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In true 2CV style it was action all the way in both races at Donington Park last weekend.

Pete Sparrow led into Redgate in the first race, from title rivals Matthew Hollis, with Nick Crispin third at the OId Hairpin. Steve Walford was in fourth until he took to the grass at the Old Hairpin, but came back into huge scramble for the chicane.

Mick Storey, Crispin, Ainslie Bousfield and Lien Davies went in four abreast, but somehow Walford passed them all to exit in third. “It was just opportunist as a gap opened on the inside,” said Walford.

Such was the battle for third, it enabled Sparrow and Hollis to escape at the front. Walford however was leading a seven car train on lap two, before Bousfield got by at McLeans, while Nick Roads then lost out with a grassy excursion.

Davies completed the lap heading the now six car line, but both Bousfield and Walford took him back a lap later into the chicane. “My car was a bit oversteery, erratically so, but the brakes were great,” said Walford.

It was constantly changing, but Sandro Proietti was the next to lose ground, falling to the back of the chasing group. Davies and Walford had contact at the chicane however and as they arrived at Redgate for the fifth time, Crispin was with Walford, who then went wide again at the Old Hairpin, before Crispin finally snatched the place at the chicane, with Bousfield following.

Hollis had continued to shadow Sparrow for the lead and it was only through lappery in the second half that the tow was finally broken. “I was quicker into Coppice than Pete and had the pace on the straight. I thought about having a go at the chicane a few times, but decided to wait until the last lap and launch it. I didn’t get the chance though as I was held up and could see Nick closing too,” said Hollis.

“Matt drove really well and I couldn’t have gone any faster. I just had the edge on straightline speed I think, but he was able to draft and stay with me. I kept expecting him to have a go, but then he got blocked,” Sparrow added.

Crispin and Bousfield also made a slight break after seven laps, which left Storey, Walford, Proietti and Davies fighting for fifth.
Storey then started to close on the third placed duel, but Davies hadn’t given up either, despite a few off road excursions.

But into McLeans on the penultimate lap, Bousfield ran wide and Davies was through. It was enough for Crispin to seal third, while Bousfield fought back to recover fourth from team mate Davies on the last lap.

Storey completed the top six, with Walford seventh and Roads eighth, after he took Proietti on the last lap. “I had damaged the fan early on and had oil leaking onto the brakes, so was happy sitting at the back of the train,” said Proietti.

Chris Yates completed the top 10, after a hard fought battle with Marc Grasby and Brent Savage over the closing laps.

It was Sparrow to the fore again in race two, but not for long. Crispin was second into the Old Hairpin and had the lead at McLeans. Into Coppice however Sparrow and Luca Proietti went by, leaving the erstwhile leader holding off Tom Perry, Brian Heerey and Simon Clarke for third.

Proietti was inches behind Sparrow for most of lap two, as both went clear as third became another six car battle, with Perry and Clarke both demoting Crispin.

Perry managed to leapfrog both of the lead pair on lap three, making his break with Proietti, while Sparrow tried to fend off Clarke for third.
Sparrow appeared to be struggling for grip, but at the front Clarke had managed to open a gap on team mate Perry, as seven cars shared the chasing group.

Proietti’s hold on third came under threat from Heerey, after he started to drop back from the duelling Gadget pair briefly.

Perry took a brief look at his rival into the chicane on the last lap, but they held station with Clarke taking the win.

With a lap to go Heerey ousted Proietti at Redgate to secure third, but Luca retained fourth, clear of Sparrow and Crispin as they rounded off the top six. Fifth however was enough for Sparrow to become champion again. “The car was Ok for about five laps, then really wayward and sideways. So I had to back off a bit as I didn’t want to crash,” said the Champion.

Matthew Hollis was a fairly solitary seventh at the end, with Kristian Tovey eighth, after he finally overcame Julie Walford, and Martin Riman was tenth. “I needed to beat Pete Sparrow to keep the championship alive, but lost out at the chicane on the opening lap. I had oil leaking onto my brakes and was locking up at every corner, but got him and Nick Crispin for one lap, but they took me back at the Old Hairpin,” said Hollis.

This year’s championship has been more open than in recent years, a point Champion Pete Sparrow was quick to illustrate, “I have not won with out and out speed this year, there has been some serious competition , with Matthew, Luca, the Gadget boys, Nick and Brian Heerey now too. I had to work hard for it and glad it’s settled before the 24hr race.”

The 24hr race is at Snetterton on August 17th-19th weekend and will conclude this year’s 2CV Racing season in the UK.

Full results and laptimes: https://www.tsl-timing.com/file/?f=BARC/2018/1829212cv.pdf

There was no shortage of action again as the 2CV Championship visited Oulton Park with a 23 car grid.

Pete Sparrow just pipped Ainslie Bousfield for pole in race one, but it was Sparrow with the lead into Old Hall, from Bousfield, as Lien Davies and Sandro Proietti duelled for third.

As the lead quartet had started to build a gap by the end of the first lap, Nick Crispin led the chasers, with Matthew Hollis and Nick Roads on his heels.

As the top three continued to fight, Davies struggled to stay in touch, similarly Crispin had already lost out to Hollis and Roads, before Steve Walford came by too as they completed the second lap.

Already missing though were Alec Graham and Ash Carter, before Proietti joined them too. “Coming over Hilltop it caught fire as the battery had cooked itself,” said Graham. “My throttle pedal snapped when I was tucked in tight behind Ainslie, so I had to park it,” Proietti added.

Having continued line astern for the next three laps, Bousfield snatched the lead into Old Hall but was soon back to second, while Davies was still hanging on too, despite having lost his brakes.

Behind them Roads and Hollis had continued to swap and change for fourth, as Walford started to consolidate sixth. Mick Storey was up to seventh, with Crispin trying his best to hold on.

It had already been close but it got even closer, with the top three completing the seventh lap virtually side by side, before Bousfield nosed ahead again into Old Hall.

Time had almost run out but it was still any one from three onto the last lap. But as they arrived at Lodge for the final time Bousfield was still ahead, but there was contact with Sparrow. “I was defending on the inside and hit me, tucking the rear wheel under the car. It had been a good race until then,” said Bousfield.

Sparrow took the flag first on the road, but was given a 12 second penalty, dropping him to fifth behind Bousfield and handing victory to the brakeless Davies.

Roads finally held off Hollis for third, but both were promoted following Sparrow’s penalty. “My first podium,” said Roads. “We were each quicker on different parts of the track and were almost on the leaders pace. But it didn’t handle well,” Hollis added.

Storey finished a solitary sixth. “I was following Nick Crispin for a while, but his kept missing on the corners and then he finally stopped,” he said.

Storey’s next target had been Walford, and that change came a lap from home. “Steve was just in front of me, but his gear lever came off, jammed the steering wheel and he couldn’t turn so spun,” he added.

Walford still managed to hold onto seventh with Crispin retiring, while Marc Grasby and Chris Yates finished inches apart, as Nigel Hollis completed the top 10. “That equalled my best finish, but I was nearly out of fuel,” Grasby admitted. “I was so tempted to have a go at Marc into Lodge on that last lap though, “Yates added.

Debutant Darren Shepsman just missed out on a top 10, while Richard Gardiner, Roy Eastwood, Aubrey Brocklebank, John Widdowson, Brent Savage, Michael Fox and Chris Hall were the other finishers.

It was close again from the start of race two, but Sparrow led initially, from Luca Proietti, Brian Heerey and Mick Storey.

It was Proietti that started to press Sparrow for the lead on lap two, leaving Heerey and Simon Clarke to fight for third, as Storey started to fall back.

But as the top four closed up again on lap three, Tom Perry had ousted Storey for fifth and both had managed to latch back onto the lead group.

Behind them Hollis had gone solo, while Graham and Julie Walford disputed eighth, having eased clear of Grasby.

Heerey was on the move though and having taken Proietti at the beginning of lap four, he led down the Avenue a lap later, before Sparrow was back alongside at Lakeside.

Although Sparrow got back in front, it was Proietti next to challenge, as he joined Sparrow and Heerey for the charge up Clay Hill.
Sparrow led at the end of the lap, but Clarke had managed to jump Heerey and Proietti into second, until he went for a field trip at Old Hall. “I was trying to get Pete and just lost the rear end and spun into a field,” Clarke admitted after falling to ninth.

Proietti was the new leader, but Perry had managed to split him from rival Sparrow, as Heerey started to fall back.

Onto the last lap but it was desperately close, with Proietti was just holding on as Sparrow had reclaimed second from Perry. “I thought I had him held off enough at Cascades, but he was right behind and I tried to cover him,” said Proietti.

“I got him into Island, I tried to slingshot at Cascades and kept the outside line up to Island, so by Shell I was in front,” said Sparrow after clinching victory by 0.979 secs.

Perry finished a fairly solitary third, with Storey taking fourth after Heerey’s challenge faded. “Once the Gadget boys went by I got left after losing the tow, disappointed really,” said Storey.

Hollis also struggled on his way to fifth. “I lost it all on the first lap,” he reckoned. But despite his earlier excursion Clarke still fought back to sixth, with Heerey finally coming home seventh, while Walford shook off Graham for eighth, in her first race back after a broken ankle.

Crispin just rounded off the top 10 from Grasby in another troublesome race. “It was still misfiring and cutting out, an electrical problem,” he said.

Martin Riman was 12th, with Chris Yates and Katy Storey inches apart behind him. Gardiner, Nigel Hollis, Shepsman, Adam Bollons, Fox, Savage, Eastwood, Hall and Widdowson completed the finishers,

The final sprint weekend of the season is at Donington Park on July 21/22, before the annual 24 hours at Snetterton August 17-19.

No one seemed more surprised than Nick Crispin to secure a double win at a soggy Brands Hatch.

Only 0.680s covered the top seven in qualifying for the first race of the weekend, with Sandro Proietti leading the way from Lien Davies, Crispin, Matthew Hollis, Pete Sparrow, Ainslie Bousfield and Mick Storey.

But as the grid lined up the dry conditions of qualifying had turned to continuous rain and a very wet track.

It was defending Champion Davies that led the charge through Paddock, before Crispin nosed ahead into Druids. But Sparrow had the edge out of Graham Hill Bend only to run wide through Clearways and hand the advantage back to Crispin.

As the lead trio began to break away, Proietti, Matthew Hollis, Alec Graham and Mick Storey disputed fourth, while Bousfield fell back having led the group on the opening lap.

Hollis spun exiting Paddock on lap four, but a couple of laps later Crispin had a scare at the same spot, which brought Sparrow back onto his tail again. They continued inches apart over the next lap, but Crispin held on until the safety car was scrambled with Nigel Hollis off exiting Paddock.

Proietti had been fourth behind the safety car, but from the green flag rocketed into the lead, only to run wide through Clark Curve a lap later, dropping to third behind Crispin and Sparrow again.

The lead duo got away again as a queue formed behind Proietti. Davies led the pursuers which had grown to seven cars by the end of lap 12.

Crispin had managed to break the tow again from Sparrow, but the action behind went right to the flag. Crispin held on but Sparrow headed for the pitlane on the last lap after being black flagged for not having a fuel cap. “No idea why my car went so well compared with earlier. The pressure was on though and I really messed up the restart,” said Crispin. “I had started the race without the fuel cap on and was spilling fuel out, so got the warning flag,” added Sparrow.

With Sparrow not classified, Proietti off at Clearways two laps from the end, which also caught out the recovering Hollis, Davies’ engine had cut out and Graham had clipped Storey and spun him exiting Paddock, it was David O’Keeffe’s stealth that netted second, from Graham, Nick Roads and Hollis. “They all seemed to get quicker after the safety car, I stayed calm and they started to fall off,” O’Keeffe explained.

“It had been a difficult race with Pete’s fuel spilling onto a wet track, but thought third would be OK. I had a gap, some contact with Alec and the engine cut out,” Davies explained. “I had an awesome restart, they all seemed to slow as we got to the line and I went for it. But I kept losing the back end, held it then spun and Matthew caught me,” said Proietti. “I had spun earlier and then caught Sandro and lost it again,” Hollis confirmed.

Michael Fox completed the top six, with Storey recovering to hold seventh. “I was OK until the safety car and then everyone closed up. I was running OK again though until there was a big bang when Alec hit me,” Storey explained.

Brent Savage, Chris Yates and a “popping and banging” Bousfield rounded off the top 10.

It was still wet for the second race too, but Sparrow and Tom Perry shared the front row, from Storey, Simon Clarke, Fox and Matthew Hollis.

As the lights went out Sparrow held his line to lead through Paddock, with Perry initially second, from Crispin, Storey, Hollis and Clarke.

As Sparrow tried to stretch the field Crispin and Storey exchanged over second and third, similarly Hollis and Perry for fourth and fifth, as Clarke began to lose ground on his rivals.

The safety car was out on the third lap however and closed it all up again, before going green after two laps. While the top four held station, Gadget team mates Perry and Clarke began a duel for fifth.

Gradually Storey began to close in on Sparrow’s lead, leaving Crispin and Hollis duelling for third. But as the leader responded the third placed duo began to reel in Storey.

Crispin went for the inside line through Clearways with Hollis following and as they stormed passed the pits Storey was down to fourth and soon being caught by Perry.

With time running out it suddenly became any one from five for the lead after Storey had fought back to retake Crispin and Hollis two laps from home. Rounding Clearways for the penultimate time Crispin was second and inches from Sparrow, while Storey was in there too.

Perry had been in contention until his engine cut out on the last lap, but at the front Crispin just had it, securing a double win with 0.254 secs to spare over Sparrow and Storey. “I had a good start, but Pete broke the tow and we were all battling. Once I had got away from Mick and Matt I just chased for the lead, then I tripped up with a backmarker at Graham Hill Bend and Mick was there again to retake me. I managed to get him back and then just out dragged Pete to the line, great,” said Crispin.

Hollis came home fourth, “it was so nip and tuck on those last few laps and I couldn’t get through the backmarkers so well to challenge the leaders,” he admitted.

Clarke held on for fifth, from the closing O’Keeffe, while Graham, Marc Grasby and Proietti completed the top 10.

The 2CVs will be back in action again at Oulton Park on June 23^rd.

Full results: Click here

SPARROW DOUBLE BUT GADGET TAKE ENDURO SPOILS

Pete Sparrow proved unbeatable in both 2CV Sprint races at Cadwell Park, but it was master tacticians Gadget Racing to the fore in the two hour Enduro, with Lien Davies and Tom Perry victorious.

[button type=”bd_button btn_middle” url=”http://tsl-timing.com/file/?f=BARC/2018/1815222cv.pdf” target=”on” button_color_fon=”#ff0000″ button_text_color=”#ffffff” ]Full results PDF[/button]

Only 0.212 secs split Sparrow and Sandro Proietti after qualifying, but it was Proietti that nosed ahead onto the Mountain for the first time in race one, with defending Champion Lien Davies in third, from Nick Crispin, Alec Graham and Matthew Hollis.

As they crossed the line to start lap two, Davies got a monumental run down the inside into Coppice, surging passed both Proietti and Sparrow, who then went into Park side by side. “I couldn’t believe how quickly I came upon the leaders,” Davies admitted.

Sparrow stuck to his guns and was into second at Mansfield and quickly began to harass for the lead, as Proietti lost ground to come under pressure from Crispin. “It was exciting, I was on the back of Sparrow and thought we would get away until Lien got that tow. I worked well with Nick though until Pete and Lien worked together and got away again,” Proietti added.

As the lead duo started to escape, Crispin was third into Park on lap four, but Proietti stayed close as Sparrow retook Davies into Park for the lead a lap later.

There were further duels behind the lead quartet as Graham diced with Hollis and Ainslie Bousfield with Mick Storey.

As Sparrow started to build a lead, Davies, Crispin and Proietti ran in formation for second, with Proietti back into third on lap six. “We worked together to catch the leaders, but I was down on power and lost out through Hall Bends after breaking a shock absorber, maybe on the kerbs,” said Crispin.

On lap eight however the safety car was out as Ronald Mears’ car had expired on the crest of the Mountain and he was out of the car.

The safety car took the race to the chequered flag, leaving Sparrow, Davies and Proietti on the podium as Crispin just missed out. “It was all well managed but I didn’t really want to lead onto the last lap. I had a good start and it went to plan,” said Sparrow.

Graham and Hollis completed to the top six, with Bousfield retaining seventh over Storey. “It went noisy part way through the race, didn’t lose any power though,” said Graham. “Awesome start then I lost out in a pincer movement between Crispin and Graham, got sandwiched but managed to stay with Alec,” Hollis explained.

“I was in a perfect position to watch a great race until the safety car but I thought Mick would pass me as he caught me very quickly,” Bousfield added. “I could get close but not enough, the others were just too quick,” Storey replied.

Steve Walford and Nick Roads rounded off the top 10 after an entertaining duel. “I was a bit down on power, lost the tow and they got away,” said Walford.

Sparrow was on pole again for race two, but this time it was Tom Perry alongside, taking over the Davies Team Gadget car.

It was Luca Proietti however that went into Coppice locked in combat with Sparrow, but he soon lost out as Graham and Crispin got by exiting Charlies, before Proietti reclaimed third on the Mountain approach.

Sparrow briefly got away on lap two, the next four paired off, before it became a nine car lead train a lap later.

Graham put Sparrow under pressure through Coppice as Proietti waited in the wings, but Crispin had fallen back in fourth and had Perry closing in, after he had lost out at the start.

Perry was into fourth by lap four and latched onto the Graham and Proietti duel for second, which had given brief respite for Sparrow.

Proietti had second into Gooseneck a lap later, but Graham took it back exiting Charlies, continuing side by side into Park, but Perry had got passed them both.

Six cars as one and Proietti had shot back into contention to challenge for the lead, but it was now Perry in front and Sparrow had dropped to third.

A lap from home it all changed again, Sparrow led out from Proietti with Perry under pressure from Graham for third, after he ran very wide at Hall Bends and peeled part of his bodywork back.

Sparrow held on for win number two, from Proietti, while Graham snatched third on the last lap from Perry.

Crispin managed to hold onto fifth, while Matthew Hollis just held off Simon Clarke for sixth, after he demoted Kris Tovey on the last lap.

Brian Heerey and Martin Riman completed the top 10 after escaping from a three-way fight between Mick Storey, Marc Grasby and Roy Eastwood, but Katy Storey lost a front wing with last lap contact.

The varying tactics in the 2 Hour Enduro left victory uncertain until the very end.

With Graham saving all three of his 3 compulsory stops until the end, he was the hare at the head of the field. He pitted on laps 38, 39 and 40, so the hard work done in the early stages by Davies paid dividends and left Gadget team mate Perry with comfortable lead. “Lien did such a fantastic job it was just left to me to bring it home really,” said Perry after the duo took the win by a healthy 25.808 secs.

The winners may have become clear cut but it certainly wasn’t behind. Sparrow had shared with returning ex Champion Gary Adnitt and Luca Proietti had taken over from Dad Sandro, while the solo running Crispin made it a triple battle.

On the last lap it was side by side with Sparrow and Proietti, but Luca got through at the Gooseneck and allowed Crispin to challenge for third.

“I had a moment at Park, a bit heart stopping but didn’t have Sparrow’s pace either,” said Proietti, who still managed to hold onto second.

For third it was 0.013 secs but Crispin got it, despite the timing screen initially showing Sparrow. “I had got ahead of Luca and Pete, but went wide at Park, then went off at Barn and Pete had to take to the grass to avoid me,” Crispin explained. “I thought he had beaten me on the line too,” he added.

Graham finally finished in fifth ahead of Bousfield/Clarke, with Matthew Hollis seventh and Yates/Ash Carter eighth. “If holding our position was the plan, then it worked,” Yates admitted,

Grasby/Walford were ninth while Heerey/Roads came in tenth, a lap down.

Published by Peter Scherer for the 2CV Racing Club, April 16^th 2018.