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Peter Challis returns to winning ways
Simon Taylor wins class to keep championship lead
Richard Buckley makes it 4 out of 4
Only the fourth race of the season and already a return to Brands Hatch for the LMA Euro Saloons, scene of race 1 back in March. Despite being a Bank Holiday Monday, the LMA Euro
Saloons championship mustered a 28 car entry, in marked contrast to an empty looking Paddock area on the day.
 Qualifying
Local favourite Rod Birley made his championship debut
in the Escort Cosworth WRC car and immediately set the pace with a stunning 50.709 second lap to take pole from the Nissan Primeras of Challis and Hale. 5-6 seconds off pole was a bunch of 11 cars
headed by Tony Soper, Nigel Ainge and Dave Nixon, the latter two leading classes C and B. With this many cars, close exciting racing was a certainty. Championship
leader Simon Taylor headed Class E from Lee Scott further down the grid, with classes D, F and G headed by Peter Langford, Simon Jackson and Kieran Fribbens.
Race
A good clean start with the red light held to the last moment, saw 27 cars thunder into Paddock Bend and emerge with no drama. Birley held a narrow lead from Challis,
with Hale holding station a little further back. Just as in qualifying, Soper in the ever ailing Alfa Romeo headed the rest of the pack who were swapping positions amongst
themselves. Dave Nixon had got the better of Nigel Ainge from the start, Ainge having dropped a few places had to work his way back into contention. Richard
Buckley took full advantage of this to lead Class C and as the race developed move forwards finishing second overall to Challis, his challengers Birley and Hale falling by the wayside in the second half of the race.
 The long (25 minutes) race
saw more attrition than has been usual of late. Jason Holmes succumbed to the tyre wall at McLaren after using too much kerb, Derek Hale retired through suspected wheel bearing failure, and Phillip Latchford
retired late in the race after having rebuilt the VW Vento after Silverstone, amongst others. The race ended with a clear lap victory for Peter Challis (Class A) from Richard Buckley (Class B) with Dave
Nixon heading Class B a further lap down. Nigel Ainge worked his way back up to 5th with Trevor Nicosia bringing the Lancia kappa home in 6th.
Kieran Fribbens nursed home his Fiesta with a sick engine to win Class G and maximise the playing of his joker, the points haul pulling him well clear of the non-finishing Alan
Duly. Classes D and F were won by Peter Langford who played his joker, and Simon Jackson in his freshly repaired Vauxhall Nova.
Wins for both mean that Simon Taylor still leads the championship with 108 points from Richard Buckley (106) with Dave Nicxon and Stuart Jefcoate moving up to 3rd with 88 points.
Overall :
Winner: Peter Challis (Nissan Primera), 2nd Richard Buckley (Honda Integra), 3rd Dave Nixon (Rover 220 Turbo), 4th Julian Howell (Rover Mini), 5th Nigel Ainge (Honda Integra), 6th Trevor Nicosia (Lancia kappa)
Class Winners: Class A Challis, Class B Nixon, Class C Buckley, Class D Peter Langford (Ford Fiesta Si), Class E Simon Taylor (Honda Civic), Class F Simon Jackson
(Vauxhall Nova), Class G Kieran Fribbens (Ford Fiesta).
Fastest lap: Challis 51.562s (85.61mph)
Report by Trevor Nicosia, Car 10
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