Category: 2015

After a particularly wet 24 hour race at Anglesey circuit, 2014 winners Team Sealion have emerged as the winners of the UK Club class, completing 745 laps of the twisty Welsh track in the twenty-four hour period. It wasn’t all plain sailing for Sealion (Pete Sparrow, Jon Davis, David O’Keeffe and Alec Graham) who actually broke their chassis at one point in the race, and 2nd place finishers Porky Boys really looked like favourites for a time. Porky Boys (Richard Lambert, Matt Lambert, Francis Rottenburg, Steve Jacques) also had struggles with reliability – succumbing to a broken driveshaft which was fixed after a lengthy stop in the pits, but still managed 742 laps. 3rd in the UK Class was Rent Boys Racing 2 (Nick Paton, Philip Myatt, Meyrick Cox) who also had a strong charge but needed some pit repair time late on, finishing only one lap behind Porky Boys, and 4th was Franglais Racing (Peter Rundle, Ali Topley, Laurent Dallet) – their first time as a team – who completed 739 laps.

Taking top honours in the Euro class, and the winners overall were Seventeen by Speedeuch (de Roissart/de Barbeyrac/Bonnan/Tiggeler) completing 800 laps of the race and never really bested. 2nd place was the late-entered Van Gysegen team (Beaufort/Wathelet/Jamar/Wowk/Van Gysegen) and 3rd were regular competitors CGS Racing Team (C Hooreman/S Hooreman/A Renaux).

The Mini honours were taken this time by Team Toyshed (A Slade/C Slade/S Furzeland/D Furzeland), who completed 728 laps, only 17 seconds ahead of Lyford Racing (N Lyford/J Lyford/I Manners/M Burnett) at the chequered flag! Team Misfits (N Fearnley/S Tuckley/A Tuckley/T Moseley) came home 3rd in the Mini class with a steady drive, and an honourable mention to 4th placed Slarky Malarky (S Miles/I Slark/N Slark/P Tervet) who became the only Mini team so far to change engines during a 24 hour race, which they completed in about an hour and a half! Baulk rings in the gearbox preventing them from selecting 3rd was the reason for the change.

And finally the Economy Class was won by its only entrant, Jelly Snake Racing (Ash Carter, Chris Hall, Ian Beale, Ian Arnold), who completed 659 laps and were still able to beat some of the regular Club Class cars despite having less engine power, and despite some incidents which resulted in bodywork damage.

There was a lot of action in the pits during the event as well as on the track as many of the cars suffered problems due to the wet weather, or suffered damage as a result of collisions or going off-track. The atmosphere remained very upbeat in spite of the damp however, and off-track activities included a fancy dress competition, with the proceeds going to the air ambulance charity.

Revisit the commentary from Downforce Radio which was broadcast during the event: http://www.spreaker.com/show/2cv-24h-race-radio-with-elim-citroen

Photo Gallery: click here

Results/timing sheets: TSL

 

The fourth meeting of the 2015 2CVparts.com championship saw the racers head up to Croft Circuit near Darlington. With its medium-fast corners and bumps, it’s a challenging circuit, and the local supporters are vey knowledgable and love a good race. Fortunately the 2CVs were able to provide them with 2 great sprint races and an intriguing 2 hour enduro!

Qualifying for the 1st sprint race was relatively incident free, except for a blown engine for Nigel Hollis and a non-starting car for Adam Bollons. Pete Sparrow took pole position by 1 second, with Matt Hollis flying into second place. Nick Crispin was 3rd and Kris Tovey 4th, then Philip Myatt, Caryl Wills, Richard Lambert, Mick Storey, Glenn Oswin and Simon Turner making up the top 10.

“Incident free” is a phrase that definitely could NOT be applied to the first sprint race, held on the Saturday afternoon. After the start, the race order was the same as qualifying order, with the exception of the fast starting Phil Myatt squeezing up to 4th ahead of Nick Crispin and Kris Tovey moving up to 3rd. Matt Hollis, Myatt and Sparrow battled for the lead for the first few laps, but then a misjudged overtake move on the inside of Sunny corner by Nick Crispin saw him spin Myatt around, resulting in both of their cars suffering damage and not finishing. This promoted Tovey to 2nd and Lambert to 3rd. Caryl Wills pitted at the end of lap 2, as did Adam Bollons with more engine difficulties. A lap later, Steve Walford retired the #55 car with a flipped up bonnet – somehow he’d managed to lose the front left wing which left the bonnet insecure.

At the front, Sparrow and Tovey kept each other honest, and despite Tovey taking the lead on a couple of occasions towards the end, the race finished in Sparrow’s favour. Quite a long way behind at this point was the epic scrap for 3rd place, which had been going Matt Hollis’ way until he slipped back. In his place came Richard Lambert briefly, before he also slipped back to 5th. A delighted Paul Taylor was able to pick up the pieces and steal 3rd at the end from Sammie Fritchley 4th, Lambert in 5th, and then Simon Turner in 6th after an early spin at the Complex. 7th was Richard Hollis, then Mick Storey, Mike Fox, and Nick Clarke rounding out the top 10.

Qualifying for the second sprint race took place on the Sunday morning, and with the returning David O’Keefe taking over from Pete Sparrow only lining up 10th, the top of the timesheets was claimed by Kris Tovey. Nick Crispin qualified a season-best 2nd, Phil Myatt 3rd, Tom Perry 4th and Caryl Wills 5th. Louis Tyson’s car ended up parked at the back of the circuit afjust just 2 laps with a smoking engine, and David Beatty didn’t take part in the session due to engine problems.

Come the race, Tovey held the lead on the first lap, but O’Keefe made a great start and by the end of the first lap he was in 3rd, making it up to 2nd place on lap 2. O’Keefe and Tovey would scrap for the lead for most of the race. Behind them, Tom Perry and Nick Crispin battled it out for 3rd place, with Wills remaining in 5th, Mick Storey in 6th, and Matt Lambert in 7th, recovering from a poor start. The order remained the same for quite a few laps with the leading two swapping places occasionally, but on lap 8 the order got well and truly shook up! After managing to get past Tom Perry, Nick Crispin dropped back a few places in the fight for 3rd place, and Matt Lambert was able to capitalise on the chaos and move up to 4th. However, up at the front disaster struck Kris Tovey, who missed a gearshift and over-revved the engine. As his car coasted to a halt, an absolutely flying Matt Lambert took the lead, followed closely by O’Keefe, Perry and Wills, with Crispin and Storey hanging on to their coat-tails. A lap later and Wills was forced to park up and retire his car, and Crispin was passed by Storey, who’d managed to set the fastest lap of the race on lap 4! Meanwhile at the front it was a close battle and O’Keefe used all his experience to squeeze past Lambert in the complex on the last lap and snatch the victory by just 0.102 of a second! Perry took 3rd, Storey 4th, Crispin 5th, and then Glenn Oswin 6th, Julie Walford 7th, then Alec Graham, Louis Tyson with a new engine 9th, and Richard Hollis closed out the top 10.

Qualifying for the 2 hour enduro race took place just before lunch on the Saturday. The Gadget Racing entry of Simon Clarke, Sammie Fritchley and Tom Perry took the top spot, followed by Crisis Racing 3 (Kris Tovey), Axtron Limited (Richard and Matt Lambert) in 3rd, Myatt Racing in 4th (Phil Myatt) and Crisis Too Racing (Lien Davies/Caryl Wills) 5th.

At the start of the enduro race the usual suspects were up at the front battling – Phil Myatt took an early lead, with Rosie Racing (Mick Storey/Nick Clarke) in close attendance. The Sealion car of Pete Sparrow/David O’Keeffe/James Winstanley initially shot up the order from 7th but fell back into the mid-pack after the initial charge. After a very long pitstop in the middle of the race they managed to claw back some places to finish 6th. Despite qualifying 3rd and challenging for the lead early doors, the Axtron entry was stationary in the pits for several minutes during the middle part of the race, and slipped well down the order. Crisis 3 kept up a very steady pace the whole race long and came home 2nd, Phil Myatt similarly had no issues and took the last of the podium spots, and then MIM Racing (Nick Crispin) took 4th with a steady drive, and Tete Rouge 5th after a slightly lengthy mid-race pitstop. But the winners after 2 hours of superb driving and quick pitstops were Gadget Racing! Simon Clarke, Sammie Fritchley and Tom Perry rightly very happy with their result.

Photo gallery: Click here
TSL results PDF: www.tsl-timing.com/file/?f=BARC/2015/1528212cv.pdf

Youtube videos:

Kris Tovey’s onboard – race 1:
[youtube youtubeurl=”dNQnMWe5kmI” ][/youtube]

Kris Tovey’s onboard – race 2:
[youtube youtubeurl=”vuoRf0PLeTs” ][/youtube]

Peter Rundle’s onboard from the enduro race:
[youtube youtubeurl=”iSoiZlHC4FA” ][/youtube]

Drivers’ favourite Cadwell Park was the destination for rounds 5 and 6 of the 2015 2CVPARTS.COM championship. Often described as the “Mini Nordschleife” because of its many hills and challenging corners, it’s always been a thrilling place for a 2CV race.

With the weather set very fair for the entire weekend, qualifying for race 1 got underway. There were a few spins as each driver pushed the envelope, including one spectacular one from Nick Clarke at Hall Bends, and some cars succumbed to mechanical gremlins – with Phil Myatt, Christine Savage and Simon Crook all experiencing carburettor problems. Previously this year Pete Sparrow would be topping the timesheets for qualifying, but for race 1 it would be Tom Perry starting on pole after setting a blistering time of 2:06:73. Sparrow was 2nd with 2:07.39, and the on-form Caryl “DEFINITELY NOT A WOMAN” Wills took 3rd on the grid. Mike Fox was disqualified from the results of first qualifying due to missing post-session scrutineering, after becoming stuck in 3rd gear.

Qualifying 2 was also held on the Saturday (both races being held on the Sunday), and just for a change, Pete Sparrow took over Nick Crispin’s car for this race. That didn’t stop him taking pole position though, despite later finding the car had variable toe-out on the rear. Phil Myatt was 2nd on the grid after fixing his earlier carburettor woes, and Caryl Wills was once again in 3rd. Sammie Fritchley qualified a creditable 8th place in an unfamiliar car – her first race since her large shunt at Oulton Park at the start of the season.

A club BBQ was staged on the Saturday night, and some teams took the opportunity to fettle or repair their cars. Or in the case of Adam Bollons and Ash Carter, almost completely rewire Adam’s car, and replace an engine valve. Such is the friendly spirit of the club, a number of other drivers and mechanics dived in to help!

Race 1 was held on the Sunday morning, and Matt Lambert got a great start and was able to defend the lead from the chasing pack for the initial part of the race. Tom Perry was bundled down in the pack to 3rd, and swapped places with Pete Sparrow for 2nd place for a few laps before dropping a little to 4th. Caryl Wills was back to 3rd. Also in the mix were Kris Tovey in 5th in the early stages, and the 77 car of Nick Clarke up into 6th from grid 9th.

By lap 5, Sparrow had nosed into a slender lead over Lambert, but a charging Wills was challenging for, and taking, the lead by lap 7. Wills would continue to swap places with Sparrow until the end, but it was Sparrow who took the flag first at the end of the race just just a shade over Wills. Perry recovered into 3rd, demoting Lambert to 4th. 5th was Kris Tovey, ahead of Paul Taylor, Nick Crispin, Phil Myatt (recovering well from grid 21st!), Nick Clarke in 9th, and Steve Walford rounding out the top 10.

Mick Storey completed only one lap after an early coming together with Alec Graham, and Matthew Hollis was somewhat lucky to finish after a monster spin coming down from Gooseneck chicane (See video links at the bottom), which is taken almost flat out in 4th gear!

Race 2 was held later on Sunday. With Pete Sparrow now in Nick Crispin’s car and sitting on pole, it would be interesting to see if he could keep the place. In the early part of the race the lead pack was somewhat shook up, and Kris Tovey emerged as the leader, storming to the front from grid 5th. Myatt and then Sparrow keeping Tovey honest, but by lap 4 Sparrow had edged ahead of Tovey, and the race would finish with those two in that order. Behind them Matthew Hollis was in 3rd for many laps, with Richard Lambert in 5th and Louis Tyson in 6th – up from grid 10th. Tyson was on a charge, and was up to 3rd place by lap 8, but then he went a little wide at the final corner (Barn), slid off onto the grass and into the tyre barrier! Fortunately Louis was uninjured, but the accident brought out the red flags and the race was declared at that point. Sparrow took the win in Crispin’s car, with Tovey in 2nd and Richard Lambert 3rd. 4th was Matthew Hollis, Sammie Fritchley took 5th, Mick Storey was 6th and Myatt, Alec Graham, Neil Savage (up from grid 22nd!) and Jon Davis (in Pete Sparrow’s usual mount) rounded out the top 10 places.

Apart from Louis Tyson not finishing, Simon Crook was also a retiree after a snapped accelerator pedal prevented him completing the first lap.

Maria’s pics from the weekend: click here
Full results: TSL Timing

 

 

 

Footage of Louis’ last corner crash: [youtube youtubeurl=”qiP_7beHBgM” ][/youtube]
Race one from Matthew Hollis’ car: [youtube youtubeurl=”8MgwC90x-SM” ][/youtube]
Matthew Hollis’ monster spin down the Gooseneck: [youtube youtubeurl=”wgZUWIO1jXg” ][/youtube]

For the Brands Hatch round of the 2015 2cvparts.com championship, sharing the meeting with truck and Legends racing was always going to get some good crowds! Over 10,000 spectators poured into the Kent circuit to watch the 2CVs compete, and perhaps some truck racing too!

They weren’t greeted with the best weather if they turned up early – there was a cloudburst about 30 minutes before the 1st 2CV qualification session, so the track was damp and greasy. This was a surprise to many who were expecting a dry session, and the conditions caught a few out – there were several spinners, but fortunately no serious accidents.

It was business as usual at the top of the timesheets. Sparrow in 1st, with Richard Lambert just behind, then Philip Myatt, Peter Rundle and Alec Graham. Rundle was later excluded from qualifying for a technical infringement, but was able to start the race from the back of the grid. The lap times were incredibly close throughout the field, but some drivers were ‘out of place’ compared with previous form.

Naturally, during the race (which was held later the same day in dry conditions) those drivers were trying to claw back the places, which led to a fascinating mid-field scrap, featuring up to 7 cars! At the front, Pete once again showed his dominance and put a sizeable and unusual gap between himself and the rest of the field, fronted by Myatt. Lambert had made a terrible start, and was suffering from a carburettor problem – he wouldn’t be alone in suffering from this, Glenn Oswin’s car was a regular pit visitor because of a similar issue, and Simon Crook also experienced fuelling problems. Behind Myatt, Alec Graham slotted into a comfortable 3rd, and behind him it was anyone’s guess who would come out on top, and each lap there was places changed. In the mix were Kris Tovey, Nick Crispin, Paul Taylor, Matt Hollis, Mick Storey, Caryl Wills and Glen Oswin (prior to carb problems). With the exception of Oswin, they finished in that order, but it would be impossible to list here all the place changes!  Behind was another scrap for the places just outside the top 10, featuring the recovering Rundle, Tom Perry, and Lambert with his fuelling problem.

Qualifying for race 2 was held on the Saturday, but the race itself was held on the Sunday morning – both sessions were dry and sunny. Philip Myatt was on pole, with Jon Davis (taking over from Pete Sparrow) in 2nd. Then Alec Graham, Matt Lambert, Kris Tovey and Mick Storey making up the top 6. Davis started the second race well and held his position for about a lap and a half, but then the duo of Myatt and Matt Lambert took over, the two of them swapping the lead over the course of several laps. Davis meanwhile, slipped down the order to 14th place. Graham slotted into 3rd once more, and all seemed to be stable for many laps, but with Kris Tovey slowly making his way to the front after starting 6th, the order was bound to be shook up! Tovey, initially accompanied by Tom Perry and Mick Storey, arrived in the top 4 by lap 10 – Storey having risen to 3rd by this point. Graham dropped down to 5th, but by lap 15 he was back in 3rd and it was Lambert who fell back somewhat.

For a while it seemed that the order at the flag would by Myatt, Tovey, Lambert, Graham and Storey. However, with just 2 laps to go, Myatt’s engine developed a problem and he did not finish the race. that promoted Tovey into a healthy lead, helped by Graham, Lambert and Storey battling for position. Graham initially claimed 2nd, but then slid down to 4th, leaving Lambert to take a deserved 2nd, and a proud Mick Storey to take 3rd place.  With Graham in 4th, Nick Crispin, Louis Tyson, Matt Hollis, Simon Crook, Jon Davis and Julie Walford made up the rest of the top 10 spaces.

The 2CVPARTS.COM championship will be back in May for 2 more races at Cadwell Park, in Lincolnshire.

Photo gallery: Brands 2015 gallery

TSL timing sheet: http://www.tsl-timing.com/file/?f=BARC/2015/1515212cv.pdf

 

Oulton Park is always a challenging circuit to race on, but especially in the rain, and as first qualifying for the 2CVPARTS.com championship got underway, there was plenty of that in the air, and on the track!

Although there were many spinners in qualifying, most of the drivers got away with no damage, or just a few scratches. However, that wasn’t to be the case in race 1.

Richard Lambert claimed a well deserved pole position for race 1 in treacherous conditions. Behind him, a superb effort by Nick Roads secured a place alongside on the front row. 3rd was taken by Jon Davis (sharing with Pete Sparrow in the #97 Fine Print car) and 4th was Philip Myatt, returning to the series and sharing Nick Paton’s car. Glen Oswin, Alec Graham, Caryl Wills, Louis Tyson and Mick Storey rounded out the top 10.

For quite a few cars, race 1 lasted one corner. Some cars went wide onto the grass-crete on the outside of the corner, and spun back onto the track, causing others to lock up and hit each other. Much of this transpired because the pole sitter was tipped into a spin by a spinning Nick Roads. Nick finished up broadside in the middle of the track and was hit by several cars, most notably Sammie Fritchley, who had started low down the order due to an engine change. As she rounded the first corner she was unsighted by cars in front, and as they sweved to avoid the carnage, Sammie had nowhere to go but head first into the side of Nick’s car.

Despite some heavy bruising to his thigh area, Nick was able to get out of his car within minutes, but there was concern over Sammie’s condition, so an air ambulance was called to the circuit. Sammie was having trouble breathing due to serious bruising and a suspected cracked rib. Fortunately there turned out to be no broken bones.

Sammie is at home and recovering well. She said about the accident:

“I’d just like to say a huge thank you to the marshals, medical and rescue team at Oulton park on Saturday. They were fabulous and so reassuring. Very scary not being able to breathe but plenty of trained people around me to make sure I carried on! I think a new record as well of how many people can get in a 2cv! Not sure what I was most scared of; how broken I was, or how broken the car was. I do remember telling them not to cut the roof off though! Hospital staff were really good too got me scanned then up and about a few hours later full of drugs.
A huge thank you to everyone who looked after my dad at the circuit and to Paul who came to the hospital with him, he wouldn’t have coped with out you all so thanks again.
And now a huge thank you for all the texts, calls and Facebook messages. I really appreciate all your well-wishes, thanks again. I will be at Brands Hatch but not behind the wheel as I can’t hold a steering wheel yet and need to buy new race kit. Watch this space for Cadwell – I’ll be back. Thanks again everyone xxxxx“

After a long delay to clean up after the accident, and of course to wait for the air ambulance to land and take off again, race 1 resumed with most taking their original grid spots but some drivers electing to start from the pitlane. As well as Fritchley and Roads, Glenn Oswin and Alec Graham also picked up damage and did not take the restart.

With a shortened race due to the stoppages, the front-running quarted of Kris Tovey, Jon Davis, Richard Lambert, Steve Walford wasted no time in battling for the lead. Walford initially gained a place or two but slipped back to 5th. Tovey moved into a slender lead by lap 2, and while Davis and Lambert swapped places, Louis Tyson (starting 8th) slowly creeped up on the leading pack. Further back, Caryl Wills was charging through the field, and Philip Myatt slipped back due to engine problems. After 4 laps, Tovey was able to hang on for a very well deserved win in his brand new car, with Jon Davis snapping at his heels, only half a second behind. Lambert crossed the line for 3rd, followed by Tyson, Walford, Nick Crispin, Nick Clarke, Matt Hollis, Chris Yates and Caryl Wills making up the top 10. Tyson claimed fastest lap.

With a strong wind blowing and the afternoon sun finally breaking through the clouds, race 2 was a much dryer affair. 2014 champ Pete Sparrow was on pole, with Matt Lambert in 2nd and Phil Myatt in 3rd. As the lights went out, Sparrow flew into the lead and was never seen again – finishing the race 8 second ahead of the pack! Battle was resumed between car 5 and car 43 for second place, this time with Matt Lambert in #43. However at the end it was Tovey in the #5 car taking the nod at the finish for 2nd, with Lambert having to settle for 3rd. Behind them, the #44 car of Myatt/Paton began slipping down the order, again a victim of some engine gremlins. This allowed Caryl Wills to rise up the order to 3rd, before falling back down on the last lap to 9th. Also on the rise was Mick Story, taking over from Nick Clarke – starting 11th, he made it up to 4th by the finish. Matt Hollis finished 5th – an excellent race for him having started 14th!. Paul Taylor, taking over from Tyson, finished 6th, and Alec Graham, Julie Walford, Caryl Wills and Martin Fox rounded out the top 10 finishers. Simon Crook was the only non-finisher, suffering engine problems due to debris stuck in his carburettor.

Click here for a link to the TSL timing sheets

Photo gallery: Oulton 2015 Gallery

Video from Richard Lambert’s car: [youtube youtubeurl=”rrxPi_M01U4″ ][/youtube]