Category: 2014

After a pretty gruelling 24 hour race held near the rocky shores of Anglesey, the battle for the win in the UK class of the 24 hour race came down to just two cars separated by just 1 lap!

Team Sealion took the win, completing 844 laps. Behind them in second place was the Porky Boys team with 843 laps. Team Stinky completed the final podium spot with 835 laps.

In the Euro class, GT Racing BNLL took the win with 908 laps, with AG Racing Box coming second on 885 laps, and Beaufort 1 coming home 3rd with 858 laps.

The Minis were dominated by Slarky Malarky, who won with 837 laps completed. Misfits were second with 781 laps, and Team Toyshed took 3rd place with 768 laps.

The weather was extremely good during the event, with blue skies and sunshine for most of the daylight hours, a spectacular sunset, and a very dark night time. The event was held in conjunction with the 2CVGB national meeting, which was very well organised and the two events were a great success together. The party on the Sunday night was well attended and lively, considering the general lack of sleep!

More updates to be posted here, but meanwhile here’s the TSL Timing results : http://www.tsl-timing.com/barc/2014/1435212cv.pdf (see page 55 for final results)

Here is Maria’s Flickr pictures from the event: Click here

Cadwell Park is a circuit that can bring some surprises, and for rounds 8 and 9 of the 2014 ECAS 2CV PARTS.com championship, that would definitely be the case. The championship battle was almost decided – with the top two contenders of Peter Rundle and Pete Sparrow shading their closest opposition by almost 200 points. However, the battle for the title of ‘Top Pete’ was still to be decided, with Peter Rundle having just an 8 point advantage over Pete Sparrow – sharing the same car over the course of the year, they’ve scored equal points, but points for fastest laps have gone in favour of P. Rundle more times than P. Sparrow.

Qualifying for both races would be on the Saturday in the bright sunshine, and it was Pete Sparrow taking the top spot for round 8, with Mick Story taking a popular 2nd on the grid, followed by Richard Lambert. In 4th place was another popular return for Paul Robertson, Caryl Wills looked strong in 5th, and Lien Davies rounding out the top 6. Julie Walford was flying in 7th place (although a spin for her at Mansfield corner brought out the red flags) and Tony Robinson returned to the championship and qualified 8th.

For round 9’s qualifying, the ‘young guns’ were on form, and Matt Lambert took the top spot, followed by Kris Tovey, then Peter Rundle, then Louis Tyson in 4th. Mick Storey brought some experience and wisdom to the grid in 5th, then it was the Gadget team in 6th and 7th with Tom Perry and Simon Clarke. Paul Robertson qualified 8th for this round, and Glenn Oswin 9th.

Saturday night saw another popular return to 2CV racing in the form of the club barbequeue, which was well organised and attended. Thanks to all those who helped make this a success.

Sunday’s races kicked off with round 8, taking place mid-morning with more sunny weather. Mick Storey got a great start and it looked like he was going to lead into the first corner, but he was forced to give best to Pete Sparrow. Meanwhile Richard Lambert was making his way up to the front, and by the end of lap 1 it was Lambert leading, followed by Sparrow, then a hard charging Caryl Wills up from 5th. By lap 4 Wills had fought his way into the lead, with Sparrow keeping him honest, and Lambert slipping back a little in 3rd. This battle would continue at the front for several laps, with the lead changing several times over the course of a lap!

Meanwhile, further down the field, Mick Storey pulled out of the race, with fuel pickup problems, and Julie Walford tumbled to the back of the pack on lap 1, but she was able to recover. Paul Robertson decided the hairpin wasn’t exciting enough and spun himself around, rejoining with no damage. Back at the front, 3rd and 4th places had settled down in favour of Lambert and Davies respectively, but Wills and Sparrow were still at it. Sparrow would lead in the latter half of the lap while Wills would lead for the first half of the race. Sparrow would audaciously outbrake Wills into the Mountain corner each lap, but on the last lap Wills held it into the Mountain, and finished the lap – and therefore the race – in front of Sparrow. This was Wills’ first win in 2CV racing, and he was understandably delighted! Fastest lap went to Pete Sparrow, which would level out the points between himself and Peter Rundle.

For round 9, Wills’ #36 car would be out again, but this time in the hands of young charger Kris Tovey, who wasted almost no time in getting to the front of the field. The #97 of Pete Sparrow – taken over by Peter Rundle for the second race – was not in its customary position at the front, and it quickly became apparent that all was not well with the car. Rundle slipped back to the bottom of the field for a few laps, but strangely the car’s performance improved on lap 4, and Rundle was able to charge again. Sadly for him the gap to the leaders was too big, so he elected to let himself be lapped by the leaders, in order to attempt to get the fastest lap – this would enable him to extend his points lead over Sparrow.

With Rundle’s problem taking him out of the lead battle, Matt Lambert inherited 2nd place, and kept Tovey at the front honest, at least for 5 laps. At this point he lost the tow and dropped back to over a second behind. Mick Story was a constant presence in 3rd, as was Paul Robertson in 4th. 5th belonged to Steve Walford for most of the race, but problems befell his car and he retired on lap 7. Other retirees were Nick Crispin after 3 laps, and Simon Clarke, who didn’t complete a single tour.

With Walford’s demise, the battle for 5th was taken up by Oswin and Tom Perry in the #24 car. Perry was able to squeeze past Oswin on the 8th lap, and by lap 10 was putting some serious pressure on Robertson for 4th. It was not to be though, with Robertson retaining 4th place, ahead of Perry and Oswin. Matt Hollis finished 7th and Louis Tyson 8th, the two of them enjoying each other’s company for most of the race. Adam Bollons finished 9th after a sluggish start, and Tony Robinson rounded out the top 10.

Back at the front though, it was an almost easy win for Tovey, who came home in front of Lambert by just over 8 seconds. Again, it was his first win in 2CV racing, and showed that the car and its drivers are a serious threat in the championship. Meanwhile, Rundle was unsuccessful in his attempt to steal fastest lap, and so the two Petes left Cadwell Park on equal points in the championship.

With only one more race to go – the 24 hour race – which Pete will triumph for the 2014 championship?

TSL timing sheets from the event

Site gallery (Maria’s photos)

YouTube videos:

Paul Robertson, race 1:
[youtube youtubeurl=”BJLBDY2ZgZk” ][/youtube]

Paul Robertson, race 2:
[youtube youtubeurl=”MWCOfjRJD0Q” ][/youtube]

Adam Bollons, race 1:
[youtube youtubeurl=”QvKjHfuvJuM” ][/youtube]

Adam Bollons, race2:
[youtube youtubeurl=”TmP_FK9gBGM” ][/youtube]

 

Unusually for South Wales in May, the sun was beating down hard on the 21 shiny cars that entered the two sprints and the 2-hour enduro at Pembrey Circuit. Unfortunately some of those cars would be less shiny by the end!

A lap of Pembrey in a 2CV is a case of braking only twice – once for Hatchett’s hairpin, and once for Brooklands hairpin. The rest of the track is pretty much flat out, full throttle. This can make for good close racing, but can also cause serious accidents if a mistake is made in close formation. Qualifying demonstrated this, when Mike Fox’s car got out of control and was collected by Tom Perry. Both cars were sidelined for the rest of the event, with serious chassis damage.

Unfortunately for Mike Fox, he had qualified 2nd for the both races! However, it was the familiar name of Pete Sparrow topping the timing sheet for the first race, despite having 4 laps disallowed for exceeding track limits! Lien Davies qualified 3rd, with Matt Lambert 4th, then Nick Clarke, and then Simon Clarke rounding out the top 6.

With a gap in 2nd place where Mike Fox’s car should have been, and a gap in 3rd place where Lien Davies should have been (he was sharing his car with Tom Perry), the first race got under way and all expected Sparrow to take off into the lead never to be seen again, but Simon Clarke was able to push Sparrow all the way to the finish – with just 0.178 seconds between them at the end. Clarke made a few attempts at claiming the lead, but Sparrow was able to claim back the lead each time. Things were more unsettled for 3rd place honours, with Matt Lambert initially leading over Nick Clarke, Sammie Fritchley and Steve Walford, but with Lambert, Nick Clarke and Walford all receiving penalties for exceeding track limits, 3rd was eventually claimed by Glenn Oswin who had made his way up from 8th. Fritchley took 4th just ahead of a close pack of cars consisting of Matt Hollis in 5th, Caryl Willis in 6th and Hugh McCurrich in 7th. Nick Clarke finished 8th with his penalty, and Nick Crispin narrowly fought off Adam Bollons to finish 9th and 10th respectively.

The second qualifying was dominated again by Peter Rundle in the #97 Sealion car, with Mike Fox taking 2nd spot. Mick Storey, in a different car from the one he was driving in the first race (which ran out of brakes!) lined up 3rd, followed by Simon Clarke, Nick Roads and Glen Oswin. Kris Tovey qualified 7th, and then another gap in the starting grid as 8th was claimed by Tom Perry, who would be unable to take the start due to his damaged chassis.

As the second race got underway, it became clear that Rundle was not going to have it all his own way – due to a series of engine failures, the Gadget team were running a replacement engine supplied by Sammie Fritchley, and Clarke was feeling fast and punchy. Lap after lap saw Clarke attempt to get past Rundle, particularly down to the turn one hairpin, and it was only some bold defensive driving on the part of Rundle that prevented the pass. Nonetheless, Clarke managed to get past Rundle on a couple of occasions, and on the last corner of the last lap had just about managed to wrest the lead from Rundle to take the victory – the first win for a different car this season. Mick storey led home the chasing pack for 3rd place ahead of Nick Roads, Glenn Oswin, Kris Tovey and Julie Walford.

Incidents further down the pack resulted in Sean Sidley losing his brakes and spinning into turn 1, collecting the car of Adam Bollons. Katy Storey was tagged by a sideways Nick Crispin and then spun into the side of Richard Lambert’s car, causing quite a lot of damage, and Steve Panas’ engine expired on lap 3. Overall, quite a race of attrition in the end.

The 2 hour enduro took place on the Sunday, and featured most of the drivers who had taken to the track the day previously, with a couple of additions. Sparrow and Rundle took pole in the Sealion car, Simon Clarke in second, and Louis Tyson and Sammie Fritchley shared the car which qualified 3rd. In the race, the duo of Sparrow and Rundle dominated the proceedings, but 2nd place was an interesting battle between Richard and Matt Lambert (#43 car) and Simon Clarke and Lien Davies (#6 car). Sammie Fritchley and Louis tyson were also in the mix certainly in the early stages, and with 3 pit stops expected of each team (to allow up to 4 drivers) during the 2 hour race, it was anyone’s guess as to who would finish in second. In the end though it was the Lambert car that took 2nd place honours over Clarke/Davies by a margin of 7 seconds. 4th place went to Steve and Julie Walford, 5th was the partnership of Kris Tovey and Caryl Wills, 6th was Nick Crispin (on his own) and 7th was the Roads/McCurrich entry. A great race with battles up and down the order, and some tense moments in the pits too!

Click here to download timing sheets and full results from TSL

Click here for some YouTube video links from various cars.

Maria’s Flickr album for the weekend

Next race is at Cadwell Park circuit in Lincolnshire. Don’t miss it!

With the weather set to be ‘changeable’ at Croft Circuit near Darlington for rounds 3 and 4 of the 2014 2CVparts.com championship, many in the paddock were hoping for a change at the front of the field. Could anyone overcome the dominance of Peter Rundle and Pete Sparrow in the #97 Sealion Car?

During qualifying, which for both races was held on the Saturday, the answer looked to be ‘no’, with Pete Sparrow in pole for race 1, and Peter Rundle in pole for race 2 on the Sunday. However many in the paddock thought that the gap between the Sealion car and the rest of the field was not as big as at Oulton.

Race 1 got underway in drying conditions very late on Saturday afternoon. Sparrow got a great start, with Richard Lambert and Simon Clarke in hot pursuit. The race stayed pretty much in this order until the last lap when an audacious move by Clarke put him in 2nd place across the finish line, only 1.7 seconds behind Sparrow. The race for 4th onwards was more closely contested, with Sammie Fritchley holding on for 4th, ahead of Mick Storey and Lien Davies. Another gap behind those, and there was a good battle for 7th, with Adam Bollons taking the honours, having fought his way from 11th on the grid after some electrical problems in qualifying. He was tailed by Steve Panas, Matthew Hollis and Mike Fox, but it was anyone’s guess until the last corner what order those would come through in! Everyone finished the race, but Glenn Oswin was not classified, having pitted a few times to try and cure the carburettor problems he was having.

Race 2 took place in the middle of the afternoon on the Sunday, and just before the cars went into the assembly area the skies darkened and the rain began to fall. Lightly at first, meaning the track was greasy to begin with, but as the race progressed the track became steadily more wet. This produced an odd situation in a 2CV race – the leading 3 cars became very strung out, and at one stage Rundle (taking over from Sparrow) was leaving by more than 30 seconds over Matt Lambert (taking over from Richard Lambert). Initially in 3rd place was Steve Panas, but he started to slip down the order after lap 4. Taking his place was a very pleased Glenn Oswin – carburettor problems now resolved and his car running very well. Oswin was caught by the end by the charging Steve Walford, but Steve was unable to force Oswin into a mistake, and the pair finished in that order, less than a second apart but 8 seconds behind second place Lambert.

5th place was hotly contested again, and Fox, Bollons and Panas were all involved, as well as Nick Clarke – taking over from Mick Storey. Bollons started in 7th, dropped back to 10th again thanks to electrical woes, but fought back to reclaim 7th. Mike Fox was challenging hard for various places with Nick Clarke, and Panas was battling to stay with the pack. In all, places 5th to 11th were separated by less than 6 seconds. Fox took 5th, then Nick Clarke, Bollons, Panas, Simon Clarke and Kris Tovey rounding out the top 10.

A great couple of days of racing action, and all cars finished both races relatively intact! The teams and drivers are now looking forward to 2 sprint races and a 2 hour enduro at Pembrey circuit in South Wales.

 

Click here to download the results and timing sheets from TSL.

Pictures from the event:
Maria’s Flickr: Gallery

 

YouTube videos:

Sean Sidley in race 1:
[youtube youtubeurl=”3X4wtEySEQI”][/youtube]

James Dartiailh in race 2:
[youtube youtubeurl=”OFprHUeQK9w”][/youtube]

Adam Bollons in qualifying 1:
[youtube youtubeurl=”uanE54hqh9M”][/youtube]

Adam Bollons in qualifying 2:
[youtube youtubeurl=”6b98vEdfpDA”][/youtube]

Adam Bollons in race 1:
[youtube youtubeurl=”YdZhd9WdwMs”][/youtube]

Adam Bollons in race 2:
[youtube youtubeurl=”38jEAmuFLJw”][/youtube]

Mick Storey in race 1:
[youtube youtubeurl=”Bg5cAkyhaQU”][/youtube]

Nick Clarke in race 2:
[youtube youtubeurl=”KQMyGqBH33s”][/youtube]

After a slightly damp start to qualifying, the sun came out for the 2 championship races and one extra non-championship race at Oulton Park in Cheshire. 25 cars took to the track for race one, with Pete Sparrow in pole, having dominated (by a clear 2 seconds) a greasy early morning qualifying session.

Sparrow led the race from start to finish, but up at the front the main battle was between Neil Savage, Richard Lambert and George Russell, with Mike Fox also in the mix. The race for 2nd place was eventually won by Neil Savage on the track, but a 5 second penalty for exceeding the track limits meant Savage was demoted to 3rd. George Russell, debuting in the Gadget team for this race in order to earn some signatures on his racing licence, took 2nd place, and Mike Fox finished a very respectable 4th. After initially fighting for second place, Richard Lambert eventually finished in 6th place, behind Matt Hollis in 5th.

For the second race qualifying session, Peter Rundle took over the 97 Fine Print car from Pete Sparrow, and kept the name ‘Pete’ at the top of the timing sheets by putting the car on pole. Only 24 cars took part this time as Nigel Hollis’ car was not ready for the session. Rundle got a great start and never looked like losing the lead, but Simon Clarke in the #6 car was snapping at his heels pretty much all race. 3rd place was more hotly contested between Sammie Frichley and Matt Lambert (taking over from his father, Richard) – eventually going the way of Lambert, and George Russell was again making his presence felt in 5th, before dropping to 7th, promoting Matt Hollis to 5th and Tom Perry to 6th.

The 3rd race was again dominated by the name ‘Pete’, with Rundle taking top spot once again in qualifying. However, he elected to start flat last and work his way to the front for this non-championship race, managing to make the lead by the end of lap 2. Chris Yates, who had led the race early doors, slipped into 3rd, and finally down to 5th after some brake problems and running out of talent. Mike Fox started 4th and got into 3rd, scrapping with Matt Lambert who eventually finished ahead in 2nd. Kris Tovey started 2nd but slipped back to 4th right behind Fox, and Matt Hollis rounded up the train for 3rd place, back in 6th. But the day belonged to Peter Rundle and Pete Sparrow, sharing the #97 Fine Print car, which earned pole and won every race.

Click here to download the full results sheet from TSL timing, in PDF format.

Some Flickr sets from the race day:

• Wiganworryer
• Lightprism
• Maria’s set

Join us next time for 2 races at Croft Circuit near Darlington, sure to be a great weekend’s racing!