Sponsors of the Euro Saloons Championship

Once again the Le Mans Saloon series were blessed with a bright, sunny day, although rain had been forecast for later in the day. After the success of the combined series race at Oulton, this format was continued, this time with a very healthy entry of 21 cars split 12-9 in favour of the Road Saloons series.

Tony Soper had resolved the Alfa Romeo GTV's engine problems since the last race, and three drivers from the Mallory race returned, Phil Libby (Sapphire Cosworth), Peter Simpson (Lancia Integrale). and Stephen Hollis (Peugeot 205GTi). Silverstone seems to suit turbocharged cars so the former two were expected to run well.
The Road Saloons series comprised the usual variety of cars with four VW Golf GTi, 3 Fiestas, and one each of Nova, Astra, Clio and 205GTi.

Qualifying
With 21 cars on track, and using the shorter National circuit, qualifying tended to be a little crowded, but good driver discipline ensured that most drivers managed to get in some clear laps and also get a feel for who they would be in close combat with during the race. At the front, the two Primeras shone, but with positions reversed from Oulton, Derek Hale getting the better of Peter Challis. The Challis' Primera had seemed to be reluctant to run smoothly during the morning. As expected the turbocharged cars of Phil Libby and Peter Simpson were showing well, qualifying in 3rd and 4th respectively with Tony Soper close behind. Trevor Nicosia brought the Lancia kappa up into 8th place with Terry di Francesco entertaining the crowd with his very sideways Escort back in tenth. Julian Brown had run into electrical problems that found him marooned at Becketts, and at the back of the grid having not completed a lap at speed.

In the Road Saloons series, Simon Taylor (Honda Civic) had put a string of quick laps together to head the group by two seconds from Lee Scott (Fiesta), behind them, once again a whole gaggle of cars separated by a couple of seconds, suggesting another good close race to come.

The Race
A flying start into the first corner saw Phil Libby lead the Primeras, with a very sideways Peter Simpson in fourth place. By the end of the first lap, the Hale Primera had taken the narrowest of leads over the Sapphire, but the Challis Primera had spun at Luffield and was forced to wait until everyone had gone by before rejoining the race in last place. This gave the crowd something exciting to watch as the Primera then carved its way through the field back to second place by lap 9. Peter Simpson had got the better of Tony Soper at the start, and held 4th place by a couple of seconds until lap 10, shortly after the Integrale slowed due to low fuel levels. These five cars then maintained the top five places until Peter Challis retired in the pit lane on lap 16, but having set the fastest lap of the race.

Further back, Trevor and Terry resumed battle from qualifying, Terry having got past at Becketts while Trevor was under attack from Jim Mepham, it took the Lancia 3 laps to get back past the Escort which continued to amaze all with its sideways behaviour. Starting at the back, with the electrical problems seemingly resolved, Julian Brown had gained 4 places on the first lap and moved slowly up the field at a pace belying his starting position, although as a result of the earlier problems, he slowed for the final laps with rising water temperatures. The di Francesco Escort had fallen back into the clutches of Jim Mepham (Golf) although his race was to come to an ignominious end as his missed his braking point while being lapped into Luffield.

Among the Road Saloons, Simon Taylor and Lee Scott both got off to a good start, maintaining their grid positions of 6th and 7th, and moving up a place when the Primera spun on the first lap. Lee Scott was proving as entertaining as Terry di Francesco with some serious sideways action in the orange Fiesta. These two maintained position throughout the race although gradually Simon pulled a few seconds clear. Behind these, a whole group of cars spent most of the race in close combat with class wins eventually falling to James Sunison (Golf), Andrew Mitchell (Astra) and Tim Hyde (205 GTi).

In the Euro Saloons championship, Peter Challis remains out front despite only picking up fastest lap points, with Julian Brown in second place and Derek Hale's win moving him up to 3rd place. In the Road Saloons championship, the leader is Simon Jackson from Simon Taylor and Jim Mepham.

Report by Trevor Nicosia, Car 10