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Quaife Radical Clubman's Cup: Snetterton, 08/09 May 2010
11th May 2010
With the UK Cup runners away at Spa, it was the Club Cup runners that took centre stage at Snetterton, with four races.
Darren Luke headed a 27 car entry, fresh from his double win at Rockingham. But it was defending Champion Colin Millar who secured pole for the first race in his SR3 RS, from Paul Steele’s SR3 and Luke’s PR6.
Race 1
There was lots of discussion on tyre choice as the rain continued to fall as the cars headed for the assembly area. But when it came down to the start it was Steele that led the field away, with Luke recovering from a poor getaway to reclaim second at Riches from Chris Hillaby’s SR3 RS.
But Steele was already struggling with his set up and was back to third at the Esses. Hillaby took the bull by the horns and seemed to relish the wet conditions, by consolidating his lead. Millar was soon recovering too from a poor start, taking Steele on lap two, before closing in on Luke.
Steele’s slide continued as the SR3’s of Simon Fish and Rachel Davies both came into the frame too. But Millar continued to be the man on move, taking second on lap four, before reeling in Hillaby.
Luke was struggling for grip, which allowed Fish to close on third placed Luke, but as they started to duel Steele came back in contention too. It was all closing up when on lap seven Hillaby’s lead was down to 0.769secs over Millar. Fish was up to third and Davies ran wheel to wheel with Steele for fifth.
Hillaby put up a valiant defence, but Millar finally made the decisive move on lap 10 and gradually consolidated his lead over the remaining laps. “It was very wet but most enjoyable, it was just that bad start with too much wheelspin,” said Millar. “Colin drove so well, I think I came back at him a bit at the end though. I didn’t want to push my luck at the start, but while they sorted themselves out I just drove between them,” Hillaby replied.
Fish made third his own from half distance, “it was a bit dodgy but I wasn’t aquaplaning. I got Darren going into Russell and want more of this now,” he said. Luke rued his decision to use his old wets rather than a new set. “Horrible, too much rain and I knew I had made the wrong decision before the race had even started,” he said despite still winning his class.
Steve Burgess’s SR3 reeled in Davies and grabbed fifth with four laps to go. “I had spun at Russell and had to comeback,” he explained. Nigel Place’s PR6 took Steele for eighth on the last lap while Mark Abbott’s PR6 and Invitation class winner Bill Henderson completed the top ten.
In the Clubsports Andrew Harwood took the victory spoils over Jon Morris and Simon Garmston.
Result
1 Colin Millar (SR3 RS) 15 laps in 20m16.694s (86.63mph); 2 Chris Hillaby (SR3 RS) +6,514s; 3 Simon Fish (SR3); 4 Darren Luke (PR6); 5 Steven Burgess (SR3); 6 Rachel Davies (SR3); 7 Nigel Place 9PR6); 8 Paul Steele (SR3); 9 Mark Abbott (PR6); 10 Bill Henderson (SR3). Supersports: 1 Millar; 2 Hillaby; 3 Fish; 4 Burgess; 5 Davies; 6 Steele. Prosports: 1 Luke; 2 M.Abbott; 3 Richard Stables; 4 James Abbott; 5 Mark Boot; no other starters. Clubsports: 1 Andrew Harwood; 2 Jon Morris; 3 Simon Garmston; 4 Graham Ridgeway; 5 Ian Charles; no other finishers. Invitation: 1 Henderson; 2 Tim Porter (Clubsport); 3 David Frankland (PR6); no other starters. Fastest lap: Hillaby 1m18.119s (89.95mph).
Race 2
Millar was on his own at the front of the grid for the second race of the day, after Hillaby missed out to a last minute drama. It was Fish that shot ahead though as the lights went out, from Millar, Luke and Burgess. Place was into fifth and Davies took Steele for sixth into Russell.
The top four started make a break, with Luke into second, when Millar had an engine problem exiting Riches for the third time. Davies had also dropped back after a spin and Burgess was struggling too.
Into Riches for the fifth time Luke had the lead which grew when Fish had a spin at the Esses and brought Burgess onto his tail. Place’s fourth place started to come under threat from Steele, while behind them Davies had managed to escape from the duelling Ray Woolhead and Henderson.
While Luke was well on his way to a third win of the season, it was far from settled behind. Burgess was second on lap seven, but Fish was still there to rechallenge at every opportunity. Steele had ousted Place but both had Davies reeling them in.
It was Burgess who eventually secured second and the class win, after a number of exchanges. “I got Simon after he spun and then I didn’t get through the backmarkers quick enough, outbraked myself and spun, so he got back,. Then he did the same with a couple of laps left and I got him back,” he explained. But Luke was over nine seconds down the road, “I was too frightened to stall. But got into my stride and it went well,” he said.
Fish settled in third, “I spun at the Esses which let Steve catch me, then got him back and then too much throttle at the Bombhole and I spun again,” he explained. Davies was left clear in fourth, “I had to fight back after spinning too, too much red mist,” she said.
Place and Henderson finished nose to tail for fifth and sixth, even though Steele managed to split them briefly on the last lap, on his recovery from a spin too. Woolhead, Carver and Richard Stables PR6 completed the top ten.
In the Clubsports Harwood took another win but had Morris in his wheeltracks, with Garmston a distant third.
Result
1 Luke 15 laps in 20m02.150s (87.68mph); 2 Burgess +9.106s; 3 Fish; 4 Davies; 5 Place; 6 Henderson; 7 Steele; 8 Ray Woolhead (SR3 RS); 9 Richard Carver 9SR3); 10 Richard Stables (PR6). Supersports: 1 Burgess; 2 Fish; 3 Davies; 4 Steele; 5 Woolhead; 6 Carver. Prosports: 1 Luke; 2 Place; 3 Stables; 4 M.Abbott; 5 Boot; no other finishers. Clubsports: 1 Harwood; 2 Morris; 3 Garmston; 4 Ridgway; 5 Vincent Rassat; 6 Charles. Invitation: 1Henderson; 2 Porter; 3 Frankland; no other starters. Fastest lap: Tom Ashton (SR3) 1m17.76s (90.46mph).
Race 3
It was a sunny and drying Sunday morning that greeted the start of race three, so slicks were the order of the day for the very brave maybe.
There was an initial scare when reigning champion Millar pitted on the green flag lap, “it was just a precaution to check after an overnight engine change,” he explained after making his start from pitlane.
It was poleman Luke that made the best getaway, but was joined by Burgess in a first lap break. Steele had third, but had a huge train of cars behind him, headed by Fish, from Davies, Mark Abbott and Woolhead.
Luke really had the bit between his teeth and soon opened a decisive gap, leaving Burgess a solitary second. But after Davies had got past Fish for fourth, Steele went over the grass at Russell and gave her the chance to challenge for third. It was so close through Riches into Sear and Steele was edged out as Davies was determined to come away in third. “I ended up in the field, she was a bit aggressive” said Steele.
While Steele fought to regain the track Fish and Woolhead moved up into fifth and sixth as there was an even spread between the whole of the lead quintet, but it was any one of four for sixth, between Mark Abbott, Place, Carver and Hillaby.
Everyone seemed to be relishing the improvement in the weather and while Luke and Burgess charged on regardless, Fish managed to close on Davies again as they negotiated backmarkers.
Hillaby had managed to get past Place for seventh and was alongside Abbott a couple of times, before spinning exiting Russell on the ninth lap. Place was therefore back on Abbott’s tail and was ahead before the end of the lap.
Towards the end Luke’s commanding lead started to reduce, but it was still a relatively comfortable third win of the year for the PR6 driver. “I started to go as slow as possible to conserve what was left of my new wets on the drying track, “ he said. “I was settled in second anyway, as no one was catching me,” Burgess added.
Davies managed to keep Fish at bay to retain a hard fought third place. “We were both strong and weak in different places, but I was not going to give in on that one,” she said.
Despite starting from pitlane Millar carved his way through the field to hold fifth from lap 12, while Carver snatched sixth from Woolhead on the last lap, after both had been promoted when Abbott and Place collided a few laps earlier. “Mark lost it and caught on the back wheel and it punctured,” said Place after ending his race in the pits. Abbott also had to pit, which left the recovering Hillaby, Stables and James Abbott to complete the top ten.
Harwood made it three wins in the Clubsports, but Garmston finished second from Graham Ridgway, with Morris losing out on this occasion
Result
1 Luke 16 laps in 20m25.385s (91.75mph); 2 Burgess +1.810s; 3 Davies; 4 Fish; 5 Millar; 6 Carver; 7 Woolhead; 8 Hillaby; 9 Stables; 10 James Abbott (PR6). Supersports: 1 Burgess; 2 Davies; 3 Fish; 4 Millar; 5 Carver; 6 Woolhead. Prosports: 1 Luke; 2 Stables; 3 J.Abbott; no other finishers. Clubsports: 1 Harwood; 2 Garmston; 3 Ridgway; 4 Rassatt; 5 Charles; 6 Morris. Invitation: 1 Frankland; 2 Porter; no other starters. Fastest lap: Millar 1m13.153s (96.06mph).
Race 4
In comparison to the earlier part of the weekend it was almost tropical for the fourth and final race. The whole weekend had been a test of stamina and reliability for the drivers and their crews. Proof enough of their success was that only two of the original 27 cars failed to make it out for the finale.
It was Luke again that grabbed the immediate lead from Burgess, Millar and Davies. But Burgess was under immediate pressure and lost out to Millar at Russell with Davies poised to follow.
The lead started to grow despite Millar’s presence, but Davies found herself clear in third, after Burgess spun at Russell on the second lap and Woolhead followed his example independently.
Fish was up to third, from Stables, Hillaby and James Abbott. But it was Stables on the attack and into fourth by the end of lap three, with soon Davies in his sights too. Fish wasn’t able to ease up either as James Abbott was in a determined mood and began to close in.
Hillaby had slipped back too as Steele moved up to seventh, Burgess was down to ninth after his spin, just ahead of Place, Gary Kane and Mark Boot in a three way fight for 10th.
As Millar began to settle he started to eat into Luke’s lead and by half distance was poised to challenge. Davies also had her mirrors full of Stables PR6 and although Steele caught James, he found the teenager far from easy to get by.
During the lappery Luke managed to increase his lead again and although Millar continued to push hard, he had to settle for second, but only 0.395secs behind. So it was three out of four for Luke from his visit to East Anglia and five out of six for the season.
Davies managed to fend off Stables for the duration to retain third, “the difference for me was that it was dry,” said Stables. Fish was able to consolidate fifth over the closing laps as Abbott and Steele continued nose to tail. Kane eventually caught them both with a lap to go to clinch seventh, while Abbott finally lost out to experience on the last lap, with both Steele and Burgess taking him. “I lost out under braking for the Esses, it was good though,” said Abbott. “It was so difficult getting past people, but I had a good battle coming through with Steve though,” said Kane after securing the fastest lap of the race. “I struggled for pace and had an early tap from Simon I think,” Burgess added.
Hillaby completed the top ten, while down in 14th overall Tim Porter and David Frankland had a terrific scrap for the Invitation class. Porter’s Clubsport got it on this occasion but only by 0.479secs.
Harwood completed a clean sweep in the Clubsports but Morris had looked set for the spoils until he pitted with a puncture. Ridgway and Garmston completed the Clubsport podium.
Result
1 Luke 18 laps in 20m46.804s (101.44mph); 2 Millar +0.385s; 3 Davies; 4 Stables; 5 Fish; 6 Gary Kane (PR6); 7 Steele; 8 Burgess; 9 J.Abbott; 10 Hillaby. Supersports: 1 Millar; 2 Davies; 3 Fish; 4 Kane; 5 Steele; 6 Burgess. Prosports: 1 Luke; 2 J.Abbott; 3 Boot; 4 Place; no other starters. Clubsports: 1 Harwood; 2 Garmston; 3 Ridgway; 4 Rassatt; 5 Charles. no other finishers. Fastest lap: Kane 1m07.21s (104.55mph).
