Cadwell Park Results 070614

Despite enjoying a balmy summers evening long into the night, the bright dawn was but short lived. The weatherman said rain would come at 8:30, and he was down to the minute spot on – the heavens opened. Luckily most of us had made it through scrutineering, which had gone smoothly for most, with the exception of a few slapped wrists for poor rain lights. Turn out was slightly less than normal, although 12 cars made it out for practice. Richard Ellingworth had problems with his Cooper - Triumph and decided to scratch. Present but not competing with the 500’s were Simon Frost competing in an Austin Seven and chairman Challis who had lost a wheel, but gained a cylinder and Mrs Challis as a passenger in his newly acquired Morgan. It was also great to see Richard Bishop Miller and John Turner.

Practice was wet. A wet Cadwell is somewhat similar to driving on snow, don’t use the brakes and make no sudden moves, both of which will result in disaster, not forgetting that it is a VSCC meeting and oil levels tend to be a little higher, however an incident free practice was to follow. Darrell took full advantage of being the first onto the circuit and disappeared into the distance in a sea of spray. The rest of the pack followed, working the cars hard but being mindful of the conditions. Four laps in and Kerry unfortunately parked the Trenberth facing the wrong way in the middle of Mansfield, which sent arm waving Marshals out warning the cars descending from the Gooseneck of Kerry’s unfortunate position.

Lap times were off the pace by a good 20 seconds, with almost all making their fastest on lap 4 as we all came to terms with the conditions. When playtime was up, Richard DLR had bagged top position by some two seconds, using the JAP powered Smith to its full advantage. With one and a half seconds separating the next four a competitive race beckoned.

Trundling through the mildly moist Hall Bends; De La Roche, Hunt, Shackleton, Woods, Fowler etc.

Pre race fettling was kept to a minimum in the now persistently heavy rain and resulted in a replacement clutch for the Kieft of Rodney Delves and some fuel pump adjustments for Mike Fowler.

We all stared at the worsening conditions and then as if by a miracle, the sun came out, the track became a haze of steam and all were happy again!

The assembly area was still wet under foot as all grouped for the race, leaving some trepidation for how the track conditions would be. The normal haphazard pantomime followed as all cars (less Kerry who had scratched) ventured out. The flag dropped and Mike Fowler surged forward, with the whole pack headed into coppice two abreast, exiting Charlies it was Shackleton who had bagged the lead and began to break away.

The track had dried out enough to be able to get heat into the tyres and the track nicknamed the Mini Nurburgring became a joy to drive. Caution was still required at the hairpin (the main cause of some offs throughout the day) and Barn was still to be treated with respect.

On exciting Barn for the first time, Roy Hunt went wide, resulting in an altercation with the barrier and sending the pack into disarray. Richard DLR was unfortunately collected in the skirmish and would have to scratch with a damaged exhaust, which was a great shame after such a promising start. The battle for second and third was where the action was, a special mention must go to David Kingsland who after a very cautions practice was to improve his lap time by some 40 seconds and join in the battle for the podium. The invited V-twin of Simon Brown was to provide Darrell with a hard fought race, whilst the twin had the edge on the straights. The late Cooper had the advantage in the bends and would ultimately be victorious in this battle.

Unfortunately Mike Fowler had to park the Mk V Cooper after suffering from a slipping clutch despite making a great start. Shackleton held a lead for the duration of the race despite the throttle jamming wide open after passing the Gooseneck, resulting in some grass tracking action at Mansfield. Darrell Woods and David Kingsland completed the podium, with Ian Phillips in fourth so Darrell now lead Class 3 by a couple of points over Ian. Alan Croft made it two from two finishes in his JP and now leads the early car's class! With the sun still shining all headed back into the paddock for a few beers before heading home.

DNFed but looking good while it lasted; Mike Fowler's Mk V

Classified Finishers

Roy, in fuel and tyre saving mode, building up an angry pack behind.

'e'll have a pair of earrings like that 'Amilton next....