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Full grid for first time this season
Race wins for Derek Hale and Peter Challis
Championship leader Simon Taylor extends his lead with a double class win
Another return to Brands Hatch for the LMA Euro Saloons, this time for a double header fixture that saw a full grid of 30 cars, plus 2 reserves provide the largest entry of the weekend
meeting. The summer weather had enticed out a bumper entry with new entries from cars as diverse as a trio of MG TFs and a brace of BMW M3s.
Qualifying
As is the norm in these cases, all 32 cars
were allowed to qualify in what was plainly going to be a busy session. A clear lap would be at a premium. Despite this, the grid took a familiar look with the Nissan Primeras of Challis and Hale taking the front
two slots. Newcomer Scott Grant's BMW M3 was third from Tony Soper's Harrier, with Richard Hawken debuting his new Nissan Primera in 5th. Richard Buckley headed up Class C in his Honda Integra from 1st reserve James
Thorpe (MG TF) and Nigel Ainge (Integra). Class B was headed by Philip Latchford in the VW Vento, with John Hammersley (MG ZR), championship leader Simon Taylor (Honda Civic), Simon Jackson (Vauxhall Nova) and Alan
Duly (Ford Fiesta XR2) heading up classes D, E, F and G.
Race 1
 A good clean start saw 30 cars thunder into Paddock Bend and emerge with no drama, the Primeras of Challis and Hale temporarily split by Scott Grant's BMW. Tony Soper held
station in 4th but a spin at a very slippery Clearways on lap 2 saw him drop to last place before fighting his way back through the pack.
Hale took over the lead on lap 5 when Challis retired with a
gearbox leak and slowly pulled away from Grant now in second place, where they both finished. Tony Soper moved through the pack and eventually finished 3rd,
also earning a driver of the day award for his efforts. Richard Buckley came home 4th, and first in Class C while Philip Latchford won Class B and narrowly took 5th
overall from Mark Taylor (MG TF). The remaining classes all provided comfortable wins for John Hammersley, Simon Taylor, Simon Jackson and Alan Duly.
Race 2
The hot weather predictably took its toll in race 1 with 10 of the starters failing to finish the race. Many of these were back in action by the end of the afternoon
and the second race, although we were down to 26 starters. Hale, Grant and Soper made the early running, but Peter Challis starting from the back of the grid
made fast progress through the field and got back into early contention with the leaders. Challis moved up into 3rd on lap 6, passed Grant for 2nd on lap 8 and then
took the lead as Hale retired on lap 9 leaving Challis, Grant and Soper to finish as the top three. Buckley again took 4th and the Class C win, but dropped valuable
points for fastest lap to David Pierce (MG TF) in his quest to catch Simon Taylor at the head of the championship.
 The racing in race 2 was very close with two and three battles going on down the
field, the highlights of which saw Simon Jackson's ailing Vauxhall Nova holding off Julian Brown's Fiat Punto by 6/100ths of a second, Philip Latchford (VW Vento) and Zak (MG ZR180) being separated by the same
amount, and Richard Perks beating Matt hale to the line by 8/1000ths.
Double wins for both mean that Simon Taylor still leads the championship with 218
points from Richard Buckley (212) with Jason Holmes moving up to 3rd with 156 points.
Race 1 Overall:
Winner: Derek Hale (Nissan Primera), 2nd Scott Grant (BMW E36 M3), 3rd Tony
Soper (Harrier LR9), 4th Richard Buckley (Honda Integra), 5th Philip Latchford (VW Vento VR6), 6th Mark Taylor (MG TF)
Race 1 Class Winners: Class A Hale, Class B Latchford, Class C Buckley, Class D
John Hammersley (MG ZR 160), Class E Simon Taylor (Honda Civic), Class F Simon Jackson (Vauxhall Nova), Class G Alan Duly (Ford Fiesta XR2).
Fastest lap: Challis 52.353s (84.31mph)
Race 2 Overall:
Winner: Peter Challis (Nissan Primera), 2nd Scott Grant (BMW E36 M3), 3rd Tony Soper (Harrier LR9), 4th Richard Buckley (Honda Integra), 5th Mark Taylor (MG TF), 6th Philip Latchford (VW Vento VR6)
Race 2 Class Winners: Class A Challis, Class B Latchford, Class C Buckley, Class D John Hammersley (MG ZR 160), Class E Simon Taylor (Honda Civic), Class F Simon
Jackson (Vauxhall Nova), Class G Alan Duly (Ford Fiesta XR2).
Fastest lap: Challis 51.816s (85.19mph)
Report by Trevor Nicosia, Car 10
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