Racing Results 2013
Rounds 15 & 16 Donington Park: 19/20th October 2013
- 2 race wins for Gary Prebble
- Class wins for Ilsa Cox (x2), Nick Hayes and Chris Whiteley (x2)
The final race weekend for the 2013 season took place at Donington Park, changable weather adding further spice to the challenging circuit.
Qualifying:
A wet qualifying session saw the four wheel drive cars make best use of their traction. Dave Cockell (Ford Escort Cosworth) took pole position by one second, with the Mitsubishi Evos of Gary Prebble and Gary Furst next up, Furst just 0.5 seconds behind Prebble. Newly crowned 2013 champion Paul Rose (Saker) was up next, closely followed by fellow Saker driver Steve Harris. Then agap back to guest driving Peter Challis (Porsche 997), Ian Froggatt (Subaru Impreza) and sole class B runner Ilsa Cox (Seat Leon) in 8th place.
Keith Issatt (Volvo C30) took the Class C pole in his first Eurosaloons event ahead of Chris Whiteley (Seat Leon) as they qualified 11th and 12th, ahead of Graham Davidson (Noble M400) and final Class C runner Nick Hayes (Seat Leon). Sole Class D runner Alan Taylor (Renault Clio) made his first appearance of the season in 16th place but would be unable to take part in the races.
Race 1 - Saturday
The track had dried out in time for the race. Prebble got away quickly leaving Cockell in his wake, but a storming start from Harris saw him leap from 5th on the grid to second place, ahead of Cockell, Rose, Furst and Challis. Cox was next up pursued by Ellwood, with Davidson up to 9th from 13th by the end of the first lap. Rose got past Cockell on lap 2 moving up to third while Challis moved into 5th passing Furst. Ellwood was now right up behind Cox with Davidson on his rear bumper.
Prebble's lead after 3 laps was little over 2 seconds, Rose was little under a second behind Harris while Cockell was now 7 seconds behind Prebble, Challis 10 and Hurst 15 seconds further back. Ellwood went defensive into the chicane at the end of lap 3, Davidson got better drive coming out and moved up into 8th, passing Cox for 7th just after they croseed the line. Both Rose and Furst pulled into the pits on lap 4 while Prebble increased his lead to 3.7 seconds, now from Harris, Cockell, Challis and Davidson. On lap 5 Davidson put a wheel wide at Redgate and spun through a complete 360 without losing a position.
Prebble was stretching out his lead at the front, Cockell and Challis falling further behind second placed Harris as Rose rejoined the race a lap down. The Class C contest had fallen to a race between Whiteley and Hayes in the Seats, Class C pole sitter Issatt had limped his Volvo round taking 4 laps to complete one of his own. Whiteley and Hayes were running in close formation, barely a car length or two apart. After 13 laps Prebble's lead was up to 7 seconds, but Harris started to close over the following laps. Harris ran out of time as Prebble took the race win by 4 seconds from Harris, with Challis (having passed Cockell on the penultimate lap) taking 3rd place some 27 seconds behind Prebble. Davidson finished 5th right on the tail of Cockell, after passing Cockell on the sprint from the chicane, alas passing him just after the finish line.
Cox finished the race as Class B winner in 7th place while Rose managed to get back up to 8th place just behind Cox. Whiteley won the Class C Seat Leon contest to record his 7th class win of the season, this win would eventually seal the Class title - a win for Hayes would have left them tied on points and wins after race 2!
Race 2 - Sunday
Sunday was back to wet weather, although by the time of the race, the rain had stopped but the track was still very damp. Four wheel drive counted straight from the start with Prebble and Cockell getting away first. Rose made a great start from 8th moving up to 3rd after one lap but already 3.5 seconds behind Prebble, with Harris 4th. Another fast starter was Froggatt, up to 7th behind Davidson and Cox.
Cockell closed the gap at the front to half a second as the front pair pulled 3 seconds further clear on lap 2 alone. The conditions were favouring the four wheel drive cars, Prebble and Cockell were 5 seconds a lap faster on lap three, next quickest car on the track was Furst, up to 5th within three laps having started at the back of the grid due to a non-finish in race 1, with Froggatt now in 6th. By lap 5, Furst had split the Sakers to move up into 4th place, the gap from 1st to 3rd now 17 seconds and increasing.
Furst was closing quickly on Rose and would move up into 3rd on lap 7, but was now 22 seconds behind Prebble, Cockell just a second off the front. Cockell started to lose ground on Prebble while Furst was gaining, but only a second or two per lap. Rose was still in fourth but now 20 seconds ahead of 5th placed Harris, Cox was the last car still n the lead lap on lap 10 but 80 seconds behind Prebble, almost a complete lap.
Prebble went on to take a controlled race win by 7 seconds from Prebble with Furst 3rd another 21 seconds behind Cockell. Rose was 8 seconds further back in 4th while Harris was the final unlapped car in 5th, over 70 seconds behind Prebble. Cox took her second class B win of the weekend in 6th, while the Play Station Nissans of Florian Strauss and Migeul Faisca improved greatly on their first race performance with a fine 7th and 8th.
Hayes had a comfortable 10 second victory over Whiteley, Issatt had managed to get his Volvo up and running for the second race but finished a lap further down.
The championship was won at the last round by Paul Rose, indeed his races at Doningon provided his two dropped scores for the season as he finished with 292 points. Dropped scores got the better or Whiteley in the race for runner-up, although he amassed 274 points to Harris' 268, after dropped scores the positions reversed with Harris coming second 256-250 points. Whitelely's win in race 1 proved very important, Hayes played his joker in race 2, his win taking him within 4 points of the Class C title. Ilsa Cox won the Class B title, alas with little competition over most of the season.
Seat took a comfrtable win from Saker 826-632 in the MSE-Performance.com Manufacturers Cup, with Mitsubishi third on 274. The Mark Fish Sports Car Cup and LMA Saloon Car Cup have been won by Paul Rose 284-266 from Steve Harris and Chris Whiteley 240-236 from Nick Hayes.
With support from :
Mark Fish Motorsport, MSE-Performance.com & LMA Performance
Report by Trevor Nicosia, Car 10 (www.nyssaracing.com )
Click here to link to the full TSL Timing results pdf of the meeting