Bristol
Two Club Sprint – Colerne - 29th August 2005
2005
SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship
Dawson's
maiden win as Eyles secures 2005 title
Report
by Steve Wilkinson
Picture
By Andy Moss
There
was a late summer feel to the Bristol Two Clubs sprint at Colerne on
August Bank Holiday Monday. There were a couple of 'guest' drivers
making an appearance; Andy Platt was co-driving Jane Farthing's Force
whilst Dave Cutcliffe was second man in the Kevin Lealan Formula
Vauxhall Lotus. Andy Platt did enough in the qualification runs to
clinch the coveted Foundation Cup but was well wide of the mark when
it came to getting into the Top Twelve.
In the
qualification runs the Series Production classes were first. Barrie
Dare took the 1400 class from fellow Suzuki driver Bruce Graham. Rob
Clarke's Elise was too quick for the rest in the 1800 class as Mark
Roberts and Jonathan Milne gave chase. The 2.6 litre class went to
Toby Harris in the turbocharged Puma who was light years ahead of the
opposition. In the over 2.6 litre class Barry Squibb beat son Jamie
in the family Evo 6 RS as the pair finished 1-2. Neal Coles (Striker)
and David Jackson (Superlight) took the two Road Going Kit Car
classes before we ventured into the Mod Prod classes. Darren Roberts
(Mini) took the 1400 class, whilst in the 1800 class it was the ever
cheerful Nick Wood in the Alfa Sud who was the class act. In the 2.6
litre class Mike McBraida took the honours but was slower than the
Road Going Mitsubishi of Barry Squibb! John Sampson bludgeoned the
opposition in the Mod Prod Kit Car class as he took a class record.
In the Sports Libres Ian Cameron (Mallock), Dick Hulbert
(SBD/Westfield) and Colin Early (Darrian) all took class wins before
we moved into the Racing Car classes.
Tom
Potter took the 600cc class in the Jedi Mk4 whilst in the well
supported 1100 class it was Jane Farthing who took the class and set
a new Ladies Record to boot. In the 1600 class Scott Pillinger just
nicked the win and the class record off Steve Broughton whilst the
remaining cars were amalgamated into just one class. Roy Dawson was
top dog but Tony Wiltshire's second place ahead of Tony Eyles was a
great prelude to the run-off.
Top
Twelve Run-Off
First
runner was Dave Cutcliffe in the FVL. The King of Colerne was soon
into the swing of things but was overly cautious after a spin earlier
in the day. Roy Sims was next and he set a cracking pace as he went
sub 72 seconds. Matt Oliver then slithered round someway off his
earlier pace. John Sampson shook the Control Tower's foundations as
he blasted off the line and rumbled to a sub 74 second time. Peter
Howgate had qualified well but threw away his advantage with a spin
exiting the tricky 2B chicane. Once the Ralt had been retrieved it
was Steve Broughton next and the little OMS fairly rocketed off the
line and into an impressive lead. Simon Ashby couldn't match the pace
of the championship sponsor and slotted into second. Kevin Lealan
then slipped into the lead despite the FVL being somewhat overworked
and bouncing a couple of cones! David Sims was Red Flagged as the
marshals were still 'on track' replacing the scattered cones. He
cruised back to the start and once the course was clear hammered off.
He was a little too enthusiastic and went spinning off which meant
more course rebuilding and a re-run for Tony Eyles who was released
from the line a little too quickly. Tony however is the consummate
sprinter and took it all in his stride. When the hammer went down the
Force was flying and he was the first in the run-off to go sub 68
seconds. However his lead was short-lived as Tony Wiltshire, who had
out-qualified the 2004 champion, then went sub 66! The final runner
was Roy Dawson and when he got the green light the Scot was soon on
his way to a cracking time shading out Tony Wiltshire by less than
two tenths.
Back to
the beginning and it was Dave Cutcliffe to the line. This time
'lofty' was in hard charging mode but it all went pear-shaped when,
after his co-driver's off course excursion, he discovered all was not
well so he trickled back to the paddock. Roy Sims then failed to
improve on his first run time partly due to the side-pod becoming
loose. Matt Oliver was back in the groove moving up to seventh;
however this would become ninth as his time was bettered. John
Sampson again picked up the extra Category Record point as he lowered
the record. Peter Howgate had to be more conservative in his approach
but still went sub 75 seconds which would be good enough for tenth.
Steve Broughton then shaved a few hundredths off to reinforce his
fifth place slot. Simon Ashby did improve but again by not enough to
move up the leader board and he would finish sixth. Kevin Lealan
should have been next but the FVL was just not up to it so he stood
down. His first run time was however good enough for a career best
fourth place. Next was Dave Sims and with the side-pod removed the
aerodynamics were going to be questionable. In fact the lack of down
force made the car almost undriveable and the youngster trundled in
twelfth. With over a second deficit to make up Tony Eyles was down in
third! Could he salvage some Pride? In fact he could do more than
that he suddenly went up a notch and put in a stunning 65.07! As he
said afterwards 'I don't know where that came from!' Tony Wiltshire
was unable to respond in fact he was slower so fell to third. Could
Roy Dawson find some extra pace? You bet! The Scot was still
tentative through the initial corners but hammered it up and over the
brow of the main straight toping out at 165mph. Through turn four he
feathered the throttle and just managed to get it through the tedious
Turn 7 complex. Round the sweeping Turn 9 and across the line in a
staggering 63.98 for a new Category Record and an extra point!
