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Those who camped in the paddock on Saturday night could have been forgiven that Hurricane Ivan had taken a wrong turning somewhere east of Cuba, but we awoke to bright sunshine. A late start
was somewhat negated by the Mallory Park layout, there is no bridge to the inner paddock so competitors have to drive the wrong way down the track from Shaws. If you arrive late you have to wait for a gap between
sessions.
Qualifying
One such late arrival was Richard Hill, qualifying looked like it was going to start twenty minutes early, but by the time we waited for Richard, it was on time. One again the
two Nissan Primeras set the pace, with Peter Challis topping the list with a stunning 48.95 second lap, at an average speed of over 99mph. Peter Simpson qualified in an excellent third place ahead of Tony Soper, but
Peter was concerned that his Lancia integrale might not have enough fuel for the scheduled 25 minute race, our longest so far this season. Matt Hale qualified in fifth just ahead of leading Road Saloons driver Ian
Kirk in the Honda Civic. At the back of the grid, one second covered five cars, including the Fiesta of Lee Scott who had recovered from his bonnet flipping open as he drove out onto the track.
The Race
A late afternoon race, the day had turned dull and windy, but the rain which had been forecast held off. Unlike most circuits where the cars form up on the grid and then complete the rolling lap, at Mallory the
forming up is done in the assembly area and the rolling lap starts there. At the start, Derek Hale got the drop on Peter Challis and was to hold that lead for the first lap until Peter got ahead, a lead he was never
to lose. Tony Soper got the better of Pete Simpson and maintained a small gap for the first half of the race until overheating problems slowed him and allowed the Lancia to pass the Alfa Romeo, Matt Hale also
getting past Tony in the latter stages of the race to claim what would turn out to be third place. Far from running out of fuel, Pete Simpson ran out of tyres, his outside front tyre failing four laps from the
finish. Despite only qualifying 2/10ths in front of Paul Connell, Ian Kirk was in confident mood, although Paul Connell's demise after only six laps made his Road Saloons win much more comfortable, with Lee Scott a
distant second.
At the back of the race, Trevor Nicosia's promising start was wiped out on lap 4 when he accidentally switched off his engine allowing the five cars behind to catch and pass him. A last lap
dive up the inside of Chris Broad at Shaws completed a comeback to 8th place having repassed 3 of the 5 cars, Paul McIntyre having retired earlier.
Championship
Peter Challis played his joker for
this race and with maximum points moves up into second place, but still 16 points behind Tony Soper with just the double header at Snetterton to come. Trevor Nicosia moves ahead of the non-finishing Pete Simpson by
two point, but just two points further back is Derek Hale who has yet to play his joker. Should be an exciting finish to the season at Snetterton next month.
Ian Kirk's win moved him up into contention in the
Road Saloons series 13 points behind leader Simon Taylor, with Simon Jackson in third With this final round at Snetterton being a double header, there should be an exciting finish to the season.
Report by Trevor Nicosia, Car 10
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