Wins for Nick Williamson and Steven Taylor, double win for Rhys Lloyd

Class wins for David Hinde and Simon Parker, double win for Jim Mepham

Jim Mepham is the new championship leader

With 49 entries in place the decision was taken to run split races, but to even up the numbers, the races were split as Class A and D, and B and C with two guest entries racing in the first group.

Qualifying – A / D
The Lotus Exiges of Rex Stamp and Steven Taylor set the pace at the front of the field, but Tony Soper in the Harrier LR9 ran them close to qualify third. With Richard Gould's Noble in 4th, the front two rows comprised mid-engined cars, before the Honda Accord Super Tourers of Stewart Whyte and Derek Hale headed the front engine cars. Series leader Nick Williamson was a lot further back than usual in the Escort Cosworth, back in 8th place.

Simon Taylor led the Class D cars back in 11th overall – hardly surprising as Rockingham offers the fastest cars the chance to stretch their legs on the banking. Jim Mepham (Renault Megane Coupe) was just 0.5 seconds back from Taylor with Andy Neal (Honda Integra) and Simon Jackson (MG ZR) taking the 3rd and 4th grid positions in class.

Qualifying – B / C
Joss Ronchetti (Talbot Lotus Sunbeam) set the pace in the Class B & C race with the Seat Leons of Simon Blanckley (back after his sojourn with the BTCC) and Rhys Lloyd in close attendance. Top running Class C car was David Hinde in the first of six Vauxhall Vectra challenge cars competing in this race, with the similar cars of Simon Parker and Craig Odams taking 2nd and 3rd in class. David Roberts' Rover Tomcat may have felt outnumbered but narrowly missed 4th in class which fell to Derek Kelly-Cooper.

Race 1 – A / D
Nick Williamson launched through from 8th place to end the first lap in second place splitting the two Lotus Exiges, but the following lap Steven Taylor had passed Williamson to take 2nd, but already 3.4 seconds behind Rex Stamp out front. One of the guest entries ran off on the first lap and on lap 3 the safety car was brought out while it was retrieved, bunching the pack right up again. The safety car was out for just two laps, but one lap later came a sudden shower. Williamson took full advantage of his Escort's four wheel drive and was lapping fully 5 seconds faster than anyone else. In the space of three laps he went from 3rd place to take a 16 second lead from Taylor, Stamp having fallen away after a slow first wet lap. As the track dried, lap times dropped to something approaching fully dry times, but Williamson's lead was unassailable and he won by 10 seconds from Taylor. John Hammersley also fared well in the wet, moving up from 8th to 3rd as the rain fell.

Class D was thrown wide open on the first lap with Simon Taylor's Honda Civic suffering gearbox failure. Jim Mepham was holding a steady 2 second advantage over Andy Neal from the first lap and maintained this lead throughout the race to record his first class win of 2008. Jason Newman (Peugeot 306) and Simon Jackson were scrapping for 3rd in class, Jackson initially looked to have the place in the bag but Newman responded quicker to the drying track conditions to make the pass and hold onto 3rd place.
 
Race 1 – B / C
With the track dry again, Joss Ronchetti headed the 2 Seat Leons for the first four laps, but all three cars were running little over a second apart. Rhys Lloyd upped the pace on lap 5 to take the lead, Simon Blanckley followed him through 2 laps later, but by now Lloyd had a 6 second lead. Douglas Ellwood (Marcos Mantis) was running a steady 4th some 8 seconds behind Ronchetti who slowly fell back from Blanckley. The race finished with a win for Lloyd from Blanckley by 9 seconds, with Ronchetti 3rd a further 11 seconds back and Ellwood bringing up 4th. Andy Glossop headed the Renault Clio contingent to take the win in the Mark Fish sponsored Clio Cup.

With 6 Vauxhall Vectras out in Class C, the odds on a Vauxhall victory were good. David Hinde converted his class pole into a class win (7th overall), and the only Vectra not to be lapped by the winner. Craig Odams enjoyed a good tussle with a pair of Class B Clios (David Pierce and Mark Crook) and ended up splitting them on his way to 2nd in class. David Roberts prevented a total Vauxhall podium bringing his Rover Tomcat home in third. Hinde played his joker which contributed to Vauxhall scoring a massive 104 points in the MSE_Performance.com manufacturers' cup.

Race 2 – A / D
With Rex Stamp unable to take part, and no interference from rain, Steven Taylor was able to take full advantage and cruise to a comfortable win from Derek Hale by over 20 seconds, with Richard Gould further back in third. The real drama during the race lay further back. Stewart Whyte missed race 1 and started this race from the back – a storming start saw him drive through the pack and up into 5th place as lap 1 ended. A collision with Tony Soper saw Whyte pit to have the Honda's front splitter repaired, and then Whyte put it a massive effort to pull back through the pack from last to finish 8th, just taking fastest lap away from Soper in the process. Williamson was struggling in the dry and lost 2 spokes from a front wheel lapping a slower car near the end of the race, amazingly he was able to complete the race and just out dragged Soper's Harrier to the finish line as they exited the chicane side by side on the final lap.

With Simon Taylor unable to repair his Honda's gearbox, Mepham played his joker and took full advantage scoring his second win of the weekend. This now moves Mepham out front in the championship, the third leader is as many events. Simon Jackson was getting to grips with his MG ZR and found himself challenging Andy Neal for 2nd place, losing out by just 0.4 seconds, the best showing for the MG so far.

Race 2 – B / C
Blanckley had a poor start to race 2 and found himself down in 4th place after lap 1 behind Lloyd, Ronchetti and Ellwood. He slowly moved back up to second on lap 4 but was already 6 seconds down on Lloyd. Blanckley maintained the gap until lap 10 but then damaged two wheels which slowed his Seat finally allowing Lloyd to extend his lead. With two laps to go, Ellwood caught and passed Blanckley and finished second, but 14 seconds adrift of Lloyd, and a second ahead of Blanckley. Fergus Trenholme got the better of Glossop in the Mark Fish supported Clio Cup, just avoiding being lapped.

David Hinde looked set for a second class win of the weekend but his race ended on lap 13 allowing Simon Parker to take over the lead and go on to record the Class win. David Roberts had been feeling confident after race 1, his Tomcat was performing well on the banking so he played his joker for this race. A good start saw Roberts move past Parker and into 2nd place, but on lap 2 a tap from a Clio caused the Tomcat to spin and Roberts fell to last. Undeterred, Roberts set about chasing down the Vectras again, but worn tyres caused a couple of lock-ups near the end of the race, and to add insult to injury, the Tomcat started to misfire on the last lap!

Joker-playing Mepham now leads the championship on 138 points from Williamson (134), Lloyd and Neal (both 128). Of these, only Lloyd has yet to play his joker.

Andrew Glossop (112) moved past David Pierce (110) in the standings for the Mark Fish Clio Cup, while Vauxhall's massive 202 point haul brings them up to third (276 points) in the MSE_Performance.com manufacturers' cup, but still some way behind Honda (456) and Renault (414).

The RS Capp/SELEX driver of the day awards went to Fergus Trenholme (Saturday) and
Tony Soper (Sunday).

Race 1 A / D Result:
Winner: Nick Williamson (Ford Escort Cosworth), 2nd Steven Taylor (Lotus Exige), 3rd John Hammersley (Honda Accord), 4th Tony Soper (Harrier LR9), 5th Derek Hale (Honda Accord), 6th Rex Stamp (Lotus Exige), 7th Jim Mepham (Renault Megane Coupe), 8th Andrew Neal (Honda Integra)

Class Winners: Class A Williamson, Class D Mepham, Class F Jochim Ritter (Ginetta G50)
Fastest lap: Rex Stamp 1:28.787 (79.00mph)

Race 2 A / D Result:
Winner: Steven Taylor (Lotus Exige), 2nd Derek Hale (Honda Accord), 3rd Richard Gould (Noble M12), 4th Nick Williamson (Ford Escort Cosworth), 5th Tony Soper (Harrier LR9), 6th John Hammersley (Honda Accord), 7th Jochim Ritter (Ginetta G50), 8th Stewart Whyte (Honda Accord)

Class Winners: Class A Taylor, Class D Mepham, Class F Ritter
Fastest lap: Stewart Whyte 1:27.861 (79.84mph)

Race 1 B / C Result:
Winner: Rhys Lloyd (Seat Leon), 2nd Simon Blanckley (Seat Leon), 3rd Joss Ronchetti (Talbot Sunbeam Lotus), 4th Douglas Ellwood (Marcos Mantis), 5th Alex Heynes (BMW M3), 6th Andy Glossop (Renault Clio), 7th David Hinde (Vauxhall Vectra), 8th David Pierce (Renault Clio)

Class Winners: Class B Lloyd, Class C Hinde
Fastest lap: Rhys Lloyd 1:28.662 (79.12mph)

Race 2 B / C Result:
Winner: Rhys Lloyd (Seat Leon), 2nd Douglas Ellwood (Marcos Mantis), 3rd Douglas Ellwood (Marcos Mantis), 4th Alex Heynes (BMW M3), 5th Simon Parker (Vauxhall Vectra), 6th Fergus Trenholme (Renault Clio), 7th Andy Glossop (Renault Clio), 8th Derek Kelly-Cooper (Vauxhall Vectra)

Class Winners: Class B Lloyd, Class C Parker
Fastest lap: Simon Blanckley 1:28.751 (79.04mph)


Next race: Silverstone 9/10th August
 

With support from :
Mark Fish Motorsport, AMG TV, Whizz Stitch
& MSE-Performance.com

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