Brands Hatch 2015

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 2015

IMG_0886Oulton 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.

IMG_0933For 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

IMG_0853After 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.

IMG_0945With 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]

 

Team Sealion steal the show at the 24 hour!

10661836_10152768176751834_4228851618483063417_oAfter 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.

IMG_8719The 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 2014

14789105423_5a09583edd_oCadwell 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.

14766141161_4d694ec18c_oFor 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!

14746269916_f9b419443b_oMeanwhile, 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.

14582681249_49ea36cfb6_oWith 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.

14582509520_9761009815_oWith 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]

 

Pembrey 2014

14222445352_fd4fb9e8ab_oUnusually 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.

14038132939_89ef2cf6a3_oUnfortunately 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.

14038146369_23e77af604_oThe 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.

14038122308_8e4b7cfbe4_oIncidents 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!

14244955893_abff50ec35_oClick 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!

Croft 2014

14070825993_73f1993218_oWith 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.

14047550342_3548a89f57_oRace 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.

14051201104_00d20e37f7_oRace 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.

14051300204_2153798212_o5th 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.

 

14027662416_e62d388152_oClick 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]

Oulton Park 2014

13515542893_4703aa26cf_oAfter 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.

13515585563_631b9560de_oFor 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.

13515460135_f3f6f2a2dc_o

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.

13515477445_34c863e169_oClick here to download the full results sheet from TSL timing, in PDF format.

Some Flickr sets from the race day:

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

Team Stinky wins the 2013 24 hour race!

Photo: Adam Drury
Photo: Adam Drury

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