So, the new Championship rolled into its second weekend with a triple header at Pembrey on 10th and 11th May. Again, we had a very good entry with 18 cars out. This Championship is really shaping up! It was amazing to see how much support there was from spectators, marshals and the teams themselves. Everyone was having a really good time (well nearly everyone!).

Qualifying

Saturday morning's early qualifying session was in pretty gloomy weather, with overnight heavy rain still leaving the track very damp indeed. Add to that a slick of oil from Spitfires to the Crossing and you could see some fun and games ahead! Still, the drivers did pretty well despite some real sideways moments, and in the end we saw Alvin Powell's Mondeo on pole in 1m 5.3, with Rhys Lloyd and his Seat Leon Cupra in second place. Keith Butcher was next up, and then Nick Jones in his ex-Clio Cup car in an excellent 4th place, just pipping Andrew Williams in the Sierra. Paul Trowbridge was next up after an excellent drive in his Ginetta, followed by Michael Wright's Golf VR6. Then came the Honda trio of Mark Nicolson, Anthony Allitt and Mike Woods (Rhodri had other commitments in the USA and was not out until Sunday). Jason Davies was next up, ahead of Nigel Bowens Primera Supertourer. Then there was the welcome return of 2 of our old regulars, Steve Pearcy's Rover 220 Turbo and Lee David in his Honda CRX. It was great to see them back. Russell Haggerty was next, in a car driven to the circuit (well done Russell!), which despite what it said on the program was in fact a road going Striker with a Fireblade engine! The other Striker of Adrian Chapman was next, and then Ken Rattenbury in his new Mondeo Tourer ( it is in fact the Valvoline car that Alvin and Nigel have each owned). Unfortunately for Ken, the car was not on song for the whole weekend with a number of niggles, but once he gets it sorted out he's sure to be back at the sharp end of the grid!

After all the slipping and sliding, the sun came out, and by race time we were enjoying glorious sunshine!

Race 1 –15mins + 1 lap

The race kicked off at a cracking pace, and Rhys was so close behind Alvin it looked like there may be a tow bar on Alvin's Mondeo. It stayed that way for many laps, with Rhys trying incredibly hard to make up for the undoubted performance difference between his car and the ex-BTCC winning Mondeo. So hard in fact that after a big moment on the grass going through the Crossing, Rhys decided quite sensibly that discretion was the better part of valor and settled for second place. Behind them, the ex-Touring car Primera of Nigel Bowen got through the field to catch up with Keith Butcher's similar car, but Keith held out for 3rd place. Behind this there was loads of fun and games with Andrew Williams eventually finishing 5th, having fought his way past Nick's Clio. Paul was enjoying his Ginetta on slicks, and had a great finish in front of the Hondas of Mark, Anthony and Mike. These were split by Steve Pearcy, who drove on excellent race with times down in the 1m 06s in his Rover 220. Lee David was again quick, but seemed to have a few problems with his car, and finally the battle of the Strikers was won by Adrian. That said, Russell drove superbly in a road legal car - no mean feat! Cars retiring included Ken with his Mondeo's teething problems, Michael's VR6 (drive shaft) and Jason Davies's Escort (puncture). So, all in all a great start to the weekend.

Race 2 - 15mins + 1 lap

It was an early start on Sunday, with the race starting at 9.30am. Again, the sun was out and there were smiling faces, but the real heat was out on the circuit. There was a fantastic battle for first place, which Alvin just won from Rhys. Just reading the times shows it all. Arvin’s race time - 16mins 35.110secs. Rhyme’s race time - 16mins 35.424seconds. Aliveness’ fastest lap - 61.142secs. Rhys’s fastest lap 61.153secs. You can't get much closer! Again, the Primera’s were in 3rd and 4th place, with Keith ahead of Nigel. Nick Jones won Class B in his Clio, and behind him was Mark Nicolson's Honda Integra. Next up was Andrew Williams, who had Rhodri Jenkins's Civic R right behind him at the end. As Rhodri had missed Saturday, he'd had to start at the back of the grid, but had managed to get up to 8th place overall after a few sideways moments under braking! He wanted to thank Ken Rattenbury and his team for getting him out at all, as when he arrived on Saturday, for once without stalwart race engineer Rufus, he found both a miss-fire and a cracked exhaust manifold. Thanks to some welding from Ken's team, and a new set of plugs, all was well. Such is the spirit of the Championship! Four cars finished in close succession after Rhodri, led by Anthony Allitt who pipped Paul Trowbridge this time, and then Mike Woods who beat off our new young star Jason Davies by the merest fraction of a second. Again, Adrian managed to win the battle of the Strikers. Another great race!

Race 3 - 15mins + 1 lap

There was a gap from 9.30am until after 3pm when the second race started. But all of the competitors and friends were having a great time in the sunshine, many congregating together around the "Ken Rattenbury, Andrew Williams, Nigel Bowen" team. One wag even said he was having so much fun it was a pity to go racing - oh well I suppose it's one way to lull the opposition into a false sense of security!

When the race did get underway, there was plenty of controversy. Alvin and Rhys's car came together, with the net result that Rhys's car's steering was damaged too badly to continue. As always in racing, there were various interpretations of what had happened, but whatever the rights and wrongs it was a real shame that the duel could not continue for the last race. Alvin went on to win, followed this time by Nigel Bowen's Primera. Andrew Williams had an excellent 3rd place, followed by Nick Jones in 4th . Rhodri was 5th and the first Honda home after some great battles with Paul Trowbridge's Ginetta and Mark Nicolson's Integra. And there were further duels behind, perhaps the best of which was Jason Davies getting ahead of the Honda's of both Anthony Allitt and Mike Woods to take 9th spot, and with it the accolade of Driver of the Day. And to round things off, Russell Haggerty got a deserved class win in his Striker, which was promptly seen leaving the circuit with not a trailer in sight!