The championship arrived at the featureless concrete jungle that is Silverstone with the thought of two races across the weekend, a BBQ and the perils of driving in conditions which could change at any moment. Two new drivers had joined the fray, Jonathan Greenwood and Andrew Bartosiak. The former was in an uncommon Dulon MP15 which looked completely original and was in fact the first of this mark. Jonathan had bought the car 12 months previously and apart from a couple of outings last year he is relatively untried. His reason for racing?  “Do it before I am too old”. Andrew was in Oliver Robinson’s old Royale RP26 which bore the hallmarks of a racing career of some length and after qualifying would bear some more, courtesy of the ex-owner. Andrew had spent some time in the Jim Russell Racing School cars 30 years ago but had found other things to spend his money on, such as food, family and a Lotus Elan. A divorce was the spur to the purchase of the Royale and apart from a couple of test sessions this was his first outing.

All the cars looked a little lonely in the F1 size garages but some would say this is their due as they do provide most of the racing action on the British club racing scene.

Qualifying

Often the more determined drivers line up at the front of the assembly area early to try to get more laps in but it can be interesting to see when they bag their fastest lap. Rory Farrell (Jnr), the championship leader, ended up only .049 of a second ahead of Stuart Kestenbaum. This was a sign that Rory will not have it all his own way this season as he had been testing the day before and Stuart had not taken this option, probably because Silverstone holds no surprises for him. As it turned out Rory’s fastest lap was his 7^th although Stuart’s was only his third. In any event they were first and second and some way ahead of the returning Paul Walton, Oliver Robinson and Joseph Walton who had missed the last race due to the dreaded ‘A’ levels.

Paul’s qualifying seemed calm enough, ending up third, 1.3 secs behind Rory. Oliver had also been doing well until he pulled away from the apex at Becketts and climbed over the back wheel of Andrew Bartosiak (welcome to the championship!) taking them both out. Apparently Oliver had managed this feat because Andrew (and Andy Powell I think) was sideways coming out of Becketts and Oliver wasn’t. 

Andrew managed to borrow a wheel from Michael Valentine, of whom more later, and Oliver, after initially saying the damage would put him out for the season, managed to find some second hand parts (I suspect from the ever reasonable Ken Thorogood) so both were in the race. Oliver in 4^th and Andrew 18^th.

Joe Walton had a spin and a missed gear which is only mentioned because this reporter did not have much to observe so this made the session slightly more interesting and ended up 5^th. He was followed by Andy Powell, out in his ever-faithful RP26, who clearly enjoyed his drive once he had remembered his car’s skittishness under braking and its tendency to turn away from the straight.

7^th and 8^th were the first Class B runners with Dave Lowe beating Andrew Smith to the fastest time by a tiny margin.

Of course all the remainder had stories to tell but rather than talk about the minutiae of their experiences it seemed easier to list them in qualifying order and comment where necessary or interesting.

9^th. Steve Pearce – a leaky rocker cover gasket and the ensuing smoke led to being black flagged. He got out again after the red flag but the rain denied him a chance of improvement.

10^th. Alan Williamson – “OK”

11^th. Matt Taylerson- ditto

12^th. Peter St Barbe – this requires a bit more information. After two laps his brakes were simply not working and an examination in the pits showed that the brake cylinder cap had not been fitted correctly and the fluid had made its escape. The last time this had been touched was by a scrutineer who, it appears, may not have replaced it correctly. Two lessons from this; remove the cap yourself and replace it similarly and check them when anyone else has put their hands anywhere near them.

13^th. Michael Burdon – disappointed he did not attain his testing time of the previous day but the second he had lost matched that of Rory Farrell (although there was a slight difference in the actual time) so it was clear that conditions were slower.

14^th. Matt Johnson – the sight of Matt pushing his car into the pits reminded me of someone. His father suggested Nigel Mansell in an understandable display of fatherly pride and aspiration. Perhaps a moustache will help? Anyway Matt suffered from no third gear and a slowly deflating tyre so his 14^th was not bad.

15^th. Phillip Norris – out in the RP26 but his carburettor was playing up causing some anguish.

16^th. Jeff Palmer – his car had been repaired since the scary moment at Snetterton when the world dropped out of his bottom (I think that is what I mean) but he admitted the experience had given him food for thought.

17^th. Michael Valentine – Ian Millward had beautifully rebuilt the front suspension of the Elden only for the rear to collapse going into Becketts. The rear wishbone failure pitched him into the barriers causing lots of bent metal and an early bath. Still it meant he could lend his wheel/tyre to Andrew.

18^th. Andrew Bartosiak

19^th. Tony Folkes appeared in his Lotus and completed seven laps.

20^th. Jonathan Greenwood managed 6 but was 16 seconds off Rory’s pace. He was hoping to be quicker in the race.

Many of the drivers mentioned the number of yellow flags during the session which prevented consistent flying laps. The dramas at Becketts had led to a red flag and when the session was restarted the rain shower between Maggotts and the Hangar straight prevented faster times but some brave souls stayed out with no apparent ill-effects.

And now I ask you to spare a thought for Michael Saunders. He is already running his championship campaign on fresh air and after one lap his engine made terminal big end noises requiring a rebuild. Someone said about motor racing that you will have more miserable times than happy ones – it is just that the happy ones make it worth it. Michael may need a little persuading.

Race 1 Saturday

The race was in two parts as a substantial accident occurred into the Luffield complex at the end of the first lap.

The start was fairly predictable with most holding their positions. The only notably unusual activity on the grid was Jonathan Greenwood not starting. It seemed the car may not have been in gear and the fire tender was easily able to beat him off the line – it is a Jaguar so it should be quick.

Rory Farrell took the lead with Stuart Kestenbaum looking close enough to keep him interested and the others filed through into Luffield, the start of the ghastliest series of bends in the country until Steve Pearce left his braking quite (very?, impossibly?) late and had an enormous sideways moment. Alan Williamson had no option to lift off which induced a spin, which led to chaos and the red flag. Michael Burdon took to the grass and just about missed everything but three others were not so lucky. Matt Taylerson literally flew over Alan’s wheels taking his car out on the spot and Peter St Barbe then collected Alan’s car causing both some damage. It was the fact that these two cars were virtually immoveable and in a very dangerous spot that led to the sensible decision to stop the race. Matt’s car suffered significant front corner damage, as did Alan’s. Peter’s rare Jamun also looked grim and he had suffered some back pain leading to a trip to the medical centre. He looked OK later but will undoubtedly be sore for a few days. 

The restart saw everyone get away safely and we should get the winning stuff out of the way quickly. Rory won with a fastest lap 1.2 seconds faster than anyone else and was a little lonely after Stuart’s coil gave up and he coasted to a halt after 5 laps.

Paul Walton had a relatively easy ride to second but Oliver and Joe had a great dice swapping places with some feisty manoeuvres. It was finally decided when Joe performed an attractively professional outbraking move at the end of Hangar Straight and then held a comfortable third.

Oliver seemed slightly demoralised which left him to fall into the clutches of a great dice between (surnames only, sorry) Smith, Pearce, Lowe and Powell. Apart from the general excitement there was also the Class B championship to worry about. Smith managed to keep ahead of Lowe (with Pearce in between) with Lowe getting the faster lap time. Smith is looking the man to beat this season and he is regularly overtaking Class A drivers this year (Powell and Pearce in this race just at one of the corners). Robinson actually ended up behind this lot until the last lap when he then seemed to overtake them all! Powell got a little grassy on the penultimate lap and fell to the back of the group but this jockeying for position was a pleasure to watch and made up for the procession at the front.

Michael Burdon and Phil Norris had an entertaining dice with Michael admitting to probably being a little slower than Phil (although the lap times do not show this) but his dastardly late braking allowed him to stay in front. Matt Johnson was just relieved to be in one piece after the first lap crash which was very close to involving him, following a good start.

The remaining four – Palmer, Bartosiak, Folkes (3^rd in Class B) and Greenwood – brought up the rear, all being lapped by the flying Irishman, who has a lucky leprechaun according to an anonymous member of his team, at least once.

One final small anecdote. Have you heard about the driver who overtook five or six cars at the start only to realise it was the green flag lap? You know who you are………….

Sunday’s race will see if Rory can make it four out of four, whether others can put up a challenge and if Alan Williamson can repair his car. And will it be Lowe or Smith in Class B?

Race 2 Sunday

This second race of the weekend saw a much depleted grid. Missing from those who began qualifying the day before were: Michael Saunders (engine), Michael Burdon (family commitments), Peter St Barbe (damage), Matt Taylerson (damage), and Oliver Robinson (N/K). Alan Williamson had repaired his car, Andrew Bartosiak had sorted his camber angles out and borrowed another tyre from Rory and Stuart Kestenbaum had a running engine, courtesy of a new coil.

The grid formed up in the order in which they finished the race yesterday. This led to the potential interest of Stuart coming from the rear and Paul Walton bearing the responsibility of keeping Rory Farrell honest.

The start was clean and Rory was straight to the front. When he arrived at Luffield he was clearly in the lead with Paul following. The gaggle of cars went through the left hander but Matt Johnson, who had got ahead of three cars from the grid, overcooked it and spun in front of Dave Lowe and Andy Powell. This led to them spinning and the whole pack going past them.  Whilst they got going the Class B issue seemed to have been settled in favour of Andy Smith who looked serene in fifth.

Second lap and Rory went through and Paul, in a rare moment of concentration lapse, surprised those who have watched him for years by leaving his braking too late coming into Brooklands and spinning inextricably into the gravel. This led to Rory being unchallenged for the remainder of the race, although he experienced a slightly dodgy moment when discovering the mess on the track left by the Matt Johnson debacle.

But he did not get the fastest lap of the day. This honour went to Stuart Kestenbaum. Does this lead to hope for the future in the sense that someone may challenge his impressive supremacy? Stuart certainly thinks so. He was 3^rd last on the grid thanks to his demise the day before but on lap 2 he was 4^th and on lap 4 he was 2^nd and catching Rory! The gap was about 5 seconds at one point but on the last lap he braked impossibly late at Becketts and spun. He managed to keep ahead of Joe Walton but Joe smoothly took him into Brooklands only to slightly understeer at Luffield to allow the wily Stuart just back in front. So Stuart was 2^nd (from 14^th!) and Joe finished 3^rd for the second time this weekend.

Steve Pearce and Andy Smith had their normal dice, finishing in favour of Steve with Andy winning Class B and gaining fastest lap for his class. After all Andy’s experience over many years his connections are wondering what has created these sudden class winning performances. Suffice it to say that he is now almost as strong a favourite as Rory to win his class.

Behind this group Alan Williamson, another fast starter, was in 6^th but was gradually overhauled by Andy Powell whose dander was definitely up after the first lap incident. So it finished Powell, Williamson and Lowe who did get a 2^nd in Class B but there is a suspicion he was hoping for more. Alan’s car had heated up to such an extent that it began to understeer uncomfortably which probably explains a great start and then just being unable to hold his position. However his efforts to repair his car, which meant only a quick beer and a hamburger the previous night and a late bedtime, showed great fortitude. This was then followed by a good race justifying the Cobra Beer driver of the day award.

Phil Norris had a pretty boring and lonely race for 9^th and probably felt this weekend was not quite the fun he had expected. Jeff Palmer was 10^th and had a similarly solitary time of it. At least his car went home whole this weekend.

Next up was the dice of the race. Andrew Bartosiak and Tony Folkes, neither spring chickens, were showing youthful vigour in their battle for supremacy. It eventually went in favour of Andrew (who also got the novice award – at his first race) but Tony Folkes described the race as “brilliant, brilliant” and was most pleased about taking another 3 seconds off his time.  His second pot of the weekend for 3^rd in Class B was just an added bonus.

Bringing up the rear were Matthew Johnson, who was considering whether his latest spin created a record in the first four races of the season, and Jonathan Greenwood. Matt’s car had gained several kilos of gravel and a sticking throttle but he seemed happy driving on the on/off switch.

This weekend leaves Andrew Smith and Rory Farrell tied for the lead of the championship on 49 points. The next race is at Mallory Park on Sunday, 1^st July. Rory will probably be unable to test unless they change their Wednesday-only testing rule. Stuart, so rumour has it, has been to Mallory before so perhaps they can have a chat beforehand so that Stuart can explain the lines and braking points……………….