North West Centre Sports / Saloon Championship 2007
Supported by Ace Vehicle Deliveries / Hillside of Heywood

Round three, Oulton Park, May 26th, 2007

LMA Euro Saloon regular Mark Taylor made a victorious Championship debut at Oulton Park, with his ex BTCC Nissan Primera taking a dominant victory.

One of the highlights of the meeting was the number of newcomers that boosted the entry to 21 cars. Qualifying had barely got underway when Paul Sampson went off backwards exiting Old Hall and wrote off his Suzuki C100 on what would have been his first race weekend. But worse was to come when Paul Dobson slid straight off into the tyre wall and Old Hall, bringing out the red flags after only two laps. “I saw the yellow flag and backed off. As I braked it locked up and hit the grass and the tyre wall,” explained Dobson. “I usually bring my sledge hammer, but I didn’t today,” he added as he set about repairing his Mazda RX7.

Taylor’s Nissan Primera secured pole by over seven seconds, with Mark Primett’s rebuilt Banks Europa second. “I had started on slicks so lost out when it was red flagged and started to dry. I have got cheaper dampers on too, so we will see how long they last,” he said.

Team mate Richard Winter headed the second row with his Banks Europa 62GTR.”I am running in again after the oil pump failure last time, but it’s gone well,” he said. Kevin Cryer’s Caterham was alongside, “that was slippery but I still changed to slicks when it was red flagged,” he commented.

Chris Maries had a standard Hyabusa engine in his Z Cars Mini. “It’s now driveable, I went from wets to dry and had a good play with the Nissan. We have lost power with the engine change but gained reliability,” he reckoned.

Nick Pakes was hoping to get further than he did first time out, as his Banks Europa was rebuilt after its startline shunt. “I started on slicks, but it’s the first time I have even sat in the car since the rebuild, and so far I have raced for six seconds since last August,” he said.

Darren Smith TVR Tuscan shared the fourth row with debutant Mike Ellis’ Renault Clio.

Championship leader Graham Taylor was ninth best, but his Westfield fell by the wayside after qualifying. “I broke a driveshaft coupling after the flag and it took a brake line with it. I was very lucky because I was already slowing down,” he explained.

Chris Allanson’s Z Cars Mini was next up. “It’s misfiring at 8000 revs and it’s never done it before,” he said. A further three seconds back debutant Matthew Gillbanks had his Caterham, fractionally ahead of Alan Collinson’s Rover Vitesse. “I was late out after changing to wets. It was very slippery and so I just got the laps in and checked my brakes,” he said. Andrew Wilson’s Sprite was another debutant, while Phil Hall’s Banks Europa was back again and looking for a troublefree day. “The session was littered with problems, the engine cover came undone and the clutch was slipping,” he said.

Brian Allen’s Fiesta came through without a problem, and was followed by Anthony Wilson’s Metro. Graham Wynn’s Z Cars Mini had finally shaken off its misfire, “I am starting to get used to it now, but had armfuls of opposite lock exiting Druids,” he reckoned. Richard Billingham’s Spaceframe Mini, Ralph Underwood’s TR7 V8, Pete Edwards Mini Clubman and Dobson completed the line up. “I had wheel nuts sheared changing to wets, so I only just managed to get my laps in,” said Edwards.

GRID

+M.TAYLOR    MARIES        G.TAYLOR           And WILSON     WYNN           DOBSON

              WINTER           SMITH             GILLBANKS          ALLEN         UNDERWOOD

  PRIMETT          PAKES          ALLANSON             HALL               BILLINGHAM

              CRYER              ELLIS              COLLINSON        Ant WILSON    EDWARDS

Apart from Taylor’s Westfield, the remaining 20 cars all made it to the grid. As the lights went out Taylor’s Nissan was bogged down. “I have never done a standing start in this car before. It’s got a high first gear and when I dumped the clutch it just sat there,” he explained.

Primett led the charge to Old Hall from Winter, Maries, Cryer and Allanson. But after quickly picking off Winter, Maries dived past Primett to lead into Lodge. Taylor recovered to third and was followed across the line by Winter, Cryer, Allanson, Pakes, Ellis, Gillbanks and Dobson at the end of the opening lap.

Once in touch Taylor picked off Primett and then had the lead from Maries into Knickerbrook. All three were nose to tail still as they headed into Old Hall. Winter and Cryer made it a five car break, but with Dobson carving through the field, it was only a matter of time before he bridged the gap.

As Taylor started to extend his lead Maries and Primett shared a couple of exchanges as they ran wheel to wheel for second. On lap five Maries started to lose ground and was past by Cryer, who had just about shaken off Winter’s presence.

Winter was next in line to challenge Maries, but he was also being caught by Dobson. Smith was relatively lonely in seventh, while Edwards had Allanson threatening, Pakes and Ellis were as one and Gillbanks was chasing Collinson.

The lead pair continued to consolidate their places and held station to the flag. “I had a bit of a drama with Chris again, but so long as I could see Kevin and Richard in my mirrors I thought I might still get a race,” said Primett.

After being fairly clear in third, Cryer lost out to Dobson at Lodge with three laps to go. “I had already got Kevin at Lodge the lap before, but outbraked myself again at Knickerbrook and had to do it all over again,” Dobson explained.  “I had a good early dice with Richard, but Paul caught me by surprise,” Cryer replied. After Maries had pulled off Winter was left clear in fifth, “the gear change cable melted and I got stuck in second. I enjoyed the start but then they all ganged up on me,” said Maries. “When I stepped on it it got too hot and I had to keep backing off to finish. The oil pressure was over the line,” explained Winter.

Smith completed the top six, after Edwards challenge evaporated. “I had terrible vibration and eventually the driveshaft broke,” said Edwards.

Allanson also had a duel with Edwards before securing seventh, “no power as I still had the misfire. It only cleared very briefly,” said Allanson. Ellis was left solo in eighth when Pakes retired. “The fuel pump intermittently cut out. I parked up twice and manage to get restarted,” said Pakes. Gillbanks finally got the better of Collinson on lap 10, leaving Underwood, Wynn, Billingham and Allen to complete the finishers.

Winter, Taylor, Allanson, Dobson and Primett took the class wins, with no finishers in class F after Hall’s Europa’s clutch gave out after two laps.

RESULT

1 Mark Taylor (Nissan Primera) 13 laps in 20m23.798s (86.42mph);
2 Mark Primett (Banks Europa) 20m37.906s;
3 Paul Dobson (Mazda RX7);
4 Kevin Cryer (Caterham Seven);
5 Richard Winter (Banks Europa 62GTR);
6 Darren Smith (TVR Tuscan);
7 Chris Allanson (Mini V Tec);
8 Mike Ellis (Renault Clio);
9 Matthew Gilbanks (Caterham);
10 Alan Collinson (Rover Vitesse);
11 Ralph Underwood (Triumph TR7 V8);
12 Anthony Wilson (Austin Metro);
13 Graham Wynn (Z Cars Mini Monte Carlo);
14 Richard Bellingham (Spaceframe Mini);
15 Brian Allen (Ford Fiesta XR2i).

Class A: 1 Winter; 2 Smith; no other starters.
Class B: 1 Taylor; 2 Cryer; 3 Ellis; 4 Wynn; 5 Bellingham.
Class C: 1 Allanson; 2 Gillbanks; no other finishers.
Class D: 1 Dobson; 2 Collinson; 3 Underwood; no other starters.
Class E: 1 Primett; 2 Wilson; 3 Allen; no other finishers.
Class F: no finishers.  Fastest lap: Taylor 1m31.427s (88.98mph).