Racing Results 2013
Rounds 1 & 2 Rockingham: 6th/7th April 2013
- 2 Race wins for Paul Rose
- Double class wins for Peter Challis, Chris Whiteley and Andy Jordan
An early visit to Rockingham for the season starter. With a number of drivers still working on their cars from last season, a lower than expected 14 cars made the qualifying session. Numbers were bolstered by 10 smart cars from the Smart 4 2 race series.
Qualifying:
Paul Rose and Steve Harris were running in Saker sportscars which are now running in Class A, and these two headed the timing sheets with last year’s Rockingham race winner Rose finishing on pole by 1.1 seconds. Nigel Moore (Ginetta G50) was a further second back in third place with Dave Cockell (Escort Cosworth) 4th on the grid.
Barry Squibb (Mitsubishi Evo) was back but struggling, only completing 3 laps to finish 6th, behind Ian Froggatt (Subaru Impreza).
Andy Jordan (Renault Clio) was next up in 7th and 1st in Class D from father Ian Jordan (Renault Clio) back in 10th – the places between filled by the Class A cars of Steve Putt (Mazda RX7) and Gary Furst (Mitsubishi Evo).
Sole Class C driver Chris Whiteley (Seat Leon) was in 11th followed by three drivers who suffered issues during qualifying, managing just the mandatory 3 qualifying laps each. Peter Challis was out for the first time since the start of 2012, but despite a new engine, the Nissan Primera was misfiring and finished 13th, one place behind Vaughan Fletcher (Subaru Impreza) – fuelling issues and one ahead of Doug Ellwood (Marcos Mantis).
Race 1 - Saturday:
Only 12 Euro Saloons cars and 10 smart cars made the start on Saturday after lunch, Fletcher and Ellwood unable to resolve their cars’ issues.
A very tight grouping meant all cars were through the chicane and on to the oval section before the lights went green, but the two Sakers got away first with the Ginetta in hot pursuit. Cockell, Squibb and Froggatt were running about a second apart but some three seconds adrift of the leaders after just one lap. Challis had moved up to 8th but was 3 seconds adrift of 7th placed Putt. Furst had fallen to the back of the group behind Whitely.
Rose was pulling out a gap at the front but Moore passed Harris for second place. Cockell was pulling clear of Squibb who was staying ahead of Froggatt and Putt. On lap 3 the first of the smart cars was lapped just before the line, at the back Whiteley had passed Ian Jordan.
By the end of lap 5, Rose was 2.5 seconds clear of Moore, in turn 3 seconds ahead of Harris. Cockell was running a lonely 4th, 14 seconds behind Harris, but 5 seconds clear of Squibb, Froggatt and Putt who were well among lapping the smarts.
Froggatt got by Squibb on lap 6, Challis was slowly starting to close on Putt. 2 laps later Squibb had repassed Froggatt, Challis had passed Putt while up front Rose was controlling the race. By lap 10 Squibb had re-established a gap back to Froggatt but Challis was right on Froggatt’s tail before slowing and losing ground at 3-4 seconds per lap over the final 3 laps.
Rose took the first win of the season (and double point by playing his joker) from Moore by 4 seconds, with Harris a further 4 seconds behind. Cockell finished 4th almost 50 seconds later, Froggatt had moved into 5th when Squibb pulled out 2 laps earlier, leaving Challis to come home in 6th and as Class B winner. Putt finished 7th, the last driver still on the lead lap.
Race 2 - Sunday:
Squibb had not been able to fix his Mitsubishi, but Fletcher and Ellwood were back giving us 13 Euro Saloon drivers and 10 smart cars at the start.
Rose and Harris got away from the start but as the cars left the oval at the hairpin, Harris’s Saker slowed and he pulled out of the race at the end of the lap. Starting from the back, Fletcher had made up ground on the oval and was already up to 7th from 13th. The order at the end of the first lap was Rose from Moore (2 seconds), Froggatt, Cockell, Putt, Challis, Fletcher, then a long gap back to Andy Jordan, Furst, Ellwood, Whiteley, Ian Jordan.
Fletcher went past Challis coming off turn one on the second lap and was now 2 seconds behind Putt who was in turn one second behind Cockell. On lap 3 Putt suddenly spun off on the in-field after finding oil on the track and was unable to restart. The oil had come from a smart car, an ensuing fire brought the safety car out and allowed the group to bunch up, especially the smarts who were lapping not far short of their race pace and gaining 25 seconds a lap on the Euro Saloon runners.
The race resumed on lap 7, Moore got ahead of Rose from the restart. Now bunched up, Cockell was desperately trying to pass Froggatt while Fletcher was desperately trying to pass Cockell. Moore’s lead lasted a single lap as Rose got back to the front. At the end of lap 8 Cockell found a faster line into turn one and moved up to third. Froggatt fell back on the lap allowing Challis to move past him into 5th.
Rose held on for his second win of the weekend crossing the line just 6/10ths ahead of Moore who had the consolation of setting fastest lap. Fletcher had closed to within half a second of Cockell, but it was Cockell who took the final podium position. On the final lap Ellwood caught and passed Froggatt to finish 6th, six seconds adrift of 5th place Challis.
Joker playing Paul Rose leads the championship with 64 points from Nigel Moore (38) and Andy Jordan (36). Andy Jordan leads the Clio Cup Challenge 32-28 from Ian Jordan while Saker are the early MSE-Performance.com Manufacturers Cup leaders with 80 points from Renault (64) and Ginetta (38).
Next time out is Silverstone on 11/12 May.
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