|
Win for John Hammersley, extends championship lead to 12 points
Class wins for Jason Holmes, Nigel Ainge and Simon Jackson
The first ever visit to Donington Park for the LMA Euro Saloons. Hot, sunny weather and for the first time this season competitors could have left their wet tyres behind. But the hot sunshine would bring its own
problems with both cars and drivers in danger of overheating.
Qualifying
Tony Soper's Alfa Romeo GTV6 looked in fine fettle on its return to the championship having missed the last round, and was
making the running at the front. With his final lap in qualifying being his fastest, pole looked to be on, but championship leader John Hammersley (Vauxhall Cavalier) put in one last effort to take pole by 0.644
seconds from Soper, with Martin Byford's Renault Clio 3rd close behind.
The last round at Mallory Park had been hard on the Super Tourers, and with the Honda Accords of Hale and Blanckley absent, as well as
the Nissan Primera of Peter Challis, Richard Hawken had reason to feel confident. Alas his Primera succumbed to injector problems and would not run cleanly. Despite this, Hawken still qualified in 4th place just a
second behind Byford, but would withdraw from the race. Alex Schooledge was even less lucky, his Vauxhall Vectra refusing to start, ending his day.
The rest of the field was backed up together, with Jason
Holmes' Rover Tomcat leading Class B in 5th place by just 24/1000ths from Matt Hale's Vauxhall Vectra. With Ian Craig's BMW M3 next just 4/10ths further back, the battle for Class B honours looked like it would be
exciting. Nigel Ainge (Honda Integra) headed the Class C cars by a second from Jim Mepham (Renault Megane) and championship contender Stuart Jefcoate (Porsche 911).
Race
First off after lunch, the
spectators were provided with a spectacle, aided and abetted by a knowledgeable commentator. Soper got away first but Byford took the lead from Soper and Hammersley by Old Hairpin. Two laps in and Soper got past
Byford, the three leaders separated by less than 4/10ths as they crossed the line at the end of lap 3. Hammersley moved up into 2nd the following lap while Byford hung on gamely. Hammersley kept the pressure on
Soper at the front, upping the pace to set fastest lap on lap 8, and then taking the lead at Redgate on lap 9. Soper responded with both drivers trading laps in the 1:18s, the pace now too hot for Byford who was
falling away at 2 seconds per lap. A big effort over the last three laps saw Soper pull back to within a second but Hammersley took the win.
Jason Holmes looked in for an easy ride to Class B making a good
start while Matt Hale and Ian Craig got involved in a contest with the fast starting Trevor Nicosia (Lancia kappa). Nicosia got up to 5th on lap 2 and set about chasing down the 5 second deficit to Holmes, but under
considerable pressure from Hale, and then Nigel Ainge. Craig was first to fall by the wayside on lap 5 with gear linkage problems. Ainge got by Nicosia into 5th with one lap to go, to take the Class C win and missed
out on 4th to Holmes by just a quarter of a second. Nicosia's Lancia expired on the last lap allowing Matt Hale through to take 6th place. Simon Jackson took the reshelled Vauxhall Nova to his 5th Class E win of the
season despite missing qualifying due to leaving his harness in the garage.
Race:
Winner: John Hammersley (Vauxhall Cavalier), 2nd Tony Soper (Alfa Romeo GTV6), 3rd Martin Byford (Renault Clio),
4th Jason Holmes (Rover Tomcat), 5th Nigel Ainge (Honda Integra), 6th Matt Hale (Vauxhall Vectra)
Class Winners: Class A Hammersley, Class B Holmes, Class C Ainge, Class E Simon Jackson (Vauxhall Nova)
Fastest lap: Hammersley 1:18.148 (90.16mph)
With support from Mark Fish Motorsport and Alpha Composites
Report by Trevor Nicosia, Car 10 ( www.nyssaracing.com )
Click here for more photos from the Donington paddock
|
