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Round 5&6 Snetterton July 31st / August 1st 2010
THE RETURN OF THE HARE An impressive 24 car grid turned up for Snett, giving us an average grid so far this year of 19.3, so we are doing well in these difficult economic times. Indeed, ours was the largest grid of the meeting, matched only by the Kumho BMWs. A shame then that we were given just ten laps for each of our two races, the shortest races of the meeting….hopefully this situation will be rectified for our remaining rounds. It was great to welcome Peter Sikstrom to Snetterton. Peter has previously joined us for our support race at the Brands Hatch Festival, but, as we have not been part of that now for several years, we haven’t seen Peter for a while. Albeit he was combining this race with a 2 week holiday with his wife, but nevertheless, hats off to the man for travelling 4000 km from his native Sweden for 45 minutes track time. Those who complain about going to Pembrey should bear this in mind… Also back for the first time since his 2006 Class A Championship was Steve Hare, with his immaculate RF81 with a fresh Patton engine in the back. And joining him was Euro FFordster Paul Hubbard, having a one-off outing with us whilst his car was back in the UK. Good to see you both back with us. And Phil Norris was also making a one-off appearance with the Classics this season, this time in his Macon, the Royale still being repaired after his shunt last season. And it was pleasing to see Ann and Mick Webb back with us again, following Mick’s recent spell in hospital. Good to see you back on your feet again Mick, all the best with your continuing recovery. Qualifying : As usual, both grids would be determined by the fastest and second fastest laps over this 15 minute session. The qualifying results stated a dry track, but that was far from the case. Although it had stopped raining by the time the cars ventured trackwards, it was still very wet, with opening laps being some 20-25 seconds off a dry time. Admittedly the times tumbled as the circuit dried, but, even at the end of the session, they were still 10 seconds off.
Qualifying in the wet – Graham revelling in the conditions Scot Graham Legget, who cut his teeth racing at Knockhill, was in his element in these conditions, and he was fastest (on a 33.4) before the session was red flagged when Mike Whitehead had a spin at Sear and got stranded on the exit of the corner. An 8 minute delay in the pits then allowed a further 3 or 4 laps to take advantage of the drying track. Graham failed to capitalise, whilst Stuart Kestenbaum dropped the bar down to a mightily impressive 28.9 to take pole. Steve Hare put in a 30.4 and then a 30.0 to take the other front row slot, with Andrew Smith on Class B pole in 3rd with a 31.1 on his penultimate lap. Nigel Lingwood was also in the 31s, and Paul Walton scraped in with 5th on a 32.4 on his final effort, with a spectating Judith having to phone Robin on the pitwall to instruct him to give Paul a hurry up signal ! Alan Fincham continues to impress, posting 6th fastest, a tenth adrift, with Ian McMillan another tenth down. Graham ended up 8th to give him his highest grid slot of the season to date, with Steve Bradley and Andy Powell completing the top ten. Roger Newman, second in the Championship going to Snett, was unimpressed in 11th, with Dave Lowe alongside. Colin Williams was another frontrunner to end up in the midfield, ditto David Brise and James Gowens. In the 2 horse novice battle, Liam McShane was gaining confidence in the Crossle, taking his best grid slot to date in 15th. Race 1 : With the grid somewhat mixed up, it would be an interesting start…Stuart made a clean getaway on the totally dry track, with Steve losing out to a fast starting Nigel on the run down to Sear for the first time. What was the progress behind ? Roger made up 3 places, Colin 4 places, and James 3 places on the opening lap.
Stuart leading early on The midfield battle, headed by Colin Through Russell then at the end of the opening lap, it was Stuart Kestenbaum, Nigel Longwood, Steve Hare, Andrew Smith, Paul Walton, Graham Legget, Steve Bradley, Roger Newman, Colin Williams, Ian McMillan, Andy Powell, Dave Lowe, David Brise, James Gowens, Peter Sikstrom, Steve Pearce, Phil Norris, Paul Hubbard, Liam (down 4), James Buckton Junior, Michael Whitehead and Mike Saunders. Poor Alan Fincham toured into the pits with a misfire, which ended his race as soon as it had begun, and James Buckton was also out with dodgy electrics. It was the usual frantic battle up front, with the first 6 pulling out a gap. Stuart pulled out his own gap to the battling Nigel, Steve H and Andrew, with Paul W and Steve B keeping a watching brief. Graham spun away his 6th spot on lap 2, and resumed near the tail end. By lap 5, with Stuart still leading, Steve H had passed Nigel and found some clear air. Paul W and Andrew S were having a great dice for 4th, but their squabbling meant they were falling back from the lead 3 – by the end of lap 5, they were 5 seconds clear. Behind, Colin was steadily working his way up the order : from 13th on the grid, 9th on lap 1, he was up to 7th by the end of lap 5, having passed Roger down the back straight. Ian was also making amends for a poorish start, and was back up to 7th – where he started – by lap 6. Out front, Stuart failed to make the break that he hoped for, and by lap 7 he was under huge pressure from Steve H and Nigel. Gaggle 2 was still Paul W, Andrew S and Steve B, and this order remained to the flag. Gaggle 3 was Ian, Colin, Andy P and Roger, with James also making progress from his lowly grid position. Sadly Nigel departed the lead battle on lap 8 with a misfire. With no close challenge behind him, Steve H was now in full attack mode, and he was right onto Stuart’s gearbox by the end of lap 8. He had two laps left to pounce, and reckoned his ‘rusty racecraft’ was not good enough to do the job (bear in mind this was Steve’s first race in 4 seasons..) Onto the final lap then, and they were still nose to tail. Coming into Russell for the final time, Stuart’s exit was not up to it’s usual quality, and Steve had more momentum on the race up the hill to the finish. With Stuart having led the entire race up to that point, Steve snatched the lead with yards to go, and crossed the line a tenth ahead ! A Hare’s breadth, Autosport said ! So much for rusty racecraft Steve…
Russell for the last time…. Steve has a better exit….
And accelerates past Stuart up to the line Gaggle 2 arrived 9 seconds later, with Paul, Andrew and Steve B all a tenth apart – exciting stuff ! Colin won gaggle 3 to take 6th, passing Ian on the final lap. Andy P headed James, who collected the brake pad award for the driver to overtake the most cars – 17th up to 9th. A deal arranged by none other than Pink Peter, RSM Motorsport have kindly donated a set of pads for each of the remaining rounds – thanks guys ! Roger came home in 10th, thereby losing his 2nd place in the Class A Championship to Colin. David Brise headed Steve P and Dave Lowe, with the latter picking up third in Class B for his efforts. And Liam beat James Buckton Junior to the novice win by some margin. So, another classic Classic FF encounter ! As is often the case, arguably the best race of the day ? And no damaged cars ! The barbeque in the early evening provided an opportunity for celebration.
Peter Sikstrom flying the flag for Sweden The Health & Safety man was absent … Race 2 : The grid for race 2 was similar in some respects to race 1 – front row comprising Stuart and Steve, row 2 Nigel and Andrew S, row 3 Ian and Alan – good effort from both drivers, row 4 Graham and Paul W, and row 5 Class B boys Dave L and Steve B. Again the midfield comprised several quicker drivers – Andy P, Colin, James G, David B, Roger and Steve P. As the lights went out, everyone got away except James Gowens, whose clutch failed on the grid. He was pushed off the circuit, weekend over. Again, Stuart led into Riches, with Steve H holding 2nd, Nigel 3rd and Andrew S 4th. Down in the midfield, Andy Powell and Colin made contact as the field bunched up into Sear, and both were out with damaged suspension. 3 cars out, and the race was only 2 corners old… At the end of the opening lap the top positions remained unchanged, with Paul W in 5th, Ian in 6th, then Steve B, Alan, Graham, then a gap to Dave L, Peter, Roger, Liam (a much better start this time), David B, Phil, Paul H, Michael W, James B, Steve P (a dreadful first lap), James B Jnr and Michael S. Stuart and Steve were inseparable, and side by side going past the pits to start lap 3. Stuart went wide at the Esses, and this allowed Steve to overtake at the Bombhole (not an easy move !), and led into Coram and Russell. Behind, things were getting a tad hectic. Andrew S attempted to outbrake Nigel into the right hander at the chicane on the inside, but locked up and hit Nigel as he turned in, putting Nigel airborne. The resulting photo made it into Autosport, and a full half pager at that ! Sadly, Nigel was out – twice in succession – and this time with damage. Andrew attempted the rest of the corner, but his front left suspension
Into Russell on lap 3, Andrew makes a move on Nigel which takes Nigel out on the spot
Andrew with deranged front suspension, parking it at the pit entrance was badly out of shape, and he slowed to enter the pitlane. Alan, who had made a good start from 6th,, came out of Russell having avoided the chaos in front of him, and accelerated hard, anxious to avoid anyone hitting him up the rear as they worked their way past Nigel’s stranded Van Diemen. In doing so, he slammed straight into the back of Andrew’s FA73, promptly destroying his nosecone, and (more importantly) the contents underneath – the radiator. So, 3 more cars out, and the race was now 3 laps old… Steve and Stuart pulled out a gap as everyone behind had to negotiate the hazards at the chicane. By the end of lap 4, they were almost 5 seconds clear of 3rd place man Steve B, with Paul W and Ian in close pursuit. There was then another big gap (of 7 seconds) until David B (up to 6th from 15th on the grid, benefitting from 6 retirements of cars all ahead of him), with Dave L all over his gearbox, then Roger, Liam, Peter and Steve P. Peter Sikstrom retired on lap 5, which was unfortunate, as he was going well up until that point. Stuart overtook Steve on lap 6, and this time kept in front for the remaining laps, not giving Steve an opportunity to pass. He took the win by two tenths, after another tremendous dice. Paul Walton took his second third place of the weekend, just keeping at bay Steve Bradley, who took his first Class B win in his new FA73. Ian fell off these two slightly, but nevertheless brought the ex Joe Walton Crossle home in 5th, his best result in the car. He was happy with his weekend’s efforts. David Brise came home 6th, with Dave Lowe taking 2nd in Class B in 7th, Steve Pearce in 8th (from 18th on the grid, narrowly giving him the brake pad award, which impressed him no end), Roger in 9th and Liam having his best race to date to finish in the top ten for the first time.
Steve Bradley on route to Class B honours Liam enjoyed his best race to date Paul Hubbard entertained the crowd at Russell with his attempts – on more than one lap – to rip the floor off his Merlyn over the outside kerbing, and spinning at Coram on lap 9. He would finish 14th.
Paul Hubbard trying to recreate the Icelandic ash cloud.. Finally, a mention for James Buckton, who was pleased to have simply finished a Formula Ford motor race for the first time since 1983. So far this season he has endured illness or mechanical failure, but he broke his duck this afternoon. Well done James. So, congratulations to the weekend’s race winners, and well done to everyone for two very entertaining races. Commiserations to those who went home with bent cars, I hope the repairs are not too costly, and all can be repaired in time for Pembrey in a fortnight. A Two Andys Production - Report by Andy Hodson, photos by Andy Ellis
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