Following several incidents in the previous three races, which have seen various cars return home with some severe damage, it was everyone’s hope that Croft would be a trouble-free weekend for all involved.

Yet again, we had the pleasure of welcoming another new driver into the championship : Mark Pearce, who has purchased the RF81 previously owned by Tim Robinson. Mark is another fighter pilot and matey with David Owen. Good luck Mark, good to have you in the club !

And so to qualifying : With many drivers having elected not to test the previous day, it was going to be interesting to see who could get on terms with Paul Walton. Paul did test, so had an even greater advantage than his pursuers. He made good use of his circuit knowledge to be on the pace from the off. In the event, nobody came anywhere close, and he took pole by a whopping 1.18 seconds ! We have become accustomed to seeing 10 cars covered by such a time in recent races, so this was something of a shock to everyone. Simon Davey led the chasers, with a fine effort from Richard Shelton in third (pulling off after only 7 laps with engine problems), and Steve Bradley on his first ever visit to Croft (and no testing either !) to place the RF80 fourth. Dave Lowe was uncharacteristically down in fifth, some 2.8 seconds adrift, and he was joined by Dave Malpas on the third row after another strong effort from the midlander. Neil and Colin looked like continuing their season-long battle on row 4, with Steve Pearce and Alan Williamson rounding out the top ten. Jon Nash decided to take things easy on his return to the cockpit, and pootled round in 12^th. It was good to see Douggie Kibble getting off the back row, and taking the novice pole. But what’s this ? Anthony Wills at the back ? In his desire to ensure the RP21 didn’t return home with any more bent bits, Anthony locked it all up when he went wide on his first flyer. By doing so, he ensured the RP21 did indeed hit the barrier, deranging a steering arm link. With front wheels pointing in opposite directions, he did his mandatory 3 laps some 20 seconds off the pace, and then parked it. Once discovering that the accident wasn’t going to cost him any more than a couple of pints for Bernard, he was beaming from ear to ear. You would have been forgiven for thinking he was on pole !! The only other casualty was John Hesp, who broke his gear linkage on his outlap.

Mention has already been made of Saturday afternoon’s activities by at least half the grid. Robin was kept busy changing engines in Richard’s 25F. The only driver to get his hands dirty was Paul Mills, who was helping out Richard Wallington in his FF2000. He buzzed his engine in qualifying, which loosened off the flywheel, necessitating the removal of the back end of the car. Shame you missed the pub Paul !

Sunday was another fine day weather  wise, with a pleasant breeze ensuring nobody overheated. With a mid afternoon race, people wandered off to do their own thing. The Daveys toured an art exhibition in Richmond, the Marshalls also made it to Richmond, but only for baby Ollie to throw up the entire contents of his digestive system. Neil and Justine will no doubt remember Richmond for all the wrong reasons..It’s a nice place from memory.

As the race approached, Jon Nash was still nowhere to be found. Rumours were spreading about a homosexual liaison the previous evening in a Darlington night spot ! He eventually made it back with minutes to spare. Perhaps he hadn’t driven up from London with racing on his mind after all ! (To ensure I don’t get an angry call from Mrs Nash, let me put the record straight – Jon had apparently been approached by a young man, but had politely declined his offer).

And so, the race finally arrived. Everyone completed the green flag lap and lined up on the grid, only to have the start aborted as Phil Norris stalled. Phil’s clutch was on the verge of giving out, and he retired on lap 5 when it packed up altogether.

Sadly, we lost Steve Bradley on the second green flag lap, which was a shame considering his qualifying performance.

At the second time of asking, the pack got away without incident. Anthony was already up to 13^th by the first corner. Richard made a poor start, slipping back to 5^th, whilst Dave Lowe made a better one, and was up to 3^rd behind Simon, who was hanging on to the back of Paul. Paul Mills managed only one lap as he went from 1^st into 2^nd and then back to 1^st again as he accelerated down the pit straight. The over rev caused the flywheel to come loose (on his car this time !) as well as bent exhaust valves, and hopefully no more than that.

Into lap 2 and Paul and Simon were already pulling out a gap to the two Daves. Messrs Lowe and Malpas were stuck to each other for the first 5 laps, whereupon Dave Lowe then managed to create a gap, and circulated undisturbed for the remainder of the race.

A 3 car gaggle behind comprised Richard, Neil and Colin. Running 3 abreast down the pit straight on lap 5, Richard got relegated to the back of the pack, and then proceeded to fall back into the clutches of a fast-closing Anthony. Anthony was up to 8^th by lap 4 and finally managed to pass Richard for 7^th on lap 8. On the penultimate lap he also made it past Colin in a brave move through the fast Jim Clark Curves, and held 6^th place to the flag. From 20^th on the grid to 6^th yielded the Cobra Beer Driver of the Day.

Further back, Alan Williamson had a rather lonely time in 9^th, whilst Steve Pearce was disappointed with his afternoon’s effort. He had spun at the hairpin early on, only for Jon Nash to fail to take advantage when he hit the ignition switch in his effort to get round the side-on RF78.

Lorraine Gathercole circulated undisturbed behind Steve and Jon, but ahead of the squabbling novice duo of David Owen and Mark Pearce. Mark finally got the better of his fellow pilot on the final lap, to be rewarded with the Novice win in his first race !

Peter Chippindale meanwhile retired mid race with gear linkage failure. Up front, Paul and Simon pulled out a gap the entire length of the pit straight by lap 7. Paul led this battle throughout, to narrowly take the victory and with it the championship lead. Simon drove Croft faster than he had ever managed before, yet couldn’t quite pull it off. Both drivers smashed the existing lap record, but it was Paul who walked away with the fastest lap.

So, with the exception of two engine failures, the weekend passed without incident, and all 21 cars returned home undamaged. A successful time was had, and we look forward to a return visit in 2006 hopefully. Perhaps a double header next time folks ?

See you all at Thruxton. As I write this, I find myself banned from driving for 6 months, courtesy of a fourth speed camera conviction (good thing I’m not racing). So no barby at Thruxton this year unless anyone else wants to volunteer ? Can I please ponce another lift Anthony ?

ADH