Cadwell Results 110910
Cadwell Results 110910
| Cadwell Park 11th September 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The last British meeting of the year brought us back to Cadwell Park for the Autumn Classic meeting with the Classic and Sports Car Club. The turnout was respectable considering the time of year and the number of racers preparing for Portugal. After heavy rain during the night a wet track was on the cards for practice but by the time the 500's went out, a light wind and a dry morning meant that most could find more grip than had been expected. Fastest overall was Mike Fowler who managed 1.58.728 having only stayed out for 4 laps and (correctly) deciding that he had done enough. Nigel Ashman set almost the same time, being just two hundredths behind but broke a brake pipe near the end of the session which proved rather problematic to fix. Next up was George who was by all accounts tackling the mountain on the ragged edge such that he eventually ended up on the grass!
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| Race Between practice and the race, the weather improved considerably such that most were in T-shirts by mid afternoon having started the day in waterproofs! Following the problems at Oulton, a drivers meeting was called with the organisers to confirm and agree the procedures with all concerned and we were promised the usual brief hold while the first few rows got in position. In the end we were not held at all and more or less did a rolling start. Richard E got a good jump past George almost passing Nigel A who had not entirely finished brake bleeding when the race was called and was wondering exactly what would happen the first time he pressed the pedal! As it turned out the brakes were fine but this initial caution allowed Richard past and he set about after Mike. Mike and Richard then enjoyed a great battle for the next few laps with the lead swapping places a couple of times on each lap but Nigel A was able to benefit from this and stayed with the two of them as this lead group of three broke away from the rest. Rodney Delves' Kieft through the Hall Bends | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Darrell drops down to Mansfield Behind the leading group a good battle developed between Rodney Delves, Nigel C and George. Nigel C was heading them but on the last lap he lost power suspecting he had run out of fuel (although the cause later turned out to be the Mag) and managed to coast the car from the top of the mountain all the way to the finish but lost two positions in the process, finishing in fifth instead of third. Rodney therefore took the third place on the podium with a return to form attributed to his new Mag and setting a best time only a couple of seconds behind the leaders. After his earlier crowd-pleasing antics, George kept it on the track to finish just behind Rod and take fourth overall, just a few point short of Roy Hunt in Class B. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Le Cousy powers up the Mountain
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| Classified Finishers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Nigel Challis atop the Mountain
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On the third Lap Richard’s Carb decided to part company which he later described as "like someone putting the brakes on" Nigel A was right behind him at the time and narrowly missed running in the back of him. With Richard forced to retire, Mike thought he would be able to drive to victory under a little less pressure and as Nigel A was now in a class-winning position the sensible thing to do would have been to consolidate so needless to say, he decided to set off after Mike! Nigel caught up well and then pursued Mike for the rest of the race setting the fastest lap in the process while waiting for Mike to make a mistake that never came. At the flag, the two finished with only three tenths of a second between them. For both, this was a wise decision, Mike leapfrogging Darrel in Class C of the Championship and is now only three points off the leader Nigel Challis. With a double header to go, any one of the three could take the class. Nigel Ashman is the first to reach the score dropping zone and put his DNF from Croft in the bin. He leads Class B fairly comfortably but with no Richard Bishop-Miller at Cadwell, Nigel finally takes the lead of the overall championship.
