One could be forgiven for thinking that this was the Festival meeting as the 23 cars lined up for qualifying in a steady drizzle. The session was only three laps old when the red flags flew. Giovanni and Guy were both sidelined without too much car damage. As the session resumed, Simon Davey appeared in complete control of the conditions and steadily pulled away from his pursuers. As the rest got themselves organised the times began to fall and two names sprang to the fore. Peter Denham was doing a great job in his Merlyn to take Class A pole and 4th overall, while Anthony Wills steadily worked his way up the chart finally putting in a lap of 59.8 secs to go second to Simon and the only other runner to get round in under a minute. Andy Powell, back after an overnight engine change, secured third but went off in his efforts to better Anthony, while Alan Williamson surprised himself with fifth fastest. Sixth for Steve Collyer was encouraging since he had a persistant misfire all through the session. Next up was Richard Shelton, first time out in his 'new' Crossle, just pipping Steve Pearce who was having his last drive in the trusty PRS and Paul Walton debuting in class B with another Crossle. 6th to 12th were covered by a mere one second and it was a little unusual to see Dave Lowe holding down that twelfth place, especially as he couldn't identify any particular problems with the Lotus. Dave Penlington only managed 5 laps and remarked afterwards that it was quite tricky to drive fast with the pedal box full of gravel. New boys James Gowens and Oliver Robinson, his first race, did well to qualfy 11th and 17th. Victims of practice were Jon Nash, sidelined by a broken crown wheel and pinion and Mitch Wenger who had an oil pump failure during Friday testing.

By mid afternoon the track was dry and it looked as if any further rain would be later in the day. With the Battle of Britain Lancaster flying low over the circuit, the grid assembled and the race was underway. Anthony Wills made a sensational start, slotting in front of Simon on the way into Paddock with Andy Powell and the rest sorting themselves out behind. It didn't take long for Simon to assert himself and he was through coming out of Druids. Further back there was trouble brewing, Alan Williamson got up on the kerbs at the Esses and headed straight for the wall and Guy Snook spun down Paddock Hill causing a red flag and restart. Could Anthony do it again? Yes he could, staying ahead for a bit longer this time. Simon soon had his Van Diemen in front and Anthony was left to fend off Andy Powell. More trouble on the first lap saw Roger Newman and Richard Shelton clash (possibly with some help from behind), dropping Richard way down the field with slightly more rear toe in than is recommended and putting Roger out on the spot with broken suspension. On lap three, Peter Denham's early charge came to an end with engine failure. Behind the first three, Steve Collyer was now in charge of a group that seemed to contain most of the field. He gradually pulled Steve Pearce and Paul Walton clear of a seven car battle that consisted of David Penlington, Colin Williams, Dave Lowe, Neil Marshall, James Gowens, Martin Camp, Keith Ward, and who were all in with a chance to capitalise on any mistakes. Dave Lowe must have been wondering what was going on, having to race so hard for what turned out to be seventh place. Up front Simon wasn't really getting away but seemed safe from Andy who had by now put Anthony down to third, by no means conclusively though.

By half distance, there seemed no let up in the huge dice for seventh until James Gowens rammed the back of David Penlington's Royale hard enough to cause a puncture on David's car and a burst radiator on the Crossle, both retiring and splitting the pack slightly, allowing Pearce, now in front of Collyer and Walton a little breathing space. As the race drew to its conclusion a renewed sense of urgency saw Anthony Wills climbing all over Andy Powell in an effort to get back into second place, while Paul Walton, getting more and more confident with the handling of his Crossle, was poised to relieve Steve Pearce of fourth, given the slightest opportunity. When Andy ran a little too high and wide into Paddock on lap 9, Anthony seized his chance and was through. While Anthony set off after Simon, reducing his lead to 3.5 seconds at the end, Andy seemed to fall back and was soon under threat from the next three, now led by Paul who had muscled his way past Steve Pearce. With only a lap to go and a backmarker to deal with there wasn't quite enough time for Paul to steal third away from Andy. Steve Collyer held on to take the class A win and fastest lap. Next up was Dave Lowe ahead of Colin Williams - voted Cobra Beer driver of the day - Martin Camp and Neil Marshall all covered by three seconds. Keith Ward was in this group for most of the race until a loose wheel bearing caused him to fall back, finishing behind Phil Norris in twelfth. Richard Shelton stuck to the task of manhandling his crippled Crossle around and remained on the lead lap. Giovanni managed to get some decent lappery in, with just the one race spin, mandatory it seems if you are driving Alan Crocker's Ray, while Oliver and Richard completed the finishers in what was a hugely exciting race to watch. Proof that the club has all the ingredients to put on a really good show. If we could just do that without the crashes then everyone would be happy.

Post race celebrations and prize giving were brushed aside however when the scrutineers decided to do visual checks on the differentials of the first three in each class. So the next couple of hours were spent pulling the cars to pieces and sort of putting them back together again. This section of the event was easily won by Keith Ward who was loaded up and on his way before any of the rest had finished. Nothing untoward was discovered and it was decided to share the second case of Cobra Beer amongst the many helpers who happily joined in to make the task a bit easier.

Now, a word from Andy Powell on his busy weekend.

Brands Hatch Race Report 17th May 2003

Never done one of these reports before so here goes. This is how I saw the race!
Like a few drivers I turned up on Friday am, only to be greeted by a wet Brands Hatch (no change there then) Testing was run in 4 sessions and I needed to run in a brand new engine. Things went well until the 4th lap of the 4th session when a piston failed and the engine comprehensively blew up. At this point I thought it may have been the end of my weekend, actually it was only the start.

To cut a long story short at 2:30am on Saturday I finally got to bed. I had fitted another engine, having driven home and was looking forward to a good days racing.

On arrival at the circuit at 6:30 am I was once again greeted by a wet and windy Brands Hatch. Not the weather we have become accustomed to for the annual CSMA Festival. To complicate the issue I was also helping to prepare Dad's Pink Panther Classic Clubmans cars so time was short. The only concession to all of this was that we where both allocated a pit Garage so I probably did not get as wet as the rest of you and the scrutineers came to us for once!

Practice:
Having done a few laps in the rain on Friday (all be it, running in miles) I was for once quite looking forward to driving in the rain. The new engine felt great and the car always feels nice in the wet. The times looked good and I put the car 3rd on the grid. Feeling confident I tried to push a little harder and managed to put a couple of wheels on the curb on the exit of Graham Hill, and spun. With both the brake and clutch in I thought I had virtually stopped when I got that awful sickening thud as I made contact with the tyre wall.

Between practice and race there was significant effort to repair the car, with many thanks going to all that assisted me both family (James Whiting) and my friends from BAE SYSTEMS. We managed to repair the back end, by replacing a rear upright, damper and a few links and rose joints.

Race:
It was dry! By now the stress of the day (and night) was catching up. In addition Dads Classic Clubmans race had been stopped after only one lap and I had been on pit lane battery and grid duties. Having recovered from this I lined up third on the grid for what was likely to be a very eventful race.

Start 1
I had been counting the lights all afternoon and there was a consistent 4 sec. Gap between red and green lights. At 4 sec my head said go but the lights did not change, as I lunged forward I had to brake, and yes you guessed, the lights changed at that moment. I was lucky though and retained my position behind Anthony Wills in his beautiful (and very quick) RP21, with Simon Davey in the lead. The red flag came out as we entered the start and finish straight due to a beached car at the bottom of paddock hill bend. We all then re-formed on the grid for a re-start over 13 laps.

Start 2
Having made the error at the first start I was careful not to do it again. I got away cleanly with, as I remember Simon in the lead on the inside Anthony high on the outside and I had a little nibble at Simon with two wheels just on the grass on the way into paddock for the first time, on the exit I was 3rd behind Anthony. Coming through Graham Hill I got a great run out of the corner and was able to pull alongside Anthony and make the move stick in Surtees and cover my line into Mclaren, allowing me to get on the power first onto the start and finish straight and just break clear to give chase to Simon. Unfortunately I really cannot comment on what was happening behind me because I was so maxed out in my own race. For a few laps I had a very good scrap with Simon having a go at pretty much every corner, but on the day he was just too quick. Simon is a joy to race with and particularly through Graham Hill the car just changes direction in the most amazing fashion!

On passing the laps to go counter and reading that I still had 7 laps to go the day & nights activities suddenly caught up with me and feeling both physically and mentally exhausted the next lap was extremely scrappy. As a result I quickly squandered a 2.5 sec gap between myself and Anthony and allowed him to close rapidly. Struggling to keep Anthony behind I dropped right back from Simon and eventually with aid of a missed gear allowed Anthony past.
From then on, getting more and more tired and suffering a slight loss of engine power, following the missed gear, I had to fight for my life to stay ahead of a fighting Paul Walton & Steve Piece, from what I could see they where having a right old ding dong. And one more lap would have seen the final podium position go to either of them, it was a close run thing. The last lap saw Steve and Paul both get a good run out of Graham Hill, all of us rapidly closing on a backmarker. Fortunately I came across him first and put him between myself and the charging duo, knowing that provided I got on the power early and made a clean fist of Clearways my podium finish would be secure.
Crossing the line I was absolutely delighted. And there was much jubilation inside my helmet and waving to Marshals and crowd alike, but also an immense sigh of relief that out of such a disastrous weekend I had pulled off a result and a good clean drive.

I must thank all those who assisted me over the weekend, Family, friends and importantly fellow competitors. I must also congratulate both Simon Davey on a fine win and of course Anthony for his best ever result.

However for me the day was to be soured by the disgraceful post race scrutiny. In my opinion this was totally unnecessary, and by then I did not feel in any real state to start stripping a diff. However I did (with the aid of my brother-in-law James), dad was the voice of reason because I wanted to give my Mickey Mouse ash tray back, tell then where to put their points and go home.
Like many others we then had the little M25 surprise just to round off a horrific weekend, but they say it builds character!

Off to the Silverstone GP circuit next, then maybe Lydden Hill. Otherwise I will not be out until Cadwell in September, enjoy your summers Racing and good luck to all.

Andy Powell
23/05/03

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