Snetterton 31st May 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A lovely sunny day, a good turnout, a party and some great racing, what more you you ask for from a day? Twenty cars made it to Snetterton for the Historic Sports Car Club weekend meeting, featuring the Autosport Three Hour Trophy, after a misty start, the sun appeared and shone for most of the day. The only notable absentee was John Chisholm's Arnott which was stranded near Cambridge after his transporter failed. We were joined by the Equipe Reichman and their Emeryson., though this was showing signs of lack of use and by Mark Woodhouse with his Martin. Qualifying Unlike our previous visit, the morning passed without any serious administrative problems so a good field took to the circuit on time and in almost ideal conditions. After being piped to pole last time, Nigel Ashman seemed determined to stamp his mark and promptly set a 1:33.9 to claim top spot, followed by Dave Lecoq's Petty. The second row consisted of the yellow and blue "twins" of Neil Hodges and John Turner in their JAP engined Coopers. Next up was Mark Woodhouse with Mike Fowler alongside followed by Roy Hunt, in the other Martin, and Chairman Challis. There were very few problems following the session, James Holland had brake issues with his Cooper and John Turner decided to dismantle his clutch at the last moment but the only casualty was the Emeryson, whose Norton refused to run cleanly and sadly would not make the race. The rest could relax and enjoy the sunshine.
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Unhappy Emeryson. Photo Philippe Giron. | Nigel Challis, Cooper Mk VIII. Photo John Landamore.
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Race As first race of the day, a nice early start and John Turner managed to reassemble his clutch in the nick of time but James Holland arrived late (due to an absence of brakes) and would start a lap down, though he would at least achieve a finish for his efforts. The rest set off for a rolling start, with the crocodile managed by Nigel Ashman on pole. As the lights went out he made a good getaway as did Neil Hodges, from the second row but it was the Martin of Mark Woodhouse which came through from the third row to claim second as they went through Riches for the first time with Dave Lecoq and John Turner battling for fourth. Neil's race was cut short when his gear lever broke off at Sear, losing a couple of places. He continued but lost the car completely at the Esses, while attempting to change gear, and went for a wild ride across the grass and into retirement.
Dave was quickly back to the front and a race long battle ensued for the lead between the Petty and Nigel Ashman's Cooper, Nigel leading the first five laps by a car length, sometimes less, after which Dave took over for four laps. On lap nine, Nigel set the fastest lap and Dave ran wide under braking for the chicane but continued in the lead but only just. The next time round Nigel out braked him and held the lead to the flag. A short distance back, a second intense battle involving four cars, John Turner, in his Cooper, Mark Woodhouse and Roy Hunt in Martins and Mike Fowler in the Mk V Cooper. Mark lead this group for the first couple of laps until John got into his stride, they would eventually finish in third and fourth separated by only four hundredths of a second. A few seconds back came Roy with Mike only a second and a half behind him in sixth. Chairman Challis took seventh followed by Darrell Woods, the Creamer running reliably now. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Classified Finishers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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With our work done, we were able to enjoy lunch and a relaxing afternoon, either watching the Autosport Three Hour sports car race or enjoying the delights of the Emeryson team still trying to make it go. For those with stamina, an evening soiree chez Hewes with our friends from the FJHRA was a fitting way to end a pleasant day's racing in the sunshine.
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