2016 Welsh Sports & Saloon Car Championship   Rounds 7 & 8 – Pembrey Sunday 21^st August with the Vintage Sports Car Club.  

Qualifying and Practice – Race 1 – Race 2 -all below

Although it was still August, the weather was anything but summery! The Saturday forecast was for Rain and Gale force winds, although the rainy phase was mercifully short-lived,  so the wind as having a drying effect. Sunday dawned sunny and cloudy and the winds were lighter.

Qualifying and Practice. There were usual mix of championship regulars, plus some new faces & returnees, including yours truly, but thanks to Susanne and Nick for standing in whilst I was away.  Back to the racing! Dave Krayem set pole position in his big, black Class D Ginetta G50, with a time of 60.00.28 seconds! Keith White was 2^nd fastest making it a Class D lock out ! Jason Davies, the current points leader, was 3^rd fastest in his Class CS Ford Sierra Cossie, with Chris Everill with his nice looking G50 4^th.   Andy ‘Risca’ Williams was 5^th in his Ford Sapphire. The VSCC timers made several errors but the best one had Ken James as 6^th fastest,  driving Damian Longotan!  Actual he was driving his usual Loco Hornet!   Jim Lyons seemed to be getting his Turbo Mini moving in the right direction, and had Fabio Luffarelli for company on row 4. Fabio was giving his VW Corrado a run out at Pembrey for the first time in 10 years! (but also had the Moto Mini as back up). Damian Longotano himself was on row 5 with his Westfield and was joined by Keith Butcher and his G50. Dave Scaramanga was on row 5 giving his VW Scirocco it’s debut at Pembrey, and he was joined by Bradley John and his Mitsubishi Evo.  Peter Hills was on row 7 taking the Class AS pole with his nice blue Mini, with Mike Moss who was making his Pembrey debut in his Westfield. Tyrone Luffarelli was on row 8 with his Class BT pole sitting Peugeot 106 and had Roger Dowden and his AS Davrian for company. On Row 9 Susanne Jones had moved up to Class AS for this race. She had Gareth Haycock for company in his VW Golf. Row 10 saw Chris Morris making a welcome re-appearance with his Suzuki Ignis, and he had Daryl Radford and his colourful Honda Civic. Row 11 saw Andy Long and his Honda Civic and the improving Dad to be, Richard Francis and his colourful Saxo! (Richard and his wife Rebecca are expecting an addition to their family real soon.) Row 11 saw Colin Dunn and Anthony Weeks and his Mazda RX8. Tony was another driver making his Pembrey debut, but sadly oil pressure problems made him miss the race. However it was too much oil pressure that was causing the problem, so it was sadly back to the workshop! Paul Flinders also missed the race with overheating in his turbo Toyota MR2!  Andrew Williams was on row 13 along with Alan Smith.  Craig Edmunds was 14^th in Phil Bendalls old Ford Fiesta and Verity Banks was the last starter. Craig’s practice did not last long before the engine suffered a big blow up with a few rod through the block, this distributed a fair amount of oil on the far part of the circuit! The team raced back to pick up a spare car so Craig could get a few more signatures on his licence.

In the lunch break I asked Jason what his plan was. ‘I’m planning to have 2 quiet races!’ There were the usual few people wandering around the paddock in the lunchtime. Giles Beck, Phil Bendall, and Richard Rhozon, to name a few. Richard is planning to enter a Peugeot silhouette to match Keith White & Fabio in 2017, should be good! As the sky clouded over, and it began to drizzle there was a lot of discussion as to the choice of slick or wets in the slick tyre classes!

The race 1 – 15 minutes plus 1 lap. Rolling Start

However although Qualifying was held on a dry track, but the time the grid had moved from the pit-lane towards the assembly area, the rain-clouds had gathered and the rain was getting heavier. There was a delay dealing with an incident in one of the vintage races. The Assembly Area was full of cars for the next Vintage race, the WSSCC cars were strung along the Paddock. Jason Davies was one of the last to leave and he made a dash back to the pits to change on to full wets, which then became a landslide as car after car followed suit, after the organiser had given 10 minutes grace to change tyres if needed!

So the grid went out on their green flag lap, which in time honoured fashion, was for 2 laps as the conditions had changed between practice and the race. As the pace car pulled off, and the lights went green, Dave Krayem pulled away into the lead, with Jason Davies first to show from out of the spray! Jasons idea of a quiet race, lasted all of 3 laps, and once he was in the lead he pulled away and the lead extended out and back again, depending on the state of the track and lapping the backmarkers. Dave did his best to stay in touch and after early pressure from Keith White, he pulled away as Keith White now had Chris Everill for very close company!  Fabio, who finished 6^th  was getting his VW Corrado up to speed, and had a tussell with Keith Butcher who finished  5^th  &  Andy Williams who finished 7^th and was the last un-lapped runner.

Peter Hills unfortunately only did 2 slow laps, before retiring to the pits with ignition trigger problems. Verity Banks joined him and Jim Lyons joined them, after showing well early on!  Jimbo had found the car handling oddly in practice, and decide a change of half shaft and CV joints was needed, and his pit crew, including Endaf set about changing it. It only took a few laps for him to conclude that it was other shaft that was causing the problem!   Still they had plenty of time change it before race 2. Peter, Verity & Jim were the only retirements.

Back on the track there was plenty of mid-field action, broken up as the leaders came up to lap  them,  to resume after they had passed.  There was a huge scrap between Damian Longtano and Ken James with only 2/100^th separating them at the end! Similarly Bradley John, Dave Scaramanga and Gareth Haycock were having a set to, but Gareth got by and pulled away to finished 10^th , and was the last runner on 14 laps! Bradley (11^th) and Dave (12^th) had a race long duel. Visibility was the key for several drivers, with at least Dave, Roger Dowden and Chris Morris suffering badly! Indeed Chris had to do a pit stop to get help to clear the inside of his screen, whilst Roger’s slow speed wipers were unable to keep pace with the rain & spray and dropped back to finish 16th!  In Class BT, Tyrone Lufferelli  (13^th) seemed to have no such problems,  but he had his work cut out to keep ahead of Colin Dunn (14^th) who was really flying and putting Tyrone under  all sorts of pressure! Daryl Radford (15^th)had been a little way back fighting with Susanne Jones, but once past he made a big effort late on close the gap and set the Class BT fastest lap! Susanne (16^th) was running in Class BS but found her tyres going off late on, and came under pressure from Pembrey debutant Mike Moss whose Westy was only 2/10ths behind at the finish! Andy Long was 19^th in his Honda Civic and was the last runner on 13 laps.  Andy ‘Caldicot’ Williams was an impressive 20^th having had a pre-event race to fit a new engine! Alan Smith was 21^st after some heavy application of the ‘engineers screwdriver’ (a hammer, if you were wondering) Craig Edmonds was 22^nd After his pit-stop Chris Morris was 23^rd, with Richard Francis last in 24^th. Richard had a torrid time with a couple of visits to the scenery, and a brush with the barriers. The car looked fairly pristine. but Mike Skelton the Clerk of the Course, sent him to the Doctor for a check, just in case! Actually Mike could have asked told him to see his dad, who was the circuit doctor in the very early years. Peter has on hand to look after Richard, who was sponsored by ‘The Bank of Mum & Dad’ lol!

So Jason ran out as the worthy winner, ‘I was happy to take the lead as there is less pressure on the engine and transmission in the wet. I wouldn’t mind if it rained all the time!’

Race 2 The race 1 – 15 minutes plus 1 lap. Rolling Start. It is a long time since we had 2 wet races and in the interval between our first & second races of the day, there was a lot of head-scratching as to what was the best method of keep the windscreen free of mist! Thankfully the days have now past, when one of the supposed methods was to rub a raw potato across the screen! I kid you not, this was a supposed ‘best method’!  I never had to try it, thanks be to god! Actually I usually prefer  my potato cut into thin strips, and then fried!

Anyway there was no pondering on whether slicks might be worth a gamble! It was wet, very wet.  So the grid went out on their first of two green flag laps, and then when the lights changed, Jason Davies went into a lead he was never to loose! Dave Krayem was 2^nd throughout and Keith White, who was 3^rd, was the BMW silhouette, sandwiched between two G50s as he had Chris Everill on his tail throughout, sometimes only inches behind! At the end Mr White only had a few 10ths to spare from Chris. Keith Butcher was 5^th in his G50 but he had Fabio and the VW Corrado silhouette on his tail, to keep him on his toes. This race was a slower one than race 1 and Fabio in 6^th was the last driver on the lead lap. Andy Williams was 7^th and he was well clear of the 8^th place man, Jim Lyons!

Yes read that again, Jim Lyons finished in 8^th place! Actually it was a mega drive from Jimbo, who had started from row 13, along with Peter Hills, and Chris Morris! However whilst Jim climbed to 8^th and Chris Morris climbed to 16^th place, (and won Class AT), sadly Peter only lasted 7 laps! Peter had seemed to pick up speed but much to his dismay he couldn’t make it to the finish. Sadly also Verity Banks as pulled off on the 7^th lap, but Peter &Verity were the only 2 retirements.

Back in the race, Gareth Haycock and Colin Dunn got off to flyers! Initially Damian Longtano was 8^th, with Gareth 9^th and Ken James was 10^th, Colin was 11^th ahead of Bradley John (12^th) with Tyrone Lufferelli (13^th). Dave Scarmanga was 14^th, but thanks to some ‘Fog-ex’  he now had a clear screen. Chris Morris likewise had a clear screen, and with some new rain tyres and a wet set up, was going great guns. ‘I don’t normally like driving in the wet, but this time it was good!’  Actually with the top 7 places mostly settled, it was the midfield that was providing all the excitement.  Damian Longtano dramatically dropped down the order along with Gareth  & Colin! Ken James came around on his own, whilst Tyrone, Bradley & Dave Scaramanga followed the flying Jim Lyons up the order! Jim passed Ken later to finish in 8^th place with Ken in 9^th, and was 3^rd in class CS, leaving an interesting thought at what he might be able to do from a better starting position!  Tyrone made the most of  the situation and was 10^th and the first Class BT car. He was some way clear of Bradley John (11^th) who had Dave S on his tail throughout! Dave who finished in 12^th place was the last driver to complete 13 laps and he reversed the Class CT win that Gareth Haycock had taken over him in Race 1. Gareth was 13^th and he, Colin Dunn, Damian Longtano and Chris Morris had a monumental dice and there was only the odd 10^th separating Gareth & Colin (13^th & 14^th ) and Damian & Chris (15^th & 16^th) at the end! Likewise only 2/10ths separated Susanne Jones in 17^th (winner Class BS) and Daryl Radford in 18^th. Roger Dowden was 19^th with Mike Moss in 20^th. Mike was very happy with his first experiences of the Welsh Championship and said ‘I have very much enjoyed racing with you this year. It’s a great race club, with clean racing and a friendly paddock atmosphere. The organisation is first class and I compliment you, Mike and Alan for doing such a great job. Shame you can’t do anything about the weather! I very much intend to come back next year!’

Andrew Williams (MG ZR150) & Andy Long (Honda Civic) were 21^st &22^nd . Alan Smith (Ford Ka) who finished 23^rd was the last driver on 12 laps. Richard Francis & Craig Edmunds were 24^th & 25^th and the last finishers.

So the race ended with Jason winning by almost 16 seconds, and showing the kind of Rain-meister form that his dad showed in his 2wd days, as his race fastest lap was only 2 seconds slower than his dry practice time! After the VSCC showed they were on his wave length, by providing the Race winners with a large bottle of Red wine. Now all he needs is some Sangria, some Citrus Peel, Umbrellas etc and he can create a new Cocktail! More ‘Happiness in the Rain’ than ‘Sex on the Beach’! Our friends the Marshals choose the Driver of race in Race 1 as Tyrone Lufferelli and in Race 2 Susanne Jones!

The points show Jason is still leading but Tyrone looks like he’s ready to pounce if there are any slip-ups in last 2 races in the 2016 championship on October 16^th! Also there are only a few points separating several other positions in the Top 10 and the Classes are just as tight so there is still a lot at stake.

Awards Photos -via Facebook!  2016 Vscc Programme

Results via —– http://www.vscc.co.uk/    http://www.vscc.co.uk/vsccMedia/18603.pdf

 

WSSCC Rounds 5 & 6 Sunday Castle Combe 17^th July 2016.  Qualifying and Race 1 report, by nicholas rocke Race 2 report at the foot of the page

The Welsh Sports and Saloon Car Championship away-day rounds at Castle Combe went down a storm, we couldn’t have asked for better weather. There was beautiful sunshine and only a spot of drizzle that lasted all of 30 seconds. Plenty of Pembrey’s finest turned out in force with a 32 car grid for qualifying!

We were joined by some new faces in the invitation class with Adam Higgins in a Ginetta G50, and some of the Castle Combe saloons championship greats including Gary Prebble in one of the 2 Pug 205 gti’s which was flying!  Gary qualified 7th on the grid behind mainly Class D Supercar/GT class car;  and behind the very quick Jason Davies, who qualified 2nd behind David Krayem’s Ginetta G50 with only 0.367 of a second between them! And it was Jason’s first ever time behind the wheel at Castle Combe circuit.

Fabio Luffarelli resurrected his old space-framed VW Corrado. It’s been in hibernation for 10 years and although it has less power than his bike powered mini it was still 1.5 seconds quicker in qualifying! He hasn’t even raced it in 10 years, but I know which race car he will be bringing to Pembrey for rounds 7/8!

Andy Williams from Risca was going well, even with running out of revs before Avon rise and still getting to know his new gearbox/diff setup. He qualified 8th and 2nd in CS class. Although Andy is no spring chicken he showed this weekend that there’s plenty of life in the old dog yet, with some fantastic performances from Andy all weekend. 9th was Mike Tovey, who was making his debut in the series, in a BMW E36 M3. Mike is the son of Roy Tovey who raced with us a long time ago, in a Modified Mk 1 Ford Escort about the last time Fabio last raced his Corrado with us! Chris Everill, Damian Longatano, Dave Scaramanga, and visitor Mike Harris were next.  Bradley John’ was 14th fastest in his Evo  which has gone through some drastic changes going from looking relatively standard at Pembrey in May, to a fully fledged racer complete with aero package and big carbon fibre wing and a heap more power!

Although Bradley is a novice and new to racing this year has come on leaps and bounds, he’s getting quicker & quicker and will definitely be one to watch later in the season.

Paul Flinders’s MR2 was giving him issues again but once he’s worked out all the kinks it’s going to be animal.

The BT class guys/gals were out in force 6 BT cars on the grid, Susanne had gone into BS class to use up some semi slicks she had left over.

Daryl Radford qualified first in class and Tyrone Luffarelli 2nd . Willem Verhaak was having is first run of the year, and qualified 3rd . His MX has got quicker, with only 4 tenths of a second between him and Tyrone. Colin Dunn went steady qualifying 4th in class, he also found why his tyres were going off too quickly, as his tyre pressure gauge was reading 6psi out, causing him to over pressurise his tyres, losing vital seconds! Fortunately he has rectified this now.

Andrew Williams from Cardiff,  broke his MG ZR  earlier in the day by going out to play with the Castle Combe saloons, his variable cam timing solenoid packed in resulting in him running the car drastically down on power all weekend and leaving 29th on the grid.

The MG ZR of Verity Banks was plagued by a intermittent misfire all weekend, Tony the mechanic tried using all at his disposal to try fixing it, but to no avail!

Race 1 – Our first race was cut down to 13 mins due to a big off in races earlier in the day.

As they all came round on the green flag lap, I was spectating from Tower Corner. You get a excellent view of the cars coming through Hammerdown, through Tower and around Bobbies.  It was fabulous seeing such a strong turn out from the WSSCC with lot of different cars and different classes, everything from your average road going saloons to kit cars and even a handful of GT cars, great for the spectators to watch as well! There are not many championships with so much variety on the track at the same time.

The order of the front 10 cars was Ginetta, Ford saloon, Ginetta, BMW spaceframed silhouette, VW spaceframed silhouette, (Keith Butcher) Ginetta, Peugeot hatchback, Ford saloon, BMW Saloon, and with Chris Everils’ Ginetta in 10th! Now can you think of anywhere else you see that other than the Welsh Sports & Saloon Car Championship!

On the first lap, David Krayem lead the pack round in a neat uniformed line, with no real position changes from the sector of circuit I was viewing from. Verity’s MG sounded ill from lap one, struggling round with the distinct sound of a misfire, as if it was running on only 2 of the 4 cylinders. On Lap 2  David K, Jason M & Adam H had broken away from the pack slightly, with Keiths BMW a few car lengths back in 4th, Andy’s Sierra Cosworth in 5th sounded meaty, as he plowed through Tower, being trailed by Fabio in the Corrado. The pair of Pugs (Peugeots) were grouped together having their own battle. Daryl had pulled away from Tyrone and was leading the BT class. On Lap 3, the front 3 had opened up a 2sec gap from Keith’s BMW and after a massive gap was 5th place Andy Williams with Chris Everill’s Ginetta hot on his tail.

Bradley John made up a few positions and was sandwiched between the 2 Pug 205s. Daryl had opened up the gap in BT but I think Tyrone as being held up fighting with the Golf of Gareth Haycock. Chris Morris, whose car hadn’t even been started since December until this meeting, came round Tower glued to the back of the 106 of Mike Good.

On Lap 4, the top 5 stayed the same but Fabio lost a position to Keith Butcher in the Ginetta, which Keith had bought to replace his Primera and Fabio was now in 7^th Place. Bradley John moved up to 10th. Susanne was tailing Willem’s MX5, trying to make a move to get passed , and Chris Morris had got passed Mike Good’s 106! On Lap 5, Jason Davies in his turbo Ford Cosworth managed to get passed Dave Krayem and was leading the race going into Tower. Back markers held Keith White up going into Tower in a solid 4th with no one in sight to challenge him for the position. Alan Smith, with a bit of 4 wheels on the grass, passed Andrew William’s MG on the inside at Tower, taking full advantage of big Keith passing!

Andy ‘Risca’ Williams non-turbo Sierra Cosworth lost a position to Chris Everill and was now in 6th with Keith Butcher also having a pop at Andy going into Bobbies. Damien Longatano was now up into 11th in his Westfield, after passing both of the 205s.

There was a huge gap between 1st, 2nd, 3rd in class BT. Susanne managed to make a move on Willem and is now in front!

On Lap 6 it all changed at the front as the Seirra of Jason Davies developed a fault, as the cockpit filled with a cloud of smoke! Jason immediately stopped racing and went into limp home mode to try to make it to the end of the race and score as many points as he could!  Later it was found that the oil return pipe from the turbo had broken and with the car leaving a trail of smoke behind him, Jason had dropped back to eventually finish in 9^th place overall, and 3^rd in class. Jason confirmed after the race ‘At the end there was just enough oil left to prevent the engine from being damaged!’

Andy in the Sierra Cosworth had regained the position back from Chris Everills’ Ginetta. As Tyrone came through Tower he was right on the limit, and it was clear he’d been pushing hard and playing catch up, as the gap between him and Daryl was closing up! Paul Flinders had drastically slowed up as the car continued giving him problems. 

Wileem v Susanne! Dice of the Day? (photo by Steve Williams)

Willem had traded places with Susanne again! These 2 seater rear wheel drive sporty road cars seemed to be in a race of their own, not being more than a cars length apart every lap from the start!

By Lap 7 Jason had significantly dropped back, and now Keith White’s BMW  was looking to get passed him. Colin Dunn and Roger Good were battling away in the middle of the pack.

Andy’s Cosworth was still going strong and holding off the Ginetta G50 pair of Chris+ Keith.

Lap 8 and Krayem & Higgins came through Tower chasing one another in 1st/2nd.

Susanne and Willem had yet again changed places, and now Susanne had used them semi slicks to her advantage pulling a few car lengths away. Although the two of them were  in different classes,  it was still good fun watching them fighting it out!

Damiens Westfield came passed very slowly, and appeared to have issues and was limping back to the pits. Jason had now dropped back to fourth as he was nursing around trying his best to salvage some championship points and mainly make sure he gets his turbocharged Cosworth home. But Andy had other ideas, and he had him in his sights and was gaining ground on Jason’s poorly Cosworth. Bradley John in his Evo was closing the gap to Mike Tovey’s BMW E36 M3, both cars going very well.

Lap 9 and both Ginettas were still in the lead, with Higgins trying to find a way passed Krayem.

Daryl’s Civic locked up into Bobbies, having to use the escape lane, giving Tyrone precious time to gain ground on him and close the gap! Keith Butcher’s Ginetta was passed Andy’s Cosworth and was making easy pickings of Jason’s damaged Cossie. Although Jason’s car wasn’t in the best of health, it was still racing and more importantly still 1st in class Cs.

On Lap 10, David Krayem had pulled away massively from Higgins, as Adam appeared to be having issues and no longer at full race speed. Daryl and Tyrone were only a few car lengths apart going into Tower but had the Haycock Golf between them. By this lap Andy Williams,  Chris Everall and Bradley John had managed to get passed Jason’s Cosworth, but although he was now in 3rd in Class CS he had to keep going to try keep his points lead in the championship. It appeared Roger Goods VW Lupo and Verity’s MG had both retired.

On the Lap 11, the last lap, David Krayem had a good 5 second lead on Adam Higgins and was looking to walk the rest of this race with no one to challenge him for 1st overall.

As they crossed the line the final positions were;  Overall win David Krayam (class D winner). 2nd Adam Higgins, 3rd Keith white (2nd class D). 4th Keith butcher (3rd class D).5th Andy Williams (well deserved 1^st in Class CS). 6th Chris everall (4th class D) 7th Fabio luffarelli ( 5th class D) . 8th Bradley John (2nd class CS). Excellent driving from the novice, quicker every lap and learning very fast. Well done! 9th was Jason Davies (3rd in Class CS) Jason did very well to hang on to 3rd in class, but scored an extra point for the fastest lap in his class! It was very unfortunate the car failed him, as he drove excellently and could have potentially won. He was Driver of the Race, in my eyes, keeping the GT cars at bay with no previous track experience either! Whatever this Cosworth throws at him, he deals with it and makes it work. Well done Jason and remember every point counts!

10th Mike Tovey, 11th Michael Harris, 12th Gary Prebble, 13th Dave Scaramanga (1st in CT) 14th Mike Moss (4th in class CS). 15th Daryl Radford (1st in class). Well done! On the edge excellent driving, to keep Tyrone behind him. 16th Gareth Haycock (2nd class CT). 17th Tyrone luffarelli (2nd class BT) 18th Paul flinders (5^th in CS Class). 19th Susanne Jones (1st in BS) well done! 20th Willem Verhaak (3rd in BT). 21st Antony Weeks (4th in BT) 22nd Chris Morris (1st in AT). 23rd Mike Good, 24th William Hornsey, 25th Colin Dunn (5th in BT). 26th Andy long (2nd in BS) 27th Alan Smith (2nd in AT).28th Andrew Williams ).

Well done to all, wish I could have been out there with you all. http://www.tsl-timing.com/file/?f=BRSCC/2016/162831wss.pdf

Race 2 report From: nicholas rocke

After race 1 there was mixed emotions in the WSSCC paddock, Most were fettling with their race cars and preparing for race 2 and having a spot of lunch and soaking up the lovely weather we had been blessed with.Unfortunately this was not the case for everyone! The Davies camp were hard at work getting Jason Davies Cossie cleaned up and ready to race in race 2. Andy ‘Risca’ Williams had been pushing so hard in race one he had worn his NSR rear brake pad down to the metal, so was rushing to replace these ready for his next outing.

Paul Flinders had to unfortunately retire his MR2 for the rest of the day and began to pack up, as did Damian Longotano, others to retire after race 1 were Roger Good in the VW Lupo and Kieren Simmons in the Ford Fiesta. Verity’s mechanic Tony was scratching his head a bit, as the misfire that Verity had in race 1, had fixed itself, leaving him baffled and suspecting it was either coil pack or bad wiring connection on the harness! He replaced plugs, leads, coil packs and wiring loom just to be on the safe side.

During the break between WSSCC races there were other incidents that meant that the WSSCC last race would be shortened to 13 minutes, but due to strict regulations about no noise at castle combe circuit after 6:30 pm, it was going to be more like 8 minutes if we were lucky!

Fabio Luffarelli started from the back of the grid, due to transmission issues in the Corrado, and he would be out in his bike powered Mini silhouette. The grid of 26 cars waited patiently in the pits eager to get out there and race, I bet it was rather warm in those cars with the drivers in full race suits, as even at 6pm it was still very hot.

So they set off straight into the rolling start lap, and as they came through Camp Corner for the first time waiting for the lights to go out, David Krayem and Higgins were side by side with Keith White, Andy Williams and Chris Everill all in a little group at the front, with close to 2000bhp between them and all eager to plant their right foot!

Jason, Bradley and Mike Tovey were a few car lengths, behind in another tight group of cars, Gary Prebble was also nearby, but the rest of the pack were a few seconds behind! The gap seemed huge, not sure what happened there. So they were all off safely and racing. Daryl had a good lead on Tyrone and Susanne and Willem were side by side again, as they came through Camp Corner. Fabio in the bike engine Mini came storming through from the back, making up 3 places before he’d even reached the pit wall! As they approached Camp Corner at the end of lap 1 Krayem had a good 2 second lead on rival Higgins, Keith managed to slip his BMW down the inside of Higgins going into Camp putting him into 2nd.

Jason’s car had sprung into life and had jumped up, passing Andy’s Cosworth to move into 5th place. The next victim to fall to Jason’s Cosworth was Mike Tovey’s BMW, Andy was in 6th with Bradley John following close behind in 7^th. Brad was then being chased by Prebble’s 205. Dave Scaramanga was in 9th and was battling with Mike Harris in the other Pug 205 gti.

Daryl Radford was 1st in Class BT,  but had either lost a bit of pace or had issues, or was it that Tyrone’s screaming 106 was gunning for him as the gap was down to a only a few car lengths now. Willem came around in 14th and 3rd in class but Susanne’s Lotus Elise was nowhere to be seen, the Mazda RX8 of Anthony Week’s was about to be passed by Fabio who had made up several place in just one lap, MY GOD that mini really does shift! Chris Morris followed by Colin Dunn came around in 17th & 18th follow by the Susanne’s Lotus which was not well at all (later found out she had been suffering with an electrical fault).

Lap 2 and Krayem had a gigantic lead, and as long as he played his cards right it looked as if he had this one in the bag! Keith White had given the position back to Adam Higgins in the Ginetta. Higgins had a few seconds lead over the 3^rd place driver Chris Everill who had also taken a place off Keith White’s BMW. Jason Davies was still going strong, being only a few car lengths behind Keith. Andy Williams was chasing Mike Tovey in his M3 who had managed to steal 5^th from him, not far behind was the big winged Evo of Bradley John.

It appeared we had lost Mike Harris’ 205 somewhere around the circuit as the only 205 gti left was Gary Prebble’s who came through Camp on lap 2. Keith Butcher’s Ginetta retired back to the pits to join Mike & Gareth Haycock as early retirments!. The action between Tyrone and Daryl was heating up. They were less than a cars length apart coming through camp and up the pit straight. Fabio was catching up with his son Tyrone, and would undoubtedly be passed him by the time they reach Quarry Corner. Willem was in a solid 3^rd in class position whilst Susanne was still trying her best to keep the Elise going.

Lap 3 and Jason had moved up to 4^th position and Andy had spun over the other side of the circuit, and then brought his Sapphire Cosworth in to retire (In the paddock I spoke to him later on and he explained that he had lost a feed to the water temperature gauge, and preferred to fight another day than rebuild a very expensive race engine). Bradley John had got past Mike (Son of Roy Tovey), but Tovey was not going to let him keep it that easily as they came through Camp Corner bumper to bumper. Gary Prebble was still motoring on but there was no one to challenge him insight. Tyrone was now 1^st in class as Daryl was unfortunately having issues and retired the Civic Type R to complete list of retired cars!

Lap 4 and Higgins had made up some ground on Krayem, but was still safe for now and had a 2 second lead at this moment in time. Keith White was in 3^rd but too far behind to play catch up now. Jason’s car was obviously having issues again, (this time it was electrical) as he had dropped back into 7^th position behind Bradley and Mike Tovey, and Gary Prebble was now hot on Jason’s heels. Verity’s car was still out there, but still not perfect and was running in dead last place, fingers crossed they sort that issue out before the next outing at Pembrey.

Fabio was now up to 9^th position and his Mini sounded absolutely beautiful as he came around Camp for the 4^th time, using every last rev that bike engine has to offer! Tyrone was now running in his Dad’s exhaust fumes, but was happy, sat in 1^st in BT class and 11^th overall and had plenty of breathing space to bring her home.

Willem was about 4 seconds behind Tyrone and had his work cut out if he was to challenge for 1^st in class BT. Chris Morris came through in 12^th followed by the RX8 of Anthony Weeks who ran out of talent on this lap, and spun 360 degrees going into Camp! (That’s harsh Nick. Those RX8s are known as rotaries! lol – Ed) Luckily he saved it and got on his way quickly only losing one place to Colin Dunn’s Clio.

Lap 5 and Dave Krayem and Adam Higgins had bunched up and Krayem now had to keep him at bay. Keith White still in a solid 3^rd, Chris Everill was chasing Keith for 4^th position, and Bradley John’s Evo was motoring around in 5^th. It looks as though he has got used to that Evo of his, this weekend.

Jason limped around in 10^th position. He hasn’t had the best of weekends, but still leads the championship on points, having taken 2 extra points, for the fastest lap in both races! Although the championship is still up for grabs and I think it will go down to the last race in October, EXCITING STUFF!

Lap 6 – Last Lap Fabio was now chasing down Jason, Fabio started in 26^th position on the grid and 6 laps later he is in 11^th position, that is a lot of overtaking! The front runners Krayem and Higgins were still fighting for 1^st, as were Keith and Chris also fighting over the last podium spot. As they all crossed the line 21 cars finished 5 DNFs with the final positions as follows:-

1^st David Krayem (1^st class D) textbook racing well done

2^nd Adam Higgins (excellent racing) 3^rd Keith White (2^nd class D) 4^th Chris Everall (3^rd class D)

5^th Bradley John (1^st in class CS) well deserved, good racing, 6^th Mike Tovey, 7^th Gary Prebble

8^th Dave Scaramanga (1^st in class CT) well done, 9^th Fabio Luffarelli (4^th in class D) epic racing, up 17 places from the back, not bad for a mini, 10^th Mike Moss (2^nd in class CS), 11^th Tyrone Luffarelli (1^st in class BT) excellent well driven, 12^th Jason Davies (3^rd in class CS)

13^th Willem Verhaak (2^nd in class BT) glad you are back out racing, pleasure to watch, 14^th Chris Morris (1^st in class AT) glad you blew the cobwebs off iggy, 15^th Colin Dunn (3^rd in class BT), 16^th Anthony Weeks (4^th in class BT), 17^th Andy Long (1^st in class BS) well done, 18^th Susanne Jones (2^nd in class BS) glad you made it round somehow with no electrics?, 19^th Alan Smith (2^nd in class AT), 20^th Andrew Williams (5^th in class BT)

21^st Verity Banks (6^th in class BT)  Fabulous weekend with its mix of ups and downs, but I must say it is the most fun I have had at a race circuit without being behind the wheel, in a long time.

Great racing from all our racers with plenty of competitive driving, and lots of thrills and most importantly not many spills at least from our championship. Shame the both of our races were cut short, but I am sure the WSSCC will be in talks with Castle Combe Circuit to make sure we get our monies worth at our next meeting there in the 2017 season.

  WSSCC away rounds 5/6 castle combe circuit 17th July 2016 From: nicholas rocke

Race 2 report  After race 1 there was mixed emotions in the WSSCC paddock, Most were fettling with their race cars and preparing for race 2 and having a spot of lunch and soaking up the lovely weather we had been blessed with.Unfortunately this was not the case for everyone! The Davies camp were hard at work getting Jason Davies Cossie cleaned up and ready to race in race 2.Andy ‘Risca’ Williams had been pushing so hard in race one he had worn his NSR rear brake pad down to the metal, so was rushing to replace these ready for his next outing.

Paul Flinders had to unfortunately retire his MR2 for the rest of the day and began to pack up, as did Damian Longotano, others to retire after race 1 were Roger Good in the VW Lupo and Kieren Simmons in the Ford Fiesta. Verity’s mechanic Tony was scratching his head a bit, as the misfire that Verity had in race 1, had fixed itself, leaving him baffled and suspecting it was either coil pack or bad wiring connection on the harness! He replaced plugs, leads, coil packs and wiring loom just to be on the safe side.

During the break between WSSCC races there were other incidents that meant that the WSSCC last race would be shortened to 13 minutes, but due to strict regulations about no noise at castle combe circuit after 6:30 pm, it was going to be more like 8 minutes if we were lucky!

Fabio Luffarelli started from the back of the grid, due to transmission issues in the Corrado, and he would be out in his bike powered Mini silhouette. The grid of 26 cars waited patiently in the pits eager to get out there and race, I bet it was rather warm in those cars with the drivers in full race suits, as even at 6pm it was still very hot.

So they set off straight into the rolling start lap, and as they came through Camp Corner for the first time waiting for the lights to go out, David Krayem and Higgins were side by side with Keith White, Andy Williams and Chris Everill all in a little group at the front, with close to 2000bhp between them and all eager to plant their right foot!

Jason, Bradley and Mike Tovey were a few car lengths, behind in another tight group of cars, Gary Prebble was also nearby, but the rest of the pack were a few seconds behind! The gap seemed huge, not sure what happened there. So they were all off safely and racing. Daryl had a good lead on Tyrone and Susanne and Willem were side by side again, as they came through Camp Corner. Fabio in the bike engine Mini came storming through from the back, making up 3 places before he’d even reached the pit wall! As they approached Camp Corner at the end of lap 1 Krayem had a good 2 second lead on rival Higgins, Keith managed to slip his BMW down the inside of Higgins going into Camp putting him into 2nd.

Jason’s car had sprung into life and had jumped up, passing Andy’s Cosworth to move into 5th place. The next victim to fall to Jason’s Cosworth was Mike Tovey’s BMW, Andy was in 6th with Bradley John following close behind in 7^th. Brad was then being chased by Prebble’s 205. Dave Scaramanga was in 9th and was battling with Mike Harris in the other Pug 205 gti.

Daryl Radford was 1st in Class BT,  but had either lost a bit of pace or had issues, or was it that Tyrone’s screaming 106 was gunning for him as the gap was down to a only a few car lengths now. Willem came around in 14th and 3rd in class but Susanne’s Lotus Elise was nowhere to be seen, the Mazda RX8 of Anthony Week’s was about to be passed by Fabio who had made up several place in just one lap, MY GOD that mini really does shift! Chris Morris followed by Colin Dunn came around in 17th & 18th follow by the Susanne’s Lotus which was not well at all (later found out she had been suffering with an electrical fault).

Lap 2 and Krayem had a gigantic lead, and as long as he played his cards right it looked as if he had this one in the bag! Keith White had given the position back to Adam Higgins in the Ginetta. Higgins had a few seconds lead over the 3^rd place driver Chris Everill who had also taken a place off Keith White’s BMW. Jason Davies was still going strong, being only a few car lengths behind Keith. Andy Williams was chasing Mike Tovey in his M3 who had managed to steal 5^th from him, not far behind was the big winged Evo of Bradley John.

It appeared we had lost Mike Harris’ 205 somewhere around the circuit as the only 205 gti left was Gary Prebble’s who came through Camp on lap 2. Keith Butcher’s Ginetta retired back to the pits to join Mike & Gareth Haycock as early retirments!. The action between Tyrone and Daryl was heating up. They were less than a cars length apart coming through camp and up the pit straight. Fabio was catching up with his son Tyrone, and would undoubtedly be passed him by the time they reach Quarry Corner. Willem was in a solid 3^rd in class position whilst Susanne was still trying her best to keep the Elise going.

Lap 3 and Jason had moved up to 4^th position and Andy had spun over the other side of the circuit, and then brought his Sapphire Cosworth in to retire ( I spoke to him later on in the paddock, and he explained that he had lost a feed to the water temperature gauge, and preferred to fight another day than rebuild a very expensive race engine). Bradley John had got past Mike Tovey (Son of Roy Tovey who raced with us a long time ago), but Mike was not going to let him keep it that easily, as they came through Camp Corner bumper to bumper. Gary Prebble was still motoring on but there was no one to challenge him insight. Tyrone was now 1^st in class as Daryl was unfortunately having issues and retired the Civic Type R to complete list of retired cars!

Lap 4 and Higgins had made up some ground on Krayem, but was still safe for now and had a 2 second lead at this moment in time. Keith White was in 3^rd but too far behind to play catch up now. Jason’s car was obviously having issues again, as he had dropped back into 7^th position behind Bradley and Mike Tovey, and Gary Prebble was now hot on Jason’s heels. Verity’s car was still out there, but still not perfect and was running in dead last place, fingers crossed they sort that issue out before the next outing at Pembrey.

Fabio was now up to 9^th position and his Mini sounded absolutely beautiful as he came around Camp for the 4^th time, using every last rev that bike engine has to offer! Tyrone was now running in his Dad’s exhaust fumes, but was happy sat in 1^st in BT class and 11^th overall and had plenty of breathing space to bring her home.

Willem was about 4 seconds behind Tyrone and had his work cut out if he was to challenge for 1^st in class BT.

Chris Morris came through in 12^th followed by the RX8 of Anthony Weeks, who ran out of talent on this lap, and spun 360 degrees going into Camp! (That’s harsh Nick. Those RX8s are known as rotaries! lol – Ed) Luckily he saved it and got on his way quickly, only losing one place to Colin Dunn’s Clio.

Lap 5 and Dave Krayem and Adam Higgins had bunched up and Krayem now had to keep him at bay. Keith White still in a solid 3^rd, Chris Everill was chasing Keith for 4^th position, and Bradley John’s Evo was motoring around in 5^th. It looks as though he has got used to that Evo of his, this weekend.

Jason limped around in 10^th position. He hasn’t had the best of weekends, but still leads the championship on points. Although the championship is still up for grabs and I think it will go down to the last race in October, EXCITING STUFF!

Lap 6 – Last Lap Fabio was now chasing down Jason, Fabio started in 26^th position on the grid and 6 laps later he is in 11^th position, that is a lot of overtaking! The front runners Krayem and Higgins were still fighting for 1^st, as were Keith and Chris also fighting over the last podium spot. As they all crossed the line 21 cars finished 5 DNFs with the final positions as follows:-

1^st David Krayem (1^st class D) textbook racing well done

2^nd Adam Higgins (excellent racing), 3^rd Keith White (2^nd class D), 4^th Chris Everall (3^rd class D)

5^th Bradley John (1^st in class CS) well deserved, good racing

6^th Mike Tovey, 7^th Gary Prebble, 8^th Dave Scaramanga (1^st in class CT) well done

9^th Fabio Luffarelli (4^th in class D) epic racing, up 17 places from the back, not bad for a mini

10^th Mike Moss (2^nd in class CS), 11^th Tyrone Luffarelli (1^st in class BT) excellent well driven

12^th Jason Davies (3^rd in class CS), 13^th Willem Verhaak (2^nd in class BT) glad you are back out racing, pleasure to watch 14^th Chris Morris (1^st in class AT) glad you blew the cobwebs off iggy

15^th Colin Dunn (3^rd in class BT), 16^th Anthony Weeks (4^th in class BT), 17^th Andy Long (1^st in class BS) well done  18^th Susanne Jones (2^nd in class BS) glad you made it round somehow with no electrics?

19^th Alan Smith (2^nd in class AT), 20^th Andrew Williams (5^th in class BT), 21^st Verity Banks (6^th in class BT)

Fabulous weekend with its mix of ups and downs, but I must say it is the most fun I have had at a race circuit without being behind the wheel in a long time.

Great racing from all our racers with plenty of competitive driving, and lots of thrills and most importantly not many spills at least from our championship. Shame the both of our races were cut short, but I am sure the WSSCC will be in talks with Castle Combe Circuit to make sure we get our monies worth at our next meeting there in the 2017 season.

I look forward to seeing you all at Pembrey in a few weeks, so lock yourselves in your garages and get preparing as this is no one-horse race and with only four races left, it is anyone’s championship and it is going to get interesting. Don’t forget to play your joker card, the WSSCC is heating up and getting lots of support, I wonder how big the 2017 season grids will be?

All I know, is that I am itching to get my race car finished so I can get back out there and enjoy it with you all.

Regards Nick Rocke.  (Thanks Nick for such excellent reports – Ed)

Full results http://www.tsl-timing.com/file/?f=BRSCC/2016/162831wss.pdf

 

15/5/16 Rounds 3 & 4

 

Qualifying

At the 3rd race of the championship it was as tight as ever at the front with Keith White taking pole for class D with only 4 one hundredths of a second in front of a chasing Jason Davies in the Ford Sierra Cosworth leading CS.
A similar gap to the Ginetta of Chris Everill means it looked like a close battle was likely in the race.

Tyrone Luffarelli led class BT with an impressive 1.08 and Peter Hills led class AS in the Mini.
Dave Scaramanga was getting to grips with a new car to him, an orange VW Polo.
Meanwhile class CT was to be led by newcomer Gareth Haycock and class AT by Holly Welch.
Daryl Radford had to drop out early with a failing wheel leaving him at the back with the Evo of John Bradley who didn’t make it out for qualifying.

Round 3 – Race 15 minutes plus 1 lap

We had two non starters for the race, the minis of Ian Fraser and Peter Hills who found water in the cylinders after qualifying.

As Race 1 got under way Keith and Jason led a very controlled start only accelerating as they crossed the start line with Jason edging ahead of Keith as they approached hatchets. At the end of lap one it was Jason, Keith and Chris fighting hard for the lead.

Lap 2 saw Andy Williams in his Sapphire 2500 battling with Fabio with Andy eventually getting past into hatchets. It was short lived as he went too deep with Fabio regaining the place and then able to gradually pull away.
Hopes were high for Rhodri and his civic turbo which was running well until it appeared to let go with an explosion of smoke covering the track from Honda down to the start line. Richard Francis had a clear view and made the decision to avoid what he couldn’t see as well as Dave Scaramanga and spun the car off to the side of the track. Richard has posted a great video of the incident.

Lap 3 continued the excitement with Gareth Haycock who was in his first ever race finding the limits of grip at spitfires and spinning his VW Golf.
Meanwhile Paul Flinders unfortunately had to pull off into the pits.
Class BT didn’t disappoint with some exciting mid race battles. Daryl Radford eventually got by Colin Dunn for 2nd in class.
Andy Long in the second EP3 was continuing to battle with Gareth Haycock and then with Richard Francis.
At mid race the front runners finding themselves only 3 seconds apart with Jason still leading.
Another retirement on lap 8 as Holly found herself having to park on the outside of Spitifres with a possible head gasket failure.
Class BT problems were not over yet with Verity Banks having a solid race but lacking power from the rover engine. Great to see Verity, a long time supporter of the championship back after a years out of racing.
As the race approached the final few laps Jason maintained his lead with Keith deciding to ease off allowing the gap to increase to 9.4 seconds.
It was there Jason remained taking the chequered flag and winning round 3 with Keith 2nd (leading class D) and Chris Everill’s G50 in 3rd.
Tyrone maintained his excellent pace to take class BT with another fastest lap, narrowly ahead of Dave Scaramanga who took a class CT win. Roger Dowden was the class AS winner with Andy Long making the last of the class winners for BS.

Post race Jason revealed that he was able to run the engine at full power for the first time and was clearly enjoying the Sierra. Jason said he was able to put in some fast laps at the end despite the tyres going off.
Newcomer Gareth Haycock told us he is planning on staying with the WSSCC for the whole season and is hoping for more after he resolves an overheating brakes problem.
Colin Dunn celebrated his birthday with a 3rd in class BT

Driver of the race for Race 1 went to Bradley John in the Evo who despite starting last battled through to a great 7th place.

 

Race 2

Ahead of race 2 the WRDA and WSSCC cars paid a fitting tribute to Pembrey Marshall, Russ Morgan who sadly passed away earlier that week. All cars lined up on the grid and with engines turned off joined the marshals and spectators in a minutes silence to remember Russ.
Liam, Russ’s son, also a member of the Pembrey marshal family was on the grid and everyone’s thoughts were with him and his family.

Before race 2 got underway it was clear Race 1 had had taken its toll with Holly Welch (HGF), Paul Flinders (oil leak), Rhodri (water in the cylinders), Damian Longtano (HGF) and Andy Long all non-starters.

Round 4 – Race 2 15 minutes plus 1 lap.

Lap 1 started in much the same fashion as the earlier race although with Keith going around the outside into Hatchets, Jason held him off until Brooklands where Keith took the inside line, momentarily taking the lead until the Cosworth engine managed to out drag him taking the lead back before Honda. The next few laps held some exciting moments for both drivers and crowd as both cars on the limit battled hard.
If proof were needed on lap 4 Jason clearly driving on the edge lost some traction taking the Sierra sideways out of Honda allowing Keith his opportunity to get alongside and pass into Hatchets.
The MG of Andy Williams (yes we have two Andy Williams) and Richard Francis in his Saxo had a couple of close laps with Richard diving up the inside of Andy into Hatchets only to lock up his brakes and somehow avoiding contact, with Andy coming out ahead.
Keith White maintained the lead through the backmarkers and a string of blue flags displayed by the hardworking marshals. This time it was Keith who maintained his lead with Jason slowing considerably by lap 10 and retiring with wheel bearing issues on the last lap.
So Keith takes the win with Chris Everill second and Fabio Luffarelli third in the Mini.
Ken James was pleased to take the class CS win ahead of Jason and having played his joker which could prove to be a valuable judgment later in the season. Fabio’s son Tyrone again took the class BT win having another great race keeping Bradley John on his toes in the Evo, ending up just 0.5 seconds behind him across the line.
Dave Scaramanga was first in class CT and a second class AS win for Roger Dowden in the familiar yellow Davrian.

Driver of Race 2 was Fabio who said his car was performing better in this race after a few changes with more to come from the car for the next race.

At the end of the day drivers awards were handed out by Pembrey marshal Liam Morgan including the newcomer award to Gareth Haycock in his first race and taking second in class CT.

A big thanks to Susanne Jones for taking notes in the absence of our usual intrepid reported Rob.

Good size grid & Good racing for the first rounds in the 2016 Welsh Championship!  Race 1 & Race 2 reports!

Pembrey – Sunday April  24^th  – Spring Truck-Fest –  Entry & Qualifying  

On a day that was sunny but with a cold breeze, there was a mixture of regulars, returnees, and several newcomers having their first races.

The first few rows had a familiar look with Keith White and his BMW Z4 Silhouette on Pole with a time of 62.011. Jason Davies was only 7/10ths behind with his Class CS Ford Sierra Cossie. Jason was hoping to make a real charge for the 2016 title and his car had a few aero tweeks and a new stronger engine, but more of that later! The first of the  Class CS West Wales Fresh Air Brigade (WW Fab), was Damian Logotano in 3^rd place in his Westfield on 63.542. Damian, a former grass-tracker, has come a long way since his race debut in 2014, which must be an inspiration to those drivers making their debuts now! Neil Watts was 4^th with his Westfield. Ken James and his Locost was the 3^rd member of the WW FAB in 5^th place. In 6^th place was Fabio Lufferelli and his Moto-Mini.

The first of the returnees in 7^th place was Chris Everill in a Ginetta, but this was a new G50, and Chris was just getting used to it. Rhodri Jenkins and his turbo Civic joined Chris on row 4, with Jim Lyons next up. Jim, another returnee, had been burning the midnight oil getting his car ready, and his turbo Mini had a new nice paint job and a big rear wing! Roger Dowden joined Jim on row 5 and was the first of the Class AS runners. On Row 6 was Bradley John, our first newcomer with his nice black Mitsubishi Evo. Bradley had done some quad bike racing and was moving up from track days to actual racing. ‘On some track-days there isn’t anybody to play with’ 11^th fastest on your debut is a promising start. Leading Class BT was Daryl Radford whose Honda Civic was looking nice in it new paint job.

On Row 7 Dave Scarmanga had changed tyres on his VW Vento and was now on his own in Class CT! Alongside was Paul Flinders who was running the turbo on his MR2 in low boost mode.  On row 8 Susanne Jones was trying to co-ordinate her ensemble with the colour of the Originia Lotus Elise. Susanne no longer needs to have a yellow and black cross on her car, and was 2^nd in Class BT, just ahead of our 2^nd newcomer Colin Lewis in his Class BT Clio who was also having his first race. Colin is a former Grass-tracker.

On row 9 was Endaf  Owens and his Mini Miglia alongside Colin Dunn and his Williams Clio.

Behind them on row 10 was our 3^rd and final newcomer Richard Francis. Richard has a long history associated with Pembrey, and has done some karting, but this was his first time to race on the track. Richard was driving a Citroën Saxo and was obviously finding his feet, but there was a lot of sage advice on offer in the paddock. Alongside him was Andrew Williams and his MG ZR.  On Row 11 it was the walking wounded of Tyrone Lufferrlli and Peter Hills. Peter found his engine overheating, and having already changed the head gasket, he feared another more serious engine problem was brewing and so he elected to miss the race and went to help his fellow Vale resident Jim Lyons, but more of that later! On the final rows were Graham Welch (Rover 200) Alan Smith and his Ford KA who was ahead of Holly Welch who now had her own car, a Vauxhall Nova.

In the lunch break it was nice to catch up with a few friends, including Blake Edwards who was our guest and was catching up with some old friends. Blake was the original Welsh Sports & Saloon Car Champion (under MSA rules in 1991 + 1990 as a one race shoot-out).

It was also nice to see Nick Rocke and his family as well. Also at the circuit was Andy Williams, who was among the WRDA members who answered the call from the organisers, the BARC, for some safety car drivers. Andy’s car was not ready, so he was happy to help.

There was a lot of head scratching among the ranks of the turbo cars, with almost everyone suffering from some sort of woe or another. No-one was immune, with Jason finding a loss of Oil and some water, and thought that may have been due to the improved breathing rather than actual turbo boost. Rhodri, with Alvin on hand, was trying to figure out how and where his oil was going under pressure. Paul Flinders was trying to run with as little boost as possible but Jim Lyons, who was in an intense hard working post practice session, to try and fix his windscreen and other things, had found he had no boost due to software fault!

Over in the left field (or was that the West-Field), among the FAB brigade there were no such worries and Evan Watts was showing some football skills. Evan who is 11, is a goalkeeper in the Swansea City Academy, and is in the Welsh Squad for his age group. Not only that, but he is in the Welsh Junior Cricket team too! Dad Neil is very supportive and will do well to squeeze in some racing from time to time!

Richard Francis got some good advice from Alvin Powell on how to look at his first season. ‘Don’t worry about going quickly at first. Get to know your car, and learn the circuit. You can think about driving quickly later but take some time to gain experience’

 The race – 15 minutes plus 1 lap – Rolling Start

Following a pep talk from Mike Skelton, the grid approached the lights with Keith & Jason leading the way around Honda curve towards the lights. As the lights showing green everyone started racing, and Jason lead towards Hatchets. However Keith emerged in the lead, but with Jason on very close company!

As the leading duo traded lap times, Paul Flinders had already departed on lap 1 with a mystery misfire. Jim Lyons only lasted 2 laps until he went straight on at Hatchets, when the drivers-side trackrod arm snapped and the wheel departed! This left Jim with no brakes & skating along on the cars floor! This was unfortunate for Endaf Owens, who was just turning into the corner, when he was collected by Jims’ toboggan. Just as well they are mates! Although this ended both their races, Endaf’s car was easily fettled. Jims’ however needed a lot of work, and some help from Peter Hills, just to get it on the trailer and ready for home! (Roger Dowden had a Grandstand seat to all this drama! ‘I’m glad I decided not to take the inside line!’). Colin Lewis, the 3^rd of the Endaf’s Paddock group, was also having an exciting 1^st lap in his Class BT Clio, losing it on the entry to Honda Curve, throwing up some grass during his spin! Colin is a former Grass-tracker! Having dropped a few places. Colin linked up with fellow debutant Richard Frances and they pulled each up to 13^th & 14^th places by the end. Damian Longatono was another to exit early on, when his gear lever came off in his hands. There were a few laps when no-one retired, but then Rhodri exited on lap 6 when his turbo problems got worse. Tyrone Lufferreli dropped out 2 laps later, having been unable to feature in his usual fashion, after being hampered with problems with his new gearbox.

Back at the front Keith was holding a slim lead from Jason, which he extended to almost 2 seconds whilst lapping traffic. However with a clear track, Jason zoomed in and began to harass Keith for the lead, swooping by in impressive fashion at the paddock turn! On the next lap Keith spun at Brooklands, which handed a 20 second lead to Jason, which he was able to manage to the end, winning by over 16 seconds! Later it emerged that Keith had lost his clutch, and thought this was caused by a snapped clutch cable! Neil Watts, and Ken James were 3^rd & 4^th initially, although Ken stopped on the 14^th lap when almost in sight of the end ,with a complete loss of drive!  Fabio Lufferrli was 4^th early on but Chris Everill was getting the feel of his new G50 and moved past Fabio at about the half way stage. Chris moved up into 3^rd place to threaten Neil, with Fabio making his presence felt. All 3 of them put in their own fastest laps of the race late on, Neil just holding onto3^rd with Chris & Fabio in very close attendance.  Afterwards Chris’ crew joked that Fabio should pay them some petrol money as they had towed him around for the last few laps!

In 6^th place, and 1 Lap down was Roger Dowden, who after his grandstand view of Jim & Endafs accident, had a quiet race to win Class AS, but he had Dave Scaramanga in close attendance through-out. Daryl Radford was 8^th and totally dominated Class BT in his nice looking repanelled Civic, after he had passed debutant Bradley John. Bradley had the satisfaction of a 9^th place finish and being the last runner on 15 laps!

Susanne Jones got a good start and it took some time for Colin Dunn to get by into 10^th place and 2^nd in BT. Susanne Jones was 11^th and 3^rd in BT. It was BT all the way from 10^th to 13^th with Andrew Williams 12th (4^th in BT) and Colin Lewis 13^th (5^th in BT). Richard Francis was 14^th and 2^nd in Class AS. Alan Smith was 15^th and Graham & Holly Welch were the final runners.

In the post-race interview Jason confirmed ‘It was a cracking battle, you’ll always have a good battle with Keith. He’s a real hard charger and you will always have good clean battle with him. We’ve done a lot of aero-work to balance the car out so we can have more corner speed to keep with him. We had a problem in practice which means we can’t run on full boost so we’re about 80 bhp down on what we might have. It would have made my life easier, but no, I had to fight for that one!’ Keith confirmed his spin was down to his lack of clutch ‘I was trying to balance the revs, but I went down to quickly and it locked the back wheels. So around I went!

In the paddock, Ken James discovered that his lack of drive was down to a broken Crown Wheel & Pinion on his Locost, and Keith White found that his clutch problem was not simply down to a broken cable, and he would have to miss the 2^nd race. Tyrone Lufferellis’ problems seemed to be down to his new gearbox, so Fabio and Tyrone were busy swapping it for the old one! Jason and his dad found that the rear engine oil seal was leaking, but they reckoned that by reducing the boost still further, there might be some good points to be gained, as of Jasons’ Class rivals, only Neil Watts was alongside, Bradley John was back a few rows and Damian Longotano was starting from the back.

  Race 2 15 minutes plus 1 lap – Rolling Start 

 So as the lights changed, Chris Everill shot into the lead with Fabio getting the drop on Jason, who was already in ‘limp home mode’. Behind the first few cars however it was mayhem! Neil Watts went for a gear and found he had no drive! (It later turned out that bolts on crown wheel had sheared! As Neil said- ‘What a time for them to let go, after all the practice starts done to heat the rear tyres up!’)  This left Neil in a quandary! He was unable to signal something was wrong in the time honoured fashion of waving an arm in the air, as under MSA rules, open cockpit drivers have to have their arms tethered so they are part of the seat belts! So

he could stay where he was, but he would then be a target for the rest of the pack, or try to drift towards the pit-wall! Drifting towards the pit-wall was the option that he chose, but that brought the Westfield right into the path of Dave Scarmangas Vento which was legitimately charging ahead at full throttle to get a good start. ‘I wanted get as close as I could to Fabio whilst staying ahead of Tyrone!’

The front wheel of Neils’ stricken car hit Daves Vento just by the passenger side door and submarined under, causing the Vento to tip-up by almost 90%, giving the pit crew and spectators an unexpected view of his roof! The Vento then crashed to the ground, the force ripping off  Daves’ passenger side front wheel, which went bouncing down the track, right into the windscreen of Susanne Jones Elise! The impact put a huge dent into the windscreen, indicating the kinetic energy of the wheel and this put Susannes car out of the race! Daves 3 wheeled car then slewed diagonally across the track, leaving a huge, thick and oily slick all across the track! The red flags came out straight away! All the drivers were all uninjured, but it now took a mighty effort from the Pembrey circuit staff to clean up the mess. This included hosing the track down and quite a few passes with the Track Sweeper!

An un-injured Neil Watts eventually made his way back to the paddock, where he was assaulted by his sons Evan & Harvey, who dived in for a group hug! All we need was some steam and it could have been a scene from the Railway Children!

Dave Scaramanga was also un-injured but it was clearly something we wasn’t anticipating ‘It wasn’t the sort of accident you’d want to have!’

Chris Everill also made his way to the paddock. I asked him if he was out too? ‘No I’m going for a smoke!’

 The re-start 10 minutes plus 1 lap

 So after half an hour delay whilst the track went through a wash and brush-up, the remaining 16 runners set off on a shortened race! (At least there was time in programme to allow this)  Chris Everill and his 3.5 litre V6 Ginetta set off in the lead but he was harassed all the way by Fabio Lufferelli and his 998cc Mini! Fabio commented ‘Chris has got a serious bit of kit there’ Chris said he was using 2 year old tyres, ‘This car isn’t as nimble as my old car but it’s very powerful’ Jason Davies was clearly cruising, at least until he saw Damian Longatono looming up behind him! Jason upped his pace but Damian was up for the chase and set his fastest lap on the last lap as he chased Jason to the line! Endaf Owen followed Damian through from the back to finish 5^th. Tyrone was back on form and was on the rise too and finished 6^th and first in Class BT! One lap down Roger Dowden was 7^th, ahead of Bradley John who had Daryl Radford for close company! Colin Dunn was 10^th ahead of the duelling Andrew Williams (MG ZR) and Richard Francis (Citroen Saxo). Colin Lewis was 13^th in his Clio having been hampered by a set of unsuitable tyres. In 14^th place. Alan Smith took Class AT ahead of Dad & Daughter Graham & Holly Welch who was 16^th and last.

So Jason Davies achieved his goal and finished first in Class CS, but along with a few drivers there is a lot of work to do before the next 2 races in 3 weeks time, back at Pembrey.

 Richard Francis was well pleased with his first days racing ‘I’m living the dream! And his enthusiasm was catching with both his put crew looking to join him on the track soon!

Our guest Blake Edwards did the honours at the prize-giving and he was very impressed with the racing, so we can expect to see him again soon!

All in all it was an interesting weekends racing. Hopefully all the problems will be fixed for the next race, and we should see a few more drivers out with us. Nick Rocke says he is building new engine, but with a wedding soon, it may be more next year, than this. Willem Verhaak was moving house but the work he had done on his MX5 looked good.

With hardly anyone, except perhaps Alan Smith, scoring a maximum, the points and Gundersen Trophy points will take some working out!

Results are on www.tsl-timing.com

Report by Rob Allender- Action photos by Steve Williams