2006 Welsh Sports & Saloon Car Championship

Races 1 & 2 Saturday April 15^th

Peter Williams wins race 1. Alexis Cole scores a debut victory in race 2.

Peter Williams - Race 1 winner - one jump + one lap ahead

It was a super sunny Easter weekend with a small but select entry featuring some new faces and some shared drives to add some spice to the 9 car entry the Trucks, Formula Caterhams & MGs. However at times there seemed to be more drivers in civvies, watching rather than competing with a lot of cars still in development and the grid will start to build up as they come on stream.

In the meantime it was the familiar Radical of Peter Williams that set fastest time for race 1, with Graham Cole 2^nd in Alexis’s Nemesis. Christian Evans, driving Peters Radical, would be on Pole for race 2 whilst Andrew Williams (Sierra) set at time of 65.003 secs which was good enough for 4^th for race 1, 2^nd for race 2. Anthony Allitt (Clio) looked to be in touch with a time of 65.832 secs, and would have Mike Wood (Honda) alongside for race 1 with Alexis Cole alongside in race 2 making his race debut.

Greg Wood driving a Mallock Mk23, which is noted as the first ever rear engined Mallock, would line up behind Mike Wood for both races. Adrian Chapman was in excellent form dipping down to 69.921 ahead of Mike Edgell and his Mini and Mark Nicholson making his race debut in a Rover Gti. Mike had to re-shell his Mini after rolling his pre-season testing

The awards awaiting the winners

Race 1 15 mins plus 1 lap. Standing Start

There seemed to be a prospect of an interesting battle for the lead, but as soon as the lights changed Peter Williams got a good start with Graham Cole, Andrew Williams and then a fast starting Adrian Chapman 4^th However as Peter slowed for Hatchets, Graham didnt and he shot up the escape road, never to return. Peter was now an easy and clear leader and he began to build a large gap between himself and Andrew in 2^nd. Graham had began to drop back with Greg Wood holding 4^th . Anthony Allit was 4^th

ahead of Mike Edgell, with Mike Woods close ahead of Adrian Chapman and Mike Nicholson. Mike Woods got past Mike Edgell to take 6^th but then the positions settled into a pattern although Andrew Williams indulged in some power sliding exiting Hatchets, before Peter came up to lap him and complete his domination of the race.

Peter collects his laurels - race 1 - win1

Afterwards he confirmed that it was a very near miss with Graham at the start. "I saw him coming in the mirrors, coming up fast, and I could see he wasn’t going to make it. I was turning in, so I turned out to let him go and turned back in to take the corner." Graham confirmed after spending the entire race standing on the bank "I locked up but I could have got going again if the rear wheels hadn’t bogged down on the grass!"

Adrian confirmed that his initial 3^rd was by virtue of a fast start "Everyone else was getting wheelspin. It didn’t last long but it was fun while it lasted!"

Race 2 15 mins plus 1 lap. Standing Start

Christian Evans was taking over from Peter in the Radical, again on pole with Andrew Williams 2^nd . There were several interesting questions to be answered, one of which was Greg Wood and or Alexis Cole get into a position to challenge for the lead and would Anthony Allitt be able to challenge Andrew?

However as the green flag dropped Christian wasn’t going anywhere and the only radical on show was eventually pushed to the pits with what turned out to be a broken output shaft in the gearbox.

This left Andrew with a clear track and with a sniff of the lead and a potential race win he wasn’t to be denied, although  Anthony Alitt snatched the lead briefly before settling into 2^nd place with Greg Wood 3^rd and Alexis Cole getting one up on his dad by at least making it through Hatchets on the first lap. Mike Wood was next whilst Adrian Chapman got another good start to put himself in front of Mike Edgell and Mark Nicholson in what was to be a race long dice.

However by lap 3 Alexis was finding his feet and he pressed and passed Greg Wood for 3^rd. Andrew was still some way ahead of Anthony Allitt but by lap 7 Alexis was right on his tail, trying for 2^nd place at Spitfires before eventually making it through.

The big question was if he could now do anything about catching Andrew Williams, who had spent a long time in the lead. All was not well with the Nemesis however as Alexis seemed to be having some trouble catching a gear. Greg Wood was also having troubles and dropped away to finish last, but at least getting an all important signature on his license. By now Alexis has reeling Andrew slowly but surely and took the lead down the pit straight on lap 12 , and drew away to finish 10 seconds up at the end. Anthony Allitt was 3^rd, Mike Wood 4^th ahead of Mike Edgell & Adrian Chapman who were having a ding–dong of a struggle with place changes & passes galore. The competition was proving inspiring to Adrian and he eventually set his fastest lap at 68.969 secs on his penultimate lap showing a suprising and welcome turn of speed. Mark Nicholson had another safe and steady race finishing ahead of the stricken Mallock of Greg Wood.

At the end a jubilant Alexis returned to the paddock to plaudits of his family and said

Alexis Cole - Debut race - debut victory!

"After what dad did my first priority was "Don’t screw up!" I was really waiting & hoping for the flag to fall soon. In fact I’ve got cramp in my thumbs from griping the steering wheel I was so tense!" There was much banter amongst his crew about him giving his dad some lessons.

For Andrew at least there is the consolation of any early points lead in the championship.

Photos to follow

Full times etc on http://www.msttiming.com/home.asp