Category: Race Reports

Entry sheet:

Race Result:

Full results sheet:http://www.tsl-timing.com/file/?f=BARC/2016/1633212cv.pdf

Class H (Hybrid):

POS	Car #	Team	Drivers	Laps
1	17	Team Seventeen MCC	C Tiggler/E Bonnan/G de Barbeyrac/J Dero	845
2	70	CGS by Comtoyou	A Renaux/C Hooreman/J Baert/S Hoorema	828
3	42	BNLL 2	A Blaise/B Crispin/C Crespin/R Coppieters	810

Class UK (Citroen 2CV):

POS	Car #	Team	Drivers	Laps
1	97	2CV Team LION 1	A Graham/D O Keefe/P Sparrow	770
2	24	Team Gadget Racing	A Bousefield/L Davies/S Clarke/T Perry	754
3	41	Twin Snails	A Brocklebank/J Northfield/M Riman/P Ro	751

Class M (Mini Grand):

POS	Car #	Team	Drivers	Laps
1	28	Slarky Malarky	I Slark/N Slark/P Tervet/S Miles	784
2	77	Team Toyshed	A Slade/C Slade/D Furzeland/S Furzeland	782
3	171	Team Mini-uns	A Tuckley/A Eason/A Shelswell/S Tuckley	774

Class P (Prototype):

POS	Car #	Team	Drivers	Laps
1	10	Piga Racing Team	C Beckers/P Minne/P Gaspar	525

Class A (Ameliorée):

POS	Car #	Team	Drivers	Laps
1	47	2CVWDR Team	B de Saeger/J Derder/S Mertens	722

Class C1 (Citroen C1):

POS	Car #	Team	Drivers	Laps
1	21	Rent Boys 1	M Cox/N Paton/P Myatt/C Wills	814
2	22	Rent Boys 2	G Thomas/J Barron/L Tyson/W Beaumont	644

 Gallery:

[AFG_gallery id=’43’]

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]

 

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!

After a very hard-fought race, in completely dry weather (something of a novelty at Snetterton), Team Stinky (Thompson/Savage/Hallgren/Yates) were the victors in the 24 hour race, taking the chequered flag after 717 laps.

Porky Boys (Jacques/Rottenburg/Lambert/Fritchley) took the 2nd step of the podium with 716 laps, just one lap behind the leaders, and Team SeaLion (Harrold/Davis/Rowland/Sparrow) took 3rd place with 714 laps completed. With just 3 laps between the top 3 cars, it was one of the closest races for many years.

The Euro class was won by BNLL/GTR (de Bonhome/Brevien/Kodeck/Coppieters) on 723 laps, ahead of the CGS Racing Team (Hooreman C/Hooreman S/Masson/Herr) with 708 laps, and in 3rd was Piga Racing Team
(Denys/Hoeyemakers/Beckers/Gaspar) with 687 laps completed.

Sammie Fritchley was racing with Porky Boys, and finishing ahead of Pete Sparrow in Team SeaLion earned her enough points to take the 2013 ECAS 2CVPARTS.COM championship victory.

Head over to our forum page for pictures, video and more reaction from the race. This news item will be updated in the coming days with more links.

Click here to see the full results PDF

Suzanne Peedell took some great photos during the race. Click here to see them.

Malcolm Edeson and the Iceni team has produced some videos. Click here, and here to see them.

Team Lumaca produced a time lapse sequence from garage 24. See that here.

More photo links: Maria’s Flickr album, Bryant Photography’s Facebook album, Team Tuckley’s album.

Results table:

Place	#	Class	Team Name	Drivers names	Laps	Gap	Time	Best	MPH	Class pos.	Diff
1	20	E	BNLL/GTR Racing	de Bonhome/Brevien/Kodeck/Coppieters	723	–	24:00:25.788	1:40.067	59.75	1	–
2	11	UK	Team Stinky	Thompson/Yates/Savage/Hallgren	717	6 Laps	24:01:01.828	1:50.764	59.23	1	6 Laps
3	43	UK	Porky Boys (&Tete Rouge)	Jacques S/Rottenburg/Lambert/Fritchley	716	7 Laps	24:01:02.150	1:50.544	59.14	2	1 Lap
4	97	UK	Team Sea Lion	Harrold/Davis/Rowland/Sparrow	714	9 Laps	24:00:39.854	1:49.003	58.99	3	2 Laps
5	70	E	CGS – Racing Team	Hooreman C/Hooreman S/Masson/Herr	708	15 Laps	24:00:26.204	1:40.727	58.51	2	6 Laps
6	36	UK	Crisis Too Racing	Wills/Roads/Tovey/Fisk	708	15 Laps	24:01:54.776	1:50.903	58.45	4	1:28.572
7	57	UK	Gadget 2	Davies/Rundle/Panas/Perry	705	18 Laps	24:01:01.166	1:50.686	58.23	5	3 Laps
8	90	UK	Team Somfy	Baker/Wildes/Thompson/Robertson	703	20 Laps	24:01:44.204	1:50.543	58.04	6	2 Laps
9	2	UK	Team Gadget Racing 1	Cowling/Clarke/Bousfield/O’Keefe	701	22 Laps	24:01:01.418	1:50.688	57.90	7	2 Laps
10	89	UK	MIM Racing	Watson/Crispin/Nordon	700	23 Laps	24:00:50.981	1:53.091	57.83	8	1 Lap
11	67	UK	Lucky Jon Racing	Twidale/Winn/Baldry	697	26 Laps	24:01:38.023	1:52.025	57.55	9	3 Laps
12	66	UK	Green Electrician	Taylor/Mason E/Tyson/Mason P	692	31 Laps	24:01:08.246	1:52.598	57.16	10	5 Laps
13	72	E	Piga Racing Team	Denys/Hoeyemakers/Beckers/Gaspar	687	36 Laps	24:00:27.764	1:50.408	56.77	3	5 Laps
14	41	UK	Team Twin Snails	Heywood/Riman/Northfield/Arrowsmith	687	36 Laps	24:01:32.405	1:54.599	56.73	11	1:04.641
15	1	UK	Rent Boys	Graham/Cox/Paton	684	39 laps	24:01:54.288	1:50.637	56.47	12	3 Laps
16	53	E	Old Time	Dalkin/Wilson/Whelan	668	55 Laps	24:01:52.227	1:45.327	55.15	4	16 Laps
17	34	UK	Chien Fou	Holman/Prior/Robinson/Taylor	665	58 Laps	24:00:28.702	1:57.816	54.95	13	3 Laps
18	10	UK	Hollis MotorSport	Hollis M/Hollis R/Hollis N	659	64 Laps	24:01:25.636	1:54.963	54.42	14	6 Laps
19	22	UK	Rosie Racing	Storey M/Storey K/Grant /Storey L	657	66 Laps	24:01:03.074	1:53.168	54.27	15	2 Laps
20	55	UK	Steve Walford Motorsport	Walford S/Walford J/Clarke/Moore	655	68 Laps	24:01:58.347	1:53.709	54.07	16	2 Laps
21	58	UK	Team Lumaca (I2F)	Crook/Rose/Seidel/Topley	631	92 Laps	24:00:54.250	1:54.154	52.13	17	24 Laps
22	26	UK	1103 Racing	Coghill/Allan/Wilkinson/Callander	615	108 Laps	23:16:10.031	1:53.493	52.43	18	16 Laps
23	50	UK	The Pie Men	Arnold/Beale/Pochin/Sadler	609	114 Laps	24:01:34.053	1:56.981	50.29	19	6 Laps
24	35	UK	Team Herbee	Cooke/Deeley/Owen	583	140 Laps	23:27:34.007	1:58.242	49.30	20	26 Laps
25	60	UK	Iceni Racing	Page/Chilleystone/Edeson/Bromley	492	231 Laps	24:00:37.127	1:53.856	40.65	21	91 Laps
26	39	UK	BCOT Racing	Wilkes/Bravo A/Bravo P/Taylor/Edwards/B	430	293 Laps	24:02:06.353	2:03.099	35.49	22	62 Laps