Here is John Harrison being interviewed by Marcus Pye after his double first at Snetterton. It was a great day for the start of our championship season with new competitors as well as our regulars. B class newbee’s Chris Tolchard (ex Phil Hart’s Mallock Mk18 AND still in PH Maroon paintwork- not confusing eh!!!) and Colin Ralph ( Mallock Mk16) managed to complete qualifying and both races on their first outing with CLASSIC CLUBMANS. Sadly not so for Adrian Holey – new to us – in ex Hugh Chamberlain, Creighton-Brown’s Mallock Mk20b as a problem encountered during qualifying rendered him unable to race which was a shame as he would have been 3rd on the grid for the first race behind A class John Harrison and Mark Charteris. Another new competitor was Trevor Welsh driving John Bowles’ Lola T492 in the S20 category. Trevor hadn’t sat in the car until Saturday morning and hadn’t raced anything for many years – he admitted to some initial nerves and to seriously wondering ‘what on earth he had let himself into’ whilst waiting in the assembly area ( not alone there Trevor!!) It did, thankfully, all come back to him……and he went on to win his class in both races improving his time by over 5 seconds from qualifying…. clearly getting in the zone !!
It was also good to welcome back Michelle Hayward, entered in the Invitation class with her Mallock Mk27 Cup Car. Michelle has raced with us before and joins our regular ladies Pippa Tanner-Wood, B class Mallock Mk 16 and Trish Hunter, B class Mallock Mk 16 – as you will see from the photos Trish was not racing this weekend – she was on polishing duty for husband Brian!
Michelle had an excellent day finishing 3rd in both races. In race 2 her battle with Mike Lane, in his Mallock Mk18 A Sport, was the most exciting dice of that race. Mike eventually pulled ahead to get 2nd place. Her spirited performances were rewarded by the Driver of the Day Champagne
Race 1 saw a start to finish dice between B Class drivers Clive Wood (Mallock Mk20b) and Dave Facer (Mallock Mk18BW). Clive held on for the class win and Dave had the consolation of setting fastest class lap. Barry Webb (Delapena Mallock Mk16) finished an uncharacteristic 3rd with an engine a bit down on power.
Pole position man Mark Charteris (Mallock Mk21) broke a half shaft on the line resulting in a messy start. Sadly Phil Hart in his Mk16 Mallock couldn’t avoid the parked car and both cars sustained some damage. John Harrison (Mallock Mk 21) took full advantage to romp away to a 23 second win from Alan Cook (Mallock Mk20/21b) who finished in 2nd place. Mike Lane finished 3rd in class after starting towards the rear of the grid after issues in qualifying.
After a delicious lunch in the hospitality marquee we dragged ourselves out onto the track for the 2nd race. After much repair work between races for the damaged cars race 2 got underway. Not for very long for Alan Cook as his Mallock diff broke pulling away at the start. This caused another untidy start. Unfortunately matters got worse at the hairpin with cars spinning and colliding with each other. This brought out the safety car. Sadly we lost both Dave Facer and Brian Hunter.
Mark Charteris had made tigerish progress from the back of the grid and was only a few places behind John Harrison when the safety car pulled in. It took Mark another 4 laps to squeeze past John but on lap 6 he had to retire after a comprehensive engine blow up. John Harrison, driving superbly all weekend and who hadn’t put a wheel wrong, took full advantage and secured a 2nd win by almost a minute. Another solid drive by Mike Lane saw him finish in 2nd place, with no other finishers in A Class.
Clive Wood took an untroubled B Class win ahead of Barry Webb. Phil Hart, from last place on the grid came through to take a well earned 3rd place in class. A just reward for Andy Clark, his mechanic, who worked between the two races repairing Phil’s damaged car. Andy was presented with the Mechanic of the Day award.
It was a very hectic couple of races !! Calmer weekends ahead we hope !!
All good photos courtesy of Jeff Bloxham – dodgy ones are M & S iPhones
