Author: admin

Race 1:

With front row men Pete Sparrow and Nick Crispin both caught napping at the start of the first race, it was Sandro Proietti and Lien Davies that led the initial charge through Coppice.

“I was waiting for another light, then thought I had gone too soon, stopped and everyone seemed to go by,” said Crispin. “I went then bogged down too,” Sparrow added.

Brian Heerey quickly snatched second and then ousted Proietti for the lead as they went through Coppice for the second time.

The top three had managed to ease clear, with Crispin having settled in solitary fourth, until Sparrow began to reign in on him.

The intensity at the front began to increase, with Davies taking Proietti for second at Park, while Sparrow had fourth at Coppice.

Behind them a three car battle had grown for sixth, with Steve Walford, Marc Grasby and Chris Yates nose to tail.

Back at the front it was any one from five, as Sparrow and Crispin had attached themselves to the three-way lead battle. On lap six Davies led through Coppice, with Proietti and Sparrow sharing a couple of exchanges for third.

Sparrow continued to attack and exiting Barn on the seventh lap he was into second. But Davies made it decisive through Hall Bends on the last lap, when he managed to put a backmarker between him and his rivals, to take a 2.567 secs victory.

“I kept looking for Sparrow, expecting a move,” Davies admitted. But the defending champion had to settle for second. “I had sat back at the start but Lien timed it just right,” Sparrow replied.

The final podium place went to Crispin, after both Heerey and Proietti had last lap problems. “The engine went over the Mountain and I had to coast to the flag,” said fourth placed Proietti. “It was a fuel pick up problem, Heerey added after stopping at the Mountain crest.

Walford just kept Yates at bay as they completed the top six, after Grasby had pulled off. “I lost speed and it just cut out,” he explained.

Nigel Hollis just held off Dan Willan for seventh, while Nick Clarke and Aubrey Brocklebank rounded off the top 10.

Race 2:

It was three abreast through Coppice at the start of the second race, as Sparrow led Crispin and Luca Proietti. But Proietti was second as they exited Charlies and led into the Gooseneck.

Sparrow followed but after demoting Crispin for third, Heerey exited Barn on the grass and handed the place back. “I lost it on some oil,” he explained.

Having nosed ahead on the second lap, Sparrow started to build a slight gap, as Crispin was almost pushing Proietti in his quest for second.

But it all changed again when Sparrow was on the grass exiting Charlies. “Luca had a good run into Coppice and I was on the outside, so had to take to the grass,” he explained.

Crispin had also lost out but it was a six car lead train of Proietti, Heerey, Crispin, Simon Clarke, Sparrow and Mick Storey to the fore.

As Proietti then retained the lead for the next three laps, Sparrow began to work his way back up the order lap by lap and as they started lap six, he was back into second.

A lap later exiting Charlies Sparrow was back in front, until he went off at Barn and handed it back to Proietti, which briefly dropped him to third, before retaking Clarke on the Mountain.

Sparrow then hit the front yet again and managed to hold on to take his third win of the year, while Proietti had just held off Heerey for second, until a late challenge handed third to Clarke and left Heerey in fourth.

“That was a hard race as Luca kept going for my inside at Park every chance he had,” said Sparrow. “I had the widest 2CV in Europe and just went for it,” Proietti added.

Clarke was relieved to have finished third. “I missed a gear at the start, but then they all started fighting and it helped me,” he said.

As in race one Crispin had lost his brakes again, “and I lost two places early on with an off at Park,” he admitted after coming home fifth.

Storey’s challenge faded as he lost power, which left Martin Riman to take sixth, after a great scrap with Yates and Julie Walford. “I went off at Park early on, then after I had got Chris I missed a gear exiting Barn and had to do it all over again,” Riman explained.

Glen Oswin and Nigel Hollis followed Walford home to complete the top10 in yet another duel.

Race 3

Sparrow was in charge from the start of the third and final race, aided by a six car battle for second.

Sandro Proietti had started to consolidate second too after three laps, while Davies slipped into third at Coppice at Steve Walford’s expense.

Crispin and Heerey were in the line too, leaving Yates eighth and running solo.

The gap to the lead fluctuated as Proietti came under increasing pressure from Davies, while Walford, Crispin and Heerey had their own battle for fourth, which included safely negotiating Park three abreast!

Davies made it into second at Charlies on lap seven, but had to follow Sparrow to the flag, leaving Proietti to complete the podium. “I had a few excursions again, all of my own doing. I was aware that Sandro and Lien worked to close on me, but I blame Luca even though he was in that race,” said Sparrow.

“The car cut out at Charlies on lap three and I thought that was it, but it was all ok,” Davies explained. “I had a good start but couldn’t stay away,”Proietti added.

Heerey retained fourth, with Crispin battling back to fifth with a lap to go, which left Storey inches behind, after he took Walford on the last lap.

Yates continued in his solitary eighth, while the battle to complete the top 10 when to the last lap, when Grasby went off at the Mountain and handed ninth to Nigel Hollis. Grasby still managed to hold onto 10^th however, after holding off Willan. “They didn’t leave me enough room.” Grasby reckoned.

Spring Bank Holiday at Mallory Park is the next round, celebrating 30 years of 2CV Racing in the UK.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAMPION SPARROW AT THE DOUBLE
Reigning 2CV Race Champion Pete Sparrow started his title defence in the best possible way, with a double win in the opening rounds at Silverstone.
Having qualified on pole for race one, Sparrow was never headed and comfortably headed home Brian Heerey by well over four seconds.
But the action behind went right to the flag, with a three-car battle for third.
Lien Davies had led the battling trio, but headed pitwards with a blown engine on his second lap, leaving Nick Clarke with a slight advantage over Nick Crispin and Matthew Hollis.
Clarke had become to look established in third, as Crispin and Hollis continued their duel, but working together they eased closer and closer to Clarke again.
For a while there was a battle on for sixth too, before Martin Riman eased his way through from a back row start, leaving Marc Grasby, Chris Yates, Julie Walford and Mick Storey to dispute the remaining top 10 places.
By lap six Hollis and Crispin had continued their pursuit of Clarke and were poised to challenge for third. Both went by a lap later and Clarke found himself at the back of the three car train.
They continued to trade places for the rest of the race, which brought them closer to second placed Heerey too.
But at the front Sparrow was able to ease to the flag for win number one of 2019. “The car is so fantastic, but I had expected Brian to have a tow. So I just kept my head down and kept going,” he said.
“I was worried towards the end that the others would catch me, I had a good start but could see they were working together,” Heerey added.
Although Clarke had regained third place on lap nine, he couldn’t hold it and lost out to both Hollis and Crispin again two laps later. He managed to snatch fourth back from Crispin, after taking Club side by side on the last lap, but it was Hollis completing the podium finishers.
“I lost ground on the second lap, miles off at Stowe after trying the outside which didn’t work. A hard race though after a good start,” said Hollis.
“I had missed a gear at the start,” said Clarke who had been down in sixth at the end of the opening lap. “Then I was clear but they came passed like a train, then I couldn’t get away. But I knew it was the last lap, Matthew had the inside at the last corner but I got Nick,” he added.
So it was Crispin’s newly liveried garden shed that lost out in the battle, “I was quicker on the Hanger Straight, but then lost time in places, great race though even though my brakes were stuck on,” he said.
Although Riman had consolidated sixth, the fight behind went to the flag too, with Yates just having the edge over Storey and Nigel Hollis, while Walford and Grasby both lost out to come home 10th and 11th respectively.
“I had a plan to get around Julie on the Hanger Straight, but when I tried it the first time Marc Grasby got us, but after the second attempt I got away,” said Yates.
Eighth placed Storey felt he had a problem though,” it just wouldn’t go,” he reckoned. Ninth though was Nigel Hollis’ best finish, but it was at the expense of Julie Walford, who lost two places on the last lap.” Remarkable start, but I lost places and the train went by,” she said.
So there was no top 10 for Grasby either, “Julie reversed into me at Village,” he reckoned.
With Sparrow starting at the back of the grid with a 10 second penalty due to a technical issue, the second race was bound to be interesting.
After Storey had led the opening lap, there was a reshuffle at the top, but it was still 10 in a row for the lead, which played straight into Sparrow’s hands.
Nick Roads and Crispin both led, before Storey was back in front on lap four. Simon Clarke followed, from Roads and Crispin, but Sparrow had already climbed to fifth.
They were all still in a line, which allowed Sparrow to pick off the whole of the lead quartet to lead at the end of the next lap. “I can’t say I passed them all, some just moved over,” Sparrow admitted.
He soon made his lead decisive again as the battles behind ensued. Clarke and Roads fought over second, with Storey in fourth, while Crispin and Richard Hollis disputed fifth and Steve Walford/Glenn Oswin seventh.
Storey managed to latch onto the second placed duel again, but it was now four for fifth too, with Walford heading the quintet, from Crispin, as Oswin and Hollis both lost out to Yates.
But there was confusion after 11 laps when the red lights showed on the startline gantry. Everyone rightly slowed, but there was no stoppage and the lights went out again.
A further slow lap was completed line astern before the chequered flag heralded Sparrow’s second win of the day. “Really enjoyed that too,” he said.
Although Clarke and Storey joined him on the podium, Roads was hoping to make a last lap challenge. “We borrowed Nick Roads spare engine and beat him. I was quite pleased to see the flag though,” Clarke admitted.
“I had let Mick through at Stowe and thought I could get him back later, but then the red lights came on,” Roads added. “A good battle but I had been saving myself for the last lap too,” Storey replied.
Walford and Crispin completed the top six, with Oswin and Yates still in close proximity duelling for seventh. Richard Hollis was ninth, while a further battle to complete the top 10 had Aubrey Brocklebank finally fend off Nigel Hollis.
“That was a big scrap and the tow wasn’t working on the Hanger Straight as the wind was behind us,” Walford explained.

Published by Peter Scherer for the 2CV Racing April 1st 2019.

It may have been a 24 hour race but the Beacon Downe quartet of Kris Tovey, Peter Rundle, Louis Tyson and Richard Gardiner were never far away from the head of the field, having joined the initial break in the first hour.

While the guesting Euro spec cars and Mini’s sped off to do their own thing, an early five car break for the UK 2CV’s was led by Baycon Racing’s Sandro Proietti, from Team Lion 1’s Pete Sparrow, Gadget’s Simon Clarke, Tete Rouge Crisis’ Brian Heerey and Jon Harmer in the Pork Pie Racing car.

The places swapped and changed within the group as Heerey and Harmer had a share of the lead, which allowed Beacon Downe’s Kris Tovey and Rosie’s Julie Walford to latch on too.

But Heerey was an early pit visitor to repair damage after contact, from where Clarke, Proietti and Sparrow made a brief escape.
The first safety car then appeared to recover a stranded Mini, but from the green flag Sparrow took the upperhand, as he led Proietti, Clarke and Tovey in a four-car break.

With the first hour completed there were still 16 cars on the lead lap, but the lead quartet had managed to stay away.

Julie Walford was one of the first frontrunners to make a planned stop, handing the Rosie car to Katy Storey from fifth. “Although we got detached from the top four, we still had a hard battle,” she said.

Drama soon followed however when the overall leader hit Sparrow during lappery, sending him across the track, where he was hit by Jelly Snake’s Neil Huggins. Out came the safety car again and a flurry of pitstops followed.

“None of us really wanted to lead in that front group, so we were almost waiting for each other to take it up. But then Pete was clipped by the lapping car and it sent him across the track. I had to take to the grass to avoid him, but then he was hit,” said Gadget’s Simon Clarke.

Clarke had handed to Tom Perry having led at two hours, but it was the same four car break, with Harmer in fifth and Twin Snails James Northfield completing the top six.

As darkness started to fall Proietti had a slightly longer stop when a rear wheel bearing problem was located as father Sandro came in to hand to son Luca.

By three hours there were just the three on the lead lap, Perry had Team Gadget to the fore, with a seven second gap to Beacon Downe’s Tyson, while Katy Storey was a lap up on Twin Snails’ Paul Rowland, but had the Dan Willan Coaches ECAS car and the recovering Baycon car of Proietti Junior closing in.

Paul Crosby had been in the ECAS car and continued to bring them closer to the lead battle, with ex Clubmans racer Philip Martin-Dye due in next, after his son Freddie had started.

Beacon Downe were out in front though for the first time as the fourth hour was completed, with ECAS second, from Team Gadget, Twin Snails, Baycon and Rosie.

Over the next few hours the Beacon Downe and Team Gadget cars alternated for the lead, dependant on their stops, but as the half way mark was reached, Beacon Downe had managed to pull out a five lap cushion.

Team Gadget had lost ground and slipped to sixth, but after Martin Riman and Aubrey Brocklebank had done their stints for Twin Snails, they had edged into second ahead of ECAS. “There was an engine problem and fuel pressure, so we had to change it,” said Gadget’s Lien Davies.

Heerey, Glen Oswin, Nick Roads and Martin Arrowsmith-Brown had brought Tete Rouge Crisis back to fourth while Blueberry Muffins ran strongly during the night to move up to sixth with Nick Moore and Scott Lawson sharing Chris Yates’ car. “It was good steady run but we had intermittent carb problems,” said Yates.

While Baycon Racing’s initial pace kept them in contention, further maladies had slipped them down to 19th but after their contact damage had been repaired, Team Lion 1 were back up to 10th after some sterling work by Sparrow, Alec Graham and David O’Keeffe.

The lead trio remained unchanged until the 15th hour, when ECAS moved into second and Tin Snails started to lose out, as Tete Rouge Crisis progressed again.

But at the front the Beacon Downe continued to cruise through the remaining hours, clinching victory by five laps from Dan Willan Coaches Team ECAS. “We have never been so dominant as a team. We lost the starter motor so had to push start for the last 10 hours and a hybrid spun in front of us early morning and broke one of our lights, otherwise faultless,” said Beacon Downe’s Louis Tyson.

Team Gadget worked hard to climb back into contention, ousting Tete Rouge Crisis and Tin Snails at the 20th hour to complete the podium. “We had a front wheel shear from the hub,” said Tin Snails Riman. “Our alternator went but we got back to the pits OK and didn’t lose too much,” added Davies after he brought Team Gadget to the flag for team mates Clarke, Perry and Ainslie Bousfield, despite having picked up a couple of drive through penalties, much to the amusement of the rest of the pitlane.

Tete Rouge held onto fourth, with Team Lion 1 reclaiming fifth in the final hours, as Blueberry Muffins lost out, falling behind Team Lion and Savage Motorsport over the last four hours, after Lawson had contact which broke the fan, cooked the engine and brought it in for an engine change.

Despite their early damage Jelly Snake were eighth with MIN Racing and Tin Snails rounding off the top 10.

Early frontrunners Baycon and Rosie were finally classified 11th and 14th respectively, after Rosie had Katy Storey bounce off the Armco early morning and their final engine blow with a couple of hours to go when Darren Shepsman missed a gear.

“Three engine changes but we managed to finish the race with one rebuilt in the garage and it lasted for 13 hours, “said Sandro Proietti after Meyrick Cox brought it home.

Overall victory was comfortably in the hands of the visiting Bnll1/GT Racing Euro spec car, 24 laps clear of the sister car, while the guesting Mini’s saw Team Misfits taking the spoils.

Timing sheet: https://www.tsl-timing.com/file/?f=BARC/2018/1833212cv.pdf