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An early season start, some four weeks earlier than the equivalent race last season, saw many of the LMA Euro Saloons competitors absent due to cars not being ready, including those of Pete Simpson, Trevor Nicosia
and Derek Hale (3rd, 4th, and 5th in 2004), Matt Hale (2004 Class D winner) and Simon Jackson (runner-up Class F). Despite this, it was encouraging to see many new competitors giving us 22 cars on the grid, a figure
only beaten by one other race on the day.
Qualifying
A qualifying slot just after noon meant that plenty of cars had already been out on track in the previous events, and despite the cold weather,
track grip seemed to be good. Early season woes were affecting Tony Soper (loss of 4th gear) and Chris Broad ("running like the choke is out"). It was little surprise to see defending 2004 champion Peter Challis
(Nissan Primera) get his defence off to a flying start by heading the qualifying charts by over 2.5 seconds, but then the times closed up with Tony Soper (Alfa Romeo GTV) just taking 2nd from the Class B Rover
Tomcats of Dave Nixon and Nigel Ainge. Stuart Jefcoate (Porsche 911) was heading Class C narrowly from Richard Perks (Honda Civic). Further down the grid, last year's Road Saloons champion Simon Taylor (Honda Civic)
headed Class E from Michael Collins (Vauxhall Astra) and Ian Kirk (Honda Civic), while in Class D Ray Tunney's Ford Fiesta was too quick for Tim Morgan-Barrett's VW Golf. With a lot of close groupings between
diverse cars, an exciting race looked to be in store.
Race
21 cars took to the grid, one having succumbed engine failure in qualifying. The familiar rolling start went well with Tony Soper making
a daring move round the outside of Paddock bend to take the lead, only to be passed on the run up to Druids by Peter Challis, that lost 4th gear costing him heavily. At the end of the first lap, Challis had pulled
out a one second lead from Soper, the Tomcats of Nixon and Ainge and Jefcoate's 911 being 2-3 seconds further back.
First and only casualty of the race was Ian Collins (Proton Coupe) who rounded Druids on the
first lap very slowly and limped into retirement. Challis was pulling away from Soper at around a second per lap, the Tomcats losing 2-3 seconds per lap. Further back some interesting groupings were running in close
combat. Steve McIntyre had moved up from the Road Saloons classes in his VW Golf and was off to a flying start heading Class C rivals Richards Buckley (Honda Integra) and Perks in the early laps. Kirk, Taylor,
Andrew Ludlow (Rover Metro) and Jason Holmes (Tomcat) were running with barely a second covering the four places. Holmes made a break from the pack, but Ray Tunney moved up the keep the 4 car train circulating
together.
As the race progressed, Buckley moved up through the field closing up gradually on Jefcoate until passing him for the Class C lead on lap 22, easing away for the Class win. At the front Challis had
controlled the back back to Soper and ran out winner to start his title defence with maximum points. The Class B Tomcats of Nixon and Ainge finishing 3rd and 4th as they had run all race. Further back, the 4 car
battle for 10th place saw Kirk, Taylor and Ludlow swapping places regularly although the extra power of the Civics looked certain to tell in the end. With two laps to go, both Civics were passed the Metro, but
Ludlow fought back and passed Taylor. Coming into the final bend at Clearways, it was anyone's race. Ludlow came round the inside to pass Kirk and looked set for 10th place, but the Civic's superior power told and
the crowd were treated to a drag to the finish line. The Civics went either side of the Metro, Kirk made it to the finish by 3/10ths to take 10th place, Taylor passed Ludlow just after the line and lost 11th place
by 2/100ths of a second.
Ray Tunney and Stuart Jefcoate played their joker for the race and thus take an early lead in the championship (44 and 36 points respectively) with Challis, Nixon and Buckley all on
22 points. The Driver of the Day award went to Tim Morgan-Barrett.
A great race, a great opening event to the season. With many of the missing cars expected back for the next round at Silverstone (Apr 10),
there should be even more competition for places.
Winner: Peter Challis (Nissan Primera), 2nd Tony Soper (Alfa Romeo GTV), 3rd Dave Nixon (Rover Tomcat), 4th Nigel Ainge (Rover Tomcat), 5th Richard Buckley
(Honda Integra), 6th Stuart Jefcoate (Porsche 911)
Class Winners: Class A Challis, Class B Nixon, Class C Buckley, Class D Ray Tunney (Fiesta), Class E Ian Kirk (Honda Civic), Class F Chris Broad (Astra), Class G
Kieran Fribbens (Fiesta)
Report by Trevor Nicosia, Car 10
Click here for more pictures from the Brands Hatch pits & paddock
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