Category Archives: Uncategorized

Elliott Excels on Smooth Neath Valley Stages

August 11, 2014 paulcommons1983 2 Comments

Number 1 seeds, Nick Elliott and Dave Price, took their third RAC Rally Championship win of the year with victory on the Neath Valley Stages; in the process putting themselves back on top of the championship table with just one round remaining.

Round six of the RAC Rally Championship saw the crews head to South Wales for 6 stages on the super smooth Vale of Neath gravel which up until recently were annually graced each November by the likes of Jari-Matti Latvala and co at WRC level; the use of Bryn also allowing us to tick another stage off the ‘to do’ list!

The opening section of stage 2 was our first point of call but before the crews reached us they were faced with 9 challenging miles through infamous Rheola. Unfortunately, for everyone involved in the event, the Zutec sponsored Sunbeam of Owen Murphy and James O’Brien retired less than 1km into the first stage with electrical problems; a huge disappointment as they were in with a genuine chance of competing with the top Ford runners.

Elliott meanwhile had shot out the starting blocks, taking six seconds out of closest rivals Jason Pritchard and Phil Clarke in Rheola with pre-event championship leaders Richard Hill and Steffan Evans a further 5 seconds back. It was obvious that Elliott’s rivals were going to have to take a few risks to keep up with his flying Ford.

And by the end of stage 3 the pace had taken it’s toll on a number of the top runners with Terry Brown and Tomos Whittle falling foul of Bryn, Matthew Robinson and Sam Collis retiring after stage 3 with overheating problems and, most spectacularly of all, Jason Pricthard and Phil Clarke having a massive off at Junction 5 of Margam. Thankfully both crew members were ok, but unfortunately the same could not be said about the car!

Although losing further time in stage 2, both Hill and the fellow ford crew of Meirion Evans and Iwan Jones managed to claw back a few seconds in Margam leaving Elliott’s lunch time lead at just over 10 seconds. Roger Chilman and Bryan Thomas were going well in fourth with top K2 class runners, Tomas and Eurig Davies, rounding out the top five.

Rain threatened the afternoon stages, and whilst their was only a short burst where we were in Bryn, it did come down quite heavily during the second running of Rheola. Not that it had much of an impact on the event as Elliott and Price were able to extend their lead in stage 4 and confirm the inevitable on the second running of Bryn; taking a comfortable 20 second lead into the Margam finale.

And so it was Nick Elliott and Dave Price who emerged from Margam as victors; taking their third win of the year and returning to the top of the championship points table. Taking dropped scores into account they have effectively wrapped up the title with just the Trackrod Historic Cup remaining in late September.

A season of consistency continued for Richard Hill and Steffan Evans as they secured second place in their D5 Escort. While the flamboyant Meirion Evans and Iwan Jones capped off a well deserved third with a stage win on Margam 2. Roger Chilman and Tomas Davies would hold station in 4th and 5th allowing Tomas and co-driver Eurig to claim the K2 victory.

David Stokes and Guy Weaver yet again took category 2 honours in their MK1 Escort with 7th overall. Chris Browne and Ali Cornwell-Browne were runners up in class C5, almost a minute in arrears but just one place further back overall. While victory in the all MK2 affair that is class D3 went the way of Ben Friend and Sean Kennedy with 11th overall.

It is always nice to see something slightly different on the stages and therefore great to see Peter Smith and Patrick Walsh take class C3 with 12th overall in their Opel Ascona; in the process claiming the honour of first ‘non Ford’ crew home.

Ray Cunnigham and Arron Forde in their Mini had been putting in another giant killing category 1 performance over the morning stages; holding a 50 second lead at the lunch time service halt. Gearbox issues however put pay to any chance of victory leaving the big Volvos of Graham Waite and Ian Beveridge to battle it out with the Ford Cortinas of Paul Mankin and Gwilym Roberts.

Roberts and co-driver Don James were lying second after the first loop of stages but a strong run from Waite, with Gill Cotton on the notes, through Rheola 2 saw the huge Amazon leap into the class lead. Although quicker through the final 2 stages, a 30 second time penalty would ultimately cause Roberts and James to drop off the podium with Ian Beveridge and Paul Price, in their PV544 version of the Swedish marque, taking second, just 16.6 seconds away from the category victors; the Cortina of Paul Mankin and Desmond Bell claiming third, 6.4 seconds further back.

In the modern event, Welsh Championship rivals Luke Francis and Alex Allingham would again lock horns in their quest for top spot on this very fast event. Allingham, with Chris Williams alongside, would take an early lead in their Group N Impreza but were unable to keep the B13 specification Evo 9 of Luke Francis and John H Roberts at bay over the remaining five tests. Karl and Guy Simmons, in their S11 WRC Impreza, would come home third some 45 seconds behind the winners.

Meanwhile, in the RAC Open category, Simon and Alister Crook would take top spot in their Opel Manta, finishing a very credible 9th overall; an equivalent time in the Historic event would have landed them eighth position.

Overall It had been another great day following the RAC championship and nice to be back in the South Wales forests for the first time in nearly two years. The last time I attended the Neath Valley Stages it was a compact event within the confines of the Rheola / Walters Arena complex and whilst it has always been a top event it is great to see it mature into a proper multi venue stage rally.

We now have a three week break before hitting the Shropshire forests for the next round of the BTRDA Championship; the Woodpecker Stages on August 30th.

RESULTS

1. Nick Elliott / Dave Price – Ford Escort MK2 (D5) – 00.46.53.1
2. Richard Hill / Steffan Evans – Ford Escort MK2 (D5) – +00.19.8
3. Meirion Evans / Iwan Jones – Ford Escort MK2 (D5) – +00.34.5
4. Roger Chilman / Bryan Thomas – Ford Escort MK2 (D5) – +00.53.0
5. Tomas Davies / Eurig Davies – Ford Escort MK2 (K2) – +01.08.1
6. Tim Freeman / Paul Williams – Ford Escort MK2 (D5) – +01.41.9
7. David Stokes / Guy Weaver – Ford Escort MK1 (C5) – +01.49.5
8. Chris Browne / Ali Cornwell-Browne – Escort MK1 (C5) – +02.37.9
9. Gareth Lloyd / Ryland James – Ford Escort MK2 (K2) – +02.41.0
10. Roger Matthews / Tom Marrott – Escort MK1 (C5) – +03.03.8
11. Ben Friend / Sean Kennedy – Ford Escort MK2 (D3) – +03.39.6
12. Peter Smith / Patrick Walsh – Opel Ascona (C3) – +03.45.3
26. Graham Waite / Gill Cotton – Volvo Amazon (B3) – +07.53.8

Full Historic Results
Full Modern Results

Standard prints available HERE.

For digital images, professional prints or any other requirements please email me at paul.commons@yahoo.co.uk.

All images © Paul Commons (Paul Commons Motorsport Photography)

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Harry Flatters Hat Trick for King Cole of Epynt

July 30, 2014 paulcommons1983 Leave a comment

Damian Cole, co-driven by Jack Morton, claimed a hard fought victory on the 2014 Harry Flatters Rally; a perfect warm-up for next weekends Tyneside Stages. Meanwhile top spot in the Historic Rally, round 4 of the BHRC, went the way of fellow Ford crew, Tomas Davies and Mark Crisp in their formidable MK2 Escort.

Just two weeks after the Nicky Grist Stages we were back on Epynt for the Harry Flatters Rally, this time on the tricky tarmac military roads which wind their way across the undulating Mid Wales landscape. Historically one for the specialist, a dry Epynt provides the opportunity for a committed 2WD driver to take it to the best of the WRC crews.

Following the cancellation of Rally North Wales, the Harry Flatters Rally represented the halfway point in the Mintex MSA British Historic Rally Championship and heading into the event David Stokes and Dessie Nutt were tied at the top of the points table with Stanley Orr close behind in third. It was therefore all to play for; with the chance for other drivers to throw their names into the mix with this being the first sealed surface round of the year.

From a photographer’s point of view, the stage layout made it quite tricky to find the desired locations, with Centre road, Piccadilly and the “Hut Jump” all off the schedule. Understandably, given the tragic events which occurred on the Jim Clark, “Barton’s” was one of the few aggressive jumps used and it was here that we headed for the morning stages; followed, after lunch, by a trip to “The Steps”, the 2011 Harry Flatters being the last time I actually saw this section of stage ran downhill.

MODERN RALLY

I am not sure whether the stage layouts contributed to the top two crews beating the bogey time on 7 out of the 13 stages but it did make for a close battle; if not slightly frustrating given that only 6 of the stages turned out to be truly competitive. Damian Cole and Jack Morton were quickest out of the blocks, duly leaping into a 4 second lead over the very short stage 1. Unbeknown at the time to 2013 winners Mark Straker and Neil Harrison, this would in fact be a costly margin of time to lose.

Cole and Morton would only take one other stage victory throughout the day and although Straker was able to match this tally of wins it wasn’t enough to claw back the total deficit, leaving Cole to take his third Harry Flatters victory following his successes in 2010 and 2012. This was in fact his second victory on Epynt this year after taking top spot on the Tour in March and the Hereford driver will be looking to carry this form into round 5 of the MSA National Asphalt Rally Championship on Otterburn next weekend.

Few other crews had trouble with the bogey times which allowed Melvyn Evans and David Gamblin in Mark Worley’s very smart Fiesta R5+ to come home third with top class 6 runners Bob Fowden and Ashley Trimble (pictured) taking 4th. The top five being rounded out by the WRC Impreza of Tim Wilson and Elgan Davies. Osian Pryce and Dale Furniss had been going very well and matching the pace of Melvyn Evans in their Citroen DS3 before unfortunately retiring after the first loop of stages.

With 7th overall Richard Merryman and Kath Curzon claimed class 3 honours in their Darrian T90 which, along with Straker’s class 5 victory, meant that the the small Welsh manufacturer had taken top spot in both of the major Ford Escort MK2 categories; a feat which does not occur all that often!

With 11th overall, the Mitsubishi Evo 9 crew of Rob Tout and Dan Holley put in a solid performance to take victory in class 8 while Darren and Sue Underwood took class 2 honours with 20th overall in their Vauxhall Nova.

Another Darrian in the hands of David Morgan and Richard Suter (pictured) was first home in class 1 while Ford restored some pride with top spots in class 7 and 4. Andrew Davies and Ian Taylor and David Comley and Allin James being the respective crews in each category.

HISTORIC RALLY

It was the longer stages where, non BHRC championship registered crew, Tomas Davies and Mark Crisp were able to take the most time out of their opposition; eventually establishing a winning margin of 1 minute 18 seconds over David Stokes and Guy Weaver in the Class C5 MK1. The competitive C5 class was responsible for 3 of the top 5 positions with Stanley Orr and Brian Cairns finishing 4th and rally legend Jimmy McRae, co-driven by Pauline Gullick, claiming 5th spot in the Vauxhall Firenza.

Ian Jones and Iestyn Williams would be the first registered Category D car home in 6th place overall; some three minutes clear of Shawn Rayner and Declan Dear in their similar MK2. Kevin Davies and Dale Bowen had looked like potential winners of class D and were challenging Tomas Davies and Mark Crisp for top spot before retiring after stage 8. Top seeds, Jason Pritchard and Phil Clarke meanwhile were surprisingly off the pace all day before eventually retiring after stage 12.

Category B proved to be very close early on as Bob Gibbons, Dessie Nutt and Rikki Proffitt all shared fastest category times over the first 6 stages. It was therefore a massive disappointment that the Cortina of Bob and Dale Gibbons and Porsche of Rikki proffitt and Phil Harrison would not make it past the halfway point of the event. This allowed Dessie Nutt, co-driven by Geraldine McBride to take it a little easier over the second half of the rally but still take category honours by nearly 4 minutes.

With both Dessie Nutt and David Stokes taking maximum Category points they remain tied at the top of the championship table as the crews head to Ulster for round 5 of what is now a 7 round championship following the cancellation of Rallye Dorset. This battle may well be settled on the final round in Scotland as neither Nutt or Stokes look like dropping points any time in the near future!

For full results please see the Rally Roots website.

Standard prints available HERE.

For digital images, professional prints or any other requirements please email me at paul.commons@yahoo.co.uk.

All images © Paul Commons (Paul Commons Motorsport Photography)

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Bird Flies to Nicky Grist Stages Glory

July 14, 2014 paulcommons1983 Leave a comment

Paul Bird and Aled Davies upped their pace over the afternoon stages to jump from third to first and claim their second BTRDA top score of the year. Meanwhile Matthew Robinson and Sam Collis wrapped up the Silver Star Championship with yet another maximum score in the 2WD class.

The Nicky Grist stages, being event 6 of the 9 round schedule, was set to be pivotal in the race for the Gold Star crown. With 6 scores counting, Scottish rivals David Bogie and Euan Thorburn had effectively ended their challenge by not entering the event. Meanwhile Dave Weston Jnr and Paul Bird’s chances lay on a knife edge with both needing to score big on the remaining 4 events to be in with a chance of taking the championship honours. A championship lead by Russ Thompson, having scored on each of the first five rounds.

Torn between Monument and Route 60 we eventually settled for the latter given the unpredictable weather forecast; the open spaces offering greater flexibility in terms of photographing the event should the heavens open. We were however greeted with glorious early morning sunshine on arrival; It was good to be back on the stages after 3 months away.

The early running suggested the battle for victory would be between the Focus WRC of Bird and Davies, the similar machine of Somerset and Dukeries winners Steve Perez and Paul Spooner and the Subaru Impreza WRC of Dave Weston Jnr and Kirsty Riddick. By the halfway point each had taken at least 1 stage win with Weston Jnr holding a 5 second lead over Bird, and Perez 6 seconds further back in third.

In 4th, Stephen Petch and Ian Windress, in the newly acquired Fiesta R5+, were struggling to keep pace with those ahead and would find themselves 27 seconds adrift after 4 stages. While Alex Allingham and Chris Williams were only just behind in 5th with 4WD new boys Desi Henry and Damien Duffin putting in a great performance to be lying 6th overall in their B13 Evo 9.

It was all to play for after lunch as the crews repeated the first three stages of Monument, Route 60 and Halfway with an extra loop added to the Crychan finale. Bird seemed to have the bit between his teeth, taking 4 seconds out of Weston Jnr’s lead on the second running of Monument and then a further 2 on stage 6 to take the lead heading into the final 2 tests. Perez had been able to tie Bird on stage 5, but could not match the Cumbrian on Route 60, and remained 11 seconds off the lead.

Dave Weston Jnr was obviously suited to the Halfway stage; having been quickest on stage 3, the Subaru pilot was again top of the times on stage 7. This left a deficit of just 1 second between himself and Bird going into the final stage.

Crychan however was most definitely Bird’s stage as he and Aled Davies emerged as rally victors by just 3 seconds. This was their second BTRDA win of the season after taking top spot on Bird’s home event, the Malcolm Wilson Rally, in March.

Behind, the Group N battle had been lead for most of the day by current Welsh Champions Alex Allingham and Chris Williams. Their lead averaging at around 10 seconds over the morning loop. A ball joint failure on Stage 7 however caused their retirement leaving the Mitsubishi crew of Jamie Anderson and Chris Brooks to take the victory for the second time in as many BTRDA events. Roland Llewellin and Jamie Edwards would take second in class with Wug and Max Utting rounding out the podium in their Subaru.

The new bridge on Route 60 had taken it’s toll on a couple of the Group N Mitsubishi runners with Thomas Naughton and pre event championship leader, Russ Thompson, suffering event ending damage after hitting the bridge hard; the lip of the new structure being at the point of compression after a steep downhill part of the stage. Luke Francis and John H Roberts in a similar B13 spec car were among a number of other crews also caught out. Thankfully this section was heavily cautioned for the second run but this was no consolation for the drivers who had suffered thousands of pounds worth of damage on the first pass through.

Silver Star honours went they way of Matthew Robinson and Sam Collis and with it the Championship title after hardly conceding a point to their opposition over the first 6 rounds.

The Escort crew also taking top Historic honours with 14th overall. Terry Brown and Den Golding put in a strong performance to come home second in class, with H2 winners, Paul Barrett and Dermot Coltan just one place further back in 19th. Robinson showed massive bravery over the famous slight right over crest in route 60, rivalled only in commitment by Alex Allingham and Chris Williams in the group N Subaru.

It was a battle of attrition in the 1400 category with early leaders Mat Smith and Giles Dykes retiring with Clutch problems, David Bennett and Alistair McNeil going OTL before Stage 1 and Tom Walster and Chris Ridge being excluded. All this allowed the very rapid Nova crew of Justin Lawson and Paul Hargreaves to take the win, with the Peugeot 106 of Dan Gray and Matt Rogers taking second, just over a minute in arrears.

Mick Smith and Tom Jordan in the 1400c class Nissan Micra put in a great performance to take third, beating several more powerful cars in the process.

In the main field, B12 went the way of Seamus O’Connell and Elgan Davies in the MK2 Escort, with B11 going to fellow Ford crew Edvall Martin and Siw Helen Stenberg. The Stenberg’s performance particularly impressive given second and third in class were the vastly experienced John Perrott and Jon Ballinger!

Neil Matthews and Jez Rogers claimed B10 honours in their Vauxhall Nova with 29th overall whilst also taking the Nicky Grist Challenge Victory. Meanwhile Sacha Kakad and Andrew Price recorded their 5th maximum N3 points haul of the year with 41st. And Barry Jordan and James Gratton-Smith brought the glorious Hilman Avenger home in 52nd to take the class H1 victory.

All this leaves Matthew Robinson sitting on top of the Gold Star championship table with 3 rounds remaining. However with 6 scores already counting, he and co-driver Sam Collis are unlikely to be there at the end of the year. Instead Steve Perez and Stephen Petch are in a good position as things stand while Dave Weston Jnr and Paul Bird also have strong points scores but cannot afford another non finish. Dave Bennett is now out of the running in the 1400 championship after registering another non finish, while Mat Smith must score well on all three remaining rounds to stand a chance of the title. A couple more good scores from Justin Lawson or Dan Gray on the other hand could see either one of them take the crown.

The rain had just about held off throughout the day with the umbrella only really needed for the walk back to the car. The novelty of leaving Epynt on a Saturday rewarded with top drawer fish and chips in Crickhowell. Something which won’t be repeated in 2 weeks time when we are back on Epynt for the Harry Flatters rally. How dare the owners have Sunday off!

RESULTS

1. Paul Bird / Aled Davies – Ford Focus 07 WRC – 45:23
2. David Weston Jnr / Kirsty Riddick – Subaru Impreza WRC – +00:03
3. Steve Perez / Paul Spooner – Ford Focus WRC – +00.19
4. Stephen Petch / Ian Windress – Ford Fiesta R5+ – +00.44
5. Desi Henry / Damien Duffin – Mitsubishi Evo 9 – +01.15
6. Jamie Anderson / Chris Brooks – Mitsubishi Evo 9 – +01.31
7. Tristan Bailey / James How – Mitsubishi WRC 04 – +02.06
8. Wayne Sisson / Neil Shanks – Mitsubishi Evo 9 – +02.12
9. Roland Llewellin / Jamie Edwards – Mitsubishi Evo 9 – +02.20
10. Karl Simmons / Guy Simmons – Subaru Impreza WRC – +02.33

Full Results

Standard prints available HERE.

For digital images, professional prints or any other requirements please email me at paul.commons@yahoo.co.uk.

All images © Paul Commons (Paul Commons Motorsport Photography)

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The Le Mans experience 2014

July 7, 2014 paulcommons1983 1 Comment

With three major teams in with a shot at taking victory and an unbelievable weather forecast the 2014 trip to Le Mans was eagerly anticipated. Annual leave restrictions and work load, although meaning a shorter visit this year, were not going to stop us heading to the circuit de la sarthe for the fourth time in as many years.

THURSDAY

StickeredUP

A 1.30am alarm clock was different to say the least! However this was nothing compared to Dad’s 11.30pm Wednesday night buzzer in order to pick me up. A quick driver change (not quite up to Audi’s efficiency) saw me take the wheel for the second stint and in little over 3 hours life seemed normal again after annihilating a McDonald’s breakfast at Maidstone Services. There were 2 reasons for the ridiculously early start: 1> To make sure our diversion around the famously destroyed Rouen bridge would actually work and 2> I just had to make the thursday night pole position shoot out.

Travelling on the Thursday does have its benefits. This happens to be the most popular day for Brits to make the journey down, and arriving slightly early at Folkestone for the Channel Tunnel allows time to have a good look around some of the stunning sportscars parked up ready to board the big train to Calais. The ferry may be cheaper but with the crossing taking roughly 30 minutes I wouldn’t consider any other method of traversing the Channel.

Dad had pulled off a master stroke with his Rouen diversion and after a reasonable amount of Euros spent on the tolls, the consumption of two family sized bags of sweets and a couple of stops to prevent the old man falling asleep at the wheel we had reached our destination.

Having read the horror stories, on-track camping has never really appealed to us. Instead, for the fourth successive year, we pitched up at the beautiful Chateau de Chanteloup (a mere 15 miles from the track).

I cannot recommend this site highly enough. It may not be the cheapest option but it attracts a friendly crowd of mostly Brits with the odd Dutchman and German thrown in. The owners have massively bought into the 24 hour week. The football is shown on a huge widescreen TV, there is a live band and they even put on a car show. For people not wanting to drive to the circuit there is a meeting point to set up for taxi groupings, whilst on-site Brit Assist is available for any car related problems. And most importantly there are a damn site more clean toilets and showers per head!

With what seemed like plenty of time to spare we headed off to qualifying. MISTAKE – Having followed the blue car parks signs to our pre paid car park we got caught up in the queues for circuit camping. Some 2 hours later we were parked up having missed the first 30 minutes of the first session. However this was no real problem as the expected pole setting final session would not start until 10pm.

On track, early suspicion about Porsche going for pole was confirmed with both cars looking strong. Early on in the final session however it was the super fast Kazuki Nakajima in the much favoured #7 Toyota who would head to the top of the times.

After a mid session lull the final 30 minutes were eagerly awaited. Many crews not aiming for position but merely wanting to ensure that all drivers have done the necessary laps tend to call it a day by 11.30pm. This leaves more space on track for the main players to battle it out for the top spots in the cooler, faster conditions. It was therefore massively disappointing that ex Formula 1 driver Karun Chandhok would go off and cause a new for 2014 ‘slow zone’ for the remainder of the session. This represented a huge anti-climax to a very long and tiring day. It was however worth the effort to see Dad’s infamous falling asleep whilst stood up act, which was met with great amusement by several passers by. He had been up for more than 24 hours however and did a great job of getting us back to base by 1am.

FRIDAY

After a very tiring day a relaxing Friday was definitely what the doctor ordered. With no track activity we decided to head to the very popular ‘Great British Welcome’ car show at Saint Saturnin.

This was made extra special with it being a Porsche celebration year as fine examples of the German Marque were everywhere. The race going 935 and the classic 356 were my particular favourites. Not forgetting a fine set of TVR’s and a stunning classic Corvette Stingray.

With mad queues around Arnage we decided to head back to the site to sink a couple of Saint Omer beers whilst splitting our attention between the World Cup, the traditional on-site car show and the very good JC & The Two-Steps band who were playing live on the terrace. The best Le Mans weather in ten years was only adding to the pre-race excitement.

RACE DAY (S)

With an estimated 260,000 spectators attending the race, a grandstand seat is a must and the Ford Chicane gives a great view of the start and end to this marathon of an event. Thus also allowing for a relaxing morning watching the support events and milling around the mechandise stands. The total cost of entry including a guaranteed seat with an excellent view still amounting to less than general admission for the British GP! Which just goes to show that F1 is one almighty rip off!

Having fond childhood memories of the Wheatcroft Gold Cup races at Donington it is always a pleasure to see the fabulous Group C machines on track; I would have loved to have seen these in period at Le Mans. It was a mighty shame however that Derek Bell didn’t get chance to get behind the wheel; car problems preventing the 956 from making the start. We did however see a couple of Sauber Mercedes C11’s, a plethora of Porsche 956 and 962’s, the Nissan R90CK and of course a couple of Jags.

There is nothing quite like the start of the 24 hour race at Le Mans. The long formation lap and awesome atmosphere created by a huge crowd gets the butterflies fluttering in the stomach; everyone on their feet as the rolling grid appears at Ford Chicane, followed by the almighty roar as 50 odd drivers step on the loud pedal at the sudden appearance of the green light.

The ultimate pace of the Toyota’s was evident from the start, however Audi looked to be stronger in race trim and were not dropping back as quickly as expected. Porsche however were struggling and were swallowed up by their sister marques.

Although rain showers were forecast no-one could have anticipated the velocity at which it came down. With some cars trying to stay out on slicks or intemediates and others on wets the difference in speed on the Mulsanne Straight was massive. It is questionable whether the #8 Toyota in the hands of Nic Lapierre and Sam Bird in the #81 AF Corse Ferrari were taking too much of a risk in the conditions as they went off; Bird’s Ferrari colliding with the slow #3 Audi of Marco Bonanomi. The #3 and #81 would be out on the spot but the #8 Toyota somehow made it back to the pits. It was effectively out the running for the victory though having lost several laps whilst repairs took place.

The remaining #7 Toyota managed to hold a healthy lead of roughly 2 minutes as the cars headed into the night with the two Porsche’s and two remaining Audi’s in pursuit. When I left the circuit at roughly 3.30am for a couple of hours sleep It looked like the Japanese manufacturer was well on the way to victory. But as we all know anything can happen in this long slog of an event and I awoke at 5.30am to the devastating news that the sole remaining TS040 had retired with electronic failure.

This however did throw the race wide open and there was little to chose between the two Audi’s and the #20 Porsche of Timo Bernhard, Brendon Hartley and Mark Webber. And it would be the latter crew who would find themselves in the lead after both the #1 Audi and then the #2 both suffered turbo failure. The #2 managing to maintain an advantage over their team-mates thanks to the learning curve of the mechanics; shaving minutes off the time to replace the turbo at the second time of asking.

The Porsche unfortunately just didn’t seem to have the pace as the race entered the closing stages and it looked like the Audi’s would catch it by the time the chequered flag was dropped. The spectators were in fact robbed of any battle taking place on track as Webber would soon have to retire the ailing #20 car. This left Audi to take yet another 1-2 finish and their 13th victory in the last 15 years. In my opinion this ranks right up there with their unlikely victories over the super fast Peugeot’s in the late 2000’s.

It is refreshing that the new technology in the top LMP class has added back the reliability factor, with the race winning Audi still spending nearly 1 hour of the event in the pit lane! The race this year bears a little resemblance to the story of the Tortoise and the Hare; Toyota may have the faster car, in fact I am sure they will claim this year’s WEC crown but that is little consolation for retiring from the one event on the calendar that really matters! This may be a little cruel on Toyota but Audi know better than anyone that to finish first, first you have to finish. I hope I am wrong but I am not sure the Japanese manufacturer will get a better chance of taking the crown.

The battle in GT was even better than the fight for overall victory. For much of the race there was absolutely nothing between the #97 works Aston Martin, the #51 AF Corse Ferrari and the #74 Corvette. By dawn the American muscle car had dropped back but Bruno Senna was flying in the Aston and took the lead just after sunrise. It was short lived however as power steering issues would cost AMR the chance of victory. This left the very strong #51 AF Corse crew of Gianmaria Bruni, Giancarlo Fisichella and Toni Vilander to take the top spot in GT PRO. The #73 Corvette and #92 Porsche would round out the podium.

In P2, the #35 Oak Racing Ligier, #46 TDS Racing Ligier and #36 Signatech Alpine all looked fast and capable of taking class honours. By morning however, the #36 had lost time, the Oak Racing car piloted by Alex Brundle, Red bull man Jann Mardenborough and GT Academy graduate Mark Shulzhitskiy was suffering with a misfire and suspension failure hampered the #46 Ligier.

The #38 Jota Sport Zytek meanwhile was going like a tank. With all of silver driver, Simon Dolan’s, alloted driving time out of the way, it was left to the strong duo of Oliver Turvey and Harry Tincknell to bring the car home. And that they did with a fantastic 5th overall!

It was great to see just how much it meant to Tincknell and Turvey as they leapt onto the podium at the end of the race; Turvey being a last minute addition to the squad to replace Audi bound Marc Gene; who in turn was a late replacement for the injured Loic Duval.

In GT AM I was absolutely delighted to see the #95 (Dane Train) Aston Martin of Kristian Poulsen, David Heinemeier Hansson and Nicki Thim take a very emotional victory. This was ultra fitting after the tragic loss of the super fast Allan Simonsen in the early laps of the 2013 event.

Early on Sam Bird had set the pace in the #81 AF Corse Ferrari only to be caught out by the rain. The #98 Aston Martin was also in the mix but it was the #88 Porsche of Christian Ried, Klaus Bachler and Khaled Al Qubaisi who would come home second followed by the #61 AF Corse Ferrari of Luis Perez Companc, Marco Cioci and Mirko Venturi.

Another first for this year was getting on to the pit straight at the end of the race to see the podium celebrations. This was particularly special given the reception the #95 Aston crew received from the many Danes in attendance. I didn’t understand the winner’s speech but I imagine it contained some very nice words about their late, very rapid 2013 Le Mans team-mate.

Having got to the track early on Saturday morning Dad had managed to park the car on the second row, meaning we were back at the camp site in no time. Just time to watch the France vs Honduras world cup game before a relatively early night in preparation for the long journey home. By 8pm, after a couple of stops and again avoiding Rouen bridge, I was back in Birmingham. This had been another great couple of days in Central France.

RESULTS

1 (LMP1-H) Marcel FÄSSLER, André LOTTERER, Benoit TRÉLUYER / Audi R18 e-tron quattro – 379 Laps
2 (LMP1-H) Lucas DI GRASSI, Marc GENÉ, Tom KRISTENSEN / Audi R18 e-tron quattro – 376 Laps
3 (LMP1-H) Anthony DAVIDSON, Nicolas LAPIERRE, Sébastien BUEMI / Toyota TS 040 – Hybrid – 374 Laps
4 (LMP1-L) Nicolas PROST, Nick HEIDFELD, Mathias BECHE / Rebellion R-One – Toyota – 360 Laps
5 (LMP2) Simon DOLAN, Harry TINCKNELL, Oliver TURVEY / Zytek Z11SN – Nissan – 356 Laps
6 (LMP2) Pierre THIRIET, Ludovic BADEY, Tristan GOMMENDY / Ligier JS P2 – Nissan – 355 Laps
7 (LMP2) Paul-Loup CHATIN, Nelson PANCIATICI, Oliver WEBB / Alpine A450b – Nissan – 355 Laps
8 (LMP2) René RAST, Jan CHAROUZ, Vincent CAPILLAIRE / Oreca 03R – Nissan – 354 Laps
9 (LMP2) Alex BRUNDLE, Jann MARDENBOROUGH, Mark SHULZHITSKIY / Ligier – Nissan – 354 Laps
10 (LMP2) Christian KLIEN, Gary HIRSCH, Romain BRANDELA / Morgan – Judd – 352 Laps

15 (LMGTE PRO) Gianmaria BRUNI, Toni VILANDER, Giancarlo FISICHELLA / Ferrari 458 Italia – 339 Laps
16 (LMGTE PRO) Jan MAGNUSSEN, Antonio GARCIA, Jordan TAYLOR / Chevrolet Corvette – C7 – 338 Laps
17 (LMGTE PRO) Marco HOLZER, Frédéric MAKOWIECKI, Richard LIETZ / Porsche 911 RSR – 337 Laps
19 (LMGTE AM) Kristian POULSEN, David HEINEMEIER-HANSSON, Nicki THIIM / Aston Martin Vantage V8 – 334 Laps
21 (LMGTE AM) Christian RIED, Klaus BACHLER, Khaled AL QUBAISI / Porsche 911 RSR – 332 Laps
22 (LMGTE AM) Luis PEREZ-COMPANC, Marco CIOCI, Mirko VENTURI / Ferrari 458 Italia – 331 Laps

All images © Paul Commons (Paul Commons Motorsport Photography)

A full Facebook gallery is available HERE. With selected better quality images on my Flickr feed.

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Maiden Win on home soil for M-Sport Bentley

May 27, 2014 paulcommons1983 2 Comments

The #7 M-Sport Bentley of Guy Smith, Andy Meyrick and Steven Kane claimed a sensational debut win at Silverstone; round 2 of the Blancpain Endurance Series. This being the first time in 84 years that the ‘Works’ Bentley Motorsport team had raced in the UK.

Although having only arrived back in the UK hours earlier I was determined to make it to Silverstone to see the ‘Works’ Bentley’s take on some of Europe’s best GT teams and drivers. A prospect made even more attractive by the 1 hour qualifying session scheduled for the morning of the race.

Following Saturday’s downpours and more overnight rain, a damp track faced the competitors as the clock struck 9am. With the qualifying hour being split into 3 fifteen minute blocks, it looked like the final of these sessions would yield the pole time with the track becoming dryer and dryer.

With this in mind there was always the potential for a mixed up grid but I can’t imagine the #93 Pro GT by Almeras Porsche would have been anyone’s tip for pole. Although aided by a slightly curtailed session due to a red flag, Franck Perera still put in a stunning lap of 2:00.912 to claim the top spot by 0.151 seconds. The #98 ART McLaren in the hands of Alvaro Parente would take second spot with great laps from Alex Buncombe in the RJN Nissan and Steven Kane in the #7 Bentley being rewarded with a starting position on row 2.

Qualifying pics

Caffeine was definitely required as the cars returned to their garages followed by a much needed sit down to watch the Lamborghini Super Trofeo race at Becketts. After many years of visiting Silverstone it still amazes me how much speed the Pro drivers manage to carry through this section of track.

The lunch time pit walk was stress-free as very few spectators seem to be attracted to watch the Blancpain GT races. I still can’t understand why people want to pay much more to watch touring cars drive each other off the track when you can come and watch Europe’s elite GT drivers battle it out fairly (generally anyway) in a proper tactical endurance race! Having never been a massive fan of the new Wing complex it was also refreshing to be back in the ‘National’ Pit lane.

40+ GT cars forming up to take the rolling start at 2.55pm was an awesome sight. Inevitably as the Bronze graded driver, Eric Dermont, was starting the #93 Porsche it wasn’t long before the Pro GT By Almeras entry dropped back down the field. In fact Alvaro Parente in the #98 ART Grand Prix McLaren had taken the lead before the cars had even made it through Copse corner with the #7 Bentley of Guy Smith and the #99 McLaren of Kevin Estre following suit.

And by the end of the first lap my prediction of a McLaren victory looked very likely as Parente had built up a healthy lead. However 2003 Le Mans winner Smith was able to peg the gap at roughly 3 seconds with Estre close behind in the Sister McLaren.

Traffic however caused issues for the Bentley and the more nimble McLaren in the hands of Estre was able to sneak by to make it an ART Grand Prix one two. Things would soon get worse for the lead Bentley as Smith was given a drive-through penalty for overtaking under yellow flags. To all intents and purposes it looked like the infamous British Marque’s challenge was over.

With the first hour up, the pit stops started to take place with Andy Meyrick taking over the #7, Gregoire Demoustier the #98 and Kevin Korjus climbing aboard the #99. For some reason the #98 seemed to fall off the pace and was quickly swallowed up by the sister #99 car of Korjus.

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Meanwhile Meyrick had the bit between his teeth and was soon back up to third. And with a succession of qualifying like laps it wasn’t long before he had caught and passed the struggling #98 McLaren.

In Pro-AM, British GT regular, Joe Osborne was putting in a great drive to not only lead the class but to also lead the race as the MP Motorsport Aston chose to stay out longer to minimise Bronze driver Mark Poole’s time in the car. It looked like a great tactic with several faster drivers due to take over the other AM cars for the final stint. Unfortunately a safety car period shortly after Poole had taken over blew their tactics right out of the water with their healthy lead being completely wiped out.

Up front however the safety car had played into Bentley’s hands as the 16 second lead between the top two had been dramatically shortened. With the track back to green flag conditions the race was most definitely back on. Steven Kane, now in the #7, seemed to have the pace to catch former Formula 2 champ and Williams test driver, Andy Soucek in the #99 McLaren. And to the delight of the home crowd Kane managed to take the lead with a move down the inside at copse with only twenty minutes of the race remaining.

With the #98 McLaren continuing to struggle in the hands of Alexandre Premat, the battle for the final step on the Pro podium was an all Audi affair. Gregory Guilvert in the #26 Audi was driving the wheels off the Sainteloc machine but the experience of Laurens Vanthoor in the #1 WRT Audi finally paid off as he was able to snatch third place on the very last lap.

As anticipated Poole was not able to maintain the Pro-AM lead; however he did manage to bring the MP Motorsport Aston home in a very respectable second place behind the very quick RJN Nissan of Alex Buncombe and the GT Academy boys.

The Roal Motorsport BMW Z4 was just able to hold onto third in class with the very rapid Nicholas Armindo’s similar machine less than a second further back as the chequered flag was dropped.

Further-back, the Gentleman trophy honours went the way of Alexander Mattschull and Frank Schmickler in the aptly numbered 458 GT Corse By Rinaldi Ferrari.

The similar machine of AF Corse crew, Filipe Barreiros, Peter Mann and Francisco Guedes claimed second in class, with the #22 Team Parker Racing Audi R8 of Ian Loggie, Chris Jones and Julian Westwood rounding out the podium.

The relatively small crowd gave the ‘Bentley Boys’ a well deserved cheer as they took to the podium. It was great to see an all British team and crew win a major International motor race on home soil. I for one genuinely can’t remember seeing this happen before; The 2010 Nissan GT-R Tourist Trophy Victory for Jamie Campbell-Walter and Warren Hughes only being awarded after a respective exclusion and penalty for the two cars that finished ahead of it on the road.

Although a little fortunate with the safety car, it really was a great drive from the all British Bentley crew. Andy Meyrick and Steven Kane put in some phenomenal lap times to drag themselves back into contention and take what, at one point, seemed an unlikely victory.

A few more pics from the race

Full Results are available on the Blancpain Website – Link

Some of the drivers on display last weekend will be taking part in my next racing fix; The 24 hours of Le Mans; THE major highlight in my Motorsport year. But before then it is back to rallying with the Dukeries Rally in nearby Robin Hood Country.

All images © Paul Commons (Paul Commons Motorsport Photography)

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The Old and The New

May 10, 2014 paulcommons1983 Leave a comment

Having decided against the long trip up north for the Pirelli International rally, a visit to both the Donington Historic Festival and Rockingham’s round of the British GT championship was in order for the May Day bank holiday weekend.

The Donington Historic Festival runs over three days, however it was the Sunday schedule that caught my eye, in part due to the last race of the day being the FIA Masters Historic Sportscar race. A grid full of classic 60’s and 70’s Le Mans racers made it worth the trip alone.

Arriving at the circuit early gave us plenty of time to look around the multi million pound paddock before heading out around the track. With the sun starting to appear from behind the clouds It looked like being a great day to show off these stunning machines.

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There were some very well turned out cars on display in the HTCC Touring car race …..

….. however the first event that particularly caught my attention was the RAC Woodcote Trophy for the pre-56 Sportscars. The iconic fin of the D type Jaguar makes it one of my favourite Le Mans winners from the past and this 60 minute event contained a couple of well driven examples.

Regular historic pilot Gary Pearson was actually entered in 2 of them which paid dividends when the #7 went out early on. Fortunately he was able to get back to the pits, take over from Carlos Monteverde in the white #5 and claim second spot on the podium!

However this formidable pairing could not keep up with the very fast Cooper T38 of Fred Wakeman and Patrick Blakeney-Edwards who claimed the victory by more than 12 seconds.

Some of the best sounding cars of the day were the 2 litre Sportscars in the HSCC Martini Trophy where ex BTCC racer Ian Flux put in a stonking drive from the back of the grid to take a magnificent victory. Driving the Osella PA3 he didn’t have it all his own way as once getting to the front he was re-passed by the similarly rapid Lola T210 of David Gathercole. It was looking difficult to pick the eventual winner but unfortunately Gathercole pushed slightly too hard through McLean’s on lap 19, losing the back end and becoming beached in the unforgiving Donington gravel.

The Pre-66 Under 2 litre Touring Car race was yet another highlight with a field full of MK1 Cortina’s, BMW T1800’s, Minis and even the odd Alfa.

It was in fact the Alfa Sprint GTA of Andrew and Max Banks who would eventually get the better of Jackie Oliver and Richard Shaw’s T1800. The ex Le Mans winner did take an early lead but could not keep the rapid Alfa crew behind for long. It was a pleasure to watch these machines being man handled around the track; the way they are thrown into the corners with masses of opposite lock is a sight not often seen in modern-day racing.

With the light starting to fade, it was time for the FIA Masters Historic Sportscar race. I absolutely love the fact that the main event was held at this time of day as there is just something about watching racing in the late evening sunshine.

The throaty roar as the green flag was dropped was phenomenal, bettered only by the sound of a full field of endurance legends, headed up by no less than 7 Lola T70’s, disappearing down the infamous Craner Curves; Oh to have witnessed these at Le Mans in period.

In actual fact the race didn’t turn out to be that close as ex British GT racer Oliver Bryant showed his class by taking victory by more than a lap in the #14 T70.

But who cares! The sight of these 5 Litre Chevy engined powerhouses lapping traffic around the undulating tarmac of Leicestershire’s famous circuit was just fantastic. My ears were still ringing by the time I was back at base with a beer in hand. This had been one of the best days racing in a long time.

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A day of modern racing was in order on Bank Holiday Monday with my first ever trip to Rockingham Motor Speedway. And with the circuit little over an hour away I can’t believe I had never visited before.

The sheer size of the 52,000 seater American Style oval becomes apparent as you arrive; more like a football stadium than a race track. But what I like most about the place is that it was obviously put together with the fan in mind as the access is second to none. Silverstone could definitely do with a Rockingham style underground tunnel and being able to watch a race from the top of the pit garages is just great; an experience I had only previously witnessed at Spa.

In fact the only negative of the day was the lack of interest in the support races with the once formidable British F3 championship attracting just 7 entries and disappointingly only 6 cars making the start of the 1 hour Aston Martin GT4 event!

However, the British GT race was the main reason for being there and with 29 cars on the grid it promised to be 2 hours to remember. The spacious pit walk prior to the race allowed a closer look at both the cars and drivers as the pre-race excitement started to build.

Marco Attard and Works BMW driver Alexander Sims had carried on their Oulton form by taking a comfortable pole position in the Ecurie Ecosse Z4. They would start the race as clear favourites for victory and Marco Attard was able to get away in the lead from the off. Derek Johnston in a similar Z4 would soon get by Mark Patterson’s United Autosports Audi R8 to take second with 2013 champion Andrew Howard following suit in the Aston.

Sir Chris Hoy had made a wild start to the race by ‘out-braking’ himself heading into Deene on the first lap and being lucky to get away with a brush with the wall. His pace is there for all to see however, and I am pretty sure it won’t be long before he is running much closer to the front.

Inevitably it wasn’t long before a safety car was required to recover Tania Mann’s Ginetta. Much of Attard’s early effort to build a lead had therefore been negated as the race returned to green flag conditions. Soon after the pit window opened and the majority of the contenders for victory pitted with the Ecurie Ecosse BMW’s lead not being of the necessary margin to cope with the Oulton Park success penalty. Sims would therefore rejoin in fifth behind, the yet to pit, Gary Eastwood’s Ferrari, the similar machine of Richard Lyons and the two Triple 8 Z4’s of Luke Hines and Joe Osborne.

Eastwood staying out in the FF Corse Ferrari turned out to be either a master stroke or, more likely, a lucky break as a second safety car was required to remove John Gaw’s Aston and Morten Don’s Ginetta. This allowed the Ferrari crew to get Rob Barff strapped in and leave pit road with a 40 second lead over the rest of the field. Even a drive through for exiting the pit lane while the red light was showing could not stop them taking an 18 second victory.

Behind, Alexander Sims was showing everyone why he was not only the 2008 McLaren Autosport BRDC award winner but also why he is now a factory BMW driver. He was soon up to second with the pass to take this position being absolutely breathtaking; taking advantage of a backmarker and coming from way back to slip down the inside of Lyons on the entry to Deene. A pleasure to watch from my now grandstand vantage point.

Other than a close battle between the triple 888 Z4’s, which saw Joe Osborne take a trip across the gravel, not a lot else happened throughout the remaining 40 minutes of the race. This left Richard Lyons to take third place on the road only to be later handed a ten second penalty for driving standards when Pasin Lathouras was at the wheel. This would drop them to 7th but promote Luke Hines and Derek Johnston to the final step of the podium. Behind them Tom Onslow-Cole put in a stellar performance to take 4th in the Strata 21 Aston ahead of the similar machine of Andrew Howard and Jonny Adam. Adam doing a great job in a damaged car.

Having started on the back row, and being given an early drive through for overtaking under yellow flags, John Dhillon and Aaron Scott put in a great a drive to claim 8th overall in the second AF Corse Ferrari 458.

The all new Generation Racing Bentley of Steve Tandy and James Appleby struggled at Rockingham and ended up a lap down in 14th place. It is however great to see this huge car in British GT and hopefully it will be nearer the sharper end of the grid as the season progresses.

All this leaves Alexander Sims and Marco Attard sitting pretty at the top of the championship points table. And with Marco Attard being one of the quicker “Am” drivers this surely now makes them the clear favourites for the 2014 crown …

Full British GT results: Here

Next up it is back to Silverstone for the Blancpain Endurance Series. I will be cheering on the very British Works Bentleys who will be looking to build on a strong performance at the Monza season opener.

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Easter Weekend Sportscar Egg-Stravaganza!

April 28, 2014 paulcommons1983 1 Comment

A jam packed Easter weekend schedule saw Toyota take a convincing WEC victory at Silverstone with Thiriet by TDS Racing coming out on top in the rejuvenated European Le Mans series event. Spoils were shared at Oulton Park as the Oman Racing Team Aston Martin and Ecurie Ecosse BMW took the race victories in round 1 of the British GT championship.

Initial disappointment upon seeing the respective race calendars soon ebbed away on realising that, although the British GT championship, WEC and European Le Mans series all had their opening rounds on the same weekend, it was still possible to see all three races.

Saturday saw us head to Silverstone for WEC qualifying and the 4 hour ELMS race. Against my personal expectations it was in fact the #7 Toyota of Alex Wurz, Stephane Sarrazin and Kazuki Nakajima that took pole position with a 4 lap average just 0.005 seconds quicker than the #1 Audi of Lucas Di Grassi, Tom Kristensen and Loic Duval. Whilst difficult to read too much into the relative race pace of the cars from the Paul Ricard prologue, it did seem that Porsche and Audi would be quicker over 1 lap.

Not that this was a disappointment as I am a big fan of the Toyota; not only does it look great but the 3.7 litre V8 petrol engine sounds fantastic too. Whilst what Audi do with the Diesel engine is an engineering masterpiece it was a worry that the lack of sound would become the norm in sportscar racing. It will be interesting to see whether Audi’s 4 litre Diesel V6 or Porsche’s 2 litre petrol V4 will be able topple Toyota at the next round in Spa or the 24 hour centrepiece in June.

The four hour ELMS race turned out to be the highlight of the weekend. While the WEC is struggling for entries, with just 27 at the opening round, the ELMS boasted a grid of 39 evenly spread across all 3 categories.

Having qualified on pole the opening hour of the race was dominated by the JOTA Sport Zytek in the hands of works Audi driver Filipe Albuquerque. The Portuguese was driver able to build a big lead while those behind battled it out.

The sun had broken through the clouds towards the end of the first stints which coincided with James Littlejohn’s rise to 2nd overall in the #28 Greaves Zytek. The ex radical racer had put in a stellar debut drive to get the better of some big name drivers including Jan Charouz and Christian Klien. Meanwhile Michael Lyons had put in a great shift in the #54 AF Corse Ferrari to lead the LMGTE class.

With such a strong driver line up Simon Dolan, as the silver driver in the JOTA Sport car, had to do the majority of the driving. And although Frank Mailleux was closing the gap, he wasn’t making significant in-roads into Dolan’s lead. For all intents and purposes it looked like the #38 car had this in the bag with pole man Harry Tincknell set to take over for the final stint. But disaster struck on the Dolan’s in-lap as a mistake in traffic lead to a large off and a high speed collision with the Hangar Straight concrete wall. Fortunately, although taken to the medical centre, Dolan had only suffered bruising which is testament to the strength of the LMP2 machinery.

Following a lengthy safety car period, a sprint to the finish ensued; with three cars seemingly in with a shout of taking the overall victory. With only a handful of laps remaining Tristan Gommendy passed the #34 Race performance Oreca of Michel Frey to ensure the Thiriet by TDS Racing team would stand on the top step of the podium. Gary Hirsch, in the Newblood Morgan Judd almost snatched second from Frey soon after with a move down the inside at village. The Race Performance driver however was able to keep his head, stay wide and take the inside line for the Loop to keep the position.

The increase in race distance from 3 to 4 hours combined with the linkage of driver grading to the required time in the car have really added to the overall spectacle. I for one would definitely like to go and see another round of this championship. It is great to see the entries so high and hard to believe that it was only 2 years ago that only 13 cars were attracted to the Donington round.

The day was rounded of in style by combining Stirchley’s best fish and chips with a couple of glasses of Belgium’s finest beer. With photos downloaded, batteries re-charged, filters cleaned and cobs made it was time to look forward to Day 2 at Silverstone.

The WEC pit walk had attracted most of the 43,000 people who were in attendance for Sunday’s race, which while great for the sport did make it difficult to see anything. While It works so well at Le Mans, with pit access available all day on the friday, the experience at Silverstone has always been a little underwhelming. After 5 minutes of seeing very little we called it a day and headed to Luffield for the race start and a coffee break.

Although rain threatened the race commenced in dry conditions leading to an exciting opening half hour of the race. The Audi’s seemed to have the early pace with the #2 in the hands of Andre Lotterer eventually getting past the #7 Toyota of Alex Wurz to take the lead of the race.

But then the rain came down and carnage followed. Toyota wisely brought both cars in for wets / intermediates relatively early while Audi stayed out in the hope of a shorter shower. With the rain getting heavier, traction was becoming a massive issue. Lucas Di Grassi in the #1 Audi was first to get caught out; losing control of the car through Woodcote and causing enough damage to put the car out of the race. Meanwhile the #14 Porsche had lost a wheel and suffered suspension damage which would ultimately lead to it’s retirement as well.

It wasn’t long after this that the seemingly invincible Andre Lotterer would lose control of the #2 Audi at Stowe and fall a couple of laps back whilst being recovered from the gravel. Effectively out of the running for overall victory Benoit Treluyer would later go off at Copse causing race ending damage to the car. This rounded off a terrible weekend for the Audi team and left them with a big job on their hands to get both cars re-built in time for the next round at Spa.

By the time the the track had dried out, the battle at the front was effectively over with the #8 Toyota holding a 1 lap lead over the #7 courtesy of choosing wets instead of intermediates. The #20 Porsche was holding onto third but was gradually losing touch with the powerful Japanese machines. This remained the order until the race was red flagged following an afternoon rain shower of epic proportions!

Personally I expected Porsche to be faster this weekend but third represented a good result on their return to top level sportscar racing. Debate surrounded whether they were running “skinny” aero to be used at Le Mans as opposed to a more Silverstone friendly higher downforce set up. I just hope they are on the pace at the 24 hour main event later this year.

They did however have things more their own way in the GTE Pro class with #92 of Marco Holzer, Fred Makowiecki and Richard Lietz leading home a 911 1-2 finish. The #51 AF Corse Ferrari did however keep them on their toes earlier on in the race but would ultimately end up fourth behind the #97 Aston Martin of Darren Turner and Stefan Mucke.

Having eventually dried out, Easter Monday saw us head up to Cheshire for the annual trip to Oulton Park. Summer appeared to have arrived and this time I had come prepared with suncream!

A fantastic grid of cars had been assembled for the opening 2 races of the British GT championship and fans had flocked to the circuit in anticipation of a great days racing. I personally have never seen so many people at a British GT event and I am pretty sure that a grid containing two Bentleys had something to do with it.

Unfortunately, as is often the case at Oulton, both races were ruined by safety cars with the safety car in race 1 effectively putting half the field a lap behind. When the racing got back underway Michael Caine was able to build on the good work of Ahmad Al Harthy to take the victory by just over 3 seconds from the AF Corse Ferrari of Pasin Lathouras and Richard Lyons and 2013 champions Andrew Howard and Jonny Adam in Beechdean Aston.

Having qualified on Pole on his British GT debut, race 2 saw the super fast Alexander Sims able to maintain the lead before the intervention of yet another safety car. They were however caught out by the timing of the pit window opening. With cars further back able to pit a lap earlier, Marco Attard (having taken over from Sims) would re-enter the race in third.

The safety car would soon be out again though following the coming together of Mark Patterson’s Audi and Gary Eastwood’s Ferrari as they battled for the lead. This left Marco Attard to take the victory from John Minshaw and Phil Keen in the Trackspeed Porsche with Andrew Howard and Jonny Adam rounding off an excellent opening weekend with their second podium.

Looking back I do wonder whether a single two hour race format would be better suited to Oulton Park especially with growing grids. It would be even better if all races were three hours in length like the Blancpain series but maybe that isn’t want the competitors want and I certainly wouldn’t want to ‘fix’ something that isn’t broken.

On reflection it was a top weekend even if a little tiring. Next up it is Donington and Rockingham on May day bank holiday weekend for the Historic Festival and the next round of the British GT championship. Stay tuned for coverage ….

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New Territory, Windscreen glare and an incredibly close finish to the Somerset Stages

April 15, 2014 paulcommons1983 Leave a comment

Steve Perez and Paul Spooner held off a late challenge from Stephen Petch and Ian Windress to take the Somerset Stages victory on a first stage tie breaker.

In hindsight the bottle of wine in Pizza Express on friday night was not the wisest decision with such an early start. However I wasn’t driving and was suitably refreshed by the time we arrived at Knowle some three hours later.

Having not attended the Somerset Stages since 2009 and with a new stage to tick off the list I was really looking forward to this one especially with four Foci and a WRC Impreza filling the top five spots on the entry list.

After the misfortune of getting caught up behind a slow moving wide load on the A39 we just about reached junction 12 before the zero car arrived. As expected the light was proving to be a bit of an issue but fortunately I had come prepared with a couple of polarizing filters in an attempt to combat the anticipated windscreen glare. Not having much luck with the Hoya wide angle filter I decided to revert to the UV for a couple of shots on the inside of the junction. This was the best of the bunch with a black and white conversion a necessity in the strange light.

With great disappointment, the super fast David Bogie had retired with ignition coil failure before the cars even reached stage 3. The rest of the field more than made up for his departure however with some spectacular driving around this relatively tight hairpin.

The B&W polarizer I had on the 70-200 was working much better ( and to be honest, even though cheaper than the hoya filter, is a much better quality piece of kit). The Marshal’s car parked behind the junction was perfectly positioned in the sense that no practice shot was required to set the filter; but less well positioned when, along with the infamous red & white tape, it filled the background of the majority of my shots. I don’t like to overly use Photoshop but it does come in useful every now and then!

By the halfway mark, Paul Bird and Aled Davies in their Focus WRC had built up a 13 second lead over the similar machine of Steve Perez and Paul Spooner with Stephen Petch, David Weston and Luke Francis rounding out the top five. Pat Naylor and Ian Lawrence were getting the better of their Group N opposition with 6th overall whilst the in form Matthew Robinson and Sam Collis were leading the historic class in 11th. Darren Pinchin was making the most of David Bennett’s retirement and Mat Smith’s decision to miss this event by leading the 1400 section with 21st overall.

With the aid of Google Maps, it was decided that junction 3 was worth a look for the second running of the stage. Listening to a couple of my Dad and Uncle’s familiar Mini related stories from their competitive days helped pass the time. I lose count of the number of times I have heard the one about the loose wheel and the nettles ….

After a small delay for the recovery of stranded vehicles the leading 1400 contenders soon came into view with the light still proving to be an issue from a photographer’s perspective. The crews were able to really attack this wide open downhill hairpin left with Jon Ballinger and Mike Wilding in their Opel Manta being by far the most spectacular through this section.

A sit down with a cuppa as opposed to chasing off to the final stage was the preferred option by the time we had got back to the car. This gave time to catch up on the results and discover that Paul Bird and Aled Davies had unfortunately retired on the 10th stage of the rally with a reported broken drive shaft. This left Steve Perez and Stephen Petch to battle it out for victory.

With two stages remaining Perez held a 7 second lead over Petch with David Weston a further 26 seconds back. Incredibly Petch went 3 seconds quicker in the short Timberscombe stage and then 4 seconds faster in Bats Castle to tie Perez with a total penalty of 42.28! Petch and Windress had actually won more stages throughout the day but the tie breaker rewards the the crew who are quickest out of the blocks. And so it was Steve Perez and Paul Spooner who would come out on top courtesy of their quicker stage 1 time.

David Weston and Kirsty Riddick would consolidate a strong run with the final step of the podium while Luke Francis and John H Roberts claimed B13 honours with 4th overall. Tom Naughton and Andi Mort took the group N victory by just 1 second from Pat Naylor and Ian Lawrence after a stunning final stage push. They went into the Bats Castle finale with a 5 second deficit to make up.

Class B12 went the way of Callum Black and Paul Wakely in their front wheel drive DS3 with 10th overall. Matthew Robinson and Sam Collis held onto the Historic lead throughout the day with 11th whilst B10 went the way of Andy Burnell and Scott Cleverdon in the Skoda Felicia Kit car. The very flamboyant Jon Ballinger and Mike Wilding claimed B11 with 18th overall and Darren Pinchin and Karen Jenkins took the top spot in the 1400 category with 19th in their Proton Satria.

Minehead was the next point of call for fish and chips (Yes with the mushy peas on the chips thank you) and an opportunity to put my back out skimming stones into the sea. All in all it was a top day out. It is always good to get into new territory and Knowle proved a pretty good stage to watch.

With the Sportscar racing season starting this weekend, my next rally is looking like being the Dukeries in June. Hopefully Britain will be in the middle of a heatwave by then ….

Results:

1. Steve Perez / Paul Spooner – Ford Focus WRC – 42.28
2. Stephen Petch / Ian Windress – Ford Focus WRC +0.00
3. David Weston / Kirsty Riddick – Subaru Impreza WRC +0.28
4. Luke Francis / John H Roberts – Mitsubishi Evo 9 +01.32
5. Tom Naughton / Andi Mort – Mitsubishi Evo 9 +01.57
6. Pat Naylor / Ian Lawrence – Mitsubishi Evo 9 +01.58
7. Martyn England / Dawn England – Mitsusbishi Evo 10 +02.55
8. Russ Thompson / Andy Murphy – Mitsubishi Evo 9 +03.08
9. Roland Llewellin / Jamie Edwards – Mitsubishi Evo 9 +03.15
10. Callum Black / Paul Wakely – Citroen DS3 +04.09

Full Results

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For JPEGS, professional prints or any other enquiries please drop me an email – paul.commons@yahoo.co.uk

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Stone wins as Tinn’s hopes go up in smoke

April 10, 2014 paulcommons1983 1 Comment

John Stone & Carl Williamson would leave Cadwell Park as victors of the 2014 TJS Self Drive Alan Healy Memorial Rally following a day long battle with David & Alice Tinn in the Millington powered Proton.

A stunning entry list convinced me that a return trip to Cadwell, following my first visit last year, was a necessity even after a couple of big names had withdrawn on the run up to the event.

Situated in the predominantly flat county of Lincolnshire, Cadwell Park, nicknamed the “Mini Nurburgring”, defies belief with it’s many changes in gradient, creating excellent views of the circuit wherever you should choose to stand. Having been granted trackside access this year I decided to head to the Gooseneck / Charlies end of the circuit for the first 5 stages to make the most of vantage points not able to be reached in 2013.

Any thoughts of a fully dry day were soon washed away as the heavens opened just 20 minutes before the first stage. Being a little ring-rusty, this being my first event in over a month; rain was not really what I had in mind. It did however provide an opportunity for the spray to be captured on camera.

The downpour would not last though, meaning half the field would encounter a drier stage than the front runners. And so It would be Tristan Pye and Stewart Merry who were quickest out of the blocks in the challenging conditions to take stage 1 victory; a great effort given the big hitting machinery seeded higher up the order.

A damp but rapidly drying circuit faced the competitors for stage 2. David Turnbull, winner in 2013 was unexpectedly caught out; losing control of his Impreza WRC on the run down to Coppice and spectacularly rolling following a backwards collision with the armco barriers. Thankfully both he and and co-driver, Howard Pridmore, were able to walk away.

This was not the only incident on stage 2 as a collision with the pit wall for the Renault Clio crew of Shaun McGonigal & Richard Winstanley would cause the stage to be stopped completely with the remaining competitors given a notional time. It was pleasing to see that again both driver and co-driver were able to leave the scene unassisted.

By the end of the second stage 2 crews were starting to stand out at the head of the field, with John Stone and Carl Williamson holding a 12 second lead over the father and daughter Proton pairing of David and Alice Tinn.

Those expecting the WRC machine to pull away were in for a shock though as the grunt of the Millington powered Proton was more than a match for Stone’s Fabia. And having dropped time on Stage 3 Stone and Williamson would find themselves 7 seconds adrift of the Tinn’s at the halfway mark with the Subarus of Karl Simmonds, Johnnie Ellis and Tristan Pye rounding out the top five.

Martin Hodgson and Tony Jones were leading Class C in 8th, closely followed by Royston and Bridge Carey’s Clio in 10th. One place further back in 11th sat class D leaders Andrew Bayliss and Chris Sharpe-Simkiss in their M3 Compact, who were making a mockery of their lowly seeding.

Accidents and inclement weather aside it had been a cracking morning’s entertainment leaving a very close battle at the front to be settled. With this in mind I headed to the opposite end of the circuit for the more conventional clockwise running of the afternoon stages.

And with two afternoon stages down the dual was really heating up; Stone taking stage 6 by 1 second and Tinn taking 7 by the same margin leaving the two cars still separated by just 7 seconds. Could The Proton really keep the Legend Fires Fabia at bay? Stage 8, the final of the short stages, suggested it possible as they both posted a time of 3 minutes 20 for the 3.5 mile test.

By now the crowd in front of the clubhouse had doubled in size with spectators eager to see who would come out on top. One mistake over the final two 6 mile stages of the event could cost either contender the victory.

And so into stage 9 they headed with both crews flat out over the first lap of the circuit …..

…. but then tragically, on the second climb up the mountain, the engine in the high revving Proton let go, causing plooms of white smoke to emit from the bright yellow machine. This was a huge anti-climax and a terrible end to a fantastic push for victory; the Knowledgeable crowd showing their appreciation with a round of applause for David & Alice’s efforts as they climbed out of the stricken car.

This left John Stone and Carl Williamson to cruise to victory by 1 minute and 14 seconds from the Subaru’s of Tristan Pye and Stewart Merry and Johnnie Ellis and Dave Green. Alan Oldfield and Steve McNulty would bring the second Millington powered Proton home in 4th with Craig Pennington and Wayne Priest taking fifth.

Away from the lead battle the star performers of the day were Andrew Bayliss and Chris Sharpe-Simkiss who finished a sensational 6th overall and with it took the Class D victory by over half a minute in a not far from standard M3 compact. Remarkably they set the second fastest time overall on stage 9! Who knows what they could have achieved with a higher seeding.

Class C had turned into a front wheel versus rear wheel drive battle royale. Royston and Bridge Carey tried everything to claw back the deficit they suffered to Martin Hodgson & Tony Jones’ MK2 at the half way stage, but ultimately ended up just 4 seconds in arrears with 8th overall.

Class B would go the way of Andrew and Dennis Turner with 27th overall in their Citroen C2R2, with Class A being claimed by Ian Barnard and Andy Bull in their very rapid Vauxhall Nova.

For the second year in succession I left the circuit with a smile on my face; a sign of a great days entertainment in my books. There had been some fantastic looking machinery on display and some even better sounding; the Proton’s, BMW’s and the glorious 306 Maxi being my personal favourites.

There is just something about tarmac single venue rallying. Maybe it is the all day action …. maybe it is the greater difficulty in capturing the action that makes obtaining a good image even more rewarding …. One thing that is for sure is that I will be back at Cadwell Park next April. If the entry list is half of as good as this year it will be more than worth it.

Results:

1. John Stone / Carl Williamson 44.00
2. Tristan Pye / Stewart Merry +01.14
3. Johnnie Ellis / Dave Green +01.20
4. Alan Oldfield / Steve McNulty +01.40
5. Andrew Pennington / Wayne Priest +01.52
6. Andrew Bayliss / Chris Sharpe-Simkiss +01.58
7. Martin Hodgson / Tony Jones +01.59
8. Royston Carey / Bridge Carey +02.03
9. Simon Chapman / Michael Calvert +02.06
10. Pete Gibson / Josh Davison +02.16

Full Results

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Elliott charges to Mid Wales Stages Victory

March 5, 2014 paulcommons1983 1 Comment

Nick Elliott and Dave Price made up for the last stage error on the Red Kite by taking maximum BHRC and RAC points on the Mid Wales Stages. Matthew Robinson and Sam Collis came a close second while in turn claiming the 55 mile event honours. Meanwhile 2013 Welsh Champions Alex Allingham and Chris Williams came out on top in the slightly shorter modern event.

If the route through Tarenig forest into the Pikes Peak stage was anything to go by this was going to be a very tricky event for the competitors. Prior thoughts of combining Motorsport images with the fantastic mid Wales scenery looked to be difficult; confirmed by the high winds and sideways rain which aggressively met the hardy spectator who ventured onto the barren mountain range dividing Myherin forest and the Pikes Peak hairpins.

Having settled on a sweeping 90 left for stage 1 of the combined historic/55 mile event, it was obvious that this was going to be tough photography wise. Not being someone who is happy to get equipment wet, I was left with no option but to bolt the 70-200 on, attach the monopod, and see what could be achieved whilst holding an umbrella.

The photography may not have been great but the commitment of the historic guys through this section was superb. Richard Hill and Jason Pritchard were as entertaining as ever. Pritchard would unfortunately retire, however RAC round 1 winner Richard Hill, with Steffan Evans on the notes, would go on to take fifth overall to keep him firmly at the top of the points table. It may have been an even better result had it not been for a 1 minute time loss in Stage 2.

A phenomenal drive through Pikes Peak and Myherin saw Nick Elliott and Dave Price take a commanding 36 second Historic lead into the first Sweet Lamb service. The hard work had already been done in the battle for top RAC honours too as they also held a 17 second lead over Matthew Robinson and Sam Collis. Meirion Evans and Iwan Jones were putting in a strong performance to hold second in the Historic event with David Stokes and Guy Weaver rounding out the podium positions. Behind Robinson in the 55 miler sat Terry Brown and Den Golding who in turn were closely followed by the first non Ford crew of Owen Murphy and James O’Brien.

2013 Welsh Champions Alex Allingham and Chris Williams were quick out of the blocks in the modern event. They gained most of their 28 second winning margin on stage 1 alone and would go on to set fastest time on all four stages. Their commitment through this tightening 90 right of stage 1 was second to none.

Daniel Humphreys & Ian Pryce claimed the runner up spot with a great run over the final 3 stages; giving up less than 5 seconds to the eventual winners over the Myherin, Hafren and Sweet Lamb tests. Paul Davy and Roger Allan would follow them home with third overall.

The afternoon schedule saw the crews tackle Hafren and Sweet Lamb before a short service and another run through Pikes Peak. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity of witnessing the downhill running of the final stage and subsequently headed to the last but one hairpin of this infamous stage. On arrival it looked as if the weather was going to play ball. Luck however was not on our side; as before I even had chance to swap to the wide angle lens the heavens opened. This time it was definitely more than a passing shower. Combined with the frequent gusts of wind, the ‘Epynt style’ sideways rain made capturing any sort of movement ‘troublesome’ at best.

Fortunately the odd one or two images came out but this was more than a slight anti-climax after what had turned out to be a very good morning. “If only this event still had it’s summer slot?” was one of the topics of conversation on the long walk back to the car …

Upon reading the results on the way home it was no surprise to find out Elliott and Price had claimed the BHRC victory. The Historic event podium positions also remained unchanged throughout the afternoon’s 3 stages leaving Evans and Jones to take a well deserved second and Stokes and Weaver to take the C5 victory with third overall. Confusingly however Robinson and Collis would be the second BHRC registered crew home with their victory in the Open event. Category 1 honours went the way of Graham Waite and Gill Cotton in the mighty Volvo Amazon. It is always a pleasure to witness this machine being man-handled around the stages.

Following Robinson home in the RAC event were Owen Murphy and James O’Brien in the crowd pleasing Sunbeam and round 1 winner Richard Hill in his bright yellow Ford. Ray Cunningham and Gary McElhinney followed up a great run on the Red Kite with another stunning performance to take category 1 honours and a fantastic 22nd overall.

Although leading to slightly confusing results, the BHRC and RAC organisers must be highly praised for allowing competitors to score points in both championships. It did worry me that the split of historic competitors across two series at the start of 2013 would not necessarily be in the best interests of the sport. However collaboration like this can only aid what is by far the closest and most exciting category of rallying currently available on British shores.

The two championships now head in different directions with Rally North Wales being the next event for the BHRC runners and the Tour of Hamsterley next up for the RAC contenders. It is looking more and more like being another great year for historic rallying. Lets hope the entries grow even bigger over the forthcoming events.

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RESULTS

MODERN RALLY

HISTORIC RALLY

Paul Bird and Aled Davies upped their pace over the afternoon stages to jump from third to first and claim their second BTRDA top score of the year. Meanwhile Matthew Robinson and Sam Collis wrapped up the Silver Star Championship with yet another maximum score in the 2WD class.

RESULTS

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

RACE DAY (S)

Motorsport Reporting & Photography