Peterborough Motor Club 53rd annual meeting Silverstone Saturday 26 April 2003 -

Welsh Championship competitors played an important part in supporting the Peterborough Motor Club's 53rd race meeting at Silverstone, with 12 competitors making the grid. With the sad demise of the 8 Clubs meeting, Peterborough is about the only clubby meeting still running at Silverstone, and it's all the more enjoyable for it (included on the programme was an 'Old Farts Invitation Race! You just won't get that level of fun with many other clubs). It is also one of the only times we get invited to Silverstone, and one of the only chances we get to enjoy the superb facilities. This years race was over 12 laps of the 2.25 mile International course.

WRDA/WSSCC Round 3 Silverstone Saturday 26th April

12 WRDA/WSSCC cars made the trip up to Silverstone, and it really was worth it! For a start, we had the McLaren garage all to ourselves, so even if the rain which poured down on Friday had continued, we would have stayed dry! As it turned out, the rain held off for the whole day on Saturday, which made things even more enjoyable. And if that wasn't enough, this was one of the rare times when a club meeting was taking place on the 2.25 mile International circuit, as a bridge is currently under construction on National circuit. So, it was first time out on a new circuit for all the Welsh competitors.

Practice.

A full 32 car entry! Terry Brown was again very strong in practice, qualifying 3rd overall in a time of 1.25.75, behind 2 Jade Sports, and just ahead of his old friend and rival Tony Sugden in a Skoda 130RS (Cossie powered, and which must have c600bhp!). Peter Williams was next up in 1m 27.59, with Clive Hayes less than 0.3s behind. Dave Krayem put in a 1.28.8 in his 6.2 litre very mean looking Stealth B6 to qualify 8th. Richard Rozhon has a good drive to qualify 13th, just behind Dave Smith in his Mallock Mk28. Huw Williams was 15th in his Prosport, with Rhodri Jenkins first saloon at 17th, sandwiched between a beautiful Porsche 996 and a BMW M3. Cindy Pearce was 25th in her Global Light. Rick Rowles was out for the first time this year in a beautifully prepared Honda Civic 1.8VTi, but unfortunately an oil leak meant a slower time than he would have posted, and he qualified just ahead of Lee David in his trusty Golf GTi.

The Race

Terry, Clive and Peter had all been out before, and all had been in great scraps. Terry had just managed to better Tony Sugden in the "Old Farts" race for the over 50s (would you believe Tony Sugden is now 71 - he must be the quickest 71 year old on the planet!), while Clive and Peter swapped positions a few times in their race, with Clive just edging it after overtaking between Priory and Brooklands. Mind you, he's been watching too much of the TV advert for the Renault (you know the one with the song "Shaking that Ass"), as the rear of his car was shaking wildly on pretty much every exit of Luffield into the start/finish straight...! Anyway, from the packed grid the Allcomers/WSSCC race got underway with Terry storming away up front, but perhaps the earlier race had taken its toll on the car, as he limped off after 9 laps. Dave Krayem was very quick from the outset, as was Clive Hayes and Peter Williams, with places being exchanged (along with splitters being laid to waste!) right through the race. Eventually, Dave was first of the Welsh cars home, in 3rd place behind the 2 Jades. Clive was next up, with Peter close behind. Richard Rozhon took 9th and a Class B win in his Clubsport, with Huw Williams 14th in the Prosport. Rhodri Jenkins was left on the line by the Porsche, M3 and a fair few other cars. He didn't get a particularly bad start, but the comparative lack of power combined with front wheel drive simply made it impossible to get away any faster! He managed to make up all the places on the first and second laps, including quite a hairy "locked up" moment when overtaking an Escort and RAM Cobra between Bridge and Priory on lap 1, and ended up finishing 17th. The 7 points gained gives Rhodri a 6 point lead from Clive in the Championship. Cindy was in 20th spot, with Lee David winning the Driver of the Day award for his performance in beating the Caterham of Tony Pickering, and taking a full 5 seconds off his qualifying time in the process. Poor Rick Rowles's bad luck on the day continued, with a broken drive shaft forcing him out after 4 laps, but we're sure to be seeing alot more of Rick as the season progresses.

The Welsh Championship was based in the garage that McLaren had for the Grand Prix at Silverstone, beautifully tiled out by McLaren!

Welsh Championship Competitors enjoy the superb facilities

Included below are photos of the class winners and the Competitor of the Day, Lee David,

Lee David .. Competitor of the Day

Lee won because he took a full 5 seconds of his qualifying time to beat the Caterham of Tony Pickering.

Richard Rhozon and Clive Hayes receive their awards from Championship Co-ordinator Rufus McGeary

Also due for a mention was  Rick Rowles and his Honda Civic. Rick had an unlucky day in his first outing with us, as he had an oil leak in practice and a broken drive shaft in the race, but he is certainly one to watch later in the season.

His car is immaculately prepared and looks really superb (you can quote me on that!).

Rhodri leads the points .. Dave Krayem lead the Welsh Championship Competitors home

In the race Dave Krayem scored a major result by being the first Welsh Championship competitor home. Even more sensational was the news that Terry Brown failed to finish! Terry has had a 100% reliability record with his Radical since he got it, and with his record carrying over from the Prosport he has finished almost 20 races in a row! Other notable results included a fine class win for Richard Rozhon, and Rhodri Jenkins who racked up the points to take an early lead in the points table from Clive Hayes who also took the big points in Class A.

Rhodri - small saloon - big points!

Race report to follow but in the meantime see the links below for practice and race sheets and provisional points

Practice Times Race result Current points