Racing Results 2009
Rounds 1 & 2 Anglesey: 4th/5th April 2009
Race wins for Peter Challis and Richard Gould
Class wins for Challis (2), Gould, Andy Harvey, Olly Allen, Kevin Wendt and Brett Walter (x2)
Challis and Walter are early championship leaders
The first round of the 2009 LMA Euro Saloon and Sports Car Championship was a double header round at Anglesey, with a twist. Saturday would use the Coastal circuit (a first for the LMA) while Sunday would revert to the more familiar (and longer) International circuit. Early worries about the likelihood of rain so early in the year proved unfounded as the weather remained dry for the whole weekend. 24 drivers were ready to roll, a number of established drivers just didn't get their cars finished from winter rebuilds and refreshes. Encouragingly, 9 drivers were new to the LMA series, proof that the success built up over the past couple of years is creating lots of interest.
Qualifying – Saturday:
The two Nobles of Mal Davison and Richard Gould were expected to figure near the front, and indeed Davison's final lap in the extended qualifying session earned him pole position by ¾ second from Class B poleman Richard Hawken (Nissan Primera). Gould had to sit out qualifying, head gasket woes could not be repaired in time despite an all night session by his team. Also near the front were Andy Harvey (class A Subaru Impreza), Peter Challis (class B Nissan Primera), Doug Ellwood (class A Marcos Mantis) and Dave Cockell (class A Ford Escort Cosworth), all looking to ensure Davison and Hawken had some competition.
The class C pole went to Olly Allen (Ford Escort), the reigning Ford champion but Bradley Gelman (Ford Sierra Cosworth) and Kevin Wendt (BMW M3) were close behind. Class D had a disappointing single car turnout, the Vauxhall Vectra of Mike Hurst – last year there were seven Vectras in the corresponding race. With the Renault Clio Cup cars now running in Class E, 4 Clios entered along with the Peugeot 306 of Jason Newman. Fastest Clio in practice was Brett Walter by over half a second from Joe Walton.
Race – Saturday:
Richard Gould was able to start the race from the back of the grid in his Noble, with Davison on pole that was a Noble at each end of the grid. Davison got off to a good start and looked to have the race in the bag as he pulled clear of second placed Andy Harvey, with Peter Challis heading Class B and running close behind Harvey. Harvey had a 2 second lead after 2 laps, but after this Challis started to draw him in, finally overtaking Harvey on lap 9. After this Challis started to pull away from Harvey and set about chasing Davison up front. Drama on lap 11, Davison's Noble caught fire. Davison pulled to the side of the track but was unable to reach a marshal post, the marshal having to run along with the fire extinguisher. This incident caused the race to be red flagged and results taken at the end of lap 10. Unfortunately, as the "cause" of the red flag, Davison was excluded from the results and denied the race win. More unfortunately, Davison had played his joker (for double points) and this was now wasted. The countback meant the race win fell to Challis, with the Class A win going to now 2nd place man Harvey. Richard Hawken had also played his joker after a good qualifying run, but Challis had passed Hawken on the second lap, so Hawken had to settle for 2nd in class, 1.6 seconds behind Challis and 0.7 seconds behind Harvey. Doug Ellwood was running a comfortable 4th with Dave Cockell a couple of seconds behind in 5th while John Hammersley (Honda Accord) was enjoying a race long battle with Bernard Hogarth (Ford Mondeo) which ended with Hammersley taking 6th place (and third in class B) by just 0.5 second. Richard Gould put in a storming drive to finish 8th from last place at the start.
Olly Allen triumphed in Class C by 4 seconds from Bradley Gelman, but Kevin Wendt showed his intent by taking the fastest Class C lap on his way to third in class, barely a second behind Gelman with the Class A Subaru Impreza of Tim Evans splitting them at the finish. The sole Class D car (Mike Hurst) failed to finish while Brett Walter took the Class E win in his Renault Clio Cup some 6 seconds clear of Joe Walton. Last year's Mark Fish Clio Cup Challenge winner David Pierce finished 2 seconds adrift of Walton suffering from gripless ageing tyres.
Qualifying – Sunday:
Davison was unable to repair the fire damaged Noble but Gould's Noble was now in fine shape and stormed to pole position by almost two seconds from Saturday's race winner Challis. Andy Harvey only ran 5 laps but was just 0.5 seconds adrift of Challis. Hawken, Hammersley and Hogarth made up the next three places giving the Class B Super Tourers 4 of the top six places and looking better adapted to the longer circuit than the Class A cars.
Once again, Olly Allen took the Class C pole but both Wendt and Gelman were close by and just in front of the Clios of Walter and Walton. Mike Hurst again was sole Class D driver but looked to be slower than expected.
Race - Sunday:
Gould got the Noble away to make a good start from Challis and was 1.7 seconds ahead at the end of the first lap, but Challis started to close the gap. By lap 7 there was just 0.66 seconds in it, but on lap 8 Gould set the fastest lap of the race and extended his lead by another second. Challis hung in but slowed a couple of seconds a lap after breaking a rose joint over the harsh Anglesey kerbs. Gould finally took the flag from Challis by 6 seconds. Such was their pace that the next car along was 45 seconds behind Gould as Hammersley came through to take third place from a closely pursuing gaggle of cars – Simon Deaton (Subaru Impreza), Ilsa Cox (Seat Leon), Class C winner Kevin Wendt (BMW M3) and Dave Cockell (Ford Escort Cosworth).
With four cars unable to finish, class E winner Brett Walter finished up in 12th overall, 14 seconds ahead of second in class Antony Sullivan (Renault Clio). Mike Hurst compounded a miserable weekend with another DNF completing just a single lap.
Having started the season with 2 race wins and 2 fastest laps, Peter Challis and Brett Walker share the lead of the championship with 44 points apiece from Kevin Wendt (40), Olly Allen (38) and the Richards – Hawken and Gould (36). Brett Walter also leads the Mark Fish Clio Cup on 40 points from Joe Walton and Antony Sullivan (36). Ford got off to a flying start in the MSE-Performance.com cup for manufacturers leading Renault by 134 points to 126 with Subaru in 3rd place on 96. The new Super Touring Car Cup is headed by Peter Challis (40) from Richard Hawken (36) and John Hammersley (32).
Race 1 Result:
Winner: Peter Challis (Nissan Primera), 2nd Andy Harvey (Subaru Impreza), 3rd Richard Hawken (Nissan Primera), 4th Douglas Ellwood (Marcos Mantis), 5th Dave Cockell (Ford Escort Cosworth), 6th Bernard Hogarth (Ford Mondeo), 7th John Hammersley (Honda Accord), 8th Richard Gould (Noble M12)
Class Winners: Class A Harvey, Class B Challis, Class C Olly Allen (Ford Escort Mk II), Class E Brett Walter (Renault Clio)
Fastest lap: Peter Challis 1:12.716 (76.73mph)
Race 2 Result:
Winner: Richard Gould (Noble M12) , 2nd Peter Challis (Nissan Primera), 3rd John Hammersley (Honda Accord), 4th Simon Deaton (Subaru Impreza), 5th Ilsa Cox (Seat Leon), 6th Kevin Wendt (BMW M3), 7th Dave Cockell (Ford Escort Cosworth), 8th Olly Allen (Ford Escort Mk II)
Class Winners: Class A Gould, Class B Challis, Class C Allen, Class E Brett Walter (Renault Clio)
Fastest lap: Richard Gould 1:33.196 (81.11mph)
Next race: Castle Combe 4th May
With support from :
Mark Fish Motorsport, MSE-Performance.com & LMA Perfomance
Report by Trevor Nicosia, Car 10 ( www.nyssaracing.com )
Click here to link to the full TSL Timing results pdf of the meeting
Results Race 1
POS |
NO |
CL |
DRIVER |
CAR |
QUALY |
LAPS |
DIFF |
GAP |
BEST |
1 |
11 |
B |
Peter CHALLIS |
Nissan Primera ST |
1:13.815 |
10 |
|
|
1:12.716 |
2 |
9 |
A |
Andy HARVEY |
Subaru Impreza |
1:13.272 |
10 |
0.919 |
0.919 |
1:12.926 |
3 |
84 |
B |
Richard HAWKEN |
Nissan Primera ST |
1:12.215 |
10 |
0.693 |
1.612 |
1:12.880 |
4 |
45 |
A |
Douglas ELLWOOD |
Marcos Mantis |
1:13.851 |
10 |
8.686 |
10.298 |
1:13.193 |
5 |
5 |
A |
Dave COCKELL |
Ford Escort Cosworth |
1:13.910 |
10 |
1.566 |
11.864 |
1:13.504 |
6 |
62 |
B |
Bernard HOGARTH |
Ford Mondeo Prodrive ST |
1:14.381 |
10 |
7.359 |
19.223 |
1:14.288 |
7 |
50 |
B |
John HAMMERSLEY |
Honda Accord ST |
1:14.831 |
10 |
0.505 |
19.728 |
1:13.516 |
8 |
90 |
A |
Richard GOULD |
Noble M12 |
|
10 |
1.285 |
21.013 |
1:13.073 |
9 |
55 |
B |
Ilsa COX |
Seat Leon Cupra |
1:16.192 |
10 |
4.972 |
25.985 |
1:14.435 |
10 |
7 |
C |
Olly ALLEN |
Ford Escort MKII |
1:15.802 |
10 |
4.162 |
30.147 |
1:15.730 |
11 |
24 |
C |
Bradley GELMAN |
Ford Sierra Cosworth |
1:16.462 |
10 |
4.722 |
34.869 |
1:15.915 |
12 |
4 |
A |
Tim EVANS |
Subaru Impreza |
1:16.629 |
10 |
0.327 |
35.196 |
1:15.031 |
13 |
52 |
C |
Kevin WENDT |
BMW E46 M3 |
1:16.737 |
10 |
0.437 |
35.633 |
1:15.538 |
14 |
27 |
E |
Brett WALTER |
Renault Clio |
1:16.215 |
10 |
4.225 |
39.858 |
1:16.111 |
15 |
95 |
E |
Joe WALTON |
Renault Clio |
1:16.808 |
10 |
5.897 |
45.755 |
1:16.575 |
16 |
48 |
E |
Antony SULLIVAN |
Renault Clio |
1:17.162 |
10 |
1.976 |
47.731 |
1:16.900 |
17 |
35 |
E |
David PIERCE |
Renault Clio |
1:17.497 |
10 |
4.934 |
52.665 |
1:17.461 |
18 |
8 |
A |
Peter ISHERWOOD |
Subaru Impreza |
1:19.922 |
10 |
9.606 |
1:02.271 |
1:17.647 |
19 |
6 |
C |
Andy ROBINSON |
Peugeot 306 Gti |
1:18.152 |
10 |
0.156 |
1:02.427 |
1:18.119 |
20 |
15 |
C |
Russell THOMSON |
Seat Leon |
1:18.750 |
10 |
0.539 |
1:02.966 |
1:17.617 |
21 |
17 |
E |
Jason NEWMAN |
Peugeot 306 Gti |
1:22.379 |
10 |
17.991 |
1:20.957 |
1:19.742 |
22 |
96 |
A |
Simon DEATON |
Subaru Impreza |
1:14.542 |
8 |
2 laps |
2 laps |
1:14.133 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
NOT CLASSIFIED |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
DNF |
49 |
D |
Michael HURST |
Vauxhall Vectra |
1:18.709 |
7 |
1 lap |
3 laps |
1:18.964 |
Results Race 2
POS |
NO |
CL |
DRIVER |
CAR |
QUALY |
LAPS |
DIFF |
GAP |
BEST |
1 |
90 |
A |
Richard GOULD |
Noble M12 |
1:32.671 |
13 |
|
|
1:33.196 |
2 |
11 |
B |
Peter CHALLIS |
Nissan Primera ST |
1:34.056 |
13 |
6.309 |
6.309 |
1:33.839 |
3 |
50 |
B |
John HAMMERSLEY |
Honda Accord ST |
1:36.717 |
13 |
39.049 |
45.358 |
1:36.539 |
4 |
96 |
A |
Simon DEATON |
Subaru Impreza |
1:37.121 |
13 |
1.633 |
46.991 |
1:36.918 |
5 |
55 |
B |
Ilsa COX |
Seat Leon Cupra |
1:37.449 |
13 |
0.095 |
47.086 |
1:36.999 |
6 |
52 |
C |
Kevin WENDT |
BMW E46 M3 |
1:38.727 |
13 |
0.668 |
47.754 |
1:36.635 |
7 |
5 |
A |
Dave COCKELL |
Ford Escort Cosworth |
1:37.514 |
13 |
1.102 |
48.856 |
1:37.059 |
8 |
7 |
C |
Olly ALLEN |
Ford Escort MKII |
1:38.490 |
13 |
7.442 |
56.298 |
1:37.583 |
9 |
24 |
C |
Bradley GELMAN |
Ford Sierra Cosworth |
1:39.622 |
13 |
8.766 |
1:05.064 |
1:37.955 |
10 |
4 |
A |
Tim EVANS |
Subaru Impreza |
|
13 |
0.477 |
1:05.541 |
1:37.111 |
11 |
62 |
B |
Bernard HOGARTH |
Ford Mondeo Prodrive ST |
1:37.004 |
13 |
17.597 |
1:23.138 |
1:37.206 |
12 |
27 |
E |
Brett WALTER |
Renault Clio |
1:40.433 |
13 |
5.341 |
1:28.479 |
1:40.207 |
13 |
8 |
A |
Peter ISHERWOOD |
Subaru Impreza |
1:41.468 |
13 |
5.468 |
1:33.947 |
1:40.280 |
14 |
15 |
C |
Russell THOMSON |
Seat Leon |
1:41.807 |
13 |
5.353 |
1:39.300 |
1:40.260 |
15 |
48 |
E |
Antony SULLIVAN |
Renault Clio |
1:41.737 |
13 |
2.558 |
1:41.858 |
1:40.417 |
16 |
6 |
C |
Andy ROBINSON |
Peugeot 306 Gti |
1:40.977 |
13 |
4.396 |
1:46.254 |
1:41.007 |
17 |
95 |
E |
Joe WALTON |
Renault Clio 12 |
1:40.869 |
1 |
lap |
1 lap |
1:41.131 |
18 |
17 |
E |
Jason NEWMAN |
Peugeot 306 Gti |
1:44.423 |
12 |
33.984 |
1 lap |
1:43.765 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
NOT CLASSIFIED |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
DNF |
84 |
B |
Richard HAWKEN |
Nissan Primera ST |
1:36.088 |
6 |
6 laps |
1 laps |
1:35.616 |
DNF |
9 |
A |
Andy HARVEY |
Subaru Impreza |
1:34.572 |
1 |
5 laps |
12 laps |
1:41.932 |
DNF |
49 |
D |
Michael HURST |
Vauxhall Vectra |
1:43.763 |
1 |
22.979 |
12 laps |
2:04.911 |
DNF |
35 |
E |
David PIERCE |
Renault Clio |
1:42.058 |
0 |
|
|
|