxhall) 19 laps
in 21m06.767s (89.30mph); Fastest lap: Pritchard 1m05.447s (90.98mph).
Next round Anglesey, July 8th Issued by Peter Scherer for BARC (NW) June 21st, 2006. |