Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Oval and Out - May 2007
The new racing season has got underway in terrific style and for me one of the best things was a weekend's work at a local circuit, Brands Hatch. The first round of this year's British Touring Car Championship was held in glorious weather - a stark contrast to the pouring rain the drivers had encountered on the Friday test day. The TOCA championships require a fair commitment from the drivers as I think they normally have to pitch up on a Thursday. This was certainly a problem a few seasons back when the Pickups were on the same bill as most of the drivers have business to run, work to do or children to get to school. Nonetheless it was a very impressive paddock at Brands which included more than a few ex short oval drivers.
Stepping away from the Touring Cars this season is Rob Collard who, as I mentioned last month, is racing in the Porsche Carerra Cup Great Britain. Rob's performance on race day was not wonderful but he should certainly take heart from the fact that he was quickest in the wet test session on the Friday. I always maintain that the wet is a great leveller and it was good to see car 21 at the top of the sheets.
Another car 21 with short oval roots was racing in the Renualt Clio cup. Ex Hot Rodder Sean Brown has bought two Clios for his sons to race but his younger son, Daniel, won't be of age until mid season and so Sean planned to race for the first few meetings alongside his elder son, Robert. Helping out in their awning was another ex Rodder, Colin Voyce (ex 21). Sean had not raced for the best part of ten years and yet still made it through the qualifying race into the televised event on Sunday. Robert did not finish his qualifier and had to content himself with watching dad take 20th place on Sunday - a good effort as there are forty or so Clios this season and he beat a former champion and several race winners from other classes. I caught up with Sean at the second round and he'd decided to step down from the 21 car and installed Daniel's race instructor, ex Touring Car racer Stefan Hodgetts, for the second round. The team had done well at the Rockingham test session earlier on in the year with Sean at the wheel but Stefan went a step further by winning the round!
Staying with the Clios, ex Stock Rodder Steve Collison had a difficult debut at Brands and lost out in the qualifying race after a pit stop. Rockingham was a different story however as he not only made it through the qualifying race but finished 28th.
Norwich based former Ministocker James Williams did well at the Rock too taking 11th place. Andrew Jordan (son of ex Eurocar, Stock Rod and Pickup ace Mike) took pole for his heat and was second in the main race at Brands but retired at Rockingham. Former Legends man Derek Pierce has taken two top 20 finishes so far and is looking forward to the next round at Thruxton. Derek has not raced at Thruxton before but could not really justify the cost and hassle of bringing down the race car from West Kilbride to Hampshire for the official Renault test at the circuit. Instead he flew down on a cheapo flight and used a hire car for a track day to learn the circuit!
The Seat Cupra cup includes Liam McMillan, the son of former Eurocar star Paul. Liam is coached by World Touring Car driver Robb Huff and is making great progress after winning the 750 motor club SAXMAXX title last year. The 'R' Class in the Seats includes ex Banger driver Tim Bevan who was going well at Rockingham before a driveshaft failure. My own (usually appalling) maths tells me that former Eurocar racer Mike Doble is leading the ‘R’ class after two rounds.
If you're unable to travel to the TOCA rounds this year then you can watch them live on Setanta Sports via your satellite dish. It's an extra subscription but I know many Short Circuit readers will already be subscribers to this growing channel thanks to their NASCAR coverage. I’m not sure that people understand the role of a TV commentator. A couple of people in the Rockingham TOCA paddock asked for requests… Could I “say hello to my wife Sue and our two children” during the race? Obviously they were confusing motor racing coverage with ‘Steve Wright’s Sunday Love Songs’ or something similar.
The Mighty Mini championship got underway at Mallory Park over Easter and there was a very good long circuit debut for Jo Polley who qualified in fourth place (out of 27!). Looking at Jo's times in the qualifying session she was getting quicker and quicker throughout which augers well for the remainder of the season. In the race Jo had a bad start and got stuck on the outside of the first bend losing several places but fought back for 8th overall, and 2nd in the novice class. Well done Jo.
The Legends Cars championship got underway at Mallory Park in April and I con honestly say I’ve never seen a championship season kick off as competitively without major damage. The big surprise at the meeting was Peter Morton’s ‘return’ to the sport. The ex F1 Stox man had intended to retire from the sport after winning the World title last season. None of the other competitors know he was planning to be there at Mallory and he pulled off a terrific surprise by wheeling the car out of a plain trailer just minutes before practice. Several of the drivers apparently did a double take on circuit when they saw the 32 car out there. The whole thing worked out well for Peter as he not only won the first heat but also took the overall win on the day. It was nice to see some of the ex oval boys beating the karters as Stephen Treherne took second place overall. Another ex BriSCA man, Iain Holden, won the driver of the day award.
Stepping away from the Touring Cars this season is Rob Collard who, as I mentioned last month, is racing in the Porsche Carerra Cup Great Britain. Rob's performance on race day was not wonderful but he should certainly take heart from the fact that he was quickest in the wet test session on the Friday. I always maintain that the wet is a great leveller and it was good to see car 21 at the top of the sheets.
Another car 21 with short oval roots was racing in the Renualt Clio cup. Ex Hot Rodder Sean Brown has bought two Clios for his sons to race but his younger son, Daniel, won't be of age until mid season and so Sean planned to race for the first few meetings alongside his elder son, Robert. Helping out in their awning was another ex Rodder, Colin Voyce (ex 21). Sean had not raced for the best part of ten years and yet still made it through the qualifying race into the televised event on Sunday. Robert did not finish his qualifier and had to content himself with watching dad take 20th place on Sunday - a good effort as there are forty or so Clios this season and he beat a former champion and several race winners from other classes. I caught up with Sean at the second round and he'd decided to step down from the 21 car and installed Daniel's race instructor, ex Touring Car racer Stefan Hodgetts, for the second round. The team had done well at the Rockingham test session earlier on in the year with Sean at the wheel but Stefan went a step further by winning the round!
Staying with the Clios, ex Stock Rodder Steve Collison had a difficult debut at Brands and lost out in the qualifying race after a pit stop. Rockingham was a different story however as he not only made it through the qualifying race but finished 28th.
Norwich based former Ministocker James Williams did well at the Rock too taking 11th place. Andrew Jordan (son of ex Eurocar, Stock Rod and Pickup ace Mike) took pole for his heat and was second in the main race at Brands but retired at Rockingham. Former Legends man Derek Pierce has taken two top 20 finishes so far and is looking forward to the next round at Thruxton. Derek has not raced at Thruxton before but could not really justify the cost and hassle of bringing down the race car from West Kilbride to Hampshire for the official Renault test at the circuit. Instead he flew down on a cheapo flight and used a hire car for a track day to learn the circuit!
The Seat Cupra cup includes Liam McMillan, the son of former Eurocar star Paul. Liam is coached by World Touring Car driver Robb Huff and is making great progress after winning the 750 motor club SAXMAXX title last year. The 'R' Class in the Seats includes ex Banger driver Tim Bevan who was going well at Rockingham before a driveshaft failure. My own (usually appalling) maths tells me that former Eurocar racer Mike Doble is leading the ‘R’ class after two rounds.
If you're unable to travel to the TOCA rounds this year then you can watch them live on Setanta Sports via your satellite dish. It's an extra subscription but I know many Short Circuit readers will already be subscribers to this growing channel thanks to their NASCAR coverage. I’m not sure that people understand the role of a TV commentator. A couple of people in the Rockingham TOCA paddock asked for requests… Could I “say hello to my wife Sue and our two children” during the race? Obviously they were confusing motor racing coverage with ‘Steve Wright’s Sunday Love Songs’ or something similar.
The Mighty Mini championship got underway at Mallory Park over Easter and there was a very good long circuit debut for Jo Polley who qualified in fourth place (out of 27!). Looking at Jo's times in the qualifying session she was getting quicker and quicker throughout which augers well for the remainder of the season. In the race Jo had a bad start and got stuck on the outside of the first bend losing several places but fought back for 8th overall, and 2nd in the novice class. Well done Jo.
The Legends Cars championship got underway at Mallory Park in April and I con honestly say I’ve never seen a championship season kick off as competitively without major damage. The big surprise at the meeting was Peter Morton’s ‘return’ to the sport. The ex F1 Stox man had intended to retire from the sport after winning the World title last season. None of the other competitors know he was planning to be there at Mallory and he pulled off a terrific surprise by wheeling the car out of a plain trailer just minutes before practice. Several of the drivers apparently did a double take on circuit when they saw the 32 car out there. The whole thing worked out well for Peter as he not only won the first heat but also took the overall win on the day. It was nice to see some of the ex oval boys beating the karters as Stephen Treherne took second place overall. Another ex BriSCA man, Iain Holden, won the driver of the day award.
# posted by RJ Neil @ 3:21 AM 
