Strange how things work out. Last year we took part in the last ever race meeting at the old Anglesey circuit. One year later here we are at the new Anglesey circuit for the first time that the full International layout was to be used. One thing that hadn't changed for those attending testing on Friday was the weather, just as wet as last year.

Qualifying
Saturday was warm and dry and for most of the drivers, the first chance to try the track in all its glory. Just like Thruxton, the fastest part of the circuit was anything but a straight, with a long right hand corner stretching from Church all the way to Rocket. Whether this had any influence on the grid placings remains to be seen, but the Stephen Taylor's Class B Lotus Exige was supreme with only Mal Davison's Class A Noble getting within a second. The Class A cars of Derek Hale, Richard Hawken and Nick Williamson took the next three places from Class B's Joss Ronchetti and John Hammersley.

An influx of Vauxhall Vectra Challenge cars was headed by Tim Wren who narrowly took the Class C pole from David Roberts' Rover Tomcat. Once again Simon Taylor proved by far the quickest in Class D although his nearest competitor Jim Mepham was missing through clutch failure in testing the day before. Simon Jackson once again took the Class E pole.

Race 1
Anglesey isn't really designed for a 31 car rolling start, with the later rows still to go round the last corner as the race began. Stephen Taylor and Derek Hale got away from the front unchallenged and spent the entire race barely a car length or two apart although Taylor was never headed and won the race by just 0.3 seconds, Taylor and Hale winning classes B and A respectively. Mal Davison had been gamely holding on for a while before eventually falling back to 3rd while Nick Williamson's Escort Cosworth finally got the better of Joss Ronchetti's Talbot Sunbeam Lotus to take 4th. Hammersley and Soper had been battling all race long, the gap between them was just 0.2 seconds at the end.

Simon Taylor (Honda Civic Type R) won Class D by a huge margin finishing 9th after finally losing out to the Class B Lotus Elise of Stephen Oliver. Anthony Sullivan had a successful comeback to the series finishing as lead Clio of 6 in the race while Stephen Pearcy's fine form continued with another Class C win in his Rover 220 GTI Turbo from Dan Crossley's Rover Tomcat. Simon Jackson added another Class E win to his collection but his Vauxhall Nova "Pongo" ended the race with just 4th gear.

Race 2
Despite severe weather warnings, race 2 was as dry as race 1. Derek Hale once again gave chase to Stephen Oliver but on lap 2 Yaser Almaghrbi hit the wall by the finish line and the race was red flagged. Hale was unable to take the restart after a trip to the pits so the grid lined up with Taylor and Williamson out front. The Exige won this race by 7 seconds from Davison's Noble with Hawken, Williamson and Tony Soper (Harrier LR9) taking the next 3 positions.

Simon Taylor once again took a commanding Class D win but in Class E Crossley got the better of Pearcy by 0.6 seconds. All through the pack there were packs of 2, 3 and 4 cars in close contention making excellent viewing for the spectators. Viewers to Motors TV have something to look forward to when these races are broadcast in a few weeks time.

Simon Taylor pulled another 10 points clear of John Hammersley, but joker playing Stephen Taylor moves up to 3rd place.

Result:
Race 1: Winner: Stephen Taylor (Lotus Exige), 2nd Derek Hale (Honda Accord) 3rd Mal Davison (Noble M400), 4th Nick Williamson (Ford Escort Cosworth), 5th Joss Ronchetti (Talbot Sunbeam Lotus), 6th John Hammersley (Vauxhall Cavalier), 7th Tony Soper (Harrier LR9), 8th Stephen Oliver (Lotus Elise)

Class Winners: Class A Hale, Class B Stephen Taylor, Class C Stephen Pearcy (Rover 220GTi), Class D Simon Taylor (Honda Civic Type R), Class E Simon Jackson (Vauxhall Nova)

Fastest lap: Hale 1:32.891 (81.386mph)

Race 2: Winner: 2nd Mal Davison (Noble M400), 3rd Richard Hawken (Nissan Primera), 4th Nick Williamson (Ford Escort Cosworth) 5th Tony Soper (Harrier LR9), 6th John Hammersley (Vauxhall Cavalier), 7th Joss Ronchetti (Talbot Sunbeam Lotus), 8th Stephen Oliver (Lotus Elise)

Class Winners: Class A Davison, Class B Stephen Taylor, Class C Dan Crossley (Rover Tomcat), Class D Simon Taylor (Honda Civic Type R), Class E Simon Jackson (Vauxhall Nova)

Fastest lap: Stephen Taylor 1:31.876 (82.285 mph)

Next race: Snetterton 5th August

With support from Mark Fish Motorsport and Alpha Composites

Report by Trevor Nicosia, Car 10 ( www.nyssaracing.com )
 

Results - Race 1