FF CORSE LOCK UP BRITCAR CROWN AT DONNY
Mason & Lockie were runaway MSA British Dunlop Endurance Champions – Photo: Eric Barnes
There was cause for celebration for several drivers on Saturday at our Winter Raceday, with the biggest of all saved for David Mason and Callum Lockie who confirmed themselves as this year’s MSA British Dunlop Endurance Championship winners in their FF Corse Ferrari 458 Challenge.
In Britcar’s first race of the day, the front row was locked out by the Tockwith Motorsport Audi R8 GT3 of Phil Hanson & Nigel Moore on pole, alongside the invitiational second FF Corse Ferrari of Ivor Dunbar and Johnny Mowlem. Mason and Lockie would line up behind them on the second row, alongside the Rollcentre BMW Z4 GT3 of Martin Short and Richard Neary. From the start, it was Short that jumped into the lead on a damp and greasy track, hotly pursued by Lockie’s Ferrari. This chase continued throughout the first half of the race until contact between the pair at the Craner Curves sent the BMW spinning across the grass.
When the pitstops had shaken out, Mason had taken over the #1 Ferrari and was rapidly reeled in and pased by Neary, fresh from having driven Rollcentre’s Class 3 M3 which he’d handed over to Mark Lemmer. Meanwhile, the second Ferrari with Johnny Mowlem at the wheel and the Audi of Nigel Moore were trading fastest laps, setting a scorching pace which would eventually see both overhaul Mason as well. Neary remained ahead to the flag to win from from Mowlem and Moore with Mason surviving to 4th. The Rollcentre M3 won Class 3, while Moss Motorsport’s own M3 scored Class 4 honours. The Sports & Touring Championship race, only running for 45 minutes, was taken by the Track Torque Chevron of Jono Brown.
In Race 2 on a substantially drier track, it was more of the same for the Neary/Short Z3 GT3, as Short once again pulled into the lead from the start. The safety car was called out early on after a 3 way battle between Dunbar’s Ferrari, Brown’s Chevron and Neary’s M3 ended with Neary pitching it into the gravel at the final chicane. He had a chance to redeem himself when he took over the race leading car from Short and continued on into a lead he would never lose. The top 3 was a carbon copy of race 1 with Mowlem/ Dunbar in 2nd and Hanson/Moore in 3rd. Another 4th for Mason/Lockie was enough to confirm them as this year’s champions. There were additional wins for the Moss Motorsport M3 once again in Class 4, while Class 3 saw a win for the GT Academy Nissan 370Z of Romain Sarazin and Matt Simmons. Brown’s Chevron once again took the Sports and Touring honours.
The Monoposto Racing Club concluded its Tiedeman Trophy with two races in varied conditions. Much like the Britcar races, the first was run in tricky wet conditions, but it saw a solid drive from Jeremy Timms who took the win as the top 3 on the grid remained in exactly the same order from start to finish. Shane Kelly took 2nd with Jeremy’s sibling Jason completing the podium. In Race 2, now in the dry, Jeremy Timms continued exactly where he’d left off to secure the double, while Jason dropped out of what looked like an assured 2nd place on the last lap, handing the place to Neil Harrison while Nigel Davers seemed pleasantly surprised with 3rd place. In addition, two 1800 class wins over the weekend from Ewen Sergison gave him all the points he needed to clinch the overall Tiedeman Trophy.
There was another title to settle in the two races scheduled for the British Superkart Club Championships. Despite treacherous conditions, nothing seemed to faze Andy Bird who romped to a 8.5 second victory aboard his Anderson-Honda from Julian Davies and Superkart GP winner Stephen Clark. Race 2 saw a different story as Gavin Bennett drove a brilliant race in drier conditions from Row 3 on the grid to take the win with Clark 2nd and Davies 3rd. Clark’s two podiums also helped him secure honours in the F450 National championship.
Finally, our friends at HRDC brought a wonderful entry full of fantastic historic racers to compete in the A-Series Challenge, for BMC-powered cars. After 30 minutes of action on a wet track, it was the Austin Healey Sebring Sprite of Will Corry that slipped and slid its way to victory, both overall and in the GTG class. Following him home were a quintet of Minis, headed by TC65 class winner Jon Milicevic with Neil Slark rounding out the podium. Bruce Chapman’s Austin A35 Academy was top ACD class car home in 8th overall, while the Touring Greats class was taken by the Austin A40 of Jack Czabaniuk.
Well, there’s just one more race day left to go for us before we close the curtain on 2015, but it’s set to be quite an interesting affair as we host a wide variety of cars and classes at Anglesey in a couple of weeks’ time. Whether it’s a sports car, a saloon, a Formula Ford, an open sports prototype or a Caterham-style car, if it has 4 wheels, an engine and all the other important bits, then anything goes (within reason of course)!
For a full breakdown of Saturday’s results, you can find them courtesy of TSL Timing HERE.
Scott Woodwiss
