Certain events across the world by the name of Covud 19, came knocking at the door of the UK in 2020, and although the lock-down restrictions are modern times for us all, it will soon be a history, but suffice to say that there was no racing at Pembrey in 2020! However the governing body, Motorsport Uk allowed us to roll–over 2020 to 2021.
Certain events across the world by the name of Covud 19, came
knocking at the door of the UK in 2020, and although the lock-down restrictions
are modern times for us all, it will soon be a history, but suffice to say that
there was no racing at Pembrey in 2020! However the governing body, Motorsport
Uk allowed us to roll–over 2020 to 2021.
Even so the lock-down restriction continued and after the
cancellation of the early season races at Pembrey, the Classic & Modern Motor
Clubs Mallory Park event on Sunday 13th June marked the start of the 2021 and the 30th
season of the Welsh Sports & Saloon Car Championship, as WSSCC contenders
joined in with Classic & Modern Super Saloons and Tin Tops to make a maximum
entry. Heading the entry should have been Dave Scaramanga and his McLaren 650s.
However Dave, who was 2nd in the 2017 WSSCC championship, was asked
to withdraw,(too quick for them) . However that was good news for Colin Dunn,
as he was first reserve. There will be several new drivers making their debut
along with the stalwarts like Andrew Williams, Alan Smith, Gareth John and Mark
Williams. In Class BT Colin & Andrew had a newcomer to the WSSCC, Rodney
Teague (Renault Clio) and would have had Jack Boulton (Golf GTi) for company,
but Jack pulled out after his 4 year old boy cut his head, and had to go to
A&E! In Class CT Mike Cook , the 3rd
Newcomer, (BMW 330 Clubsport) was on
his own as was Deri Davies and his Class D DarainT90. Jason Davies was pitched
in with the Modified Fords.
Qualifying . There were some well-known names heading the time sheets. Joss Ronchetti was on pole with pot-hunter Rod Birley in 2nd place. Behind them was the first of the WSSCC runners, Deri Davies from Aberystwyth and his Darrian T90! Deri who is a Novice race driver, is in fact a very experienced off –road racer! Deri had Peter Dark the 1997 champion and others for company! 6th Fastest was Gareth John. Mark Williams was 11th, Colin Dunn was 13th fastest with Andrew Williams (MG ZR) was just ahead of Alan Smith (Ford KA) who was well placed in 24th place out of 30 starters, something Alan was very happy with. All of this proved that the WSSCC competitors are really competitive, in mixed company! Mike Cook and his BMW was 25th whilst in last place was Rodney Teague had to practice ‘out of session’ and would start 27th!
Race 1 – 15 minutes – Deri Davies plays his WSSCC joker card.With the field too widely strung out to start, the grid went round for a 2nd time andDeri Davies put his vivid Lime Green into a close 3rd place and even had a look at 2nd place! Gareth John was 5th and as Deri dropped back to 4th, it was a WSSCC 1-2 (actually 5th & 6th) Colin Dunn was in 11th place in his Class BT Clio, and was happy with his pace, despite running less BHP. Mark Williams was 14th initially with his red Peugeot 205. In 16th place was Alan Smith in his usual diminutive Class BT Ford Ka, putting on a display that surprised many observers! Behind Alan, Rodney Teague was making his way up from the back, and he passed his mentor Andrew Williams in MG ZR. Andys MG was now looking good in White livery and was sporting ‘Prompt’ signwriting. In a WSSCC train Mike Cook followed Rod & Andy as the race moved to half distance! However exiting the Devils Elbow one of the mid-field runners in a BMW, Jacques (no not Villeneve) got it all wrong, and speared front-end first, into the barrier on the outside of the circuit! This caused severe damage to the front of the BMW and as well the contents of his Radiator, and brought a lot of dirt onto the circuit! This brought the red flags out, and after some delay whilst it was decided that the circuit clean-up team was needed, a result was declared after 8 laps!
Jason Davies – Jason was added to the Modified Fords grid and was on Pole Position. However his race didn’t last long after he lost boost pressure. Initially it was thought that a hose had split. However the hose was ok, but as his dad removed the pipe, all the compressor side of the turbo fell out in bits!
Race 2 – 15 minutes– There was confusion on the first lap, as Deri Davies caused some chaos after ‘trying too hard on cold tyres’ As Colin Dunn explains ‘This caused a bit of chaos for the front runners though with at least 3 cars on to the grass and WSSCC `regular Gareth John recovering his Ginetta G40 in the middle of the road. Colin Dunn was far enough back to avoid being involved in the mayhem and picked his way through to be 7th place at the end of lap 1. The faster cars all recovered and would be pushing their way back through the field over the course of the shortened 11 minute race. This included Gareth who took a couple of laps to find a way past Colin. Deri Davies made his way up to 5th place overall and was the 1st WSSCC runner, however he then had to climb the naughty step to take to the Clerk of the Course! Gareth John made his way up to in 7th place. Picking his way through the traffic on the short Mallory Park circuit, Colin managed to finish 9th overall and another 1st in class BT. In 17th place Andrew Williams was 2nd in BT, and just behind him and trying out some slicker tyres for the first time was Alan Smith. Mark Williams was 19thand Mike Cook was the last WSSCC runner, as Rod Teague pulled off after only 3 laps. So a start to the 2021 season with the next races at Thruxton on July 4th.
2021 WSSCC Points supported by Risca Garages and Midas Green Innovations